It was defended, not only by its garrison and inhabitants, but by the prayers and exhortations of its bishop, St.James, who, if he did not work miracles for the deliverance of his countrymen, at any rate sustained and animated their resistance.

The result was that the bands of Sapor were repelled with loss, and he was forced, after wasting two months before the walls, to raise the siege and own himself baffled.
After this, for some years the Persian war with Rome languished.

It is difficult to extract from the brief statements of epitomizers, and the loose invectives or panegyrics of orators, the real circumstances of the struggle; but apparently the general condition of things was this.

The Persians were constantly victorious in the open field; Constantius was again and again defeated; but no permanent gain was effected by these successes.

A weakness inherited by the Persians from the Parthians--an inability to conduct sieges to a prosperous issue--showed itself; and their failures against the fortified posts which Rome had taken care to establish in the disputed regions were continual.