Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/62

40 THE DECLINE AND FALL I have studied to compress the narrative of these uninteresting transactions ; but the just Nushirvan is still applauded as the model of Oriental kings, and the ambition of his grandson Chosroes prepared the revolution of the East, which was speedily afcomplished by the arms and the religion of the successors of Mahomet. Conquest of In the usclcss altercations that prcccdc and justify the quarrels NnSarvf^ of princcs, the Greeks and the barbarians accused each other of ' '^' violating the peace which had been concluded between the two empires about four years before the death of Justinian. The sovereign of Persia and India aspired to reduce under his obedience the province of Yemen or Arabia ^ Felix, the distant land of myrrh and frankincense, which had escaped, rather than opposed, the conquerors of the East. After the defeat of Abrahah under the walls of Mecca,"* the discord of his sons and brothers gave an easy entrance to the Persians ; they chased the strangers of Abyssinia beyond the Red Sea ; and a native [8»if] prince of the ancient Homerites was restored to the throne as the vassal or viceroy of the great Nushirvan.^' But the nephew of .Justinian declared his resolution to avenge the injuries of his Christian ally tlie prince of Abyssinia, as they suggested a decent pretence to discontinue the annual Inlnitc, which was poorly disguised by the name of pension. The churches of Persarmenia were oppressed by tiie intolerant spirit of the Magi ; they secretly invoked the protector of the Christians ; and, after the pious murder of their satraps, the rebels were avowed and sup- ported as the brethren and subjects of the Roman emperor. The complaints of Nushirvan were disregarded by the Byzantine court ; Justin yielded to the importunities of the Turks, who offered an alliance against the common enemy ; and the Persian monarchy was threatened at the same instant by the united forces of Europe, of ^Ethiopia, and of Scythia. At the a-je of •• The general independence of the Arabs, which cannot be admitted without many Hmitations, is blindly asserted in a separ:ite dissertation of the authors of the Universal History, vol. xx. p. 196-250. A perpetual miracle is supposed to have guarded the prophecy in favour of the posterity of Ishmael ; and these learned liigots are not afraid to risk the truth of Christianity on this frail and slippery foundation. ■' [See below, chap. 1. p. 333 and 334, note 68.] 5 D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient, p. 477. Pocock, Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 64, 65. Father Pagi {Critica, torn. ii. p. 646) has proved that, after ten years' peace, the Persian war, which continued twenty years, was renewed A.D. 571 [572]. Mahomet was born a. d. 569 [cp. below, p. 334], in the year of the elephant, or the defeat of Abrahah (Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, torn. i. p. 89, 90, 98) ; and this account allows two years for the conquest of Yemen.