conceive, by what arts of
fortification a city thrice besieged and taken by the predecessors of
Julian could be rendered impregnable against an army of sixty thousand
Romans, commanded by a brave and experienced general, and abundantly
supplied with ships, provisions, battering engines, and military stores.
But we may rest assured, from the love of glory, and contempt of danger,
which formed the character of Julian, that he was not discouraged by any
trivial or imaginary obstacles. At the very time when he declined the
siege of Ctesiphon, he rejected, with obstinacy and disdain, the most
flattering offers of a negotiation of peace. Sapor, who had been so long
accustomed to the tardy ostentation of Constantius, was surprised by the
intrepid diligence of his successor. As far as the confines of India and
Scythia, the satraps of the distant provinces were ordered to assemble
their troops, and to march, without delay, to the assistance of their
monarch. But their preparations were dilatory, their motions slow;
and before Sapor could lead an army into the field, he received the
melancholy intelligence of the devastation of Assyria, the ruin of
his palaces, and the slaughter of his bravest troops, who defended the
passage of the Tigris. The pride of royalty was humbled in the dust; he
took his repasts on the ground; and the disorder of his hair expressed
the grief and anxiety of his mind. Perhaps he would not have refused to
purchase, with one half of his kingdom, the safety of the remainder;
and he would have gladly subscribed himself, in a treaty of peace, the
faithful and dependent ally of the Roman conqueror. Under the pretence
of private business, a minister of rank and confidence was secretly
despatched to embrace the knees of Hormisdas, and to request, in the
language of a suppliant, that he might be introduced into the presence
of the emperor. The Sassanian prince, whether he listened to the voice
of pride or humanity, whether he consulted the sentiments of his birth,
or the duties of his situation, was equally inclined to promote a
salutary measure, which would terminate the calamities of Persia, and
secure the triumph of Rome. He was astonished by the inflexible firmness
of a hero, who remembered, most unfortunately for himself and for his
country, that Alexander had uniformly rejected the propositions
of Darius. But as Julian was sensible, that the hope of a safe and
honorable peace might cool the ardor of his troops