named Gaváh, who, at an unknown age, had headed an insurrection against the oppressors of his country, similar to that of Wat Tyler in England. Multitudes flocked to the popular flag, and the Parthian, or Arsacid dynasty, was speedily subverted. One great effect of this revolution was to give a sudden and complete check to the progress of Christianity eastward; it was thrown back upon the west; but it long retained the marks of its contact, with the mystic and gloomy doctrines that have from unknown ages prevailed in central Asia. The Magian religion was restored to its pristine splendor: the sacred fire, that had been concealed in the mountains, once more burned on the ancient altars; and the Sassanides, as Ardeshír's dynasty was named from Sassan, the most celebrated of his ancestors, refused to tolerate any faith but that of Zerdusht, or Zoroaster.

The great aim of the Sassanid dynasty was to restore the nationality of Persia; many of the edifices of the Hystaspid times were repaired, and all new buildings erected by the successors of Ardeshír were, as much as possible, constructed on ancient models. Hence many of their buildings are attributed to the earlier races of kings; and it is not often easy to determine from external evidence to which age of Persian history their splendid halls and palaces should be assigned. The remains of the magnificent palace of the Persian kings in Ctesiphon, which bears the name of Cyrus, may be unquestionably regarded as a Sassanid monument; and as such the building affords proof of the great power and wealth of the house of Sassan.

Ardeshír, placed upon the throne of Cyrus, claimed that monarch's empire as his inheritance, and prepared to drive the Romans from Asia. Alexander hastened to Antioch, and marched against the Persians, over whom he gained a great victory; but a pestilence breaking out in his army prevented him from improving his advantages. He returned to Rome, and entered the city in triumph, his chariot being drawn, not, as was usual, by four white horses, but by four of the elephants he had captured. Soon after his return, intelligence arrived that the Germans had passed the Rhine, and were devastating Gaul; upon which the emperor, to the great grief of the senate and people, led his victorious armies to protect that province. He found the legions quartered in Gaul demoralized by a long course of indulgence, and immediately exerted himself to restore the ancient discipline. The licentious soldiers could not endure the change, and their discontents were fomented by Maximin, a Thracian peasant, who had risen from the ranks to high command by his uncommon strength and valor. The prince's guards were bribed to quit their posts; and a band of assassins entering the imperial tent slew him without resistance (A. D. 235). Thus fell this excellent prince in the very bloom of youth, just as his plans for restoring the ancient glory of the empire were beginning to be matured.

SECTION VI. From the Murder of Alexander to the Captivity of Valerian and the Usurpation of the Thirty Tyrants.

FROM A. D. 235 To A. D. 259.

THE murder of Alexander occasioned a great tumult, and confusion in the camp, during which the Pannonians proclaimed Maximin em

peror; and the rest of the army seeing no other candidate come forward, acquiesced in their choice. Great personal strength was the first cause of the new emperor's elevation: it is said he could draw a wagon which two oxen could not move, tear trees up by the roots, and crush pebbles to dust in his hands. But he was a brutal, ignorant barbarian, uniting the cunning to the ferocity of a savage. He commenced his reign by massacring all who had been intimate with the late emperor, or who had shown sorrow for his death; and he sent orders to the senate to register his sanguinary decrees, without asking that body to confirm his election. The war against the Germans was continued with great success; one hundred and fifty of their villages were burned to the ground; their country, to an extent of four hundred square miles, laid desolate; and an incredible number of prisoners sent to be sold as slaves in Italy. Maximin marched next against the Dacians and Sarmatians, over whom he gained several victories; and it is believed that he would have extended the frontiers of the empire to the northern ocean, had not his avarice and cruelty provoked a civil war. The revolt commenced in Africa, where two young men of high rank being condemned by the emperor's receiver-general to pay a fine that would have reduced them to beggary, conspired to save their fortunes by destroying him; they were joined by several of the legionaries, and so rapid was their success, that they ventured to proclaim Gordian, proconsul of Africa, then in the eightieth year of his age, sovereign of the empire. When news of this event reached Rome, the senators with one accord revolted from Maximin, and ordered all his friends in the city to be murdered. Intelligence of these events being conveyed to Maximin, he made peace with the northern barbarians, and led his army toward Italy, promising his soldiers that they should be enriched by the forfeited estates of his enemies. On his march he learned that Gordian and his son had been defeated and slain by Capeliánus in Africa, but that the senate, undaunted by this calamity, had conferred the empire on Pupićnus and Balbínus. This choice did not satisfy the people; a vast multitude assembled while the new emperors were offering the usual sacrifice, and demanded with loud clamor a prince of the Gordian family. After vainly attempting to disperse the mob, Balbínus and Pupiénus sent for young Gordian, then only twelve years old, and proclaimed him Cæsar. In the meantime, Maximin entered Italy, and laid siege to Aquiléia. The garrison made a very brave defence; and the besiegers, hated by the entire empire, suffered more than the besieged, their stragglers being cut off, and their convoys intercepted. Exasperated by their sufferings, the imperialists resolved to remove the cause; a large body marched in the noonday to the tent of Maximin, and slew him, his son, and all his principal favorites (A. D. 238). Though several legions of Pannonians and Thracians were in the camp, they did not attempt to revenge the death of an emperor who had always shown more favor to the barbarian than the Roman legions.

Scarcely had domestic tranquillity been restored, when the empire was involved in foreign wars. The Car'pi and Goths, passing the Danube, ravaged the province of Moe'sia; while the Persians renewed their hostilities on the eastern frontiers. It was agreed among the princes, that Pupiénus should undertake the defence of Syria, Balbínus

march against the Goths, and Gordian remain at the head of the administration in Rome. But while the necessary armaments were in preparation, a dangerous mutiny broke out among the prætorians: Pupiénus and Balbínus, divided by mutual jealousies, could not unite for its suppression they were both murdered, and young Gordian remained sole emperor.

Misithéus, captain of the prætorian guards, and father-in-law of the emperor, acted as minister and guardian of young Gordian. He was admirably qualified for such an important office, uniting the valor of a soldier to the wisdom of a statesman. The rapid successes of Shahpúr, or, as he was called by the Romans, Sápor, the second prince of the Sassanid dynasty, directed the attention of the emperor to the Persian war, and he went in person to protect the province of Syria. On his march toward the Hellespont, Gordian was defeated in a tumultuous engagement by the Alans; but the barbarians did not know how to improve their success, and, after a short delay, he arrived safely in Asia. The Persians were defeated in every engagement; and Sápor, forced to abandon Mesopotámia, was pursued to the very gates of Ctes'iphon. But these victories were more than counterbalanced by the death of Misithéus, who showed his patriotism, even in his last moments, by bequeathing all his estates to the Roman people. Gordian, having appointed Philip, the Arabian, his prime minister, continued the war against Sápor, and gave the Persians a decisive overthrow on the banks of the Chab'oras (Khabúr), a tributary to the Euphrátes, in Mesopotamia. But while the young conqueror was pursuing the advantages of his victory, a mutiny was excited in his army by the traitor Philip, whom he was compelled to make a partner of his empire. Not content with this elevation, Philip procured the assassination of his youthful benefactor (A. D. 244); but the soldiers soon repented of their crime, and raised a splendid mausoleum to the memory of the youthful hero. Philip, being elevated to the empire by the army, wrote to the senate, ascribing the death of Gordian to a natural disease: he then concluded a hasty peace with the Persians, and, returning to Syria, made all speed to Rome. Though the senate and people, warmly attached to the Gordian family, at first regarded him with aversion, he soon won their affections by his mild administration and obliging behavior. He is said to have been secretly a Christian, but many of his actions show that he had little regard for any religion; however, he was a decided enemy to persecution. His reign was rendered remarkable by the celebration of secular games for the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the city: it was also disturbed by several insurrections, especially in Pannónia, the suppression of which he intrusted to Trajánus Décius. Scarcely had this general reached Illyricum, when his soldiers compelled him, by the threat of instant death, to assume the imperial purple. Philip, leaving his son to protect Rome, marched against Décius, but was defeated and slain near Verona (A. D. 249) His son was massacred by the prætorian guards.

Décius commenced his reign by one of the most sanguinary persecutions that ever oppressed the church. The Christians throughout the empire were driven from their habitations, dragged to execution like common malefactors, and subjected to the most exquisite tortures

cruelty itself could invent. The laws of nature and humanity were violated, friend betrayed friend, brother informed against brother, children against their parents, and parents against their children; every one thinking it meritorious to discover a Christian and procure his death. Décius vented his rage chiefly against the bishops. Among his victims were Fábian, bishop of Rome; Bab'ylaz, bishop of Antioch; and Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem. Great numbers of Christians betook themselves to mountains, rocks, and deserts, choosing rather to live among wild beasts than with men who had divested themselves of reason and humanity. Among these was the celebrated Paul, who withdrew into the deserts of Egypt, where he is said to have lived a solitary life for the greater part of a century. He is usually regarded as the father and founder of the order of anchorets, or hermits, whose superstitious austerities appear to have been derived from the extraordinary penances practised by the fanatics of central

and southern Asia.

This persecution was interrupted by an invasion of the Goths, who, for the first time, crossed the Danube in considerable numbers, and devastated Moe'sia. Décius marched against them, and gained some important advantages; but in his last battle, charging into the midst of the enemy to avenge the death of his son, he was overpowered and slain (A. D. 251). A great number of the Romans, thus deprived of their leader, fell victims to the barbarians; the survivors, grateful for the protection afforded them by the legions of Gallus, who commanded in the neighborhood, proclaimed that general emperor.

Gallus concluded a dishonorable peace with the Goths, and renewed the persecutions of the Christians. His dastardly conduct provoked general resentment; the provincial armies revolted, but the most dangerous insurrection was that headed by Æmiliánus, who was proclaimed emperor in Mo'sia. He led his forces into Italy, and the hostile armies met at Interamna (Terni); but just as an engagement was about to commence, Gallus was murdered by his own soldiers (A. D. 253), and Æmiliánus proclaimed emperor. In three months Æmiliánus himself met a similar fate, the army having chosen Valérian, the governor of Gaul, to the sovereignty.

Valérian, though now sixty years of age, possessed powers that might have revived the sinking fortunes of the empire, which was now invaded on all sides. The Goths, who had formed a powerful monarchy on the lower Danube and the northern coasts of the Black sea, extended their territories to the Borys'thenes (Dnieper) and Tanáis (Don): they ravaged Moe'sia, Thrace, and Macedon; while their fleets, which soon became formidable after the capture of the Tauric Chersonese (Crim Tartary), devastated the coasts both of the European and Asiatic provinces. The great confederation of the Franks became formidable on the lower Rhine, and not less dangerous was that of the Allemanni on the upper part of that river. The Carpians and Sarmatians laid Moe'sia waste.

The Sarmatians were particularly formidable for their cavalry: both horses and men were covered with a curious kind of scale armor formed of the sliced hoofs of animals, which hung sufficiently loose not to impede the motions of the warrior, and was yet strong enough to

turn aside arrows and javelins. The light cavalry of the Persians at the same time devastated the greater part of western Asia, extending their ravages even to the shores of the Mediterranean.

Galliénus, the emperor's son, whom Valérian had chosen for his colleague, and Aurelian, destined to succeed him in the empire, gained several victories over the Germanic tribes, while Valérian marched in person against the Scythians and Persians, who had invaded Asia. He gained a victory over the former in Anatolia, but, imprudently passing the Euphrátes, he was surrounded by Sápor's army near Edes'sa, in a situation where neither courage nor military skill could be of any avail, and was forced to surrender at discretion (A. D. 259). During nine years Valérian languished in hopeless captivity, the object of scorn and insult to his brutal conqueror, while no effort was made for his liberation by his unnatural son.

SECTION VII.-From the Captivity of Valerian to the Resignation of

Dioclesian.

FROM A. D. 260 TO A. D. 305.

GALLIE'NUS succeeded to the throne, receiving the news of his father's misfortunes with secret pleasure and open indifference. He seemed to be versed in everything but the art of government; "he was master of several curious but useless sciences, a ready orator and elegant poet, a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and most contemptible prince."* At the moment of his accession, the barbarians, encouraged by the captivity of Valérian, invaded the empire on all sides. Italy itself was invaded by the Germans, who advanced to Raven'na but they were forced to retire by the emperor. Galliénus, after this exertion, sunk into complete inactivity: his indolence roused a host of competitors for the empire in the different provinces, commonly called “the thirty tyrants," though the number of pretenders did not exceed nineteen. It would be impossible to describe the various struggles for power between these rivals, which distracted every part of the empire. Far the most remarkable of them was Odenátus, who assumed the purple at Palmy'ra, gained several great victories over the Persians, and besieged Sápor in Ctes'iphon. Though he failed to take the city, he checked for a long time the progress of the Sassan'ides. Galliénus, hearing of these great achievements, resolved to convert a rival into a friend, and proclaimed Odenátus his partner in the empire. But this great man was murdered by some of his own family: he was succeeded by his wife, the celebrated Zenóbia, who took the title of Queen of the East. Galliénus did not long survive him he was murdered while besieging Aureólus, one of his rivals, in Mediolanum (Milan); but before his death he transmitted his rights to Claúdius, a general of great reputation (A. D. 268). Most of the other tyrants had previously fallen in battle or by assassination.

Mar'cus Aurélius Claúdius, having conquered his only rival, Auréolus, marched against the Germans and Goths, whom he routed with great slaughter. He then prepared to march against Zenóbia, who had

Gibbon.