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.

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 moderating, by his presence and counsels, the
pride of Galerius. The interview of the Roman princes at Nisibis was
accompanied with every expression of respect on one side, and of
esteem on the other. It was in that city that they soon afterwards gave
audience to the ambassador of the Great King. The power, or at least the
spirit, of Narses, had been broken by his last defeat; and he considered
an immediate peace as the only means that could stop the progress of the
Roman arms. He despatched Apharban, a servant who possessed his favor
and confidence, with a commission to negotiate a treaty, or rather to
receive whatever conditions the conqueror should impose. Apharban opened
the conference by expressing his master's gratitude for the generous
treatment of his family, and by soliciting the liberty of those
illustrious captives. He celebrated the valor of Galerius, without
degrading the reputation of Narses, and thought it no dishonor to
confess the superiority of the victorious Caesar, over a monarch who
had surpassed in glory all the princes of his race. Notwithstanding the
justice of the Persian cause, he was empowered to submit the present
differences to the decision of the emperors themselves; convinced as he
was, that, in the midst of prosperity, they would not be unmindful of
the vicissitudes of fortune. Apharban concluded his discourse in the
style of eastern allegory, by o