, chooses to draw a veil over
the circumstances of this melancholy retreat. Yet one of those venal
orators, so jealous of the fame of Constantius, relates, with amazing
coolness, an act of such incredible cruelty, as, in the judgment of
posterity, must imprint a far deeper stain on the honor of the Imperial
name. The son of Sapor, the heir of his crown, had been made a captive
in the Persian camp. The unhappy youth, who might have excited the
compassion of the most savage enemy, was scourged, tortured, and
publicly executed by the inhuman Romans.

Whatever advantages might attend the arms of Sapor in the field, though
nine repeated victories diffused among the nations the fame of his
valor and conduct, he could not hope to succeed in the execution of his
designs, while the fortified towns of Mesopotamia, and, above all, the
strong and ancient city of Nisibis, remained in the possession of the
Romans. In the space of twelve years, Nisibis, which, since the time
of Lucullus, had been deservedly esteemed the bulwark of the East,
sustained three memorable sieges against the power of Sapor; and the
disappointed monarch, after urging his attacks above sixty, eighty, and
a hundred days, was thrice repulsed with loss and ignominy. This large
and populous city was situate about two days' journey from the Tigris,
in the midst of a pleasant and fertile plain at the foot of Mount
Masius. A treble enclosure of brick walls was defended by a deep ditch;
and the intrepid resistance of Count Lucilianus, and his garrison, was
seconded by the desperate courage of the people. The citizens of Nisibis
were animated by the exhortations of their bishop, inured to arms by the
presence of danger, and convinced of the intentions of Sapor to plant
a Persian colony in their room, and to lead them away into distant and
barbarous captivity. The event of the two former sieges elated their
confidence, and exasperated the haughty spirit of the Great King, who
advanced a third time towards Nisibis, at the head of the united forces
of Persia and India. The ordinary machines, invented to batter or
undermine the walls, were rendered ineffectual by the superior skill
of the Romans; and many days had vainly elapsed, when Sapor embraced a
resolution worthy of an eastern monarch, who believed that the elements
themselves were subject to his power. At the stated season of the
melting of the snows in Armenia, the River Mygdonius, which divides the
plain and the c