writers; by which it appears evident that the person named Frumentius was the Abba Salama or Fremonatos noticed by the Chronicle; who, after having resided some years in Abyssinia, was raised to the rank of a bishop by Athanasius, and first introduced Christianity among the inhabitants. It subsequently appears, that, on the Arians gaining the ascendency in the following reign, the Emperor Constantius sent an embassy through Theophilus, an Indian,[1] with a letter addressed to the ruling sovereigns Aizana and Saizana, whom he styles αδελφοι τιμιωτατοι, most dear brethren, for the purpose of persuading Frumentius to relinquish the doctrines of Athanasius, and to adopt those of the new patriarch Georgius; and that such monarchs reigned in Abyssinia is clearly proved by the inscription I discovered at Axum. Some difficulty exists in ascertaining to which of the sovereigns mentioned in the list these appellations may apply; in my former narrative I attributed them to Abreha, and Atsbeha: but from the date which must be allowed to Constantius's letter (A.D. 356) Mr. Murray was of opinion, that it ought to be applied to some of the succeeding kings: but this change I do not conceive necessary; as it is not improbable that the names of the sovereigns who reigned when Frumentius was first sent into the country might (even though they had ceased to reign,) have been used on the second occasion, by the Emperor Constantius.
At this period the power of the emperors of Abyssinia seems to have been very fully established, and their conquests to have extended over part of Arabia, and from Zeyla up to the junction of the Tacazze with the Nile. Such, at least, is the extent of the jurisdiction assumed by one of the Adulitic inscriptions, which, since I gave my suggestions to the public, has been allowed by several persons, eminently qualified to decide on the question, to commemorate the transactions of an Abyssinian sovereign, and in all probability of the same prince who erected the monument at Axum.[2]
