n, and animated the desperate valor of her subjects and
soldiers. [134b] The Persians were surprised and repulsed under
the walls of Artogerassa, by a bold and well-concerted sally of
the besieged. But the forces of Sapor were continually renewed and
increased; the hopeless courage of the garrison was exhausted; the
strength of the walls yielded to the assault; and the proud conqueror,
after wasting the rebellious city with fire and sword, led away captive
an unfortunate queen; who, in a more auspicious hour, had been the
destined bride of the son of Constantine. [135] Yet if Sapor already
triumphed in the easy conquest of two dependent kingdoms, he soon felt,
that a country is unsubdued as long as the minds of the people are
actuated by a hostile and contumacious spirit. The satraps, whom he
was obliged to trust, embraced the first opportunity of regaining the
affection of their countrymen, and of signalizing their immortal hatred
to the Persian name. Since the conversion of the Armenians and Iberians,
these nations considered the Christians as the favorites, and the
Magians as the adversaries, of the Supreme Being: the influence of the
clergy, over a superstitious people was uniformly exerted in the cause
of Rome; and as long as the successors of Constantine disputed with
those of Artaxerxes the sovereignty of the intermediate provinces, the
religious connection always threw a decisive advantage into the scale
of the empire. A numerous and active party acknowledged Para, the son of
Tiranus, as the lawful sovereign of Armenia, and his title to the throne
was deeply rooted in the hereditary succession of five hundred years. By
the unanimous consent of the Iberians, the country was equally divided
between the rival princes; and Aspacuras, who owed his diadem to
the choice of Sapor, was obliged to declare, that his regard for his
children, who were detained as hostages by the tyrant, was the only
consideration which prevented him from openly renouncing the alliance of
Persia. The emperor Valens, who respected the obligations of the treaty,
and who was apprehensive of involving the East in a dangerous war,
ventured, with slow and cautious measures, to support the Roman party
in the kingdoms of Iberia and Armenia. [135a] Twelve legions established
the authority of Sauromaces on the banks of the Cyrus. The Euphrates was
protected by the valor of Arintheus. A powerful army, under the command
of Count Trajan, and of Vadomair, ki