142

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

XVIII.

Siege ofKiiibia.

A. D 338,346, 350

his crown, had been made a captive in the Per-sian camp. The unhappy youth, who mighthave excited the compassion of the most savageenemy, was scourged, tortured, and publiclyexecuted by the inhuman Romans . 1

Whatever advantages might attend the armsof Sapor in the field, though nine repeated vic-tories diffused among the nations the fame ofhis valour and conduct, he could not hope tosucceed in the execution of his designs, whilethe fortified towns of Mesopotamia , and aboveall, the strong and ancient city of Nisibis , re-mained in the possession of the Romans. Inthe space of twelve years, Nisibis , which, sincethe time of Lucullus , had been deservedlyesteemed the bulwark of the East, sustainedthree memorable sieges against the power ofSapor; and the disappointed monarch, afterurging his attacks above sixty, eighty, and anhundred days, was thrice repulsed with lossand ignominy/ This large and populous citywas situate about two days journey from theTigris, in the midst of a pleasant and fertileplain at the foot of mount Masius. A trebleinclosure of brick walls was defended by a deepditch ; 1 and the intrepid assistance of Count

* Libanius , Orat. hi, p. 133, with Julian. Orat. i, p. 24, andSpanheim’s Commentary, p. 179.

1 See Julian. Orat. i, p. 27 ; Orat. ii, p. 62, &c, with the Commen-tary ofSpanheim (p. 188 202), who illustrates the circumstances, andascertains the time, of the three sieges of Nisibis . Their dates arelikewise examined by Tillemont (Hist, des Empereurs , torn, iv, p.668,671, 674). Something is added from Zosimus , 1. iii, p. 151, and theAlexandrian Chronicle, p. 290.

* Sallust. Fragment, lxxxiv, edit. Brosses, and Plutarch in Lucull.tom. iii, p. 184. Nisibis is now reduced to one hundred and fifty

booses;