West, a punishment,
as he described it, not less dreadful than death itself. Armenia was
chosen for the place of exile, and a large district was assigned to the
Scythian horde, on which they might feed their flocks and herds, and
remove their encampment from one place to another, according to the
different seasons of the year. They were employed to repel the invasion
of Tiridates; but their leader, after weighing the obligations and
injuries which he had received from the Persian monarch, resolved to
abandon his party. The Armenian prince, who was well acquainted with
this merit as well as power of Mamgo, treated him with distinguished
respect; and, by admitting him into his confidence, acquired a brave and
faithful servant, who contributed very effectually to his restoration.

For a while, fortune appeared to favor the enterprising valor of
Tiridates. He not only expelled the enemies of his family and country
from the whole extent of Armenia, but in the prosecution of his revenge
he carried his arms, or at least his incursions, into the heart of
Assyria. The historian, who has preserved the name of Tiridates from
oblivion, celebrates, with a degree of national enthusiasm, his personal
prowess: and, in the true spirit of eastern romance, describes the
giants and the elephants that fell beneath his invincible arm. It is
from other information that we discover the distracted state of the
Persian monarchy, to which the king of Armenia was indebted for some
part of his advantages. The throne was disputed by the ambition of
contending brothers; and Hormuz, after exerting without success the
strength of his own party, had recourse to the dangerous assistance of
the barbarians who inhabited the banks of the Caspian Sea. The civil
war was, however, soon terminated, either by a victor or by a
reconciliation; and Narses, who was universally acknowledged as king of
Persia, directed his whole force against the foreign enemy. The contest
then became too unequal; nor was the valor of the hero able to withstand
the power of the monarch, Tiridates, a second time expelled from the
throne of Armenia, once more took refuge in the court of the emperors. *
Narses soon reestablished his authority over the revolted province; and
loudly complaining of the protection afforded by the Romans to rebels
and fugitives, aspired to the conquest of the East.

Neither prudence nor honor could permit the emperors to forsake the
cause of the Armenian ki