OP THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 435 monarch an important territory, which, since the reign CHAP, of Nero, had been always granted under the protec- ^^ tion of the empire to a younger branch of the house of Arsaces When Tiridates appeared on the frontiers of Arme- A.D. 286. nia, he was received with an unfeigned transport of joy tion "t? the and loyalty. During twenty-six years, the country had throne of experienced the real and imaginary hardships of a fo- reign yoke. The Persian monarchs adorned their new conquest with magnificent buildings ; but those monu- ments had been erected at the expense of the people, and were abhorred as badges of slavery. The appre- State of the hension of a revolt had inspired the most rigorous pre- ^^^^^^y* cautions : oppression had been aggravated by insult, and the consciousness of the public hatred had been productive of every measure that could render it still more implacable. We have already remarked the in- tolerant spirit of the magian religion. The statues of the deified kings of Armenia, and the sacred images of the sun and moon, were broke in pieces by the zeal of the conqueror ; and the perpetual fire of Ormuzd was kindled and preserved upon an altar erected on the summit of mount Bagavan It was natural that a Revolt of people, exasperated by so many injuries, should arm and noble^ with zeal in the cause of their independence, their re- ligion, and their hereditary sovereign. The torrent bore down every obstacle, and the Persian garrisons retreated before its fury. The nobles of Armenia flew to the standard of Tiridates, all alleging their past merit, offering their future service, and soliciting from the new king those honours and rewards from which they had been excluded with disdain under the foreign government. The command of the army was bestowed ^ See the sixty-second and sixty-third books of Dion Cassius.
- Moses of Chorene, Hist. Armen. 1. ii. c. 74. The statues had been
erected by Valarsaces, who reigned in Armenia about one hundred and thirty years before Christ, and was the first king of the family of Arsaces. See Moses, Hist. Armen. 1. ii. 2, 3. The deification of the Arsacides is mentioned by Justin, xli. 5. and by Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 6. •' The Armenian nobility was numerous and powerful. Moses mentions many families which were distinguished under the reign of Valarsaces, Ff2
