the majesty of the royal family was
degraded by the captivity of a princess, the sister of the deceased
king. But as soon as Sapor attained the age of manhood, the presumptuous
Thair, his nation, and his country, fell beneath the first effort of the
young warrior; who used his victory with so judicious a mixture of rigor
and clemency, that he obtained from the fears and gratitude of the Arabs
the title of Dhoulacnaf, or protector of the nation.

The ambition of the Persian, to whom his enemies ascribe the virtues of
a soldier and a statesman, was animated by the desire of revenging the
disgrace of his fathers, and of wresting from the hands of the Romans
the five provinces beyond the Tigris. The military fame of Constantine,
and the real or apparent strength of his government, suspended the
attack; and while the hostile conduct of Sapor provoked the resentment,
his artful negotiations amused the patience of the Imperial court. The
death of Constantine was the signal of war, and the actual condition of
the Syrian and Armenian frontier seemed to encourage the Persians by
the prospect of a rich spoil and an easy conquest. The example of the
massacres of the palace diffused a spirit of licentiousness and sedition
among the troops of the East, who were no longer restrained by
their habits of obedience to a veteran commander. By the prudence of
Constantius, who, from the interview with his brothers in Pannonia,
immediately hastened to the banks of the Euphrates, the legions were
gradually restored to a sense of duty and discipline; but the season of
anarchy had permitted Sapor to form the siege of Nisibis, and to occupy
several of the most important fortresses of Mesopotamia. In Armenia,
the renowned Tiridates had long enjoyed the peace and glory which
he deserved by his valor and fidelity to the cause of Rome. The
firm alliance which he maintained with Constantine was productive
of spiritual as well as of temporal benefits; by the conversion of
Tiridates, the character of a saint was applied to that of a hero, the
Christian faith was preached and established from the Euphrates to the
shores of the Caspian, and Armenia was attached to the empire by the
double ties of policy and religion. But as many of the Armenian nobles
still refused to abandon the plurality of their gods and of their wives,
the public tranquillity was disturbed by a discontented faction, which
insulted the feeble age of their sovereign, and impatiently exp