th Persia, and,
embracing the cause of Tiridates, son of Chosroes, directed his efforts
to the establishment of that prince, as a Roman feudatory, on his
father's throne. Varahran found himself once more overmatched, and could
offer no effectual resistance. Armenia had now been a province of Persia
for the space of twenty-six (or perhaps forty-six) years; but it had in
no degree been conciliated or united with the rest of the empire. The
people had been distrusted and oppressed; the nobles had been deprived
of employment; a heavy tribute had been laid on the land; and a
religious revolution had been violently effected. It is not surprising
that when Tiridates, supported by a Roman _corps d'armee_, appeared
upon the frontiers, the whole population received him with transports
of loyalty and joy. All the nobles flocked to his standard, and at once
acknowledged him for their king. The people everywhere welcomed him
with acclamations. A native prince of the Arsacid dynasty united the
suffrages of all; and the nation threw itself with enthusiastic zeal
into a struggle which was viewed as a war of independence. It was
forgotten that Tiridates was in fact only a puppet in the hand of the
Roman emperor, and that, whatever the result of the contest, Armenia
would remain at its close, as she had been at its commencement, a
dependant upon a foreign power.

The success of Tiridates at the first was such as might have been
expected from the forces arrayed in his favor. He defeated two Persian
armies in the open field, drove out the garrisons which held the more
important of the fortified towns, and became undisputed master of
Armenia. He even crossed the border which separated Armenia from Persia,
and gained signal victories on admitted Persian ground. According to the
native writers, his personal exploits were extraordinary; he defeated
singly a corps of giants, and routed on foot a large detachment mounted
on elephants! The narrative is here, no doubt, tinged with exaggeration;
but the general result is correctly stated. Tiridates, within a year of
his invasion, was complete master of the entire Armenian highland, and
was in a position to carry his arms beyond his own frontiers.

Such seems to have been the position of things, when Varahran II.
suddenly died, after a reign of seventeen years,52 A.D. 292. He is
generally said to have left behind him two sons, Varahran and Narsehi,
or Narses, of whom the elder, Varahran, was procla