t, but bided his time, remaining quietly in
his province, and cultivating friendly relations with the Roman emperor.

Kobad had not been seated on the throne many months when he consented
to a deed by which his character for justice and clemency was seriously
compromised, if not wholly lost. This was the general massacre of all
the other sons of Chosroes II., his own brothers or half-brothers--a
numerous body, amounting to forty according to the highest estimate, and
to fifteen according to the lowest. We are not told of any circumstances
of peril to justify the deed, or even account for it. There have been
Oriental dynasties, where such a wholesale murder upon the accession of
a sovereign has been a portion of the established system of government,
and others where the milder but little less revolting expedient has
obtained of blinding all the brothers of the reigning prince; but
neither practice was in vogue among the Sassanians; and we look vainly
for the reason which caused an act of the kind to be resorted to at
this conjuncture. Mirkhond says that Piruz, the chief minister of Kobad,
advised the deed; but even he assigns no motive for the massacre, unless
a motive is implied in the statement that the brothers of Kobad
were "all of them distinguished by their talents and their merit."
Politically speaking, the measure might have been harmless, had Kobad
enjoyed a long reign, and left behind him a number of sons. But as it
was, the rash act, by almost extinguishing the race of Sassan, produced
troubles which greatly helped to bring the empire into a condition of
hopeless exhaustion and weakness.

While thus destroying all his brothers, Kobad allowed his sisters to
live. Of these there were two, still unmarried, who resided in the
palace, and had free access to the monarch. Their names were Purandocht
and Azermidocht, Purandocht being the elder. Bitterly grieved at the
loss of their kindred, these two princesses rushed into the royal
presence, and reproached the king with words that cut him to the soul.
"Thy ambition of ruling," they said, "has induced thee to kill thy
father and thy brothers. Thou hast accomplished thy purpose within the
space of three or four months. Thou hast hoped thereby to preserve thy
power forever. Even, however, if thou shouldst live long, thou must die
at last. May God deprive thee of the enjoyment of this royalty!" His
sisters' words sank deep into the king's mind. He acknowledged their
jus