191,) Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 117,
118, who imputes the distress to Julian, the deliverance to Jovian,)
and Eutropius, (x. 17.) The last-mentioned writer, who was present in
military station, styles this peace necessarium quidem sed ignoblem.]

The sophist of Antioch, who saw with indignation the sceptre of his hero
in the feeble hand of a Christian successor, professes to admire the
moderation of Sapor, in contenting himself with so small a portion of
the Roman empire. If he had stretched as far as the Euphrates the
claims of his ambition, he might have been secure, says Libanius, of not
meeting with a refusal. If he had fixed, as the boundary of Persia,
the Orontes, the Cydnus, the Sangarius, or even the Thracian Bosphorus,
flatterers would not have been wanting in the court of Jovian to
convince the timid monarch, that his remaining provinces would still
afford the most ample gratifications of power and luxury. [112]
Without adopting in its full force this malicious insinuation, we
must acknowledge, that the conclusion of so ignominious a treaty was
facilitated by the private ambition of Jovian. The obscure domestic,
exalted to the throne by fortune, rather than by merit, was impatient to
escape from the hands of the Persians, that he might prevent the designs
of Procopius, who commanded the army of Mesopotamia, and establish his
doubtful reign over the legions and provinces which were still ignorant
of the hasty and tumultuous choice of the camp beyond the Tigris. [113]
In the neighborhood of the same river, at no very considerable distance
from the fatal station of Dura, [114] the ten thousand Greeks, without
generals, or guides, or provisions, were abandoned, above twelve hundred
miles from their native country, to the resentment of a victorious
monarch. The difference of their conduct and success depended much more
on their character than on their situation. Instead of tamely resigning
themselves to the secret deliberations and private views of a single
person, the united councils of the Greeks were inspired by the generous
enthusiasm of a popular assembly; where the mind of each citizen is
filled with the love of glory, the pride of freedom, and the contempt
of death. Conscious of their superiority over the Barbarians in arms and
discipline, they disdained to yield, they refused to capitulate: every
obstacle was surmounted by their patience, courage, and military skill;
and the memorable retreat of the