Narses did not long continue on the throne after the conclusion of this disgraceful, though, it may be, necessary, treaty.  It was made in A.D. 297.  He abdicated in A.D. 301.  It may have been disgust at his ill-success, it may have been mere weariness of absolute power, which caused him to descend from his high position and retire into private life.  He was so fortunate as to have a son of full age in whose favor he could resign, so that there was no difficulty about the succession.  His ministers seem to have thought it necessary to offer some opposition to his project; but their resistance was feeble, perhaps because they hoped that a young prince would be more entirely guided by their counsels.  Narses was allowed to complete his act of self-renunciation, and, after crowning his son Hormisdas with his own hand, to spend the remainder of his days in retirement.  According to the native writers, his main object was to contemplate death and prepare himself for it.  In his youth he had evinced some levity of character, and had been noted for his devotion to games and to the chase; in his middle age he laid aside these pursuits, and, applying himself actively to business, was a good administrator, as well as a brave soldier.  But at last it seemed to him that the only life worth living was the contemplative, and that the happiness of the hunter and the statesman must yield to that of the philosopher.  It is doubtful how long he survived his resignation of the throne, but tolerably certain that he did not outlive his son and successor, who reigned less than eight years.

CHAPTER VII.

Reign of Hormisdas II.  His Disposition.  General Character of his Reign.  His Taste for Building.  His new Court of Justice.  His Marriage with a Princess of Cabul.  Story of his Son Hormisdas.  Death of Hormisdas II., and Imprisonment of his Son Hormisdas.  Interregnum.  Crown assigned to Sapor II. before his Birth.  Long Reign of Sapor.  First Period of his Reign, from A.D. 309 to A.D. 337.  Persia plundered by the Arabs and the Turks.  Victories of Sapor over the Arabs.  Persecution of the Christians.  Escape of Hormisdas.  Feelings and Conduct of Sapor.

Hormisdas II., who became king on the abdication of his father, Narses, had, like his father, a short reign.  He ascended the throne A.D. 301; he died A.D. 309, not quite eight years later.  To this period historians assign scarcely any events.  The personal appearance of Hormisdas, if we may judge by a gem, was pleasing; [PLATE XVIII., Fig. 4.] he is said, however, to have been of a harsh temper by nature, but to have controlled his evil inclinations after he became king, and in fact to have then neglected nothing that could contribute to the welfare of his subjects.  He engaged in no wars; and his reign was thus one of those quiet and uneventful intervals which, furnishing no materials for history, indicate thereby the happiness of a nation.  We are told