annical acts are alleged against him; and it is said that he was
contemplating the setting aside of his legitimate successor, Siroes, in
favor of a younger son, Merdasas, his offspring by his favorite wife,
the Christian Shirin, when a rebellion broke out against his authority.
Gurdanaspa, who was in command of the Persian troops at Ctesiphon,
and twenty-two nobles of importance, including two sons of Shahr-Barz,
embraced the cause of Siroes, and seizing Chosroes, who meditated
flight, committed him to "the House of Darkness," a strong place where
he kept his money. Here he was confined for four days, his jailers
allowing him daily a morsel of bread and a small quantity of water; when
he complained of hunger, they told him, by his son's orders, that he
was welcome to satisfy his appetite by feasting upon his treasures. The
officers whom he had confined were allowed free access to his prison,
where they insulted him and spat upon him. Merdasas, the son whom he
preferred, and several of his other children, were brought into his
presence and put to death before his eyes. After suffering in this way
for four days he was at last, on the fifth day from his arrest (February
28), put to death in some cruel fashion, perhaps, like St. Sebastian,
by being transfixed with arrows. Thus perished miserably the second
Chosroes, after having reigned thirty-seven years (A.D. 591-628), a just
but tardy Nemesis overtaking the parricide.

The Oriental writers represent the second Chosroes as a monarch whose
character was originally admirable, but whose good disposition was
gradually corrupted by the possession of sovereign power. "Parviz," says
Mirkhond, "holds a distinguished rank among the kings of Persia through
the majesty and firmness of his government, the wisdom of his views, and
his intrepidity in carrying them out, the size of his army, the amount
of his treasure, the flourishing condition of the provinces during his
reign, the security of the highways, the prompt and exact obedience
which he enforced, and his unalterable adherence to the plans which
he once formed." It is impossible that these praises can have been
altogether undeserved; and we are bound to assign to this monarch, on
the authority of the Orientals, a vigor of administration, a strength
of will, and a capacity for governing, not very commonly possessed
by princes born in the purple. To these merits we may add a certain
grandeur of soul, and power of appreciating the