tered and devoured; and the desert
was strewed with the arms and baggage of the Roman soldiers, whose
tattered garments and meagre countenances displayed their past
sufferings and actual misery. A small convoy of provisions advanced to
meet the army as far as the castle of Ur; and the supply was the more
grateful, since it declared the fidelity of Sebastian and Procopius.
At Thilsaphata, the emperor most graciously received the generals
of Mesopotamia; and the remains of a once flourishing army at length
reposed themselves under the walls of Nisibis. The messengers of Jovian
had already proclaimed, in the language of flattery, his election, his
treaty, and his return; and the new prince had taken the most effectual
measures to secure the allegiance of the armies and provinces of Europe,
by placing the military command in the hands of those officers, who,
from motives of interest, or inclination, would firmly support the cause
of their benefactor.

The friends of Julian had confidently announced the success of his
expedition. They entertained a fond persuasion that the temples of the
gods would be enriched with the spoils of the East; that Persia would
be reduced to the humble state of a tributary province, governed by the
laws and magistrates of Rome; that the Barbarians would adopt the dress,
and manners, and language of their conquerors; and that the youth of
Ecbatana and Susa would study the art of rhetoric under Grecian masters.
The progress of the arms of Julian interrupted his communication
with the empire; and, from the moment that he passed the Tigris, his
affectionate subjects were ignorant of the fate and fortunes of their
prince. Their contemplation of fancied triumphs was disturbed by the
melancholy rumor of his death; and they persisted to doubt, after they
could no longer deny, the truth of that fatal event. The messengers of
Jovian promulgated the specious tale of a prudent and necessary peace;
the voice of fame, louder and more sincere, revealed the disgrace of the
emperor, and the conditions of the ignominious treaty. The minds of the
people were filled with astonishment and grief, with indignation and
terror, when they were informed, that the unworthy successor of Julian
relinquished the five provinces which had been acquired by the victory
of Galerius; and that he shamefully surrendered to the Barbarians the
important city of Nisibis, the firmest bulwark of the provinces of the
East. The deep and dang