lry
to intercept his convoys, and continually to hang on the lassitude and
disorder of his rear. But the Greeks were still masters of the sea;
a fleet of galleys, transports, and store-ships, was assembled in the
harbor; the Barbarians consented to embark; a steady wind carried them
through the Hellespont the western and southern coast of Asia Minor lay
on their left hand; the spirit of their chief was first displayed in a
storm, and even the eunuchs of his train were excited to suffer and
to work by the example of their master. He landed his troops on the
confines of Syria and Cilicia, in the Gulf of Scanderoon, where
the coast suddenly turns to the south; [79] and his discernment was
expressed in the choice of this important post. [80] From all sides,
the scattered garrisons of the maritime cities and the mountains might
repair with speed and safety to his Imperial standard. The natural
fortifications of Cilicia protected, and even concealed, the camp
of Heraclius, which was pitched near Issus, on the same ground where
Alexander had vanquished the host of Darius. The angle which the emperor
occupied was deeply indented into a vast semicircle of the Asiatic,
Armenian, and Syrian provinces; and to whatsoever point of the
circumference he should direct his attack, it was easy for him to
dissemble his own motions, and to prevent those of the enemy. In the
camp of Issus, the Roman general reformed the sloth and disorder of the
veterans, and educated the new recruits in the knowledge and practice of
military virtue. Unfolding the miraculous image of Christ, he urged them
to revenge the holy altars which had been profaned by the worshippers
of fire; addressing them by the endearing appellations of sons and
brethren, he deplored the public and private wrongs of the republic. The
subjects of a monarch were persuaded that they fought in the cause
of freedom; and a similar enthusiasm was communicated to the foreign
mercenaries, who must have viewed with equal indifference the interest
of Rome and of Persia. Heraclius himself, with the skill and patience
of a centurion, inculcated the lessons of the school of tactics, and the
soldiers were assiduously trained in the use of their weapons, and the
exercises and evolutions of the field. The cavalry and infantry in light
or heavy armor were divided into two parties; the trumpets were fixed
in the centre, and their signals directed the march, the charge, the
retreat or pursuit; the dir