Sapor, king of Persia, had been made prisoner, and enclosed in the figure of a cow's hide by Maximian or Galerius Caesar. Such is the fable related by Eutychius (Annal. tom. i. p. 421, vers. Pocock). The recollection of the true history (Decline and Fall, etc., vol. ii. p 140-152) will teach us to appreciate the knowledge of the Orientals of the ages which precede the Hegira.