eld the throne for no more than
four years, and generally allowed that he died peaceably by a natural
death. He was a wise and just prince, mild in his temper, averse to
military enterprises, and inclined to expect better results from pacific
arrangements than from wars and expeditions. His internal administration
of the empire gave general satisfaction to his subjects; he protected
and relieved the poor, extended cultivation, and punished governors who
allowed any men in their province to fall into indigence. His prudence
and moderation are especially conspicuous in his arrangement of the
Armenian difficulty, whereby he healed a chronic sore that had long
drained, the resources of his country. His submission to pay tribute
to the Ephthalites may be thought to indicate a want of courage or
of patriotism; but there are times when the purchase of a peace is
a necessity; and it is not clear that Balas was minded to bear the
obligation imposed on him a moment longer than was necessary. The
writers who record the fact that Persia submitted for a time to pay a
tribute limit the interval during which the obligation held to a couple
of years. It would seem, therefore, that Balas, who reigned four years,
must, a year at least before his demise, have shaken off the Ephthalite
yoke and ceased to make any acknowledgment of dependence. Probably it
was owing to the new attitude assumed by him that the Ephthalites,
after refusing to give Kobad any material support for the space of three
years, adopted a new policy in the year of Balas's death (A.D. 487), and
lent the pretender a force with which he was about to attack his uncle
when news reached him that attack was needless, since Balas was dead and
his own claim to the succession undisputed. Balas nominated no successor
upon his death-bed, thus giving in his last moments an additional proof
of that moderation and love of peace which had characterized his reign.

Coins, which possess several points of interest, are assigned to Balas
by the best authorities. They bear on the obverse the head of the king
with the usual mural crown surmounted by a crescent and inflated ball.
The beard is short and curled. The hair falls behind the head, also
in curls. The earring, wherewith the ear is ornamented, has a double
pendent. Flames issue from the left shoulder, an exceptional peculiarity
in the Sassanian series, but one which is found also among the
Indo-Scythian kings with whom Balas was so clo