It is evident that he must have been powerless to offer any effectual opposition to Tiridates, whose forces continued to ravage, year after year, the north-western provinces of the Persian empire.

Had Tiridates been a prince of real military talent, it could scarcely have been difficult for him to obtain still greater advantages.
But he was content with annual raids, which left the substantial power of Persia untouched.

He allowed the occasion of the throne's being occupied by a weak and invalid prince to slip by.

The consequences of this negligence will appear in the next chapter.

Persia, permitted to escape serious attack in her time of weakness, was able shortly to take the offensive and to make the Armenian prince regret his indolence or want of ambition.