sisting in part of Parthians, in part of the Persians who
continued faithful to him, against his vassal, and, invading Persia,
soon brought his adversary to a battle. A long and bloody contest
followed, both sides suffering great losses; but victory finally
declared itself in favor of Artaxerxes, through the desertion to him,
during the engagement, of a portion of his enemy's forces. A second
conflict ensued within a short period, in which the insurgents were even
more completely successful; the carnage on the side of the Parthians
was great, the loss of the Persians small; and the great king fled
precipitately from the field. Still the resources of Parthia were equal
to a third trial of arms. After a brief pause, Artabanus made a final
effort to reduce his revolted vassal; and a last engagement took place
in the plain of Hormuz, which was a portion of the Jerahi valley, in the
beautiful country between Bebahan and Shuster. Here, after a desperate
conflict, the Parthian monarch suffered a third and signal defeat;
his army was scattered; and he himself lost his life in the combat.
According to some, his death was the result of a hand-to-hand conflict
with his great antagonist, who, pretending to fly, drew him on, and then
pierced his heart with an arrow.

The victory of Hormuz gave to Artaxerxes the dominion of the East; but
it did not secure him this result at once, or without further struggle.
Artabanus had left sons; and both in Bactria and Armenia there were
powerful branches of the Arsacid family, which could not see unmoved the
downfall of their kindred in Parthia. Chosroes, the Armenian monarch,
was a prince of considerable ability, and is said to have been set
upon his throne by Artabanus, whose brother he was, according to
some writers. At any rate he was an Arsacid; and he felt keenly the
diminution of his own influence involved in the transfer to an alien
race of the sovereignty wielded for five centuries by the descendants
of the first Arsaces. He had set his forces in motion, while the contest
between Artabanus and Artaxerxes was still in progress, in the hope of
affording substantial help to his relative. But the march of events was
too rapid for him; and, ere he could strike a blow, he found that the
time for effectual action had gone by, that Artabanus was no more,
and that the dominion of Artaxerxes was established over most of the
countries which had previously formed portions of the Parthian Empire.
St