6 star and crescent between outstretched wings at top. The legend is Khusrui malkan malka-afzud. Chosroës, king of kings-increase (be his).' The reverse has a head like that of a woman, also fronting the spectator, and wearing a band enriched with pearls across the forehead, above which the hair gradually converges to a point. A head very similar to this is found on Indo-Sassanian coins.1 Otherwise we might have supposed that the uxorious monarch had wished to circulate among his subjects the portrait of his beloved Shirin. See Thomas in Numismatic Chronicle for 1873, p. 242. CHAPTER XXV. Accession of Siroës, or Kobad II. His Letter to Heraclius. Peace made with Rome. Terms of the Peace. General Popularity of the new Reign. Dissatisfaction of Shahr-Barz. Kobad, by the advice of the Persian Lords, murders his Brothers. His Sisters reproach him with their Death. He falls into low spirits and dies. Pestilence in his Reign. His Coins. Accession of Artaxerxes III. Revolt of ShahrBarz. Reign of Shahr-Barz. His Murder. Reign of Purandocht. Rapid Succession of Pretenders. Accession of Isdigerd III. Kobades, regno præfectus, justitiam præ se tulit, et injuriam qua oppressa fuerat amovit.'-EUTYCHIUS, Annales, vol. ii. p. 252. 3 SIROËS, or Kobad the Second, as he is more properly termed,1 was proclaimed king on the 25th of February, A.D. 628, four days before the murder of his father. According to the Oriental writers, he was very unwilling to put his father to death, and only gave a reluctant consent to his execution on the representations of his nobles that it was a state necessity. His first care, after this urgent matter had been settled, was to make overtures of peace to Heraclius, who, having safely crossed the Zagros mountains, was wintering at Canzaca. The letter which he addressed to the Roman Emperor on the occasion is partially extant; but the formal and official tone which it 1 Kobad (Kavat) is the form found in the superscription of the letter written by the king himself to Heraclius (Pasch. Chron. p. 402, B). It likewise appears, together with Firuz, upon the king's coins. Heraclius himself (Pasch. Chron. p. 401, C), Eutychius (Annales, vol. ii. p. 252), Maçoudi (Prairies d'Or, vol. ii. p. 232), Mirkhond (Histoire des Sassanides, p. 407), and the Armenian writers (Patkanian in Journal Asiatique for 1866, pp. 215-7) have both names. Tabari (vol. ii. pp. 327-347) uses the name Siroës (Shirouï) only. 2 Pasch. Chron. p. 298, D. Tabari, vol. ii. pp. 333-345; Mirkhond, p. 408. See above, p. 525. breathes renders it a somewhat disappointing docu 6 Kobad begins by addressing Heraclius as his brother, and giving him the epithet of most clement,'1 thus assuming his pacific disposition. He then declares, that, having been elevated to the throne by the especial favour of God, he has resolved to do his utmost to benefit and serve the entire human race. He has therefore commenced his reign by throwing open the prison doors, and restoring liberty to all who were detained in custody. With the same object in view, he is desirous of living in peace and friendship with the Roman emperor and state, as well as with all other neighbouring nations and kings. Assuming that his accession will be pleasing to the emperor, he has sent Phæak, one of his privy councillors, to express the love and friendship that he feels towards his brother, and learn the terms upon which peace will be granted him. The reply of Heraclius is lost; but we are able to gather from a short summary which has been preserved, as well as from the subsequent course of events, that it was complimentary and favourable; that it expressed the willingness of the emperor to bring the war to a close, and suggested terms of accommodation that were moderate and equitable. The exact 1 Τῷ ἡμερωτάτῳ βασιλεῖ Ρωμαίων. | royal state, not even Chosroes; Pasch. Chron. p. 402, B. 2 Compare Tabari, vol. ii. p. 346, and Theophan. p. 271, D. 3 The mutilation of Kobad's letter in the Vatican MS. renders the sense of this last passage somewhat doubtful. 4 Nicephorus gives the following as the main purport of Heraclius' reply-Heraclius wrote back to Siroës, calling him his son, and saying that it had never been his wish to deprive any king of his whom, if he had been completely victorious, he would have replaced upon the throne, notwithstanding all the harm that he had done both to the Romans and the Persians. But Heaven had decided otherwise, and to prevent further disaster, had punished Chosroes as he deserved, and opened to himself and Siroës the way of reconciliation.' (De Rebus post Mauricium gestis, p. 14, B.) formulating of the treaty seems to have been left to Eustathius, who, after Heraclius had entertained Phaak royally for nearly a week,1 accompanied the ambassador on his return to the Persian court. The general principle upon which peace was concluded was evidently the status quo ante bellum. Persia was to surrender Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Western Mesopotamia, and any other conquests that she might have made from Rome, to recall her troops from them, and to give them back into the possession of the Romans. She was also to surrender all the captives whom she had carried off from the conquered countries; and, above all, she was to give back to the Romans the precious relic which had been taken from Jerusalem, and which was believed on all hands to be the veritable cross whereon Jesus Christ suffered death. As Rome had merely made inroads, but not conquests, she did not possess any territory to surrender; but she doubtless set her Persian prisoners free, and she made arrangements for the safe conduct and honourable treatment of the Persians, who evacuated Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, on their way to the frontier. The evacuation was at once commenced; and the wood of the cross, which had been carefully preserved by the Persian queen, Shirin, was restored. In the next year' Heraclius made a grand pilgrimage to Jerusa 1 From April 3 to April 8. (See | phan. 1.s.c. the letter of Heraclius to the Senate in the Paschal Chronicle, p. 401, C, D.) 2 The recall of the troops is proved by Theophanes (p. 272, C), who assigns it to the first year of Siroës. The recall implies the surrender. 4 Theophan. p. 272, B. 5 The safe conduct of the Persians was entrusted to Theodore, brother of Heraclius (Theophan. p. 272, C). So Gibbon in a note (Decline and Fall, vol. v. 414); but I do not know his authority. Theophan. p. 273, B, C; Cedrenus, p. 420, À. lem, and replaced the holy relic in the shrine from which it had been taken. It is said that princes are always popular on their coronation day. Kobad was certainly no exception to the general rule.1 His subjects rejoiced at the termination of a war which had always been a serious drain on the population, and which latterly had brought ruin and desolation upon the hearths and homes of thousands. The general emptying of the prisons was an act that cannot be called statesmanlike; but it had a specious appearance of liberality, and was probably viewed with favour by the mass of the people. A still more popular measure must have been the complete remission of taxes with which Kobad inaugurated his reign 2-a remission which, according to one authority, was to have continued for three years, had the generous prince lived so long. In addition to these somewhat questionable proceedings, Kobad adopted also a more legitimate mode of securing the regard of his subjects by a careful administration of justice, and a mild treatment of those who had been the victims of his father's severities. He restored to their former rank the persons whom Chosroës had degraded or imprisoned, and compensated them for their injuries by a liberal donation of money.1 Thus far all seemed to promise well for the new reign, which, though it had commenced under unfavourable auspices, bid fair to be tranquil and prosperous. In one quarter only was there any indication of coming troubles. Shahr-Barz, the great general, 1 See Eutychius, Annales, vol. ii. | p. 252; Tabari, vol. ii. p. 346; Mirkhond, p. 409; Moyse de Kaghank, ii. 12; &c. 2 Tabari, 1.s.c.; Eutych. Ann. 1.s.c. 3 Moyse de Kaghank, l.s.c. |
