10. Though Sa'por had been victorious in the field, he
failed in his chief design of seizing the Roman fortresses in
Mesopota'mia; during twelve years he repeatedly besieged Ni'sibis,
which had been long the great eastern bulwark of the empire, but was
invariably baffled by the strength of the place, and the valour of the
garrison. At length both parties became wearied of a struggle which
exhausted their resources, and new enemies appearing, they resolved to
conclude a peace. Sa'por returned home to repel an invasion of the
Scythians; Constan'tius, by the death of his two brothers, found
himself involved in a civil war which required his undivided
attention.
11. Constan'tine had scarcely been seated on his throne, when he
attempted to wrest from Con'stans some of the provinces which had
been assigned as his portion. He rashly led his army over the Julian
Alps, and devastated the country round Aquile'ia where, falling into
an ambuscade, he perished ingloriously. Con'stans seized on the
inheritance of the deceased prince, and retained it during ten years,
obstinately refusing to give any share to his brother Constan'tius.
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