every
tale of wonder, and the revival of learning gave new vigor to hope, and
suggested more specious arts of deception. Philosophy, with the aid of
experience, has at length banished the study of alchemy; and the present
age, however desirous of riches, is content to seek them by the humbler
means of commerce and industry.

The reduction of Egypt was immediately followed by the Persian war.
It was reserved for the reign of Diocletian to vanquish that powerful
nation, and to extort a confession from the successors of Artaxerxes, of
the superior majesty of the Roman empire.

We have observed, under the reign of Valerian, that Armenia was subdued
by the perfidy and the arms of the Persians, and that, after the
assassination of Chosroes, his son Tiridates, the infant heir of the
monarchy, was saved by the fidelity of his friends, and educated under
the protection of the emperors. Tiridates derived from his exile such
advantages as he could never have obtained on the throne of Armenia; the
early knowledge of adversity, of mankind, and of the Roman discipline.
He signalized his youth by deeds of valor, and displayed a matchless
dexterity, as well as strength, in every martial exercise, and even in
the less honorable contests of the Olympian games. Those qualities
were more nobly exerted in the defence of his benefactor Licinius.
That officer, in the sedition which occasioned the death of Probus,
was exposed to the most imminent danger, and the enraged soldiers were
forcing their way into his tent, when they were checked by the single
arm of the Armenian prince. The gratitude of Tiridates contributed soon
afterwards to his restoration. Licinius was in every station the friend
and companion of Galerius, and the merit of Galerius, long before he
was raised to the dignity of Caesar, had been known and esteemed by
Diocletian. In the third year of that emperor's reign Tiridates was
invested with the kingdom of Armenia. The justice of the measure was
not less evident than its expediency. It was time to rescue from the
usurpation of the Persian monarch an important territory, which, since
the reign of Nero, had been always granted under the protection of the
empire to a younger branch of the house of Arsaces.

When Tiridates appeared on the frontiers of Armenia, he was received
with an unfeigned transport of joy and loyalty. During twenty-six
years, the country had experienced the real and imaginary hardships of
a foreign yoke.