waged successful wars with the Arabs. The minority of Sapor was
a period of severe trial to Persia. On every side the bordering nations
endeavored to take advantage of the weakness incident to the rule of a
minor, and attacked and ravaged the empire at their pleasure. The Arabs
were especially aggressive, and made continual raids into Babylonia,
Khuzistan, and the adjoining regions, which desolated these provinces
and carried the horrors of war into the very heart of the empire. The
tribes of Beni-Ayar and Abdul-Kais, which dwelt on the southern shores
of the Persian Gulf, took the lead in these incursions, and though not
attempting any permanent conquests, inflicted terrible sufferings on
the inhabitants of the tracts which they invaded. At the same time a
Mesopotamian. chieftain, called Tayer or Thair, made an attack upon
Otesiphon, took the city by storm, and captured a sister or aunt of the
Persian monarch. The nobles, who, during Sapor's minority, guided the
helm of the State, were quite incompetent to make head against these
numerous enemies. For sixteen years the marauding bands had the
advantage, and Persia found herself continually weaker, more
impoverished, and less able to recover herself. The young prince is said
to have shown extraordinary discretion and intelligence. He diligently
trained himself in all manly exercises, and prepared both his mind
and body for the important duties of his station. But his tender years
forbade him as yet taking the field; and it is not unlikely that his
ministers prolonged the period of his tutelage in order to retain,
to the latest possible moment, the power whereto they had become
accustomed. At any rate, it was not till he was sixteen, a later age
than Oriental ideas require, that Sapor's minority ceased--that he
asserted his manhood, and, placing himself at the head of his army, took
the entire direction of affairs, civil and military, into his own hands.

From this moment the fortunes of Persia began to rise. Content at first
to meet and chastise the marauding bands on his own territory, Sapor,
after a time, grew bolder, and ventured to take the offensive. Having
collected a fleet of considerable size, he placed his troops on board,
and conveyed them to the city of El-Katif, an important place on the
south coast of the Persian Gulf, where he disembarked and proceeded
to carry fire and sword through the adjacent region. Either on this
occasion, or more probably in a long s