ABSTRACT
—Hormazd, known as Hormisdas IV. to the Western writers, was the son of Noshirwan by the daughter of the Khan of the Turks, and he succeeded to the throne without opposition. At first he promised to rule in the spirit shown by his great father, but very soon he developed the characteristics of a tyrant. The war with Rome continued its weary and indecisive course, as the new monarch declined to make peace on the condition of exchanging Arzanene, with Aphumon its chief fortress, for Dara, which the Roman Emperors were naturally anxious to regain. Negotiations having fallen through, Maurice sent out raiding parties across the Tigris during the summer of A.d. 579, which met with no organized opposition and were able to destroy the crops and inflict much damage. In A.d. 580 he collected a fleet at Circesium with the apparent intention of following in the footsteps of Julian, especially as he thought that he had won over the Saracens to his side. However, these desert tribesmen proved treacherous, and their chief Adarman with a large force threatened Callinicus, thereby compelling the Byzantine general, whose line of communications was in danger, to forgo his ambitious project and to march against Adarman, whom he defeated. In A.d. 581 Maurice gained a signal victory over a Persian army which was attacking Constantia; but instead of following up his success he hastened to Constantinople, where the dying Emperor Tiberius appointed him his successor to the purple.
