Syria, the Jews resident in Tyre, who
numbered four thousand, plotted with their co-religionists of Jerusalem,
Cyprus, Damascus, and Galilee, a general massacre of the Tyrian
Christians on a certain day. The plot was discovered; and the Jews of
Tyre were arrested and imprisoned by their fellow-citizens, who put the
city in a state of defence; and when the foreign Jews, to the number of
26,000, came at the appointed time, repulsed them from the walls, and
defeated them with great slaughter. This story suggests the idea of a
complete and general disorganization. But on the other hand we hear of
an augmentation of the revenue under Chosroes II., which seems to imply
the establishment in the regions conquered of a settled government; and
the palace at Mashita, discovered by a recent traveller, is a striking
proof that no temporary occupation was contemplated, but that Chosroes
regarded his conquests as permanent acquisitions, and meant to hold them
and even visit them occasionally.

Heraclius was now well-nigh driven to despair. The loss of Egypt reduced
Constantinople to want, and its noisy populace clamored for food. The
Avars overran Thrace, and continually approached nearer to the capital.
The glitter of the Persian arms was to be seen at any moment, if he
looked from his palace windows across the Bosphorus. No prospect of
assistance or relief appeared from any quarter. The empire was reduced
to the walls of Constantinople, with the remnant of Greece, Italy, and
Africa, and some maritime cities, from Tyre to Trebizond, of the Asiatic
Coast. It is not surprising that under the circumstances the despondent
monarch determined on flight, and secretly made arrangements for
transporting himself and his treasures to the distant Carthage, where
he might hope at least to find himself in safety. His ships, laden with
their precious freight, had put to sea, and he was about to follow them,
when his intention became known or was suspected; the people rose; and
the Patriarch, espousing their side, forced the reluctant prince to
accompany him to the church of St. Sophia, and there make oath that,
come what might, he would not separate his fortunes from those of the
imperial city.

Baffled in his design to escape from his difficulties by flight,
Heraclius took a desperate resolution. He would leave Constantinople to
its fate, trust its safety to the protection afforded by its walls and
by the strait which separated it from Asia, emba