lem, an event so interesting to
the church, see the Annals of Eutychius, (tom. ii. p. 212--223,) and the
lamentations of the monk Antiochus, (apud Baronium, Annal. Eccles. A.D.
614, No. 16--26,) whose one hundred and twenty-nine homilies are still
extant, if what no one reads may be said to be extant.]

[Footnote 6011: See Hist. of Jews, vol. iii. p. 240.--M.]

[Footnote 61: The life of this worthy saint is composed by Leontius, a
contemporary bishop; and I find in Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 610,
No. 10, &c.) and Fleury (tom. viii. p. 235-242) sufficient extracts of
this edifying work.]

[Footnote 62: The error of Baronius, and many others who have carried
the arms of Chosroes to Carthage instead of Chalcedon, is founded on
the near resemblance of the Greek words, in the text of Theophanes, &c.,
which have been sometimes confounded by transcribers, and sometimes by
critics.]

From the long-disputed banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the reign of
the grandson of Nushirvan was suddenly extended to the Hellespont and
the Nile, the ancient limits of the Persian monarchy. But the provinces,
which had been fashioned by the habits of six hundred years to the
virtues and vices of the Roman government, supported with reluctance
the yoke of the Barbarians. The idea of a republic was kept alive by the
institutions, or at least by the writings, of the Greeks and Romans, and
the subjects of Heraclius had been educated to pronounce the words of
liberty and law. But it has always been the pride and policy of Oriental
princes to display the titles and attributes of their omnipotence; to
upbraid a nation of slaves with their true name and abject condition,
and to enforce, by cruel and insolent threats, the rigor of their
absolute commands. The Christians of the East were scandalized by the
worship of fire, and the impious doctrine of the two principles: the
Magi were not less intolerant than the bishops; and the martyrdom of
some native Persians, who had deserted the religion of Zoroaster, [63]
was conceived to be the prelude of a fierce and general persecution.
By the oppressive laws of Justinian, the adversaries of the church were
made the enemies of the state; the alliance of the Jews, Nestorians, and
Jacobites, had contributed to the success of Chosroes, and his partial
favor to the sectaries provoked the hatred and fears of the Catholic
clergy. Conscious of their fear and hatred, the Persian conqueror
governed his new subjec