uccessor of Constantine. The victor was not ambitious of enlarging
the weakness of the empire; the son of Chosroes abandoned without regret
the conquests of his father; the Persians who evacuated the cities of
Syria and Egypt were honorably conducted to the frontier, and a war
which had wounded the vitals of the two monarchies, produced no change
in their external and relative situation. The return of Heraclius from
Tauris to Constantinople was a perpetual triumph; and after the exploits
of six glorious campaigns, he peaceably enjoyed the Sabbath of his
toils. After a long impatience, the senate, the clergy, and the people,
went forth to meet their hero, with tears and acclamations, with olive
branches and innumerable lamps; he entered the capital in a chariot
drawn by four elephants; and as soon as the emperor could disengage
himself from the tumult of public joy, he tasted more genuine
satisfaction in the embraces of his mother and his son. [110]

[Footnote 109: The letter of Siroes in the Paschal Chronicle (p. 402)
unfortunately ends before he proceeds to business. The treaty appears in
its execution in the histories of Theophanes and Nicephorus. * Note: M.
Mai. Script. Vet. Nova Collectio, vol. i. P. 2, p. 223, has added some
lines, but no clear sense can be made out of the fragment.--M.]

[Footnote 110: The burden of Corneille's song, "Montrez Heraclius au
peuple qui l'attend," is much better suited to the present occasion. See
his triumph in Theophanes (p. 272, 273) and Nicephorus, (p. 15, 16.) The
life of the mother and tenderness of the son are attested by George of
Pisidia, (Bell. Abar. 255, &c., p. 49.) The metaphor of the Sabbath is
used somewhat profanely by these Byzantine Christians.]

The succeeding year was illustrated by a triumph of a very different
kind, the restitution of the true cross to the holy sepulchre. Heraclius
performed in person the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, the identity of the
relic was verified by the discreet patriarch, [111] and this august
ceremony has been commemorated by the annual festival of the exaltation
of the cross. Before the emperor presumed to tread the consecrated
ground, he was instructed to strip himself of the diadem and purple,
the pomp and vanity of the world: but in the judgment of his clergy, the
persecution of the Jews was more easily reconciled with the precepts
of the gospel. [1111] He again ascended his throne to receive the
congratulations of the ambassadors of