his own by Sapor, though
ceded to Rome by his grandfather, were massacred in cold blood. The
Count Elian, and the commanders of the legions who had conducted the
gallant defence, were barbarously crucified. Many other Romans of high
rank were subjected to the indignity of being manacled, and were dragged
into Persia as slaves rather than as prisoners.

The campaign of A.D. 359 terminated with this dearly bought victory. The
season was too far advanced for any fresh enterprise of importance;
and Sapor was probably glad to give his army a rest after the toils
and perils of the last three months. Accordingly he retired across
the Tigris, without leaving (so far as appears) any garrisons in
Mesopotamia, and began preparations for the campaign of A.D. 360. Stores
of all kinds were accumulated during the winter; and, when the spring
came, the indefatigable monarch once more invaded the enemy's country,
pouring into Mesopotamia an army even more numerous and better appointed
than that which he had led against Amida in the preceding year. His
first object now was to capture Singara, a town of some consequence,
which was, however, defended by only two Roman legions and a certain
number of native soldiers. After a vain attempt to persuade the garrison
to a surrender, the attack was made in the usual way, chiefly by scaling
parties with ladders, and by battering parties which shook the walls
with the ram. The defenders kept the sealers at bay by a constant
discharge of stones and darts from their artillery, arrows from their
bows, and leaden bullets from their slings. They met the assaults of the
ram by attempts to fire the wooden covering which protected it and those
who worked it. For some days these efforts sufficed; but after a while
the besiegers found a weak point in the defences of the place--a tower
so recently built that the mortar in which the stones were laid was
still moist, and which consequently crumbled rapidly before the blows
of a strong and heavy battering-ram, and in a short time fell to the
ground. The Persians poured in through the gap, and were at once masters
of the entire town, which ceased to resist after the catastrophe. This
easy victory allowed Sapor to exhibit the better side of his character;
he forbade the further shedding of blood, and ordered that as many as
possible of the garrisons and citizens should be taken alive. Reviving
a favorite policy of Oriental rulers from very remote times, he
transpo