he malcontents, and, rushing
into the presence-chamber, dragged the tyrant from his throne, stripped
him of the diadem, and committed him to the dungeon from which they had
themselves escaped. The Byzantine historians believed that, after this,
Hormisdas was permitted to plead his cause before an assembly of Persian
nobles, to glorify his own reign, vituperate his eldest son, Chosroes,
and express his willingness to abdicate in favor of another son, who
had never offended him. They supposed that this ill-judged oration had
sealed the fate of the youth recommended and of his mother, who were cut
to pieces before the fallen monarch's eyes, while at the same time the
rage of the assembly was vented in part upon Hormisdas himself, who was
blinded, to make his restoration impossible. But a judicious critic will
doubt the likelihood of rebels, committed as were Bindoes and Bostam,
consenting to allow such an appeal as is described by Theophylact; and
a perusal of the speeches assigned to the occasion will certainly not
diminish his scepticism. The probability would seem to be that Hormisdas
was blinded as soon as committed to prison, and that shortly afterwards
he suffered the general fate of deposed sovereigns, being assassinated
in his place of confinement.

The deposition of Hormisdas was followed almost immediately by the
proclamation of his eldest son, Chosroes, the prince known in history
as "Eberwiz" or "Parviz," the last great Persian monarch. The rebels at
Ctesiphon had perhaps acted from first to last with his cognizance: at
any rate, they calculated on his pardoning proceedings which had given
him actual possession of a throne whereto, without their aid, he might
never have succeeded. They accordingly declared him king of Persia
without binding him by conditions, and without negotiating with Bahram,
who was still in arms and at no great distance.

Before passing to the consideration of the eventful reign with which we
shall now have to occupy ourselves, a glance at the personal character
of the deceased monarch will perhaps be expected by the reader. Hormuzd
is pronounced by the concurrent voice of the Greeks and the Orientals
one of the worst princes that ever ruled over Persia. The fair promise
of his early years was quickly clouded over; and during the greater
portion of his reign he was a jealous and capricious tyrant, influenced
by unworthy favorites, and stimulated to ever-increasing severities by
his fears.