her as a
salutary revolution than as a barbarian conquest.

"'Such was the pleasing prospect of affairs, when an unexpected disease,
the consequence of unremitted exertions, put an end to the glorious life
of our conqueror; and with him perished all hopes of safety or happiness
of the Syrians. His authority alone was capable of restraining so many
needy chieftains, so many victorious barbarians; the spirit of rapine
and plunder so long represt, began now to spread through all the army;
every officer was an independent tyrant, that ruled with despotic
authority, and punished as rebellion the least opposition to his will.
The fields were now ravaged, the cities plundered, the industrious
peasants driven away like herds of cattle, to labour for the caprice of
unfeeling masters, or sold in distant regions as slaves. Now it was that
the miserable and harassed Syrians began to find that the riches which
they so much esteemed, were but the causes of their ruin, instead of
being instrumental to their safety. The poor, accustomed to hardship,
have little to fear amid the vicissitudes of life; the brave can always
find a refuge in their own valour; but all the bitterness of existence
is reserved for those who have neither courage to defend what they most
value, nor fortitude to bear the loss.

"'To increase the weight of our misfortunes, new tribes of barbarians,
attracted by the success of their countrymen, issued from their deserts,
and hastened to share the spoil. But rapine admits not faith or
partnership; and it was not long before the vanquished beheld their
conquerors animated by implacable rage against each other, and suffering
in turn the violence and cruelties they had inflicted.

"'At length one of the principal officers of Arsaces, who is said
originally to have descended from the mountain which you inhabit, was
raised to empire by the successful efforts of his soldiers. He has
already attacked and destroyed all his competitors, and assembled under
his banners the remainder of their forces. _Tigranes_ (for thus he is
named) possesses all the courage and activity of Arsaces, but he is
destitute of his generosity and clemency. His ambition is vast and
boundless; he grasps at universal empire, and rejoices to scatter ruin
and destruction in his way; he has already subjected all the maritime
cities that derive their origin from Greece, together with the fertile
plains of Syria. These mountains, inhabited by a bold and h