rs to the Roman arms which
Rawlinson describes in his most lucid and vigorous manner, together
with the other feats of this remarkable man.

Artaxerxes appears to have died in A.D. 240. He was succeeded by his son
Shahpuhri, or Sapor, the first Sassanian prince of that name. According
to the Persian historians, the mother of Sapor was a daughter of the
last Parthian king, Artabanus, whom Artaxerxes had taken to wife after
his conquest of her father. But the facts known of Sapor throw doubt on
this story, which has too many parallels in oriental romance to claim
implicit credence. Nothing authentic has come down to us respecting
Sapor during his father's lifetime, but from the moment that he mounted
the throne we find him engaged in a series of wars, which show him to
have been of a most active and energetic character.

Armenia, which Artaxerxes had subjected, attempted, it would seem, to
regain its independence at the commencement of the reign; but Sapor
easily crushed the nascent insurrection, and the Armenians made no
further effort to free themselves till several years after his death.
Contemporaneously with this revolt in the mountain region of the North a
danger showed itself in the plains country of the South, where Manizen,
king of Hatra, or El Hadhr, not only declared himself independent, but
assumed dominion over the entire tract between the Euphrates and the
Tigris, the Jezireh of the Arabian geographers.

The strength of Hatra was great, as had been proved by Trajan and
Severus; its thick walls and valiant inhabitants would probably have
defied every attempt of the Persian prince to make himself master of it
by force. He, therefore, resorted to stratagem. Manizen had a daughter
who cherished ambitious views. On obtaining a promise from Sapor that if
she gave Hatra into his power he would make her his queen, this
unnatural child turned against her father, betrayed him into Sapor's
hands, and thus brought the war to an end. Sapor recovered his lost
territory; but he did not fulfil his bargain. Instead of marrying the
traitoress, he handed her over to an executioner, to receive the death
that she had deserved, though scarcely at his hands.

Encouraged by his success in these two lesser contests, Sapor resolved
(apparently in A.D. 241) to resume the bold projects of his father, and
engage in a great war with Rome. The confusion and troubles which
afflicted the Roman Empire at this time were such as