on of it by a complete abstinence from all military expeditions.

When Isdigerd had reigned peaceably for the space of nine years, he is
said to have received a compliment of an unusual character. Arcadius,
the emperor of the East, finding his end approaching, and anxious to
secure a protector for his son Theodosius, a boy of tender age, instead
of committing him to the charge of his uncle Honorius, or selecting a
guardian for him from among his own subjects, by a formal testamentary
act, we are told, placed his child under the protection of the Persian
monarch. He accompanied the appointment by a solemn appeal to the
magnanimity of Isdigerd, whom he exhorted at some length to defend with
all his force, and guide with his best wisdom, the young king and his
kingdom. According to one writer, he further appended to this trust a
valuable legacy--no less than a thousand pounds weight of pure gold,
which he begged his Persian brother to accept as a token of his
goodwill. When Arcadius died, and the testament was opened, information
of its contents was sent to Isdigerd, who at once accepted the charge
assigned to him, and addressed a letter to the Senate of Constantinople,
in which he declared his determination to punish any attempt against
his ward with the extremest severity. Unable to watch over his charge in
person, he selected for his guide and instructor a learned eunuch of
his court, by name Antiochus, and sent him to Constantinople, where for
several years he was the young prince's constant companion. Even after
his death or expulsion, which took place in consequence of the intrigues
of Pulcheria, Theodosius's elder sister, the Persian monarch continued
faithful to his engagements. During the whole of his reign he not only
remained at peace with the Romans, but avoided every act that they could
have regarded as in the least degree unfriendly.

Such is the narrative which has come down to us on the authority of
historians, the earliest of whom wrote a century and a half after
Arcadius's death. Modern criticism has, in general, rejected the entire
story, on this account, regarding the silence of the earlier writers
as outweighing the positive statements of the later ones. It should,
however, be borne in mind, first that the earlier writers are few in
number, and that their histories are very meagre and scanty; secondly,
that the fact, if fact it were, was one not very palatable to
Christians; and thirdly, that, as the r