duction of the strongest fortifications, diffused the
terror of his arms, and prepared the way for the peaceful reception
of his authority. An obstinate resistance was fatal to the chiefs; but
their followers were treated with lenity. A cheerful submission was
rewarded with honors and riches, but the prudent Artaxerxes suffering
no person except himself to assume the title of king, abolished every
intermediate power between the throne and the people. His kingdom,
nearly equal in extent to modern Persia, was, on every side, bounded by
the sea, or by great rivers; by the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Araxes,
the Oxus, and the Indus, by the Caspian Sea, and the Gulf of Persia.
That country was computed to contain, in the last century, five hundred
and fifty-four cities, sixty thousand villages, and about forty millions
of souls. If we compare the administration of the house of Sassan with
that of the house of Sefi, the political influence of the Magian with
that of the Mahometan religion, we shall probably infer, that the
kingdom of Artaxerxes contained at least as great a number of cities,
villages, and inhabitants. But it must likewise be confessed, that in
every age the want of harbors on the sea-coast, and the scarcity of
fresh water in the inland provinces, have been very unfavorable to the
commerce and agriculture of the Persians; who, in the calculation of
their numbers, seem to have indulged one of the nearest, though most
common, artifices of national vanity.

As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed ever the
resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the neighboring states,
who, during the long slumber of his predecessors, had insulted Persia
with impunity. He obtained some easy victories over the wild Scythians
and the effeminate Indians; but the Romans were an enemy, who, by their
past injuries and present power, deserved the utmost efforts of his
arms. A forty years' tranquillity, the fruit of valor and moderation,
had succeeded the victories of Trajan. During the period that elapsed
from the accession of Marcus to the reign of Alexander, the Roman and
the Parthian empires were twice engaged in war; and although the whole
strength of the Arsacides contended with a part only of the forces of
Rome, the event was most commonly in favor of the latter. Macrinus,
indeed, prompted by his precarious situation and pusillanimous temper,
purchased a peace at the expense of near two millions of our money