exploits and trophies of six adventurous campaigns. It was the duty of the Byzantine historians to have revealed the causes of his slumber and vigilance. At this distance, we can only conjecture that he was endowed with more personal courage than political resolution; that he was detained by the charms, and perhaps the arts, of his niece Martina, with whom, after the death of Eudocia, he contracted an incestuous marriage; 73 and that he yielded to the base advice of the counsellors, who urged as a fundamental law, that the life of the emperor should never be exposed in the field.74 Perhaps he was awakened by the last insolent demand of the Persian conqueror; but at the moment when Heraclius assumed the spirit of an hero, the only hopes of the Romans were drawn from the vicissitudes of fortune, which might threaten the proud prosperity of Chosroes, and must be favourable to those who had attained the lowest period of depression.75 To provide for the expenses of war, was the first care of the emperor; and for the purpose of collecting the tribute, he was allowed to solicit the benevolence of the Eastern provinces. But the revenue no longer flowed in the usual channels; the credit of an arbitrary prince is annihilated by his power; and the courage of Heraclius was first displayed in daring to borrow the consecrated wealth of churches, under the solemn vow of restoring, with usury, whatever he had been compelled to employ in the service of religion and of the empire. The clergy themselves appear to have sympathised with the public distress; and the discreet patriarch of Alexandria, without admitting the precedent of sacrilege, assisted his sovereign by the miraculous or seasonable revelation of a secret treasure.76 Of the soldiers who had conspired with Phocas, only two were found to have survived the stroke of time and of the barbarians; 77 the loss, even of these seditious veterans, was imperfectly supplied by the new levies of Heraclius; and the gold of the sanctuary united, in the same camp, the names, and arms, and languages, of the East and West. He would have been content with the neutrality of the Avars; and his friendly entreaty, that the chagan would act, not as the enemy, but as the guardian, of the empire, was accompanied with a more persuasive donative of two hundred thousand pieces of gold. Two days after the festival of Easter, the emperor, exchanging his purple for the simple garb of a penitent and warrior,78 73 Nicephorus (p. 10, 11.), who brands this marriage with the names of abouor, and abeμirov, is happy to observe, that cf two sons, its incestuous fruit, the elder was marked by Providence with a stiff neck, the younger with the loss of hearing. 74 George of Pisidia (Acroas. i. 112-125. p. 5.), who states the opinions, acquits the pusillanimous counsellors of any sinister views. Would he have excused the proud and contemptuous admonition of Crispus ? Επιθωπτάζων ουκ εξον βασιλεί έφασκε καταλιμπάνειν βασιλεια, και τοις πόρρω επιχωριάζειν δυνάμεσιν. 75 Ει τας επ' ακρον ηρμένας ευεξίας George Pisid. Acroas. i. 51, &c. p. 4. The Orientals are not less fond of remarking this strange vicissitude; and I remember some story of Khosrou Parviz, not very unlike the ring of Polycrates of Samos. 76 Baronius gravely relates this discovery, or rather transmutation of barrels, not of honey, but of gold (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 620, No. 3, &c.). Yet the loan was arbitrary, since it was collected by soldiers, who were ordered to leave the patriarch of Alexandria no more than one hundred pounds of gold. Nicephorus (p. 11.), two hundred years afterwards, speaks with ill-humour of this contribution, which the church of Constantinople might still feel. First expedition of Heraclius against the Persians. A.D. 622. gave the signal of his departure. To the faith of the people Heraclius recommended his children; the civil and military powers were vested in the most deserving hands, and the discretion of the patriarch and senate was authorised to save or surrender the city, if they should be oppressed in his absence by the superior forces of the enemy. The neighbouring heights of Chalcedon were covered with tents and arms: but if the new levies of Heraclius had been rashly led to the attack, the victory of the Persians in the sight of Constantinople might have been the last day of the Roman empire. As imprudent would it have been to advance into the provinces of Asia, leaving their innumerable cavalry to intercept his convoys, and continually to hang on the lassitude and disorder of his rear. But the Greeks were still masters of the sea; a fleet of galleys, transports, and storeships, was assembled in the harbour; the barbarians consented to embark; a steady wind carried them through the Hellespont; the western and southern coast of Asia Minor lay on their left hand; the spirit of their chief was first displayed in a storm; and even the eunuchs of his train were excited to suffer and to work by the example of their master. He landed his troops on the confines of Syria and Cilicia, in the Gulf of Scanderoon, where the coast suddenly turns to the south; 79 and his discernment was expressed in the choice of this important post. 80 From all sides, the scattered garrisons of the maritime cities and the mountains might repair with speed and safety to his Imperial standard. The natural fortifications of Cilicia protected, and even concealed, the camp of Heraclius, which was pitched near Issus, on the same ground where Alexander had vanquished the host of Darius. The angle which the emperor occupied, was deeply indented into a vast semicircle of the Asiatic, Armenian, and Syrian provinces; and to whatsoever point of the circumference he should direct his attack, it was easy for him to dissemble his own motions, and to prevent those of the enemy. In the camp of Issus, the Roman general reformed the sloth and disorder of the veterans, and educated the new recruits in the knowledge and practice of military virtue. Unfolding the miraculous image of Christ, he urged them to revenge the holy altars which had been profaned by the worshippers of fire: addressing them by the endearing appellations of 77 Theophylact Simocatta, 1. viii. c. 12. This circumstance need not excite our surprise. The muster-roll of a regiment, even in time of peace, is renewed in less than twenty or twenty-five years. 78 He changed his purple, for black, buskins, and dyed them red in the blood of the Persians (Georg. Pisid. Acroas. iii. 118. 121, 122. See the Notes of Foggini, p. 35.). 79 George of Pisidia (Acroas. ii. 10. p. 8.) has fixed this important point of the Syrian and Cilician gates. They are elegantly described by Xenophon, who marched through them a thousand years before. A narrow pass of three stadia between steep high rocks (werpai nλiSara) and the Mediterranean, was closed at each end by strong gates, impregnable to the land (παρελθείν ουκ ην βιο), accessible by sea (Anabasis, 1. i. p. 35, 36. with Hutchinson's Geographical Dissertation, p. vi.). The gates were thirty-five parasange, or leagues, from Tarsus Anabasis, 1. 1. p. 83, 34.), and eight or ten from Antioch. (Compare Itinerar. Wesseling. p. 580, 581. Schultens, Index Geograph. ad calcem Vit. Saladin. p. 9. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, par M. Otter, tom. i. p. 78, 79.). 80 Heraclius might write to a friend in the modest words of Cicero ; "Castra habuimus ea ipsa quæ contra Darium habuerat apud Issum "Alexander, imperator haud paulo melior quam ant tu aut ego." Ad Atticum, v. 20. lasus, a rich and flourishing city in the time of Xenophon, was ruined by the prosperity of Alexandria or Scanderoon, on the other side of the bay. sons and brethren, he deplored the public and private wrongs of the republic. The subjects of a monarch were pérsuaded that they fought in the cause of freedom; and a similar enthusiasm was communicated to the foreign mercenaries, ho must have viewed with equal indifference the interest of Rome and of Persia. Heraclius himself, with the skill and patience of a centurion, inculcated the lessons of the school of tactics, and the soldiers were assiduously trained in the use of their weapons, and the exercises and evolutions of the field. The cavalry and infantry in light or heavy armour were divided into two parties; the trumpets were fixed in the centre, and their signals directed the march, the charge, the retreat, or pursuit; the direct or oblique order, the deep or extended phalanx; to represent in fictitious combat the operations of genuine war. Whatever hardship the emperor imposed on the troops, he inflicted with equal severity on himself; their labour, their diet, their sleep, were measured by the inflexible rules of discipline; and, without despising the enemy, they were taught to repose an implicit confidence in their own valour and the wisdom of their leader. Cilicia was soon encompassed with the Persian arms; but their cavalry hesitated to enter the defiles of Mount Taurus, till they were circumvented by the evolutions of Heraclius, who insensibly gained their rear, whilst he appeared to present his front in order of battle. By a false motion, which seemed to threaten Armenia, he drew them, against their wishes, to a general action. They were tempted by the artful disorder of his camp; but when they advanced to combat, the ground, the sun, and the expectation of both armies, were unpropitious to the barbarians; the Romans successfully repeated their tactics in a field of battle,81 and the event of the day declared to the world, that the Persians were not invincible, and that an hero was invested with the purple. Strong in victory and fame, Heraclius boldly ascended the heights of Mount Taurus, directed his march through the plains of Cappadocia, and established his troops for the winter season, in safe and plentiful quarters on the banks of the river Halys.82 His soul was superior to the vanity of entertaining Constantinople with an imperfect triumph: but the presence of the emperor was indispensably required to soothe the restless and rapacious spirit of the Avars. Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no 81 Foggini (Annotat. p. 31.) suspects that the Persians were de ceived by the paλave memλnyuern of Elian (Tactic. c. 48.) an intricate spiral motion of the army. He observes (p. 28.) that the military descriptions of George of Pisidia are transcribed in the Tactics of the emperor Leo. 82 George of Pisidia, an eye-witness (Acroas. ii. 122, &c.), described, in three acroaseis or cantos, the first expedition of Heraclius. The poem has been lately (1777) published at Rome; but such vague and declamatory praise is far from corresponding with the sanguine hopes of Pagi, D'Anville, &c. 83 Theophanes (p. 256.) carries Heraclius swiftly (cara raxoc) into Armenia. Nicephorus (p. 11.), though he confounds the two expedi tlons, defines the province of Lazica. Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. ና. 231.) has given the 5000 men, with the more probable station of Trebizond. 84 From Constantinople to Trebizond, with a fair wind, four or five days; from thence to Erzerom, five; to Erivan, twelve; to Tauris, ten; in all thirty-two. Such is the Itinerary of Tavernier (Voyages, tom. i. p. 12-56.), who was perfectly conversan: with the roads of Asia. Tournefort, who travelled with a pasha, spent ten or twelve days between Trebizond and Erzerom (Voyage du Levant, tom. ill. lettre xviii.); and Chardin, Voyages, tom. i. p. 249-254. gives the more correct distance of fifty-three parasangs, each of 5000 paces (what paces ?) between Erivan and Tauris. 85 The expedition of Heraclius into Persia is finely illustrated by M. D'Anville (Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviií. His second bolder enterprise had been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved expedition, for the deliverance of the empire. 83 A. D. 623, 624, He permitted the Persians to oppress 625. The for a while the provinces, and to insult with impunity the capital of the East; while the Roman emperor explored his perilous way through the Black Sea, and the mountains of Armenia, penetrated into the heart of Persia,85 and recalled the armies of the Great King to the defence of their bleeding country. With a select band of five thousand soldiers, Heraclius sailed from Constantinople to Trebizond; assembled his forces which had wintered in the Pontic regions; and from the mouth of the Phasis to the Caspian Sea, encouraged his subjects and allies to march with the successor of Constantine under the faithful and victorious banner of the cross. When the legions of Lucullus and Pompey first passed the Euphrates, they blushed at their easy victory over the natives of Armenia. But the long experience of war had hardened the minds and bodies of that effeminate people; their zeal and bravery were approved in the service of a declining empire; they abhorred and feared the usurpation of the house of Sassan, and the memory of persecution envenomed their pious hatred of the enemies of Christ. limits of Armenia, as it had been ceded to the emperor Maurice, extended as far as the Araxes: the river submitted to the indignity of a bridge, 86 and Heraclius, in the footsteps of Marc Antony, advanced towards the city of Tauris or Gandzaca,87 the ancient and modern capital of one of the provinces of Media. At the head of forty thousand men, Chosroes himself had returned from some distant expedition to oppose the progress of the Roman arms; but he retreated on the approach of Heraclius, declining the generous alternative of peace or of battle. Instead of half a million of inhabitants, which have been ascribed to Tauris under the reign of the Sophis, the city contained no more than three thousand houses; but the value of the royal treasures was enhanced by a tradition, that they were the spoils of Croesus, which had been transported by Cyrus from the citadel of Sardes. rapid conquests of Heraclius were suspended only by the winter season; a motive of prudence, or superstition,88 determined his retreat into the province of Albania, along the shores of the Caspian; and his tents were most probably pitched in the plains of Mogan,89 the favourite The p. 559-573.). He discovers the situation of Gandzaca, Thebarma, Dastagerd, &c. with admirable skill and learning; but the obscure campaign of 624 he passes over in silence. 86 Et pontem indignatus Araxes. Virgil, Æneid, viii. 728. The river Araxes is noisy, rapid, vehement, and, with the melting of the snows, irresistible; the strongest and most massy bridges are swept away by the current; and its indignation is attested by the ruins of many arches near the old town of Zulfa. Voyages de Chardin, tom. i. p. 252. 87 Chardin, tom. I. p. 255-259. With the Orientals (D ́Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. p. 831.), he ascribes the foundation of Tauris, or Tebris, to Zobeide, the wife of the famous khalif Haroun Alrashid; but it appears to have been more ancient; and the names of Gandzaca, Gazaca, Gaza, are expressive of the royal treasure. The number of 550,000 inhabitants is reduced by Chardin from 1,100,000, the popular estimate. S8 He opened the Gospel, and applied or interpreted the first casual passage to the name and situation of Albania. Theophanes, p. 258. 89 The heath of Mogan, between the Cyrus and the Araxes, is sixty parasangs in length and twenty in breadth (Olearius, p. 1023, 1021.), abounding in waters and fruitful pastures (Hist. de Nader Shah, translated by Mr. Jones from a Persian MS. part ii. p. 2, 3.). See the encampments of Timur (Hist. par Sherefeddin Ali, 1. v. c. 37. 1. vi. c. 13. and the coronation of Nader Shah (Hist. Persanne, p. 313. and the English Life by Mr. Jones, p. 61, 63.). encampment of Oriental princes. In the course of this successful inroad, he signalised the zeal and revenge of a Christian emperor: at his command, the soldiers extinguished the fire, and destroyed the temples, of the Magi; the statues of Chosroes, who aspired to divine honours, were abandoned to the flames; and the ruins of Thebarma or Ormia, which had given birth to Zoroaster himself, made some atonement for the injuries of the holy sepulchre. A purer spirit of religion was shown in the relief and deliverance of fifty thousand captives. Heraclius was rewarded by their tears and grateful acclamations; but this wise measure, which spread the fame of his benevolence, diffused the murmurs of the Persians against the pride and obstinacy of their own sovereign. Amidst the glories of the succeeding campaign, Heraclius is almost lost to our eyes, and to those of the Byzantine historians.91 From the spacious and fruitful plains of Albania, the emperor appears to follow the chain of Hyrcanian mountains, to descend into the province of Media or Irak, and to carry his victorious arms as far as the royal cities of Casbin and Ispahan, which had never been approached by a Roman conqueror. Alarmed by the danger of his kingdom, the powers of Chosroes were already recalled from the Nile and the Bosphorus, and three formidable armies surrounded, in a distant and hostile land, the camp of the emperor. The Colchian allies prepared to desert his standard; and the fears of the bravest veterans were expressed, rather than concealed, by their desponding silence. "Be not terrified," "said the intrepid Heraclius, 66 by the multi ❝tude of your foes. With the aid of Heaven, "one Roman may triumph over a thousand "barbarians. But if we devote our lives for the "salvation of our brethren, we shall obtain the "crown of martyrdom, and our immortal reward "will be liberally paid by God and posterity." These magnanimous sentiments were supported by the vigour of his actions. He repelled the threefold attack of the Persians, improved the divisions of their chiefs, and, by a well-concerted train of marches, retreats, and successful actions, finally chased them from the field into the fortified cities of Media and Assyria. In the severity of the winter season, Sabaraza deemed himself secure in the walls of Salban; he was surprised by the activity of Heraclius, who divided his troops, and performed a laborious march in the silence of the night. The flat roofs of the houses were defended with useless valour against the darts and torches of the Romans: the satraps and nobles of Persia, with their wives and children, and the flower of their martial youth, were either slain or made prisoners. The general escaped by a precipitate 90 Thebarma and Ormia, near the lake Spauta, are proved to be the same city by D'Anville (Mémoires de l'Académie, tom. xxviii. p. 564, 565.). It is honoured as the birth-place of Zoroaster, according to the Persians (Schultens, Index Geograph. p. 48.); and their tradition is fortified by M. Perron d'Anquétil (Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript. tom. xxxi. p. 375.), with some texts from his, or their, Zenda vesta. 91 I cannot find, and (what is much more) M. d'Anville does not attempt to seek, the Salban, Tarantum, territory of the Huns, &c. mentioned by Theophanes (p. 260-262.). Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 231, 232.), an insufficient author, rames Asphahan; and Cabin is most probably the city of Sapor. Ispahan is twenty-four days' journey Deliverance of flight, but his golden armour was the prize of the conqueror; and the soldiers of Heraclius enjoyed the wealth and repose which they had so nobly deserved. On the return of spring, the emperor traversed in seven days the mountains of Curdistan, and passed without resistance the rapid stream of the Tigris. Oppressed by the weight of their spoils and captives, the Roman army halted under the walls of Amida; and Heraclius informed the senate of Constantinople of his safety and success, which they had already felt by the retreat of the besiegers. The bridges of the Euphrates were destroyed by the Persians; but as soon as the emperor had discovered a ford, they hastily retired to defend the banks of the Sarus, 92 in Cilicia. That river, an impetuous torrent, was about three hundred feet broad, the bridge was fortified with strong turrets, and the banks were lined with barbarian archers. After a bloody conflict, which continued till the evening, the Romans prevailed in the assault, and a Persian of gigantic size was slain and thrown into the Sarus by the hand of the emperor himself. The enemies were dispersed and dismayed; Heraclius pursued his march to Sebaste in Cappadocia; and at the expiration of three years, the same coast of the Euxine applauded his return from a long and victorious expedition. 93 Instead of skirmishing on the frontier, the two monarchs who disputed the empire of the East aimed their desperate strokes at the heart of their rival. The military force of Persia was wasted by the marches and combats of twenty years, and many of the veterans, who had survived the perils of the sword and the climate, were still detained in the fortresses of Egypt and Syria. But the revenge and ambition of Chosroes exhausted his kingdom; and the new levies of subjects, strangers, and slaves, were divided into three formidable bodies.94 The first army of fifty thousand men, illustrious by the ornament and title of the golden spears, was destined to march against Heraclius; the second was stationed to prevent his junction with the troops of his brother Theodorus; and the third was commanded to besiege Constantinople, and to second the operations of the chagan, with whom the Persian king had ratified a treaty of alliance and partition. Sarbar, the general of the third army, penetrated through the provinces of Asia to the well-known camp of Chalcedon, and amused himself with the destruction of the sacred and profane buildings of the Asiatic suburbs, while he impatiently waited the arrival of his Scythian friends on the opposite side of the Bosphorus. On the twenty-ninth of June, thirty thousand barbarians, the vanguard of the Avars, forced the long wall, and drove into the capital a pro Constantinople sians and A vars. from the Per A. D. 626. from Tauris, and Casbin half way between them (Voyages de Tavernier, tom. i. p. 63-82.). 92 At ten parasangs from Tarsus, the army of the younger Cyrus passed the Sarus, three plethra in breadth: the Pyramus, a stadium in breadth, ran five parasangs farther to the east (Xenophon. Anabas. 1. i. p. 33, 31.). 93 George of Pisidia (Bell. Abaricum, 246–265. p. 19.) celebrates with truth the persevering courage of the three campaigns (7peię wept8popove) against the Persians. 94 Petavius (Annotationes ad Nicephorum, p. 62, 63, 64.) discriminates the names and actions of five Persian generals who were succes. sively sent against Heraclius. miscuous crowd of peasants, citizens, and soldiers. Fourscore thousand 95 of his native subjects, and of the vassal tribes of Gepidæ, Russians, Bulgarians, and Sclavonians, advanced under the standard of the chagan; a month was spent in marches and negotiations, but the whole city was invested on the thirty-first of July, from the suburbs of Pera and Galata to the Blachernæ and seven towers; and the inhabitants descried with terror the flaming signals of the European and Asiatic shores. In the mean while the magistrates of Constantinople repeatedly strove to purchase the retreat of the chagan: but their deputies were rejected and insulted; and he suffered the patricians to stand before his throne, while the Persian envoys, in silk robes, were seated by his side. "You see," said the haughty barbarian, "the proofs of my perfect union with "the Great King; and his lieutenant is ready "to send into my camp a select band of three "thousand warroirs. Presume no longer to "tempt your master with a partial and inade"quate ransom: your wealth and your city are "the only presents worthy of my acceptance. "For yourselves, I shall permit you to depart, "each with an under-garment, and a shirt; and, "at my entreaty, my friend Sarbar will not re"fuse a passage through his lines. Your ab"sent prince, even now a captive or a fugitive, "has left Constantinople to its fate; nor can you "escape the arms of the Avars and Persians, "unless you could soar into air like birds, un"less like fishes you could dive into the waves."96 During ten successive days, the capital was assaulted by the Avars, who had made some progress in the science of attack; they advanced to sap or batter the wall, under the cover of the impenetrable tortoise; their engines discharged a perpetual volley of stones and darts; and twelve lofty towers of wood exalted the combatants to the height of the neighbouring ramparts. But the senate and people were animated by the spirit of Heraclius, who had detached to their relief a body of twelve thousand cuirassiers; the powers of fire and mechanics were used with superior art and success in the defence of Constantinople; and the galleys, with two and three ranks of oars, commanded the Bosphorus, and rendered the Persians the idle spectators of the defeat of their allies. The Avars were repulsed; a fleet of Sclavonian canoes was destroyed in the harbour; the vassals of the chagan threatened to desert, his provisions were exhausted, and after burning his engines, he gave the signal of a slow and formidable retreat. The devotion of the Romans ascribed this signal deliverance to the Virgin Mary; but the mother of Christ would 95 This number of eight myriads is specified by George of Pisidia (Bell. Abar. 219.). The poet (50-88.) clearly indicates that the old chagan lived till the reign of Heraclius, and that his son and successor was born of a foreign mother. Yet Foggini (Annotat. p. 57.) has given another interpretation to this passage. 96 A bird, a frog, a mouse, and five arrows, had been the present of the Scythian king to Darius (Herodot. 1. iv. c. 131, 132.). Substituez une lettre à ces signes (says Rousseau, with much good taste) plus elle sera menaçante moins elle effrayera: ce ne sera qu'une fanfaronnade dont Darius n'eut fait que rire (Emile, tom. in. p. 146.). Yet I much question whether the senate and people of Constantinople laughed at this message of the chagan. 97 The Paschal Chronicle (p. 392-397.) gives a minute and authentic narrative of the siege and deliverance of Constantinople. Theophanes (p. 261.) adds some circumstances; and a faint light may be obtained from the smoke of George of Pisidia, who has composed a poem (de Bello Abarico, p. 45-54.) to commemorate this auspicious event. he maintained a defensive war against the fifty thousand gold spears of Persia. His anxiety was relieved by the deliverance of Constantinople; his hopes were confirmed by a victory of his brother Theodorus; and to the hostile league of Chosroes with the Avars, the Roman emperor opposed the useful and honourable alliance of the Turks. At his liberal invitation, the horde of Chozars 98 transported their tents from the plains of the Volga to the mountains of Georgia; Heraclius received them in the neighbourhood of Teflis, and the khan with his nobles dismounted from their horses, if we may credit the Greeks, and fell prostrate on the ground, to adore the purple of the Cæsar. Such voluntary homage and important aid were entitled to the warmest acknowledgments; and the emperor, taking off his own diadem, placed it on the head of the Turkish prince, whom he saluted with a tender embrace and the appellation of son. After a sumptuous banquet, he presented Ziebel with the plate and ornaments, the gold, the gems, and the silk, which had been used at the Imperial table, and, with his own hand, distributed rich jewels and earrings to his new allies. In a secret interview, he produced the portrait of his daughter Eudocia,99 condescended to flatter the barbarian with the promise of a fair and august bride, obtained an immediate succour of forty thousand horse, and negotiated a strong diversion of the Turkish arms on the side of the Oxus. 100 The Persians, in their turn, retreated with precipitation; in the camp of Edessa, Heraclius reviewed an army of seventy thousand Romans and strangers; and some months were successfully employed in the recovery of the cities of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia, whose fortifications had been imperfectly restored. Sarbar still maintained the important station of Chalcedon : but the jealousy of Chosroes, or the artifice of Heraclius, soon alienated the mind of that powerful satrap from the service of his king and country. A messenger was intercepted with a real or fictitious mandate to the cadarigan, or second in command, directing him to send, without delay, to the throne, the head of a guilty or unfortunate general. The despatches were transmitted to Sarbar himself; and as soon as he read the sentence of his own death, he dexterously inserted the names of four 98 The power of the Chozars prevailed in the viith, viiith, and ixth centuries. They were known to the Greeks, the Arabs, and, under the name of Kosa, to the Chinese themselves. De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. part ii. p. 507-509. 99 Epiphania, or Eudocia, the only daughter of Heraclius and his first wife Eudocia, was born at Constantinople on the 7th of July, A. D. 611, baptized the 15th of August, and crowned (in the oratory of St. Stephen in the palace) the 4th of October of the same year. At this time she was about fifteen. Eudocia was afterwards sent to her Turkish husband, but the news of his death stopped her journey, and prevented the consummation (Ducange, Familie Byzantin. p. 118.). 100 Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 13-16.) gives some curious and probable facts: but his numbers are rather too high 300,000 Ho mans assembled at Edessa- 500,000 Persians killed at Nineveh. The abatement of a cypher is scarcely enough to restore his sanity. hundred officers, assembled a military council, and asked the cadarigan, whether he was prepared to execute the commands of their tyrant? The Persians unanimously declared, that Chosroes had forfeited the sceptre; a separate treaty was concluded with the government of Constantinople; and if some considerations of honour or policy restrained Sarbar from joining the standard of Heraclius, the emperor was assured, that he might prosecute, without interruption, his designs of victory and peace. His third expe Deprived of his firmest support, dition, and doubtful of the fidelity of his A. D. 627; subjects, the greatness of Chosroes was still conspicuous in its ruins. The number of five hundred thousand may be interpreted as an Oriental metaphor, to describe the men and arms, the horses and elephants, that covered Media and Assyria against the invasion of Heraclius. Yet the Romans boldly advanced from the Araxes to the Tigris, and the timid prudence of Rhazates was content to follow them by forced marches through a desolate country, till he received a peremptory mandate to risk the fate of Persia in a decisive battle. Eastward of the Tigris, at the end of the bridge of Mosal, the great Nineveh had formerly been erected: 101 the city, and even the ruins of the city, had long since disappeared: 102 the vacant space afforded a spacious field for the operations of the two armies. But these operations are neglected by the Byzantine historians, and, like the authors of epic poetry and romance, they ascribe the victory, not to the military conduct, but to the personal valour, of their favourite hero. On this memorable day, Heraclius, on his horse Phallas, and victories, surpassed the bravest of his warriors: December 1. his lip was pierced with a spear, &c. the steed was wounded in the thigh, but he carried his master safe and victorious through the triple phalanx of the barbarians. In the heat of the action, three valiant chiefs were successively slain by the sword and lance of the emperor: among these was Rhazates himself; he fell like a soldier, but the sight of his head scattered grief and despair through the fainting ranks of the Persians. His armour of pure and massy gold, the shield of one hundred and twenty plates, the sword and belt, the saddle and cuirass, adorned the triumph of Heraclius; and if he had not been faithful to Christ and his mother, the champion of Rome might have offered the fourth opime spoils to the Jupiter of the Capitol. 103 In the battle of Nineveh, which was fiercely fought from daybreak to the eleventh hour, twenty-eight standards, beside those which might be broken or torn, were taken from the Persians; the greatest part of their army was cut in pieces; and the victors, concealing their own loss, passed the night on 101 Ctesias (apud Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. . ii. p. 115. edit. Wesseling) assigns 480 stadia (perhaps only 32 miles) for the circumference of Nineveh. Jonas talks of three days' journey: the 120,000 persons described by the prophet as incapable of discerning their right hand from their left, may afford about 700,000 persons of all ages for the inhabitants of that ancient capital (Goguet, Origines des Loix, &c. tom. iii. part i. p. 92, 93.), which ceased to exist 600 years before Christ. The western suburb still subsisted, and is mentioned under the name of Mosul, in the first age of the Arabian khalifs. 102 Niebuhr (Voyage en Arabie, &c. tom. ii. p. 286.) passed over Nineveh without perceiving it. He mistook for a ridge of hills the old rampart of brick or earth. It is said to have been 100 feet high, flanked with 1500 towers, each of the height of 200 feet. the field. They acknowledged, that on this occasion it was less difficult to kill than to discomfit the soldiers of Chosroes; amidst the bodies of their friends, no more than two bowshots from the enemy, the remnant of the Persian cavalry stood firm till the seventh hour of the night; about the eighth hour they retired to their unrifled camp, collected their baggage, and dispersed on all sides, from the want of orders rather than of resolution. The diligence of Heraclius was not less admirable in the use of victory; by a march of forty-eight miles in four and twenty hours, his vanguard occupied the bridges of the great and the lesser Zab; and the cities and palaces of Assyria were open for the first time to the Romans. By a just gradation of magnificent scenes, they penetrated to the royal seat of Dastagerd; and, though much of the treasure had been removed, and much had been expended, the remaining wealth appears to have exceeded their hopes, and even to have satiated their avarice. Whatever could not be easily transported they consumed with fire, that Chosroes might feel the anguish of those wounds, which he had so often inflicted on the provinces of the empire and justice might allow the excuse, if the desolation had been confined to the works of regal luxury, if national hatred, military licence, and religious zeal, had not wasted with equal rage the habitations and the temples of the guiltless subject. The recovery of three hundred Roman standards, and the deliverance of the numerous captives of Edessa and Alexandria, reflect a purer glory on the arms of Heraclius. From the palace of Dastagerd, he pursued his march within a few miles of Modain or Ctesiphon, till he was stopped, on the banks of the Arba, by the difficulty of the passage, the rigour of the season, and perhaps the fame of an impregnable capital. The return of the emperor is marked by the modern name of the city of Sherhzour; he fortunately passed Mount Zara, before the snow, which fell incessantly thirtyfour days; and the citizens of Gandzaca, or Tauris, were compelled to entertain his soldiers and their horses with an hospitable reception. 104 When the ambition of Chosroes was reduced to the defence of his hereditary kingdom, the love of glory, or even the sense of shame, should have urged him to meet his rival in the field. battle of Nineveh, his courage might have taught the Persians to vanquish, or he might have fallen with honour by the lance of a Roman emperor. The successor of Cyrus chose rather, at a secure distance, to expect the event, to assemble the relics of the defeat, and to retire by measured steps before the march of Heraclius, till he beheld with a sigh the once loved mansions of Dastagerd. Both his friends and enemies were persuaded, Flight of Chosroes. A. D. 627, Dec. 29. In the 103 Rex regia arma fero (says Romulus, in the first consecration) -bina postea (continues Livy, i. 10.) inter tot bella, opima parta sunt spolia, adeo rara ejus fortuna decoris. If Varro (apud Pomp. Festum, p. 306. edit. Däcier) could justify his liberality in granting the opime spoils even to a common soldier who had slain the king or general of the enemy, the honour would have been much more cheap and common. 101 In describing this last expedition of Heraclius, the facts, the places, and the dates of Theophanes (p. 265-271.) are so accurate and authentic, that he must have followed the original letters of the emperor, of which the Paschal Chronicle has preserved (p. 398-402.) a very curious specimen. |