ained 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 expected the hour of his death. He
died at length after a reign of fifty-six years, and the fortune of the
Armenian monarchy expired with Tiridates. His lawful heir was driven
into exile, the Christian priests were either murdered or expelled
from their churches, the barbarous tribes of Albania were solicited to
descend from their mountains; and two of the most powerful governors,
usurping the ensigns or the powers of royalty, implored the assistance
of Sapor, and opened the gates of their cities to the Persian garrisons.
The Christian party, under the guidance of the Archbishop of Artaxata,
the immediate successor of St. Gregory the Illuminator, had recourse to
the piety of Constantius. After the troubles had continued about three
years, Antiochus, one of the officers of the household, executed with
success the Imperial commission of restoring Chosroes, [57b] the son
of Tiridates, to the throne of his fathers, of distributing honors and
rewards among the faithful servants of the house of Arsaces, and of
proclaiming a general amnesty, which was accepted by the greater part of
the rebellious satraps. But the Romans derived more honor than advantage
from this revolution. Chosroes was a prince of a puny stature and a
pusillanimous spirit. Unequal to the fatigues of war, averse to the
society of mankind, he withdrew from his capital to a retired palace,
which he built on the banks of the River Eleutherus, and in the centre
of a shady grove; where he consumed his vacant hours in the rural sports
of hunting and hawking. To secure this inglorious ease, he submitted to
the conditions of peace which Sapor condescended to impose; the payment
of an annual tribute, and the restitution of the fertile province of
Atropatene, which the courage of Tiridates, and the victorious arms of
Galerius, had annexed to the Armenian monarchy. [58] [58a]

[Footnote 56: