uous attack of Galerius spread disorder and dismay
over the camp of the barbarians. A slight resistance was followed by
a dreadful carnage, and, in the general confusion, the wounded monarch
(for Narses commanded his armies in person) fled towards the deserts
of Media. His sumptuous tents, and those of his satraps, afforded an
immense booty to the conqueror; and an incident is mentioned, which
proves the rustic but martial ignorance of the legions in the elegant
superfluities of life. A bag of shining leather, filled with pearls,
fell into the hands of a private soldier; he carefully preserved the
bag, but he threw away its contents, judging that whatever was of no use
could not possibly be of any value. [72] The principal loss of Narses was
of a much more affecting nature. Several of his wives, his sisters, and
children, who had attended the army, were made captives in the defeat.
But though the character of Galerius had in general very little affinity
with that of Alexander, he imitated, after his victory, the amiable
behavior of the Macedonian towards the family of Darius. The wives and
children of Narses were protected from violence and rapine, conveyed
to a place of safety, and treated with every mark of respect and
tenderness, that was due from a generous enemy to their age, their sex,
and their royal dignity. [73]

[Footnote 69: Aurelius Victor. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21.]

[Footnote 70: Aurelius Victor says, "Per Armeniam in hostes contendit,
quae fermo sola, seu facilior vincendi via est." He followed the conduct
of Trajan, and the idea of Julius Caesar.]

[Footnote 71: Xenophon's Anabasis, l. iii. For that reason the Persian
cavalry encamped sixty stadia from the enemy.]

[Footnote 72: The story is told by Ammianus, l. xxii. Instead of saccum,
some read scutum.]

[Footnote 73: The Persians confessed the Roman superiority in morals
as well as in arms. Eutrop. ix. 24. But this respect and gratitude of
enemies is very seldom to be found in their own accounts.]

Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates.--Part III.

While the East anxiously expected the decision of this great contest,
the emperor Diocletian, having assembled in Syria a strong army of
observation, displayed from a distance the resources of the Roman
power, and reserved himself for any future emergency of the war. On
the intelligence of the victory he condescended to advance towards the
frontier, with a view of