to have been in a most flourishing condition during his
reign. He may not have gained all the successes that are ascribed to
him; but he was undoubtedly an active prince, brave, energetic, and
clear-sighted. He judiciously brought the Roman war to a close when
a new and formidable enemy appeared on his north-eastern frontier; he
wisely got rid of the Armenian difficulty, which had been a stumbling
block in the way of his predecessors for two hundred years; he inflicted
a check on the aggressive Tatars, which indisposed them to renew
hostilities with Persia for a quarter of a century. It would seem that
he did not much appreciate art but he encouraged learning, and did his
best to advance science.

CHAPTER XV.

_Reign of Isdigerd II. His War with Rome. His Nine Years' War with the
Ephthalites. His Policy towards Armenia. His Second Ephthalite War. His
Character. His Coins._

The successor of Varahan V. was his son, Isdigerd the Second, who
ascended the Persian throne without opposition in the year A.D. 440.
His first act was to declare war against Rome. The Roman forces were,
it would seem, concentrated in the vicinity of Nisibis; and Isdigerd may
have feared that they would make an attack upon the place. He therefore
anticipated them, and invaded the empire with an army composed in part
of his own subjects, but in part also of troops from the surrounding
nations. Saracens, Tzani, Isaurians, and Huns (Ephthalites?) served
under his standard; and a sudden incursion was made into the Roman
territory, for which the imperial officers were wholly unprepared. A
considerable impression would probably have been produced, had not
the weather proved exceedingly unpropitious. Storms of rain and hail
hindered the advance of the Persian troops, and allowed the Roman
generals a breathing space, during which they collected an army. But
the Emperor Theodosius was anxious that the flames of war should not be
relighted in this quarter; and his instructions to the prefect of the
East, the Count Anatolius, were such as speedily led to the conclusion,
first of a truce for a year, and then of a lasting treaty. Anatolius
repaired as ambassador to the Persian camp, on foot and alone, so as to
place himself completely in Isdigerd's power--an act which so impressed
the latter that (we are told) he at once agreed to make peace on the
terms which Anatolius suggested. The exact nature of these terms is not
recorded; but they contained