ry kind has displayed itself about
the same period; and the age of science has generally been the age of
military virtue and success.

IV. The new sovereign of Persia, Artaxerxes and his son Sapor, had
triumphed (as we have already seen) over the house of Arsaces. Of the
many princes of that ancient race. Chosroes, king of Armenia, had alone
preserved both his life and his independence. He defended himself by the
natural strength of his country; by the perpetual resort of fugitives
and malecontents; by the alliance of the Romans, and above all, by his
own courage. Invincible in arms, during a thirty years' war, he was
at length assassinated by the emissaries of Sapor, king of Persia. The
patriotic satraps of Armenia, who asserted the freedom and dignity of
the crown, implored the protection of Rome in favor of Tiridates, the
lawful heir. But the son of Chosroes was an infant, the allies were at
a distance, and the Persian monarch advanced towards the frontier at the
head of an irresistible force. Young Tiridates, the future hope of his
country, was saved by the fidelity of a servant, and Armenia continued
above twenty-seven years a reluctant province of the great monarchy of
Persia. Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the distresses
or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the strong garrisons of
Carrhae and Nisibis * to surrender, and spread devastation and terror on
either side of the Euphrates.

The loss of an important frontier, the ruin of a faithful and natural
ally, and the rapid success of Sapor's ambition, affected Rome with a
deep sense of the insult as well as of the danger. Valerian flattered
himself, that the vigilance of his lieutenants would sufficiently
provide for the safety of the Rhine and of the Danube; but he resolved,
notwithstanding his advanced age, to march in person to the defence
of the Euphrates. During his progress through Asia Minor, the naval
enterprises of the Goths were suspended, and the afflicted province
enjoyed a transient and fallacious calm. He passed the Euphrates,
encountered the Persian monarch near the walls of Edessa, was
vanquished, and taken prisoner by Sapor. The particulars of this great
event are darkly and imperfectly represented; yet, by the glimmering
light which is afforded us, we may discover a long series of imprudence,
of error, and of deserved misfortunes on the side of the Roman emperor.
He reposed an implicit confidence in Macrianus, his Prae