PROCOPIUS

With an English Translation by H. B. Dewing

In Seven Volumes

I

HISTORY OF THE WARS, BOOKS I AND II

LondonWilliam Heinemann LtdCambridge, MassachusettsHarvard University Press

MCMLXXI

First Printed 1914

CONTENTS

 HISTORY OF THE WARS-- PAGE INTRODUCTION vii

 BIBLIOGRAPHY xv

 BOOK I. --THE PERSIAN WAR 1

 BOOK II. --THE PERSIAN WAR (_continued_) 259

INTRODUCTION

Procopius is known to posterity as the historian of the eventful reignof Justinian (527-565 A. D. ), and the chronicler of the great deeds ofthe general Belisarius. He was born late in the fifth century in thecity of Caesarea in Palestine. As to his education and early years weare not informed, but we know that he studied to fit himself for thelegal profession. He came as a young man to Constantinople, and seems tohave made his mark immediately. For as early as the year 527 he wasappointed legal adviser and private secretary[1] to Belisarius, then avery young man who had been serving on the staff of the generalJustinian, and had only recently been advanced to the office of general. Shortly after this Justinian was called by his uncle Justinus to sharethe throne of the Roman Empire, and four months later Justinus died, leaving Justinian sole emperor of the Romans. Thus the stage was set forthe scenes which are presented in the pages of Procopius. His ownactivity continued till well nigh the end of Justinian's life, and heseems to have outlived his hero, Belisarius. 

During the eventful years of Belisarius' campaigning in Africa, inItaly, and in the East, Procopius was moving about with him and was aneye-witness of the events he describes in his writings. In 527 we findhim in Mesopotamia; in 533 he accompanied Belisarius to Africa; and in536 he journeyed with him to Italy. He was therefore quite correct inthe assertion which he makes rather modestly in the introduction of hishistory, that he was better qualified than anyone else to write thehistory of that period. Besides his intimacy with Belisarius it shouldbe added that his position gave him the further advantage of a certainstanding at the imperial court in Constantinople, and brought him theacquaintance of many of the leading men of his day. Thus we have thetestimony of one intimately associated with the administration, andthis, together with the importance of the events through which he lived, makes his record exceedingly interesting as well as historicallyimportant. One must admit that his position was not one to encourageimpartiality in his presentation of facts, and that the imperial favourwas not won by plain speaking; nevertheless we have before us a man whocould not obliterate himself enough to play the abject flatterer always, and he gives us the reverse, too, of his brilliant picture, as we shallsee presently. 

Procopius' three works give us a fairly complete account of the reign ofJustinian up till near the year 560 A. D. , and he has done us the favourof setting forth three different points of view which vary so widelythat posterity has sometimes found it difficult to reconcile them. Hisgreatest work, as well as his earliest, is the _History of the Wars_, ineight books. The material is not arranged strictly according tochronological sequence, but so that the progress of events may be tracedseparately in each one of three wars. Thus the first two books are givenover to the Persian wars, the next two contain the account of the warwaged against the Vandals in Africa, the three following describe thestruggle against the Goths in Italy. These seven books were publishedtogether first, and the eighth book was added later as a supplement tobring the history up to about the date of 554, being a general accountof events in different parts of the empire. It is necessary to bear inmind that the wars described separately by Procopius overlapped oneanother in time, and that while the Romans were striving to hold backthe Persian aggressor they were also maintaining armies in Africa and inItaly. In fact the Byzantine empire was making a supreme effort tore-establish the old boundaries, and to reclaim the territories lost tothe barbarian nations. The emperor Justinian was fired by the ambitionto make the Roman Empire once more a world power, and he drained everyresource in his eagerness to make possible the fulfilment of this dream. It was a splendid effort, but it was doomed to failure; the fallenedifice could not be permanently restored. 

The history is more general than the title would imply, and all theimportant events of the time are touched upon. So while we read much ofthe campaigns against the nations who were crowding back the boundariesof the old empire, we also hear of civic affairs such as the great Nikainsurrection in Byzantium in 532; similarly a careful account is givenof the pestilence of 540, and the care shewn in describing the nature ofthe disease shews plainly that the author must have had someacquaintance with the medical science of the time. 

After the seventh book of the _History of the Wars_ Procopius wrote the_Anecdota_, or _Secret History_. Here he freed himself from all therestraints of respect or fear, and set down without scruple everythingwhich he had been led to suppress or gloss over in the _History_ throughmotives of policy. He attacks unmercifully the emperor and empress andeven Belisarius and his wife Antonina, and displays to us one of theblackest pictures ever set down in writing. It is a record of wantoncrime and shameless debauchery, of intrigue and scandal both in publicand in private life. It is plain that the thing is overdone, and thevery extravagance of the calumny makes it impossible to be believed;again and again we meet statements which, if not absolutely impossible, are at least highly improbable. Many of the events of the _History_ arepresented in an entirely new light; we seem to hear one speaking out ofthe bitterness of his heart. It should be said, at the same time, thatthere are very few contradictions in statements of fact. The author hasplainly singled out the empress Theodora as the principal victim of hisvenomous darts, and he gives an account of her early years which is bothshocking and disgusting, but which, happily, we are not forced to regardas true. It goes without saying that such a work as this could not havebeen published during the lifetime of the author, and it appears that itwas not given to the world until after the death of Justinian in 565. 

Serious doubts have been entertained in times past as to theauthenticity of the _Anecdota_, for at first sight it seems impossiblethat the man who wrote in the calm tone of the _History_ and whoindulged in the fulsome praise of the panegyric _On the Buildings_ couldhave also written the bitter libels of the _Anecdota_. It has come to beseen, however, that this feeling is not supported by any unanswerablearguments, and it is now believed to be highly probable at least, thatthe _Anecdota_ is the work of Procopius. Its bitterness may be extremeand its calumnies exaggerated beyond all reason, but it must be regardedas prompted by a reaction against the hollow life of the Byzantinecourt. 

The third work is entitled _On the Buildings_, and is plainly an attemptto gain favour with the emperor. We can only guess as to what theimmediate occasion was for its composition. It is plain, however, thatthe publication of the _History_ could not have aroused the enthusiasmof Justinian; there was no attempt in it to praise the emperor, and onemight even read an unfavourable judgment between the lines. And it isnot at all unlikely that he was moved to envy by the praises bestowedupon his general, Belisarius. At any rate the work _On the Buildings_ iswritten in the empty style of the fawning flatterer. It is divided intosix short books and contains an account of all the public buildings ofJustinian's reign in every district of the empire. The subject was wellchosen and the material ample, and Procopius lost no opportunity oflauding his sovereign to the skies. It is an excellent example of theflorid panegyric style which was, unfortunately, in great favour withthe literary world of his own as well as later Byzantine times. But inspite of its faults, this work is a record of the greatest importancefor the study of the period, since it is a storehouse of informationconcerning the internal administration of the empire. 

The style of Procopius is in general clear and straightforward, andshews the mind of one who endeavours to speak the truth in simplelanguage wherever he is not under constraint to avoid it. At the sametime he is not ignorant of the arts of rhetoric, and especially in thespeeches he is fond of introducing sounding phrases and sententiousstatements. He was a great admirer of the classical writers of prose, and their influence is everywhere apparent in his writing; in particularhe is much indebted to the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, and heborrows from them many expressions and turns of phrase. But the Greekwhich he writes is not the pure Attic, and we find many evidences of theinfluence of the contemporary spoken language. 

Procopius writes at times as a Christian, and at times as one imbuedwith the ideas of the ancient religion of Greece. Doubtless his study ofthe classical writers led him into this, perhaps unconsciously. At anyrate it seems not to have been with him a matter in which evenconsistency was demanded. It was politic to espouse the religion of thestate, but still he often allows himself to speak as if he were acontemporary of Thucydides. 

The text followed is that of Haury, issued in the Teubner series, 1905-1913. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The _editio princeps_ of Procopius was published by David Hoeschel, Augsburg, 1607; the _Secret History_ was not included, and onlysummaries of the six books of the work _On the Buildings_ were given. The edition is not important except as being the first. 

The _Secret History_ was printed for the first time separately with aLatin translation by Alemannus, Lyon, 1623. 

The first complete edition was that of Maltretus, Paris, 1661-63, reprinted in Venice, 1729; the edition included a Latin translation ofall the works, which was taken over into the edition of Procopius in the_Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae_ by Dindorf, Bonn, 1833-38. 

Two editions of recent years are to be mentioned: Domenico Comparetti, _La Guerra Gotica di Procopio di Cesarea_; testo Greco emendato suimanoscritti con traduxione Italiana, Rome, 1895-98; 3 vols. JacobusHaury, _Procopii Caesariensis Opera Omnia_, Leipzig, 1905-13; 3 vols. (Bibl. Teub. ). 

Among a number of works on Procopius or on special subjects connectedwith his writings the following may be mentioned:

Felix Dahn: _Procopius von Cäsarea_, Berlin, 1865. 

Julius Jung: _Geographisch-Historisches bei Procopius von Caesarea_, Wiener Studien 5 (1883) 85-115. 

W. Gundlach: _Quaestiones Procopianae_, Progr. Hanau, 1861, alsoDissert. Marburg, 1861. 

J. Haury: _Procopiana_, Progr. Augsburg, 1891. 

B. Pancenko: _Ueber die Geheimgeschichte des Prokop_, Viz. Vrem. 2(1895). 

J. Haury: _Zur Beurteilung des Geschichtschreibers Procopius vonCaesarea_, Munich, 1896-97. 

 1971. The Teubner edition in 4 volumes by J. Haury (1905-1913) has beenre-edited by G. Wirth. 

FOOTNOTE:

[1]

[Greek: xymboulos], _Proc. Bell. _ I. Xii. 24. He is elsewhere referredto as [Greek: paredros] or [Greek: hypographeus]. 

PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA

HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK I

THE PERSIAN WAR

PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA

HISTORY OF THE WARS:

BOOK I

THE PERSIAN WAR

I

Procopius of Caesarea has written the history of the wars whichJustinian, Emperor of the Romans, waged against the barbarians of theEast and of the West, relating separately the events of each one, to theend that the long course of time may not overwhelm deeds of singularimportance through lack of a record, and thus abandon them to oblivionand utterly obliterate them. The memory of these events he deemed wouldbe a great thing and most helpful to men of the present time, and tofuture generations as well, in case time should ever again place menunder a similar stress. For men who purpose to enter upon a war or arepreparing themselves for any kind of struggle may derive some benefitfrom a narrative of a similar situation in history, inasmuch as thisdiscloses the final result attained by men of an earlier day in astruggle of the same sort, and foreshadows, at least for those who aremost prudent in planning, what outcome present events will probablyhave. Furthermore he had assurance that he was especially competent towrite the history of these events, if for no other reason, because itfell to his lot, when appointed adviser to the general Belisarius, to bean eye-witness of practically all the events to be described. It was hisconviction that while cleverness is appropriate to rhetoric, andinventiveness to poetry, truth alone is appropriate to history. Inaccordance with this principle he has not concealed the failures of evenhis most intimate acquaintances, but has written down with completeaccuracy everything which befell those concerned, whether it happened tobe done well or ill by them. 

It will be evident that no more important or mightier deeds are to befound in history than those which have been enacted in thesewars, --provided one wishes to base his judgment on the truth. For inthem more remarkable feats have been performed than in any other warswith which we are acquainted; unless, indeed, any reader of thisnarrative should give the place of honour to antiquity, and considercontemporary achievements unworthy to be counted remarkable. There arethose, for example, who call the soldiers of the present day "bowmen, "while to those of the most ancient times they wish to attribute suchlofty terms as "hand-to-hand fighters, " "shield-men, " and other names ofthat sort; and they think that the valour of those times has by no meanssurvived to the present, --an opinion which is at once careless andwholly remote from actual experience of these matters. For the thoughthas never occurred to them that, as regards the Homeric bowmen who hadthe misfortune to be ridiculed by this term[1] derived from their art, they were neither carried by horse nor protected by spear or shield[2]. In fact there was no protection at all for their bodies; they enteredbattle on foot, and were compelled to conceal themselves, eithersingling out the shield of some comrade[3], or seeking safety behind atombstone on a mound[4], from which position they could neither savethemselves in case of rout, nor fall upon a flying foe. Least of allcould they participate in a decisive struggle in the open, but theyalways seemed to be stealing something which belonged to the men whowere engaged in the struggle. And apart from this they were soindifferent in their practice of archery that they drew the bowstringonly to the breast[5], so that the missile sent forth was naturallyimpotent and harmless to those whom it hit[6]. Such, it is evident, wasthe archery of the past. But the bowmen of the present time go intobattle wearing corselets and fitted out with greaves which extend up tothe knee. From the right side hang their arrows, from the other thesword. And there are some who have a spear also attached to them and, atthe shoulders, a sort of small shield without a grip, such as to coverthe region of the face and neck. They are expert horsemen, and are ablewithout difficulty to direct their bows to either side while riding atfull speed, and to shoot an opponent whether in pursuit or in flight. They draw the bowstring along by the forehead about opposite the rightear, thereby charging the arrow with such an impetus as to kill whoeverstands in the way, shield and corselet alike having no power to checkits force. Still there are those who take into consideration none ofthese things, who reverence and worship the ancient times, and give nocredit to modern improvements. But no such consideration will preventthe conclusion that most great and notable deeds have been performed inthese wars. And the history of them will begin at some distance back, telling of the fortunes in war of the Romans and the Medes, theirreverses and their successes. 

II

[408 A. D. ] When the Roman Emperor Arcadius was at the point of death inByzantium, having a malechild, Theodosius, who was still unweaned, hefelt grave fears not only for him but for the government as well, notknowing how he should provide wisely for both. For he perceived that, ifhe provided a partner in government for Theodosius, he would in fact bedestroying his own son by bringing forward against him a foe clothed inthe regal power; while if he set him alone over the empire, many wouldtry to mount the throne, taking advantage, as they might be expected todo, of the helplessness of the child. These men would rise against thegovernment, and, after destroying Theodosius, would make themselvestyrants without difficulty, since the boy had no kinsman in Byzantium tobe his guardian. For Arcadius had no hope that the boy's uncle, Honorius, would succour him, inasmuch as the situation in Italy wasalready troublesome. And he was equally disturbed by the attitude of theMedes, fearing lest these barbarians should trample down the youthfulemperor and do the Romans irreparable harm. When Arcadius was confrontedwith this difficult situation, though he had not shewn himself sagaciousin other matters, he devised a plan which was destined to preservewithout trouble both his child and his throne, either as a result ofconversation with certain of the learned men, such as are usually foundin numbers among the advisers of a sovereign, or from some divineinspiration which came to him. For in drawing up the writings of hiswill, he designated the child as his successor to the throne, butappointed as guardian over him Isdigerdes, the Persian King, enjoiningupon him earnestly in his will to preserve the empire for Theodosius byall his power and foresight. So Arcadius died, having thus arranged hisprivate affairs as well as those of the empire. But Isdigerdes, thePersian King, when he saw this writing which was duly delivered to him, being even before a sovereign whose nobility of character had won forhim the greatest renown, did then display a virtue at once amazing andremarkable. For, loyally observing the behests of Arcadius, he adoptedand continued without interruption a policy of profound peace with theRomans, and thus preserved the empire for Theodosius. Indeed, hestraightway dispatched a letter to the Roman senate, not declining theoffice of guardian of the Emperor Theodosius, and threatening waragainst any who should attempt to enter into a conspiracy against him. 

[441 A. D. ] When Theodosius had grown to manhood and was in the prime oflife, and Isdigerdes had been taken from the world by disease, Vararanes, the Persian King, invaded the Roman domains with a mightyarmy; however he did no damage, but returned to his home withoutaccomplishing anything. This came about in the following way. Anatolius, General of the East, had, as it happened, been sent by the EmperorTheodosius as ambassador to the Persians, alone and unaccompanied; as heapproached the Median army, solitary as he was, he leapt down from hishorse, and advanced on foot toward Vararanes. And when Vararanes sawhim, he enquired from those who were near who this man could be who wascoming forward. And they replied that he was the general of the Romans. Thereupon the king was so dumbfounded by this excessive degree ofrespect that he himself wheeled his horse about and rode away, and thewhole Persian host followed him. When he had reached his own territory, he received the envoy with great cordiality, and granted the treaty ofpeace on the terms which Anatolius desired of him; one condition, however, he added, that neither party should construct any newfortification in his own territory in the neighbourhood of the boundaryline between the two countries. When this treaty had been executed, bothsovereigns then continued to administer the affairs of their respectivecountries as seemed best to them. 

III

At a later time the Persian King Perozes became involved in a warconcerning boundaries with the nation of the Ephthalitae Huns, who arecalled White Huns, gathered an imposing army, and marched against them. The Ephthalitae are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name;however they do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us, for theyoccupy a land neither adjoining nor even very near to them; but theirterritory lies immediately to the north of Persia; indeed their city, called Gorgo, is located over against the Persian frontier, and isconsequently the centre of frequent contests concerning boundary linesbetween the two peoples. For they are not nomads like the other Hunnicpeoples, but for a long period have been established in a goodly land. As a result of this they have never made any incursion into the Romanterritory except in company with the Median army. They are the only onesamong the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are notugly. It is also true that their manner of living is unlike that oftheir kinsmen, nor do they live a savage life as they do; but they areruled by one king, and since they possess a lawful constitution, theyobserve right and justice in their dealings both with one another andwith their neighbours, in no degree less than the Romans and thePersians. Moreover, the wealthy citizens are in the habit of attachingto themselves friends to the number of twenty or more, as the case maybe, and these become permanently their banquet-companions, and have ashare in all their property, enjoying some kind of a common right inthis matter. Then, when the man who has gathered such a company togethercomes to die, it is the custom that all these men be borne alive intothe tomb with him. 

Perozes, marching against these Ephthalitae, was accompanied by anambassador, Eusebius by name, who, as it happened, had been sent to hiscourt by the Emperor Zeno. Now the Ephthalitae made it appear to theirenemy that they had turned to flight because they were wholly terrifiedby their attack, and they retired with all speed to a place which wasshut in on every side by precipitous mountains, and abundantly screenedby a close forest of wide-spreading trees. Now as one advanced betweenthe mountains to a great distance, a broad way appeared in the valley, extending apparently to an indefinite distance, but at the end it had nooutlet at all, but terminated in the very midst of the circle ofmountains. So Perozes, with no thought at all of treachery, andforgetting that he was marching in a hostile country, continued thepursuit without the least caution. A small body of the Huns were inflight before him, while the greater part of their force, by concealingthemselves in the rough country, got in the rear of the hostile army;but as yet they desired not to be seen by them, in order that they mightadvance well into the trap and get as far as possible in among themountains, and thus be no longer able to turn back. When the Medes beganto realize all this (for they now began to have a glimmering of theirperil), though they refrained from speaking of the situation themselvesthrough fear of Perozes, yet they earnestly entreated Eusebius to urgeupon the king, who was completely ignorant of his own plight, that heshould take counsel rather than make an untimely display of daring, andconsider well whether there was any way of safety open to them. So hewent before Perozes, but by no means revealed the calamity which wasupon them; instead he began with a fable, telling how a lion oncehappened upon a goat bound down and bleating on a mound of no very greatheight, and how the lion, bent upon making a feast of the goat, rushedforward with intent to seize him, but fell into a trench exceedinglydeep, in which was a circular path, narrow and endless (for it had nooutlet anywhere), which indeed the owners of the goat had constructedfor this very purpose, and they had placed the goat above it to be abait for the lion. When Perozes heard this, a fear came over him lestperchance the Medes had brought harm upon themselves by their pursuit ofthe enemy. He therefore advanced no further, but, remaining where hewas, began to consider the situation. By this time the Huns werefollowing him without any concealment, and were guarding the entrance ofthe place in order that their enemy might no longer be able to withdrawto the rear. Then at last the Persians saw clearly in what straits theywere, and they felt that the situation was desperate; for they had nohope that they would ever escape from the peril. Then the king of theEphthalitae sent some of his followers to Perozes; he upbraided him atlength for his senseless foolhardiness, by which he had wantonlydestroyed both himself and the Persian people, but he announced thateven so the Huns would grant them deliverance, if Perozes should consentto prostrate himself before him as having proved himself master, and, taking the oaths traditional among the Persians, should give pledgesthat they would never again take the field against the nation of theEphthalitae. When Perozes heard this, he held a consultation with theMagi who were present and enquired of them whether he must comply withthe terms dictated by the enemy. The Magi replied that, as to the oath, he should settle the matter according to his own pleasure; as for therest, however, he should circumvent his enemy by craft. And theyreminded him that it was the custom among the Persians to prostratethemselves before the rising sun each day; he should, therefore, watchthe time closely and meet the leader of the Ephthalitae at dawn, andthen, turning toward the rising sun, make his obeisance. In this way, they explained, he would be able in the future to escape the ignominy ofthe deed. Perozes accordingly gave the pledges concerning the peace, andprostrated himself before his foe exactly as the Magi had suggested, andso, with the whole Median army intact, gladly retired homeward. 

IV

Not long after this, disregarding the oath he had sworn, he was eager toavenge himself upon the Huns for the insult done him. He thereforestraightway gathered together from the whole land all the Persians andtheir allies, and led them against the Ephthalitae; of all his sons heleft behind him only one, Cabades by name, who, as it happened, was justpast the age of boyhood; all the others, about thirty in number, he tookwith him. The Ephthalitae, upon learning of his invasion, were aggrievedat the deception they had suffered at the hands of their enemy, andbitterly reproached their king as having abandoned them to the Medes. He, with a laugh, enquired of them what in the world of theirs he hadabandoned, whether their land or their arms or any other part of theirpossessions. They thereupon retorted that he had abandoned nothing, except, forsooth, the one opportunity on which, as it turned out, everything else depended. Now the Ephthalitae with all zeal demandedthat they should go out to meet the invaders, but the king sought torestrain them at any rate for the moment. For he insisted that as yetthey had received no definite information as to the invasion, for thePersians were still within their own boundaries. So, remaining where hewas, he busied himself as follows. In the plain where the Persians wereto make their irruption into the land of the Ephthalitae he marked off atract of very great extent and made a deep trench of sufficient width;but in the centre he left a small portion of ground intact, enough toserve as a way for ten horses. Over the trench he placed reeds, and uponthe reeds he scattered earth, thereby concealing the true surface. Hethen directed the forces of the Huns that, when the time came to retireinside the trench, they should draw themselves together into a narrowcolumn and pass rather slowly across this neck of land, taking care thatthey should not fall into the ditch[7]. And he hung from the top of theroyal banner the salt over which Perozes had once sworn the oath whichhe had disregarded in taking the field against the Huns. Now as long ashe heard that the enemy were in their own territory, he remained atrest; but when he learned from his scouts that they had reached the cityof Gorgo which lies on the extreme Persian frontier, and that departingthence they were now advancing against his army, remaining himself withthe greater part of his troops inside the trench, he sent forward asmall detachment with instructions to allow themselves to be seen at adistance by the enemy in the plain, and, when once they had been seen, to flee at full speed to the rear, keeping in mind his commandconcerning the trench as soon as they drew near to it. They did asdirected, and, as they approached the trench, they drew themselves intoa narrow column, and all passed over and joined the rest of the army. But the Persians, having no means of perceiving the stratagem, gavechase at full speed across a very level plain, possessed as they were bya spirit of fury against the enemy, and fell into the trench, every manof them, not alone the first but also those who followed in the rear. For since they entered into the pursuit with great fury, as I have said, they failed to notice the catastrophe which had befallen their leaders, but fell in on top of them with their horses and lances, so that, as wasnatural, they both destroyed them, and were themselves no less involvedin ruin. Among them were Perozes and all his sons. And just as he wasabout to fall into this pit, they say that he realized the danger, andseized and threw from him the pearl which hung from his right ear, --agem of wonderful whiteness and greatly prized on account of itsextraordinary size--in order, no doubt, that no one might wear it afterhim; for it was a thing exceedingly beautiful to look upon, such as noking before him had possessed. This story, however, seems to meuntrustworthy, because a man who found himself in such peril would havethought of nothing else; but I suppose that his ear was crushed in thisdisaster, and the pearl disappeared somewhere or other. This pearl theRoman Emperor then made every effort to buy from the Ephthalitae, butwas utterly unsuccessful. For the barbarians were not able to find italthough they sought it with great labour. However, they say that theEphthalitae found it later and sold it to Cabades. 

The story of this pearl, as told by the Persians, is worth recounting, for perhaps to some it may not seem altogether incredible. For they saythat it was lodged in its oyster in the sea which washes the Persiancoast, and that the oyster was swimming not far from the shore; both itsvalves were standing open and the pearl lay between them, a wonderfulsight and notable, for no pearl in all history could be compared with itat all, either in size or in beauty. A shark, then, of enormous size anddreadful fierceness, fell in love with this sight and followed closeupon it, leaving it neither day nor night; even when he was compelled totake thought for food, he would only look about for something eatablewhere he was, and when he found some bit, he would snatch it up and eatit hurriedly; then overtaking the oyster immediately, he would satehimself again with the sight he loved. At length a fisherman, they say, noticed what was passing, but in terror of the monster he recoiled fromthe danger; however, he reported the whole matter to the king, Perozes. Now when Perozes heard his account, they say that a great longing forthe pearl came over him, and he urged on this fisherman with manyflatteries and hopes of reward. Unable to resist the importunities ofthe monarch, he is said to have addressed Perozes as follows: "Mymaster, precious to a man is money, more precious still is his life, butmost prized of all are his children; and being naturally constrained byhis love for them a man might perhaps dare anything. Now I intend tomake trial of the monster, and hope to make thee master of the pearl. And if I succeed in this struggle, it is plain that henceforth I shallbe ranked among those who are counted blessed. For it is not unlikelythat thou, as King of Kings, wilt reward me with all good things; andfor me it will be sufficient, even if it so fall out that I gain noreward, to have shewn myself a benefactor of my master. But if it mustneeds be that I become the prey of this monster, thy task indeed it willbe, O King, to requite my children for their father's death. Thus evenafter my death I shall still be a wage-earner among those closest to me, and thou wilt win greater fame for thy goodness, --for in helping mychildren thou wilt confer a boon upon me, who shall have no power tothank thee for the benefit--because generosity is seen to be withoutalloy only when it is displayed towards the dead. " With these words hedeparted. And when he came to the place where the oyster was accustomedto swim and the shark to follow, he seated himself there upon a rock, watching for an opportunity of catching the pearl alone without itsadmirer. As soon as it came about that the shark had happened uponsomething which would serve him for food, and was delaying over it, thefisherman left upon the beach those who were following him for thisservice, and made straight for the oyster with all his might; already hehad seized it and was hastening with all speed to get out of the water, when the shark noticed him and rushed to the rescue. The fisherman sawhim coming, and, when he was about to be overtaken not far from thebeach, he hurled his booty with all his force upon the land, and washimself soon afterwards seized and destroyed. But the men who had beenleft upon the beach picked up the pearl, and, conveying it to the king, reported all that had happened. Such, then, is the story which thePersians relate, just as I have set it down, concerning this pearl. ButI shall return to the previous narrative. 

[484 A. D. ] Thus Perozes was destroyed and the whole Persian army withhim. For the few who by chance did not fall into the ditch foundthemselves at the mercy of the enemy. As a result of this experience alaw was established among the Persians that, while marching in hostileterritory, they should never engage in any pursuit, even if it shouldhappen that the enemy had been driven back by force. Thereupon those whohad not marched with Perozes and had remained in their own land chose astheir king Cabades, the youngest son of Perozes, who was then the onlyone surviving. At that time, then, the Persians became subject andtributary to the Ephthalitae, until Cabades had established his powermost securely and no longer deemed it necessary to pay the annualtribute to them. And the time these barbarians ruled over the Persianswas two years. 

V

But as time went on Cabades became more high-handed in theadministration of the government, and introduced innovations into theconstitution, among which was a law which he promulgated providing thatPersians should have communal intercourse with their women, a measurewhich by no means pleased the common people. [486 A. D. ] Accordingly theyrose against him, removed him from the throne, and kept him in prison inchains. They then chose Blases, the brother of Perozes, to be theirking, since, as has been said, no male offspring of Perozes was left, and it is not lawful among the Persians for any man by birth a commoncitizen to be set upon the throne, except in case the royal family betotally extinct. Blases, upon receiving the royal power, gatheredtogether the nobles of the Persians and held a conference concerningCabades; for it was not the wish of the majority to put the man todeath. After the expression of many opinions on both sides there cameforward a certain man of repute among the Persians, whose name wasGousanastades, and whose office that of "chanaranges" (which would bethe Persian term for general); his official province lay on the veryfrontier of the Persian territory in a district which adjoins the landof the Ephthalitae. Holding up his knife, the kind with which thePersians were accustomed to trim their nails, of about the length of aman's finger, but not one-third as wide as a finger, he said: "You seethis knife, how extremely small it is; nevertheless it is able at thepresent time to accomplish a deed, which, be assured, my dear Persians, a little later two myriads of mail-clad men could not bring to pass. "This he said hinting that, if they did not put Cabades to death, hewould straightway make trouble for the Persians. But they werealtogether unwilling to put to death a man of the royal blood, anddecided to confine him in a castle which it is their habit to call the"Prison of Oblivion. " For if anyone is cast into it, the law permits nomention of him to be made thereafter, but death is the penalty for theman who speaks his name; for this reason it has received this titleamong the Persians. On one occasion, however, the History of theArmenians relates that the operation of the law regarding the Prison ofOblivion was suspended by the Persians in the following way. 

There was once a truceless war, lasting two and thirty years, betweenthe Persians and the Armenians, when Pacurius was king of the Persians, and of the Armenians, Arsaces, of the line of the Arsacidae. And by thelong continuance of this war it came about that both sides sufferedbeyond measure, and especially the Armenians. But each nation waspossessed by such great distrust of the other that neither of them couldmake overtures of peace to their opponents. In the meantime it happenedthat the Persians became engaged in a war with certain other barbarianswho lived not far from the Armenians. Accordingly the Armenians, intheir eagerness to make a display to the Persians of their goodwill anddesire for peace, decided to invade the land of these barbarians, firstrevealing their plan to the Persians. Then they fell upon themunexpectedly and killed almost the whole population, old and youngalike. Thereupon Pacurius, who was overjoyed at the deed, sent certainof his trusted friends to Arsaces, and giving him pledges of security, invited him to his presence. And when Arsaces came to him he shewed himevery kindness, and treated him as a brother on an equal footing withhimself. Then he bound him by the most solemn oaths, and he himselfswore likewise, that in very truth the Persians and Armenians shouldthenceforth be friends and allies to each other; thereafter hestraightway dismissed Arsaces to return to his own country. 

Not long after this certain persons slandered Arsaces, saying that hewas purposing to undertake some seditious enterprise. Pacurius waspersuaded by these men and again summoned him, intimating that he wasanxious to confer with him on general matters. And he, without anyhesitation at all, came to the king, taking with him several of the mostwarlike among the Armenians, and among them Bassicius, who was at oncehis general and counsellor; for he was both brave and sagacious to aremarkable degree. Straightway, then, Pacurius heaped reproach and abuseupon both Arsaces and Bassicius, because, disregarding the sworncompact, they had so speedily turned their thoughts toward secession. They, however, denied the charge, and swore most insistently that nosuch thing had been considered by them. At first, therefore, Pacuriuskept them under guard in disgrace, but after a time he enquired of theMagi what should be done with them. Now the Magi deemed it by no meansjust to condemn men who denied their guilt and had not been explicitlyfound guilty, but they suggested to him an artifice by which Arsaceshimself might be compelled to become openly his own accuser. They badehim cover the floor of the royal tent with earth, one half from the landof Persia, and the other half from Armenia. This the king did asdirected. Then the Magi, after putting the whole tent under a spell bymeans of some magic rites, bade the king take his walk there in companywith Arsaces, reproaching him meanwhile with having violated the swornagreement. They said, further, that they too must be present at theconversation, for in this way there would be witnesses of all that wassaid. Accordingly Pacurius straightway summoned Arsaces, and began towalk to and fro with him in the tent in the presence of the Magi; heenquired of the man why he had disregarded his sworn promises, and wassetting about to harass the Persians and Armenians once more withgrievous troubles. Now as long as the conversation took place on theground which was covered with the earth from the land of Persia, Arsacescontinued to make denial, and, pledging himself with the most fearfuloaths, insisted that he was a faithful subject of Pacurius. But when, inthe midst of his speaking, he came to the centre of the tent where theystepped upon Armenian earth, then, compelled by some unknown power, hesuddenly changed the tone of his words to one of defiance, and from thenon ceased not to threaten Pacurius and the Persians, announcing that hewould have vengeance upon them for this insolence as soon as he shouldbecome his own master. These words of youthful folly he continued toutter as they walked all the way, until turning back, he came again tothe earth from the Persian land. Thereupon, as if chanting arecantation, he was once more a suppliant, offering pitiableexplanations to Pacurius. But when he came again to the Armenian earth, he returned to his threats. In this way he changed many times to oneside and the other, and concealed none of his secrets. Then at lengththe Magi passed judgment against him as having violated the treaty andthe oaths. Pacurius flayed Bassicius, and, making a bag of his skin, filled it with chaff and suspended it from a lofty tree. As for Arsaces, since Pacurius could by no means bring himself to kill a man of theroyal blood, he confined him in the Prison of Oblivion. 

After a time, when the Persians were marching against a barbariannation, they were accompanied by an Armenian who had been especiallyintimate with Arsaces and had followed him when he went into the Persianland. This man proved himself a capable warrior in this campaign, asPacurius observed, and was the chief cause of the Persian victory. Forthis reason Pacurius begged him to make any request he wished, assuringhim that he would be refused nothing by him. The Armenian asked fornothing else than that he might for one day pay homage to Arsaces in theway he might desire. Now it annoyed the king exceedingly, that he shouldbe compelled to set aside a law so ancient; however, in order to bewholly true to his word, he permitted that the request be granted. Whenthe man found himself by the king's order in the Prison of Oblivion, hegreeted Arsaces, and both men, embracing each other, joined their voicesin a sweet lament, and, bewailing the hard fate that was upon them, wereable only with difficulty to release each other from the embrace. Then, when they had sated themselves with weeping and ceased from tears, theArmenian bathed Arsaces, and completely adorned his person, neglectingnothing, and, putting on him the royal robe, caused him to recline on abed of rushes. Then Arsaces entertained those present with a royalbanquet just as was formerly his custom. During this feast many speecheswere made over the cups which greatly pleased Arsaces, and manyincidents occurred which delighted his heart. The drinking was prolongeduntil nightfall, all feeling the keenest delight in their mutualintercourse; at length they parted from each other with greatreluctance, and separated thoroughly imbued with happiness. Then theytell how Arsaces said that after spending the sweetest day of his life, and enjoying the company of the man he had missed most of all, he wouldno longer willingly endure the miseries of life; and with these words, they say, he dispatched himself with a knife which, as it happened, hehad purposely stolen at the banquet, and thus departed from among men. Such then is the story concerning this Arsaces, related in the ArmenianHistory just as I have told it, and it was on that occasion that the lawregarding the Prison of Oblivion was set aside. But I must return to thepoint from which I have strayed. 

VI

While Cabades was in the prison he was cared for by his wife, who wentin to him constantly and carried him supplies of food. Now the keeper ofthe prison began to make advances to her, for she was exceedinglybeautiful to look upon. And when Cabades learned this from his wife, hebade her give herself over to the man to treat as he wished. In this waythe keeper of the prison came to be familiar with the woman, and heconceived for her an extraordinary love, and as a result permitted herto go in to her husband just as she wished, and to depart from thereagain without interference from anyone. Now there was a Persian notable, Seoses by name, a devoted friend of Cabades, who was constantly in theneighbourhood of this prison, watching his opportunity, in the hope thathe might in some way be able to effect his deliverance. And he sent wordto Cabades through his wife that he was keeping horses and men inreadiness not far from the prison, and he indicated to him a certainspot. Then one day as night drew near Cabades persuaded his wife to givehim her own garment, and, dressing herself in his clothes, to sitinstead of him in the prison where he usually sat. In this way, therefore, Cabades made his escape from the prison. For although theguards who were on duty saw him, they supposed that it was the woman, and therefore decided not to hinder or otherwise annoy him. At daybreakthey saw in the cell the woman in her husband's clothes, and were socompletely deceived as to think that Cabades was there, and this beliefprevailed during several days, until Cabades had advanced well on hisway. As to the fate which befell the woman after the stratagem had cometo light, and the manner in which they punished her, I am unable tospeak with accuracy. For the Persian accounts do not agree with eachother, and for this reason I omit the narration of them. 

Cabades, in company with Seoses, completely escaped detection, andreached the Ephthalitae Huns; there the king gave him his daughter inmarriage, and then, since Cabades was now his son-in-law, he put underhis command a very formidable army for a campaign against the Persians. This army the Persians were quite unwilling to encounter, and they madehaste to flee in every direction. And when Cabades reached the territorywhere Gousanastades exercised his authority, he stated to some of hisfriends that he would appoint as chanaranges the first man of thePersians who should on that day come into his presence and offer hisservices. But even as he said this, he repented his speech, for therecame to his mind a law of the Persians which ordains that offices amongthe Persians shall not be conferred upon others than those to whom eachparticular honour belongs by right of birth. For he feared lest someoneshould come to him first who was not a kinsman of the presentchanaranges, and that he would be compelled to set aside the law inorder to keep his word. Even as he was considering this matter, chancebrought it about that, without dishonouring the law, he could still keephis word. For the first man who came to him happened to beAdergoudounbades, a young man who was a relative of Gousanastades and anespecially capable warrior. He addressed Cabades as "Lord, " and was thefirst to do obeisance to him as king, and besought him to use him as aslave for any service whatever. [488 A. D. ] So Cabades made his way intothe royal palace without any trouble, and, taking Blases destitute ofdefenders, he put out his eyes, using the method of blinding commonlyemployed by the Persians against malefactors, that is, either by heatingolive oil and pouring it, while boiling fiercely, into the wide-openeyes, or by heating in the fire an iron needle, and with this prickingthe eyeballs. Thereafter Blases was kept in confinement, having ruledover the Persians two years. Gousanastades was put to death andAdergoudounbades was established in his place in the office ofchanaranges, while Seoses was immediately proclaimed "adrastadaransalanes, "--a title designating the one set in authority over allmagistrates and over the whole army. Seoses was the first and only manwho held this office in Persia; for it was conferred on no one before orafter that time. And the kingdom was strengthened by Cabades and guardedsecurely; for in shrewdness and activity he was surpassed by none. 

VII. 

A little later Cabades was owing the king of the Ephthalitae a sum ofmoney which he was not able to pay him, and he therefore requested theRoman emperor Anastasius to lend him this money. Whereupon Anastasiusconferred with some of his friends and enquired of them whether thisshould be done; and they would not permit him to make the loan. For, asthey pointed out, it was inexpedient to make more secure by means oftheir money the friendship between their enemies and the Ephthalitae;indeed it was better for the Romans to disturb their relations as muchas possible. It was for this reason, and for no just cause, that Cabadesdecided to make an expedition against the Romans. [502 A. D. ] First heinvaded the land of the Armenians, moving with such rapidity as toanticipate the news of his coming, and, after plundering the greaterpart of it in a rapid campaign, he unexpectedly arrived at the city ofAmida, which is situated in Mesopotamia, and, although the season waswinter, he invested the town. Now the citizens of Amida had no soldiersat hand, seeing that it was a time of peace and prosperity, and in otherrespects were utterly unprepared; nevertheless they were quite unwillingto yield to the enemy, and shewed an unexpected fortitude in holding outagainst dangers and hardships. 

Now there was among the Syrians a certain just man, Jacobus by name, whohad trained himself with exactitude in matters pertaining to religion. This man had confined himself many years before in a place calledEndielon, a day's journey from Amida, in order that he might with moresecurity devote himself to pious contemplation. The men of this place, assisting his purpose, had surrounded him with a kind of fencing, inwhich the stakes were not continuous, but set at intervals, so thatthose who approached could see and hold converse with him. And they hadconstructed for him a small roof over his head, sufficient to keep offthe rain and snow. There this man had been sitting for a long time, never yielding either to heat or cold, and sustaining his life withcertain seeds, which he was accustomed to eat, not indeed every day, butonly at long intervals. Now some of the Ephthalitae who were overrunningthe country thereabout saw this Jacobus and with great eagerness drewtheir bows with intent to shoot at him. But the hands of every one ofthem became motionless and utterly unable to manage the bow. When thiswas noised about through the army and came to the ears of Cabades, hedesired to see the thing with his own eyes; and when he saw it, both heand the Persians who were with him were seized with great astonishment, and he entreated Jacobus to forgive the barbarians their crime. And heforgave them with a word, and the men were released from their distress. Cabades then bade the man ask for whatever he wished, supposing that hewould ask for a great sum of money, and he also added with youthfulrecklessness that he would be refused nothing by him. But he requestedCabades to grant to him all the men who during that war should come tohim as fugitives. This request Cabades granted, and gave him a writtenpledge of his personal safety. And great numbers of men, as might beexpected, came flocking to him from all sides and found safety there;for the deed became widely known. Thus, then, did these things takeplace. 

Cabades, in besieging Amida, brought against every part of the defencesthe engines known as rams; but the townspeople constantly broke off theheads of the rams by means of timbers thrown across them[8]. However, Cabades did not slacken his efforts until he realized that the wallcould not be successfully assailed in this way. For, though he batteredthe wall many times, he was quite unable to break down any portion ofthe defence, or even to shake it; so secure had been the work of thebuilders who had constructed it long before. Failing in this, Cabadesraised an artificial hill to threaten the city, considerably overtoppingthe wall; but the besieged, starting from the inside of their defences, made a tunnel extending under the hill, and from there stealthilycarried out the earth, until they hollowed out a great part of theinside of the hill. However, the outside kept the form which it had atfirst assumed, and afforded no opportunity to anyone of discovering whatwas being done. Accordingly many Persians mounted it, thinking it safe, and stationed themselves on the summit with the purpose of shooting downupon the heads of those inside the fortifications. But with the greatmass of men crowding upon it with a rush, the hill suddenly fell in andkilled almost all of them. Cabades, then, finding no remedy for thesituation, decided to raise the siege, and he issued orders to the armyto retreat on the morrow. Then indeed the besieged, as though they hadno thought of their danger, began laughingly from the fortifications tojeer at the barbarians. Besides this some courtesans shamelessly drew uptheir clothing and displayed to Cabades, who was standing close by, those parts of a woman's body which it is not proper that men should seeuncovered. This was plainly seen by the Magi, and they thereupon camebefore the king and tried to prevent the retreat, declaring as theirinterpretation of what had happened that the citizens of Amida wouldshortly disclose to Cabades all their secret and hidden things. So thePersian army remained there. 

Not many days later one of the Persians saw close by one of the towersthe mouth of an old underground passage, which was insecurely concealedwith some few small stones. In the night he came there alone, and, making trial of the entrance, got inside the circuit-wall; then atdaybreak he reported the whole matter to Cabades. The king himself onthe following night came to the spot with a few men, bringing ladderswhich he had made ready. And he was favoured by a piece of good fortune;for the defence of the very tower which happened to be nearest to thepassage had fallen by lot to those of the Christians who are mostcareful in their observances, whom they call monks. These men, as chancewould have it, were keeping some annual religious festival to God onthat day. When night came on they all felt great weariness[9] on accountof the festival, and, having sated themselves with food and drink beyondtheir wont, they fell into a sweet and gentle sleep, and wereconsequently quite unaware of what was going on. So the Persians madetheir way through the passage inside the fortifications, a few at atime, and, mounting the tower, they found the monks still sleeping andslew them to a man. When Cabades learned this, he brought his ladders upto the wall close by this tower. It was already day. And those of thetownsmen who were keeping guard on the adjoining tower became aware ofthe disaster, and ran thither with all speed to give assistance. Thenfor a long time both sides struggled to crowd back the other, andalready the townsmen were gaining the advantage, killing many of thosewho had mounted the wall, and throwing back the men on the ladders, andthey came very near to averting the danger. But Cabades drew his swordand, terrifying the Persians constantly with it, rushed in person to theladders and would not let them draw back, and death was the punishmentfor those who dared turn to leave. As a result of this the Persians bytheir numbers gained the upper hand and overcame their antagonists inthe fight. So the city was captured by storm on the eightieth day afterthe beginning of the siege. [Jan. 11, 503 A. D. ] There followed a greatmassacre of the townspeople, until one of the citizens--an old man and apriest--approached Cabades as he was riding into the city, and said thatit was not a kingly act to slaughter captives. Then Cabades, still movedwith passion, replied: "But why did you decide to fight against me?" Andthe old man answered quickly: "Because God willed to give Amida into thyhand not so much because of our decision as of thy valour. " Cabades waspleased by this speech, and permitted no further slaughter, but he badethe Persians plunder the property and make slaves of the survivors, andhe directed them to choose out for himself all the notables among them. 

A short time after this he departed, leaving there to garrison the placea thousand men under command of Glones, a Persian, and some fewunfortunates among the citizens of Amida who were destined to ministeras servants to the daily wants of the Persians; he himself with all theremainder of the army and the captives marched away homeward. Thesecaptives were treated by Cabades with a generosity befitting a king; forafter a short time he released all of them to return to their homes, buthe pretended that they had escaped from him by stealth[10]; and theRoman Emperor, Anastasius, also shewed them honour worthy of theirbravery, for he remitted to the city all the annual taxes for the spaceof seven years, and presented all of them as a body and each one of themseparately with many good things, so that they came fully to forget themisfortunes which had befallen them. But this happened in later years. 

VIII

At that time the Emperor Anastasius, upon learning that Amida was beingbesieged, dispatched with all speed an army of sufficient strength. Butin this army there were general officers in command of everysymmory[11], while the supreme command was divided between the followingfour generals: Areobindus, at that time General of the East, theson-in-law of Olyvrius, who had been Emperor in the West not longbefore; Celer, commander of the palace troops (this officer the Romansare accustomed to call "magister"); besides these still, there were thecommanders of troops in Byzantium, Patricias, the Phrygian, andHypatius, the nephew of the emperor; these four, then, were thegenerals. With them also was associated Justinus, who at a later timebecame emperor upon the death of Anastasius, and Patriciolus with hisson Vitalianus, who raised an armed insurrection against the EmperorAnastasius not long afterwards and made himself tyrant; alsoPharesmanes, a native of Colchis, and a man of exceptional ability as awarrior, and the Goths Godidisklus and Bessas, who were among thoseGoths who had not followed Theoderic when he went from Thrace intoItaly, both of them men of the noblest birth and experienced in matterspertaining to warfare; many others, too, who were men of high station, joined this army. For such an army, they say, was never assembled by theRomans against the Persians either before or after that time. However, all these men did not assemble in one body, nor did they form a singlearmy as they marched, but each commander by himself led his own divisionseparately against the enemy. And as manager of the finances of the armyApion, an Aegyptian, was sent, a man of eminence among the patriciansand extremely energetic; and the emperor in a written statement declaredhim partner in the royal power, in order that he might have authority toadminister the finances as he wished. 

Now this army was mustered with considerable delay, and advanced withlittle speed. As a result of this they did not find the barbarians inthe Roman territory; for the Persians had made their attack suddenly, and had immediately withdrawn with all their booty to their own land. Now no one of the generals desired for the present to undertake thesiege of the garrison left in Amida, for they learned that they hadcarried in a large supply of provisions; but they made haste to invadethe land of the enemy. However they did not advance together against thebarbarians but they encamped apart from one another as they proceeded. When Cabades learned this (for he happened to be close by), he came withall speed to the Roman frontier and confronted them. But the Romans hadnot yet learned that Cabades was moving against them with his wholeforce, and they supposed that some small Persian army was there. Accordingly the forces of Areobindus established their camp in a placecalled Arzamon, at a distance of two days' journey from the city ofConstantina, and those of Patricius and Hypatius in a place calledSiphrios, which is distant not less than three hundred and fifty stadesfrom the city of Amida. As for Celer, he had not yet arrived. 

Areobindus, when he ascertained that Cabades was coming upon them withhis whole army, abandoned his camp, and, in company with all his men, turned to flight and retired on the run to Constantina. And the enemy, coming up not long afterwards, captured the camp without a man in it andall the money it contained. From there they advanced swiftly against theother Roman army. Now the troops of Patricius and Hypatius had happenedupon eight hundred Ephthalitae who were marching in advance of thePersian army, and they had killed practically all of them. Then, sincethey had learned nothing of Cabades and the Persian army, supposing thatthey had won the victory, they began to conduct themselves with lesscaution. At any rate they had stacked their arms and were preparingthemselves a lunch; for already the appropriate time of day was drawingnear. Now a small stream flowed in this place and in it the Romans beganto wash the pieces of meat which they were about to eat; some, too, distressed by the heat, were bathing themselves in the stream; and inconsequence the brook flowed on with a muddy current. But while Cabades, learning what had befallen the Ephthalitae, was advancing against theenemy with all speed, he noticed that the water of the brook wasdisturbed, and divining what was going on, he came to the conclusionthat his opponents were unprepared, and gave orders to charge upon themimmediately at full speed. [Aug. , 503 A. D. ] Straightway, then, they fellupon them feasting and unarmed. And the Romans did not withstand theironset, nor did they once think of resistance, but they began to flee aseach one could; and some of them were captured and slain, while othersclimbed the hill which rises there and threw themselves down the cliffin panic and much confusion. And they say that not a man escaped fromthere; but Patricius and Hypatius had succeeded in getting away at thebeginning of the onset. After this Cabades retired homeward with hiswhole army, since hostile Huns had made an invasion into his land, andwith this people he waged a long war in the northerly portion of hisrealm. In the meantime the other Roman army also came, but they didnothing worth recounting, because, it seems, no one was madecommander-in-chief of the expedition; but all the generals were of equalrank, and consequently they were always opposing one another's opinionsand were utterly unable to unite. However Celer, with his contingent, crossed the Nymphius River and made some sort of an invasion intoArzanene. This river is one very close to Martyropolis, about threehundred stades from Amida. So Celer's troops plundered the countrythereabout and returned not long after, and the whole invasion wascompleted in a short time. 

IX

After this Areobindus went to Byzantium at the summons of the emperor, while the other generals reached Amida, and, in spite of the winterseason, invested it. And although they made many attempts they wereunable to carry the fortress by storm, but they were on the point ofaccomplishing their object by starvation; for all the provisions of thebesieged were exhausted. The generals, however, had ascertained nothingof the straits in which the enemy were; but since they saw that theirown troops were distressed by the labour of the siege and the wintryweather, and at the same time suspected that a Persian army would becoming upon them before long, they were eager to quit the place on anyterms whatever. The Persians, on their part, not knowing what wouldbecome of them in such terrible straits, continued to concealscrupulously their lack of the necessities of life, and made it appearthat they had an abundance of all provisions, wishing to return to theirhomes with the reputation of honour. So a proposal was discussed betweenthem, according to which the Persians were to deliver over the city tothe Romans upon receipt of one thousand pounds of gold. Both partiesthen gladly executed the terms of the agreement, and the son of Glones, upon receiving the money, delivered over Amida to the Romans. For Gloneshimself had already died in the following manner. 

When the Romans had not yet encamped before the city of Amida but werenot far from its vicinity, a certain countryman, who was accustomed toenter the city secretly with fowls and loaves and many other delicacies, which he sold to this Glones at a great price, came before the generalPatricius and promised to deliver into his hands Glones and two hundredPersians, if he should receive from him assurance of some requital. Andthe general promised that he should have everything he desired, and thusdismissed the fellow. He then tore his garments in a dreadful manner, and, assuming the aspect of one who had been weeping, entered the city. And coming before Glones, and tearing his hair he said: "O Master, Ihappened to be bringing in for you all the good things from my village, when some Roman soldiers chanced upon me (for, as you know, they areconstantly wandering about the country here in small bands and doingviolence to the miserable country-folk), and they inflicted upon meblows not to be endured, and, taking away everything, theydeparted, --the robbers, whose ancient custom it is to fear the Persiansand to beat the farmers. But do you, O Master, take thought to defendyourself and us and the Persians. For if you go hunting into theoutskirts of the city, you will find rare game. For the accursed rascalsgo about by fours or fives to do their robbery. " Thus he spoke. AndGlones was persuaded, and enquired of the fellow about how many Persianshe thought would be sufficient for him to carry out the enterprise. Hesaid that about fifty would do, for they would never meet more than fiveof them going together; however, in order to forestall any unexpectedcircumstance, it would do no harm to take with him even one hundred men;and if he should double this number it would be still better from everypoint of view; for no harm could come to a man from the larger number. Glones accordingly picked out two hundred horsemen and bade the fellowlead the way for them. But he insisted that it was better for him to besent first to spy out the ground, and, if he should bring back word thathe had seen Romans still going about in the same districts, that thenthe Persians should make their sally at the fitting moment. Accordingly, since he seemed to Glones to speak well, he was sent forward by his ownorder. Then he came before the general Patricius and explainedeverything; and the general sent with him two of his own body-guard anda thousand soldiers. These he concealed about a village calledThilasamon, forty stades distant from Amida, among valleys and woodyplaces, and instructed them to remain there in this ambush; he himselfthen proceeded to the city on the run, and telling Glones that the preywas ready, he led him and the two hundred horsemen upon the ambush ofthe enemy. And when they passed the spot where the Romans were lying inwait, without being observed by Glones or any of the Persians, he rousedthe Romans from their ambuscade and pointed out to them the enemy. Andwhen the Persians saw the men coming against them, they were astoundedat the suddenness of the thing, and were in much distress what to do. For neither could they retire to the rear, since their opponents werebehind them, nor were they able to flee anywhere else in a hostile land. But as well as they could under the circumstances, they arrayedthemselves for battle and tried to drive back their assailants; butbeing at a great disadvantage in numbers they were vanquished, and allof them together with Glones were destroyed. Now when the son of Gloneslearned of this, being deeply grieved and at the same time furious withanger because he had not been able to defend his father, he fired thesanctuary of Symeon, a holy man, where Glones had his lodging. It mustbe said, however, that with the exception of this one building, neitherGlones nor Cabades, nor indeed any other of the Persians, saw fit eitherto tear down or to destroy in any other way any building in Amida at anyrate, or outside this city. But I shall return to the previousnarrative. 

[504 A. D. ] Thus the Romans by giving the money recovered Amida two yearsafter it had been captured by the enemy. And when they got into thecity, their own negligence and the hardships under which the Persianshad maintained themselves were discovered. For upon reckoning the amountof grain left there and the number of barbarians who had gone out, theyfound that rations for about seven days were left in the city, althoughGlones and his son had been for a long time doling out provisions to thePersians more sparingly than they were needed. For to the Romans who hadremained with them in the city, as I have stated above, they had decidedto dispense nothing at all from the time when their enemy began thesiege; and so these men at first resorted to unaccustomed foods and laidhold on every forbidden thing, and at the last they even tasted eachother's blood. So the generals realized that they had been deceived bythe barbarians, and they reproached the soldiers for their lack ofself-control, because they had shewn themselves wanting in obedience tothem, when it was possible to capture as prisoners of war such amultitude of Persians and the son of Glones and the city itself, whilethey had in consequence attached to themselves signal disgrace bycarrying Roman money to the enemy, and had taken Amida from the Persiansby purchasing it with silver. [506 A. D. ] After this the Persians, sincetheir war with the Huns kept dragging on, entered into a treaty with theRomans, which was arranged by them for seven years, and was made by theRoman Celer and the Persian Aspebedes; both armies then retired homewardand remained at peace. Thus, then, as has been told, began the war ofthe Romans and the Persians, and to this end did it come. But I shallnow turn to the narration of the events touching the Caspian Gates. 

X

The Taurus mountain range of Cilicia passes first Cappadocia and Armeniaand the land of the so-called Persarmenians, then also Albania andIberia and all the other countries in this region, both independent andsubject to Persia. For it extends to a great distance, and as oneproceeds along this range, it always spreads out to an extraordinarybreadth and rises to an imposing height. And as one passes beyond theboundary of Iberia there is a sort of path in a very narrow passage, extending for a distance of fifty stades. This path terminates in aplace cut off by cliffs and, as it seems, absolutely impossible to passthrough. For from there no way out appears, except indeed a small gateset there by nature, just as if it had been made by the hand of man, which has been called from of old the Caspian Gates. From there on thereare plains suitable for riding and extremely well watered, and extensivetracts used as pasture land for horses, and level besides. Here almostall the nations of the Huns are settled, extending as far as the Maeoticlake. Now if these Huns go through the gate which I have just mentionedinto the land of the Persians and the Romans, they come with theirhorses fresh and without making any detour or encountering anyprecipitous places, except in those fifty stades over which, as has beensaid, they pass to the boundary of Iberia. If, however, they go by anyother passes, they reach their destination with great difficulty, andcan no longer use the same horses. For the detours which they are forcedto make are many and steep besides. When this was observed by Alexander, the son of Philip, he constructed gates in the aforesaid place andestablished a fortress there. And this was held by many men in turn astime went on, and finally by Ambazouces, a Hun by birth, but a friend ofthe Romans and the Emperor Anastasius. Now when this Ambazouces hadreached an advanced age and was near to death, he sent to Anastasiusasking that money be given him, on condition that he hand over thefortress and the Caspian Gates to the Romans. But the Emperor Anastasiuswas incapable of doing anything without careful investigation, nor wasit his custom to act thus: reasoning, therefore, that it was impossiblefor him to support soldiers in a place which was destitute of all goodthings, and which had nowhere in the neighbourhood a nation subject tothe Romans, he expressed deep gratitude to the man for his good-willtoward him, but by no means accepted this proposition. So Ambazoucesdied of disease not long afterwards, and Cabades overpowered his sonsand took possession of the Gates. 

The Emperor Anastasius, after concluding the treaty with Cabades, builta city in a place called Daras, exceedingly strong and of realimportance, bearing the name of the emperor himself. Now this place isdistant from the city of Nisibis one hundred stades lacking two, andfrom the boundary line which divides the Romans from the Persians abouttwenty-eight. And the Persians, though eager to prevent the building, were quite unable to do so, being constrained by the war with the Hunsin which they were engaged. But as soon as Cabades brought this to anend, he sent to the Romans and accused them of having built a city hardby the Persian frontier, though this had been forbidden in the agreementpreviously made between the Medes and the Romans[12]. At that time, therefore, the Emperor Anastasius desired, partly by threats, and partlyby emphasizing his friendship with him and by bribing him with no meansum of money, to deceive him and to remove the accusation. And anothercity also was built by this emperor, similar to the first, in Armenia, hard by the boundaries of Persarmenia; now in this place there had beena village from of old, but it had taken on the dignity of a city by thefavour of the Emperor Theodosius even to the name, for it had come to benamed after him[13]. But Anastasius surrounded it with a verysubstantial wall, and thus gave offence to the Persians no less than bythe other city; for both of them are strongholds menacing their country. 

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[Aug. 1, 518 A. D. ] And when a little later Anastasius died, Justinusreceived the empire, forcing aside all the kinsmen of Anastasius, although they were numerous and also very distinguished. Then indeed asort of anxiety came over Cabades, lest the Persians should make someattempt to overthrow his house as soon as he should end his life; for itwas certain that he would not pass on the kingdom to any one of his sonswithout opposition. For while the law called to the throne the eldest ofhis children Caoses by reason of his age, he was by no means pleasing toCabades; and the father's judgment did violence to the law of nature andof custom as well. And Zames, who was second in age, having had one ofhis eyes struck out, was prevented by the law. For it is not lawful fora one-eyed man or one having any other deformity to become king over thePersians. But Chosroes, who was born to him by the sister of Aspebedes, the father loved exceedingly; seeing, however, that all the Persians, practically speaking, felt an extravagant admiration for the manlinessof Zames (for he was a capable warrior), and worshipped his othervirtues, he feared lest they should rise against Chosroes and doirreparable harm to the family and to the kingdom. Therefore it seemedbest to him to arrange with the Romans to put an end both to the war andthe causes of war, on condition that Chosroes be made an adopted son ofthe Emperor Justinus; for only in this way could he preserve stabilityin the government. Accordingly he sent envoys to treat of this matterand a letter to the Emperor Justinus in Byzantium. And the letter waswritten in this wise: "Unjust indeed has been the treatment which wehave received at the hands of the Romans, as even you yourself know, butI have seen fit to abandon entirely all the charges against you, beingassured of this, that the most truly victorious of all men would bethose who, with justice on their side, are still willingly overcome andvanquished by their friends. However I ask of you a certain favour inreturn for this, which would bind together in kinship and in thegood-will which would naturally spring from this relation not onlyourselves but also all our subjects, and which would be calculated tobring us to a satiety of the blessings of peace. My proposal, then, isthis, that you should make my son Chosroes, who will be my successor tothe throne, your adopted son. "

When this message was brought to the Emperor Justinus, he himself wasoverjoyed and Justinian also, the nephew of the emperor, who indeed wasexpected to receive from him the empire. And they were making all hasteto perform the act of setting down in Writing the adoption, as the lawof the Romans prescribes--and would have done so, had they not beenprevented by Proclus, who was at that time a counsellor to the emperor, holding the office of quaestor, as it is called, a just man and one whomit was manifestly impossible to bribe; for this reason he neitherreadily proposed any law, nor was he willing to disturb in any way thesettled order of things; and he at that time also opposed theproposition, speaking as follows: "To venture on novel projects is notmy custom, and indeed I dread them more than any others; for where thereis innovation security is by no means preserved. And it seems to methat, even if one should be especially bold in this matter, he wouldfeel reluctance to do the thing and would tremble at the storm whichwould arise from it; for I believe that nothing else is before ourconsideration at the present time than the question how we may hand overthe Roman empire to the Persians on a seemly pretext. For they make noconcealment nor do they employ any blinds, but explicitly acknowledgingtheir purpose they claim without more ado to rob us of our empire, seeking to veil the manifestness of their deceit under a shew ofsimplicity, and hide a shameless intent behind a pretended unconcern. And yet both of you ought to repel this attempt of the barbarians withall your power; thou, O Emperor, in order that thou mayst not be thelast Emperor of the Romans, and thou, O General, that thou mayst notprove a stumbling block to thyself as regards coming to the throne. Forother crafty devices which are commonly concealed by a pretentious shewof words might perhaps need an interpreter for the many, but thisembassy openly and straight from the very first words means to make thisChosroes, whoever he is, the adopted heir of the Roman Emperor. For Iwould have you reason thus in this matter: by nature the possessions offathers are due to their sons and while the laws among all men arealways in conflict with each other by reason of their varying nature, inthis matter both among the Romans and among all barbarians they are inagreement and harmony with each other, in that they declare sons to bemasters of their fathers' inheritance. Take this first resolve if youchoose: if you do you must agree to all its consequences. "

Thus spoke Proclus; and the emperor and his nephew gave ear to his wordsand deliberated upon what should be done. In the meantime Cabades sentanother letter also to the Emperor Justinus, asking him to send men ofrepute in order to establish peace with him, and to indicate by letterthe manner in which it would be his desire to accomplish the adoption ofhis son. And then, indeed, still more than before Proclus decried theattempt of the Persians, and insisted that their concern was to makeover to themselves as securely as possible the Roman power. And heproposed as his opinion that the peace should be concluded with themwith all possible speed, and that the noblest men should be sent by theemperor for this purpose; and that these men must answer plainly toCabades, when he enquired in what manner the adoption of Chosroes shouldbe accomplished, that it must be of the sort befitting a barbarian, andhis meaning was that the barbarians adopt sons, not by a document, butby arms and armour[14]. Accordingly the Emperor Justinus dismissed theenvoys, promising that men who were the noblest of the Romans wouldfollow them not long afterwards, and that they would arrange asettlement regarding the peace and regarding Chosroes in the bestpossible way. He also answered Cabades by letter to the same effect. Accordingly there were sent from the Romans Hypatius, the nephew ofAnastasius, the late emperor, a patrician who also held the office ofGeneral of the East, and Rufinus, the son of Silvanus, a man of noteamong the patricians and known to Cabades through their fathers; fromthe Persians came one of great power and high authority, Seoses by name, whose title was adrastadaran salanes, and Mebodes, who held the officeof magister. These men came together at a certain spot which is on theboundary line between the land of the Romans and the Persians: therethey met and negotiated as to how they should do away with theirdifferences and settle effectually the question of the peace. Chosroesalso came to the Tigris River, which is distant from the city of Nisibisabout two days journey, in order that, when the details of the peaceshould seem to both parties to be as well arranged as possible, he mightbetake himself in person to Byzantium. Now many words were spoken onboth sides touching the differences between them, and in particularSeoses made mention of the land of Colchis, which is now called Lazica, saying that it had been subject to the Persians from of old and that theRomans had taken it from them by violence and held it on no justgrounds. When the Romans heard this, they were indignant to think thateven Lazica should be disputed by the Persians. And when they in turnstated that the adoption of Chosroes must take place just as is properfor a barbarian, it seemed to the Persians unbearable. The two partiestherefore separated and departed homeward, and Chosroes with nothingaccomplished was off to his father, deeply injured at what had takenplace and vowing vengeance on the Romans for their insult to him. 

After this Mebodes began to slander Seoses to Cabades, saying that hehad proposed the discussion of Lazica purposely, although he had notbeen instructed to do so by his master, thereby frustrating the peace, and also that he had had words previously with Hypatius, who was by nomeans well-disposed toward his own sovereign and was trying to preventthe conclusion of peace and the adoption of Chosroes; and many otheraccusations also were brought forward by the enemies of Seoses, and hewas summoned to trial. Now the whole Persian council gathered to sit injudgment moved more by envy than by respect for the law. For they werethoroughly hostile to his office, which was unfamiliar to them, and alsowere embittered by the natural temper of the man. For while Seoses was aman quite impossible to bribe, and a most exact respecter of justice, hewas afflicted with a degree of arrogance not to be compared with that ofany other. This quality, indeed, seems to be inbred in the Persianofficials, but in Seoses even they thought that the malady had developedto an altogether extraordinary degree. So his accusers said all thosethings which have been indicated above, and added to this that the manwas by no means willing to live in the established fashion or to upholdthe institutions of the Persians. For he both reverenced strangedivinities, and lately, when his wife had died, he had buried her, though it was forbidden by the laws of the Persians ever to hide in theearth the bodies of the dead. The judges therefore condemned the man todeath, while Cabades, though seeming to be deeply moved with sympathy asa friend of Seoses, was by no means willing to rescue him. He did not, on the other hand, make it known that he was angry with him, but, as hesaid, he was not willing to undo the laws of the Persians, although heowed the man the price of his life, since Seoses was chiefly responsibleboth for the fact that he was alive and also that he was king. Thus, then, Seoses was condemned and was removed from among men. And theoffice which began with him ended also with him. For no other man hasbeen made adrastadaran salanes. Rufinus also slandered Hypatius to theemperor. As a result of this the emperor reduced him from his office, and tortured most cruelly certain of his associates only to find outthat this slander was absolutely unsound; beyond this, however, he didHypatius no harm. 

XII

Immediately after this, Cabades, though eager to make some kind of aninvasion into the land of the Romans, was utterly unable to do so onaccount of the following obstacle which happened to arise. The Iberians, who live in Asia, are settled in the immediate neighbourhood of theCaspian Gates, which lie to the north of them. Adjoining them on theleft towards the west is Lazica, and on the right towards the east arethe Persian peoples. This nation is Christian and they guard the ritesof this faith more closely than any other men known to us, but they havebeen subjects of the Persian king, as it happens, from ancient times. And just then Cabades was desirous of forcing them to adopt the rites ofhis own religion. And he enjoined upon their king, Gourgenes, to do allthings as the Persians are accustomed to do them, and in particular notunder any circumstances to hide their dead in the earth, but to throwthem all to the birds and dogs. For this reason, then, Gourgenes wishedto go over to the Emperor Justinus, and he asked that he might receivepledges that the Romans would never abandon the Iberians to thePersians. And the emperor gave him these pledges with great eagerness, and he sent Probus, the nephew of the late emperor Anastasius, a man ofpatrician rank, with a great sum of money to Bosporus, that he might winover with money an army of Huns and send them as allies to the Iberians. This Bosporus is a city by the sea, on the left as one sails into theso-called Euxine Sea, twenty days journey distant from the city ofCherson, which is the limit of the Roman territory. Between these citieseverything is held by the Huns. Now in ancient times the people ofBosporus were autonomous, but lately they had decided to become subjectto the Emperor Justinus. Probus, however, departed from there withoutaccomplishing his mission, and the emperor sent Peter as general withsome Huns to Lazica to fight with all their strength for Gourgenes. Meanwhile Cabades sent a very considerable army against Gourgenes andthe Iberians, and as general a Persian bearing the title of "varizes, "Boes by name. Then it was seen that Gourgenes was too weak to withstandthe attack of the Persians, for the help from the Romans wasinsufficient, and with all the notables of the Iberians he fled toLazica, taking with him his wife and children and also his brothers, ofwhom Peranius was the eldest. And when they had reached the boundariesof Lazica, they remained there, and, sheltering themselves by theroughness of the country, they took their stand against the enemy. Andthe Persians followed after them but did nothing deserving even ofmention since the circumstance of the rough country was against them. 

Thereafter the Iberians presented themselves at Byzantium and Petruscame to the emperor at his summons; and from then on the emperordemanded that he should assist the Lazi to guard their country, evenagainst their will, and he sent an army and Eirenaeus in command of it. Now there are two fortresses in Lazica[15] which one comes uponimmediately upon entering their country from the boundaries of Iberia, and the defence of them had been from of old in charge of the natives, although they experienced great hardship in this matter; for neithercorn nor wine nor any other good thing is produced there. Nor indeed cananything be carried in from elsewhere on account of the narrowness ofthe paths, unless it be carried by men. However, the Lazi were able tolive on a certain kind of millet which grows there, since they wereaccustomed to it. These garrisons the emperor removed from the place andcommanded that Roman soldiers should be stationed there to guard thefortresses. And at first the Lazi with difficulty brought in provisionsfor these soldiers, but later they gave up the service and the Romansabandoned these forts, whereupon the Persians with no trouble tookpossession of them. This then happened in Lazica. 

And the Romans, under the leadership of Sittas and Belisarius, made aninroad into Persarmenia, a territory subject to the Persians, where theyplundered a large tract of country and then withdrew with a greatmultitude of Armenian captives. These two men were both youths andwearing their first beards[16], body-guards of the general Justinian, who later shared the empire with his uncle Justinus. But when a secondinroad had been made by the Romans into Armenia, Narses and Aratiusunexpectedly confronted them and engaged them in battle. These men notlong after this came to the Romans as deserters, and made the expeditionto Italy with Belisarius; but on the present occasion they joined battlewith the forces of Sittas and Belisarius and gained the advantage overthem. An invasion was also made near the city of Nisibis by anotherRoman army under command of Libelarius of Thrace. This army retiredabruptly in flight although no one came out against thorn. And becauseof this the emperor reduced Libelarius from his office and appointedBelisarius commander of the troops in Daras. It was at that time thatProcopius, who wrote this history, was chosen as his adviser. [527 A. D. ]

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[Apr. 1, 527] Not long after this Justinus, who had declared his nephewJustinian emperor with him, died, and thus the empire came to Justinianalone. [Aug. 1, 527] This Justinian commanded Belisarius to build afortress in a place called Mindouos, which is over against the veryboundary of Persia, on the left as one goes to Nisibis. He accordinglywith great haste began to carry out the decision of the emperor, and thefort was already rising to a considerable height by reason of the greatnumber of artisans. But the Persians forbade them to build any further, threatening that, not with words alone but also with deeds, they wouldat no distant time obstruct the work. When the emperor heard this, inasmuch as Belisarius was not able to beat off the Persians from theplace with the army he had, he ordered another army to go thither, andalso Coutzes and Bouzes, who at that time commanded the soldiers inLibanus[17]. These two were brothers from Thrace, both young andinclined to be rash in engaging with the enemy. So both armies weregathered together and came in full force to the scene of the buildingoperations, the Persians in order to hinder the work with all theirpower, and the Romans to defend the labourers. And a fierce battle tookplace in which the Romans were defeated, and there was a great slaughterof them, while some also were made captive by the enemy. Among these wasCoutzes himself. All these captives the Persians led away to their owncountry, and, putting them in chains, confined them permanently in acave; as for the fort, since no one defended it any longer, they razedwhat had been built to the ground. 

After this the Emperor Justinian appointed Belisarius General of theEast and bade him make an expedition against the Persians. And hecollected a very formidable army and came to Daras. Hermogenes also cameto him from the emperor to assist in setting the army in order, holdingthe office of magister; this man was formerly counsellor to Vitalianusat the time when he was at war with the Emperor Anastasius. The emperoralso sent Rufinus as ambassador, commanding him to remain in Hierapolison the Euphrates River until he himself should give the word. Foralready much was being said on both sides concerning peace. Suddenly, however, someone reported to Belisarius and Hermogenes that the Persianswere expected to invade the land of the Romans, being eager to capturethe city of Daras. And when they heard this, they prepared for thebattle as follows. [July, 530] Not far from the gate which lies oppositethe city of Nisibis, about a stone's throw away, they dug a deep trenchwith many passages across it. Now this trench was not dug in a straightline, but in the following manner. In the middle there was a rathershort portion straight, and at either end of this there were dug twocross trenches at right angles to the first; and starting from theextremities of the two cross trenches, they continued two straighttrenches in the original direction to a very great distance. Not longafterwards the Persians came with a great army, and all of them madecamp in a place called Ammodios, at a distance of twenty stades from thecity of Daras. Among the leaders of this army were Pityaxes and theone-eyed Baresmanas. But one general held command over them all, aPersian, whose title was "mirranes" (for thus the Persians designatethis office), Perozes by name. This Perozes immediately sent toBelisarius bidding him make ready the bath: for he wished to bathe thereon the following day. Accordingly the Romans made the most vigorouspreparations for the encounter, with the expectation that they wouldfight on the succeeding day. 

At sunrise, seeing the enemy advancing against them, they arrayedthemselves as follows[18]. The extremity of the left straight trenchwhich joined the cross trench, as far as the hill which rises here, washeld by Bouzes with a large force of horsemen and by Pharas the Erulianwith three hundred of his nation. On the right of these, outside thetrench, at the angle formed by the cross trench and the straight sectionwhich extended from that point, were Sunicas and Aigan, Massagetae bybirth, with six hundred horsemen, in order that, if those under Bouzesand Pharas should be driven back, they might, by moving quickly on theflank, and getting in the rear of the enemy, be able easily to supportthe Romans at that point. On the other wing also they were arrayed inthe same manner; for the extremity of the straight trench was held by alarge force of horsemen, who were commanded by John, son of Nicetas, andby Cyril and Marcellus; with them also were Germanus and Dorotheus;while at the angle on the right six hundred horsemen took their stand, commanded by Simmas and Ascan, Massagetae, in order that, as has beensaid, in case the forces of John should by any chance be driven back, they might move out from there and attack the rear of the Persians. Thusall along the trench stood the detachments of cavalry and the infantry. And behind these in the middle stood the forces of Belisarius andHermogenes. Thus the Romans arrayed themselves, amounting tofive-and-twenty thousand; but the Persian army consisted of fortythousand horse and foot, and they all stood close together facing thefront, so as to make the front of the phalanx as deep as possible. Thenfor a long time neither side began battle with the other, but thePersians seemed to be wondering at the good order of the Romans, andappeared at a loss what to do under the circumstances. 

In the late afternoon a certain detachment of the horsemen who held theright wing, separating themselves from the rest of the army, cameagainst the forces of Bouzes and Pharas. And the Romans retired a shortdistance to the rear. The Persians, however, did not pursue them, butremained there, fearing, I suppose, some move to surround them on thepart of the enemy. Then the Romans who had turned to flight suddenlyrushed upon them. And the Persians did not withstand their onset androde back to the phalanx, and again the forces of Bouzes and Pharasstationed themselves in their own position. In this skirmish seven ofthe Persians fell, and the Romans gained possession of their bodies;thereafter both armies remained quietly in position. But one Persian, ayoung man, riding up very close to the Roman army, began to challengeall of them, calling for whoever wished to do battle with him. And noone of the whole army dared face the danger, except a certain Andreas, one of the personal attendants of Bouzes, not a soldier nor one who hadever practised at all the business of war, but a trainer of youths incharge of a certain wrestling school in Byzantium. Through this it cameabout that he was following the army, for he cared for the person ofBouzes in the bath; his birthplace was Byzantium. This man alone had thecourage, without being ordered by Bouzes or anyone else, to go out ofhis own accord to meet the man in single combat. And he caught thebarbarian while still considering how he should deliver his attack, andhit him with his spear on the right breast. And the Persian did not bearthe blow delivered by a man of such exceptional strength, and fell fromhis horse to the earth. Then Andreas with a small knife slew him like asacrificial animal as he lay on his back, and a mighty shout was raisedboth from the city wall and from the Roman army. But the Persians weredeeply vexed at the outcome and sent forth another horseman for the samepurpose, a manly fellow and well favoured as to bodily size, but not ayouth, for some of the hair on his head already shewed grey. Thishorseman came up along the hostile army, and, brandishing vehemently thewhip with which he was accustomed to strike his horse, he summoned tobattle whoever among the Romans was willing. And when no one went outagainst him, Andreas, without attracting the notice of anyone, once morecame forth, although he had been forbidden to do so by Hermogenes. Soboth rushed madly upon each other with their spears, and the weapons, driven against their corselets, were turned aside with mighty force, andthe horses, striking together their heads, fell themselves and threw offtheir riders. And both the two men, falling very close to each other, made great haste to rise to their feet, but the Persian was not able todo this easily because his size was against him, while Andreas, anticipating him (for his practice in the wrestling school gave him thisadvantage), smote him as he was rising on his knee, and as he fell againto the ground dispatched him. Then a roar went up from the wall and fromthe Roman army as great, if not greater, than before; and the Persiansbroke their phalanx and withdrew to Ammodios, while the Romans, raisingthe pæan, went inside the fortifications; for already it was growingdark. Thus both armies passed that night. 

XIV

On the following day ten thousand soldiers arrived who had been summonedby the Persians from the city of Nisibis, and Belisarius and Hermogeneswrote to the mirranes as follows: "The first blessing is peace, as isagreed by all men who have even a small share of reason. It follows thatif any one should be a destroyer of it, he would be most responsible notonly to those near him but also to his whole nation for the troubleswhich come. The best general, therefore, is that one who is able tobring about peace from war. But you, when affairs were well settledbetween the Romans and the Persians, have seen fit to bring upon us awar without cause, although the counsels of each king are looking towardpeace, and although our envoys are already present in the neighbourhood, who will at no distant time settle all the points of dispute in talkingover the situation together, unless some irreparable harm coming fromyour invasion proves sufficient to frustrate for us this hope. But leadaway as soon as possible your army to the land of the Persians, and donot stand in the way of the greatest blessings, lest at some time you beheld responsible by the Persians, as is probable, for the disasterswhich will come to pass. " When the mirranes saw this letter brought tohim, he replied as follows: "I should have been persuaded by what youwrite, and should have done what you demand, were the letter not, as ithappens, from Romans, for whom the making of promises is easy, but thefulfilment of the promises in deed most difficult and beyond hope, especially if you sanction the agreement by any oaths. We, therefore, despairing in view of your deception, have been compelled to come beforeyou in arms, and as for you, my dear Romans, consider that from now onyou will be obliged to do nothing else than make war against thePersians. For here we shall be compelled either to die or grow old untilyou accord to us justice in deed. " Such was the reply which the mirraneswrote back. And again Belisarius and his generals wrote as follows: "Oexcellent mirranes, it is not fitting in all things to depend uponboasting, nor to lay upon one's neighbours reproaches which arejustified on no grounds whatever. For we said with truth that Rufinushad come to act as an envoy and was not far away, and you yourself willknow this at no remote time. But since you are eager for deeds of war, we shall array ourselves against you with the help of God, who will, weknow, support us in the danger, being moved by the peaceful inclinationof the Romans, but rebuking the boastfulness of the Persians and yourdecision to resist us when we invite you to peace. And we shall arrayourselves against you, having prepared for the conflict by fastening theletters written by each of us on the top of our banners. " Such was themessage of this letter. And the mirranes again answered as follows:"Neither are we entering upon the war without our gods, and with theirhelp we shall come before you, and I expect that on the morrow they willbring the Persians into Daras. But let the bath and lunch be inreadiness for me within the fortifications. " When Belisarius and hisgenerals read this, they prepared themselves for the conflict. 

On the succeeding day the mirranes called together all the Persians atabout sunrise and spoke as follows: "I am not ignorant that it is notbecause of words of their leaders, but because of their individualbravery and their shame before each other that the Persians areaccustomed to be courageous in the presence of dangers. But seeing youconsidering why in the world it is that, although the Romans have notbeen accustomed heretofore to go into battle without confusion anddisorder, they recently awaited the advancing Persians with a kind oforder which is by no means characteristic of them, for this reason Ihave decided to speak some words of exhortation to you, so that it maynot come about that you be deceived by reason of holding an opinionwhich is not true. For I would not have you think that the Romans havesuddenly become better warriors, or that they have acquired any morevalour or experience, but that they have become more cowardly than theywere previously; at any rate they fear the Persians so much that theyhave not even dared to form their phalanx without a trench. And not evenwith this did they begin any fighting, but when we did not join battlewith them at all, joyfully and considering that matters had gone betterfor them than they had hoped, they withdrew to the wall. For this reasontoo it happened that they were not thrown into confusion, for they hadnot yet come into the dangers of battle. But if the fighting comes toclose quarters, fear will seize upon them, and this, together with theirinexperience, will throw them, in all probability, into their customarydisorder. Such, therefore, is the case with regard to the enemy; but doyou, O men of Persia, call to mind the judgment of the King of Kings. For if you do not play the part of brave men in the present engagement, in a manner worthy of the valour of the Persians, an ingloriouspunishment will fall upon you. " With this exhortation the mirranes beganto lead his army against the enemy. Likewise Belisarius and Hermogenesgathered all the Romans before the fortifications, and encouraged themwith the following words: "You know assuredly that the Persians are notaltogether invincible, nor too strong to be killed, having taken theirmeasure in the previous battle; and that, although superior to them inbravery and in strength of body, you were defeated only by reason ofbeing rather heedless of your officers, no one can deny. This thing younow have the opportunity to set right with no trouble. For while theadversities of fortune are by no means such as to be set right by aneffort, reason may easily become for a man a physician for the illscaused by himself. If therefore you are willing to give heed to theorders given, you will straightway win for yourselves the superiority inbattle. For the Persians come against us basing their confidence onnothing else than our disorder. But this time also they will bedisappointed in this hope, and will depart just as in the previousencounter. And as for the great numbers of the enemy, by which more thananything else they inspire fear, it is right for you to despise them. For their whole infantry is nothing more than a crowd of pitiablepeasants who come into battle for no other purpose than to dig throughwalls and to despoil the slain and in general to serve the soldiers. Forthis reason they have no weapons at all with which they might troubletheir opponents, and they only hold before themselves those enormousshields in order that they may not possibly be hit by the enemy. Therefore if you shew yourselves brave men in this struggle, you willnot only conquer the Persians for the present, but you will also punishthem for their folly, so that they will never again make an expeditioninto the Roman territory. "

When Belisarius and Hermogenes had finished this exhortation, since theysaw the Persians advancing against them, they hastily drew up thesoldiers in the same manner as before. And the barbarians, coming upbefore them, took their stand facing the Romans. But the mirranes didnot array all the Persians against the enemy, but only one half of them, while he allowed the others to remain behind. These were to take theplaces of the men who were fighting and to fall upon their opponentswith their vigour intact, so that all might fight in constant rotation. But the detachment of the so-called Immortals alone he ordered to remainat rest until he himself should give the signal. And he took his ownstation at the middle of the front, putting Pityaxes in command on theright wing, and Baresmanas on the left. In this manner, then, botharmies were drawn up. Then Pharas came before Belisarius and Hermogenes, and said: "It does not seem to me that I shall do the enemy any greatharm if I remain here with the Eruli; but if we conceal ourselves onthis slope, and then, when the Persians have begun the fight, if weclimb up by this hill and suddenly come upon their rear, shooting frombehind them, we shall in all probability do them the greatest harm. "Thus he spoke, and, since it pleased Belisarius and his staff, hecarried out this plan. 

But up to midday neither side began battle. As soon, however, as thenoon hour was passed, the barbarians began the fight, having postponedthe engagement to this time of the day for the reason that they areaccustomed to partake of food only towards late afternoon, while theRomans have their meal before noon; and for this reason they thoughtthat the Romans would never hold out so well, if they assailed themwhile hungry. At first, then, both sides discharged arrows against eachother, and the missiles by their great number made, as it were, a vastcloud; and many men were falling on both sides, but the missiles of thebarbarians flew much more thickly. For fresh men were always fighting inturn, affording to their enemy not the slightest opportunity to observewhat was being done; but even so the Romans did not have the worst ofit. For a steady wind blew from their side against the barbarians, andchecked to a considerable degree the force of their arrows. Then, afterboth sides had exhausted all their missiles, they began to use theirspears against each other, and the battle had come still more to closequarters. On the Roman side the left wing was suffering especially. Forthe Cadiseni, who with Pityaxes were fighting at this point, rushing upsuddenly in great numbers, routed their enemy, and crowding hard uponthe fugitives, were killing many of them. When this was observed by themen under Sunicas and Aigan, they charged against them at full speed. But first the three hundred Eruli under Pharas from the high ground gotin the rear of the enemy and made a wonderful display of valorous deedsagainst all of them and especially the Cadiseni. And the Persians, seeing the forces of Sunicas too already coming up against them from theflank, turned to a hasty flight. And the rout became complete, for theRomans here joined forces with each other, and there was a greatslaughter of the barbarians. On the Persian right wing not fewer thanthree thousand perished in this action, while the rest escaped withdifficulty to the phalanx and were saved. And the Romans did notcontinue their pursuit, but both sides took their stand facing eachother in line. Such was the course of these events. 

But the mirranes stealthily sent to the left a large body of troops andwith them all the so-called Immortals. And when these were noticed byBelisarius and Hermogenes, they ordered the six hundred men underSunicas and Aigan to go to the angle on the right, where the troops ofSimmas and Ascan were stationed, and behind them they placed many ofBelisarius men. So the Persians who held the left wing under theleadership of Baresmanas, together with the Immortals, charged on therun upon the Romans opposite them, who failed to withstand the attackand beat a hasty retreat. Thereupon the Romans in the angle, and all whowere behind them, advanced with great ardour against the pursuers. Butinasmuch as they came upon the barbarians from the side, they cut theirarmy into two parts, and the greater portion of them they had on theirright, while some also who were left behind were placed on their left. Among these happened to be the standard bearer of Baresmanas, whomSunicas charged and struck with his spear. And already the Persians whowere leading the pursuit perceived in what straits they were, and, wheeling about, they stopped the pursuit and went against theirassailants, and thus became exposed to the enemy on both sides. Forthose in flight before them understood what was happening and turnedback again. The Persians, on their part, with the detachment of theImmortals, seeing the standard inclined and lowered to the earth, rushedall together against the Romans at that point with Baresmanas. There theRomans held their ground. And first Sunicas killed Baresmanas and threwhim from his horse to the ground. As a result of this the barbarianswere seized with great fear and thought no longer of resistance, butfled in utter confusion. And the Romans, having made a circle as it werearound them, killed about five thousand. Thus both armies were all setin motion, the Persians in retreat, and the Romans in pursuit. In thispart of the conflict all the foot-soldiers who were in the Persian armythrew down their shields and were caught and wantonly killed by theirenemy. However, the pursuit was not continued by the Romans over a greatdistance. For Belisarius and Hermogenes refused absolutely to let themgo farther, fearing lest the Persians through some necessity should turnabout and rout them while pursuing recklessly, and it seemed to themsufficient to preserve the victory unmarred. For on that day thePersians had been defeated in battle by the Romans, a thing which hadnot happened for a long time. Thus the two armies separated from eachother. And the Persians were no longer willing to fight a pitched battlewith the Romans. However, some sudden attacks were made on both sides, in which the Romans were not at a disadvantage. Such, then, was thefortune of the armies in Mesopotamia. 

XV

And Cabades sent another army into the part of Armenia which is subjectto the Romans. This army was composed of Persarmenians and Sunitae, whose land adjoins that of the Alani. There were also Huns with them, ofthe stock called Sabiri, to the number of three thousand, a most warlikerace. And Mermeroes, a Persian, had been made general of the wholeforce. When this army was three days' march from Theodosiopolis, theyestablished their camp and, remaining in the land of the Persarmenians, made their preparations for the invasion. Now the general of Armeniawas, as it happened, Dorotheus, a man of discretion and experienced inmany wars. And Sittas held the office of general in Byzantium, and hadauthority over the whole army in Armenia. These two, then, upon learningthat an army was being assembled in Persarmenia, straightway sent twobody-guards with instructions to spy out the whole force of the enemyand report to them. And both of these men got into the barbarian camp, and after noting everything accurately, they departed. And they weretravelling toward some place in that region, when they happenedunexpectedly upon hostile Huns. By them one of the two, Dagaris by name, was made captive and bound, while the other succeeded in escaping andreported everything to the generals. They then armed their whole forceand made an unexpected assault upon the camp of their enemy; and thebarbarians, panic-stricken by the unexpected attack, never thought ofresistance, but fled as best each one could. Thereupon the Romans, afterkilling a large number and plundering the camp, immediately marchedback. 

Not long after this Mermeroes, having collected the whole army, invadedthe Roman territory, and they came upon their enemy near the city ofSatala. There they established themselves in camp and remained at restin a place called Octava, which is fifty-six stades distant from thecity. Sittas therefore led out a thousand men and concealed them behindone of the many hills which surround the plain in which the city ofSatala lies. Dorotheus with the rest of the army he ordered to stayinside the fortifications, because they thought that they were by nomeans able to withstand the enemy on level ground, since their numberwas not fewer than thirty thousand, while their own forces scarcelyamounted to half that number. On the following day the barbarians cameup close to the fortifications and busily set about closing in the town. But suddenly, seeing the forces of Sittas who by now were coming downupon them from the high ground, and having no means of estimating theirnumber, since owing to the summer season a great cloud of dust hung overthem, they thought they were much more numerous than they were, and, hurriedly abandoning their plan of closing in the town, they hastened tomass their force into a small space. But the Romans anticipated themovement and, separating their own force into two detachments, they setupon them as they were retiring from the fortifications; and when thiswas seen by the whole Roman army, they took courage, and with a greatrush they poured out from the fortifications and advanced against theiropponents. They thus put the Persians between their own troops, andturned them to flight. However, since the barbarians were greatlysuperior to their enemy in numbers, as has been said, they still offeredresistance, and the battle had become a fierce fight at close quarters. And both sides kept making advances upon their opponents and retiringquickly, for they were all cavalry. Thereupon Florentius, a Thracian, commanding a detachment of horse, charged into the enemy's centre, andseizing the general's standard, forced it to the ground, and started toride back. And though he himself was overtaken and fell there, hacked topieces, he proved to be the chief cause of the victory for the Romans. For when the barbarians no longer saw the standard, they were throwninto great confusion and terror, and retreating, got inside their camp, and remained quiet, having lost many men in the battle; and on thefollowing day they all returned homeward with no one following them up, for it seemed to the Romans a great and very noteworthy thing that sucha great multitude of barbarians in their own country had suffered thosethings which have just been narrated above, and that, after making aninvasion into hostile territory, they should retire thus withoutaccomplishing anything and defeated by a smaller force. 

At that time the Romans also acquired certain Persian strongholds inPersarmenia, both the fortress of Bolum and the fortress calledPharangium, which is the place where the Persians mine gold, which theytake to the king. It happened also that a short time before this theyhad reduced to subjection the Tzanic nation, who had been settled fromof old in Roman territory as an autonomous people; and as to thesethings, the manner in which they were accomplished will be related hereand now. 

As one goes from the land of Armenia into Persarmenia the Taurus lies onthe right, extending into Iberia and the peoples there, as has been saida little before this[19], while on the left the road which continues todescend for a great distance is overhung by exceedingly precipitousmountains, concealed forever by clouds and snow, from which the PhasisRiver issues and flows into the land of Colchis. In this place from thebeginning lived barbarians, the Tzanic nation, subject to no one, calledSani in early times; they made plundering expeditions among the Romanswho lived round about, maintaining a most difficult existence, andalways living upon what they stole; for their land produced for themnothing good to eat. Wherefore also the Roman emperor sent them eachyear a fixed amount of gold, with the condition that they should neverplunder the country thereabout. And the barbarians had sworn to observethis agreement with the oaths peculiar to their nation, and then, disregarding what they had sworn, they had been accustomed for a longtime to make unexpected attacks and to injure not only the Armenians, but also the Romans who lived next to them as far as the sea; then, after completing their inroad in a short space of time, they wouldimmediately betake themselves again to their homes. And whenever it _so_happened that they chanced upon a Roman army, they were always defeatedin the battle, but they proved to be absolutely beyond capture owing tothe strength of their fastnesses. In this way Sittas had defeated themin battle before this war; and then by many manifestations of kindnessin word and in deed he had been able to win them over completely. Forthey changed their manner of life to one of a more civilized sort, andenrolled themselves among the Roman troops, and from that time they havegone forth against the enemy with the rest of the Roman army. They alsoabandoned their own religion for a more righteous faith, and all of thembecame Christians. Such then was the history of the Tzani. 

Beyond the borders of this people there is a cañon whose walls are bothhigh and exceedingly steep, extending as far as the Caucasus mountains. In it are populous towns, and grapes and other fruits grow plentifully. And this canon for about the space of a three days' journey is tributaryto the Romans, but from there begins the territory of Persarmenia; andhere is the gold-mine which, with the permission of Cabades, was workedby one of the natives, Symeon by name. When this Symeon saw that bothnations were actively engaged in the war, he decided to deprive Cabadesof the revenue. Therefore he gave over both himself and Pharangium tothe Romans, but refused to deliver over to either one the gold of themine. And as for the Romans, they did nothing, thinking it sufficientfor them that the enemy had lost the income from there, and the Persianswere not able against the will of the Romans to force the inhabitants ofthe place to terms, because they were baffled by the difficult country. 

At about the same time Narses and Aratius who at the beginning of thiswar, as I have stated above, [20] had an encounter with Sittas andBelisarius in the land of the Persarmenians, came together with theirmother as deserters to the Romans; and the emperor's steward, Narses, received them (for he too happened to be a Persarmenian by birth), andhe presented them with a large sum of money. When this came to theknowledge of Isaac, their youngest brother, he secretly openednegotiations with the Romans, and delivered over to them the fortress ofBolum, which lies very near the limits of Theodosiopolis. For hedirected that soldiers should be concealed somewhere in the vicinity, and he received them into the fort by night, opening stealthily onesmall gate for them. Thus he too came to Byzantium. 

XVI

Thus matters stood with the Romans. But the Persians, though defeated byBelisarius in the battle at Daras, refused even so to retire from there, until Rufinus, coming into the presence of Cabades, spoke as follows: "OKing, I have been sent by thy brother, who reproaches thee with a justreproach, because the Persians for no righteous cause have come in armsinto his land. But it would be more seemly for a king who is not onlymighty, but also wise as thou art, to secure a peaceful conclusion ofwar, rather than, when affairs have been satisfactorily settled, toinflict upon himself and his people unnecessary confusion. Whereforealso I myself have come here with good hopes, in order that from now onboth peoples may enjoy the blessings which come from peace. " So spokeRufinus. And Cabades replied as follows: "O son of Silvanus, by no meanstry to reverse the causes, understanding as you do best of all men thatyou Romans have been the chief cause of the whole confusion. For we havetaken the Caspian Gates to the advantage of both Persians and Romans, after forcing out the barbarians there, since Anastasius, the Emperor ofthe Romans, as you yourself doubtless know, when the opportunity wasoffered him to buy them with money, was not willing to do so, in orderthat he might not be compelled to squander great sums of money in behalfof both nations by keeping an army there perpetually. And since thattime we have stationed that great army there, and have supported it upto the present time, thereby giving you the privilege of inhabiting theland unplundered as far as concerns the barbarians on that side, and ofholding your own possessions with complete freedom from trouble. But asif this were not sufficient for you, you have also made a great city, Daras, as a stronghold against the Persians, although this wasexplicitly forbidden in the treaty which Anatolius arranged with thePersians; and as a result of this it is necessary for the Persian stateto be afflicted with the difficulties and the expense of two armies, theone in order that the Massagetae may not be able fearlessly to plunderthe land of both of us, and the other in order that we may check yourinroads. When lately we made a protest regarding these matters anddemanded that one of two things should be done by you, either that thearmy sent to the Caspian Gates should be sent by both of us, or that thecity of Daras should be dismantled, you refused to understand what wassaid, but saw fit to strengthen your plot against the Persians by agreater injury, if we remember correctly the building of the fort inMindouos[21]. And even now the Romans may choose peace, or they mayelect war, by either doing justice to us or going against our rights. For never will the Persians lay down their arms, until the Romans eitherhelp them in guarding the gates, as is just and right, or dismantle thecity of Daras. " With these words Cabades dismissed the ambassador, dropping the hint that he was willing to take money from the Romans andhave done with the causes of the war. This was reported to the emperorby Rufinus when he came to Byzantium. [531 A. D. ] Hermogenes also camethither not long afterwards, and the winter came to a close; thus endedthe fourth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian. 

XVII

At the opening of spring a Persian army under the leadership ofAzarethes invaded the Roman territory. They were fifteen thousandstrong, all horsemen. With them was Alamoundaras, son of Saccice, with avery large body of Saracens. But this invasion was not made by thePersians in the customary manner; for they did not invade Mesopotamia, as formerly, but the country called Commagene of old, but nowEuphratesia, a point from which, as far as we know, the Persians neverbefore conducted a campaign against the Romans. But why the land wascalled Mesopotamia and why the Persians refrained from making theirattack at this point is what I now propose to relate. 

There is a mountain in Armenia which is not especially precipitous, two-and-forty stades removed from Theodosiopolis and lying toward thenorth from it. From this mountain issue two springs, forming immediatelytwo rivers, the one on the right called the Euphrates, and the other theTigris. One of these, the Tigris, descends, with no deviations and withno tributaries except small ones emptying into it, straight toward thecity of Amida. And continuing into the country which lies to the northof this city it enters the land of Assyria. But the Euphrates at itsbeginning flows for a short distance, and is then immediately lost tosight as it goes on; it does not, however, become subterranean, but avery strange thing happens. For the water is covered by a bog of greatdepth, extending about fifty stades in length and twenty in breadth; andreeds grow in this mud in great abundance. But the earth there is ofsuch a hard sort that it seems to those who chance upon it to be nothingelse than solid ground, so that both pedestrians and horsemen travelover it without any fear. Nay more, even wagons pass over the place ingreat numbers every day, but they are wholly insufficient to shake thebog or to find a weak spot in it at any point. The natives burn thereeds every year, to prevent the roads being stopped up by them, andonce, when an exceedingly violent wind struck the place, it came aboutthat the fire reached the extremities of the roots, and the waterappeared at a small opening; but in a short time the ground closedagain, and gave the spot the same appearance which it had had before. From there the river proceeds into the land called Celesene, where wasthe sanctuary of Artemis among the Taurians, from which they sayIphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, fled with Orestes and Pylades, bearingthe statue of Artemis. For the other temple which has existed even to myday in the city of Comana is not the one "Among the Taurians. " But Ishall explain how this temple came into being. 

When Orestes had departed in haste from the Taurians with his sister, itso happened that he contracted some disease. And when he made inquiryabout the disease they say that the oracle responded that his troublewould not abate until he built a temple to Artemis in a spot such as theone among the Taurians, and there cut off his hair and named the cityafter it. So then Orestes, going about the country there, came toPontus, and saw a mountain which rose steep and towering, while belowalong the extremities of the mountain flowed the river Iris. Orestes, therefore, supposing at that time that this was the place indicated tohim by the oracle, built there a great city and the temple of Artemis, and, shearing off his hair, named after it the city which even up to thepresent time has been called Comana. The story goes on that afterOrestes had done these things, the disease continued to be as violent asbefore, if not even more so. Then the man perceived that he was notsatisfying the oracle by doing these things, and he again went aboutlooking everywhere and found a certain spot in Cappadocia very closelyresembling the one among the Taurians. I myself have often seen thisplace and admired it exceedingly, and have imagined that I was in theland of the Taurians. For this mountain resembles the other remarkably, since the Taurus is here also and the river Sarus is similar to theEuphrates there. So Orestes built in that place an imposing city and twotemples, the one to Artemis and the other to his sister Iphigenia, whichthe Christians have made sanctuaries for themselves, without changingtheir structure at all. This is called even now Golden Comana, beingnamed from the hair of Orestes, which they say he cut off there and thusescaped from his affliction. But some say that this disease from whichhe escaped was nothing else than that of madness which seized him afterhe had killed his own mother. But I shall return to the previousnarrative. 

From Tauric Armenia and the land of Celesene the River Euphrates, flowing to the right of the Tigris, flows around an extensive territory, and since many rivers join it and among them the Arsinus, whose copiousstream flows down from the land of the so-called Persarmenians, itbecomes naturally a great river, and flows into the land of the peopleanciently called White Syrians but now known as the Lesser Armenians, whose first city, Melitene, is one of great importance. From there itflows past Samosata and Hierapolis and all the towns in that region asfar as the land of Assyria, where the two rivers unite with each otherinto one stream which bears the name of the Tigris. The land which liesoutside the River Euphrates, beginning with Samosata, was called inancient times Commagene, but now it is named after the river[22]. Butthe land inside the river, that namely which is between it and theTigris, is appropriately named Mesopotamia; however, a portion of it iscalled not only by this name, but also by certain others. For the landas far as the city of Amida has come to be called Armenia by some, whileEdessa together with the country around it is called Osroene, afterOsroes, a man who was king in that place in former times, when the menof this country were in alliance with the Persians. After the time, therefore, when the Persians had taken from the Romans the city ofNisibis and certain other places in Mesopotamia, whenever they wereabout to make an expedition against the Romans, they disregarded theland outside the River Euphrates, which was for the most part unwateredand deserted by men, and gathered themselves here with no trouble, sincethey were in a land which was their own and which lay very close to theinhabited land of their enemy, and from here they always made theirinvasions. 

When the mirranes[23], defeated in battle[24] and with the greater partof his men lost, came back to the Persian land with the remainder of hisarmy, he received bitter punishment at the hands of King Cabades. For hetook away from him a decoration which he was accustomed to bind upon thehair of his head, an ornament wrought of gold and pearls. Now this is agreat dignity among the Persians, second only to the kingly honour. Forthere it is unlawful to wear a gold ring or girdle or brooch or anythingelse whatsoever, except a man be counted worthy to do so by the king. 

Thereafter Cabades began to consider in what manner he himself shouldmake an expedition against the Romans. For after the mirranes had failedin the manner I have told, he felt confidence in no one else. While hewas completely at a loss as to what he should do, Alamoundaras, the kingof the Saracens, came before him and said: "Not everything, O Master, should be entrusted to fortune, nor should one believe that all warsought to be successful. For this is not likely and besides it is not inkeeping with the course of human events, but this idea is mostunfortunate for those who are possessed by it. For when men who expectthat all the good things will come to them fail at any time, if it sohappen, they are distressed more than is seemly by the very hope whichwrongly led them on. Therefore, since men have not always confidence infortune, they do not enter into the danger of war in a straightforwardway, even if they boast that they surpass the enemy in every respect, but by deception and divers devices they exert themselves to circumventtheir opponents. For those who assume the risk of an even struggle haveno assurance of victory. Now, therefore, O King of Kings, neither bethus distressed by the misfortune which has befallen Mirranes, nordesire again to make trial of fortune. For in Mesopotamia and the landof Osroene, as it is called, since it is very close to thy boundaries, the cities are very strong above all others, and now they contain amultitude of soldiers such as never before, so that if we go there thecontest will not prove a safe one; but in the land which lies outsidethe River Euphrates, and in Syria which adjoins it, there is neither afortified city nor an army of any importance. For this I have oftenheard from the Saracens sent as spies to these parts. There too, theysay, is the city of Antioch, in wealth and size and population the firstof all the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire; and this city isunguarded and destitute of soldiers. For the people of this city carefor nothing else than fêtes and luxurious living, and their constantrivalries with each other in the theatres. Accordingly, if we go againstthem unexpectedly, it is not at all unlikely that we shall capture thecity by a sudden attack, and that we shall return to the land of thePersians without having met any hostile army, and before the troops inMesopotamia have learned what has happened. As for lack of water or ofany kind of provisions, let no such thought occur to thee; for I myselfshall lead the army wherever it shall seem best. "

When Cabades heard this he could neither oppose nor distrust the plan. For Alamoundaras was most discreet and well experienced in matters ofwarfare, thoroughly faithful to the Persians, and unusuallyenergetic, --a man who for a space of fifty years forced the Roman stateto bend the knee. For beginning from the boundaries of Aegypt and as faras Mesopotamia he plundered the whole country, pillaging one place afteranother, burning the buildings in his track and making captives of thepopulation by the tens of thousands on each raid, most of whom he killedwithout consideration, while he gave up the others for great sums ofmoney. And he was confronted by no one at all. For he never made hisinroad without looking about, but so suddenly did he move and so veryopportunely for himself, that, as a rule, he was already off with allthe plunder when the generals and the soldiers were beginning to learnwhat had happened and to gather themselves against him. If, indeed, byany chance, they were able to catch him, this barbarian would fall uponhis pursuers while still unprepared and not in battle array, and wouldrout and destroy them with no trouble; and on one occasion he madeprisoners of all the soldiers who were pursuing him together with theirofficers. These officers were Timostratus, the brother of Rufinus, andJohn, the son of Lucas, whom he gave up indeed later, thereby gainingfor himself no mean or trivial wealth. And, in a word, this man provedhimself the most difficult and dangerous enemy of all to the Romans. Thereason was this, that Alamoundaras, holding the position of king, ruledalone over all the Saracens in Persia, and he was always able to makehis inroad with the whole army wherever he wished in the Roman domain;and neither any commander of Roman troops, whom they call "duces, " norany leader of the Saracens allied with the Romans, who are called"phylarchs, " was strong enough with his men to array himself againstAlamoundaras; for the troops stationed in the different districts werenot a match in battle for the enemy. [531 A. D. ] For this reason theEmperor Justinian put in command of as many clans as possible Arethas, the son of Gabalas, who ruled over the Saracens of Arabia, and bestowedupon him the dignity of king, a thing which among the Romans had neverbefore been done. However Alamoundaras continued to injure the Romansjust as much as before, if not more, since Arethas was either extremelyunfortunate in every inroad and every conflict, or else he turnedtraitor as quickly as he could. For as yet we know nothing certain abouthim. In this way it came about that Alamoundaras, with no one to standagainst him, plundered the whole East for an exceedingly long time, forhe lived to a very advanced age. 

XVIII

This man's suggestion at that time therefore pleased Cabades, and hechose out fifteen thousand men, putting in command of them Azarethes, aPersian, who was an exceptionally able warrior, and he bade Alamoundaraslead the expedition. So they crossed the River Euphrates in Assyria, and, after passing over some uninhabited country, they suddenly andunexpectedly threw their forces into the land of the so-calledCommagenae. This was the first invasion made by the Persians from thispoint into Roman soil, as far as we know from tradition or by any othermeans, and it paralyzed all the Romans with fear by its unexpectedness. And when this news came to the knowledge of Belisarius, at first he wasat a loss, but afterwards he decided to go to the rescue with all speed. So he established a sufficient garrison in each city in order thatCabades with another hostile army might not come there and find thetowns of Mesopotamia utterly unguarded, and himself with the rest of thearmy went to meet the invasion; and crossing the River Euphrates theymoved forward in great haste. Now the Roman army amounted to abouttwenty thousand foot and horse, and among them not less than twothousand were Isaurians. The commanders of cavalry were all the sameones who had previously fought the battle at Daras with Mirranes and thePersians, while the infantry were commanded by one of the body-guards ofthe Emperor Justinian, Peter by name. The Isaurians, however, were underthe command of Longinus and Stephanacius. Arethas also came there tojoin them with the Saracen army. When they reached the city of Chalcis, they encamped and remained there, since they learned that the enemy werein a place called Gabboulon, one hundred and ten stades away fromChalcis. When this became known to Alamoundaras and Azarethes, they wereterrified at the danger, and no longer continued their advance, butdecided to retire homeward instantly. Accordingly they began to marchback, with the River Euphrates on the left, while the Roman army wasfollowing in the rear. And in the spot where the Persians bivouackedeach night the Romans always tarried on the following night. ForBelisarius purposely refused to allow the army to make any longer marchbecause he did not wish to come to an engagement with the enemy, but heconsidered that it was sufficient for them that the Persians andAlamoundaras, after invading the land of the Romans, should retire fromit in such a fashion, betaking themselves to their own land withoutaccomplishing anything. And because of this all secretly mocked him, both officers and soldiers, but not a man reproached him to his face. 

Finally the Persians made their bivouac on the bank of the Euphratesjust opposite the city of Callinicus. From there they were about tomarch through a country absolutely uninhabited by man, and thus to quitthe land of the Romans; for they purposed no longer to proceed asbefore, keeping to the bank of the river. The Romans had passed thenight in the city of Sura, and, removing from there, they came upon theenemy just in the act of preparing for the departure. [Ap. 19, 531] Nowthe feast of Easter was near and would take place on the following day;this feast is reverenced by the Christians above all others, and on theday before it they are accustomed to refrain from food and drink notonly throughout the day, but for a large part of the night also theycontinue the fast. Then, therefore, Belisarius, seeing that all his menwere passionately eager to go against the enemy, wished to persuade themto give up this idea (for this course had been counselled by Hermogenesalso, who had come recently on an embassy from the emperor); heaccordingly called together all who were present and spoke as follows:"O Romans, whither are you rushing? and what has happened to you thatyou are purposing to choose for yourselves a danger which is notnecessary? Men believe that there is only one victory which isunalloyed, namely to suffer no harm at the hands of the enemy, and thisvery thing has been given us in the present instance by fortune and bythe fear of us that overpowers our foes. Therefore it is better to enjoythe benefit of our present blessings than to seek them when they havepassed. For the Persians, led on by many hopes, undertook an expeditionagainst the Romans, and now, with everything lost, they have beaten ahasty retreat. So that if we compel them against their will to abandontheir purpose of withdrawing and to come to battle with us, we shall winno advantage whatsoever if we are victorious, --for why should one rout afugitive?--while if we are unfortunate, as may happen, we shall both bedeprived of the victory which we now have, not robbed of it by theenemy, but flinging it away ourselves, and also we shall abandon theland of the emperor to lie open hereafter to the attacks of the enemywithout defenders. Moreover this also is worth your consideration, thatGod is always accustomed to succour men in dangers which are necessary, not in those which they choose for themselves. And apart from this itwill come about that those who have nowhere to turn will play the partof brave men even against their will, while the obstacles which are tobe met by us in entering the engagement are many; for a large number ofyou have come on foot and all of us are fasting. I refrain frommentioning that some even now have not arrived. " So spoke Belisarius. 

But the army began to insult him, not in silence nor with anyconcealment, but they came shouting into his presence, and called himweak and a destroyer of their zeal; and even some of the officers joinedwith the soldiers in this offence, thus displaying the extent of theirdaring. And Belisarius, in astonishment at their shamelessness, changedhis exhortation and now seemed to be urging them on against the enemyand drawing them up for battle, saying that he had not known beforetheir eagerness to fight, but that now he was of good courage and wouldgo against the enemy with a better hope. He then formed the phalanx witha single front, disposing his men as follows: on the left wing by theriver he stationed all the infantry, while on the right where the groundrose sharply he placed Arethas and all his Saracens; he himself with thecavalry took his position in the centre. Thus the Romans arrayedthemselves. And when Azarethes saw the enemy gathering in battle line, he exhorted his men with the following words: "Persians as you are, noone would deny that you would not give up your valour in exchange forlife, if a choice of the two should be offered. But I say that not evenif you should wish, is it within your power to make the choice betweenthe two. For as for men who have the opportunity to escape from dangerand live in dishonour it is not at all unnatural that they should, ifthey wish, choose what is most pleasant instead of what is best; but formen who are bound to die, either gloriously at the hands of the enemy orshamefully led to punishment by your Master, it is extreme folly not tochoose what is better instead of what is most shameful. Now, therefore, when things stand thus, I consider that it befits you all to bear inmind not only the enemy but also your own Lord and so enter thisbattle. "

After Azarethes also had uttered these words of exhortation, hestationed the phalanx opposite his opponents, assigning the Persians theright wing and the Saracens the left. Straightway both sides began thefight, and the battle was exceedingly fierce. For the arrows, shot fromeither side in very great numbers, caused great loss of life in botharmies, while some placed themselves in the interval between the armiesand made a display of valorous deeds against each other, and especiallyamong the Persians they were falling by the arrows in great numbers. Forwhile their missiles were incomparably more frequent, since the Persiansare almost all bowmen and they learn to make their shots much morerapidly than any other men, still the bows which sent the arrows wereweak and not very tightly strung, so that their missiles, hitting acorselet, perhaps, or helmet or shield of a Roman warrior, were brokenoff and had no power to hurt the man who was hit. The Roman bowmen arealways slower indeed, but inasmuch as their bows are extremely stiff andvery tightly strung, and one might add that they are handled by strongermen, they easily slay much greater numbers of those they hit than do thePersians, for no armour proves an obstacle to the force of their arrows. Now already two-thirds of the day had passed, and the battle was stilleven. Then by mutual agreement all the best of the Persian army advancedto attack the Roman right wing, where Arethas and the Saracens had beenstationed. But they broke their formation and moved apart, so that theygot the reputation of having betrayed the Romans to the Persians. Forwithout awaiting the oncoming enemy they all straightway beat a hastyretreat. So the Persians in this way broke through the enemy's line andimmediately got in the rear of the Roman cavalry. Thus the Romans, whowere already exhausted both by the march and the labour of thebattle, --and besides this they were all fasting so far on in theday, --now that they were assailed by the enemy on both sides, held outno longer, but the most of them in full flight made their way to theislands in the river which were close by, while some also remained thereand performed deeds both amazing and remarkable against the enemy. Amongthese was Ascan who, after killing many of the notables among thePersians, was gradually hacked to pieces and finally fell, leaving tothe enemy abundant reason to remember him. And with him eight hundredothers perished after shewing themselves brave men in this struggle, andalmost all the Isaurians fell with their leaders, without even daring tolift their weapons against the enemy. For they were thoroughlyinexperienced in this business, since they had recently left off farmingand entered into the perils of warfare, which before that time wereunknown to them. And yet just before these very men had been mostfurious of all for battle because of their ignorance of warfare, andwere then reproaching Belisarius with cowardice. They were not in factall Isaurians but the majority of them were Lycaones. 

Belisarius with some few men remained there, and as long as he saw Ascanand his men holding out, he also in company with those who were with himheld back the enemy; but when some of Ascan's troops had fallen, and theothers had turned to flee wherever they could, then at length he toofled with his men and came to the phalanx of infantry, who with Peterwere still fighting, although not many in number now, since the most ofthem too had fled. There he himself gave up his horse and commanded allhis men to do the same thing and on foot with the others to fight offthe oncoming enemy. And those of the Persians who were following thefugitives, after pursuing for only a short distance, straightwayreturned and rushed upon the infantry and Belisarius with all theothers. Then the Romans turned their backs to the river so that nomovement to surround them might be executed by the enemy, and as bestthey could under the circumstances were defending themselves againsttheir assailants. And again the battle became fierce, although the twosides were not evenly matched in strength; for foot-soldiers, and a veryfew of them, were fighting against the whole Persian cavalry. Nevertheless the enemy were not able either to rout them or in any otherway to overpower them. For standing shoulder to shoulder they keptthemselves constantly massed in a small space, and they formed withtheir shields a rigid, unyielding barricade, so that they shot at thePersians more conveniently than they were shot at by them. Many a timeafter giving up, the Persians would advance against them determined tobreak up and destroy their line, but they always retired again from theassault unsuccessful. For their horses, annoyed by the clashing of theshields, reared up and made confusion for themselves and their riders. Thus both sides continued the struggle until it had become late in theday. And when night had already come on, the Persians withdrew to theircamp, and Belisarius accompanied by some few men found a freight-boatand crossed over to the island in the river, while the other Romansreached the same place by swimming. On the following day manyfreight-boats were brought to the Romans from the city of Callinicus andthey were conveyed thither in them, and the Persians, after despoilingthe dead, all departed homeward. However they did not find their owndead less numerous than the enemy's. 

When Azarethes reached Persia with his army, although he had prosperedin the battle, he found Cabades exceedingly ungrateful, for thefollowing reason. It is a custom among the Persians that, when they areabout to march against any of their foes, the king sits on the royalthrone, and many baskets are set there before him; and the general alsois present who is expected to lead the army against the enemy; then thearmy passes along before the king, one man at a time, and each of themthrows one weapon into the baskets; after this they are sealed with theking's seal and preserved; and when this army returns to Persia, eachone of the soldiers takes one weapon out of the baskets. A count is thenmade by those whose office it is to do so of all the weapons which havenot been taken by the men, and they report to the king the number of thesoldiers who have not returned, and in this way it becomes evident howmany have perished in the war. Thus the law has stood from of old amongthe Persians. Now when Azarethes came into the presence of the king, Cabades enquired of him whether he came back with any Roman fortress wonover to their side, for he had marched forth with Alamoundaras againstthe Romans, with the purpose of subduing Antioch. And Azarethes saidthat he had captured no fortress, but that he had conquered the Romansand Belisarius in battle. So Cabades bade the army of Azarethes pass by, and from the baskets each man took out a weapon just as was customary. But since many weapons were left, Cabades rebuked Azarethes for thevictory and thereafter ranked him among the most unworthy. So thevictory had this conclusion for Azarethes. 

XIX

At that time the idea occurred to the Emperor Justinian to ally withhimself the Aethiopians and the Homeritae, in order to injure thePersians. I shall now first explain what part of the earth these nationsoccupy, and then I shall point out in what manner the emperor hoped thatthey would be of help to the Romans. The boundaries of Palestine extendtoward the east to the sea which is called the Red Sea. Now this sea, beginning at India, comes to an end at this point in the Roman domain. And there is a city called Aelas on its shore, where the sea comes to anend, as I have said, and becomes a very narrow gulf. And as one sailsinto the sea from there, the Egyptian mountains lie on the right, extending toward the south; on the other side a country deserted by menextends northward to an indefinite distance; and the land on both sidesis visible as one sails in as far as the island called Iotabe, not lessthan one thousand stades distant from the city of Aelas. On this islandHebrews had lived from of old in autonomy, but in the reign of thisJustinian they have become subject to the Romans. From there on therecomes a great open sea. And those who sail into this part of it nolonger see the land on the right, but they always anchor along the leftcoast when night comes on. For it is impossible to navigate in thedarkness on this sea, since it is everywhere full of shoals. But thereare harbours there and great numbers of them, not made by the hand ofman, but by the natural contour of the land, and for this reason it isnot difficult for mariners to find anchorage wherever they happen to be. 

This coast[25] immediately beyond the boundaries of Palestine is held bySaracens, who have been settled from of old in the Palm Groves. Thesegroves are in the interior, extending over a great tract of land, andthere absolutely nothing else grows except palm trees. The EmperorJustinian had received these palm groves as a present from Abochorabus, the ruler of the Saracens there, and he was appointed by the emperorcaptain over the Saracens in Palestine. And he guarded the land fromplunder constantly, for both to the barbarians over whom he ruled and noless to the enemy, Abochorabus always seemed a man to be feared and anexceptionally energetic fellow. Formally, therefore, the emperor holdsthe Palm Groves, but for him really to possess himself of any of thecountry there is utterly impossible. For a land completely destitute ofhuman habitation and extremely dry lies between, extending to thedistance of a ten days' journey; moreover the Palm Groves themselves areby no means worth anything, and Abochorabus only gave the form of agift, and the emperor accepted it with full knowledge of the fact. Somuch then for the Palm Groves. Adjoining this people there are otherSaracens in possession of the coast, who are called Maddeni and who aresubjects of the Homeritae. These Homeritae dwell in the land on thefarther side of them on the shore of the sea. And beyond them many othernations are said to be settled as far as the man-eating Saracens. Beyondthese are the nations of India. But regarding these matters let each onespeak as he may wish. 

About opposite the Homeritae on the opposite mainland dwell theAethiopians who are called Auxomitae, because their king resides in thecity of Auxomis. And the expanse of sea which lies between is crossed ina voyage of five days and nights, when a moderately favouring windblows. For here they are accustomed to navigate by night also, sincethere are no shoals at all in these parts; this portion of the sea hasbeen called the Red Sea by some. For the sea which one traverses beyondthis point as far as the shore and the city of Aelas has received thename of the Arabian Gulf, inasmuch as the country which extends fromhere to the limits of the city of Gaza used to be called in olden timesArabia, since the king of the Arabs had his palace in early times in thecity of Petrae. Now the harbour of the Homeritae from which they areaccustomed to put to sea for the voyage to Aethiopia is called Bulicas;and at the end of the sail across the sea they always put in at theharbour of the Adulitae. But the city of Adulis is removed from theharbour a distance of twenty stades (for it lacks only so much of beingon the sea), while from the city of Auxomis it is a journey of twelvedays. 

All the boats which are found in India and on this sea are not made inthe same manner as are other ships. For neither are they smeared withpitch, nor with any other substance, nor indeed are the planks fastenedtogether by iron nails going through and through, but they are boundtogether with a kind of cording. The reason is not as most personssuppose, that there are certain rocks there which draw the iron tothemselves (for witness the fact that when the Roman vessels sail fromAelas into this sea, although they are fitted with much iron, no suchthing has ever happened to them), but rather because the Indians and theAethiopians possess neither iron nor any other thing suitable for suchpurposes. Furthermore, they are not even able to buy any of these thingsfrom the Romans since this is explicitly forbidden to all by law; fordeath is the punishment for one who is caught. Such then is thedescription of the so-called Red Sea[26] and of the land which lies oneither side of it. 

From the city of Auxomis to the Aegyptian boundaries of the Romandomain, where the city called Elephantine is situated, is a journey ofthirty days for an unencumbered traveller. Within that space manynations are settled, and among them the Blemyes and the Nobatae, who arevery large nations. But the Blemyes dwell in the central portion of thecountry, while the Nobatae possess the territory about the River Nile. Formerly this was not the limit of the Roman empire, but it lay beyondthere as far as one would advance in a seven days' journey; but theRoman Emperor Diocletian came there, and observed that the tribute fromthese places was of the smallest possible account, since the land is atthat point extremely narrow (for rocks rise to an exceedingly greatheight at no great distance from the Nile and spread over the rest ofthe country), while a very large body of soldiers had been stationedthere from of old, the maintenance of which was an excessive burden uponthe public; and at the same time the Nobatae who formerly dwelt aboutthe city of Oasis used to plunder the whole region; so he persuadedthese barbarians to move from their own habitations, and to settle alongthe River Nile, promising to bestow upon them great cities and land bothextensive and incomparably better than that which they had previouslyoccupied. For in this way he thought that they would no longer harassthe country about Oasis at least, and that they would possess themselvesof the land given them, as being their own, and would probably beat offthe Blemyes and the other barbarians. And since this pleased theNobatae, they made the migration immediately, just as Diocletiandirected them, and took possession of all the Roman cities and the landon both sides of the river beyond the city of Elephantine. Then it wasthat this emperor decreed that to them and to the Blemyes a fixed sum ofgold should be given every year with the stipulation that they should nolonger plunder the land of the Romans. And they receive this gold evenup to my time, but none the less they overrun the country there. Thus itseems that with all barbarians there is no means of compelling them tokeep faith with the Romans except through the fear of soldiers to holdthem in check. And yet this emperor went so far as to select a certainisland in the River Nile close to the city of Elephantine and thereconstruct a very strong fortress in which he established certain templesand altars for the Romans and these barbarians in common, and he settledpriests of both nations in this fortress, thinking that the friendshipbetween them would be secure by reason of their sharing the thingssacred to them. And for this reason he named the place Philae. Now boththese nations, the Blemyes and the Nobatae, believe in all the gods inwhich the Greeks believe, and they also reverence Isis and Osiris, andnot least of all Priapus. But the Blemyes are accustomed also tosacrifice human beings to the sun. These sanctuaries in Philae were keptby these barbarians even up to my time, but the Emperor Justiniandecided to tear them down. Accordingly Narses, a Persarmenian by birth, whom I have mentioned before as having deserted to the Romans[27], beingcommander of the troops there, tore down the sanctuaries at theemperor's order, and put the priests under guard and sent the statues toByzantium. But I shall return to the previous narrative. 

XX

At about the time of this war Hellestheaeus, the king of theAethiopians, who was a Christian and a most devoted adherent of thisfaith, discovered that a number of the Homeritae on the oppositemainland were oppressing the Christians there outrageously; many ofthese rascals were Jews, and many of them held in reverence the oldfaith which men of the present day call Hellenic. He therefore collecteda fleet of ships and an army and came against them, and he conqueredthem in battle and slew both the king and many of the Homeritae. He thenset up in his stead a Christian king, a Homerite by birth, by nameEsimiphaeus, and, after ordaining that he should pay a tribute to theAethiopians every year, he returned to his home. In this Aethiopian armymany slaves and all who were readily disposed to crime were quiteunwilling to follow the king back, but were left behind and remainedthere because of their desire for the land of the Homeritae; for it isan extremely goodly land. 

These fellows at a time not long after this, in company with certainothers, rose against the king Esimiphaeus and put him in confinement inone of the fortresses there, and established another king over theHomeritae, Abramus by name. Now this Abramus was a Christian, but aslave of a Roman citizen who was engaged in the business of shipping inthe city of Adulis in Aethiopia. When Hellestheaeus learned this, he waseager to punish Abramus together with those who had revolted with himfor their injustice to Esimiphaeus, and he sent against them an army ofthree thousand men with one of his relatives as commander. This army, once there, was no longer willing to return home, but they wished toremain where they were in a goodly land, and so without the knowledge oftheir commander they opened negotiations with Abramus; then when theycame to an engagement with their opponents, just as the fighting began, they killed their commander and joined the ranks of the enemy, and soremained there. But Hellestheaeus was greatly moved with anger and sentstill another army against them; this force engaged with Abramus and hismen, and, after suffering a severe defeat in the battle, straightwayreturned home. Thereafter the king of the Aethiopians became afraid, andsent no further expeditions against Abramus. After the death ofHellestheaeus, Abramus agreed to pay tribute to the king of theAethiopians who succeeded him, and in this way he strengthened his rule. But this happened at a later time. 

At that time, when Hellestheaeus was reigning over the Aethiopians, andEsimiphaeus over the Homeritae, the Emperor Justinian sent anambassador, Julianus, demanding that both nations on account of theircommunity of religion should make common cause with the Romans in thewar against the Persians; for he purposed that the Aethiopians, bypurchasing silk from India and selling it among the Romans, mightthemselves gain much money, while causing the Romans to profit in onlyone way, namely, that they be no longer compelled to pay over theirmoney to their enemy. (This is the silk of which they are accustomed tomake the garments which of old the Greeks called Medic, but which at thepresent time they name "seric"[28]). As for the Homeritae, it wasdesired that they should establish Caïsus, the fugitive, as captain overthe Maddeni, and with a great army of their own people and of theMaddene Saracens make an invasion into the land of the Persians. ThisCaïsus was by birth of the captain's rank and an exceptionally ablewarrior, but he had killed one of the relatives of Esimiphaeus and was afugitive in a land which is utterly destitute of human habitation. Soeach king, promising to put this demand into effect, dismissed theambassador, but neither one of them did the things agreed upon by them. For it was impossible for the Aethiopians to buy silk from the Indians, for the Persian merchants always locate themselves at the very harbourswhere the Indian ships first put in, (since they inhabit the adjoiningcountry), and are accustomed to buy the whole cargoes; and it seemed tothe Homeritae a difficult thing to cross a country which was a desertand which extended so far that a long time was required for the journeyacross it, and then to go against a people much more warlike thanthemselves. Later on Abramus too, when at length he had established hispower most securely, promised the Emperor Justinian many times to invadethe land of Persia, but only once began the journey and then straightwayturned back. Such then were the relations which the Romans had with theAethiopians and the Homeritae. 

XXI

Hermogenes, as soon as the battle on the Euphrates had taken place, camebefore Cabades to negotiate with him, but he accomplished nothingregarding the peace on account of which he had come, since he found himstill swelling with rage against the Romans; for this reason he returnedunsuccessful. And Belisarius came to Byzantium at the summons of theemperor, having been removed from the office which he held, in orderthat he might march against the Vandals; but Sittas, as had been decreedby the Emperor Justinian, went to the East in order to guard thatportion of the empire. And the Persians once more invaded Mesopotamiawith a great army under command of Chanaranges and Aspebedes andMermeroes. Since no one dared to engage with them, they made camp andbegan the siege of Martyropolis, where Bouzes and Bessas had beenstationed in command of the garrison. This city lies in the land calledSophanene, two hundred and forty stades distant from the city of Amidatoward the north; it is just on the River Nymphius which divides theland of the Romans and the Persians. So the Persians began to assail thefortifications, and, while the besieged at first withstood themmanfully, it did not seem likely that they would hold out long. For thecircuit-wall was quite easily assailable in most parts, and could becaptured very easily by a Persian siege, and besides they did not have asufficient supply of provisions, nor indeed had they engines of war noranything else that was of any value for defending themselves. MeanwhileSittas and the Roman army came to a place called Attachas, one hundredstades distant from Martyropolis, but they did not dare to advancefurther, but established their camp and remained there. Hermogenes alsowas with them, coming again as ambassador from Byzantium. At this pointthe following event took place. 

It has been customary from ancient times both among the Romans and thePersians to maintain spies at public expense; these men are accustomedto go secretly among the enemy, in order that they may investigateaccurately what is going on, and may then return and report to therulers. Many of these men, as is natural, exert themselves to act in aspirit of loyalty to their nation, while some also betray their secretsto the enemy. At that time a certain spy who had been sent from thePersians to the Romans came into the presence of the Emperor Justinianand revealed many things which were taking place among the barbarians, and, in particular, that the nation of the Massagetae, in order toinjure the Romans, were on the very point of going out into the land ofPersia, and that from there they were prepared to march into theterritory of the Romans, and unite with the Persian army. When theemperor heard this, having already a proof of the man's truthfulness tohim, he presented him with a handsome sum of money and persuaded him togo to the Persian army which was besieging the Martyropolitans, andannounce to the barbarians there that these Massagetae had been won overwith money by the Roman emperor, and were about to come against themthat very moment. The spy carried out these instructions, and coming tothe army of the barbarians he announced to Chanaranges and the othersthat an army of Huns hostile to them would at no distant time come tothe Romans. And when they heard this, they were seized with terror, andwere at a loss how to deal with the situation. 

At this juncture it came about that Cabades became seriously ill, and hecalled to him one of the Persians who were in closest intimacy with him, Mebodes by name, and conversed with him concerning Chosroes and thekingdom, and said he feared the Persians would make a serious attempt todisregard some of the things which had been decided upon by him. ButMebodes asked him to leave the declaration of his purpose in writing, and bade him be confident that the Persians would never dare todisregard it. So Cabades set it down plainly that Chosroes should becomeking over the Persians. The document was written by Mebodes himself, andCabades immediately passed from among men. [Sept. 13, 531] And wheneverything had been performed as prescribed by law in the burial of theking, then Caoses, confident by reason of the law, tried to lay claim tothe office, but Mebodes stood in his way, asserting that no one ought toassume the royal power by his own initiative but by vote of the Persiannotables. So Caoses committed the decision in the matter to themagistrates, supposing that there would be no opposition to him fromthere. But when all the Persian notables had been gathered together forthis purpose and were in session, Mebodes read the document and statedthe purpose of Cabades regarding Chosroes, and all, calling to mind thevirtue of Cabades, straightway declared Chosroes King of the Persians. 

Thus then Chosroes secured the power. But at Martyropolis, Sittas andHermogenes were in fear concerning the city, since they were utterlyunable to defend it in its peril, and they sent certain men to theenemy, who came before the generals and spoke as follows: "It hasescaped your own notice that you are becoming wrongfully an obstacle tothe king of the Persians and to the blessings of peace and to eachstate. For ambassadors sent from the emperor are even now present inorder that they may go to the king of the Persians and there settle thedifferences and establish a treaty with him; but do you as quickly aspossible remove from the land of the Romans and permit the ambassadorsto act in the manner which will be of advantage to both peoples. For weare ready also to give as hostages men of repute concerning these verythings, to prove that they will be actually accomplished at no distantdate. " Such were the words of the ambassadors of the Romans. It happenedalso that a messenger came to them from the palace, who brought themword that Cabades had died and that Chosroes, son of Cabades, had becomeking over the Persians, and that in this way the situation had becomeunsettled. And as a result of this the generals heard the words of theRomans gladly, since they feared also the attack of the Huns. The Romanstherefore straightway gave as hostages Martinus and one of thebody-guards of Sittas, Senecius by name; so the Persians broke up thesiege and made their departure promptly. And the Huns not long afterwardinvaded the land of the Romans, but since they did not find the Persianarmy there, they made their raid a short one, and then all departedhomeward. 

XXII

Straightway Rufinus and Alexander and Thomas came to act as ambassadorswith Hermogenes, and they all came before the Persian king at the RiverTigris. And when Chosroes saw them, he released the hostages. Then theambassadors coaxed Chosroes, and spoke many beguiling words mostunbecoming to Roman ambassadors. By this treatment Chosroes becametractable, and agreed to establish a peace with them that should bewithout end for the price of one hundred and ten "centenaria, " oncondition that the commander of troops in Mesopotamia should be nolonger at Daras, but should spend all his time in Constantina, as wascustomary in former times; but the fortresses in Lazica he refused togive back, although he himself demanded that he should receive back fromthe Romans both Pharangium and the fortress of Bolum. (Now the"centenarium" weighs one hundred pounds, for which reason it is socalled; for the Romans call one hundred "centum"). He demanded that thisgold be given him, in order that the Romans might not be compelledeither to tear down the city of Daras or to share the garrison at theCaspian Gates with the Persians[29]. However the ambassadors, whileapproving the rest, said that they were not able to concede thefortresses, unless they should first make enquiry of the emperorconcerning them. It was decided, accordingly, that Rufinus should besent concerning them to Byzantium, and that the others should wait untilhe should return. And it was arranged with Rufinus that seventy days'time be allowed until he should arrive. When Rufinus reached Byzantiumand reported to the emperor what Chosroes' decision was concerning thepeace, the emperor commanded that the peace be concluded by them onthese terms. 

In the meantime, however, a report which was not true reached Persiasaying that the Emperor Justinian had become enraged and put Rufinus todeath. Chosroes indeed was much perturbed by this, and, already filledwith anger, he advanced against the Romans with his whole army. ButRufinus met him on the way as he was returning not far from the city ofNisibis. Therefore they proceeded to this city themselves, and, sincethey were about to establish the peace, the ambassadors began to conveythe money thither. But the Emperor Justinian was already repenting thathe had given up the strong holds of Lazica, and he wrote a letter to theambassadors expressly commanding them by no means to hand them over tothe Persians. For this reason Chosroes no longer saw fit to make thetreaty; and then it came to the mind of Rufinus that he had counselledmore speedily than safely in bringing the money into the land of Persia. Straightway, therefore, he threw himself on the earth, and lying pronehe entreated Chosroes to send the money back with them and not marchimmediately against the Romans, but to put off the war to some othertime. And Chosroes bade him rise from the ground, promising that hewould grant all these things. So the ambassadors with the money came toDaras and the Persian army marched back. 

Then indeed the fellow-ambassadors of Rufinus began to regard him withextreme suspicion themselves, and they also denounced him to theemperor, basing their judgment on the fact that Chosroes had beenpersuaded to concede him everything which he asked of him. However, theemperor showed him no disfavour on account of this. At a time not longafter this Rufinus himself and Hermogenes were again sent to the courtof Chosroes, and they immediately came to agreement with each otherconcerning the treaty, subject to the condition that both sides shouldgive back all the places which each nation had wrested from the other inthat war, and that there should no longer be any military post in Daras;as for the Iberians, it was agreed that the decision rested with themwhether they should remain there in Byzantium or return to their ownfatherland. And there were many who remained, and many also who returnedto their ancestral homes. [532 A. D. ] Thus, then, they concluded theso-called "endless peace, " when the Emperor Justinian was already in thesixth year of his reign. And the Romans gave the Persians Pharangium andthe fortress of Bolum together with the money, and the Persians gave theRomans the strongholds of Lazica. The Persians also returned Dagaris tothe Romans, and received in return for him another man of no meanstation. This Dagaris in later times often conquered the Huns in battlewhen they had invaded the land of the Romans, and drove them out; for hewas an exceptionally able warrior. Thus both sides in the mannerdescribed made secure the treaty between them. 

XXIII

Straightway it came about that plots were formed against both rulers bytheir subjects; and I shall now explain how this happened. Chosroes, theson of Cabades, was a man of an unruly turn of mind and strangely fondof innovations. For this reason he himself was always full of excitementand alarms, and he was an unfailing cause of similar feelings in allothers. All, therefore, who were men of action among the Persians, invexation at his administration, were purposing to establish overthemselves another king from the house of Cabades. And since they longedearnestly for the rule of Zames, which was made impossible by the law byreason of the disfigurement of his eye, as has been stated, they foundupon consideration that the best course for them was to establish inpower his child Cabades, who bore the same name as his grandfather, while Zames, as guardian of the child, should administer the affairs ofthe Persians as he wished. So they went to Zames and disclosed theirplan, and, urging him on with great enthusiasm, they endeavoured topersuade him to undertake the thing. And since the plan pleased him, they were purposing to assail Chosroes at the fitting moment. But theplan was discovered and came to the knowledge of the king, and thustheir proceedings were stopped. For Chosroes slew Zames himself and allhis own brothers and those of Zames together with all their maleoffspring, and also all the Persian notables who had either begun ortaken part in any way in the plot against him. Among these wasAspebedes, the brother of Chosroes' mother. 

Cabades, however, the son of Zames, he was quite unable to kill; for hewas still being reared under the chanaranges, Adergoudounbades. But hesent a message to the chanaranges, bidding him himself kill the boy hehad reared; for he neither thought it well to shew mistrust, nor yet hadhe power to compel him. The chanaranges, therefore, upon hearing thecommands of Chosroes, was exceedingly grieved and, lamenting themisfortune, he communicated to his wife and Cabades' nurse all that theking had commanded. Then the woman, bursting into tears and seizing theknees of her husband, entreated him by no means to kill Cabades. Theytherefore consulted together, and planned to bring up the child in themost secure concealment, and to send word in haste to Chosroes thatCabades had been put out of the world for him. And they sent word to theking to this effect, and concealed Cabades in such a way that the affairdid not come to the notice of any one, except Varrames, their own child, and one of the servants who seemed to them to be in every way mosttrustworthy. But when, as time went on, Cabades came of age, thechanaranges began to fear lest what had been done should be brought tolight; he therefore gave Cabades money and bade him depart and savehimself by flight wherever he could. At that time, then, Chosroes andall the others were in ignorance of the fact that the chanaranges hadcarried this thing through. 

At a later time Chosroes was making an invasion into the land of Colchiswith a great army, as will be told in the following narrative[30]. Andhe was followed by the son of this same chanaranges, Varrames, who tookwith him a number of his servants, and among them the one who sharedwith him the knowledge of what had happened to Cabades; while thereVarrames told the king everything regarding Cabades, and he broughtforward the servant agreeing with him in every particular. When Chosroeslearned this he was forthwith exceedingly angry, and he counted it adreadful thing that he had suffered such things at the hand of a man whowas his slave; and since he had no other means of getting the man underhis hand he devised the following plan. When he was about to returnhomeward from the land of Colchis, he wrote to this chanaranges that hehad decided to invade the land of the Romans with his whole army, not, however, by a single inroad into the country, but making two divisionsof the Persian army, in order that the attack might be made upon theenemy on both sides of the River Euphrates. Now one division of the armyhe himself, as was natural, would lead into the hostile land, while tono one else of his subjects would he grant the privilege of holdingequal honour with the king in this matter, except to the chanarangeshimself on account of his valour. It was necessary, therefore, that thechanaranges should come speedily to meet him as he returned, in orderthat he might confer with him and give him all the directions whichwould be of advantage to the army, and that he should bid his attendantstravel behind him on the road. When the chanaranges received thismessage, he was overjoyed at the honour shown him by the king, and incomplete ignorance of his own evil plight, he immediately carried outthe instructions. But in the course of this journey, since he was quiteunable to sustain the toil of it (for he was a very old man), he relaxedhis hold on the reins and fell off his horse, breaking the bone in hisleg. It was therefore necessary for him to remain there quietly and becared for, and the king came to that place and saw him. And Chosroessaid to him that with his leg in such a plight it was not possible thathe make the expedition with them, but that he must go to one of thefortresses in that region and receive treatment there from thephysicians. Thus then Chosroes sent the man away on the road to death, and behind him followed the very men who were to destroy him in thefortress, --a man who was in fact as well as in name an invinciblegeneral among the Persians, who had marched against twelve nations ofbarbarians and subjected them all to King Cabades. AfterAdergoudounbades had been removed from the world, Varrames, his son, received the office of chanaranges. Not long after this either Cabadeshimself, the son of Zames, or someone else who was assuming the name ofCabades came to Byzantium; certainly he resembled very closely inappearance Cabades, the king. And the Emperor Justinian, though in doubtconcerning him, received him with great friendliness and honoured him asthe grandson of Cabades. So then fared the Persians who rose againstChosroes. 

Later on Chosroes destroyed also Mebodes for the following reason. Whilethe king was arranging a certain important matter, he directedZaberganes who was present to call Mebodes. Now it happened thatZaberganes was on hostile terms with Mebodes. When he came to him, hefound him marshalling the soldiers under his command, and he said thatthe king summoned him to come as quickly as possible. And Mebodespromised that he would follow directly as soon as he should havearranged the matter in hand; but Zaberganes, moved by his hostility tohim, reported to Chosroes that Mebodes did not wish to come at present, claiming to have some business or other. Chosroes, therefore, moved withanger, sent one of his attendants commanding Mebodes to go to thetripod. Now as to what this is I shall explain forthwith. An iron tripodstands always before the palace; and whenever anyone of the Persianslearns that the king is angry with him, it is not right for such a manto flee for refuge to a sanctuary nor to go elsewhere, but he must seathimself by this tripod and await the verdict of the king, while no oneat all dares protect him. There Mebodes sat in pitiable plight for manydays, until he was seized and put to death at the command of Chosroes. Such was the final outcome of his good deeds to Chosroes. 

XXIV

[Jan. 1, 532] At this same time an insurrection broke out unexpectedlyin Byzantium among the populace, and, contrary to expectation, it provedto be a very serious affair, and ended in great harm to the people andto the senate, as the following account will shew. In every city thepopulation has been divided for a long time past into the Blue and theGreen factions; but within comparatively recent times it has come aboutthat, for the sake of these names and the seats which the rival factionsoccupy in watching the games, they spend their money and abandon theirbodies to the most cruel tortures, and even do not think it unworthy todie a most shameful death. And they fight against their opponentsknowing not for what end they imperil themselves, but knowing well that, even if they overcome their enemy in the fight, the conclusion of thematter for them will be to be carried off straightway to the prison, andfinally, after suffering extreme torture, to be destroyed. So theregrows up in them against their fellow men a hostility which has nocause, and at no time does it cease or disappear, for it gives placeneither to the ties of marriage nor of relationship nor of friendship, and the case is the same even though those who differ with respect tothese colours be brothers or any other kin. They care neither for thingsdivine nor human in comparison with conquering in these struggles; andit matters not whether a sacrilege is committed by anyone at all againstGod, or whether the laws and the constitution are violated by friend orby foe; nay even when they are perhaps ill supplied with the necessitiesof life, and when their fatherland is in the most pressing need andsuffering unjustly, they pay no heed if only it is likely to go wellwith their "faction"; for so they name the bands of partisans. And evenwomen join with them in this unholy strife, and they not only follow themen, but even resist them if opportunity offers, although they neithergo to the public exhibitions at all, nor are they impelled by any othercause; so that I, for my part, am unable to call this anything except adisease of the soul. This, then, is pretty well how matters stand amongthe people of each and every city. 

But at this time the officers of the city administration in Byzantiumwere leading away to death some of the rioters. But the members of thetwo factions, conspiring together and declaring a truce with each other, seized the prisoners and then straightway entered the prison andreleased all those who were in confinement there, whether they had beencondemned on a charge of stirring up sedition, or for any other unlawfulact. And all the attendants in the service of the city government werekilled indiscriminately; meanwhile, all of the citizens who weresane-minded were fleeing to the opposite mainland, and fire was appliedto the city as if it had fallen under the hand of an enemy. Thesanctuary of Sophia and the baths of Zeuxippus, and the portion of theimperial residence from the propylaea as far as the so-called House ofAres were destroyed by fire, and besides these both the great colonnadeswhich extended as far as the market place which bears the name ofConstantine, in addition to many houses of wealthy men and a vast amountof treasure. During this time the emperor and his consort with a fewmembers of the senate shut themselves up in the palace and remainedquietly there. Now the watch-word which the populace passed around toone another was Nika[31], and the insurrection has been called by thisname up to the present time. 

The praetorian prefect at that time was John the Cappadocian, andTribunianus, a Pamphylian by birth, was counsellor to the emperor; thisperson the Romans call "quaestor. " One of these two men, John, wasentirely without the advantages of a liberal education; for he learnednothing while attending the elementary school except his letters, andthese, too, poorly enough; but by his natural ability he became the mostpowerful man of whom we know. For he was most capable in deciding uponwhat was needful and in finding a solution for difficulties. But hebecame the basest of all men and employed his natural power to furtherhis low designs; neither consideration for God nor any shame before manentered into his mind, but to destroy the lives of many men for the sakeof gain and to wreck whole cities was his constant concern. So within ashort time indeed he had acquired vast sums of money, and he flunghimself completely into the sordid life of a drunken scoundrel; for upto the time of lunch each day he would plunder the property of hissubjects, and for the rest of the day occupy himself with drinking andwith wanton deeds of lust. And he was utterly unable to control himself, for he ate food until he vomited, and he was always ready to steal moneyand more ready to bring it out and spend it. Such a man then was John. Tribunianus, on the other hand, both possessed natural ability and ineducational attainments was inferior to none of his contemporaries; buthe was extraordinarily fond of the pursuit of money and always ready tosell justice for gain; therefore every day, as a rule, he was repealingsome laws and proposing others, selling off to those who requested iteither favour according to their need. 

Now as long as the people were waging this war with each other in behalfof the names of the colours, no attention was paid to the offences ofthese men against the constitution; but when the factions came to amutual understanding, as has been said, and so began the sedition, thenopenly throughout the whole city they began to abuse the two and wentabout seeking them to kill. Accordingly the emperor, wishing to win thepeople to his side, instantly dismissed both these men from office. AndPhocas, a patrician, he appointed praetorian prefect, a man of thegreatest discretion and fitted by nature to be a guardian of justice;Basilides he commanded to fill the office of quaestor, a man known amongthe patricians for his agreeable qualities and a notable besides. However, the insurrection continued no less violently under them. Now onthe fifth day of the insurrection in the late afternoon the EmperorJustinian gave orders to Hypatius and Pompeius, nephews of the lateemperor, Anastasius, to go home as quickly as possible, either becausehe suspected that some plot was being matured by them against his ownperson, or, it may be, because destiny brought them to this. But theyfeared that the people would force them to the throne (as in fact fellout), and they said that they would be doing wrong if they shouldabandon their sovereign when he found himself in such danger. When theEmperor Justinian heard this, he inclined still more to his suspicion, and he bade them quit the palace instantly. Thus, then, these two menbetook themselves to their homes, and, as long as it was night, theyremained there quietly. 

But on the following day at sunrise it became known to the people thatboth men had quit the palace where they had been staying. So the wholepopulation ran to them, and they declared Hypatius emperor and preparedto lead him to the market-place to assume the power. But the wife ofHypatius, Mary, a discreet woman, who had the greatest reputation forprudence, laid hold of her husband and would not let go, but cried outwith loud lamentation and with entreaties to all her kinsmen that thepeople were leading him on the road to death. But since the throngoverpowered her, she unwillingly released her husband, and he by no willof his own came to the Forum of Constantine, where they summoned him tothe throne; then since they had neither diadem nor anything else withwhich it is customary for a king to be clothed, they placed a goldennecklace upon his head and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. By thistime the members of the senate were assembling, --as many of them as hadnot been left in the emperor's residence, --and many expressed theopinion that they should go to the palace to fight. But Origenes, a manof the senate, came forward and spoke as follows: "Fellow Romans, it isimpossible that the situation which is upon us be solved in any wayexcept by war. Now war and royal power are agreed to be the greatest ofall things in the world. But when action involves great issues, itrefuses to be brought to a successful conclusion by the brief crisis ofa moment, but this is accomplished only by wisdom of thought and energyof action, which men display for a length of time. Therefore if weshould go out against the enemy, our cause will hang in the balance, andwe shall be taking a risk which will decide everything in a brief spaceof time; and, as regards the consequences of such action, we shalleither fall down and worship Fortune or reproach her altogether. Forthose things whose issue is most quickly decided, fall, as a rule, underthe sway of fortune. But if we handle the present situation moredeliberately, not even if we wish shall we be able to take Justinian inthe palace, but he will very speedily be thankful if he is allowed toflee; for authority which is ignored always loses its power, since itsstrength ebbs away with each day. Moreover we have other palaces, bothPlacillianae and the palace named from Helen, which this emperor shouldmake his headquarters and from there he should carry on the war andattend to the ordering of all other matters in the best possible way. "So spoke Origenes. But the rest, as a crowd is accustomed to do, insisted more excitedly and thought that the present moment wasopportune, and not least of all Hypatius (for it was fated that evilshould befall him) bade them lead the way to the hippodrome. But somesay that he came there purposely, being well-disposed toward theemperor. 

Now the emperor and his court were deliberating as to whether it wouldbe better for them if they remained or if they took to flight in theships. And many opinions were expressed favouring either course. And theEmpress Theodora also spoke to the following effect: "As to the beliefthat a woman ought not to be daring among men or to assert herselfboldly among those who are holding back from fear, I consider that thepresent crisis most certainly does not permit us to discuss whether thematter should be regarded in this or in some other way. For in the caseof those whose interests have come into the greatest danger nothing elseseems best except to settle the issue immediately before them in thebest possible way. My opinion then is that the present time, above allothers, is inopportune for flight, even though it bring safety. Forwhile it is impossible for a man who has seen the light not also to die, for one who has been an emperor it is unendurable to be a fugitive. MayI never be separated from this purple, and may I not live that day onwhich those who meet me shall not address me as mistress. If, now, it isyour wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no difficulty. For wehave much money, and there is the sea, here the boats. However considerwhether it will not come about after you have been saved that you wouldgladly exchange that safety for death. For as for myself, I approve acertain ancient saying that royalty is a good burial-shroud. " When thequeen had spoken thus, all were filled with boldness, and, turning theirthoughts towards resistance, they began to consider how they might beable to defend themselves if any hostile force should come against them. Now the soldiers as a body, including those who were stationed about theemperor's court, were neither well disposed to the emperor nor willingopenly to take an active part in fighting, but were waiting for what thefuture would bring forth. All the hopes of the emperor were centred uponBelisarius and Mundus, of whom the former, Belisarius, had recentlyreturned from the Persian war bringing with him a following which wasboth powerful and imposing, and in particular he had a great number ofspearmen and guards who had received their training in battles and theperils of warfare. Mundus had been appointed general of the Illyrians, and by mere chance had happened to come under summons to Byzantium onsome necessary errand, bringing with him Erulian barbarians. 

When Hypatius reached the hippodrome, he went up immediately to wherethe emperor is accustomed to take his place and seated himself on theroyal throne from which the emperor was always accustomed to view theequestrian and athletic contests. And from the palace Mundus went outthrough the gate which, from the circling descent, has been given thename of the Snail. Belisarius meanwhile began at first to go straight uptoward Hypatius himself and the royal throne, and when he came to theadjoining structure where there has been a guard of soldiers from ofold, he cried out to the soldiers commanding them to open the door forhim as quickly as possible, in order that he might go against thetyrant. But since the soldiers had decided to support neither side, until one of them should be manifestly victorious, they pretended not tohear at all and thus put him off. So Belisarius returned to the emperorand declared that the day was lost for them, for the soldiers whoguarded the palace were rebelling against him. The emperor thereforecommanded him to go to the so-called Bronze Gate and the propylaeathere. So Belisarius, with difficulty and not without danger and greatexertion, made his way over ground covered by ruins and half-burnedbuildings, and ascended to the stadium. And when he had reached the BlueColonnade which is on the right of the emperor's throne, he purposed togo against Hypatius himself first; but since there was a small doorthere which had been closed and was guarded by the soldiers of Hypatiuswho were inside, he feared lest while he was struggling in the narrowspace the populace should fall upon him, and after destroying bothhimself and all his followers, should proceed with less trouble anddifficulty against the emperor. Concluding, therefore, that he must goagainst the populace who had taken their stand in the hippodrome--a vastmultitude crowding each other in great disorder--he drew his sword fromits sheath and, commanding the others to do likewise, with a shout headvanced upon them at a run. But the populace, who were standing in amass and not in order, at the sight of armoured soldiers who had a greatreputation for bravery and experience in war, and seeing that theystruck out with their swords unsparingly, beat a hasty retreat. Then agreat outcry arose, as was natural, and Mundus, who was standing not faraway, was eager to join in the fight, --for he was a daring and energeticfellow--but he was at a loss as to what he should do under thecircumstances; when, however, he observed that Belisarius was in thestruggle, he straightway made a sally into the hippodrome through theentrance which they call the Gate of Death. Then indeed from both sidesthe partisans of Hypatius were assailed with might and main anddestroyed. When the rout had become complete and there had already beengreat slaughter of the populace, Boraedes and Justus, nephews of theEmperor Justinian, without anyone daring to lift a hand against them, dragged Hypatius down from the throne, and, leading him in, handed himover together with Pompeius to the emperor. And there perished among thepopulace on that day more than thirty thousand. But the emperorcommanded the two prisoners to be kept in severe confinement. Then, while Pompeius was weeping and uttering pitiable words (for the man waswholly inexperienced in such misfortunes), Hypatius reproached him atlength and said that those who were about to die unjustly should notlament. For in the beginning they had been forced by the people againsttheir will, and afterwards they had come to the hippodrome with nothought of harming the emperor. And the soldiers killed both of them onthe following day and threw their bodies into the sea. The emperorconfiscated all their property for the public treasury, and also that ofall the other members of the senate who had sided with them. Later, however, he restored to the children of Hypatius and Pompeius and to allothers the titles which they had formerly held, and as much of theirproperty as he had not happened to bestow upon his friends. This was theend of the insurrection in Byzantium. 

XXV

Tribunianus and John were thus deprived of office, but at a later timethey were both restored to the same positions. And Tribunianus lived onin office many years and died of disease, suffering no further harm fromanyone. For he was a smooth fellow and agreeable in every way and wellable by the excellence of his education to throw into the shade hisaffliction of avarice. But John was oppressive and severe alike with allmen, inflicting blows upon those whom he met and plundering withoutrespect absolutely all their money; consequently in the tenth year ofhis office he rightly and justly atoned for his lawless conduct in thefollowing manner. 

The Empress Theodora hated him above all others. And while he gaveoffence to the woman by the wrongs he committed, he was not of a mind towin her by flattery or by kindness in any way, but he openly set himselfin opposition to her and kept slandering her to the emperor, neitherblushing before her high station nor feeling shame because of theextraordinary love which the emperor felt for her. When the queenperceived what was being done, she purposed to slay the man, but in noway could she do this, since the Emperor Justinian set great store byhim. And when John learned of the purpose of the queen regarding him, hewas greatly terrified. And whenever he went into his chamber to sleep, he expected every night that some one of the barbarians would fall uponhim to slay him; and he kept peeping out of the room and looking aboutthe entrances and remained sleepless, although he had attached tohimself many thousands of spearmen and guards, a thing which had beengranted to no prefect before that time. But at daybreak, forgetting allhis fears of things divine and human, he would become again a plague toall the Romans both in public and in private. And he conversed commonlywith sorcerers, and constantly listened to profane oracles whichportended for him the imperial office, so that he was plainly walking onair and lifted up by his hopes of the royal power. But in his rascalityand the lawlessness of his conduct there was no moderation or abatement. And there was in him absolutely no regard for God, and even when he wentto a sanctuary to pray and to pass the night, he did not do at all asthe Christians are wont to do, but he clothed himself in a coarsegarment appropriate to a priest of the old faith which they are nowaccustomed to call Hellenic, and throughout that whole night mumbled outsome unholy words which he had practised, praying that the mind of theemperor might be still more under his control, and that he himself mightbe free from harm at the hands of all men. 

At this time Belisarius, after subjugating Italy, came to Byzantium atthe summons of the emperor with his wife Antonina, in order to marchagainst the Persians[32]. And while in the eyes of all others he was anhonoured and distinguished person, as was natural, John alone washostile to him and worked actively against him, for no other reason thanthat he drew the hatred of all to himself, while Belisarius enjoyed anunequalled popularity. And it was on him that the hope of the Romanscentred as he marched once more against the Persians, leaving his wifein Byzantium. Now Antonina, the wife of Belisarius, (for she was themost capable person in the world to contrive the impossible, ) purposingto do a favour to the empress, devised the following plan. John had adaughter, Euphemia, who had a great reputation for discretion, but avery young woman and for this reason very susceptible; this girl wasexceedingly loved by her father, for she was his only child. By treatingthis young woman kindly for several days Antonina succeeded mostcompletely in winning her friendship, and she did not refuse to shareher secrets with her. And on one occasion when she was present alonewith her in her room she pretended to lament the fate which was uponher, saying that although Belisarius had made the Roman empire broaderby a goodly measure than it had been before, and though he had broughttwo captive kings and so great an amount of wealth to Byzantium, hefound Justinian ungrateful; and in other respects she slandered thegovernment as not just. Now Euphemia was overjoyed by these words, forshe too was hostile to the present administration by reason of her fearof the empress, and she said: "And yet, dearest friend, it is you andBelisarius who are to blame for this, seeing that, though you haveopportunity, you are not willing to use your power. " And Antoninareplied quickly: "It is because we are not able, my daughter, toundertake revolutions in camp, unless some of those here at home joinwith us in the task. Now if your father were willing, we should mosteasily organize this project and accomplish whatever God wills. " WhenEuphemia heard this, she promised eagerly that the suggestion would becarried out, and departing from there she immediately brought the matterbefore her father. And he was pleased by the message (for he inferredthat this undertaking offered him a way to the fulfilment of hisprophecies and to the royal power), and straightway without anyhesitation he assented, and bade his child arrange that on the followingday he himself should come to confer with Antonina and give pledges. When Antonina learned the mind of John, she wished to lead him as far aspossible astray from the understanding of the truth, so she said thatfor the present it was inadvisable that he should meet her, for fearlest some suspicion should arise strong enough to prevent proceedings;but she was intending straightway to depart for the East to joinBelisarius. When, therefore, she had quit Byzantium and had reached thesuburb (the one called Rufinianae which was the private possession ofBelisarius), there John should come as if to salute her and to escorther forth on the journey, and they should confer regarding matters ofstate and give and receive their pledges. In saying this she seemed toJohn to speak well, and a certain day was appointed to carry out theplan. And the empress, hearing the whole account from Antonina, expressed approval of what she had planned, and by her exhortationsraised her enthusiasm to a much higher pitch still. 

When the appointed day was at hand, Antonina bade the empress farewelland departed from the city, and she went to Rufinianae, as if to beginon the following day her journey to the East; hither too came John atnight in order to carry out the plan which had been agreed upon. Meanwhile the empress denounced to her husband the things which werebeing done by John to secure the tyranny, and she sent Narses, theeunuch, and Marcellus, the commander of the palace guards to Rufinianaewith numerous soldiers, in order that they might investigate what wasgoing on, and, if they found John setting about a revolution, that theymight kill the man forthwith and return. So these departed for thistask. But they say that the emperor got information of what was beingdone and sent one of John's friends to him forbidding him on anycondition to meet Antonina secretly. But John (since it was fated thathe should fare ill), disregarding the emperor's warning, about midnightmet Antonina, close by a certain wall behind which she had stationedNarses and Marcellus with their men that they might hear what was said. There, while John with unguarded tongue was assenting to the plans forthe attack and binding himself with the most dread oaths, Narses andMarcellus suddenly set upon him. But in the natural confusion whichresulted the body-guards of John (for they stood close by) cameimmediately to his side. And one of them smote Marcellus with his sword, not knowing who he was, and thus John was enabled to escape with them, and reached the city with all speed. And if he had had the courage to gostraightway before the emperor, I believe that he would have suffered noharm at his hand; but as it was, he fled for refuge to the sanctuary, and gave the empress opportunity to work her will against him at herpleasure. 

[May, 541] Thus, then, from being prefect he became a private citizen, and rising from that sanctuary he was conveyed to another, which issituated in the suburb of the city of Cyzicus called by the CyzicenesArtace. There he donned the garb of a priest, much against his will, nota bishop's gown however, but that of a presbyter, as they are called. But he was quite unwilling to perform the office of a priest lest atsome time it should be a hindrance to his entering again into office;for he was by no means ready to relinquish his hopes. All his propertywas immediately confiscated to the public treasury, but a largeproportion of this the emperor remitted to him, for he was stillinclined to spare him. There it was possible for John to live, disregarding all dangers and enjoying great wealth, both that which hehimself had concealed and that which by the decision of the emperorremained with him, and to indulge in luxury at his pleasure, and, if hehad reasoned wisely, to consider his present lot a happy one. For thisreason all the Romans were exceedingly vexed with the man, because, forsooth, after proving himself the basest of all demons, contrary tohis deserts he was leading a life happier than before. But God, I think, did not suffer John's retribution to end thus, but prepared for him agreater punishment. And it fell out thus. 

There was in Cyzicus a certain bishop named Eusebius, a man harsh to allwho came in his way, and no less so than John; this man the Cyzicenesdenounced to the emperor and summoned to justice. And since theyaccomplished nothing inasmuch as Eusebius circumvented them by his greatpower, certain youths agreed together and killed him in the market-placeof Cyzicus. Now it happened that John had become especially hostile toEusebius, and hence the suspicion of the plot fell upon him. Accordinglymen were sent from the senate to investigate this act of pollution. Andthese men first confined John in a prison, and then this man who hadbeen such a powerful prefect, and had been inscribed among thepatricians and had mounted the seat of the consuls, than which nothingseems greater, at least in the Roman state, they made to stand nakedlike any robber or footpad, and thrashing him with many blows upon hisback, compelled him to tell his past life. And while John had not beenclearly convicted as guilty of the murder of Eusebius, it seemed thatGod's justice was exacting from him the penalties of the world. Thereafter they stripped him of all his goods and put him naked on boarda ship, being wrapped in a single cloak, and that a very rough onepurchased for some few obols; and wherever the ship anchored, those whohad him in charge commanded him to ask from those he met bread or obols. Thus begging everywhere along the way he was conveyed to the city ofAntinous in Aegypt. And this is now the third year during which theyhave been guarding him there in confinement. As for John himself, although he has fallen into such troubles, he has not relinquished hishope of royal power, but he made up his mind to denounce certainAlexandrians as owing money to the public treasury. Thus then John theCappadocian ten years afterward was overtaken by this punishment for hispolitical career. 

XXVI

At that time the Emperor again designated Belisarius General of theEast, and, sending him to Libya, gained over the country, as will betold later on in my narrative. When this information came to Chosroesand the Persians, they were mightily vexed, and they already repentedhaving made peace with the Romans, because they perceived that theirpower was extending greatly. And Chosroes sent envoys to Byzantium, andsaid that he rejoiced with the Emperor Justinian, and he asked with alaugh to receive his share of the spoils from Libya, on the ground thatthe emperor would never have been able to conquer in the war with theVandals if the Persians had not been at peace with him. So thenJustinian made a present of money to Chosroes, and not long afterwardsdismissed the envoys. 

In the city of Daras the following event took place. There was a certainJohn there serving in a detachment of infantry; this man, in conspiracywith some few of the soldiers, but not all, took possession of the city, essaying to make himself tyrant. Then he established himself in a palaceas if in a citadel, and was strengthening his tyranny every day. And ifit had not happened that the Persians were continuing to keep peace withthe Romans, irreparable harm would have come from this affair to theRomans. But as it was, this was prevented by the agreement which hadalready been reached, as I have said. On the fourth day of the tyrannysome soldiers conspired together, and by the advice of Mamas, the priestof the city, and Anastasius, one of the notable citizens, they went upto the palace at high noon, each man hiding a small sword under hisgarment. And first at the door of the courtyard they found some few ofthe body-guards, whom they slew immediately. Then they entered the men'sapartment and laid hold upon the tyrant; but some say that the soldierswere not the first to do this, but that while they were still hesitatingin the courtyard and trembling at the danger, a certain sausage-vendorwho was with them rushed in with his cleaver and meeting John smote himunexpectedly. But the blow which had been dealt him was not a fatal one, this account goes on to say, and he fled with a great outcry andsuddenly fell among these very soldiers. Thus they laid hands upon theman and immediately set fire to the palace and burned it, in order thatthere might be left no hope from there for those making revolutions; andJohn they led away to the prison and bound. And one of them, fearinglest the soldiers, upon learning that the tyrant survived, might againmake trouble for the city, killed John, and in this way stopped theconfusion. Such, then, was the progress of events touching this tyranny. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1]

Cf. _Iliad_ xi. 385 [Greek: toxota, lôbêtêr, kerai aglae, parthenopipa], the only place where [Greek: toxotês] occurs in Homer. 

[2]

Cf. _Iliad_ v. 192. 

[3]

Cf. _Iliad_ viii. 267; xi. 371. 

[4]

Cf. _Iliad_ iv. 113. 

[5]

Cf. _Iliad_ iv. 123. 

[6]

Cf. _Iliad_ xi. 390. 

[7]

The trench crossed the plain in an approximately straight line. The armyof the Ephthalitae were drawn up behind it, facing the advancingPersians, while a few of them went out beyond the trench to draw theattack of the Persians. 

[8]

Cf. Thuc. Ii. 76, 4. 

[9]

Cf. Book VII. Xxvi. 4. 

[10]

Cf. Thuc. I. 128. 

[11]

A division of no fixed number. 

[12]

Cf. Book I. Ii. 15. 

[13]

Modern Erzeroum. 

[14]

_i. E. _ "by force. "

[15]

Cf. Book VIII. Xiii. 15. 

[16]

Cf. _Iliad_ xxiv. 348; _Odyssey_ x. 279. 

[17]

Lebanon. 

[18]

Roman formation. 

_a--a, trench. _

1. Bouzes and Pharas. 

2. Sunicas and Aigan. 

3. John, Cyril, Marcellus, Germanus, and Dorotheus. 

4. Simmas and Ascan. 

5. Belisarius and Hermogenes. 

[Illustration: Roman formation. ]

 1. 3. (h)======= |----| =========== hill 2. --| 5. |--4. A__________| |__________a =================

[19]

Cf. Book I. X. 2. 

[20]

Cf. Book I. Xii. 21. 

[21]

Cf. Book I. Xiii. 2. 

[22]

"Euphratesia"; cf. Section 2. 

[23]

Title meaning a patrician. See Index. 

[24]

Ch. Xiv. 28-54. 

[25]

The coast described here is that of Arabia. 

[26]

Rather the "Arabian Gulf. "

[27]

Cf. Ch. Xv. 31. 

[28]

In Latin _serica_, as coming from the Chinese (Seres). 

[29]

Cf. Chap. Xvi. 7. 

[30]

Cf. Book II. Xvii. 

[31]

_i. E. _ "Conquer. "

[32]

Book VI. Xxx. 30. 

HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK II

THE PERSIAN WAR (_Continued_)

HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK II

THE PERSIAN WAR (_Continued_)

I

Not long after this Chosroes, upon learning that Belisarius had begun towin Italy also for the Emperor Justinian, was no longer able to restrainhis thoughts but he wished to discover pretexts, in order that he mightbreak the treaty on some grounds which would seem plausible. And heconferred with Alamoundaras concerning this matter and commanded him toprovide causes for war. So Alamoundaras brought against Arethas, thecharge that he, Arethas, was doing him violence in a matter of boundarylines, and he entered into conflict with him in time of peace, and beganto overrun the land of the Romans on this pretext. And he declared that, as for him, he was not breaking the treaty between the Persians andRomans, for neither one of them had included him in it. And this wastrue. For no mention of Saracens was ever made in treaties, on theground that they were included under the names of Persians and Romans. Now this country which at that time was claimed by both tribes ofSaracens[1] is called Strata, and extends to the south of the city ofPalmyra; nowhere does it produce a single tree or any of the usefulgrowth of corn-lands, for it is burned exceedingly dry by the sun, butfrom of old it has been devoted to the pasturage of some few flocks. NowArethas maintained that the place belonged to the Romans, proving hisassertion by the name which has long been applied to it by all (forStrata signifies "a paved road" in the Latin tongue), and he alsoadduced the testimonies of men of the oldest times. Alamoundaras, however, was by no means inclined to quarrel concerning the name, but heclaimed that tribute had been given him from of old for the pasturagethere by the owners of the flocks. The Emperor Justinian thereforeentrusted the settlement of the disputed points to Strategius; apatrician and administrator of the royal treasures, and besides a man ofwisdom and of good ancestry, and with him Summus, who had commanded thetroops in Palestine. This Summus was the brother of Julian, who not longbefore had served as envoy to the Aethiopians and Homeritae. And the oneof them, Summus, insisted that the Romans ought not to surrender thecountry, but Strategius begged of the emperor that he should not do thePersians the favour of providing them with pretexts for the war whichthey already desired, for the sake of a small bit of land and one ofabsolutely no account, but altogether unproductive and unsuitable forcrops. The Emperor Justinian, therefore, took the matter underconsideration, and a long time was spent in the settlement of thequestion. 

But Chosroes, the King of the Persians, claimed that the treaty had beenbroken by Justinian, who had lately displayed great opposition to hishouse, in that he had attempted in time of peace to attach Alamoundarasto himself. For, as he said, Summus, who had recently gone to theSaracen ostensibly to arrange matters, had hoodwinked him by promises oflarge sums of money on condition that he should join the Romans, and hebrought forward a letter which, he alleged, the Emperor Justinian hadwritten to Alamoundaras concerning these things. He also declared thathe had sent a letter to some of the Huns, in which he urged them toinvade the land of the Persians and to do extensive damage to thecountry thereabout. This letter he asserted to have been put into hishands by the Huns themselves who had come before him. So then Chosroes, with these charges against the Romans, was purposing to break off thetreaty. But as to whether he was speaking the truth in these matters, Iam not able to say. 

II

At this point Vittigis, the leader of the Goths, already worsted in thewar, sent two envoys to him to persuade him to march against the Romans;but the men whom he sent were not Goths, in order that the realcharacter of the embassy might not be at once obvious and so makenegotiations useless, but Ligurian priests who were attracted to thisenterprise by rich gifts of money. One of these men, who seemed to bethe more worthy, undertook the embassy assuming the pretended name ofbishop which did not belong to him at all, while the other followed ashis attendant. And when in the course of the journey they came to theland of Thrace, they attached to themselves a man from there to be aninterpreter of the Syriac and the Greek tongues, and without beingdetected by any of the Romans, they reached the land of Persia. Forinasmuch as they were at peace, they were not keeping a strict guardover that region. And coming before Chosroes they spoke as follows: "Itis true, O King, that all other envoys undertake their task for the sakeof advantages to themselves as a rule, but we have been sent byVittigis, the king of the Goths and the Italians, in order to speak inbehalf of thy kingdom; and consider that he is now present before theespeaking these words. If anyone should say, O King, putting all in aword, that thou hast given up thy kingdom and all men everywhere toJustinian, he would be speaking correctly. For since he is by nature ameddler and a lover of those things which in no way belong to him, andis not able to abide by the settled order of things, he has conceivedthe desire of seizing upon the whole earth, and has become eager toacquire for himself each and every state. Accordingly (since he wasneither able alone to assail the Persians, nor with the Persiansopposing him to proceed against the others), he decided to deceive theewith the pretence of peace, and by forcing the others to subjection toacquire mighty forces against thy state. Therefore, after having alreadydestroyed the kingdom of the Vandals and subjugated the Moors, while theGoths because of their friendship stood aside for him, he has comeagainst us bringing vast sums of money and many men. Now it is evidentthat, if he is able also to crush the Goths utterly, he will with us andthose already enslaved march against the Persians, neither consideringthe name of friendship nor blushing before any of his sworn promises. While, therefore, some hope of safety is still left thee, do not do usany further wrong nor suffer it thyself, but see in our misfortunes whatwill a little later befall the Persians; and consider that the Romanscould never be well-disposed to thy kingdom, and that when they becomemore powerful, they will not hesitate at all to display their enmitytoward the Persians. Use, therefore, this good chance while the timefits, lest thou seek for it after it has ceased. For when once the timeof opportunity has passed, it is not its nature to return again. And itis better by anticipating to be in security, than by delaying beyond theopportune time to suffer the most miserable fate possible at the handsof the enemy. "

When Chosroes heard this, it seemed to him that Vittigis advised well, and he was still more eager to break off the treaty. For, moved as hewas by envy toward the Emperor Justinian, he neglected completely toconsider that the words were spoken to him by men who were bitterenemies of Justinian. But because he wished the thing he willinglyconsented to be persuaded. And he did the very same thing a little laterin the case of the addresses of the Armenians and of the Lazi, whichwill be spoken of directly. And yet they were bringing as chargesagainst Justinian the very things which would naturally be encomiums fora worthy monarch, namely that he was exerting himself to make his realmlarger and much more splendid. For these accusations one might make alsoagainst Cyrus, the King of the Persians, and Alexander, the Macedonian. But justice is never accustomed to dwell together with envy. For thesereasons, then, Chosroes was purposing to break off the treaty. 

III

At this same time another event also occurred; it was as follows. ThatSymeon who had given Pharangium into the hands of the Romans persuadedthe Emperor Justinian, while the war was still at its height, to presenthim with certain villages of Armenia. And becoming master of theseplaces, he was plotted against and murdered by those who had formerlypossessed them. After this crime had been committed, the perpetrators ofthe murder fled into the land of Persia. They were two brothers, sons ofPerozes. And when the Emperor heard this, he gave over the villages toAmazaspes, the nephew of Symeon, and appointed him ruler over theArmenians. This Amazaspes, as time went on, was denounced to the EmperorJustinian by one of his friends, Acacius by name, on the ground that hewas abusing the Armenians and wished to give over to the PersiansTheodosiopolis and certain other fortresses. After telling this, Acacius, by the emperor's will, slew Amazaspes treacherously, andhimself secured the command over the Armenians by the gift of theemperor. And being base by nature, he gained the opportunity ofdisplaying his inward character, and he proved to be the most cruel ofall men toward his subjects. For he plundered their property withoutexcuse and ordained that they should pay an unheard-of tax of fourcentenaria[2]. But the Armenians, unable to bear him any longer, conspired together and slew Acacius and fled for refuge to Pharangium. 

Therefore the emperor sent Sittas against them from Byzantium. ForSittas had been delaying there since the time when the treaty was madewith the Persians. So he came to Armenia, but at first he entered uponthe war reluctantly and exerted himself to calm the people and torestore the population to their former habitations, promising topersuade the emperor to remit to them the payment of the new tax. Butsince the emperor kept assailing him with frequent reproaches for hishesitation, led on by the slanders of Adolius, the son of Acacius, Sittas at last made his preparations for the conflict. First of all heattempted by means of promises of many good things to win over some ofthe Armenians by persuasion and to attach them to his cause, in orderthat the task of overpowering the others might be attended with lessdifficulty and toil. And the tribe called the Aspetiani, great in powerand in numbers, was willing to join him. And they went to Sittas andbegged him to give them pledges in writing that, if they abandoned theirkinsmen in the battle and came to the Roman army, they should remainentirely free from harm, retaining their own possessions. Now Sittas wasdelighted and wrote to them in tablets, giving them pledges just as theydesired of him; he then sealed the writing and sent it to them. Then, confident that by their help he would be victorious in the war withoutfighting, he went with his whole army to a place called Oenochalakon, where the Armenians had their camp. But by some chance those who carriedthe tablets went by another road and did not succeed at all in meetingthe Aspetiani. Moreover a portion of the Roman army happened upon somefew of them, and not knowing the agreement which had been made, treatedthem as enemies. And Sittas himself caught some of their women andchildren in a cave and slew them, either because he did not understandwhat had happened or because he was angry with the Aspetiani for notjoining him as had been agreed. 

But they, being now possessed with anger, arrayed themselves for battlewith all the rest. But since both armies were on exceedingly difficultground where precipices abounded, they did not fight in one place, butscattered about among the ridges and ravines. So it happened that somefew of the Armenians and Sittas with not many of his followers cameclose upon each other, with only a ravine lying between them. Bothparties were horsemen. Then Sittas with a few men following him crossedthe ravine and advanced against the enemy; the Armenians, afterwithdrawing to the rear, stopped, and Sittas pursued no further butremained where he was. Suddenly someone from the Roman army, an Erulianby birth, who had been pursuing the enemy, returning impetuously fromthem came up to Sittas and his men. Now as it happened Sittas hadplanted his spear in the ground; and the Erulian's horse fell upon thiswith a great rush and shattered it. And the general was exceedinglyannoyed by this, and one of the Armenians, seeing him, recognized himand declared to all the others that it was Sittas. For it happened thathe had no helmet on his head. Thus it did not escape the enemy that hehad come there with only a few men. Sittas, then, upon hearing theArmenian say this, since his spear, as has been said, lay broken in twoon the ground, drew his sword and attempted immediately to recross theravine. But the enemy advanced upon him with great eagerness, and asoldier overtaking him in the ravine struck him a glancing blow with hissword on the top of his head; and he took off the whole scalp, but thesteel did not injure the bone at all. And Sittas continued to pressforward still more than before, but Artabanes, son of John of theArsacidae, fell upon him from behind and with a thrust of his spearkilled him. Thus Sittas was removed from the world after no notablefashion, in a manner unworthy of his valour and his continualachievements against the enemy, a man who was extremely handsome inappearance and a capable warrior, and a general second to none of hiscontemporaries. But some say that Sittas did not die at the hand ofArtabanes, but that Solomon, a very insignificant man among theArmenians, destroyed him. 

After the death of Sittas the emperor commanded Bouzes to go against theArmenians; and he, upon drawing near, sent to them promising to effect areconciliation between the emperor and all the Armenians, and askingthat some of their notables should come to confer with him on thesematters. Now the Armenians as a whole were unable to trust Bouzes norwere they willing to receive his proposals. But there was a certain manof the Arsacidae who was especially friendly with him, John by name, thefather of Artabanes, and this man, trusting in Bouzes as his friend cameto him with his son-in-law, Bassaces, and a few others; but when thesemen had reached the spot where they were to meet Bouzes on the followingday, and had made their bivouac there, they perceived that they had comeinto a place surrounded by the Roman army. Bassaces, the son-in-law, therefore earnestly entreated John to fly. And since he was not able topersuade him, he left him there alone, and in company with all theothers eluded the Romans, and went back again by the same road. AndBouzes found John alone and slew him; and since after this the Armenianshad no hope of ever reaching an agreement with the Romans, and sincethey were unable to prevail over the emperor in war, they came beforethe Persian king led by Bassaces, an energetic man. And the leading menamong them came at that time into the presence of Chosroes and spoke asfollows: "Many of us, O Master, are Arsacidae, descendants of thatArsaces who was not unrelated to the Parthian kings when the Persianrealm lay under the hand of the Parthians, and who proved himself anillustrious king, inferior to none of his time. Now we have come tothee, and all of us have become slaves and fugitives, not, however, ofour own will, but under most hard constraint, as it might seem by reasonof the Roman power, but in truth, O King, by reason of thydecision, --if, indeed, he who gives the strength to those who wish to doinjustice should himself justly bear also the blame of their misdeeds. Now we shall begin our account from a little distance back in order thatyou may be able to follow the whole course of events. Arsaces, the lastking of our ancestors, abdicated his throne willingly in favour ofTheodosius, the Roman Emperor, on condition that all who should belongto his family through all time should live unhampered in every respect, and in particular should in no case be subject to taxation. And we havepreserved the agreement, until you, the Persians, made this much-vauntedtreaty, which, as we think, one would not err in calling a sort ofcommon destruction. For from that time, disregarding friend and foe, hewho is in name thy friend, O King, but in fact thy enemy, has turnedeverything in the world upside down and wrought complete confusion. Andthis thou thyself shalt know at no distant time, as soon as he is ableto subdue completely the people of the West. For what thing which wasbefore forbidden has he not done? or what thing which was wellestablished has he not disturbed? Did he not ordain for us the paymentof a tax which did not exist before, and has he not enslaved ourneighbours, the Tzani, who were autonomous, and has he not set over theking of the wretched Lazi a Roman magistrate?--an act neither in keepingwith the natural order of things nor very easy to explain in words. Hashe not sent generals to the men of Bosporus, the subjects of the Huns, and attached to himself the city which in no way belongs to him, and hashe not made a defensive alliance with the Aethiopian kingdoms, of whichthe Romans had never even heard? More than this he has made theHomeritae his possession and the Red Sea, and he is adding the PalmGroves to the Roman dominion. We omit to speak of the fate of theLibyans and of the Italians. The whole earth is not large enough for theman; it is too small a thing for him to conquer all the world together. But he is even looking about the heavens and is searching the retreatsbeyond the ocean, wishing to gain for himself some other world. Why, therefore, O King, dost thou still delay? Why dost thou respect thatmost accursed peace, in order forsooth that he may make thee the lastmorsel of all? If it is thy wish to learn what kind of a man Justinianwould shew himself toward those who yield to him, the example is to besought near at hand from ourselves and from the wretched Lazi; and ifthou wishest to see how he is accustomed to treat those who are unknownto him and who have done him not the least wrong, consider the Vandalsand the Goths and the Moors. But the chief thing has not yet beenspoken. Has he not made efforts in time of peace to win over bydeception thy slave, Alamoundaras, O most mighty King, and to detach himfrom thy kingdom, and has he not striven recently to attach to himselfthe Huns who are utterly unknown to him, in order to make trouble forthee? And yet an act more strange than this has not been performed inall time. For since he perceived, as I think, that the overthrow of thewestern world would speedily be accomplished, he has already taken inhand to assail you of the East, since the Persian power alone has beenleft for him to grapple with. The peace, therefore, as far as concernshim, has already been broken for thee, and he himself has set an end tothe endless peace. For they break the peace, not who may be first inarms, but they who may be caught plotting against their neighbours intime of peace. For the crime has been committed by him who attempts it, even though success be lacking. Now as for the course which the war willfollow, this is surely clear to everyone. For it is not those whofurnish causes for war, but those who defend themselves against thosewho furnish them, who are accustomed always to conquer their enemies. Nay more, the contest will not be evenly matched for us even in point ofstrength. For, as it happens, the majority of the Roman soldiers are atthe end of the world, and as for the two generals who were the best theyhad, we come here having slain the one, Sittas, and Belisarius willnever again be seen by Justinian. For disregarding his master, he hasremained in the West, holding the power of Italy himself. So that whenthou goest against the enemy, no one at all will confront thee, and thouwilt have us leading the army with good will, as is natural, and with athorough knowledge of the country. " When Chosroes heard this he waspleased, and calling together all who were of noble blood among thePersians, he disclosed to all of them what Vittigis had written and whatthe Armenians had said, and laid before them the question as to whatshould be done. Then many opinions were expressed inclining to eitherside, but finally it was decided that they must open hostilities againstthe Romans at the beginning of spring. [539 A. D. ] For it was the lateautumn season, in the thirteenth year of the reign of the EmperorJustinian. The Romans, however, did not suspect this, nor did they thinkthat the Persians would ever break the so-called endless peace, althoughthey heard that Chosroes blamed their emperor for his successes in theWest, and that he preferred against him the charges which I have latelymentioned. 

IV

[539 A. D. ] At that time also the comet appeared, at first about as longas a tall man, but later much larger. And the end of it was toward thewest and its beginning toward the east, and it followed behind the sunitself. For the sun was in Capricorn and it was in Sagittarius. And somecalled it "the swordfish" because it was of goodly length and very sharpat the point, and others called it "the bearded star"; it was seen formore than forty days. Now those who were wise in these matters disagreedutterly with each other, and one announced that one thing, another thatanother thing was indicated by this star; but I only write what tookplace and I leave to each one to judge by the outcome as he wishes. Straightway a mighty Hunnic army crossing the Danube River fell as ascourge upon all Europe, a thing which had happened many times before, but which had never brought such a multitude of woes nor such dreadfulones to the people of that land. For from the Ionian Gulf thesebarbarians plundered everything in order as far as the suburbs ofByzantium. And they captured thirty-two fortresses in Illyricum, andthey carried by storm the city of Cassandria (which the ancients calledPotidaea, as far as we know), never having fought against walls before. And taking with them the money and leading away one hundred and twentythousand captives, they all retired homeward without encountering anyopposition. In later times too they often came there and brought uponthe Romans irreparable calamity. This same people also assailed the wallof the Chersonesus, where they overpowered those who were defendingthemselves from the wall, and approaching through the surf of the sea, scaled the fortifications on the so-called Black Gulf; thus they gotwithin the long wall, and falling unexpectedly upon the Romans in theChersonesus they slew many of them and made prisoners of almost all thesurvivors. Some few of them also crossed the strait between Sestus andAbydus, and after plundering the Asiatic country, they returned again tothe Chersonesus, and with the rest of the army and all the booty betookthemselves to their homes. In another invasion they plundered Illyricumand Thessaly and attempted to storm the wall at Thermopylae; and sincethe guards on the walls defended them most valiantly, they sought outthe ways around and unexpectedly found the path which leads up themountain which rises there[3]. In this way they destroyed almost all theGreeks except the Peloponnesians, and then withdrew. And the Persiansnot long afterwards broke off the treaty and wrought such harm to theRomans of the East as I shall set forth immediately. 

Belisarius, after humbling Vittigis, the king of the Goths and Italians, brought him alive to Byzantium. And I shall now proceed to tell how thearmy of the Persians invaded the land of the Romans. When the EmperorJustinian perceived that Chosroes was eager for war, he wished to offerhim some counsel and to dissuade him from the undertaking. Now ithappened that a certain man had come to Byzantium from the city ofDaras, Anastasius by name, well known for his sagacity; he it was whohad broken the tyranny which had been established recently in Daras. Justinian therefore wrote a letter and sent it by this Anastasius toChosroes; and the message of the letter was as follows: "It is the partof men of discretion and those by whom divine things are treated withdue respect, when causes of war arise, and in particular against men whoare in the truest sense friends, to exert all their power to put an endto them; but it belongs to foolish men and those who most lightly bringon themselves the enmity of Heaven to devise occasions for war andinsurrection which have no real existence. Now to destroy peace andenter upon war is not a difficult matter, since the nature of things issuch as to make the basest activities easy for the most dishonourablemen. But when they have brought about war according to their intention, to return again to peace is for men, I think, not easy. And yet thouchargest me with writing letters which were not written with any darkpurpose, and thou hast now made haste to interpret these with arbitraryjudgment, not in the sense in which we conceived them when we wrotethem, but in a way which will be of advantage to thee in thy eagernessto carry out thy plans not without some pretext. But for us it ispossible to point out that thy Alamoundaras recently overran our landand performed outrageous deeds in time of peace, to wit, the capture oftowns, the seizure of property, the massacre and enslavement of such amultitude of men, concerning which it will be thy duty not to blame us, but to defend thyself. For the crimes of those who have done wrong aremade manifest to their neighbours by their acts, not by their thoughts. But even with these things as they are, we have still decided to hold topeace, but we hear that thou in thy eagerness to make war upon theRomans art fabricating accusations which do not belong to us at all. Natural enough, this; for while those who are eager to preserve thepresent order of things repel even those charges against their friendswhich are most pressing, those who are not satisfied with establishedfriendships exert themselves to provide even pretexts which do notexist. But this would not seem to be becoming even to ordinary men, muchless to kings. But leaving aside these things do thou consider thenumber of those who will be destroyed on both sides in the course of thewar, and consider well who will justly bear the blame for those thingswhich will come to pass, and ponder upon the oaths which thou didst takewhen thou didst carry away the money, and consider that if, after that, thou wrongly dishonour them by some tricks or sophistries, thou wouldstnot be able to pervert them; for Heaven is too mighty to be deceived byany man. " When Chosroes saw this message, he neither made any immediateanswer nor did he dismiss Anastasius, but he compelled him to remainthere. 

V

[540 A. D. ] When the winter was already reaching its close, and thethirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian was ending, Chosroes, son of Cabades, invaded the land of the Romans at the openingof spring with a mighty army, and openly broke the so-called endlesspeace. But he did not enter by the country between the rivers, butadvanced with the Euphrates on his right. On the other side of the riverstands the last Roman stronghold which is called Circesium, anexceedingly strong place, since the River Aborras, a large stream, hasits mouth at this point and mingles with the Euphrates, and thisfortress lies exactly in the angle which is made by the junction of thetwo rivers. And a long second wall outside the fortress cuts off theland between the two rivers, and completes the form of a triangle aroundCircesium. Chosroes, therefore, not wishing to make trial of so strong afortress and not having in mind to cross the River Euphrates, but ratherto go against the Syrians and Cilicians, without any hesitation led hisarmy forward, and after advancing for what, to an unencumberedtraveller, is about a three-days' journey along the bank of theEuphrates, he came upon the city of Zenobia; this place Zenobia hadbuilt in former times, and, as was natural, she gave her name to thecity. Now Zenobia was the wife of Odonathus, the ruler of the Saracensof that region, who had been on terms of peace with the Romans from ofold. This Odonathus rescued for the Romans the Eastern Empire when ithad come under the power of the Medes; but this took place in formertimes. Chosroes then came near to Zenobia, but upon learning that theplace was not important and observing that the land was untenanted anddestitute of all good things, he feared lest any time spent by him therewould be wasted on an affair of no consequence and would be a hindranceto great undertakings, and he attempted to force the place to surrender. But meeting with no success, he hastened his march forward. 

After again accomplishing a journey of equal extent, he reached the cityof Sura, which is on the River Euphrates, and stopped very close to it. There it happened that the horse on which Chosroes was riding neighedand stamped the ground with his foot. And the Magi considered themeaning of this incident and announced that the place would be captured. Chosroes then made camp and led his army against the fortifications toassail the wall. Now it happened that a certain Arsaces, an Armenian bybirth, was commander of the soldiers in the town; and he made thesoldiers mount the parapets, and fighting from there most valiantly slewmany of the enemy, but was himself struck by an arrow and died. Andthen, since it was late in the day, the Persians retired to their campin order to assail the wall again on the following day; but the Romanswere in despair since their leader was dead, and were purposing to makethemselves suppliants of Chosroes. On the following day, therefore, theysent the bishop of the city to plead for them and to beg that the townbe spared; so he took with him some of his attendants, who carried fowlsand wine and clean loaves, and came before Chosroes; there he threwhimself on the ground, and with tears supplicated him to spare apitiable population and a city altogether without honour in the eyes ofthe Romans, and one which in past times had never been of any account tothe Persians, and which never would be such thereafter; and he promisedthat the men of Sura would give him ransom worthy of themselves and thecity which they inhabited. But Chosroes was angry with the townsmenbecause, being the first he had met of all the Romans, they had notwillingly received him into their city, but even daring to raise theirarms against him had slain a large number of Persian notables. Howeverhe did not disclose his anger, but carefully concealed it behind asmooth countenance, in order that by carrying out the punishment of theinhabitants of Sura he might make himself in the eyes of the Romans afearful person and one not to be resisted. For by acting in this way hecalculated that those who would from time to time come in his way wouldyield to him without trouble. Accordingly with great friendliness hecaused the bishop to rise, and receiving the gifts, gave the impression, in a way, that he would immediately confer with the notables of thePersians concerning the ransom of the townsmen, and would settle theirrequest favourably. Thus he dismissed the bishop and his followingwithout any suspicion of the plot, and he sent with him certain of themen of note among the Persians, who were to be ostensibly an escort. These men he secretly commanded to go with him as far as the wall, encouraging him and cheering him with fair hopes, so that he and allthose with him should be seen by those inside rejoicing and fearingnothing. But when the guards had set the gate open and were about toreceive them into the city, they were to throw a stone or block of woodbetween the threshold and the gate and not allow them to shut it, butshould themselves for a time stand in the way of those who wished toclose it; for not long afterwards the army would follow them. 

After giving these directions to the men Chosroes made ready the army, and commanded them to advance upon the city on the run whenever heshould give the signal. So when they came close to the fortifications, the Persians bade farewell to the bishop and remained outside, and thetownsmen, seeing that the man was exceedingly happy and that he wasbeing escorted in great honour by the enemy, forgetting all theirdifficulties opened the gate wide, and received the priest and hisfollowing with clapping of hands and much shouting. And when all gotinside, the guards began to push the gate in order to close it, but thePersians flung down a stone, which they had provided, between it and thethreshold. And the guards pushed and struggled still more, but werequite unable to get the gate back to the threshold. On the other handthey dared not open it again, since they perceived that it was held bythe enemy. But some say that it was not a stone but a block of woodwhich the Persians threw into the gateway. When the townsmen had as yetscarcely realized the plot, Chosroes was at hand with his whole army, and the barbarians forced back and flung open the gate, which was sooncarried by storm. Straightway, then, Chosroes, filled with wrath, plundered the houses and put to death great numbers of the population;all the remainder he reduced to slavery, and setting fire to the wholecity razed it to the ground. Then he dismissed Anastasius, bidding himannounce to the Emperor Justinian where in the world he had leftChosroes, son of Cabades. 

Afterwards either through motives of humanity or of avarice, or asgranting a favour to a woman whom he had taken as a captive from thecity, Euphemia by name, Chosroes decided to shew some kindness to theinhabitants of Sura; for he had conceived for this woman anextraordinary love (for she was exceedingly beautiful to look upon), andhad made her his wedded wife. He sent, accordingly, to Sergiopolis, acity subject to the Romans, named from Sergius, a famous saint, distantfrom the captured city one hundred and twenty-six stades and lying tothe south of it in the so-called Barbarian Plain, and bade Candidus, thebishop of the city, purchase the captives, twelve thousand in number, for two centenaria. But the bishop, alleging that he had no money, refused absolutely to undertake the matter. Chosroes therefore requestedhim to set down in a document the agreement that he would give the moneyat a later time, and thus to purchase for a small sum such a multitudeof slaves. Candidus did as directed, promising to give the money withina year, and swore the most dire oaths, specifying that he should receivethe following punishment if he should not give the money at the timeagreed upon, that he should pay double the amount and should himself beno longer a priest, as one who had neglected his sworn promise. Andafter setting down these things in writing, Candidus received all theinhabitants of Sura. And some few among them survived, but the majority, unable to support the misery which had fallen to their lot, succumbedsoon afterwards. After the settlement of this affair Chosroes led hisarmy forward. 

VI

It had happened a little before this that the emperor had divided intotwo parts the military command of the East, leaving the portion as faras the River Euphrates under the control of Belisarius who formerly heldthe command of the whole, while the portion from there as far as thePersian boundary he entrusted to Bouzes, commanding him to take chargeof the whole territory of the East until Belisarius should return fromItaly. Bouzes therefore at first remained at Hierapolis, keeping hiswhole army with him; but when he learned what had befallen Sura, hecalled together the first men of the Hierapolitans and spoke as follows:"Whenever men are confronted with a struggle against an assailant withwhom they are evenly matched in strength, it is not at all unreasonablethat they should engage in open conflict with the enemy; but for thosewho are by comparison much inferior to their opponents it will be moreadvantageous to circumvent their enemy by some kind of tricks than toarray themselves openly against them and thus enter into foreseendanger. How great, now, the army of Chosroes is you are assuredlyinformed. And if, with this army, he wishes to capture us by siege, andif we carry on the fight from the wall, it is probable that, while oursupplies will fail us, the Persians will secure all they need from ourland, where there will be no one to oppose them. And if the siege isprolonged in this way, I believe too that the fortification wall willnot withstand the assaults of the enemy, for in many places it is mostsusceptible to attack, and thus irreparable harm will come to theRomans. But if with a portion of the army we guard the wall of the city, while the rest of us occupy the heights about the city, we shall makeattacks from there at times upon the camp of our antagonists, and attimes upon those who are sent out for the sake of provisions, and thuscompel Chosroes to abandon the siege immediately and to make his retreatwithin a short time; for he will not be at all able to direct his attackwithout fear against the fortifications, nor to provide any of thenecessities for so great an army. " So spoke Bouzes; and in his words heseemed to set forth the advantageous course of action, but of what wasnecessary he did nothing. For he chose out all that portion of the Romanarmy which was of marked excellence and was off. And where in the worldhe was neither any of the Romans in Hierapolis, nor the hostile army wasable to learn. Such, then, was the course of these events. 

But the Emperor Justinian, upon learning of the inroad of the Persians, immediately sent his nephew Germanus with three hundred followers ingreat disorder, promising that after no great time a numerous army wouldfollow. And Germanus, upon reaching Antioch, went around the wholecircuit of the wall; and the greater part of it he found secure, foralong that portion of it which lies on the level ground the RiverOrontes flows, making it everywhere difficult of access, and the portionwhich is on higher ground rises upon steep hills and is quiteinaccessible to the enemy; but when he attained the highest point, whichthe men of that place are accustomed to call Orocasias, he noticed thatthe wall at that point was very easy to assail. For there happens to bein that place a rock, which spreads out to a very considerable width, and rises to a height only a little less than the fortifications. Hetherefore commanded that they should either cut off the rock by making adeep ditch along the wall, lest anyone should essay to mount from thereupon the fortifications, or that they should build upon it a great towerand connect its structure with the wall of the city. But to thearchitects of public buildings it seemed that neither one of thesethings should be done. For, as they said, the work would not becompleted in a short time with the attack of the enemy so imminent, while if they began this work and did not carry it to completion, theywould do nothing else than shew to the enemy at what point in the wallthey should make their attack. Germanus, though disappointed in thisplan, had some hope at first because he expected an army from Byzantium. But when, after considerable time had passed, no army arrived from theemperor nor was expected to arrive, he began to fear lest Chosroes, learning that the emperor's nephew was there, would consider it moreimportant than any other thing to capture Antioch and himself, and forthis reason would neglect everything else and come against the city withhis whole army. The natives of Antioch also had these things in mind, and they held a council concerning them, at which it seemed mostadvisable to offer money to Chosroes and thus escape the present danger. 

Accordingly they sent Megas, the bishop of Beroea, a man of discretionwho at that time happened to be tarrying among them, to beg for mercyfrom Chosroes; and departing from there he came upon the Median army notfar from Hierapolis. And coming into the presence of Chosroes, heentreated him earnestly to have pity upon men who had committed nooffence against him and who were not able to hold out against thePersian army. For it was becoming to a king least of all men to trampleupon and do violence to those who retreated before him and were quiteunwilling to array themselves against him; for not one of the thingswhich he was then doing was a kingly or honourable act, because, withoutaffording any time for consideration to the Roman emperor, so that hemight either make the peace secure as might seem well to bothsovereigns, or make his preparations for war in accordance with a mutualagreement, as was to be expected, he had thus recklessly advanced inarms against the Romans, while their emperor did not as yet know whathad come upon them. When Chosroes heard this, he was utterly unable byreason of his stupidity to order his mind with reason and discretion, but still more than before he was lifted up in spirit. He thereforethreatened to destroy all the Syrians and Cilicians, and bidding Megasfollow him, he led his army to Hierapolis. When he had come there andestablished his camp, since he saw that the fortifications were strongand learned that the city was well garrisoned with soldiers, he demandedmoney from the Hierapolitans, sending to them Paulus as interpreter. This Paulus had been reared in Roman territory and had gone to anelementary school in Antioch, and besides he was said to be by birth ofRoman extraction. But in spite of everything the inhabitants wereexceedingly fearful for the fortifications, which embraced a large tractof land as far as the hill which rises there, and besides they wished topreserve their land unplundered; accordingly they agreed to give twothousand pounds of silver. Then indeed Megas entreated Chosroes inbehalf of all the inhabitants of the East, and would not cease hisentreaty, until Chosroes promised him that he would accept tencentenaria of gold and depart from the whole Roman empire. 

VII

Thus, then, on that day Megas departed thence and went on the way toAntioch, while Chosroes after receiving the ransom was moving towardBeroea. This city lies between Antioch and Hierapolis, at a distancefrom both of two-days' journey for an unencumbered traveller. Now whileMegas, who travelled with a small company, advanced very quickly, thePersian army was accomplishing only one half of the distance which hetravelled each day. And so on the fourth day he reached Antioch, whilethe Persians came to the suburb of Beroea. And Chosroes immediately sentPaulus and demanded money of the Beroeans, not only as much as he hadreceived from the Hierapolitans, but double the amount, since he sawthat their wall in many places was very vulnerable. As for the Beroeans, since they could by no means place confidence in their fortifications, they gladly agreed to give all, but after giving two thousand pounds ofsilver, they said that they were not able to give the remainder. Andsince Chosroes pressed them on this account, on the following night allof them fled for refuge into the fortress which is on the acropolistogether with the soldiers who had been stationed there to guard theplace. And on the following day men were sent to the city by Chosroes inorder to receive the money; but on coming near the fortifications theyfound all the gates closed, and being unable to discover any man, theyreported the situation to the king. And he commanded them to set laddersagainst the wall and to make trial of mounting it, and they did asdirected. Then since no one opposed them, they got inside thefortifications and opened the gates at their leisure, and received intothe city the whole army and Chosroes himself. By this time the king wasfurious with anger and he fired nearly the whole city. He then mountedthe acropolis and decided to storm the fortress. There indeed the Romansoldiers while valiantly defending themselves slew some of the enemy;but Chosroes was greatly favoured by fortune by reason of the folly ofthe besieged, who had not sought refuge in this fortress by themselves, but along with all their horses and other animals, and by thisinconsiderate act they were placed at a great disadvantage and began tobe in danger. For since there was only one spring there and the horsesand mules and other animals drank from it when they should not have doneso, it came about that the water was exhausted. Such, then, was thesituation of the Beroeans. 

Megas, upon reaching Antioch and announcing the terms arranged by himwith Chosroes, failed utterly to persuade them to carry out thisagreement. For it happened that the Emperor Justinian had sent John, theson of Rufinus, and Julian, his private[4] secretary, as ambassadors toChosroes. The person holding this office is styled "a secretis" by theRomans; for secrets they are accustomed to call "secreta. " These men hadreached Antioch and were remaining there. Now Julian, one of theambassadors, explicitly forbade everybody to give money to the enemy, orto purchase the cities of the emperor, and besides he denounced toGermanus the chief priest Ephraemius, as being eager to deliver over thecity to Chosroes. For this reason Megas returned unsuccessful. ButEphraemius, the bishop of Antioch, fearing the attack of the Persians, went into Cilicia. There too came Germanus not long afterwards, takingwith him some few men but leaving the most of them in Antioch. 

Megas then came in haste to Beroea, and in vexation at what had takenplace, he charged Chosroes with having treated the Beroeansoutrageously; for while, as it seemed, he had sent him to Antioch toarrange the treaty, he had both plundered the property of the citizens, though they had committed no wrong at all, and had compelled them toshut themselves up in that fortress, and had then set fire to the cityand razed it to the ground in defiance of right. To this Chosroesreplied as follows: "Verily, my friend, you yourself are responsible forthese things, in having compelled us to delay here; for as it is, youhave arrived, not at the appointed time, but far behind it. And as forthe strange conduct of your fellow-citizens, my most excellent sir, whyshould one make speeches of great length? For after agreeing to give usa fixed amount of silver for their own safety, they even now do notthink it necessary to fulfil the agreement, but placing such completeconfidence in the strength of their position, they are disregarding usabsolutely, while we are compelled to undertake the siege of a fortress, as you surely see. But for my part, I have hope that with the help ofthe gods I shall have vengeance upon them shortly, and execute upon theguilty the punishment for the Persians whom I have lost wrongfullybefore this wall. " So spoke Chosroes, and Megas replied as follows: "Ifone should consider that as king thou art making these charges againstmen who are in pitiable and most dishonoured plight, he would becompelled without a word of protest to agree with what thou hast said;for authority which is unlimited is bound by its very nature to carrywith it also supremacy in argument; but if one be permitted to shake offall else and to espouse the truth of the matter, thou wouldst have, OKing, nothing with which justly to reproach us; but mayst thou hear allmildly. First, as for me, since the time when I was sent to declare tothe men of Antioch the message which thou didst send them, seven dayshave passed (and what could be done more quickly than this?) and nowcoming into thy presence I find these things accomplished by theeagainst my fatherland; but these men, having already lost all that ismost valuable, thereafter have only one struggle to engage in--that forlife--and have come, I think, so to be masters of the situation thatthey can no longer be compelled to pay thee any of the money. For to paya thing which one does not possess could not be made possible for a manby any device. From of old indeed have the names of things been well andsuitably distinguished by men; and among these distinctions is this, that want of power is separated from want of consideration. For when thelatter by reason of intemperance of mind proceeds to resistance, it isaccustomed to be detested, as is natural, but when the former, becauseof the impossibility of performing a service, is driven to the samepoint, it deserves to be pitied. Permit, therefore, O King, that, whilewe receive as our portion all the direst misfortunes, we may take withus this consolation at least, that we should not seem to have beenourselves responsible for the things which have befallen us. And as formoney, consider that what thou hast taken into thy possession issufficient for thee, not weighing this by thy position, but with regardto the power of the Beroeans. But beyond this do not force us in anyway, lest perchance thou shouldst seem unable to accomplish the thing towhich thou hast set thy hand; for excess is always punished by meetingobstacles that cannot be overcome, and the best course is not to essaythe impossible. Let this, then, be my defence for the moment in behalfof these men. But if I should be able to have converse with thesufferers, I should have something else also to say which has nowescaped me. " So spoke Megas, and Chosroes permitted him to go into theacropolis. And when he had gone there and learned all that had happenedconcerning the spring, weeping he came again before Chosroes, and lyingprone on the ground insisted that no money at all was left to theBeroeans, and entreated him to grant him only the lives of the men. Moved by the tearful entreaties of the man Chosroes fulfilled hisrequest, and binding himself by an oath, gave pledges to all on theacropolis. Then the Beroeans, after coming into such great danger, leftthe acropolis free from harm, and departing went each his own way. Amongthe soldiers some few followed them, but the majority came as willingdeserters to Chosroes, putting forth as their grievance that thegovernment owed them their pay for a long time; and with him they laterwent into the land of Persia. 

VIII

[June 540 A. D. ] Then Chosroes (since Megas said that he had by no meanspersuaded the inhabitants of Antioch to bring him the money) went withhis whole army against them. Some of the population of Antioch thereupondeparted from there with their money and fled as each one could. And allthe rest likewise were purposing to do the same thing, and would havedone so had not the commanders of the troops in Lebanon, Theoctistus andMolatzes, who arrived in the meantime with six thousand men, fortifiedthem with hope and thus prevented their departure. Not long after thisthe Persian army also came. There they all pitched their tents and madecamp fronting on the River Orontes and not very far from the stream. Chosroes then sent Paulus up beside the fortifications and demandedmoney from the men of Antioch, saying that for ten centenaria[5] of goldhe would depart from there, and it was obvious that he would accept evenless than this for his withdrawal. And on that day their ambassadorswent before Chosroes, and after speaking at length concerning thebreaking of the peace and hearing much from him, they retired. But onthe morrow the populace of Antioch (for they are not seriously disposed, but are always engaged in jesting and disorderly performance) heapedinsults upon Chosroes from the battlements and taunted him with unseemlylaughter; and when Paulus came near the fortifications and exhorted themto purchase freedom for themselves and the city for a small sum ofmoney, they very nearly killed him with shots from their bows, and wouldhave done so if he had not seen their purpose in time and guardedagainst it. On account of this Chosroes, boiling with anger, decided tostorm the wall. 

On the following day, accordingly, he led up all the Persians againstthe wall and commanded a portion of the army to make assaults atdifferent points along the river, and he himself with the most of themen and best troops directed an attack against the height. For at thisplace, as has been stated by me above, the wall of fortification wasmost vulnerable. Thereupon the Romans, since the structure on which theywere to stand when fighting was very narrow, devised the followingremedy. Binding together long timbers they suspended them between thetowers, and in this way they made these spaces much broader, in orderthat still more men might be able to ward off the assailants from there. So the Persians, pressing on most vigorously from all sides, weresending their arrows thickly everywhere, and especially along the crestof the hill. Meanwhile the Romans were fighting them back with all theirstrength, not soldiers alone, but also many of the most courageousyouths of the populace. But it appeared that those who were attackingthe wall there were engaged in a battle on even terms with their enemy. For the rock which was broad and high and, as it were, drawn up againstthe fortifications caused the conflict to be just as if on level ground. And if anyone of the Roman army had had the courage to get outside thefortifications with three hundred men and to anticipate the enemy inseizing this rock and to ward off the assailants from there, never, Ibelieve, would the city have come into any danger from the enemy. Forthe barbarians had no point from which they could have conducted theirassault, for they would be exposed to missiles from above both from therock and from the wall; but as it was (for it was fated that Antioch bedestroyed by this army of the Medes), this idea occurred to no one. Sothen while the Persians were fighting beyond their power, since Chosroeswas present with them and urging them on with a mighty cry, giving theiropponents not a moment in which to look about or guard against themissiles discharged from their bows, and while the Romans, in greatnumbers and with much shouting, were defending themselves still morevigorously, the ropes with which the beams had been bound together, failing to support the weight, suddenly broke asunder and the timberstogether with all those who had taken their stand on them fell to theground with a mighty crash. When this was heard by other Romans also, who were fighting from the adjoining towers, being utterly unable tocomprehend what had happened, but supposing that the wall at this pointhad been destroyed, they beat a hasty retreat. Now many young men of thepopulace who in former times had been accustomed to engage in factionalstrife with each other in the hippodromes descended into the city fromthe fortification wall, but they refused to flee and remained where theywere, while the soldiers with Theoctistus and Molatzes straightwayleaped upon the horses which happened to be ready there and rode away tothe gates, telling the others a tale to the effect that Bouzes had comewith an army and they wished to receive them quickly into the city, andwith them to ward off the enemy. Thereupon many of the men of Antiochand all the women with their children made a great rush toward thegates; but since they were crowded by the horses, being in very narrowquarters, they began to fall down. The soldiers, however, sparingabsolutely no one of those before them, all kept riding over the fallenstill more fiercely than before, and a great many were killed there, especially about the gates themselves. 

But the Persians, with no one opposing them, set ladders against thewall and mounted with no difficulty. And quickly reaching thebattlements, for a time they were by no means willing to descend, butthey seemed like men looking about them and at a loss what to do, because, as it seems to me, they supposed that the rough ground wasbeset with some ambuscades of the enemy. For the land inside thefortifications which one traverses immediately upon descending from theheight is an uninhabited tract extending for a great distance and thereare found there rocks which rise to a very great height, and steepplaces. But some say that it was by the will of Chosroes that thePersians hesitated. For when he observed the difficulty of the groundand saw the soldiers fleeing, he feared lest by reason of some necessitythey should turn back from their retreat and make trouble for thePersians, and thus become an obstacle, as might well happen, in the wayof his capturing a city which was both ancient and of great importanceand the first of all the cities which the Romans had throughout the Eastboth in wealth and in size and in population and in beauty and inprosperity of every kind. Hence it was that, considering everything elseof less account, he wished to allow the Roman soldiers freely to availthemselves of the chance for flight. For this reason too the Persiansalso made signs to the fugitives with their hands, urging them to fleeas quickly as possible. So the soldiers of the Romans together withtheir commanders took a hasty departure, all of them, through the gatewhich leads to Daphne, the suburb of Antioch; for from this gate alonethe Persians kept away while the others were seized; and of the populacesome few escaped with the soldiers. Then when the Persians saw that allthe Roman soldiers had gone on, they descended from the height and gotinto the middle of the city. There, however, many of the young men ofAntioch engaged in battle with them, and at first they seemed to havethe upper hand in the conflict. Some of them were in heavy armour, butthe majority were unarmed and using only stones as missiles. And pushingback the enemy they raised the paean, and with shouts proclaimed theEmperor Justinian triumphant, as if they had won the victory. 

At this point Chosroes, seated on the tower which is on the height, summoned the ambassadors, wishing to say something. And one of hisofficers, Zaberganes, thinking that he wished to have words with theambassadors concerning a settlement, came quickly before the king andspoke as follows: "Thou dost not seem to me, O Master, to think in thesame way as do the Romans concerning the safety of these men. For theyboth before fighting offer insults to thy kingdom, and when they aredefeated dare the impossible and do the Persians irreparable harm, as iffearing lest some reason for shewing them humanity should be left inthee; but thou art wishing to pity those who do not ask to be saved, andhast shewn zeal to spare those who by no means wish it. Meanwhile thesemen have set an ambush in a captured city and are destroying the victorsby means of snares, although all the soldiers have long since fled fromthem. " When Chosroes heard this, he sent a large number of the besttroops against them, and these not long afterwards returned andannounced that nothing untoward had come to pass. For already thePersians had forced back the citizens by their numbers and turned themto flight, and a great slaughter took place there. For the Persians didnot spare persons of any age and were slaying all whom they met, old andyoung alike. At that time they say that two women of those who wereillustrious in Antioch got outside the fortifications, but perceivingthat they would fall into the hands of the enemy (for they were alreadyplainly seen going about everywhere), went running to the River Orontes, and, fearing lest the Persians should do them some insult, they coveredtheir faces with their veils and threw themselves into the river'scurrent and were carried out of sight. Thus the inhabitants of Antiochwere visited with every form of misfortune. 

IX

Then Chosroes spoke to the ambassadors as follows: "Not far from thetruth, I think, is the ancient saying that God does not give blessingsunmixed, but He mingles them with troubles and then bestows them uponmen. And for this reason we do not even have laughter without tears, butthere is always attached to our successes some misfortune, and to ourpleasures pain, not permitting anyone to enjoy in its purity such goodfortune as is granted. For this city, which is of altogether preeminentimportance in fact as well as in name in the land of the Romans I haveindeed succeeded in capturing with the least exertion, since God hasprovided the victory all at once for us, as you doubtless see. But whenI behold the massacre of such a multitude of men, and the victory thusdrenched with blood, there arises in me no sense of the delight thatshould follow my achievement. And for this the wretched men of Antiochare to blame, for when the Persians were storming the wall they did notprove able to keep them back, and then when they had already triumphedand had captured the city at the first cry these men with unreasoneddaring sought to die fighting against them in close combat. So while allthe notables of the Persians were harassing me unceasingly with theirdemand that I should drag the city as with a net and destroy all thecaptives, I was commanding the fugitives to press on still more in theirflight, in order that they might save themselves as quickly as possible. For to trample upon captives is not holy. " Such high-sounding and airywords did Chosroes speak to the ambassadors, but nevertheless it did notescape them why he gave time to the Romans in their flight. 

For he was the cleverest of all men at saying that which was not, and inconcealing the truth, and in attributing the blame for the wrongs whichhe committed to those who suffered the wrong; besides he was ready toagree to everything and to pledge the agreement with an oath, and muchmore ready to forget completely the things lately agreed to and sworn toby him, and for the sake of money to debase his soul without reluctanceto every act of pollution--a past master at feigning piety in hiscountenance, and absolving himself in words from the responsibility ofthe act. This man well displayed his own peculiar character on a certainoccasion at Sura; for after he had hoodwinked the inhabitants of thecity by a trick and had destroyed them in the manner which I havedescribed, although they had previously done him no wrong at all, hesaw, while the city was being captured, a comely woman and one not oflowly station being dragged by her left hand with great violence by oneof the barbarians; and the child, which she had only lately weaned, shewas unwilling to let go, but was dragging it with her other hand, fallen, as it was, to the ground since it was not able to keep pace withthat violent running. And they say that he uttered a pretended groan, and making it appear to all who were present at that time includingAnastasius the ambassador that he was all in tears, he prayed God toexact vengeance from the man who was guilty of the troubles which hadcome to pass. Now Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans, was the one whomhe wished to have understood, though he knew well that he himself wasmost responsible for everything. Endowed with such a singular natureChosroes both became King of the Persians (for ill fortune had deprivedZames of his eye, he who in point of years had first right to thekingdom, at any rate after Caoses, whom Cabades for no good reasonhated), and with no difficulty he conquered those who revolted againsthim, and all the harm which he purposed to do the Romans he accomplishedeasily. For every time when Fortune wishes to make a man great, she doesat the fitting times those things which she has decided upon, with noone standing against the force of her will; and she neither regards theman's station, nor purposes to prevent the occurrence of things whichought not to be, nor does she give heed that many will blaspheme againsther because of these things, mocking scornfully at that which has beendone by her contrary to the deserts of the man who receives her favour;nor does she take into consideration anything else at all, if only sheaccomplish the thing which has been decided upon by her. But as forthese matters, let them be as God wishes. 

Chosroes commanded the army to capture and enslave the survivors of thepopulation of Antioch, and to plunder all the property, while he himselfwith the ambassadors descended from the height to the sanctuary whichthey call a church. There Chosroes found stores of gold and silver sogreat in amount that, though he took no other part of the booty exceptthese stores, he departed possessed of enormous wealth. And he took downfrom there many wonderful marbles and ordered them to be depositedoutside the fortifications, in order that they might convey these too tothe land of Persia. When he had finished these things, he gave orders tothe Persians to burn the whole city. And the ambassadors begged him towithhold his hand only from the church, for which he had carried awayransom in abundance. This he granted to the ambassadors, but gave ordersto burn everything else; then, leaving there a few men who were to firethe city, he himself with all the rest retired to the camp where theyhad previously set up their tents. 

X

A short time before this calamity God displayed a sign to theinhabitants of that city, by which He indicated the things which were tobe. For the standards of the soldiers who had been stationed there for along time had been standing previously toward the west, but of their ownaccord they turned and stood toward the east, and then returned again totheir former position untouched by anyone. This the soldiers shewed tomany who were near at hand and among them the manager of finances in thecamp, while the standards were still trembling. This man, Tatianus byname, was an especially discreet person, a native of Mopsuestia. Buteven so those who saw this sign did not recognize that the mastery ofthe place would pass from the western to the eastern king, in order, evidently, that escape might be utterly impossible for those who werebound to suffer those things which came to pass. 

But I become dizzy as I write of such a great calamity and transmit itto future times, and I am unable to understand why indeed it should bethe will of God to exalt on high the fortunes of a man or of a place, and then to cast them down and destroy them for no cause which appearsto us. For it is wrong to say that with Him all things are not alwaysdone with reason, though he then endured to see Antioch brought down tothe ground at the hands of a most unholy man, a city whose beauty andgrandeur in every respect could not even so be utterly concealed. 

So, then, after the city had been destroyed, the church was leftsolitary, thanks to the activity and foresight of the Persians to whomthis work was assigned. And there were also left about the so-calledCerataeum many houses, not because of the foresight of any man, but, since they were situated at the extremity of the city, and not connectedwith any other building, the fire failed entirely to reach them. Thebarbarians burned also the parts outside the fortifications, except thesanctuary which is dedicated to St. Julianus and the houses which standabout this sanctuary. For it happened that the ambassadors had taken uptheir lodgings there. As for the fortifications, the Persians left themwholly untouched. 

A little later the ambassadors again came to Chosroes and spoke asfollows: "If our words were not addressed to thee in thy presence, OKing, we should never believe that Chosroes, the son of Cabades, hadcome into the land of the Romans in arms, dishonouring the oaths whichhave recently been sworn by thee--for such pledges are regarded as thelast and most firm security of all things among men to guarantee mutualtrust and truthfulness--and breaking the treaty, though hope in treatiesis the only thing left to those who are living in insecurity because ofthe evil deeds of war. For one might say of such a state of affairs thatit is nothing else than the transformation of the habits of men intothose of beasts. For in a time when no treaties at all are made, therewill remain certainly war without end, and war which has no end isalways calculated to estrange from their proper nature those who engagein it. With what intent, moreover, didst thou write to thy brother notlong ago that he himself was responsible for the breaking of the treaty?Was it not obviously with the admission that the breaking of treaties isan exceedingly great evil? If therefore he has done no wrong, thou artnot acting justly now in coming against us; but if it happen that thybrother has done any such thing, yet let thy complaint have itsfulfilment thus far, and go no farther, that thou mayst shew thyselfsuperior. For he who submits to be worsted in evil things would inbetter things justly be victorious. And yet we know well that theEmperor Justinian has never gone contrary to the treaty, and we entreatthee not to do the Romans such harm, from which there will be noadvantage to the Persians, and thou wilt gain only this, that thou wilthave wrongfully wrought deeds of irreparable harm upon those who haverecently made peace with thee. " So spoke the ambassadors. 

And Chosroes, upon hearing this, insisted that the treaty had beenbroken by the Emperor Justinian; and he enumerated the causes of warwhich the Emperor afforded, some of them of real importance and othersidle and fabricated without any reason; most of all he wished to shewthat the letters written by him to Alamoundaras and the Huns were thechief cause of the war, just as I have stated above[6]. But as for anyRoman who had invaded the land of Persia, or who had made a display ofwarlike deeds, he was unable either to mention or to point out such aone. The ambassadors, however, referred the charges in part not toJustinian but to certain of those who had served him, while in the caseof others they took exception to what he had said on the ground that thethings had not taken place as stated. Finally Chosroes made the demandthat the Romans give him a large sum of money, but he warned them not tohope to establish peace for all time by giving money at that momentonly. For friendship, he said, which is made by men on terms of money isgenerally spent as fast as the money is used up. It was necessary, therefore, that the Romans should pay some definite annual sum to thePersians. "For thus, " he said, "the Persians will keep the peace securefor them, guarding the Caspian Gates themselves and no longer feelingresentment at them on account of the city of Daras, in return for whichthe Persians themselves will be in their pay forever. " "So, " said theambassadors, "the Persians desire to have the Romans subject andtributary to themselves. " "No, " said Chosroes, "but the Romans will havethe Persians as their own soldiers for the future, dispensing to them afixed payment for their service; for you give an annual payment of goldto some of the Huns and to the Saracens, not as tributary subjects tothem, but in order that they may guard your land unplundered for alltime. " After Chosroes and the ambassadors had spoken thus at length witheach other, they at last came to terms, agreeing that Chosroes shouldforthwith take from the Romans fifty centenaria[7], and that, receivinga tribute of five more centenaria annually for all time, he should dothem no further harm, but taking with him hostages from the ambassadorsto pledge the keeping of the agreement, should make his departure withthe whole army to his native land, and that there ambassadors sent fromthe Emperor Justinian should arrange on a firm basis for the future thecompact regarding the peace. 

XI

Then Chosroes went to Seleucia, a city on the sea, one hundred andthirty stades distant from Antioch; and there he neither met nor harmeda single Roman, and he bathed himself alone in the sea-water, and aftersacrificing to the sun and such other divinities as he wished, andcalling upon the gods many times, he went back. And when he came to thecamp, he said that he had a desire to see the city of Apamea which wasin the vicinity for no other reason than that of his interest in theplace. And the ambassadors unwillingly granted this also, but only oncondition that after seeing the city and taking away with him from thereone thousand pounds of silver, he should, without inflicting any furtherinjury, march back. But it was evident to the ambassadors and to all theothers that Chosroes was setting out for Apamea with this sole purpose, that he might lay hold upon some pretext of no importance and plunderboth the city and the land thereabout. Accordingly he first went up toDaphne, the suburb of Antioch, where he expressed great wonder at thegrove and at the fountains of water; for both of these are very wellworth seeing. And after sacrificing to the nymphs he departed, doing nofurther damage than burning the sanctuary of the archangel Michaeltogether with certain other buildings, for the following reason. APersian gentleman of high repute in the army of the Persians and wellknown to Chosroes, the king, while riding on horseback came in companywith some others to a precipitous place near the so-called Tretum, whereis a temple of the archangel Michael, the work of Evaris. This man, seeing one of the young men of Antioch on foot and alone concealinghimself there, separated from the others and pursued him. Now the youngman was a butcher, Aeimachus by name. When he was about to be overtaken, he turned about unexpectedly and threw a stone at his pursuer which hithim on the forehead and penetrated to the membrane by the ear. And therider fell immediately to the ground, whereupon the youth drew out hissword and slew him. Then at his leisure he stripped him of his weaponsand all his gold and whatever else he had on his person, and leapingupon his horse rode on. And whether by the favour of fortune or by hisknowledge of the country, he succeeded completely in eluding thePersians and making good his escape. When Chosroes learned this, he wasdeeply grieved at what had happened, and commanded some of his followersto burn the sanctuary of the archangel Michael which I have mentionedabove. And they, thinking that the sanctuary at Daphne was the one inquestion, burned it with the buildings about it, and they supposed thatthe commands of Chosroes had been executed. Such, then, was the courseof these events. 

But Chosroes with his whole army proceeded on the way to Apamea. Nowthere is a piece of wood one cubit in length in Apamea, a portion of thecross on which the Christ in Jerusalem once endured the punishment notunwillingly, as is generally agreed, and which in ancient times had beenconveyed there secretly by a man of Syria. And the men of olden times, believing that it would be a great protection both for themselves andfor the city, made for it a sort of wooden chest and deposited it there;and they adorned this chest with much gold and with precious stones andthey entrusted it to three priests who were to guard it in all security;and they bring it forth every year and the whole population worship itduring one day. Now at that time the people of Apamea, upon learningthat the army of the Medes was coming against them, began to be in greatfear. And when they heard that Chosroes was absolutely untruthful, theycame to Thomas, the chief priest of the city, and begged him to shewthem the wood of the cross, in order that after worshipping it for thelast time they might die. And he did as they requested. Then indeed itbefell that a sight surpassing both description and belief was thereseen. For while the priest was carrying the wood and shewing it, abovehim followed a flame of fire, and the portion of the roof over him wasilluminated with a great and unaccustomed light. And while the priestwas moving through every part of the temple, the flame continued toadvance with him, keeping constantly the place above him in the roof. Sothe people of Apamea, under the spell of joy at the miracle, werewondering and rejoicing and weeping, and already all felt confidenceconcerning their safety. And Thomas, after going about the whole temple, laid the wood of the cross in the chest and covered it, and suddenly thelight had ceased. Then upon learning that the army of the enemy had comeclose to the city, he went in great haste to Chosroes. And when the kingenquired of the priest whether it was the will of the citizens of Apameato marshal themselves on the wall against the army of the Medes, thepriest replied that no such thing had entered the minds of the men. "Therefore, " said Chosroes, "receive me into the city accompanied by afew men with all the gates opened wide. " And the priest said "Yes, for Ihave come here to invite thee to do this very thing. " So the whole armypitched their tents and made camp before the fortifications. 

Then Chosroes chose out two hundred of the best of the Persians andentered the city. But when he had got inside the gates, he forgotwillingly enough what had been agreed upon between himself and theambassadors, and he commanded the bishop to give not only one thousandpounds of silver nor even ten times that amount, but whatsoevertreasures were stored there, being all of gold and silver and ofmarvellous great size. And I believe that he would not have shrunk fromenslaving and plundering the whole city, unless some divine providencehad manifestly prevented him; to such a degree did avarice overpower himand the desire of fame turn his mind. For he thought the enslavement ofthe cities a great glory for himself, considering it absolutely nothingthat disregarding treaties and compacts he was performing such deedsagainst the Romans. This attitude of Chosroes will be revealed by whathe undertook to do concerning the city of Daras during his withdrawal atthis same time, when he treated his agreements with absolute disregard, and also by what he did to the citizens of Callinicus a little later intime of peace, as will be told by me in the following narrative[8]. ButGod, as has been said, preserved Apamea. Now when Chosroes had seizedall the treasures, and Thomas saw that he was already intoxicated withthe abundance of the wealth, then bringing out the wood of the crosswith the chest, he opened the chest and displaying the wood said: "Omost mighty King, these alone are left me out of all the treasures. Nowas for this chest (since it is adorned with gold and precious stones), we do not begrudge thy taking it and keeping it with all the rest, butthis wood here, it is our salvation and precious to us, this, I beg andentreat thee, give to me. " So spoke the priest. And Chosroes yielded andfulfilled the request. 

Afterwards, being filled with a desire for popular applause, hecommanded that the populace should go up into the hippodrome and thatthe charioteers should hold their accustomed contests. And he himselfwent up there also, eager to be a spectator of the performances. Andsince he had heard long before that the Emperor Justinian wasextraordinarily fond of the Venetus[9] colour, which is blue, wishing togo against him there also, he was desirous of bringing about victory forthe green. So the charioteers, starting from the barriers, began thecontest, and by some chance he who was clad in the blue happened to passhis rival and take the lead. And he was followed in the same tracks bythe wearer of the green colour. And Chosroes, thinking that this hadbeen done purposely, was angry, and he cried out with a threat that theCaesar had wrongfully surpassed the others, and he commanded that thehorses which were running in front should be held up, in order that fromthen on they might contend in the rear; and when this had been done justas he commanded, then Chosroes and the green faction were accountedvictorious. At that time one of the citizens of Apamea came beforeChosroes and accused a Persian of entering his house and violating hismaiden daughter. Upon hearing this, Chosroes, boiling with anger, commanded that the man should be brought. And when he came before him, he directed that he should be impaled in the camp. And when the peoplelearned this, they raised a mighty shout as loud as they could, demanding that the man be saved from the king's anger. And Chosroespromised that he would release the man to them, but he secretly impaledhim not long afterwards. So after these things had been thusaccomplished, he departed and marched back with the whole army. 

XII

And when he came to the city of Chalcis, eighty-four stades distant fromthe city of Beroea, he again seemed to forget the things which had beenagreed upon, and encamping not far from the fortifications he sentPaulus to threaten the inhabitants of Chalcis, saying that he would takethe city by siege, unless they should purchase their safety by givingransom, and should give up to the Persians all the soldiers who werethere together with their leader. And the citizens of Chalcis wereseized with great fear of both sovereigns, and they swore that, as forsoldiers, there were absolutely none of them in the city, although theyhad hidden Adonachus, the commander of the soldiers, and others as wellin some houses, in order that they might not be seen by the enemy; andwith difficulty they collected two centenaria[10] of gold, for the citythey inhabited was not very prosperous, and they gave them to Chosroesas the price of their lives and thus saved both the city and themselves. 

From there on Chosroes did not wish to continue the return journey bythe road he had come, but to cross the River Euphrates and gather byplunder as much money as possible from Mesopotamia. He thereforeconstructed a bridge at the place called Obbane, which is forty stadesdistant from the fortress in Barbalissum; then he himself went acrossand gave orders to the whole army to cross as quickly as possible, adding that he would break up the bridge on the third day, and heappointed also the time of the day. And when the appointed day was come, it happened that some of the army were left who had not yet crossed, butwithout the least consideration for them he sent the men to break up thebridge. And those who were left behind returned to their native land aseach one could. 

Then a sort of ambition came over Chosroes to capture the city ofEdessa. For he was led on to this by a saying of the Christians, and itkept irritating his mind, because they maintained that it could not betaken, for the following reason. There was a certain Augarus in earlytimes, toparch of Edessa (for thus the kings of the different nationswere called then). Now this Augarus was the most clever of all men ofhis time, and as a result of this was an especial friend of the EmperorAugustus. For, desiring to make a treaty with the Romans, he came toRome; and when he conversed with Augustus, he so astonished him by theabundance of his wisdom that Augustus wished never more to give up hiscompany; for he was an ardent lover of his conversation, and whenever hemet him, he was quite unwilling to depart from him. A long time, therefore, was consumed by him in this visit. And one day when he wasdesirous of returning to his native land and was utterly unable topersuade Augustus to let him go, he devised the following plan. He firstwent out to hunt in the country about Rome; for it happened that he hadtaken considerable interest in the practice of this sport. And goingabout over a large tract of country, he captured alive many of theanimals of that region, and he gathered up and took with him from eachpart of the country some earth from the land; thus he returned to Romebringing both the earth and the animals. Then Augustus went up into thehippodrome and seated himself as was his wont, and Augarus came beforehim and displayed the earth and the animals, telling over from whatdistrict each portion of earth was and what animals they were. Then hegave orders to put the earth in different parts of the hippodrome, andto gather all the animals into one place and then to release them. Sothe attendants did as he directed. And the animals, separating from eachother, went each to that portion of earth which was from the district inwhich it itself had been taken. And Augustus looked upon the performancecarefully for a very long time, and he was wondering that natureuntaught makes animals miss their native land. Then Augarus, suddenlylaying hold upon his knees, said: "But as for me, O Master, whatthoughts dost thou think I have, who possess a wife and children and akingdom, small indeed, but in the land of my fathers?" And the emperor, overcome and compelled by the truth of his saying, granted not at allwillingly that he should go away, and bade him ask besides whatever hewished. And when Augarus had secured this, he begged of Augustus tobuild him a hippodrome in the city of Edessa. And he granted also this. Thus then Augarus departed from Rome and came to Edessa. And thecitizens enquired of him whether he had come bringing any good thing forthem from the Emperor Augustus. And he answering said he had brought tothe inhabitants of Edessa pain without loss and pleasure without gain, hinting at the fortune of the hippodrome. 

At a later time when Augarus was well advanced in years, he was seizedwith an exceedingly violent attack of gout. And being distressed by thepains and his inability to move in consequence of them, he carried thematter to the physicians, and from the whole land he gathered all whowere skilled in these matters. But later he abandoned these men (forthey did not succeed in discovering any cure for the trouble), andfinding himself helpless, he bewailed the fate which was upon him. Butabout that time Jesus, the Son of God, was in the body and moving amongthe men of Palestine, shewing manifestly by the fact that he neversinned at all, and also by his performing even things impossible, thathe was the Son of God in very truth; for he called the dead and raisedthem up as if from sleep, and opened the eyes of men who had been bornblind, and cleansed those whose whole bodies were covered with leprosy, and released those whose feet were maimed, and he cured all the otherdiseases which are called by the physicians incurable. When these thingswere reported to Augarus by those who travelled from Palestine toEdessa, he took courage and wrote a letter to Jesus, begging him todepart from Judaea and the senseless people there, and to spend his lifewith him from that time forward. When the Christ saw this message, hewrote in reply to Augarus, saying distinctly that he would not come, butpromising him health in the letter. And they say that he added this alsothat never would the city be liable to capture by the barbarians. Thisfinal portion of the letter was entirely unknown to those who wrote thehistory of that time; for they did not even make mention of it anywhere;but the men of Edessa say that they found it with the letter, so thatthey have even caused the letter to be inscribed in this form on thegates of the city instead of any other defence. The city did in factcome under the Medes a short time afterwards, not by capture however, but in the following manner. A short time after Augarus received theletter of the Christ, he became free from suffering, and after living onin health for a long time, he came to his end. But that one of his sonswho succeeded to the kingdom shewed himself the most unholy of all men, and besides committing many other wrongs against his subjects, hevoluntarily went over to the Persians, fearing the vengeance which wasto come from the Romans. But long after this the citizens of Edessadestroyed the barbarian guards who were dwelling with them, and gave thecity into the hands of the Romans. * * *[11] he is eager to attach it tohis cause, judging by what has happened in my time, which I shallpresent in the appropriate place. And the thought once occurred to methat, if the Christ did not write this thing just as I have told it, still, since men have come to believe in it, He wishes to guard the cityuncaptured for this reason, that He may never give them any pretext forerror. As for these things, then, let them be as God wills, and so letthem be told. 

For this reason it seemed to Chosroes at that time a matter of moment tocapture Edessa. And when he came to Batne, a small stronghold of noimportance, one day's journey distant from Edessa, he bivouacked therefor that night, but at early dawn he was on the march to Edessa with hiswhole army. But it fell out that they lost their way and wandered about, and on the following night bivouacked in the same place; and they saythat this happened to them a second time also. When with difficultyChosroes reached the neighbourhood of Edessa, they say that suppurationset in in his face and his jaw became swollen. For this reason he wasquite unwilling to make an attempt on the city, but he sent Paulus anddemanded money from the citizens. And they said that they had absolutelyno fear concerning the city, but in order that he might not damage thecountry they agreed to give two centenaria of gold. And Chosroes tookthe money and kept the agreement. 

XIII

At that time also the Emperor Justinian wrote a letter to Chosroes, promising to carry out the agreement which had been made by him and theambassadors regarding the peace[12]. When this message was received byChosroes, he released the hostages and made preparations for hisdeparture, and he wished to sell off all the captives from Antioch. Andwhen the citizens of Edessa learned of this, they displayed anunheard-of zeal. For there was not a person who did not bring ransom forthe captives and deposit it in the sanctuary according to the measure ofhis possessions. And there were some who even exceeded theirproportionate amount in so doing. For the harlots took off all theadornment which they wore on their persons, and threw it down there, andany farmer who was in want of plate or of money, but who had an ass or asheep, brought this to the sanctuary with great zeal. So there wascollected an exceedingly great amount of gold and silver and money inother forms, but not a bit of it was given for ransom. For Bouzeshappened to be present there, and he took in hand to prevent thetransaction, expecting that this would bring him some great gain. Therefore Chosroes moved forward, taking with him all the captives. Andthe citizens of Carrhae met him holding out to him great sums of money;but he said that it did not belong to him because the most of them arenot Christians but are of the old faith. 

But when, likewise, the citizens of Constantina offered money, heaccepted it, although he asserted that the city belonged to him from hisfathers. [503 A. D. ] For at the time when Cabades took Amida, he wishedalso to capture Edessa and Constantina. But when he came near to Edessahe enquired of the Magi whether it would be possible for him to capturethe city, pointing out the place to them with his right hand. But theysaid that the city would not be captured by him by any device, judgingby the fact that in stretching out his right hand to it he was notgiving thereby the sign of capture or of any other grievous thing, butof salvation. And when Cabades heard this, he was convinced and led hisarmy on to Constantina. And upon arriving there, he issued orders to thewhole army to encamp for a siege. Now the priest of Constantina was atthat time Baradotus, a just man and especially beloved of God, and hisprayers for this reason were always effectual for whatever he wished;and even seeing his face one would have straightway surmised that thisman was most completely acceptable to God. This Baradotus came then toCabades bearing wine and dried figs and honey and unblemished loaves, and entreated him not to make an attempt on a city which was not of anyimportance and which was very much neglected by the Romans, havingneither a garrison of soldiers nor any other defence, but only theinhabitants, who were pitiable folk. Thus spoke the priest; and Cabadespromised that he would grant him the city freely, and he presented himwith all the food-supplies which had been prepared by him for the armyin anticipation of the siege, an exceedingly great quantity; and thus hedeparted from the land of the Romans. For this reason it was thatChosroes claimed that the city belonged to him from his fathers. 

And when he reached Daras, he began a siege; but within the city theRomans and Martinus, their general (for it happened that he was there), made their preparations for resistance. Now the city is surrounded bytwo walls, the inner one of which is of great size and a truly wonderfulthing to look upon (for each tower reaches to a height of a hundredfeet, and the rest of the wall to sixty), while the outer wall is muchsmaller, but in other respects strong and one to be reckoned withseriously. And the space between has a breadth of not less than fiftyfeet; in that place the citizens of Daras are accustomed to put theircattle and other animals when an enemy assails them. At first thenChosroes made an assault on the fortifications toward the west, andforcing back his opponents by overwhelming numbers of missiles, he setfire to the gates of the small wall. However no one of the barbariansdared to get inside. Next he decided to make a tunnel secretly at theeastern side of the city. For at this point alone can the earth be dug, since the other parts of the fortifications were set upon rock by thebuilders. So the Persians began to dig, beginning from their trench. Andsince this was very deep, they were neither observed by the enemy nordid they afford them any means of discovering what was being done. Sothey had already gone under the foundations of the outer wall, and wereabout to reach the space between the two walls and soon after to passalso the great wall and take the city by force; but since it was notfated to be captured by the Persians, someone from the camp of Chosroescame alone about midday close to the fortifications, whether a man orsomething else greater than man, and he made it appear to those who sawhim that he was collecting the weapons which the Romans had a littlebefore discharged from the wall against the barbarians who wereassailing them. And while doing this and holding his shield before him, he seemed to be bantering those who were on the parapet and tauntingthem with laughter. Then he told them of everything and commanded themall to be on the watch and to take all possible care for their safety. After revealing these things he was off, while the Romans with muchshouting and confusion were ordering men to dig the ground between thetwo walls. The Persians, on the other hand, not knowing what was beingdone, were pushing on the work no less than before. So while thePersians were making a straight way underground to the wall of the city, the Romans by the advice of Theodoras, a man learned in the sciencecalled mechanics, were constructing their trench in a cross-wisedirection and making it of sufficient depth, so that when the Persianshad reached the middle point between the two circuit-walls they suddenlybroke into the trench of the Romans. And the first of them the Romanskilled, while those in the rear by fleeing at top speed into the campsaved themselves. For the Romans decided by no means to pursue them inthe dark. So Chosroes, failing in this attempt and having no hope thathe would take the city by any device thereafter, opened negotiationswith the besieged, and carrying away a thousand pounds of silver heretired into the land of Persia. When this came to the knowledge of theEmperor Justinian, he was no longer willing to carry the agreement intoeffect, charging Chosroes with having attempted to capture the city ofDaras during a truce. Such were the fortunes of the Romans during thefirst invasion of Chosroes; and the summer drew to its close. 

XIV

Now Chosroes built a city in Assyria in a place one day's journeydistant from the city of Ctesiphon, and he named it the Antioch ofChosroes and settled there all the captives from Antioch, constructingfor them a bath and a hippodrome and providing that they should havefree enjoyment of their other luxuries besides. For he brought with himcharioteers and musicians both from Antioch and from the other Romancities. Besides this he always provisioned these citizens of Antioch atpublic expense more carefully than in the fashion of captives, and herequired that they be called king's subjects, so as to be subordinate tono one of the magistrates, but to the king alone. And if any one elsetoo who was a Roman in slavery ran away and succeeded in escaping to theAntioch of Chosroes, and if he was called a kinsman by any one of thosewho lived there, it was no longer possible for the owner of this captiveto take him away, not even if he who had enslaved the man happened to bea person of especial note among the Persians. 

Thus, then, the portent which had come to the citizens of Antioch in thereign of Anastasius reached this final fulfilment for them. For at thattime a violent wind suddenly fell upon the suburb of Daphne, and some ofthe cypresses which were there of extraordinary height were overturnedfrom the extremities of their roots and fell to the earth--trees whichthe law forbade absolutely to be cut down. [526 A. D. ] Accordingly, alittle later, when Justinus was ruling over the Romans, the place wasvisited by an exceedingly violent earthquake, which shook down the wholecity and straightway brought to the ground the most and the finest ofthe buildings, and it is said that at that time three hundred thousandof the population of Antioch perished. And finally in this capture thewhole city, as has been said, was destroyed. Such, then, was thecalamity which befell the men of Antioch. 

And Belisarius came to Byzantium from Italy, summoned by the emperor;and after he had spent the winter in Byzantium, the emperor sent him asgeneral against Chosroes and the Persians at the opening of spring, together with the officers who had come with him from Italy, one ofwhom, Valerianus, he commanded to lead the troops in Armenia. [541 A. D. ]For Martinus had been sent immediately to the East, and for this reasonChosroes found him at Daras, as has been stated above. And among theGoths, Vittigis remained in Byzantium, but all the rest marched withBelisarius against Chosroes. At that time one of the envoys of Vittigis, he who was assuming the name of bishop, died in the land of Persia, andthe other one remained there. And the man who followed them asinterpreter withdrew to the land of the Romans, and John, who wascommanding the troops in Mesopotamia, arrested him near the boundariesof Constantina, and bringing him into the city confined him in a prison;there the man in answer to his enquiries related everything which hadbeen done. Such, then, was the course of these events. And Belisariusand his followers went in haste, since he was eager to anticipateChosroes' making any second invasion into the land of the Romans. 

XV

But in the meantime Chosroes was leading his army against Colchis, wherethe Lazi were calling him in for the following reason. The Lazi at firstdwelt in the land of Colchis as subjects of the Romans, but not to theextent of paying them tribute or obeying their commands in any respect, except that, whenever their king died, the Roman emperor would sendemblems of the office to him who was about to succeed to the throne. Andhe, together with his subjects, guarded strictly the boundaries of theland in order that hostile Huns might not proceed from the Caucasusmountains, which adjoin their territory, through Lazica and invade theland of the Romans. And they kept guard without receiving money ortroops from the Romans and without ever joining the Roman armies, butthey were always engaged in commerce by sea with the Romans who live onthe Black Sea. For they themselves have neither salt nor grain nor anyother good thing, but by furnishing skins and hides and slaves theysecured the supplies which they needed. But when the events came to passin which Gourgenes, the king of the Iberians, was concerned, as has beentold in the preceding narrative[13], Roman soldiers began to bequartered among the Lazi; and these barbarians were annoyed by thesoldiers, and most of all by Peter, the general, a man who was prone totreat insolently those who came into contact with him. This Peter was anative of Arzanene, which is beyond the River Nymphius, a districtsubject to the Persians from of old, but while still a child he had beencaptured and enslaved by the Emperor Justinus at the time when Justinus, after the taking of Amida, was invading the land of the Persians withCeler's army. [14] And since his owner showed him great kindness, heattended the school of a grammatist. And at first he became secretary toJustinus, but when, after the death of Anastasius, Justinus took overthe Roman empire, Peter was made a general, and he degenerated into aslave of avarice, if anyone ever did, and shewed himself very fatuous inhis treatment of all. 

And later the Emperor Justinian sent different officers to Lazica, andamong them John, whom they called Tzibus, a man of obscure and ignobledescent, but who had climbed to the office of general by virtue of noother thing than that he was the most accomplished villain in the worldand most successful in discovering unlawful sources of revenue. This manunsettled and threw into confusion all the relations of the Romans andthe Lazi. He also persuaded the Emperor Justinian to build a city on thesea in Lazica, Petra by name; and there he sat as in a citadel andplundered the property of the Lazi. For the salt, and all other cargoeswhich were considered necessary for the Lazi, it was no longer possiblefor the merchants to bring into the land of Colchis, nor could theypurchase them elsewhere by sending for them, but he set up in Petra theso-called "monopoly" and himself became a retail dealer and overseer ofall the handling of these things, buying everything and selling it tothe Colchians, not at the customary rates, but as dearly as possible. Atthe same time, even apart from this, the barbarians were annoyed by theRoman army quartered upon them, a thing which had not been customarypreviously. Accordingly, since they were no longer able to endure thesethings, they decided to attach themselves to the Persians and Chosroes, and immediately they sent to them envoys who were to arrange thiswithout the knowledge of the Romans. These men had been instructed thatthey should take pledges from Chosroes that he would never give up theLazi against their will to the Romans, and that with this understandingthey should bring him with the Persian army into the land. 

Accordingly the envoys went to the Persians, and coming secretly beforeChosroes they said: "If any people in all time have revolted from theirown friends in any manner whatsoever and attached themselves wrongfullyto men utterly unknown to them, and after that by the kindness offortune have been brought back once more with greatest rejoicing tothose who were formerly their own, consider, O Most mighty King, thatsuch as these are the Lazi. For the Colchians in ancient times, asallies of the Persians, rendered them many good services and werethemselves treated in like manner; and of these things there are manyrecords in books, some of which we have, while others are preserved inthy palace up to the present time. But at a later time it came aboutthat our ancestors, whether neglected by you or for some other reason(for we are unable to ascertain anything certain about this matter), became allies of the Romans. And now we and the king of Lazica give tothe Persians both ourselves and our land to treat in any way you maydesire. And we beg of you to think thus concerning us: if, on the onehand, we have suffered nothing outrageous at the hands of the Romans, but have been prompted by foolish motives in coming to you, reject thisprayer of ours straightway, considering that with you likewise theColchians will never be trustworthy (for when a friendship has beendissolved, a second friendship formed with others becomes, owing to itscharacter, a matter of reproach); but if we have been in name friends ofthe Romans, but in fact their loyal slaves, and have suffered impioustreatment at the hands of those who have tyrannized over us, receive us, your former allies, and acquire as slaves those whom you used to treatas friends, and shew your hatred of a cruel tyranny which has risen thuson our borders, by acting worthily of that justice which it has alwaysbeen the tradition of the Persians to defend. For the man who himselfdoes no wrong is not just, unless he is also accustomed to rescue thosewho are wronged by others when he has it in his power. But it is worthwhile to tell a few of the things which the accursed Romans have daredto do against us. In the first place they have left our king only theform of royal power, while they themselves have appropriated the actualauthority, and he sits a king in the position of a servant, fearing thegeneral who issues the orders; and they have put upon us a multitude ofsoldiery, not in order to guard the land against those who harass us(for not one of our neighbours except, indeed, the Romans has disturbedus), but in order that they may confine us as in a prison and makethemselves masters of our possessions. And purposing to make more speedythe robbery of what we have, behold, O King, what sort of a design theyhave formed; the supplies which are in excess among them they compel theLazi to buy against their will, while those things which are most usefulto them among the products of Lazica these fellows demand to buy, asthey put it, from us, the price being determined in both cases by thejudgment of the stronger party. And thus they are robbing us of all ourgold as well as of the necessities of life, using the fair name oftrade, but in fact oppressing us as thoroughly as they possibly can. Andthere has been set over us as ruler a huckster who has made ourdestitution a kind of business by virtue of the authority of his office. The cause of our revolt, therefore, being of this sort, has justice onits side; but the advantage which you yourselves will gain if youreceive the request of the Lazi we shall forthwith tell. To the realm ofPersia you will add a most ancient kingdom, and as a result of this youwill have the power of your sway extended, and it will come about thatyou will have a part in the sea of the Romans through our land, andafter thou hast built ships in this sea, O King, it will be possible forthee with no trouble to set foot in the palace in Byzantium. For thereis no obstacle between. And one might add that the plundering of theland of the Romans every year by the barbarians along the boundary willbe under your control. For surely you also are acquainted with the factthat up till now the land of the Lazi has been a bulwark against theCaucasus mountains. So with justice leading the way, and advantage addedthereto, we consider that not to receive our words with favour would bewholly contrary to good judgment. " So spoke the envoys. 

And Chosroes, delighted by their words, promised to protect the Lazi, and enquired of the envoys whether it was possible for him to enter theland of Colchis with a large army. For he said that previously he hadheard many persons report that the land was exceedingly hard to traverseeven for an unimpeded traveller, being extremely rugged and covered veryextensively by thick forests of wide-spreading trees. But the envoysstoutly maintained to him that the way through the country would be easyfor the whole Persian army, if they cut the trees and threw them intothe places which were made difficult by precipices. And they promisedthat they themselves would be guides of the route, and would take thelead in this work for the Persians. Encouraged by this suggestion, Chosroes gathered a great army and made his preparations for the inroad, not disclosing the plan to the Persians except those alone to whom hewas accustomed to communicate his secrets, and commanding the envoys totell no one what was being done; and he pretended that he was settingout into Iberia, in order to settle matters there; for a Hunnic tribe, he kept saying in explanation, had assailed the Persian domain at thatpoint. 

XVI

At this time Belisarius had arrived in Mesopotamia and was gathering hisarmy from every quarter, and he also kept sending men into the land ofPersia to act as spies. And wishing himself to encounter the enemythere, if they should again make an incursion into the land of theRomans, he was organizing on the spot and equipping the soldiers, whowere for the most part without either arms or armour, and in terror ofthe name of the Persians. Now the spies returned and declared that forthe present there would be no invasion of the enemy; for Chosroes wasoccupied elsewhere with a war against the Huns. And Belisarius, uponlearning this, wished to invade the land of the enemy immediately withhis whole army. Arethas also came to him with a large force of Saracens, and besides the emperor wrote a letter instructing him to invade theenemy's country with all speed. He therefore called together all theofficers in Daras and spoke as follows: "I know that all of you, myfellow officers, are experienced in many wars, and I have brought youtogether at the present time, not in order to stir up your minds againstthe enemy by addressing to you any reminder or exhortation (for I thinkthat you need no speech that prompts to daring), but in order that wemay deliberate together among ourselves, and choose rather the coursewhich may seem fairest and best for the cause of the emperor. For war iswont to succeed by reason of careful planning more than by anythingelse. Now it is necessary that those who gather for deliberation shouldmake their minds entirely free from modesty and from fear. For fear, byparalyzing those who have fallen into it, does not allow the reason tochoose the nobler part, and modesty obscures what has been seen to bethe better course and leads investigation the opposite way. If, therefore, it seems to you that any purpose has been formed either byour mighty emperor or by me concerning the present situation, let nothought of this enter your minds. For, as for him, he is altogetherignorant of what is being done, and is therefore unable to adapt hismoves to opportune moments; there is therefore no fear but that in goingcontrary to him we shall do that which will be of advantage to hiscause. And as for me, since I am human, and have come here from the Westafter a long interval, it is impossible that some of the necessarythings should not escape me. So it behoves you, without any too modestregard for my opinion, to say outright whatever is going to be ofadvantage for ourselves and for the emperor. Now in the beginning, fellow officers, we came here in order to prevent the enemy from makingany invasion into our land, but at the present time, since things havegone better for us than we had hoped, it is possible for us to make hisland the subject of our deliberation. And now that you have beengathered together for this purpose, it is fair, I think, that you shouldtell without any concealment what seems to each one best and mostadvantageous. " Thus spoke Belisarius. 

And Peter and Bouzes urged him to lead the army without any hesitationagainst the enemy's country. And their opinion was followed immediatelyby the whole council. Rhecithancus, however, and Theoctistus, thecommanders of the troops in Lebanon, said that, while they too had thesame wish as the others concerning the invasion, they feared that ifthey abandoned the country of Phoenicia and Syria, Alamoundaras wouldplunder it at his leisure, and that the emperor would be angry with thembecause they had not guarded and kept unplundered the territory undertheir command, and for this reason they were quite unwilling to join therest of the army in the invasion. But Belisarius said that the opinionof these two men was not in the least degree true; for it was the seasonof the vernal equinox, and at this season the Saracens always dedicatedabout two months to their god, and during this time never undertook anyinroad into the land of others. Agreeing, therefore, to release both ofthem with their followers within sixty days, he commanded them also tofollow with the rest of the army. So Belisarius was making hispreparation for the invasion with great zeal. 

XVII

But Chosroes and the Median army, after crossing Iberia, reached theterritory of Lazica under the leadership of the envoys; there with noone to withstand them they began to cut down the trees which growthickly over that very mountainous region, rising to a great height, andspreading out their branches remarkably, so that they made the countryabsolutely impassable for the army; and these they threw into the roughplaces, and thus rendered the road altogether easy. And when theyarrived in the centre of Colchis (the place where the tales of the poetssay that the adventure of Medea and Jason took place), Goubazes, theking of the Lazi, came and did obeisance to Chosroes, the son ofCabades, as Lord, putting himself together with his palace and allLazica into his hand. 

Now there is a coast city named Petra in Colchis, on the sea which iscalled the Euxine, which in former times had been a place of noimportance, but which the Emperor Justinian had rendered strong andotherwise conspicuous by means of the circuit-wall and other buildingswhich he erected. When Chosroes ascertained that the Roman army was inthat place with John, he sent an army and a general, Aniabedes, againstthem in order to capture the place at the first onset. But John, uponlearning of their approach, gave orders that no one should go outsidethe fortifications nor allow himself to be seen from the parapet by theenemy, and he armed the whole army and stationed them in the vicinity ofthe gates, commanding them to keep silence and not allow the least soundof any kind to escape from them. So the Persians came close to thefortifications, and since nothing of the enemy was either seen or heardby them they thought that the Romans had abandoned the city and left itdestitute of men. For this reason they closed in still more around thefortifications, so as to set up ladders immediately, since no one wasdefending the wall. And neither seeing nor hearing anything of theenemy, they sent to Chosroes and explained the situation. And he sentthe greater part of the army, commanding them to make an attempt uponthe fortifications from all sides, and he directed one of the officersto make use of the engine known as a ram around the gate, while hehimself, seated on the hill which lies very close to the city, became aspectator of the operations. And straightway the Romans opened the gatesall of a sudden, and unexpectedly fell upon and slew great numbers ofthe enemy, and especially those stationed about the ram; the rest withdifficulty made their escape together with the general and were saved. And Chosroes, filled with rage, impaled Aniabedes, since he had beenoutgeneralled by John, a tradesman and an altogether unwarlike man. Butsome say that not Aniabedes, but the officer commanding the men who wereworking the ram was impaled. And he himself broke camp with the wholearmy, and coming close to the fortifications of Petra, made camp andbegan a siege. On the following day he went completely around thefortifications, and since he suspected that they could not support avery strong attack, he decided to storm the wall. And bringing up thewhole army there, he opened the action, commanding all to shoot withtheir bows against the parapet. The Romans, meanwhile, in defendingthemselves, made use of their engines of war and all their bows. Atfirst, then, the Persians did the Romans little harm, although they wereshooting their arrows thick and fast, while at the same time theysuffered severely at the hands of the Romans, since they were being shotat from an elevation. But later on (since it was fated that Petra becaptured by Chosroes), John by some chance was shot in the neck anddied, and as a result of this the other Romans ceased to care foranything. Then indeed the barbarians withdrew to their camp; for it wasalready growing dark; but on the following day they planned to assailthe fortifications by an excavation, as follows. 

The city of Petra is on one side inaccessible on account of the sea, andon the other on account of the sheer cliffs which rise there on everyhand; indeed it is from this circumstance that the city has received thename it bears. And it has only one approach on the level ground, andthat not very broad; for exceedingly high cliffs overhang it on eitherside. At that point those who formerly built the city provided that thatportion of the wall should not be open to attack by making long wallswhich ran along beside either cliff and guarded the approach for a greatdistance. And they built two towers, one in each of these walls, notfollowing the customary plan, but as follows. They refused to allow thespace in the middle of the structure to be empty, but constructed theentire towers from the ground up to a great height of very large stoneswhich fitted together, in order that they might never be shaken down bya ram or any other engine. Such, then, are the fortifications of Petra. But the Persians secretly made a tunnel into the earth and got under oneof the two towers, and from there carried out many of the stones and intheir place put wood, which a little later they burned. And the flame, rising little by little, weakened the stones, and all of a sudden shookthe whole tower violently and straightway brought it down to the ground. And the Romans who were on the tower perceived what was being done insufficient time so that they did not fall with it to the ground, butthey fled and got inside the city wall. And now it was possible for theenemy to storm the wall from the level, and thus with no trouble to takethe city by force. The Romans, therefore, in terror, opened negotiationswith the barbarians, and receiving from Chosroes pledges concerningtheir lives and their property, they surrendered to him both themselvesand the city. [541 A. D. ] Thus Chosroes captured Petra. And finding thetreasures of John, which were extremely rich, he took them himself, butbesides this neither he himself nor anyone else of the Persians touchedanything, and the Romans, retaining their own possessions, mingled withthe Median army. 

XVIII

Meantime Belisarius and the Roman army, having learned nothing of whatwas being done there, were going in excellent order from the city ofDaras toward Nisibis. And when they had reached the middle of theirjourney, Belisarius led the army to the right where there were abundantsprings of water and level ground sufficient for all to camp upon. Andthere he gave orders to make a camp at about forty-two stades from thecity of Nisibis. But all the others marvelled greatly that he did notwish to camp close to the fortifications, and some were quite unwillingto follow him. Belisarius therefore addressed those of the officers whowere about him thus: "It was not my wish to disclose to all what I amthinking. For talk carried about through a camp cannot keep secrets, forit advances little by little until it is carried out even to the enemy. But seeing that the majority of you are allowing yourselves to act in amost disorderly manner, and that each one wishes to be himself supremecommander in the war, I shall now say among you things about which oneought to keep silence, mentioning, however, this first, that when manyin an army follow independent judgments it is impossible that anythingneedful be done. Now I think that Chosroes, in going against otherbarbarians, has by no means left his own land without sufficientprotection, and in particular this city which is of the first rank andis set as a defence to his whole land. In this city I know well that hehas stationed soldiers in such number and of such valour as to besufficient to stand in the way of our assaults. And the proof of thisyou have near at hand. For he put in command of these men the generalNabedes, who, after Chosroes himself at least, seems to be first amongthe Persians in glory and in every other sort of honour. This man, Ibelieve, will both make trial of our strength and will permit of ourpassing by on no other condition than that he be defeated by us inbattle. If, therefore, the conflict should be close by the city, thestruggle will not be even for us and the Persians. For they, coming outfrom their stronghold against us, in case of success, should it sohappen, will feel unlimited confidence in assailing us, and in case ofdefeat they will easily escape from our attack. For we shall only beable to pursue them a short distance, and from this no harm will come tothe city, which you surely see cannot be captured by storming the wallwhen soldiers are defending it. But if the enemy engage with us here andwe conquer them, I have great hopes, fellow officers, of capturing thecity. For while our antagonists are fleeing a long way, we shall eithermingle with them and rush inside the gates with them, as is probable, orwe shall anticipate them and compel them to turn and escape to someother place, and thus render Nisibis without its defenders easy ofcapture for us. "

When Belisarius had said this, all the others except Peter wereconvinced, and they made camp and remained with him. He, however, associating with himself John, who commanded the troops in Mesopotamiaand had no small part of the army, came up to a position not far removedfrom the fortifications, about ten stades away, and remained quietlythere. But Belisarius marshalled the men who were with him as if forcombat, and sent word to Peter and his men also to hold themselves inarray for battle, until he himself should give the signal; and he saidthat he knew well that the barbarians would attack them about midday, remembering, as they surely would, that while they themselves areaccustomed to partake of food in the late afternoon, the Romans do soabout midday. So Belisarius gave this warning; but Peter and his mendisregarded his commands, and about midday, being distressed by the sun(for the place is exceedingly dry and hot), they stacked their arms, andwith never a thought of the enemy began to go about in disorderlyfashion and eat gourds which grew there. And when this was observed byNabedes, he led the Persian army running at full speed against them. Andthe Romans, since they did not fail to observe that the Persians werecoming out of the fortifications (for they were seen clearly becausemoving over a level plain), sent to Belisarius urging him to supportthem, and they themselves snatched up their arms, and in disorder andconfusion confronted their foe. But Belisarius and his men, even beforethe messenger had reached them, discovered by the dust the attack of thePersians, and went to the rescue on the run. And when the Persians cameup, the Romans did not withstand their onset, but were routed withoutany difficulty, and the Persians, following close upon them, killedfifty men, and seized and kept the standard of Peter. And they wouldhave slain them all in this pursuit, for the Romans had no thought ofresistance, if Belisarius and the army with him had not come upon themand prevented it. For as the Goths, first of all, came upon them withlong spears in close array, the Persians did not await their attack butbeat a hasty retreat. And the Romans together with the Goths followedthem up and slew a hundred and fifty men. For the pursuit was only ofshort duration, and the others quickly got inside the fortifications. Then indeed all the Romans withdrew to the camp of Belisarius, and thePersians on the following day set up on a tower instead of a trophy thestandard of Peter, and hanging sausages from it they taunted the enemywith laughter; however, they no longer dared to come out against them, but they guarded the city securely. 

XIX

And Belisarius, seeing that Nisibis was exceedingly strong, and havingno hope regarding its capture, was eager to go forward, in order that hemight do the enemy some damage by a sudden inroad. Accordingly he brokecamp and moved forward with the whole army. And after accomplishing aday's journey, they came upon a fortress which the Persians callSisauranon. There were in that place besides the numerous populationeight hundred horsemen, the best of the Persians, who were keeping guardunder command of a man of note, Bleschames by name. And the Romans madecamp close by the fortress and began a siege, but, upon making anassault upon the fortifications, they were beaten back, losing many menin the fight. For the wall happened to be extremely strong, and thebarbarians defended it against their assailants with the greatestvigour. Belisarius therefore called together all the officers and spokeas follows: "Experience in many wars, fellow officers, has made itpossible for us in difficult situations to foresee what will come topass, and has made us capable of avoiding disaster by choosing thebetter course. You understand, therefore, how great a mistake it is foran army to proceed into a hostile land, when many strongholds and manyfighting men in them have been left in the rear. Now exactly this hashappened to us in the present case. For if we continue our advance, someof the enemy from this place as well as from the city of Nisibis willfollow us secretly and will, in all probability, handle us roughly inplaces which are for them conveniently adapted for an ambuscade or someother sort of attack. And if, by any chance, a second army confronts usand opens battle, it will be necessary for us to array ourselves againstboth, and we should thus suffer irreparable harm at their hands. And insaying this I do not mention the fact that if we fail in the engagement, should it so happen, we shall after that have absolutely no way ofreturn left to the land of the Romans. Let us not therefore by reason ofmost ill-considered haste seem to have been our own despoilers, nor byour eagerness for strife do harm to the cause of the Romans. For stupiddaring leads to destruction, but discreet hesitation is well adaptedalways to save those who adopt such a course. Let us therefore establishourselves here and endeavour to capture this fortress, and let Arethaswith his forces be sent into the country of Assyria. For the Saracensare by nature unable to storm a wall, but the cleverest of all men atplundering. And some of the soldiers who are good fighters will jointhem in the invasion, so that, if no opposition presents itself to them, they may overwhelm those who fall in their way, and if any hostile forceencounters them, they may be saved easily by retiring to us. And afterwe have captured the fortress, if God wills, then with the whole armylet us cross the River Tigris, without having to fear mischief fromanyone in our rear, and knowing well how matters stand with theAssyrians. "

These words of Belisarius seemed to all well spoken, and he straightwayput the plan into execution. Accordingly he commanded Arethas with histroops to advance into Assyria, and with them he sent twelve hundredsoldiers, the most of whom were from among his own guard, putting twoguardsmen in command of them, Trajan and John who was called theGlutton, both capable warriors. These men he directed to obey Arethas ineverything they did, and he commanded Arethas to pillage all that laybefore him and then return to the camp and report how matters stood withthe Assyrians with regard to military strength. So Arethas and his mencrossed the River Tigris and entered Assyria. There they found a goodlyland and one which had been free from plunder for a long time, andundefended besides; and moving rapidly they pillaged many of the placesthere and secured a great amount of rich plunder. And at that timeBelisarius captured some of the Persians and learned from them thatthose who were inside the fortress were altogether out of provisions. For they do not observe the custom which is followed in the cities ofDaras and Nisibis, where they put away the annual food-supply in publicstore-houses, and now that a hostile army had fallen upon themunexpectedly they had not anticipated the event by carrying in any ofthe necessities of life. And since a great number of persons had takenrefuge suddenly in the fortress, they were naturally hard pressed by thewant of provisions. When Belisarius learned this, he sent George, a manof the greatest discretion with whom he shared his secrets, to test themen of the place, in the hope that he might be able to arrange someterms of surrender and thus take the place. And George succeeded, afteraddressing to them many words of exhortation and of kindly invitation, in persuading them to take pledges for their safety and to deliverthemselves and the fortress to the Romans. Thus Belisarius capturedSisauranon, and the inhabitants, all of whom were Christians and ofRoman origin, he released unscathed, but the Persians he sent withBleschames to Byzantium, and razed the fortification wall of thefortress to the ground. And the emperor not long afterwards sent thesePersians and Bleschames to Italy to fight against the Goths. Such, then, was the course of events which had to do with the fortress ofSisauranon. 

But Arethas, fearing lest he should be despoiled of his booty by theRomans, was now unwilling to return to the camp. So he sent some of hisfollowers ostensibly for the purpose of reconnoitring, but secretlycommanding them to return as quickly as possible and announce to thearmy that a large hostile force was at the crossing of the river. Forthis reason, then, he advised Trajan and John to return by another routeto the land of the Romans. So they did not come again to Belisarius, butkeeping the River Euphrates on the right they finally arrived at theTheodosiopolis which is near the River Aborrhas. But Belisarius and theRoman army, hearing nothing concerning this force, were disturbed, andthey were filled with fear and an intolerable and exaggerated suspicion. And since much time had been consumed by them in this siege, it cameabout that many of the soldiers were taken there with a troublesomefever; for the portion of Mesopotamia which is subject to the Persiansis extremely dry and hot. And the Romans were not accustomed to this andespecially those who came from Thrace; and since they were living theirdaily life in a place where the heat was excessive and in stuffy huts inthe summer season, they became so ill that the third part of the armywere lying half-dead. The whole army, therefore, was eager to departfrom there and return as quickly as possible to their own land, and mostof all the commanders of the troops in Lebanon, Rhecithancus andTheoctistus, who saw that the time which was the sacred season of theSaracens had in fact already passed. They came, indeed, frequently toBelisarius and entreated him to release them immediately, protestingthat they had given over to Alamoundaras the country of Lebanon andSyria, and were sitting there for no good reason. 

Belisarius therefore called together all the officers and opened adiscussion. Then John, the son of Nicetas, rose first and spoke asfollows: "Most excellent Belisarius, I consider that in all time therehas never been a general such as you are either in fortune or in valour. And this reputation has come to prevail not alone among the Romans, butalso among all barbarians. This fair name, however, you will preservemost securely, if you should be able to take us back alive to the landof the Romans; for now indeed the hopes which we may have are notbright. For I would have you look thus at the situation of this army. The Saracens and the most efficient soldiers of the army crossed theRiver Tigris, and one day, I know not how long since, they foundthemselves in such a plight that they have not even succeeded in sendinga messenger to us, and Rhecithancus and Theoctistus will depart, as yousee surely, believing that the army of Alamoundaras is almost at thisvery moment in the midst of Phoenicia, pillaging the whole countrythere. And among those who are left the sick are so numerous that thosewho will care for them and convey them to the land of the Romans arefewer in number than they are by a great deal. Under thesecircumstances, if it should fall out that any hostile force should comeupon us, either while remaining here or while going back, not a manwould be able to carry back word to the Romans in Daras of the calamitywhich had befallen us. For as for going forward, I consider itimpossible even to be spoken of. While, therefore, some hope is stillleft, it will be of advantage both to make plans for the return and toput the plans into action. For when men have come into danger andespecially such danger as this, it is downright folly for them to devotetheir thoughts not to safety, but to opposition to the enemy. " So spokeJohn, and all the others expressed approval, and becoming disorderly, they demanded that the retreat be made with all speed. AccordinglyBelisarius laid the sick in the carts and let them lead the way, whilehe led the army behind them. And as soon as they got into the land ofthe Romans, he learned everything which had been done by Arethas, but hedid not succeed in inflicting any punishment upon him, for he never cameinto his sight again. So ended the invasion of the Romans. 

And after Chosroes had taken Petra, it was announced to him thatBelisarius had invaded the Persian territory, and the engagement nearthe city of Nisibis was reported, as also the capture of the fortress ofSisauranon, and all that the army of Arethas had done after crossing theRiver Tigris. Straightway, then, he established a garrison in Petra, andwith the rest of the army and those of the Romans who had been capturedhe marched away into the land of Persia. Such, then, were the eventswhich took place in the second invasion of Chosroes. And Belisarius wentto Byzantium at the summons of the emperor, and passed the winter there. 

XX

[542 A. D. ] At the opening of spring Chosroes, the son of Cabades, forthe third time began an invasion into the land of the Romans with amighty army, keeping the River Euphrates on the right. And Candidus, thepriest of Sergiopolis, upon learning that the Median army had come nearthere, began to be afraid both for himself and for the city, since hehad by no means carried out at the appointed time the agreement which hehad made[15]; accordingly he went into the camp of the enemy andentreated Chosroes not to be angry with him because of this. For as formoney, he had never had any, and for this reason he had not even wishedin the first place to deliver the inhabitants of Sura, and though he hadsupplicated the Emperor Justinian many times on their behalf, he hadfailed to receive any help from him. But Chosroes put him under guard, and, torturing him most cruelly, claimed the right to exact from himdouble the amount of money, just as had been agreed. And Candidusentreated him to send men to Sergiopolis to take all the treasures ofthe sanctuary there. And when Chosroes followed this suggestion, Candidus sent some of his followers with them. So the inhabitants ofSergiopolis, receiving into the city the men sent by Chosroes, gave themmany of the treasures, declaring that nothing else was left them. ButChosroes said that these were by no means sufficient for him, anddemanded that he should receive others still more than these. Accordingly he sent men, ostensibly to search out with all diligence thewealth of the city, but in reality to take possession of the city. Butsince it was fated that Sergiopolis should not be taken by the Persians, one of the Saracens, who, though a Christian, was serving underAlamoundaras, Ambrus by name, came by night along the wall of the city, and reporting to them the whole plan, bade them by no means receive thePersians into the city. Thus those who were sent by Chosroes returned tohim unsuccessful, and he, boiling with anger, began to make plans tocapture the city. He accordingly sent an army of six thousand, commanding them to begin a siege and to make assaults upon thefortifications. And this army came there and commenced activeoperations, and the citizens of Sergiopolis at first defended themselvesvigorously, but later they gave up, and in terror at the danger, theywere purposing to give over the city to the enemy. For, as it happened, they had not more than two hundred soldiers. But Ambrus, again comingalong by the fortifications at night, said that within two days thePersians would raise the siege since their water supply had failed themabsolutely. For this reason they did not by any means open negotiationswith the enemy, and the barbarians, suffering with thirst, removed fromthere and came to Chosroes. However, Chosroes never released Candidus. For it was necessary, I suppose, that since he had disregarded his swornagreement, he should be a priest no longer. Such, then, was the courseof these events. 

But when Chosroes arrived at the land of the Commagenae which they callEuphratesia, he had no desire to turn to plundering or to the capture ofany stronghold, since he had previously taken everything before him asfar as Syria, partly by capture and partly by exacting money, as hasbeen set forth in the preceding narrative. And his purpose was to leadthe army straight for Palestine, in order that he might plunder alltheir treasures and especially those in Jerusalem. For he had it fromhearsay that this was an especially goodly land and peopled by wealthyinhabitants. And all the Romans, both officers and soldiers, were farfrom entertaining any thought of confronting the enemy or of standing inthe way of their passage, but manning their strongholds as each onecould, they thought it sufficient to preserve them and save themselves. 

The Emperor Justinian, upon learning of the inroad of the Persians, again sent Belisarius against them. And he came with great speed toEuphratesia since he had no army with him, riding on the governmentpost-horses, which they are accustomed to call "veredi, " while Justus, the nephew of the emperor, together with Bouzes and certain others, wasin Hierapolis where he had fled for refuge. And when these men heardthat Belisarius was coming and was not far away, they wrote a letter tohim which ran as follows: "Once more Chosroes, as you yourself doubtlessknow, has taken the field against the Romans, bringing a much greaterarmy than formerly; and where he is purposing to go is not yet evident, except indeed that we hear he is very near, and that he has injured noplace, but is always moving ahead. But come to us as quickly aspossible, if indeed you are able to escape detection by the army of theenemy, in order that you yourself may be safe for the emperor, and thatyou may join us in guarding Hierapolis. " Such was the message of theletter. But Belisarius, not approving the advice given, came to theplace called Europum, which is on the River Euphrates. From there hesent about in all directions and began to gather his army, and there heestablished his camp; and the officers in Hierapolis he answered withthe following words: "If, now, Chosroes is proceeding against any otherpeoples, and not against subjects of the Romans, this plan of yours iswell considered and insures the greatest possible degree of safety; forit is great folly for those who have the opportunity of remaining quietand being rid of trouble to enter into any unnecessary danger; but if, immediately after departing from here, this barbarian is going to fallupon some other territory of the Emperor Justinian, and that anexceptionally good one, but without any guard of soldiers, be assuredthat to perish valorously is better in every way than to be savedwithout a fight. For this would justly be called not salvation buttreason. But come as quickly as possible to Europum, where, aftercollecting the whole army, I hope to deal with the enemy as Godpermits. " And when the officers saw this message, they took courage, andleaving there Justus with some few men in order to guard Hierapolis, allthe others with the rest of the army came to Europum. 

XXI

But Chosroes, upon learning that Belisarius with the whole Roman armyhad encamped at Europum, decided not to continue his advance, but sentone of the royal secretaries, Abandanes by name, a man who enjoyed agreat reputation for discretion, to Belisarius, in order to find out byinspection what sort of a general he might be, but ostensibly to make aprotest because the Emperor Justinian had not sent the ambassadors tothe Persians at all in order that they might settle the arrangements forthe peace as had been agreed. When Belisarius learned this, he did asfollows. He himself picked out six thousand men of goodly stature andespecially fine physique, and set out to hunt at a considerable distancefrom the camp. Then he commanded Diogenes, the guardsman, and Adolius, the son of Acacius, to cross the river with a thousand horsemen and tomove about the bank there, always making it appear to the enemy that ifthey wished to cross the Euphrates and proceed to their own land, theywould never permit them to do so. This Adolius was an Armenian by birth, and he always served the emperor while in the palace as privy counsellor(those who enjoy this honour are called by the Romans "silentiarii"), but at that time he was commander of some Armenians. And these men didas directed. 

Now when Belisarius had ascertained that the envoy was close at hand, heset up a tent of some heavy cloth, of the sort which is commonly calleda "pavilion, " and seated himself there as one might in a desolate place, seeking thus to indicate that he had come without any equipment. And hearranged the soldiers as follows. On either side of the tent wereThracians and Illyrians, with Goths beyond them, and next to theseEruli, and finally Vandals and Moors. And their line extended for agreat distance over the plain. For they did not remain standing alwaysin the same place, but stood apart from one another and kept walkingabout, looking carelessly and without the least interest upon the envoyof Chosroes. And not one of them had a cloak or any other outer garmentto cover the shoulders, but they were sauntering about clad in linentunics and trousers, and outside these their girdles. And each one hadhis horse-whip, but for weapons one had a sword, another an axe, anotheran uncovered bow. And all gave the impression that they were eager to beoff on the hunt with never a thought of anything else. So Abandanes cameinto the presence of Belisarius and said that the king Chosroes wasindignant because the agreement previously made had not been kept, inthat the envoys had not been sent to him by Caesar (for thus thePersians call the emperor of the Romans), and as a result of thisChosroes had been compelled to come into the land of the Romans in arms. But Belisarius was not terrified by the thought that such a multitude ofbarbarians were encamped close by, nor did he experience any confusionbecause of the words of the man, but with a laughing, care-freecountenance he made answer, saying: "This course which Chosroes hasfollowed on the present occasion is not in keeping with the way menusually act. For other men, in case a dispute should arise betweenthemselves and any of their neighbours, first carry on negotiations withthem, and whenever they do not receive reasonable satisfaction, thenfinally go against them in war. But he first comes into the midst of theRomans, and then begins to offer suggestions concerning peace. " Withsuch words as these he dismissed the ambassador. 

And when Abandanes came to Chosroes, he advised him to take hisdeparture with all possible speed. For he said he had met a general whoin manliness and sagacity surpassed all other men, and soldiers such ashe at least had never seen, whose orderly conduct had roused in him thegreatest admiration. And he added that the contest was not on an evenfooting as regards risk for him and for Belisarius, for there was thisdifference, that if he conquered, he himself would conquer the slave ofCaesar, but if he by any chance were defeated, he would bring greatdisgrace upon his kingdom and upon the race of the Persians; and againthe Romans, if conquered, could easily save themselves in strongholdsand in their own land, while if the Persians should meet with anyreverse, not even a messenger would escape to the land of the Persians. Chosroes was convinced by this admonition and wished to turn back to hisown country, but he found himself in a very perplexing situation. For hesupposed that the crossing of the river was being guarded by the enemy, and he was unable to march back by the same road, which was entirelydestitute of human habitation, since the supplies which they had at thefirst when they invaded the land of the Romans had already entirelyfailed them. At last after long consideration it seemed to him mostadvantageous to risk a battle and get to the opposite side, and to makethe journey through a land abounding in all good things. Now Belisariusknew well that not even a hundred thousand men would ever be sufficientto check the crossing of Chosroes. For the river at many places alongthere can be crossed in boats very easily, and even apart from this thePersian army was too strong to be excluded from the crossing by an enemynumerically insignificant. But he had at first commanded the troops ofDiogenes and Adolius, together with the thousand horsemen, to move aboutthe bank at that point in order to confuse the barbarian by a feeling ofhelplessness. But after frightening this same barbarian, as I have said, Belisarius feared lest there should be some obstacle in the way of hisdeparting from the land of the Romans. For it seemed to him a mostsignificant achievement to have driven away from there the army ofChosroes, without risking any battle against so many myriads ofbarbarians with soldiers who were very few in number and who were inabject terror of the Median army. For this reason he commanded Diogenesand Adolius to remain quiet. 

Chosroes, accordingly, constructed a bridge with great celerity andcrossed the River Euphrates suddenly with his whole army. For thePersians are able to cross all rivers without the slightest difficultybecause when they are on the march they have in readiness hook-shapedirons with which they fasten together long timbers, and with the help ofthese they improvise a bridge on the spur of the moment wherever theymay desire. And as soon as he had reached the land on the opposite side, he sent to Belisarius and said that he, for his part, had bestowed afavour upon the Romans in the withdrawal of the Median army, and that hewas expecting the envoys from them, who ought to present themselves tohim at no distant time. Then Belisarius also with the whole Roman armycrossed the River Euphrates and immediately sent to Chosroes. And whenthe messengers came into his presence, they commended him highly for hiswithdrawal and promised that envoys would come to him promptly from theemperor, who would arrange with him that the terms which had previouslybeen agreed upon concerning the peace should be put into effect. Andthey asked of him that he treat the Romans as his friends in his journeythrough their land. This too he agreed to carry out, if they should givehim some one of their notable men as a hostage to make this compactbinding, in order that they might carry out their agreement. So theenvoys returned to Belisarius and reported the words of Chosroes, and hecame to Edessa and chose John, the son of Basilius, the most illustriousof all the inhabitants of Edessa in birth and in wealth, and straightwaysent him, much against his will, as a hostage to Chosroes. And theRomans were loud in their praises of Belisarius and he seemed to haveachieved greater glory in their eyes by this affair than when he broughtGelimer or Vittigis captive to Byzantium. For in reality it was anachievement of great importance and one deserving great praise, that, ata time when all the Romans were panic-stricken with fear and were hidingthemselves in their defences, and Chosroes with a mighty army had comeinto the midst of the Roman domain, a general with only a few men, coming in hot haste from Byzantium just at that moment, should have sethis camp over against that of the Persian king, and that Chosroesunexpectedly, either through fear of fortune or of the valour of the manor even because deceived by some tricks, should no longer continue hisadvance, but should in reality take to flight, though pretending to beseeking peace. 

But in the meantime Chosroes, disregarding the agreement, took the cityof Callinicus which was entirely without defenders. For the Romans, seeing that the wall of this city was altogether unsound and easy ofcapture, were tearing down portions of it in turn and restoring themwith new construction. Now just at that time they had torn down onesection of it and had not yet built in this interval; when, therefore, they learned that the enemy were close at hand, they carried out themost precious of their treasures, and the wealthy inhabitants withdrewto other strongholds, while the rest without soldiers remained wherethey were. And it happened that great numbers of farmers had gatheredthere. These Chosroes enslaved and razed everything to the ground. Alittle later, upon receiving the hostage, John, he retired to his owncountry. And the Armenians who had submitted to Chosroes receivedpledges from the Romans and came with Bassaces to Byzantium. Such wasthe fortune of the Romans in the third invasion of Chosroes. AndBelisarius came to Byzantium at the summons of the emperor, in order tobe sent again to Italy, since the situation there was already full ofdifficulties for the Romans. 

XXII

[542 A. D. ] During these times there was a pestilence, by which the wholehuman race came near to being annihilated. Now in the case of all otherscourges sent from Heaven some explanation of a cause might be given bydaring men, such as the many theories propounded by those who are cleverin these matters; for they love to conjure up causes which areabsolutely incomprehensible to man, and to fabricate outlandish theoriesof natural philosophy, knowing well that they are saying nothing sound, but considering it sufficient for them, if they completely deceive bytheir argument some of those whom they meet and persuade them to theirview. But for this calamity it is quite impossible either to express inwords or to conceive in thought any explanation, except indeed to referit to God. For it did not come in a part of the world nor upon certainmen, nor did it confine itself to any season of the year, so that fromsuch circumstances it might be possible to find subtle explanations of acause, but it embraced the entire world, and blighted the lives of allmen, though differing from one another in the most marked degree, respecting neither sex nor age. For much as men differ with regard toplaces in which they live, or in the law of their daily life, or innatural bent, or in active pursuits, or in whatever else man differsfrom man, in the case of this disease alone the difference availednaught. And it attacked some in the summer season, others in the winter, and still others at the other times of the year. Now let each oneexpress his own judgment concerning the matter, both sophist andastrologer, but as for me, I shall proceed to tell where this diseaseoriginated and the manner in which it destroyed men. 

It started from the Aegyptians who dwell in Pelusium. Then it dividedand moved in one direction towards Alexandria and the rest of Aegypt, and in the other direction it came to Palestine on the borders ofAegypt; and from there it spread over the whole world, always movingforward and travelling at times favourable to it. For it seemed to moveby fixed arrangement, and to tarry for a specified time in each country, casting its blight slightingly upon none, but spreading in eitherdirection right out to the ends of the world, as if fearing lest somecorner of the earth might escape it. For it left neither island nor cavenor mountain ridge which had human inhabitants; and if it had passed byany land, either not affecting the men there or touching them inindifferent fashion, still at a later time it came back; then those whodwelt round about this land, whom formerly it had afflicted most sorely, it did not touch at all, but it did not remove from the place inquestion until it had given up its just and proper tale of dead, so asto correspond exactly to the number destroyed at the earlier time amongthose who dwelt round about. And this disease always took its start fromthe coast, and from there went up to the interior. And in the secondyear it reached Byzantium in the middle of spring, where it happenedthat I was staying at that time. And it came as follows. Apparitions ofsupernatural beings in human guise of every description were seen bymany persons, and those who encountered them thought that they werestruck by the man they had met in this or that part of the body, as ithappened, and immediately upon seeing this apparition they were seizedalso by the disease. Now at first those who met these creatures tried toturn them aside by uttering the holiest of names and exorcising them inother ways as well as each one could, but they accomplished absolutelynothing, for even in the sanctuaries where the most of them fled forrefuge they were dying constantly. But later on they were unwilling evento give heed to their friends when they called to them, and they shutthemselves up in their rooms and pretended that they did not hear, although their doors were being beaten down, fearing, obviously, that hewho was calling was one of those demons. But in the case of some thepestilence did not come on in this way, but they saw a vision in a dreamand seemed to suffer the very same thing at the hands of the creaturewho stood over them, or else to hear a voice foretelling to them thatthey were written down in the number of those who were to die. But withthe majority it came about that they were seized by the disease withoutbecoming aware of what was coming either through a waking vision or adream. And they were taken in the following manner. They had a suddenfever, some when just roused from sleep, others while walking about, andothers while otherwise engaged, without any regard to what they weredoing. And the body shewed no change from its previous colour, nor wasit hot as might be expected when attacked by a fever, nor indeed did anyinflammation set in, but the fever was of such a languid sort from itscommencement and up till evening that neither to the sick themselves norto a physician who touched them would it afford any suspicion of danger. It was natural, therefore, that not one of those who had contracted thedisease expected to die from it. But on the same day in some cases, inothers on the following day, and in the rest not many days later, abubonic swelling developed; and this took place not only in theparticular part of the body which is called "boubon, "[16] that is, belowthe abdomen, but also inside the armpit, and in some cases also besidethe ears, and at different points on the thighs. 

Up to this point, then, everything went in about the same way with allwho had taken the disease. But from then on very marked differencesdeveloped; and I am unable to say whether the cause of this diversity ofsymptoms was to be found in the difference in bodies, or in the factthat it followed the wish of Him who brought the disease into the world. For there ensued with some a deep coma, with others a violent delirium, and in either case they suffered the characteristic symptoms of thedisease. For those who were under the spell of the coma forgot all thosewho were familiar to them and seemed to be sleeping constantly. And ifanyone cared for them, they would eat without waking, but some also wereneglected, and these would die directly through lack of sustenance. Butthose who were seized with delirium suffered from insomnia and werevictims of a distorted imagination; for they suspected that men werecoming upon them to destroy them, and they would become excited and rushoff in flight, crying out at the top of their voices. And those who wereattending them were in a state of constant exhaustion and had a mostdifficult time of it throughout. For this reason everybody pitied themno less than the sufferers, not because they were threatened by thepestilence in going near it (for neither physicians nor other personswere found to contract this malady through contact with the sick or withthe dead, for many who were constantly engaged either in burying or inattending those in no way connected with them held out in theperformance of this service beyond all expectation, while with manyothers the disease came on without warning and they died straightway);but they pitied them because of the great hardships which they wereundergoing. For when the patients fell from their beds and lay rollingupon the floor, they, kept patting them back in place, and when theywere struggling to rush headlong out of their houses, they would forcethem back by shoving and pulling against them. And when water chanced tobe near, they wished to fall into it, not so much because of a desirefor drink (for the most of them rushed into the sea), but the cause wasto be found chiefly in the diseased state of their minds. They had alsogreat difficulty in the matter of eating, for they could not easily takefood. And many perished through lack of any man to care for them, forthey were either overcome by hunger, or threw themselves down from aheight. And in those cases where neither coma nor delirium came on, thebubonic swelling became mortified and the sufferer, no longer able toendure the pain, died. And one would suppose that in all cases the samething would have been true, but since they were not at all in theirsenses, some were quite unable to feel the pain; for owing to thetroubled condition of their minds they lost all sense of feeling. 

Now some of the physicians who were at a loss because the symptoms werenot understood, supposing that the disease centred in the bubonicswellings, decided to investigate the bodies of the dead. And uponopening some of the swellings, they found a strange sort of carbunclethat had grown inside them. 

Death came in some cases immediately, in others after many days; andwith some the body broke out with black pustules about as large as alentil and these did not survive even one day, but all succumbedimmediately. With many also a vomiting of blood ensued without visiblecause and straightway brought death. Moreover I am able to declare this, that the most illustrious physicians predicted that many would die, whounexpectedly escaped entirely from suffering shortly afterwards, andthat they declared that many would be saved, who were destined to becarried off almost immediately. So it was that in this disease there wasno cause which came within the province of human reasoning; for in allcases the issue tended to be something unaccountable. For example, whilesome were helped by bathing, others were harmed in no less degree. Andof those who received no care many died, but others, contrary to reason, were saved. And again, methods of treatment shewed different resultswith different patients. Indeed the whole matter may be stated thus, that no device was discovered by man to save himself, so that either bytaking precautions he should not suffer, or that when the malady hadassailed him he should get the better of it; but suffering came withoutwarning and recovery was due to no external cause. 

And in the case of women who were pregnant death could be certainlyforeseen if they were taken with the disease. For some died throughmiscarriage, but others perished immediately at the time of birth withthe infants they bore. However, they say that three women in confinementsurvived though their children perished, and that one woman died at thevery time of child-birth but that the child was born and survived. 

Now in those cases where the swelling rose to an unusual size and adischarge of pus had set in, it came about that they escaped from thedisease and survived, for clearly the acute condition of the carbunclehad found relief in this direction, and this proved to be in general anindication of returning health; but in cases where the swellingpreserved its former appearance there ensued those troubles which I havejust mentioned. And with some of them it came about that the thigh waswithered, in which case, though the swelling was there, it did notdevelop the least suppuration. With others who survived the tongue didnot remain unaffected, and they lived on either lisping or speakingincoherently and with difficulty. 

XXIII

Now the disease in Byzantium ran a course of four months, and itsgreatest virulence lasted about three. And at first the deaths were alittle more than the normal, then the mortality rose still higher, andafterwards the tale of dead reached five thousand each day, and again iteven came to ten thousand and still more than that. Now in the beginningeach man attended to the burial of the dead of his own house, and thesethey threw even into the tombs of others, either escaping detection orusing violence; but afterwards confusion and disorder everywhere becamecomplete. For slaves remained destitute of masters, and men who informer times were very prosperous were deprived of the service of theirdomestics who were either sick or dead, and many houses becamecompletely destitute of human inhabitants. For this reason it came aboutthat some of the notable men of the city because of the universaldestitution remained unburied for many days. 

And it fell to the lot of the emperor, as was natural, to make provisionfor the trouble. He therefore detailed soldiers from the palace anddistributed money, commanding Theodorus to take charge of this work;this man held the position of announcer of imperial messages, alwaysannouncing to the emperor the petitions of his clients, and declaring tothem in turn whatever his wish was. In the Latin tongue the Romansdesignate this office by the term "referendarius. " So those who had notas yet fallen into complete destitution in their domestic affairsattended individually to the burial of those connected with them. ButTheodorus, by giving out the emperor's money and by making furtherexpenditures from his own purse, kept burying the bodies which were notcared for. And when it came about that all the tombs which had existedpreviously were filled with the dead, then they dug up all the placesabout the city one after the other, laid the dead there, each one as hecould, and departed; but later on those who were making these trenches, no longer able to keep up with the number of the dying, mounted thetowers of the fortifications in Sycae[17], and tearing off the roofsthrew the bodies in there in complete disorder; and they piled them upjust as each one happened to fall, and filled practically all the towerswith corpses, and then covered them again with their roofs. As a resultof this an evil stench pervaded the city and distressed the inhabitantsstill more, and especially whenever the wind blew fresh from thatquarter. 

At that time all the customary rites of burial were overlooked. For thedead were not carried out escorted by a procession in the customarymanner, nor were the usual chants sung over them, but it was sufficientif one carried on his shoulders the body of one of the dead to the partsof the city which bordered on the sea and flung him down; and there thecorpses would be thrown upon skiffs in a heap, to be conveyed whereverit might chance. At that time, too, those of the population who hadformerly been members of the factions laid aside their mutual enmity andin common they attended to the burial rites of the dead, and theycarried with their own hands the bodies of those who were no connectionsof theirs and buried them. Nay, more, those who in times past used totake delight in devoting themselves to pursuits both shameful and base, shook off the unrighteousness of their daily lives and practised theduties of religion with diligence, not so much because they had learnedwisdom at last nor because they had become all of a sudden lovers ofvirtue, as it were--for when qualities have become fixed in men bynature or by the training of a long period of time, it is impossible forthem to lay them aside thus lightly, except, indeed, some divineinfluence for good has breathed upon them--but then all, so to speak, being thoroughly terrified by the things which were happening, andsupposing that they would die immediately, did, as was natural, learnrespectability for a season by sheer necessity. Therefore as soon asthey were rid of the disease and were saved, and already supposed thatthey were in security, since the curse had moved on to other peoples, then they turned sharply about and reverted once more to their basenessof heart, and now, more than before, they make a display of theinconsistency of their conduct, altogether surpassing themselves invillainy and in lawlessness of every sort. For one could insistemphatically without falsehood that this disease, whether by chance orby some providence, chose out with exactitude the worst men and let themgo free. But these things were displayed to the world in later times. 

During that time it seemed no easy thing to see any man in the streetsof Byzantium, but all who had the good fortune to be in health weresitting in their houses, either attending the sick or mourning the dead. And if one did succeed in meeting a man going out, he was carrying oneof the dead. And work of every description ceased, and all the tradeswere abandoned by the artisans, and all other work as well, such as eachhad in hand. Indeed in a city which was simply abounding in all goodthings starvation almost absolute was running riot. Certainly it seemeda difficult and very notable thing to have a sufficiency of bread or ofanything else; so that with some of the sick it appeared that the end oflife came about sooner than it should have come by reason of the lack ofthe necessities of life. And, to put all in a word, it was not possibleto see a single man in Byzantium clad in the chlamys[18], and especiallywhen the emperor became ill (for he too had a swelling of the groin), but in a city which held dominion over the whole Roman empire every manwas wearing clothes befitting private station and remaining quietly athome. Such was the course of the pestilence in the Roman empire at largeas well as in Byzantium. And it fell also upon the land of the Persiansand visited all the other barbarians besides. 

XXIV

[545 A. D. ] Now it happened that Chosroes had come from Assyria to aplace toward the north called Adarbiganon, from which he was planning tomake an invasion into the Roman domain through Persarmenia. In thatplace is the great sanctuary of fire, which the Persians reverence aboveall other gods. There the fire is guarded unquenched by the Magi, andthey perform carefully a great number of sacred rites, and in particularthey consult an oracle on those matters which are of the greatestimportance. This is the fire which the Romans worshipped under the nameof Hestia[19] in ancient times. There someone who had been sent fromByzantium to Chosroes announced that Constantianus and Sergius wouldcome before him directly as envoys to arrange the treaty. Now these twomen were both trained speakers and exceedingly clever; Constantianus wasan Illyrian by birth, and Sergius was from the city of Edessa inMesopotamia. And Chosroes remained quiet expecting these men. But in thecourse of the journey thither Constantianus became ill and much time wasconsumed; in the meantime it came about that the pestilence fell uponthe Persians. For this reason Nabedes, who at that time held the officeof general in Persarmenia, sent the priest of the Christians in Dubiosby direction of the king to Valerianus, the general in Armenia, in orderto reproach the envoys for their tardiness and to urge the Romans withall zeal toward peace. And he came with his brother to Armenia, and, meeting Valerianus, declared that he himself, as a Christian, wasfavourably disposed toward the Romans, and that the king Chosroes alwaysfollowed his advice in every matter; so that if the ambassadors wouldcome with him to the land of Persia, there would be nothing to preventthem from arranging the peace as they wished. Thus then spoke thepriest; but the brother of the priest met Valerianus secretly and saidthat Chosroes was in great straits: for his son had risen against him inan attempt to set up a tyranny, and he himself together with the wholePersian army had been taken with the plague; and this was the reason whyhe wished just now to settle the agreement with the Romans. WhenValerianus heard this, he straightway dismissed the bishop, promisingthat the envoys would come to Chosroes at no distant time, but hehimself reported the words which he had heard to the Emperor Justinian. This led the emperor immediately to send word to him and to Martinus andthe other commanders to invade the enemy's territory as quickly aspossible. For he knew well that no one of the enemy would stand in theirway. And he commanded them to gather all in one place and so make theirinvasion into Persarmenia. When the commanders received these letters, all of them together with their followers began to gather into the landof Armenia. 

And already Chosroes had abandoned Adarbiganon a little before throughfear of the plague and was off with his whole army into Assyria, wherethe pestilence had not as yet become epidemic. Valerianus accordinglyencamped close by Theodosiopolis with the troops under him; and with himwas arrayed Narses, who had with him Armenians and some of the Eruli. And Martinus, the General of the East, together with Ildiger andTheoctistus, reached the fortress of Citharizon, and fixing his campthere, remained on the spot. This fortress is separated fromTheodosiopolis by a journey of four days. There too Peter came not longafterwards together with Adolius and some other commanders. Now thetroops in this region were commanded by Isaac, the brother of Narses. And Philemouth and Beros with the Eruli who were under them came intothe territory of Chorzianene, not far from the camp of Martinus. AndJustus, the emperor's nephew, and Peranius and John, the son of Nicetas, together with Domentiolus and John, who was called the Glutton, madecamp near the place called Phison, which is close by the boundaries ofMartyropolis. Thus then were encamped the Roman commanders with theirtroops; and the whole army amounted to thirty thousand men. Now allthese troops were neither gathered into one place, nor indeed was thereany general meeting for conference. But the generals sent to each othersome of their followers and began to make enquiries concerning theinvasion. Suddenly, however, Peter, without communicating with anyone, and without any careful consideration, invaded the hostile land with histroops. And when on the following day this was found out by Philemouthand Beros, the leaders of the Eruli, they straightway followed. And whenthis in turn came to the knowledge of Martinus and Valerianus and theirmen, they quickly joined in the invasion. And all of them a little laterunited with each other in the enemy's territory, with the exception ofJustus and his men, who, as I have said, had encamped far away from therest of the army, and learned later of their invasion; then, indeed, they also invaded the territory of the enemy as quickly as possible atthe point where they were, but failed altogether to unite with the othercommanders. As for the others, they proceeded in a body straight forDoubios, neither plundering nor damaging in any other way the land ofthe Persians. 

XXV

Now Doubios is a land excellent in every respect, and especially blessedwith a healthy climate and abundance of good water; and fromTheodosiopolis it is removed a journey of eight days. In that regionthere are plains suitable for riding, and many very populous villagesare situated in very close proximity to one another, and numerousmerchants conduct their business in them. For from India and theneighbouring regions of Iberia and from practically all the nations ofPersia and some of those under Roman sway they bring in merchandise andcarry on their dealings with each other there. And the priest of theChristians is called "Catholicos" in the Greek tongue, because hepresides alone over the whole region. Now at a distance of about onehundred and twenty stades from Doubios on the right as one travels fromthe land of the Romans, there is a mountain difficult of ascent andmoreover precipitous, and a village crowded into very narrow space bythe rough country about, Anglon by name. Thither Nabedes withdrew withhis whole army as soon as he learned of the inroad of the enemy, and, confident in his strength of position, he shut himself in. Now thevillage lies at the extremity of the mountain, and there is a strongfortress bearing the same name as this village on the steep mountainside. So Nabedes with stones and carts blocked up the entrances into thevillage and thus made it still more difficult of access. And in front ofit he dug a sort of trench and stationed the army there, having filledsome old cabins with ambuscades of infantrymen Altogether the Persianarmy amounted to four thousand men. 

While these things were being done in this way, the Romans reached aplace one day's journey distant from Anglon, and capturing one of theenemy who was going out as a spy they enquired where in the worldNabedes was then. And he asserted that the man had retired from Anglonwith the whole Median army. And when Narses heard this, he wasindignant, and he heaped reproaches and abuse upon his fellow-commandersfor their hesitation. And others, too, began to do the very same thing, casting insults upon one another; and from then on, giving up allthought of battle and danger, they were eager to plunder the countrythereabout. The troops broke camp, accordingly, and without the guidanceof generals and without observing any definite formation, they movedforward in complete confusion; for neither had they any countersignamong themselves, as is customary in such perilous situations, nor werethey arranged in their proper divisions. For the soldiers marchedforward, mixed in with the baggage train, as if going to the readyplunder of great wealth. But when they came near to Anglon, they sentout spies who returned to them announcing the array of the enemy. Andthe generals were thunder-struck by the unexpectedness of it, but theyconsidered it altogether disgraceful and unmanly to turn back with anarmy of such great size, and so they disposed the army in its threedivisions, as well as the circumstances permitted, and advanced straighttoward the enemy. Now Peter held the right wing and Valerianus the left, while Martinus and his men arrayed themselves in the centre. And whenthey came close to their opponents, they halted, preserving theirformation, but not without disorder. The cause for this was to be foundin the difficulty of the ground, which was very badly broken up, and inthe fact that they were entering battle in a formation arranged on thespur of the moment. And up to this time the barbarians, who had gatheredthemselves into a small space, were remaining quiet, considering thestrength of their antagonists, since the order had been given them byNabedes not under any circumstances to begin the fighting, but if theenemy should assail them, to defend themselves with all their might. 

And first Narses with the Eruli and those of the Romans who were underhim, engaged with the enemy, and after a hard hand-to-hand struggle, herouted the Persians who were before him. And the barbarians in flightascended on the run to the fortress, and in so doing they inflictedterrible injury upon one another in the narrow way. And then Narsesurged his men forward and pressed still harder upon the enemy, and therest of the Romans joined in the action. But all of a sudden the men whowere in ambush, as has been said[20], came out from the cabins along thenarrow alleys, and killed some of the Eruli, falling unexpectedly uponthem, and they struck Narses himself a blow on the temple. And hisbrother Isaac carried him out from among the fighting men, mortallywounded. And he died shortly afterwards, having proved himself a braveman in this engagement. Then, as was to be expected, great confusionfell upon the Roman army, and Nabedes let out the whole Persian forceupon his opponents. And the Persians, shooting into great masses of theenemy in the narrow alleys, killed a large number without difficulty, and particularly of the Eruli who had at the first fallen upon the enemywith Narses and were fighting for the most part without protection. Forthe Eruli have neither helmet nor corselet nor any other protectivearmour, except a shield and a thick jacket, which they gird about thembefore they enter a struggle. And indeed the Erulian slaves go intobattle without even a shield, and when they prove themselves brave menin war, then their masters permit them to protect themselves in battlewith shields. Such is the custom of the Eruli. 

And the Romans did not withstand the enemy and all of them fled as fastas they could, never once thinking of resistance and heedless of shameor of any other worthy motive. But the Persians, suspecting that theyhad not turned thus to a shameless flight, but that they were making useof some ambuscades against them, pursued them as far as the rough groundextended and then turned back, not daring to fight a decisive battle onlevel ground, a few against many. The Romans, however, and especiallyall the generals, supposing that the enemy were continuing the pursuitwithout pause, kept fleeing still faster, wasting not a moment; and theywere urging on their horses as they ran with whip and voice, andthrowing their corselets and other accoutrements in haste and confusionto the ground. For they had not the courage to array themselves againstthe Persians if they overtook them, but they placed all hope of safetyin their horses' feet, and, in short, the flight became such thatscarcely any one of their horses survived, but when they stoppedrunning, they straightway fell down and expired. And this proved adisaster for the Romans so great as to exceed anything that had everbefallen them previously. For great numbers of them perished and stillmore fell into the hands of the enemy. And their weapons and draughtanimals which were taken by the enemy amounted to such an imposingnumber that Persia seemed as a result of this affair to have becomericher. And Adolius, while passing through a fortified place during thisretreat--it was situated in Persarmenia--was struck on the head by astone thrown by one of the inhabitants of the town, and died there. Asfor the forces of Justus and Peranius, they invaded the country aboutTaraunon, and after gathering some little plunder, immediately returned. 

XXVI

[544 A. D. ] And in the following year, Chosroes, the son of Cabades, forthe fourth time invaded the land of the Romans, leading his army towardsMesopotamia. Now this invasion was made by this Chosroes not againstJustinian, the Emperor of the Romans, nor indeed against any other man, but only against the God whom the Christians reverence. For when in thefirst invasion he retired, after failing to capture Edessa[21], both heand the Magi, since they had been worsted by the God of the Christians, fell into a great dejection. Wherefore Chosroes, seeking to allay it, uttered a threat in the palace that he would make slaves of all theinhabitants of Edessa and bring them to the land of Persia, and wouldturn the city into a pasture for sheep. Accordingly when he hadapproached the city of Edessa with his whole army, he sent some of theHuns who were following him against that portion of the fortificationsof the city which is above the hippodrome, with the purpose of doing nofurther injury than seizing the flocks which the shepherds had stationedthere along the wall in great numbers: for they were confident in thestrength of the place, since it was exceedingly steep, and supposed thatthe enemy would never dare to come so very close to the wall. So thebarbarians were already laying hold of the sheep, and the shepherds weretrying most valiantly to prevent them. And when a great number ofPersians had come to the assistance of the Huns, the barbarianssucceeded in detaching something of a flock from there, but Romansoldiers and some of the populace made a sally upon the enemy and thebattle became a hand-to-hand struggle; meanwhile the flock of its ownaccord returned again to the shepherds. Now one of the Huns who wasfighting before the others was making more trouble for the Romans thanall the rest. And some rustic made a good shot and hit him on the rightknee with a sling, and he immediately fell headlong from his horse tothe ground, which thing heartened the Romans still more. And the battlewhich had begun early in the morning ended at midday, and both sideswithdrew from the engagement thinking that they had the advantage. Sothe Romans went inside the fortifications, while the barbarians pitchedtheir tents and made camp in a body about seven stades from the city. 

Then Chosroes either saw some vision or else the thought occurred to himthat if, after making two attempts, he should not be able to captureEdessa, he would thereby cover himself with much disgrace. Accordinglyhe decided to sell his withdrawal to the citizens of Edessa for a greatsum of money. On the following day, therefore, Paulus the interpretercame along by the wall and said that some of the Roman notables shouldbe sent to Chosroes. And they with all speed chose out four of theirillustrious men and sent them. When these men reached the Median camp, they were met according to the king's order by Zaberganes, who firstterrified them with many threats and then enquired of them which coursewas the more desirable for them, whether that leading to peace, or thatleading to war. And when the envoys agreed that they would choose peacerather than the dangers of war, Zaberganes replied: "Therefore it isnecessary for you to purchase this for a great sum of money. " And theenvoys said that they would give as much as they had provided before, when he came against them after capturing Antioch. And Zaberganesdismissed them with laughter, telling them to deliberate most carefullyconcerning their safety and then to come again to the Persians. And alittle later Chosroes summoned them, and when they came before him, herecounted how many Roman towns he had previously enslaved and in whatmanner he had accomplished it; then he threatened that the inhabitantsof Edessa would receive more direful treatment at the hands of thePersians, unless they should give them all the wealth which they hadinside the fortifications; for only on this condition, he said, wouldthe army depart. When the envoys heard this, they agreed that they wouldpurchase peace from Chosroes, if only he would not prescribe impossibleconditions for them: but the outcome of a conflict, they said, wasplainly seen by no one at all before the struggle. For there was never awar whose outcome might be taken for granted by those who waged it. Thereupon Chosroes in anger commanded the envoys to be gone with allspeed. 

On the eighth day of the siege he formed the design of erecting anartificial hill against the circuit wall of the city; accordingly he cutdown trees in great numbers from the adjacent districts and, withoutremoving the leaves, laid them together in a square before the wall, ata point which no missile from the city could reach; then he heaped animmense amount of earth right upon the trees and above that threw on agreat quantity of stones, not such as are suitable for building, but cutat random, and only calculated to raise the hill as quickly as possibleto a great height. And he kept laying on long timbers in the midst ofthe earth and the stones, and made them serve to bind the structuretogether, in order that as it became high it should not be weak. ButPeter, the Roman general (for he happened to be there with Martinus andPeranius), wishing to check the men who were engaged in this work, sentsome of the Huns who were under his command against them. And they, bymaking a sudden attack, killed a great number; and one of the guardsmen, Argek by name, surpassed all others, for he alone killed twenty-seven. From that time on, however, the barbarians kept a careful guard, andthere was no further opportunity for anyone to go out against them. Butwhen the artisans engaged in this work, as they moved forward, camewithin range of missiles, then the Romans offered a most vigorousresistance from the city wall, using both their slings and their bowsagainst them. Wherefore the barbarians devised the following plan. Theyprovided screens of goat's hair cloth, of the kind which are calledCilician, making them of adequate thickness and height, and attachedthem to long pieces of wood which they always set before those who wereworking on the "agesta"[22] (for thus the Romans used to call in theLatin tongue the thing which they were making). Behind this neitherignited arrows nor any other weapon could reach the workmen, but all ofthem were thrown back by the screens and stopped there. And then theRomans, falling into a great fear, sent the envoys to Chosroes in greattrepidation, and with them Stephanus, a physician of marked learningamong those of his time at any rate, who also had once cured Cabades, the son of Perozes, when ill, and had been made master of great wealthby him. He, therefore, coming into the presence of Chosroes with theothers, spoke as follows: "It has been agreed by all from of old thatkindness is the mark of a good king. Therefore, most mighty King, whilebusying thyself with murders and battles and the enslavement of citiesit will perhaps be possible for thee to win the other names, but thouwilt never by any means have the reputation of being 'good. ' And yetleast of all cities should Edessa suffer any adversity at thy hand. Forthere was I born, who, without any foreknowledge of what was coming topass, fostered thee from childhood and counselled thy father to appointthee his successor in the kingdom, so that to thee I have proved thechief cause of the kingship of Persia, but to my fatherland of herpresent woes. For men, as a general thing, bring down upon their ownheads the most of the misfortunes which are going to befall them. But ifany remembrance of such benefaction comes to thy mind, do us no furtherinjury, and grant me this requital, by which, O King, thou wilt escapethe reputation of being most cruel. " Such were the words of Stephanus. But Chosroes declared that he would not depart from there until theRomans should deliver to him Peter and Peranius, seeing that, being hishereditary slaves, they had dared to array themselves against him. Andif it was not their pleasure to do this, the Romans must choose one oftwo alternatives, either to give the Persians five hundred centenaria ofgold, or to receive into the city some of his associates who wouldsearch out all the money, both gold and silver, as much as was there, and bring it to him, allowing everything else to remain in thepossession of the present owners. Such then were the words whichChosroes hurled forth, being in hopes of capturing Edessa with notrouble. And the ambassadors (since all the conditions which he hadannounced to them seemed impossible), in despair and great vexation, proceeded to the city. And when they had come inside the city-wall, theyreported the message from Chosroes, and the whole city was filled withtumult and lamentation. 

Now the artificial hill was rising to a great height and was beingpushed forward with much haste. And the Romans, being at a loss what todo, again sent off the envoys to Chosroes. And when they had arrived inthe enemy's camp, and said that they had come to make entreatyconcerning the same things, they did not even gain a hearing of any kindfrom the Persians, but they were insulted and driven out from there witha great tumult, and so returned to the city. At first, then, the Romanstried to over-top the wall opposite the hill by means of anotherstructure. But since the Persian work was already rising far above eventhis, they stopped their building and persuaded Martinus to make thearrangements for a settlement in whatever way he wished. He then came upclose to the enemy's camp and began to converse with some of the Persiancommanders. But they, completely deceiving Martinus, said that theirking was desirous of peace, but that he was utterly unable to persuadethe Roman Emperor to have done with his strife with Chosroes and toestablish peace with him at last. And they mentioned as evidence of thisthe fact that Belisarius, who in power and dignity was far superior toMartinus, as even he himself would not deny, had recently persuaded theking of the Persians, when he was in the midst of Roman territory, towithdraw from there into Persia, promising that envoys from Byzantiumwould come to him at no distant time and establish peace securely, butthat he had done none of the things agreed upon, since he had foundhimself unable to overcome the determination of the Emperor Justinian. 

XXVII

In the meantime the Romans were busying themselves as follows: They madea tunnel from the city underneath the enemy's embankment, commanding thediggers not to leave this work until they should get under the middle ofthe hill. By this means they were planning to burn the embankment. Butas the tunnel advanced to about the middle of the hill, a sound ofblows, as it were, came to the ears of those Persians who were standingabove. And perceiving what was being done, they too began from above anddug on both sides of the middle, so that they might catch the Romans whowere doing the damage there. But the Romans found it out and abandonedthis attempt, throwing earth into the place which had been hollowed out, and then began to work on the lower part of the embankment at the endwhich was next to the wall, and by taking out timbers and stones andearth they made an open space just like a chamber; then they threw inthere dry trunks of trees of the kind which burn most easily, andsaturated them with oil of cedar and added quantities of sulphur andbitumen. So, then, they were keeping these things in readiness; andmeanwhile the Persian commanders in frequent meetings with Martinus werecarrying on conversations with him in the same strain as the one I havementioned, making it appear that they would receive proposals in regardto peace. But when at last their hill had been completed, and had beenraised to a great elevation, approaching the circuit-wall of the cityand rising far above it in height, then they sent Martinus away, definitely refusing to arrange the treaty, and they intended from thenon to devote themselves to active warfare. 

Accordingly the Romans straightway set fire to the tree-trunks which hadbeen prepared for this purpose. But when the fire had burned only acertain portion of the embankment, and had not yet been able topenetrate through the whole mass, the wood was already entirelyexhausted. But they kept throwing fresh wood into the pit, notslackening their efforts for a moment. And when the fire was alreadyactive throughout the whole embankment, some smoke appeared at nightrising from every part of the hill, and the Romans, who were not yetwilling to let the Persians know what was being done, resorted to thefollowing device: They filled small pots with coals and fire and threwthese and also ignited arrows in great numbers to all parts of theembankment. And the Persians who were keeping guard there, began to goabout in great haste and extinguish these, and they supposed that thesmoke arose from them. But since the trouble increased, the barbariansrushed up to help in great numbers, and the Romans, shooting them fromthe wall, killed many. And Chosroes too came there about sunrise, followed by the greater part of the army, and, upon mounting the hill, he first perceived what the trouble was. For he disclosed the fact thatthe cause of the smoke was underneath, not in the missiles which theenemy were hurling, and he ordered the whole army to come to the rescuewith all speed. And the Romans, taking courage, began to insult them, while the barbarians were at work, some throwing on earth, and otherswater, where the smoke appeared, hoping thus to get the better of thetrouble; however, they were absolutely unable to accomplish anything. For where the earth was thrown on, the smoke, as was natural, waschecked at that place, but not long afterwards it rose from anotherplace, since the fire compelled it to force its way out wherever itcould. And where the water fell most plentifully it only succeeded inmaking the bitumen and the sulphur much more active, and caused them toexert their full force upon the wood near by; and it constantly drovethe fire forward, since the water could not penetrate inside theembankment in a quantity at all sufficient to extinguish the flame byits abundance. And in the late afternoon the smoke became so great involume that it was visible to the inhabitants of Carrhae and to someothers who dwelt far beyond them. And since a great number of Persiansand of Romans had gone up on top of the embankment, a fight took placeand a hand-to-hand struggle to drive each other off, and the Romans werevictorious. Then even the flames rose and appeared clearly above theembankment, and the Persians abandoned this undertaking. 

On the sixth day after this, at early dawn, they made an assaultsecretly upon a certain part of the circuit-wall with ladders, at thepoint which is called the Fort. And since the Romans who were keepingguard there were sleeping a quiet, peaceful sleep, as the night wasdrawing to its close, they silently set the ladders against the wall andwere already ascending. But one of the rustics alone among the Romanshappened to be awake, and he with a shout and a great noise began torouse them all. And a hard struggle ensued in which the Persians wereworsted, and they retired to their camp, leaving the ladders where theywere; these the Romans drew up at their leisure. But Chosroes aboutmidday sent a large part of the army against the so-called Great Gate inorder to storm the wall. And the Romans went out and confronted them, not only soldiers, but even rustics and some of the populace, and theyconquered the barbarians in battle decisively and turned them to flight. And while the Persians were still being pursued, Paulus, theinterpreter, came from Chosroes, and going into the midst of the Romans, he reported that Rhecinarius had come from Byzantium to arrange thepeace; and thus the two armies separated. Now it was already some dayssince Rhecinarius had arrived at the camp of the barbarians. But thePersians had by no means disclosed this fact to the Romans, plainlyawaiting the outcome of the attempts upon the wall which they hadplanned, in order that, if they should be able to capture it, they mightseem in no way to be violating the treaty, while if defeated, asactually happened, they might draw up the treaty at the invitation ofthe Romans. And when Rhecinarius had gone inside the gates, the Persiansdemanded that those who were to arrange the peace should come toChosroes without any delay, but the Romans said that envoys would besent three days later; for that just at the moment their general, Martinus, was unwell. 

And Chosroes, suspecting that the reason was not a sound one, preparedfor battle. And at that time he only threw a great mass of bricks uponthe embankment; but two days later he came against the fortifications ofthe city with the whole army to storm the wall. And at every gate hestationed some of the commanders and a part of the army, encircling thewhole wall in this way, and he brought up ladders and war-enginesagainst it. And in the rear he placed all the Saracens with some of thePersians, not in order to assault the wall, but in order that, when thecity was captured, they might gather in the fugitives and catch them asin a drag-net. Such, then, was the purpose of Chosroes in arranging thearmy in this way. And the fighting began early in the morning, and atfirst the Persians had the advantage. For they were in great numbers andfighting against a very small force, since the most of the Romans hadnot heard what was going on and were utterly unprepared. But as theconflict advanced the city became full of confusion and tumult, and thewhole population, even women and little children, were going up on tothe wall. Now those who were of military age together with the soldierswere repelling the enemy most vigorously, and many of the rustics made aremarkable shew of valorous deeds against the barbarians. Meanwhile thewomen and children, and the aged also, were gathering stones for thefighters and assisting them in other ways. Some also filled numerousbasins with olive-oil, and after heating them over fire a sufficienttime everywhere along the wall, they sprinkled the oil, while boilingfiercely, upon the enemy who were assailing the wall, using a sort ofwhisk for the purpose, and in this way harassed them still more. ThePersians, therefore, soon gave up and began to throw down their arms, and coming before the king, said that they were no longer able to holdout in the struggle. But Chosroes, in a passion of anger, drove them allon with threats and urged them forward against the enemy. And thesoldiers with much shouting and tumult brought up the towers and theother engines of war to the wall and set the ladders against it, inorder to capture the city with one grand rush. But since the Romans werehurling great numbers of missiles and exerting all their strength todrive them off, the barbarians were turned back by force; and asChosroes withdrew, the Romans taunted him, inviting him to come andstorm the wall. Only Azarethes at the so-called Soinian Gate was stillfighting with his men, at the place which they call Tripurgia[23]. Andsince the Romans at this point were not a match for them, but weregiving way before their assaults, already the outer wall, which theycall an outwork, had been torn down by the barbarians in many places, and they were pressing most vigorously upon those who were defendingthemselves from the great circuit-wall; but at last Peranius with alarge number of soldiers and some of the citizens went out against themand defeated them in battle and drove them off. And the assault whichhad begun early in the morning ended in the late afternoon, and bothsides remained quiet that night, the Persians fearing for their defencesand for themselves, and the Romans gathering stones and taking them tothe parapets and putting everything else in complete readiness, so as tofight against the enemy on the morrow when they should attack the wall. Now on the succeeding day not one of the barbarians came against thefortifications; but on the day after that a portion of the army, urgedon by Chosroes, made an assault upon the so-called Gate of Barlaus; butthe Romans sallied forth and confronted them, and the Persians weredecisively beaten in the engagement, and after a short time retired tothe camp. And then Paulus, the interpreter of the Persians, came alongby the wall and called for Martinus, in order that he might make thearrangements for the truce. Thus Martinus came to conference with thecommanders of the Persians, and they concluded an agreement, by whichChosroes received five centenaria from the inhabitants of Edessa, andleft them, in writing, the promise not to inflict any further injuryupon the Romans; then, after setting fire to all his defences, hereturned homeward with his whole army. 

XXVIII

At about this time two generals of the Romans died, Justus, the nephewof the emperor, and Peranius, the Iberian, of whom the former succumbedto disease, while Peranius fell from his horse in hunting and suffered afatal rupture. The emperor therefore appointed others in their places, dispatching Marcellus, his own nephew who was just arriving at the ageof manhood, and Constantianus, who a little earlier had been sent as anenvoy with Sergius to Chosroes. Then the Emperor Justinian sentConstantianus and Sergius a second time to Chosroes to arrange thetruce. And they overtook him in Assyria, at the place where there aretwo towns, Seleucia and Ctesiphon, built by the Macedonians who afterAlexander, the son of Philip, ruled over the Persians and the othernations there. These two towns are separated by the Tigris River only, for they have nothing else between them. There the envoys met Chosroes, and they demanded that he should give back to the Romans the country ofLazica, and establish peace with them on a thoroughly secure basis. ButChosroes said that it was not easy for them to come to terms with eachother, unless they should first declare an armistice, and then shouldcontinue to go back and forth to each other without so much fear andsettle their differences and make a peace which should be on a securebasis for the future. And it was necessary, he said, that in return forthis continued armistice the Roman Emperor should give him money andshould also send a certain physician, Tribunus by name, in order tospend some specified time with him. For it happened that this physicianat a former time had rid him of a severe disease, and as a result ofthis he was especially beloved and greatly missed by him. When theEmperor Justinian heard this, he immediately sent both Tribunus and themoney, amounting to twenty centenaria. [545 A. D. ] In this way the treatywas made between the Romans and the Persians for five years, in thenineteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian. 

And a little later Arethas and Alamoundaras, the rulers of the Saracens, waged a war against each other by themselves, unaided either by theRomans or the Persians. And Alamoundaras captured one of the sons ofArethas in a sudden raid while he was pasturing horses, and straightwaysacrificed him to Aphrodite; and from this it was known that Arethas wasnot betraying the Romans to the Persians. Later they both came togetherin battle with their whole armies, and the forces of Arethas wereoverwhelmingly victorious, and turning their enemy to flight, theykilled many of them. And Arethas came within a little of capturing alivetwo of the sons of Alamoundaras; however, he did not actually succeed. Such, then, was the course of events among the Saracens. 

But it became clear that Chosroes, the Persian king, had made the trucewith the Romans with treacherous intent, in order that he might findthem remiss on account of the peace and inflict upon them some graveinjury. For in the third year of the truce he devised the followingschemes. There were in Persia two brothers, Phabrizus and Isdigousnas, both holding most important offices there and at the same time reckonedto be the basest of all the Persians, and having a great reputation fortheir cleverness and evil ways. Accordingly, since Chosroes had formedthe purpose of capturing the city of Daras by a sudden stroke, and tomove all the Colchians out of Lazica and establish in their placePersian settlers, he selected these two men to assist him in bothundertakings. For it seemed to him that it would be a lucky stroke and areally important achievement to win for himself the land of Colchis andto have it in secure possession, reasoning that this would beadvantageous to the Persian empire in many ways. In the first place theywould have Iberia in security forever afterwards, since the Iberianswould not have anyone with whom, if they revolted, they might findsafety; for since the most notable men of these barbarians together withtheir king, Gourgenes, had looked towards revolt, as I have stated inthe preceding pages, [24] the Persians from that time on did not permitthem to set up a king over themselves, nor were the Iberianssingle-minded subjects of the Persians, but there was much suspicion anddistrust between them. And it was evident that the Iberians were mostthoroughly dissatisfied and that they would attempt a revolution shortlyif they could only seize upon some favourable opportunity. Furthermore, the Persian empire would be forever free from plunder by the Huns wholived next to Lazica, and he would send them against the Roman domainsmore easily and readily, whenever he should so desire. For he consideredthat, as regards the barbarians dwelling in the Caucasus, Lazica wasnothing else than a bulwark against them. But most of all he hoped thatthe subjugation of Lazica would afford this advantage to the Persians, that starting from there they might overrun with no trouble both by landand by sea the countries along the Euxine Sea, as it is called, and thuswin over the Cappadocians and the Galatians and Bithynians who adjointhem, and capture Byzantium by a sudden assault with no one opposingthem. For these reasons, then, Chosroes was anxious to gain possessionof Lazica, but in the Lazi he had not the least confidence. For sincethe time when the Romans had withdrawn from Lazica, the common people ofthe country naturally found the Persian rule burdensome. For thePersians are beyond all other men singular in their ways, and they areexcessively rigid as regards the routine of daily life. And their lawsare difficult of access for all men, and their requirements quiteunbearable. But in comparison with the Lazi the difference of theirthinking and living shews itself in an altogether exceptional degree, since the Lazi are Christians of the most thorough-going kind, while allthe Persian views regarding religion are the exact opposite of theirs. And apart from this, salt is produced nowhere in Lazica, nor indeed doesgrain grow there nor the vine nor any other good thing. But from theRomans along the coast everything is brought in to them by ship, andeven so they do not pay gold to the traders, but hides and slaves andwhatever else happens to be found there in great abundance; and whenthey were excluded from this trade, they were, as was to be expected, ina state of constant vexation. When, therefore, Chosroes perceived this, he was eager to anticipate with certainty any move on their part torevolt against him. And upon considering the matter, it seemed to him tobe the most advantageous course to put Goubazes, the king of the Lazi, out of the way as quickly as possible, and to move the Lazi in a bodyout of the country, and then to colonize this land with Persians andcertain other nations. 

When Chosroes had matured these plans, he sent Isdigousnas to Byzantium, ostensibly to act as an envoy, and he picked out five hundred of themost valorous of the Persians and sent them with him, directing them toget inside the city of Daras, and to take their lodgings in manydifferent houses, and at night to set these all on fire, and, while allthe Romans were occupied with this fire, as was natural, to open thegates immediately, and receive the rest of the Persian army into thecity. For word had been sent previously to the commander of the city ofNisibis to conceal a large force of soldiers near by and hold them inreadiness. For in this way Chosroes thought that they would destroy allthe Romans with no trouble, and seizing the city of Daras, would hold itsecurely. But someone who knew well what was being arranged, a Roman whohad come to the Persians as a deserter a little earlier, told everythingto George, who was staying there at the time; now this was the same manwhom I mentioned in the preceding pages[25] as having persuaded thePersians who were besieged in the fortress of Sisauranon to surrenderthemselves to the Romans. George therefore met this ambassador at theboundary line between Roman and Persian soil and said that this thing hewas doing was not after the fashion of an embassy, and that never had sonumerous a body of Persians stopped for the night in a city of theRomans. For he ought, he said, to have left behind all the rest in thetown of Ammodios, and must himself enter the city of Daras with some fewmen. Now Isdigousnas was indignant and appeared to take it ill, becausehe had been insulted wrongfully, in spite of the fact that he wasdispatched on an embassy to the Roman emperor. But George, paying noheed to him in his fury, saved the city for the Romans. For he receivedIsdigousnas into the city with only twenty men. 

So having failed in this attempt, the barbarian came to Byzantium as ifon an embassy, bringing with him his wife and two daughters (for thiswas his pretext for the crowd which had been gathered about him); butwhen he came before the emperor, he was unable to say anything great orsmall about any serious matter, although he wasted no less than tenmonths in Roman territory. However, he gave the emperor the gifts fromChosroes, as is customary, and a letter, in which Chosroes requested theEmperor Justinian to send word whether he was enjoying the best possiblehealth. Nevertheless the Emperor Justinian received this Isdigousnaswith more friendliness and treated him with greater honour than any ofthe other ambassadors of whom we know. So true was this that, wheneverhe entertained him, he caused Braducius, who followed him asinterpreter, to recline with him on the couch, a thing which had neverbefore happened in all time. For no one ever saw an interpreter become atable-companion of even one of the more humble officials, not to speakof a king. But he both received and dismissed this man in a style moresplendid than that which befits an ambassador, although he hadundertaken the embassy for no serious business, as I have said. For ifanyone should count up the money expended and the gifts whichIsdigousnas carried with him when he went away, he will find themamounting to more than ten centenaria of gold. So the plot against thecity of Daras ended in this way for Chosroes. 

XXIX

His first move against Lazica was as follows. He sent into the country agreat amount of lumber suitable for the construction of ships, explaining to no one what his purpose was in so doing, but ostensibly hewas sending it in order to set up engines of war on the fortificationsof Petra. Next he chose out three hundred able warriors of the Persians, and sent them there under command of Phabrizus, whom I have latelymentioned, ordering him to make away with Goubazes as secretly aspossible; as for the rest, he himself would take care. Now when thislumber had been conveyed to Lazica, it happened that it was strucksuddenly by lightning and reduced to ashes. And Phabrizus, upon arrivingin Lazica with the three hundred, began to contrive so that he mightcarry out the orders received by him from Chosroes regarding Goubazes. Now it happened that one of the men of note among the Colchians, Pharsanses by name, had quarrelled with Goubazes and in consequence hadbecome exceedingly hostile to him, and now he did not dare at all to gointo the presence of the king. When this was learned by Phabrizus, hesummoned Pharsanses and in a conference with him disclosed the wholeproject, and enquired of the man in what way he ought to go about theexecution of the deed. And it seemed best to them after deliberatingtogether that Phabrizus should go into the city of Petra, and shouldsummon Goubazes there, in order to announce to him what the king haddecided concerning the interests of the Lazi. But Pharsanses secretlyrevealed to Goubazes what was being prepared. He, accordingly, did notcome to Phabrizus at all, but began openly to plan a revolt. ThenPhabrizus commanded the other Persians to attend as carefully as theycould to the guarding of Petra, and to make everything as secure aspossible against a siege, and he himself with the three hundred returnedhomeward without having accomplished his purpose. And Goubazes reportedto the Emperor Justinian the condition in which they were, and beggedhim to grant forgiveness for what the Lazi had done in the past, and tocome to their defence with all his strength, since they desired to berid of the Median rule. For if left by themselves the Colchians wouldnot be able to repel the power of the Persians. 

[549 A. D. ] When the Emperor Justinian heard this, he was overjoyed, andsent seven thousand men under the leadership of Dagisthaeus and athousand Tzani to the assistance of the Lazi. And when this forcereached the land of Colchis, they encamped together with Goubazes andthe Lazi about the fortifications of Petra and commenced a siege. Butsince the Persians who were there made a most stalwart defence from thewall, it came about that much time was spent in the siege; for thePersians had put away an ample store of victuals in the town. AndChosroes, being greatly disturbed by these things, dispatched a greatarmy of horse and foot against the besiegers, putting Mermeroes incommand of them. And when Goubazes learned of this, he considered thematter together with Dagisthaeus and acted in the manner which I shallpresently set forth. 

The river Boas rises close to the territory of the Tzani among theArmenians who dwell around Pharangium. And at first its course inclinesto the right for a great distance, and its stream is small and can beforded by anyone with no trouble as far as the place where the territoryof the Iberians lies on the right, and the end of the Caucasus liesdirectly opposite. In that place many nations have their homes, andamong them the Alani and Abasgi, who are Christians and friends of theRomans from of old; also the Zechi, and after them the Huns who bear thename Sabeiri. But when this river reaches the point which marks thetermination of the Caucasus and of Iberia as well, there other watersalso are added to it and it becomes much larger and from there flows onbearing the name of Phasis instead of Boas[26]; and it becomes anavigable stream as far as the so-called Euxine Sea into which itempties; and on either side of it lies Lazica. Now on the right of thestream particularly the whole country for a great distance is populatedby the people of Lazica as far as the boundary of Iberia. For all thevillages of the Lazi are here beyond the river, and towns have beenbuilt there from of old, among which are Archaeopolis, a very strongplace, and Sebastopolis, and the fortress of Pitius, and Scanda andSarapanis over against the boundary of Iberia. Moreover there are twocities of the greatest importance in that region, Rhodopolis andMocheresis. But on the left of the river, while the country belongs toLazica as far as one day's journey for an unencumbered traveller, theland is without human habitation. Adjoining this land is the home of theRomans who are called Pontic. Now it was in the territory of Lazica, inthe part which was altogether uninhabited, that the Emperor Justinianfounded the city of Petra in my own time. This was the place where John, surnamed Tzibus, established the monopoly, as I have told in theprevious narrative[27], and gave cause to the Lazi to revolt. And as oneleaves the city of Petra going southward, the Roman territory commencesimmediately, and there are populous towns there, and one which bears thename of Rhizaeum, also Athens and certain others as far as Trapezus. Nowwhen the Lazi brought in Chosroes, they crossed the River Boas and cameto Petra keeping the Phasis on the right, because, as they said, theywould thus provide against being compelled to spend much time andtrouble in ferrying the men across the River Phasis, but in reality theydid not wish to display their own homes to the Persians. And yet Lazicais everywhere difficult to traverse both to the right and to the left ofthe River Phasis. For there are on both sides of the river exceedinglyhigh and jagged mountains, and as a result the passes are narrow andvery long. (The Romans call the roads through such passes "clisurae"when they put their own word into a Greek form. [28]) But since at thattime Lazica happened to be unguarded, the Persians had reached Petravery easily with the Lazi who were their guides. 

But on this occasion Goubazes, upon learning of the advance of thePersians, directed Dagisthaeus to send some men to guard with all theirstrength the pass which is below the River Phasis, and he bade him noton any account to abandon the siege until they should be able to capturePetra and the Persians in it. He himself meanwhile with the wholeColchian army came to the frontier of Lazica, in order to devote all hisstrength to guarding the pass there. Now it happened that long before hehad persuaded the Alani and Sabeiri to form an alliance with him, andthey had agreed for three centenaria not merely to assist the Lazi inguarding the land from plunder, but also to render Iberia so destituteof men that not even the Persians would be able to come in from there inthe future. And Goubazes had promised that the emperor would give themthis money. So he reported the agreement to the Emperor Justinian andbesought him to send this money for the barbarians and afford the Lazisome consolation in their great distress. He also stated that thetreasury owed him his salary for ten years, for though he was assigned apost among the privy counsellors in the palace, he had received nopayment from it since the time when Chosroes came into the land ofColchis. And the Emperor Justinian intended to fulfil this request, butsome business came up to occupy his attention and he did not send themoney at the proper time. So Goubazes was thus engaged. 

But Dagisthaeus, being a rather young man and by no means competent tocarry on a war against Persia, did not handle the situation properly. For while he ought to have sent certainly the greater part of the armyto the pass, and perhaps should have assisted in person in thisenterprise, he sent only one hundred men, just as if he were managing amatter of secondary importance. He himself, moreover, though besiegingPetra with the whole army, accomplished nothing, although the enemy werefew. For while they had been at the beginning not less than fifteenhundred, they had been shot at by Romans and Lazi in their fighting atthe wall for a long time, and had made a display of valour such as noothers known to us have made, so that many were falling constantly andthey were reduced to an exceedingly small number. So while the Persians, plunged in despair and at a loss what to do, were remaining quiet, theRomans made a trench along the wall for a short space, and thecircuit-wall at this point fell immediately. But it happened that insidethis space there was a building which did not stand back at all from thecircuit-wall, and this reached to the whole length of the fallenportion; thus, taking the place of the wall for the besieged, itrendered them secure none the less. But this was not sufficient greatlyto disturb the Romans. For knowing well that by doing the same thingelsewhere they would capture the city with the greatest ease, theybecame still more hopeful than before. For this reason Dagisthaeus sentword to the emperor of what had come to pass, and proposed that prizesof victory should be in readiness for him, indicating what rewards theemperor should bestow upon himself and his brother; for he would capturePetra after no great time. So the Romans and the Tzani made a mostvigorous assault upon the wall, but the Persians unexpectedly withstoodthem, although only a very few were left. And since the Romans wereaccomplishing nothing by assaulting the wall, they again turned todigging. And they went so far in this work that the foundations of thecircuit-wall were no longer on solid ground, but stood for the most partover empty space, and, in the nature of things, would fall almostimmediately. And if Dagisthaeus had been willing immediately to applyfire to the foundations, I think that the city would have been capturedby them straightway; but, as it was, he was awaiting encouragement fromthe emperor, and so, always hesitating and wasting time, he remainedinactive. Such, then, was the course of events in the Roman camp. 

XXX

But Mermeroes, after passing the Iberian frontier with the whole Medianarmy, was moving forward with the River Phasis on his right. For he wasquite unwilling to go through the country of Lazica, lest any obstacleshould confront him there. For he was eager to save the city of Petraand the Persians in it, even though a portion of the circuit-wall hadfallen down suddenly. For it had been hanging in the air, as I havesaid; and volunteers from the Roman army to the number of fifty gotinside the city, and raised the shout proclaiming the Emperor Justiniantriumphant. These men were led by a young man of Armenian birth, John byname, the son of Thomas whom they used to call by the surname Gouzes. This Thomas had built many of the strongholds about Lazica at thedirection of the emperor, and he commanded the soldiers there, seemingto the emperor an intelligent person. Now John, when the Persians joinedbattle with his men, was wounded and straightway withdrew to the campwith his followers, since no one else of the Roman army came to supporthim. Meanwhile the Persian Mirranes who commanded the garrison in Petra, fearing for the city, directed all the Persians to keep guard with thegreatest diligence, and he himself went to Dagisthaeus, and addressedhim with fawning speeches and deceptive words, agreeing readily tosurrender the city not long afterwards. In this way he succeeded indeceiving him so that the Roman army did not immediately enter the city. 

Now when the army of Mermeroes came to the pass, the Roman garrison, numbering one hundred men, confronted them there and offered a stalwartresistance, and they held in check their opponents who were attemptingthe entrance. But the Persians by no means withdrew, but those who fellwere constantly replaced by others, and they kept advancing, trying withall their strength to force their way in. Among the Persians more than athousand perished, but at last the Romans were worn out with killing, and, being forced back by the throng, they withdrew, and running up tothe heights of the mountain there were saved. Dagisthaeus, upon learningthis, straightway abandoned the siege without giving any commands to thearmy, and proceeded to the River Phasis; and all the Romans followedhim, leaving their possessions behind in the camp. And when the Persiansobserved what was being done, they opened their gates and came forth, and approached the tents of the enemy in order to capture the camp. Butthe Tzani, who had not followed after Dagisthaeus, as it happened, rushed out to defend the camp, and they routed the enemy withoutdifficulty and killed many. So the Persians fled inside theirfortifications, and the Tzani, after plundering the Roman camp proceededstraight for Rhizaeum. And from there they came to Athens and betookthemselves to their homes through the territory of the Trapezuntines. 

And Mermeroes and the Median army came there on the ninth day after thewithdrawal of Dagisthaeus; and in the city they found left of thePersian garrison three hundred and fifty men wounded and unfit forfighting, and only one hundred and fifty men unhurt; for all the resthad perished. Now the survivors had in no case thrown the bodies of thefallen outside the fortifications, but though stifled by the evilstench, they held out in a manner beyond belief, in order that theymight not afford the enemy any encouragement for the prosecution of thesiege, by letting them know that most of their number had perished. AndMermeroes remarked by way of a taunt that the Roman state was worthy oftears and lamentation, because they had come to such a state of weaknessthat they had been unable by any device to capture one hundred and fiftyPersians without a wall. And he was eager to build up the portions ofthe circuit-wall which had fallen down; but since at the moment he hadneither lime nor any of the other necessary materials for the buildingready at hand, he devised the following plan. Filling with sand thelinen bags in which the Persians had carried their provisions into theland of Colchis, he laid them in the place of the stones, and the bagsthus arranged took the place of the wall. And choosing out threethousand of his able fighting men, he left them there, depositing withthem victuals for no great length of time, and commanding them to attendto the building of the fortifications; then he himself with all the restof the army turned back and marched away. 

But since, if he went from there by the same road, no means ofprovisioning his army was available, since he had left everything inPetra which had been brought in by the army from Iberia, he planned togo by another route through the mountains, where he learned that thecountry was inhabited, in order that by foraging there he might be ableto live off the land. In the course of this journey one of the notablesamong the Lazi, Phoubelis by name, laid an ambush for the Persians whilecamping for the night, bringing with him Dagisthaeus with two thousandof the Romans; and these men, making a sudden attack, killed some of thePersians who were grazing their horses, and after securing the horses asplunder they shortly withdrew. Thus, then, Mermeroes with the Medianarmy departed from there. 

But Goubazes, upon learning what had befallen the Romans both at Petraand at the pass, did not even so become frightened, nor did he give upthe guarding of the pass where he was, considering that their hopecentred in that place. For he understood that, even if the Persians hadbeen able by forcing back the Romans on the left of the River Phasis tocross over the pass and get into Petra, they could thereby inflict noinjury upon the land of the Lazi, since they were utterly unable tocross the Phasis, in particular because no ships were at their disposal. For in depth this river is not inferior to the deepest rivers, and itspreads out to a great width. Moreover it has such a strong current thatwhen it empties into the sea, it goes on as a separate stream for a verygreat distance, without mingling at all with the sea-water. Indeed, those who navigate in those parts are able to draw up drinking water inthe midst of the sea. Moreover, the Lazi have erected fortresses allalong the right bank of the river, in order that, even when the enemyare ferried across in boats, they may not be able to disembark on theland. 

The Emperor Justinian at this time sent to the nation of the Sabeiri themoney which had been agreed upon, and he rewarded Goubazes and the Laziwith additional sums of money. And it happened that long before thistime he had sent another considerable army also to Lazica, which had notyet arrived there. The commander of this army was Rhecithancus, fromThrace, a man of discretion and a capable warrior. Such then was thecourse of these events. 

Now when Mermeroes got into the mountains, as I have said, he wasanxious to fill Petra with provisions from there. For he did not by anymeans think that the victuals which they had brought in with them wouldsuffice for the garrison there, amounting to three thousand men. Butsince the supplies they found along the way barely sufficed for theprovisioning of that army, which numbered no less than thirty thousand, and since on this account they were able to send nothing at all ofconsequence to Petra, upon consideration he found it better for themthat the greater part of the army should depart from the land ofColchis, and that some few should remain there, who were to convey tothe garrison in Petra the most of the provisions which they might find, while using the rest to maintain themselves comfortably. He thereforeselected five thousand men and left them there, appointing as commandersover them Phabrizus and three others. For it seemed to him unnecessaryto leave more men there, since there was no enemy at all. And he himselfwith the rest of the army came into Persarmenia and remained quietly inthe country around Doubios. 

Now the five thousand, upon coming nearer to the frontier of Lazica, encamped in a body beside the Phasis River, and from there they wentabout in small bands and plundered the neighbouring country. Now whenGoubazes perceived this, he sent word to Dagisthaeus to hasten there tohis assistance: for it would be possible for them to do the enemy somegreat harm. And he did as directed, moving forward with the whole Romanarmy with the River Phasis on the left, until he came to the place wherethe Lazi where encamped on the opposite bank of the river. Now ithappened that the Phasis could be forded at this point, a fact whichneither the Romans nor the Persians suspected in the least because oftheir lack of familiarity with these regions; but the Lazi knew it well, and they made the crossing suddenly and joined the Roman army. And thePersians chose out a thousand men of repute among them and sent themforth, that no one might advance against the camp to harm it. And two ofthis force, who had gone out ahead of their fellows to reconnoitre, fellunexpectedly into the hands of the enemy and informed them of the wholesituation. The Romans, therefore, and the Lazi fell suddenly upon thethousand men, and not one of them succeeded in escaping, but the most ofthem were slain, while some also were captured; and through these themen of Goubazes and Dagisthaeus succeeded in learning the numbers of theMedian army and the length of the journey to them and the condition inwhich they then were. They therefore broke camp and marched against themwith their whole army, calculating so that they would fall upon themwell on in the night; their own force amounted to fourteen thousand men. Now the Persians, having no thought of an enemy in their minds, wereenjoying a long sleep; for they supposed that the river was impassable, and that the thousand men, with no one to oppose them, were making along march somewhere. But the Romans and Lazi at early dawn unexpectedlyfell upon them, and they found some still buried in slumber and othersjust roused from sleep and lying defenceless upon their beds. Not one ofthem, therefore, thought of resistance, and the majority were caught andkilled, while some also were captured by the enemy, among whom happenedto be one of the commanders; only a few escaped in the darkness and weresaved. And the Romans and Lazi captured the camp and all the standards, and they also secured many weapons and a great deal of money as plunder, besides great numbers of horses and mules. And pursuing them for a verygreat distance they came well into Iberia. There they happened uponcertain others of the Persians also and slew a great number. Thus thePersians departed from Lazica; and the Romans and Lazi found there allthe supplies, including great quantities of flour, which the barbarianshad brought in from Iberia, in order to transport them to Petra, andthey burned them all. And they left a large number of Lazi in the pass, so that it might no longer be possible for the Persians to carry insupplies to Petra, and they returned with all the plunder and thecaptives. [549 A. D. ] And the fourth year of the truce between the Romansand Persians came to an end, being the twenty-third year of the reign ofthe Emperor Justinian. 

And John the Cappadocian one year before this came to Byzantium at thesummons of the emperor. For at that time the Empress Theodora hadreached the term of her life. However, he was quite unable to recoverany of his former dignities, but he continued to hold the priestlyhonour against his will; and yet the vision had often come to the manthat he would arrive at royalty. For the divine power is accustomed totempt those whose minds are not solidly grounded by nature, by holdingbefore their vision, on great and lofty hopes, that which is countedsplendid among men. At any rate the marvel-mongers were alwayspredicting to this John many such imaginary things, and especially thathe was bound to be clothed in the garment of Augustus. Now there was acertain priest in Byzantium, Augustus by name, who guarded the treasuresof the temple of Sophia. So when John had been shorn and declared worthyof the priestly dignity by force, inasmuch as he had no garment becominga priest, he had been compelled by those who were in charge of thisbusiness to put on the cloak and the tunic of this Augustus who was nearby, and in this, I suppose, his prophecy reached its fulfilment. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1]

That is, the Saracens subject to the Romans and those subject to thePersians. 

[2]

Cf. Book I. Xxii. 4. 

[3]

The Huns placed a part of their force in the rear of the defenders ofthe pass, which lies between the sea and the mountains, sending themaround by the same path, probably, as that used by Xerxes when hedestroyed Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans; see _Herod_. Vii. 216-218. 

[4]

"Secretary of secrets. "

[5]

Cf. Book I. Xxii. 4. 

[6]

Cf. Book II. I. 13; iii. 47. 

[7]

Cf. Book I. Xxii. 4. 

[8]

Cf. Book II. Xxi. 30-32. 

[9]

This term was applied to the "Blue Faction" in Byzantium and elsewhere. 

[10]

Cf. Book I. Xxii. 4. 

[11]

Nine MS. Lines are missing at this point. 

[12]

Cf. Book II. X. 24. 

[13]

Cf. Book I. Xii. 4 ff. 

[14]

Cf. Book I. Viii. 21-22. 

[15]

Cf. Chap. V. 31. 

[16]

_I. E. _ "groin. "

[17]

Modern Galata. 

[18]

The official dress. 

[19]

Vesta. 

[20]

Cf. Section 9 above. 

[21]

Cf. Book II. Xii. 31-34. 

[22]

Latin _agger_, "mound. "

[23]

"Three Towers. "

[24]

Cf. Book I. Xii. 5 ff. 

[25]

Book II. Xix. 23. 

[26]

Procopius seems to have confused two separate and distinct rivers. 

[27]

Cf. Book II. Xv. 11. 

[28]

Latin _clausura_, "a narrow shut-in road. "

 * * * * *

 INDEX

Abandanes, secretary of Chosroes, sent to Belisarius, II. Xxi. 1 ff. ; his report, II. Xxi. 13, 14

Abasgi, their location, II. Xxix. 15; friends of the Romans, _ib. _

Abochorabus, ruler of the Saracens of Arabia, presents the Palm Groves to Justinian, I. Xix. 10 ff. 

Aborrhas River, protects one side of Circesium, II. V. 2; near Theodosiopolis, II. Xix. 29

Abramus, becomes king of the Homeritae, I. Xx. 3; his servile origin, I. Xx. 4; defeats two Aethiopian armies, I. Xx. 5-7; pays tribute to the Aethiopians, I. Xx. 8; his idle promises to Justinian to invade Persia, I. Xx. 13

Abydus, city opposite Sestus on the Hellespont, II. Iv. 9

Acacius, father of Adolius, II. Xxi. 2; denounces Amazaspes to the emperor, II. Iii. 4; slays him treacherously, II. Iii. 5; his shameless career as governor of Armenia, II. Iii. 6, 7; slain by the Armenians, II. Iii. 7

Adarbiganon, Chosroes halts there with his army, II. Xxiv. 1; the fire-sanctuary located there, II. Xxiv. 2; abandoned by Chosroes, II. Xxiv. 12

Adergoudounbades, made "chanaranges" by Chosroes, I. Vi. 15, 18; saves Cabades from the hand of Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 7 ff. ; betrayed by his son, I. Xxiii. 13; his death, I. Xxiii. 21

Adolius, son of Acacius, an Armenian, urges severe treatment of Armenians, II. Iii. 10; commander of Roman cavalry, II. Xxi. 2, 18, 20; commands a detachment in an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 13; killed by a stone, II. Xxv. 35

Adonachus, commander in Chalcis, II. Xii. 2

Adrastadaran Salanes, an office in Persia of high authority (_lit. _ "Leader of the Warriors"), I. Vi 18, xi. 25; held only by Seoses, I. Xi. 38

Adulis, in Aethiopia, the city and harbour, distance from Auxomis, I. Xix. 22; home of a certain Roman trader, I. Xx. 4

Aegypt, its topography, I. Xix. 3; John the Cappadocian an exile there, I. Xxv. 43; the pestilence there, II. Xxii. 6

Aeimachus, a butcher of Antioch, his encounter with a Persian horseman, II. Xi. 8 ff. 

Aelas, on the "Red Sea, " I. Xix. 3, 19, 24

Aethiopians, location of their country, I. Xix. 17; the ships used there, I. Xix. 23; iron not produced there nor imported from elsewhere, I. Xix. 24. 25; sought as allies by Justinian, I. Xix. 1, xx. 9 ff. , II. Iii. 40; unable to buy silk from the Indians, I. Xx. 12

Agamemnon, father of Iphigenia, I. Xvii. II

Agesta, _i. E. _, "agger, " employed by the Persians in besieging Edessa, II. Xxvi. 29

Aigan, Massagete chief, in the Roman army at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 20, xiv. 39, 44

Alamoundaras, son of Saccice, king of the Saracens, marches with the Persian army, I. Xvii. 1; his character and services to the Persians, I. Xvii. 40 ff. ; advises Cabades to invade Roman territory south of the Euphrates River, I. Xvii. 30 ff. ; retires with Azarethes before Belisarius, I. Xviii. 9 ff. ; brings charge against Arethas of violating boundary lines, II. I. 3; war with Arethas, II. Xxviii. 12-14; sacrifices to Aphrodite the son of Arethas, II. Xxviii. 13; sought as an ally by Justinian, II. I. 13, iii. 47; accused by Justinian of violating the treaty, II. Iv. 21; a menace to Syria and Phoenicia, II. Xvi. 17; also to Lebanon, II. Xix. 34

Alani, their location, II. Xxix. 15; friends of the Romans, _ib. _; neighbours of the Sunitae, I. Xv. 1; persuaded by Goubazes to ally themselves with him, II. Xxix. 29

Albani, a people near the Taurus, I. X. 1

Alexander, son of Philip, fortified the Caspian Gates, I. X. 9; Justinian compared with him, II. Ii. 15

Alexander, ambassador to the Persians, I. Xxii. 1

Alexandria, visited by the pestilence, II. Xxii. 6; citizens of, accused by John the Cappadocian, I. Xxv. 44

Amazaspes, nephew of Symeon, made ruler of certain Armenian villages, II. Iii. 3; denounced to the emperor, II. Iii. 4; treacherously slain, II. Iii. 5

Ambazouces, a Hun, offers to sell to Anastasius the control of the Caspian Gates, I. X. 10; his death, I. X. 12

Ambrus, a Saracen Christian, saves Sergiopolis from capture by Chosroes, II. Xx. 10, 14

Amida, a city on the border between Armenia and Mesopotamia, I. Xvii. 24; distance from Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 6; distance from the Nymphius River, I. Viii. 22; from Siphrios, I. Viii. 10; from Endielon, I. Vii. 5; from Thilasamon, I. Ix. 14; besieged by Cabades, I. Vii. 3, 12 ff. ; bravely defended, I. Vii. 4, 12 ff. ; captured by Cabades, I. Vii. 29; besieged by the Romans, I. Ix. 1-4; recovered by the Romans by purchase, I. Ix. 20, 23; captives of, generously treated by Chosroes, I. Vii. 34; citizens relieved of taxes, I. Vii. 35

Ammodios, a place near Daras, I. Xiii. 15, 38; II. Xxviii. 35

Anastasius, Roman emperor, uncle of Hypatius, I. Viii. 2, xi. 24; of Probus, I. Xii. 6; and of Pompeius, I. Xxiv. 19; refuses to purchase from Ambazouces the control of the Caspian Gates, I. X. 10, 11, xvi. 4; insurrection raised against him by Vitalianus, I. Viii. 3, xiii. 10; refuses request of Cabades for a loan, I. Vii. 1, 2; shews favour to citizens of Amida, I. Vii. 35; sends succour to Amida, I. Viii. 1; fortifies Daras, I. X. 13; placates Cabades, I. X. 17; fortifies Theodosiopolis, I. X. 18, 19; his death, I. Xi. 1

Anastasius of Daras, overthrows tyranny there, I. Xxvi. 8, II. Iv. 15; bears a letter from Justinian to Chosroes, II. Iv. 15; detained by Chosroes, II. Iv. 26; dismissed by Chosroes, II. V. 27; present with Chosroes at the sack of Sura, II. Ix. 10

Anatolius, General of the East, averts danger to the empire by courtesy to the Persian king, I. Ii. 12-15

Andreas, of Byzantium, his exploits in single combat, I. Xiii. 30 ff. 

Anglon, village in Persarmenia, II. Xxv. 5; Roman armies routed there, II. Xxv. 23 ff. 

Aniabedes, sent by Chosroes to capture Petra, II. Xvii. 4; impaled by Chosroes, II. Xvii. 11

Antinous, city of, in Aegypt, John the Cappadocian imprisoned there, I. Xxv. 43

Antioch, its importance, I. Xvii. 36, II. Viii. 23, ix. 3, x. 5; situation, II. Vi. 10, viii. 21; ease with which it might be captured, I. Xvii. 38; character of the inhabitants, I. Xvii. 37, II. Viii. 6; distance from Beroea, II. Vii. 21; from Seleucia, II. Xi. 1; visited by an earthquake, II. Xiv. 6; the citizens propose to buy off Chosroes, II. Vi. 16; besieged by Chosroes, II. Viii. 1 ff. ; the wall stormed by Chosroes, II. Viii. 8 ff. ; captured by Chosroes, II. Viii. 20 ff. ; plundered by Chosroes, II. Ix. 14 ff. ; burnt, II. Ix. 17, 18; young men of, check the victorious Persians in a street fight, II. Viii. 28, 29, 32, ix. 5; citizens of, massacred by the Persians, II. Viii. 34; church of, robbed of great treasures by Chosroes, II. Ix. 15, 16; spared in the burning of the city, II. Ix. 18, x. 6; citizens of, receive portent of coming misfortunes, II. X. 1 ff. ; xiv. 5; two women of, their sad fate at the capture of the city, II. Viii. 35; captives of, offered for sale by Chosroes, II. Xiii. 2 ff. ; settled by Chosroes in a newly built city under special laws, II. Xiv. 1 ff. 

Antioch of Chosroes, special laws concerning it, II. Xiv. 3, 4

Antonina, wife of Belisarius, brings about the downfall of John the Cappadocian, I. Xxv. 13 ff. ; departs to the East, I. Xxv. 23

Apamea, city of Syria, II. Xi. 2, 4; wood of the Cross preserved there, II. Xi. 14; it gives forth a miraculous light in the church, II. Xi. 17, 18; visited by Chosroes, II. Xi. 14 ff. ; entered by Chosroes and robbed of all its treasure, II. Xi. 24 ff. ; a citizen of, accuses a Persian of having violated his daughter, II. Xi. 36

Aphrodite, son of Arethas sacrificed to, II. Xxviii. 13

Apion, an Aegyptian, manager of finances in the Roman army, I. Viii. 5

Arabia, its location, I. Xix. 20

Arabian Gulf, called "Red Sea" by Procopius, I. Xix. 2; its description, I. Xix. 2 ff. 

Aratius, in company with Narses defeats Sittas and Belisarius, I. Xii. 21, 22; deserts to the Romans, I. Xii. 22, xv. 31; sent to Italy, I. Xii. 22

Arcadius, Roman emperor, when about to die makes provision for the safety of his heir, I. Ii. 1 ff. 

Archaeopolis, a strong city of Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Areobindus, son-in-law of Olyvrius, Roman general, I. Viii. 1; flees with his army before Cabades, I. Viii. 10, 11; summoned to Byzantium, I. Ix. 1

Ares, House of, portion of the imperial residence in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 9

Arethas, son of Gabalas, made king of the Saracens of Arabia by Justinian and pitted against Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 47, 48; with the Roman army, I. Xviii. 7; at the battle on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 26, 35; quarrels with Alamoundaras, II. I. 3-7; joins Belisarius in Mesopotamia, II. Xvi. 5; sent by Belisarius to plunder Assyria, II. Xix. 11, 15 ff. ; returns another way, II. Xix. 26 ff. ; wages war against Alamoundaras, II. Xxviii. 12-14; son of, sacrificed to Aphrodite, II. Xxviii. 13

Argek, a guardsman, his effective fighting against the Persians at Edessa, II. Xxvi. 26, 27

Armenia, considered by some to extend as far as Amida, I. Xvii. 24; Armenians wage war with Persia, I. V. 10 ff. ; History of the Armenians, I. V. 9, 40

Arsaces, king of Armenia, progenitor of the Arsacidae, II. Iii. 32; his abdication, II. Iii. 35

Arsaces, king of Armenia, wages a truceless war with Persia, I. V. 10 ff. ; slandered to Pacurius, I. V. 16; victim of strategem of Magi, betrays himself to Pacurius, I. V. 19 ff. ; confined in the Prison of Oblivion, I. V. 29 ff. ; kills himself, I. V. 39

Arsaces, last king of Armenia, gives his kingdom to Theodosius, II. Iii. 35

Arsaces, commander in Sura, killed while valiantly defending the city, II. V. 11

Arsacidae, descendants of the Armenian king, Arsaces, II. Iii. 32; their privileges, II. Iii. 35

Arsinus River, tributary to the Euphrates, I. Xvii. 21

Artabanes, son of John, of the Arsacidae, slays Sittas, II. Iii. 25

Artace, suburb of Cyzicus, I. Xxv. 31

Artemis among the Taurians, sanctuary of, in Celesene, I. Xvii. 11; a sanctuary of, founded by Orestes in Pontus, I. Xvii. 15; another in Cappadocia, I. Xvii. 18

Arzamon, in Mesopotamia, distance from Constantina, I. Viii. 10

Arzanene, district of Armenia beyond the River Nymphius, I. Viii. 21, II. Xv. 7; invaded by Celer, I. Viii. 21

Ascan, a Massagete chief, at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 21, xiv. 44; his exploits at the battle on the Euphrates and his death, I. Xviii. 38

Asia, entered from the Hellespont by the Huns, II. Iv. 9

Aspebedes, uncle of Chosroes, I. Xi. 5, xxiii. 6; negotiates a treaty with Celer, I. Ix. 24; shares command of invading army, I. Xxi. 4; put to death by Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 6

Aspetiani, their alliance with Sittas frustrated by a misunderstanding, II. Iii. 12-18

Assyria, plundered by Arethas, II. Xix. 15 ff. 

Athens, a city near Lazica, II. Xxix. 22, xxx. 14

Attachas, place in Armenia, distance from Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 9

Augarus, toparch of Edessa, II. Xii. 8; friend of Augustus, II. Xii. 8, 9; his visit to Rome, II. Xii. 9 ff. ; with difficulty persuades Augustus to allow him to return, II. Xii. 11 ff. ; receives from Augustus the promise of a hippodrome for Edessa, II. Xii. 18; his enigmatic reply to the enquiries of the citizens, II. Xii. 19; stricken with gout, seeks relief from physicians, II. Xii. 20, 21; invites Christ to come to Edessa, II. Xii. 24; cured upon receiving the reply of Christ, II. Xii. 28; son of, an unrighteous ruler, delivers over Edessa to Persia, II. Xii. 28

Augustus, Roman emperor, his affection for Augarus, II. Xii. 8-19

Augustus, priest in Byzantium, II. Xxx. 53, 54

Auxomis, capital city of the Homeritae, I. Xix. 17; distance from Adulis, I. Xix. 22; from Elephantina and the Roman boundary, I. Xix. 27

Auxomitae, name applied to some of the Aethiopians, I. Xix. 17

Azarethes, Persian general, invades Roman territory, I. Xvii. 1, xviii. 1; retires before Belisarius, I. Xviii. 9 ff. ; exhorts the Persian army, I. Xviii. 27 ff. ; arrays them for battle, I. Xviii. 30; dishonoured by Cabades, I. Xviii. 51 ff. ; at the siege of Edessa, II. Xxvii. 41

Baradotus, priest of Constantina, his godliness, II. Xiii. 13; persuades Cabades to spare Constantina, II. Xiii. 14, 15

Barbalissum, fortress on the Euphrates, distance from Obbane, II. Xii. 4

Barbarian Plain, The, near Sergiopolis, II. V. 29

Baresmanas, Persian general, at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 16, xiv. 32, 45; standard bearer of, attacked and killed by Sunicas, I. Xiv. 47-50

Barlaus, Gate of, in the wall of Edessa, II. Xxvii. 44

Basilides, appointed quaestor in place of Tribunianus, I. Xxiv. 18

Basilius, father of John of Edessa, II. Xxi. 27

Bassaces, son-in-law of John, accompanies him on a mission to Bouzes, II. Iii. 29; escapes with his companions from an ambush, II. Iii. 30; leads an embassy to the Persian king, II. Iii. 31; comes with Armenians to Byzantium, II. Xxi. 34

Bassicius, trusted friend of the Armenian king Arsaces, I. V. 17; flayed by Pacurius, I. V. 28

Batne, fortress one day's journey distant from Edessa, II. Xii. 31

Belisarius, married to Antonina, I. Xxv. 11; in company with Sittas invades Persarmenia, I. Xii. 20, 21; defeated by Narses and Aratius, I. Xii. 22; appointed commander of troops in Daras with Procopius his adviser, I. Xii. 24; at the command of Justinian undertakes to build a fortress in Mindouos, I. Xiii. 2, 3; prevented by the Persians, I. Xiii. 4 ff. ; made General of the East, I. Xiii. 9; in company with Hermogenes prepares to meet the Persians at Daras, I. Xiii. 12 ff. ; at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 19 ff. ; sends letters to Mirranes, I. Xiv. 1 ff. , 7; address to his soldiers, I. Xiv. 20 ff. ; arrays the army on the second day of the battle of Daras, I. Xiv. 28; wins a brilliant victory, I. Xiv. 47 ff. ; recalls the Romans from the pursuit of the Persians, I. Xiv. 53; hurries to meet the invading army of Azarethes I. Xviii. 4; follows the retiring Persian army, I. Xviii. 9 ff. ; ridiculed by his army, I. Xviii. 12; attempts to dissuade the Romans from battle, I. Xviii. 16 ff. ; insulted by his army, I. Xviii. 24; arrays them for battle, I. Xviii. 25, 26; fights valiantly after most of the Roman army had been routed, I. Xviii. 41 ff. ; returns to Byzantium in order to go against the Vandals, I. Xxi. 2; his share in quelling the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 40 ff. ; made General of the East and sent to Libya, I. Xxvi. 1; victorious in Italy, II. I. 1; brings Vittigis to Byzantium, II. Iv. 13; shares the command of the East with Bouzes, II. Vi. 1; summoned from Italy to Byzantium, II. Xiv. 8; sent against Chosroes, II. Xiv. 8, 13; gathers an army in Mesopotamia, II. Xvi. 1 ff. ; invades Persia, II. Xviii. 1 ff. ; defeats Nabedes at Nisibis, II. Xviii. 24, 25; sends Arethas into Assyria, II. Xix. 15; attacks Sisauranon, II. Xix. 4 ff. ; captures it, II. Xix. 24; holds consultation with commanders, II. Xix. 35 ff. ; returns to Roman territory, II. Xix. 45; recalled to Byzantium, II. Xix. 49; journeys swiftly to the East to confront Chosroes, II. Xx. 20; gathers an army at Europum, II. Xx. 24 ff. ; receives Abandanes, the envoy of Chosroes, I. Xxi. 2 ff. ; forces Chosroes to retire, II. Xxi. 21; gives John of Edessa as a hostage, II. Xxi. 27; his great fame, II. Xxi. 28, 29; summoned to Byzantium, II. Xxi. 34

Beroea, a town of Syria between Hierapolis and Antioch, II. Vii. 2; distance from Chalcis, II. Xii. 1; Chosroes demands money from the inhabitants, II. Vii. 5; the citizens retire to the acropolis, II. Vii. 7; the lower city entered by Chosroes and a large part of it fired, II. Vii. 10, 11; acropolis valiantly defended against Chosroes, II. Vii. 12; miserable plight of the besieged, II. Vii. 13; citizens capitulate to Chosroes, II. Vii. 35

Beros, an Erulian leader, encamps near Martinus, II. Xxiv. 14; with Philemouth follows Peter into Persia, II. Xxiv. 18

Bessas, a Goth, officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3; commander in Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 5

Bithynians, on the Euxine Sea, II. Xxviii. 23

Black Gulf, II. Iv. 8

Black Sea, _See_ "Euxine. "

Blases, brother of Perozes, chosen king in place of Cabades, deposed, I. V. 2; imprisoned and blinded by Cabades, I. Vi. 17

Blemyes, a people of upper Aegypt, I. Xix. 28; receive annual payment from the Roman emperor, I. Xix. 32, 33; Diocletian purposes to hold them in check by means of the Nobatae, I. Xix. 30; their religion, I. Xix. 35, 36

Bleschames, commander of the Persian soldiers in Sisauranon, II. Xix. 3; sent to Byzantium by Belisarius with Persian captives, II. Xix. 24; sent to Italy by Justinian, II. Xix. 25

Blue Faction, their struggles with the Green Faction, I. Xxiv. 2-6; favoured by Justinian, II. Xi. 32; in the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 7 ff. ; also called the "Veneti"

Blue Colonnade, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 49

Boas River, considered by Procopius the upper portion of the Phasis, II. Xxix. 14-16

Boes, a Persian general, I. Xii. 10

Bolum, fortress in Persarmenia, near which were the gold mines of the Persian king, I. Xv. 18; betrayed to the Romans by Isaac, I. Xv. 32, 33; its return demanded by Chosroes, I. Xxii. 3; given up by the Romans, I. Xxii. 18

Boraedes, nephew of Justinian, assists in making Hypatius prisoner, I. Xxiv. 53

Bosporus, a city on the Euxine, I. Xii. 7; citizens of, put themselves under the sway of Justinus, I. Xii. 8; Justinian accused of seizing it, II. Iii. 40

Bouzes, brother of Coutzes, commander in Lebanon, I. Xiii. 5; sent to support Belisarius at Mindouos, _ib. _; commander in Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 5; at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 19, 25 ff. ; sent against the Armenians, II. Iii. 28; his offers of friendship distrusted by them, II. Iii. 28, 29; slays John treacherously, II. Iii. 31; shares the command of the East with Belisarius, II. Vi. 1; makes suggestions as to the defence of Hierapolis, II. Vi. 2 ff. ; abandons the city, II. Vi. 7, 8; prevents the citizens of Edessa from ransoming the captives of Antioch, II. Xiii. 6; favours invasion of Persia by Belisarius, II. Xvi. 16; takes refuge with Justus in Hierapolis, II. Xx. 20; they invite Belisarius to join them, II. Xx. 21 ff. ; but later come to him at Europum, II. Xx. 28

Braducius, interpreter of Isdigousnas, II. Xxviii. 41

Bronze Gate, in the emperor's palace in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 47

Bulicas, harbour of the Homeritae, I. Xix. 21

Byzantium, Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 1 ff. ; suburbs ravaged by Huns, II. Iv. 4; visited by the pestilence, II. Xxii. 9 ff. ; Chosroes contemplates its capture by way of the Euxine, II. Xxviii. 23

Cabades, youngest son of Perozes, I. Iv. 2; chosen king of Persia, I. Iv. 34; introduces innovations into the Persian government displeasing the people, I. V. 1; cast into the Prison of Oblivion, I. V. 7; escapes from it, I. Vi. 7, 8, 10; enters Persia with an army of Ephthalitae, I. Vi. 10-17; appoints Adergoudounbades "chanaranges" I. Vi. 15, 18; deposes Blases, I. Vi. 17; institutes a new office, I. Vi. 18, 19; appeals to Anastasius for a loan, I. Vii. 1; invades Roman territory, I. Vii. 3; grants request of Jacobus, the hermit, I. Vii. 9-11; besieges Amida, I. Vii. 12-29; captures Amida, I. Vii. 29; puts Glones in command of the city, I. Vii. 33; his treatment of the captives of Amida, I. Vii. 34; routs the Roman armies near Amida, I. Viii. 8-19; shews kindness to Baradotus by sparing Constantina, II. Xiii. 13; desirous of capturing Edessa and Constantina, II. Xiii. 8; abandons his purpose of capturing Edessa, II. Xiii. 9 ff. ; retires in order to meet an invasion of the Huns, I. Viii. 19; seizes the Caspian Gates, I. X. 12; protests at the fortification of Daras, I. X. 16; solicitude as to his successor, I. Xi. 2 ff. ; cured by Stephanus of Edessa, II. Xxvi. 31; hates his oldest son Caoses, I. Xi. 3, II. Ix. 12; requests Justinus to adopt Chosroes, I. Xi. 9, 20 ff. ; unwilling to save Seoses, I. Xi. 36, 37; tries to force the Iberians to adopt the Persian religion, I. Xii. 2 ff. ; sends an army against them, I. Xii. 10; sends an army into Roman Armenia, I. Xv. 1; his gold mine at Pharangium, I. Xv. 27; deprived of the revenue therefrom, I. Xv. 28, 29; treats with the ambassador Rufinus at Daras, I. Xvi. 1 ff. ; punishes Perozes, I. Xvii. 26 ff. ; plans a new campaign against the Romans, I. Xvii. 29; advised by Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 30 ff. ; adopts the suggestion of Alamoundaras, I. Xviii. 1; dishonours Azarethes, I. Xviii. 51 ff. ; refuses to negotiate with Hermogenes, I. Xxi. 1; bought pearl from the Ephthalitae, I. Iv. 16; his last illness, I. Xxi. 17 ff. ; his ability as a ruler, I. Vi. 19

Cabades, son of Zames, plot to set him on the Persian throne in place of Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 4; ordered to be killed by Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 7; escapes by the help of the chanaranges, I. Xxiii. 9 ff. ; one claiming this name entertained by Justinian in Byzantium, I. Xxiii. 23, 24

Cadiseni, in the Persian army at the battle of Daras, I. Xiv. 38, 39

Caesar, the title used by the Persians to designate the Roman emperor, II. Xxi. 9, xi. 35

Caesarea, the home of Procopius, I. I. 1

Caisus, a Homerite, of captain's rank, a fugitive because of murder committed by him, I. Xx. 9, 10

Callinicus, city of Mesopotamia, II. Xi. 28; on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 13; Roman army conveyed thither by boats after the battle on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 50; taken by Chosroes, II. Xxi. 30 ff. 

Candidus, priest of Sergiopolis, makes agreement with Chosroes, II. V. 31; punished by Chosroes for failing to keep his agreement, II. Xx. 2 ff. , 15, 16

Caoses, oldest son of Cabades, I. Xi. 3; hated by his father, II. Ix. 12; claims the throne of Persia upon the death of Cabades, I. Xxi. 20; prevented by Mebodes from becoming king, I. Xxi. 22

Cappadocia, country of Asia embracing a portion of the Taurus, I. X. 1; desired by Chosroes, II. Xxviii. 23; visited by Orestes, I. Xvii. 16

Carrhae, city of Mesopotamia, citizens of, offer money to Chosroes, II. Xiii. 7; able to see the smoke of the burning "agger" at Edessa, II. Xxvii. 15

Caspian Gates, their location and strategic importance, I. X. 1 ff. ; fortified by Alexander, I. X. 9; offered to Anastasius by Ambazouces, I. X. 10; seized by Cabades, I. X. 12, xvi. 4, 7, xxii. 5; guarded by the Persians, II. X. 21

Cassandria, known in ancient times as Potidaea, captured by the Huns, II. Iv. 5

Catholicos, title of the priest of Doubios, II. Xxv. 4

Caucasus Mountains, I. Xv. 26; inhabited by Huns, II. Xv. 3, 29, xxviii. 22; by Alani, etc. , II. Xxix. 15; barbarians in, held in check by Lazica, II. Xxviii. 22

Celer, Roman general, I. Viii. 2; invades Arzanene, I. Viii. 21, II. Xv. 7; with Patricius and Hypatius besieges Amida, I. Ix. 1; negotiates a treaty with Aspebedes, I. Ix. 24

Celesene, district in Armenia, I. Xvii. 11, 21; sanctuary of Artemis there, I. Xvii. 11

Cerataeum, a district of Antioch, II. X. 7

Chalcis, city in Syria, distance from Gabboulon, I. Xviii. 8; from Beroea, II. Xii. 1; saved from Chosroes by money payment, II. Xii. 1, 2

Chanaranges (_lit. _ "Commander of the Frontier Troops"), Persian term for "general, " I. V. 4, vi. 12, xxiii. 7

Chanaranges, Persian general, shares command of invading army, I. Xxi. 4; besieges Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 14, 15; retires, I. Xxi. 27

Cherson, a city at the limits of Roman territory on the Euxine, I. Xii. 7

Chersonesus, its wall assailed by the Huns, II. Iv. 8

Chorzianene, place in Armenia, Eruli encamp there, II. Xxiv. 14

Chosroes, third son of Cabades, I. Xi. 5; Cabades proposes to Justinus that he adopt Chosroes, I. Xi. 6 ff. ; Ch. Awaits outcome of negotiations regarding his adoption by Justinus, I. Xi. 27; retires in anger to Persia, I. Xi. 30; declared by Cabades in his testament successor to the throne of Persia, I. Xxi. 17 ff. ; his election to the kingship, I. Xxi. 22; meets Roman ambassadors on the Tigris, I. Xxii. 1 ff. ; failure of their negotiations, I. Xxii. 12 ff. ; grants the prayer of Rufinus, I. Xxii. 15; concludes the "endless peace. " I. Xxii. 16, 17; his unpopularity among the Persians, I. Xxiii. 1-3; plot to dethrone him, I. Xxiii. 3 ff. ; slays Zames and other male relatives, I. Xxiii. 6; orders the chanaranges to slay Cabades, son of Zames, I. Xxiii. 7; hears from Varrames how Cabades had been spared, I. Xxiii. 13; his punishment of Adergoudounbades, I. Xxiii. 14 ff. ; destroys Mebodes, I. Xxiii. 25 ff. ; vexed at Roman successes in Libya, I. Xxvi. 2; demands his share of the spoils, I. Xxvi. 3; desires to break the treaty with the Romans, II. I. 1; charges Justinian with having broken the treaty, II. I. 12-14, x. 13, 16; hears with favour the ambassadors of Vittigis, II. Ii. 12; receives an embassy from the Armenians, II. Iii. 32 ff. ; decides to open hostilities against the Romans, II. Iii. 55; admonished by Justinian by letter, II. Iv. 17 ff. ; detains Anastasius, II. Iv. 26; dismisses him, II. V. 27; first invasion of Roman territory, II. V. 1; marches towards Syria, II. V. 4; refrains from attacking Zenobia, II. V. 7; arriving at Sura, besieges the city, II. V. 8 ff. ; captures it by a strategem, II. V. 22 ff. ; marries Euphemia, II. V. 28; releases captives for ransom, II. V. 29; hears the plea of Megas, II. Vi. 18 ff. ; exacts money from the Hierapolitans, II. Vi. 22-24; promises to depart from the East for ten centenaria of gold, II. Vi. 25; demands money from the Beroeans, II. Vii. 5; enters Beroea and fires a large portion of it, II. Vii. 10, 11; besieges the acropolis, II. Vii. 11 ff. ; reproached by Megas, II. Vii. 19; his reply, II. Vii. 20 ff. ; allows the Beroeans to capitulate, II. Vii. 35; moves against Antioch, II. Viii. 1; demands money from the citizens of Antioch, II. Viii. 4; hears the ambassadors, II. Viii. 5; insulted by the citizens, II. Viii. 6; storms the city wall, II. Viii. 8 ff. ; captures Antioch, II. Viii. 20; reproached by Zaberganes, II. Viii. 30 ff. ; addresses the ambassadors, II ix. 1 ff. ; his hesitation in allowing the Persians to enter Antioch, II. Viii. 22-24, ix. 7; his character II. Ix. 8-12; orders the plunder of Antioch, II. Ix. 14; burns the city, II. Ix. 17, 18; addressed by the ambassadors, II. X. 10 ff. ; demands money from them, II. X. 19 ff. ; agrees upon terms for peace, II. X. 24; visits Seleucia, II. Xi. 1; visits Daphne, II. Xi. 5 ff. ; burns the sanctuary of Michael at Daphne, II. Xi. 12, 13; proceeds to Apamea, II xi. 14; enters the city and seizes its treasures, II. Xi. 24 ff. ; becomes a spectator in the hippodrome, II. Xi. 31 ff. ; impales a Persian adulterer, II. Xi. 37, 38; exacts money from the citizens of Chalcis, II. Xii. 1, 2; crosses the Euphrates by a bridge, II. Xii. 3 ff. ; eager to capture Edessa because of the belief of the Christians that it could not be captured, II. Xii. 6 ff. , 29, 31; demands and receives money from the citizens, II. Xii. 33, 34; upon receipt of a letter from Justinian prepares for departure, II. Xiii. 1, 2; protests at the offer of money by the citizens of Carrhae, II. Xiii. 7; accepts money from the citizens of Constantina, II. Xiii. 8; claims Constantina as his possession by inheritance, _ib. _, II. Xiii. 15; besieges Daras, II. Xi. 28, xiii. 16; abandons the siege of Daras upon receipt of money, II. Xiii. 28; charged by Justinian with breaking the treaty, II. Xiii. 29; provides a home for the captives of Antioch, II. Xiv. 1 ff. ; called in by the Lazi, II. Xv. 1, 12 ff. ; prepares to invade Lazica, II. Xv. 31-35; Belisarius sent against him, II. Xiv. 8; invades Lazica, II. Xvii. 1 ff. ; commands an attack to be made on Petra, II. Xvii. 4; impales Aniabedes, II. Xvii. 11; besieges Petra, II. Xvii. 13 ff. ; captures Petra, II. Xvii. 27; retires from Lazica, II. Xix. 48; third invasion of Roman territory, II. Xx. 1 ff. ; besieges Sergiopolis in vain, II. Xx. 11 ff. ; punishes Candidus, the priest of Sergiopolis, II. Xx. 2 ff. , 15, 16; takes much treasure from Sergiopolis, II. Xx. 7; sends envoy to Belisarius, II. Xxi. 1, 23; retires before Belisarius, II. Xxi. 15 ff. ; crosses the Euphrates by a bridge, II. Xxi. 21; takes Callinicus, II. Xi. 28, xxi. 30-32; receives the hostage John, II. Xxi. 27; awaits the Roman envoys at Adarbiganon, II. Xxiv. 1 ff. ; his army visited by the pestilence, II. Xxiv. 8, 12; retires from Adarbiganon into Assyria, II. Xxiv. 12; fourth invasion of Roman territory, II. Xxvi. 1 ff. ; makes an attempt upon Edessa, II. Xxvi. 5 ff. ; comes to terms with the citizens of Edessa, II. Xxvii. 46; arranges a five-year truce with Constantianus and Sergius, II. Xxviii. 7 ff. ; lays plans to capture Daras and secure his possession of Lazica, II. Xxviii. 15 ff. ; attemps to capture Daras by a ruse, II. Xxviii. 31 ff. ; plans to build a fleet in the Euxine, II. Xxix. 1; sends Phabrizus into Lazica to destroy Goubazes, II. Xxix. 2 ff. ; sends an army to relieve Petra, II. Xxix. 13

Christ, suffered in Jerusalem, II. Xi. 14. _See_ "Jesus. "

Christians, converted two temples into churches, I. Xvii. 18; boast that Edessa cannot be captured, II. Xii. 7; reverence especially the feast of Easter, I. Xviii. 15; the Lazi and Iberians devout Christians, I. Xii. 3, II. Xxviii. 26; among the Homeritae, abused by Jews, I. Xx. 1

Cilicia, the refuge of Ephraemius, II. Vii. 17; and Germanus, II. Vii. 18

Cilicians, the objective of Chosroes' invasion, II. V. 4, vi. 21

Cilician screens, used at the siege of Edessa, II. Xxvi. 29

Circesiurn, Roman stronghold on the Euphrates, II. V. 2; its excellent defences, II. V. 3

Citharizon, fortress in Armenia, four days from Theodosiopolis, II. Xxiv. 13

Colchis, the old name for Lazica (_q. V. _) I. Xi. 28, etc. 

Comana, called "Golden Comana, " a city of Cappadocia founded by Orestes, I. Xvii. 19

Comana, city in Pontus, founded by Orestes, not the one "Among the Taurians, " I. Xvii. 12

Comet, The, its appearance in the heavens, II. Iv. 1, 2; various explanations of the meaning of the phenomenon, II. Iv. 3

Commagene, old name for Euphratesia, I. Xvii. 2, 23, II. Xx. 17; invaded by the Persians, I. Xviii. 2

Constantianus, an Illyrian, II. Xxiv. 4; envoy to Chosroes with Sergius, II. Xxiv. 3; appointed general, II. Xxviii. 2; sent as envoy to Chosroes with Sergius a second time, II. Xxviii. 3 ff. 

Constantina, city in Mesopotamia, I. Xxii. 3; distance from Arzamon, I. Viii. 10; Cabades desirous of capturing the city, II. Xiii. 8; spared by Cabades owing to the entreaties of Baradotus, II. Xiii. 13 ff. ; claimed by Chosroes as an inherited possession, II. Xiii. 8, 15; citizens of, their offer of money accepted by Chosroes, II. Xiii. 8

Constantine, Forum of, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 9, 24

Coutzes, Roman general, brother of Bouzes, sent to support Belisarius at Mindouos, I. Xiii. 5; captured by the Persians, I. Xiii. 8

Ctesiphon, town on the Tigris, II. Xxviii. 4-5; distance from the Antioch of Chosroes, II. Xiv. 1

Cyril, Roman commander at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 21

Cyrus, king of the Persians, II. Ii. 15

Cyzicus, John the Cappadocian exiled thither, I. Xxv. 31

Dagaris, a Roman spy, captured by Huns, I. Xv. 6; returned to the Romans, I. Xxii. 18; his later services to the Romans, I. Xxii. 19

Dagisthaeus, commands an army to succour the Lazi, II. Xxix. 10; with Goubazes besieges Petra, II. Xxix. 11 ff. ; sends an insufficient force to guard the pass into Lazica, II. Xxix. 33-34; his incompetent conduct of the siege of Petra, II. Xxix. 34 ff. ; deceived by Mirranes, II. Xxx. 7; abandons Petra, II. Xxx. 11; with Phoubelis attacks Mermeroes, II. Xxx. 22; with Goubazes attacks and almost annihilates the Persians, II. Xxx. 39 ff. 

Daphne, suburb of Antioch, II viii. 25; visited by Chosroes, II. Xi. 5 ff. ; the portent of the uprooted cypresses, II. Xiv. 5

Daras, a city in Mesopotamia, fortified by Anastasius, I. X. 13; distance from Nisibis and the Persian boundary, I. X. 14; from Ammodius, I. Xiii. 15; its formidable defences, II. Xiii. 17; a menace to the Persians, I. Xvi. 6; battle of, I. Xiii. 12 ff. ; the Persians demand that its walls be demolished, I. Xvi. 7; its abandonment by the Roman army a condition of the "endless peace, " I. Xxii. 16; the tyranny of John, I. Xxvi. 5-12; besieged by Chosroes, II. Xi. 28, xiii. 16 ff. ; citizens of, make a settlement with Chosroes, II. Xiii. 28; Chosroes plans to capture it by a ruse, II. Xxviii. 17; failure of the attempt, II. Xxviii. 31 ff. 

Death, Gate of, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 52

Diocletian, Roman emperor, readjusts the Roman boundary in Aegypt, I. Xix. 29 ff. ; builds the fortress of Philae, I. Xix. 34, 35

Diogenes, a guardsman, commander of cavalry, II. Xxi. 2, 18, 20

Domentiolus commands a detachment of an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 15

Dorotheus, a Roman commander at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 21

Dorotheus, general of Armenia, attacks invading Persian army, I. Xv. 3 ff. ; makes a sally from Satala upon the Persian army, I. Xv. 11 ff. 

Doubios, district in Persarmenia, II. Xxv. 1, 2; its trade with India, II. Xxv. 3; distance from Theodosiopolis, II. Xxv. 1; Mermeroes stops there with his army II. Xxx. 33; priest of, called Catholicos, II. Xxv. 4; sent to urge the Romans to make peace, II. Xxiv. 6, 7

Easter, its especial observance by the Christians, I. Xviii. 15

Edessa, the centre of so-called Osroene, I. Xvii. 24; in Mesopotamia, II. Xxiv. 4; Augustus promises to build a hippodrome in the city, II. Xii. 18; the story of its toparch Augarus, II. Xii. 8 ff. ; citizens of, convinced that the city could not be captured by barbarians, II. Xii. 7, 26, 30; the letter of Christ to Augarus inscribed on the city wall, II. Xii. 26; given over to the Persians by the son of Augarus, II. Xii. 28; citizens of, destroy the Persian guards and give back the city to the Romans, II. Xii. 29; citizens pay Chosroes two centenaria, II. Xii. 34; their zeal to ransom the captives of Antioch frustrated by Bouzes, II. Xiii. 3 ff. ; Cabades desirous of capturing the city, II. Xii. 6, 7, 31, xiii. 8; abandons his purpose upon reaching it, II. Xiii. 9 ff. ; attacked by Chosroes, II. Xxvi. 5 ff. ; the home of Sergius, II. Xxiv. 4

Eirenaeus, Roman general, sent to Lazica, I. Xii. 14

Elephantina, city in Aegypt, on the Roman boundary, I. Xix. 27; near Philae, I. Xix. 34, 35

Endielon, place near Amida, I. Vii. 5

Ephraemius, chief priest of Antioch, accused of treason by Julian, II. Vii. 16; retires to Cilicia, II. Vii. 17

Ephthalitae Huns, called White Huns, their manners and customs, I. Iii. 1, 2; wage war with Perozes, I. Iii. 1 ff. ; entrap the Persian army, I. Iii. 8 ff. ; in a second war with Perozes completely destroy his army, I. Iv. 1 ff. ; force the Persians to pay tribute, I. Iv. 35; receive Cabades after his escape from the Prison of Oblivion, I. Vi. 10; Cabades owes their king money, I. Vii. 1, 2; punished for impiety towards Jacobus, the hermit, I. Vii. 8; eight hundred Eph. Killed by the Persians, I. Viii. 13

Eruli, accustomed to fight without protective armour except a shield, II. Xxv. 27, 28; in the Roman army, II. Xxi. 4; in the Roman army at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 19, xiv. 33, 39; under Mundus, I. Xxiv. 41; in the army of Valerianus, II. Xxiv. 12; with the army of Martinus, II. Xxiv. 14; follow Peter into Persia, II. Xxiv. 18; in the battle of Anglon, II. Xxv. 20 ff. 

Esimiphaeus, established as king of the Homeritae, I. Xx. 1; deposed by insurgents, I. Xx. 3; makes idle promise to Justinian, I. Xx. 9 ff. 

Euphemia, daughter of John the Cappadocian I. Xxv. 13

Euphemia, captive of Sura, married by Chosroes, II. V. 28

Euphratesia, ancient name of Commagene I. Xvii. 2, 23, II. Xx. 17, 20; chosen by Azarethes as the starting point for an invasion of Roman territory, I. Xvii. 2

Euphrates River, its source in Armenia, I. Xvii. 4; disappears in a strange marsh, I. Xvii. 6 ff. ; its course from Celesene as far as the junction with the Tigris, I. Xvii. 21, 22; receives the waters of the Aborrhas, II. V. 2; protects one side of Circesium, _ib. _; important battle on its banks, I. Xviii. 30 ff. 

Europe, invaded by the Huns, II. Iv. 4 ff. 

Europum, on the Euphrates, headquarters of Belisarius while recruiting his army, II. Xx. 24, 27, 28

Eusebius, Roman ambassador to the Persian king Perozes, I. Iii. 8; warns Perozes of the stratagem of the Ephthalitae I. Iii. 13

Eusebius, bishop of Cyzicus, murdered by the citizens, I. Xxv. 37, 38

Euxine Sea, receives the waters of the Phasis, II. Xxix. 18; Chosroes desires an outlet to it, II. Xxviii. 23

Evaris, builder of a temple of Michael at Tretum, near Antioch, II. Xi. 7

Florentinus, a Thracian, distinguishes himself at the battle of Satala, I. Xv. 15, 16

Gabalas, a Saracen, father of Arethas, I. Xvii. 47

Galatians, on the Euxine, II. Xxviii. 23

Gabboulon, distance from Chalcis, I. Xviii. 8

Gaza, limit of Arabia in olden times, I. Xix. 20

Gelimer, brought captive to Byzantium by Belisarius, II. Xxi. 28

George, confidant of Belisarius, persuades the inhabitants of Sisauranon to capitulate, II. Xix. 22, 23; saves the city of Daras, II. Xxviii. 33 f. 

Germanus, nephew of Justinian, II. Vi. 9; commander at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 21; sent to meet the invasion of Chosroes, II. Vi. 9; establishes himself In Antioch and inspects the fortifications, II. Vi. 10; retires into Cilicia, II. Vii. 18

Glones, a Persian, in command of the garrison in Amida, I. Vii. 33; destroyed by a stratagem, I. Ix. 5-17; son of, I. Ix. 4, 18

Godidisklus, a Goth, an officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3

Gorgo, city of the Ephthalitae, against the Persian frontier, I. Iii. 2, iv. 10

Goths, march with Belisarius against Chosroes, II. Xiv. 10, xviii. 24, xxi. 4

Goubazes, king of Lazica, privy councillor of Justinian _in absentia_, II. Xxix. 31; gives himself and his people over to Chosroes, II. Xvii. 2 ff. ; plotted against by Phabrizus, II. Xxix. 2 ff. ; begs Justinian to succour the Lazi, II. Xxix. 9; with Dagisthaeus besieges Petra, II. Xxix. 11 ff. ; defends one pass against the Persians, II. Xxix. 28 ff. ; asks Justinian to send money to the Alani and the Sabeiri, II. Xxix. 30; Chosroes plans to put him out of the way, II. Xxviii. 30, xxix. 2 ff. ; rewarded with money by Justinian, II. Xxx. 28; with Dagisthaeus attacks and almost annihilates the Persians, II. Xxx. 39 ff. 

Gourgenes, king of Iberia, revolts from the Persians, I. Xii. 4 ff. , II. Xv. 6, xxviii. 20; retires before the Persian army into Lazica, I. Xii. 11, 12

Gousanastades, "chanaranges, " counsels the execution of Cabades, I. V. 4; put to death by Cabades, I. Vi. 18

Greece, plundered by the Huns, II. Iv. 11

Greeks, The, I. Xix. 35

Green Faction, their struggles with the Blue Faction, I. Xxiv. 2-6; in the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 7 ff. ; favoured by Chosroes at Apamea, II. Xi. 32

Hebrews, of Iotabe, formerly autonomous, become subject to the Romans, I. Xix. 4

Helen, palace named from, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 30

Hellenic faith, The, I. Xx. 1, xxv. 10

Hellestheaeus, king of the Aethiopians, his expeditions against the Homeritae, I. Xx. 1 ff. ; his vain promises to Justinian, I. Xx. 9 ff. 

Hermogenes, Roman general, sent to assist Belisarius, I. Xiii. 10; in company with Belisarius prepares to meet the Persians at Daras, I. Xiii. 12 ff. ; at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 19 ff. ; forbids Andreas to engage in single combat, I. Xiii. 35; interchange of letters with Perozes, I. Xiv. 1 ff. ; address to the troops, I. Xiv. 20 ff. ; arrays the army on the second day of the battle of Daras, I. Xiv. 28; at the battle of Daras, I. Xiv. 44; recalls Romans from pursuit of the Persians, I. Xiv. 53; returns to Byzantium, I. Xvi. 10; sent as ambassador by the emperor, I. Xviii. 16; negotiates unsuccessfully with Chosroes, I. Xxi. 1; accompanies the army of Sittas as ambassador, I. Xxi. 10, 23; ambassador to Chosroes with Rufinus, I. Xxii. 16

Hestia, _i. E. _ Vesta, identified with the Persian fire-divinity, II. Xxiv. 2

Hierapolis, city on the Euphrates, I. Xiii. 11, xvii. 22; distance from Beroea and Antioch, II. Vii. 2; Bouzes and the Roman army stationed there, II. Vi. 2; suggested plan for its defence, II. Vi. 3 ff. ; deserted by Bouzes, II. Vi. 7, 8; saved from Chosroes by payment of money, II. Vi. 22-24; Justus and Bouzes take refuge there, II. Xx. 20

Homeric bowmen, compared with bowmen of Procopius' time, I. I. 9-11

Homeritae, people of Arabia, sought as allies by Justinian, I. Xix. 1, xx. 9 ff. ; location of their country, I. Xix. 15; domestic conflicts and intervention of Hellestheaeus, I. Xx. 1 ff. 

Honorius, Emperor of the West, uncle of Theodosius II. Unable to assist him, I. Ii. 4

Huns, a nomadic people, of ugly countenance, I. Iii. 4; their homes, I. X. 6, xii. 7, II. Xv. 3, xxviii. 22; their war with Cabades, I. Viii. 19, ix. 24, x. 15, II. Xvi. 3; Justinian attempts to win their support, II. I. 14, iii. 47, x. 16; capture a Roman spy I. Xv. 6; attack of, feared by the Persians at Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 27; invade Roman territory, I. Xxi. 28; often defeated by Dagaris, I. Xxii. 19; receiving annual payments from the Romans, II. X. 23; held back by the Lazi, II. Xv. 3; in the army of Chosroes, II. Xxvi. 5; assist the Romans in the defence of Edessa, II. Xxvi. 25, 26; invade Europe, II. Iv. 4 ff. ; cross the Hellespont into Asia, II. Iv. 9; plunder Illyricum and Thessaly and Greece as far as the Isthmus, II. Iv. 10-12

Hypatius, nephew of Anastasius, I. Viii. 2; army routed by Cabades, I. Viii. 10-18; his escape, I. Viii. 19; sent as envoy to the Persians, I. Xi. 24; slandered by Rufinus, I. Xi. 38; his punishment, I. Xi. 39; sent from the palace by Justinian, I. Xxiv. 19-21; declared emperor by the populace, and conducted to the hippodrome, I. Xxiv. 22 f. ; his wife Mary, I. Xxiv. 23; takes the emperor's seat in the hippodrome, I. Xxiv. 42; brought before Justinian as a prisoner, I. Xxiv. 53; meets his death bravely, I. Xxiv. 55, 56

Iberia, Iberians, a Christian people, side with the Romans, I. Xii. 2 ff. , II. Xv. 6; come to Byzantium, I. Xii. 14; given choice of remaining in Byzantium or returning to their homes, I. Xxii. 16; dissatisfied with Persian rule, II. Xxviii. 20, 21

Ildiger, in the army of Martinus, II. Xxiv. 13

Illyricum, invaded by the Huns, II. Iv. 5, 10

Immortals, a detachment of the Persian army, I. Xiv. 31; at the battle of Daras, I. Xiv. 44 ff. 

India, washed by the "Red Sea, " I. Xix. 3; boats in, tale to account for their construction without iron, I. Xix. 23, 24; iron not produced there nor imported from elsewhere, I. Xix. 24-26; silk export, I. Xx. 9, 12; its trade with Doubios, II. Xxv. 3

Ionian Gulf, II. Iv. 4

Iotabe, an Island In the "Red Sea, " I. Xix. 3

Iphigenia, the story of her flight from the sanctuary of Artemis, I. Xvii. 11 ff. ; temple dedicated to her by Orestes, I. Xvii. 18

Iris River, in Pontus, I. Xvii. 14

Isaac, brother of Narses, betrays Bolum to the Romans and comes as a deserter to Byzantium, I. Xv. 32, 33; commander in Armenia, II. Xxiv. 14; carries his brother Narses out of the battle of Anglon, II. Xxv. 24

Isaurians, in the Roman army, I. Xviii. 5; commanded by Longinus and Stephanacius, I. Xviii. 7; at the battle on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 38; their inexperience in war, I. Xviii. 39

Isdigerdes, Persian king, guardian of Theodosius I. Ii. 7 ff. 

Isdigousnas, high Persian official, II. Xxviii. 16; employed by Chosroes for the furtherance of his plans, II. Xxviii. 17; attempts to capture Daras for Chosroes by a ruse, II. Xxviii. 31 ff. ; continues to Byzantium as an envoy, II. Xxviii. 38 ff. 

Isis, worshipped by the Blemyes and Nobatae, I. Xix. 35

Italy, subdued by Belisarius, II. I. 1

Jacobus, a holy man among the Syrians, I. Vii. 5 ff. 

Jason, the tale of his adventure with Medea in Colchis, II. Xvii. 2

Jerusalem, the scene of Christ's suffering, II. Xi. 14; its treasures desired by Chosroes, II. Xx. 18

Jesus, his life and work in Palestine, II. Xii. 22, 23; invited by Augarus to come to Edessa, II. Xii. 24; his reply, in which he promises health to Augarus, II. Xii. 25. _See also_ "Christ. "

Jews, oppress the Christians among the Homeritae, I. Xx. 1. _See also_ "Hebrews. "

John, father of Artabanes, of the Arsacidae, II. Iii. 25; treacherously slain by Bouzes, II. Iii. 29-31

John, son of Basilius, a notable of Edessa, given as a hostage to Chosroes, I. Xxi. 27, 33

John, an Armenian, son of Thomas Gouzes, in the Roman army, II. Xxx. 4

John the Cappadocian, praetorian prefect, I. Xxiv. 11; his character and ability, I. Xxiv. 12-15, xxv. 8-10; highly esteemed by Justinian, I. Xxv. 5, 25, 33; dismissed from office, I. Xxiv. 17; restored to office, I. Xxv. 1; hated by Theodora, I. Xxv. 4-7; hostility to Belisarius, I. Xxv. 12; entrapped by Antonina, I. Xxv. 13 ff. ; forced to become a priest and exiled to Cyzicus, I. Xxv. 31; looks forward confidently to becoming emperor, I. Xxv. 8, 19, 44, II. Xxx. 50; his easy lot in Cyzicus, I. Xxv. 34, 35; accused of the murder of Eusebius, I. Xxv. 39; his treatment at the trial, I. Xxv. 40; his punishment, I. Xxv. 42, 43; imprisoned in the city of Antinous in Aegypt, I. Xxv. 43; returns to Byzantium, II. Xxx. 49, 50; the grotesque fulfilment of his dreams, II. Xxx. 54; his daughter Euphemia, I. Xxv. 13

John, son of Lucas, Roman officer, captured by Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 43, 44

John, commander of troops in Mesopotamia, arrests the interpreter of Vittigis' envoys, II. Xiv. 12; attacked by the Persians before Nisibis, II. Xviii. 16

John, son of Nicetas, Roman commander at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 21; urges Belisarius to retire from Mesopotamia, II. Xix. 36 ff. ; commands a detachment of an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 15

John, son of Rufinus, sent as ambassador to Chosroes, II. Vii. 15, ix. 1, x. 10, 18 ff. 

John Tzibus, governor of Lazica, his origin and character, II. Xv. 9; persuades Justinian to build Petra, II. Xv. 10; monopolises the retail trade, II. Xv. 11, xxix. 21; valiantly defends Petra, II. Xvii. 5 ff. ; killed by a missile, II. Xvii. 16

John, serving in the Roman infantry, his tyranny at Daras, I. Xxvi. 5-12; his death, I. Xxvi. 12

John the Glutton, a guardsman, sent with Arethas into Assyria, II. Xix. 15 ff. ; commands a detachment in an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 15

Julian, sanctuary of, in Antioch, II. X. 8

Julian, brother of Summas, envoy to the Aethiopians and Homeritae, I. Xx. 9, II. I. 10; private secretary of Justinian, sent as ambassador to Chosroes, II. Vii. 15; forbids giving money to Chosroes and denounces Ephraemius, II. Vii. 16

Justinian, nephew of Justinus, I. Xi. 10; his great love for his wife Theodora, I. Xxv. 4; favours adoption of Chosroes by his uncle Justinus, I. Xi. 10; as general, I. Xi. 16, xii. 21; becomes emperor upon the death of Justinus, I. Xiii. 1; orders the building of a fort in Mindouos, I. Xiii. 2; appoints Belisarius General of the East, I. Xiii. 9; makes Arethas commander of many tribes, I. Xvii. 47; pits Arethas against Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 47, 48; orders demolition of Philae, I. Xix. 36; endeavours to secure the alliance of the Aethiopians and Homeritae, I. Xix. 1, xx. 9 ff. ; receives the Palm Groves as a present from Abochorabus, I. Xix. 10 ff. ; recalls Belisarius and sends Sittas to the East, I. Xxi. 2, 3; receives information from a Persian spy, I. Xxi. 13; concludes the "endless peace, " I. Xxii. 16; receives in Byzantium the Cabades who claimed to be the son of Zames, I. Xxiii. 24; his conduct during the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 10 ff. ; his affection for John the Cappadocian, I. Xxv. 5, 25, 33; denounced by the Armenian embassy before Chosroes, II. Iii. 37 ff. ; refuses to sanction treaty, II. Xiii. 29; summons Belisarius from Italy and sends him against Chosroes, II. Xiv. 8; commands Belisarius to invade Persia, II. Xvi. 5; sends him again against Chosroes, II. Xx. 20; summons Belisarius from the East in order to send him to Italy, II. Xxi. 34; takes measures for the relief of the victims of the pestilence, II. Xxiii. 5 ff. ; attacked by the pestilence, II. Xxiii. 20; orders Valerianus and Martinus with others to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 10; appoints Marcellus and Constantianus generals, II. Xxviii. 2; sanctions the five-year peace, II. Xxviii. 11; receives Isdigousnas with especial honour, II. Xxviii. 38 ff. ; sends succour to the Lazi, II. Xxix. 10; neglects to send money requested by Goubazes, II. Xxix. 30-32; finally sends the money for the Sabeiri, and gifts of money to Goubazes, II. Xxx. 28; sends John Tzibus to Lazica, II. Xv. 9; founds Petra in Lazica, II. Xv. 10, xxix. 20; makes a present of money to Chosroes, I. Xxvi. 4; considers the question of Strata, II. I. 7 ff. ; accused of tampering with Alamoundaras, II. I. 12-14, iii. 47, x. 16; advises Chosroes not to wage war, II. Iv. 17 ff. ; sends Germanus to Syria, II. Vi. 9; sends ambassadors to Chosroes, II. Vii. 15; favours the Green Faction, II. Xi. 32; writes to Chosroes, II. Xiii. 1; the years of his reign noted, I. Xvi. 10, xxii. 17, II. Iii. 56, v. 1, xxviii. 11, xxx. 48

Justinus, uncle of Justinian, I. Xi. 10; an officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3; becomes emperor, I. Xi. 1; declines to adopt Chosroes, I. Xi. 6 ff. ; reduces Hypatius from authority, I. Xi. 39; captures Peter of Arzanene during Celer's invasion, II. Xv. 7; supports the Iberians in their revolt from the Persians, I. Xii. 5 ff. ; makes Justinian partner in the royal power, I. Xii. 21; appoints Procopius adviser to Belisarius, I. Xii. 24; his death, I. Xiii. 1

Justus, nephew of Justinian, assists in making Hypatius prisoner, I. Xxiv. 53; takes refuge with Bouzes in Hierapolis II. Xx. 20; they invite Belisarius to join them, II. Xx. 21 ff. ; but later come to him in Europum, II. Xx. 28; commands a detachment of an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 15; invades Persia apart from the other commanders, II. Xxiv. 20; invades the country about Taraunon with Peranius, II. Xxv. 35; his death, II. Xxviii. 1

Lazica, Lazi, later names for Colchis and Colchi (_q. V. _), I. Xi. 28; its cities, II. Xxix. 18; an unproductive country, I. Xii. 17 II. Xxviii. 27; imported salt and other necessities of life, II. Xv. 5, xxviii. 27; many fortresses there, II. Xxx. 27; difficult to traverse, II. Xxix. 24, 25; bulwark against the barbarians of the Caucasus, II. Xxviii. 22; its importance to Persia, II. Xxviii. 18 ff. ; the scene of the story of Jason and Medea, II. Xvii. 2; the Lazi in ancient times allies of the Persians, II. Xv. 15; become allies of the Romans, II. Xv. 16; the people Christian, II. Xxviii. 26; Lazica claimed by the Persians, I. Xi. 28; forts of, abandoned by the Romans and occupied by the Persians, I. Xii. 19; Chosroes refuses to return them to the Romans, I. Xxii. 3; finally given up by the Persians, I. Xxii. 18; invaded by Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 12, II. Xv. 1, xvii. 1 ff. ; limited subjection of the Lazi to the Romans, II. Xv. 2-4; placed under a Roman magistrate, II. Iii. 39; become discontented by reason of Roman misrule, II. Xv. 6 ff. ; appeal to Chosroes, II. Xv. 1, 12 ff. ; demanded from Chosroes by the Roman envoys, II. Xxviii. 6; Chosroes plans to populate it with Persians, II. Xxviii. 17; Lazi hostile to Persian rule, II. Xxviii. 25

Lebanon, I. Xiii. 5, II. Viii. 2, xvi. 17, xix. 33

Libelarius of Thrace, Roman general, invades Mesopotamia, I. Xii. 23; reduced from office, I. Xii. 24

Libyans, II. Iii. 42

Ligurians, envoys of Vittigis to Chosroes, II. Ii. 1

Longinus, commander of Isaurians, I. Xviii. 7

Lucas, father of John, I. Xvii. 44

Lycaones, in the army of Belisarius, I. Xviii. 40

Macedonians, founders of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, II. Xxviii. 4

Maddeni, tribe of Saracens in Arabia, subject to the Homeritae, I. Xix. 14, I. Xx. 9

Magi, advise Perozes to deceive the Ephthalitae, I. Iii. 18 ff. ; entrap Arsaces, I. V. 19 ff. ; advice to Cabades at the siege of Amida, I. Vii. 19; announce to Chosroes that he will capture Sura, II. V. 9; answer Cabades' enquiry with regard to Edessa, II. Xiii. 9, 10; guardians of the fire-sanctuary, II. Xxiv. 2

Mamas, priest of Daras, assists in overthrowing the tyranny of John, I. Xxvi. 8

Marcellus, nephew of Justinian, appointed general, II. Xxviii. 2

Marcellus, Roman commander at the battle of Daras I. Xiii. 21; commander of palace guards, sent by Theodora to assassinate John the Cappadocian, I. Xxv. 24 ff. ; wounded in the encounter, I. Xxv. 29

Martinus, given as a hostage to the Persians, I. Xxi. 27; sent to the East, II. Xiv. 9; defends Daras against Chosroes, II. Xiii. 16 ff. ; ordered to invade Persia with Valerianus, II. , xxiv. 10; General of the East, encamps at Citharizon, II. Xxiv. 13; follows Peter in invading Persia, II. Xxiv. 19; commands the centre at the battle of Anglon II. Xxv. 17; with Peter and Peranius defends Edessa against Chosroes, II. Xxvi. 25 ff. ; deceived by the Persian commanders, II. Xxvi. 44 ff. , xxvii. 5, 6; arranges a settlement with Chosroes, II. Xxvii. 45, 46

Martyropolis, near the River Nymphius, I. Viii. 22; distance from Amida, I. Xxi. 6; besieged by the Persians, I. Xxi. 5 ff. ; fears of Sittas and Hermogenes concerning its safety, I. Xxi. 23; siege abandoned by the Persians, I. Xxi. 27; near Phison, II. Xxiv. 15

Mary, wife of Hypatius, tries to prevent her husband from going to the hippodrome, I. Xxiv. 23, 24

Massagetae, reported to be preparing to join the Persians, I. Xxi. 13. _See also_"Huns"

Mebodes, a Persian official, sent as envoy to the Romans, I. Xi. 25; slanders Seoses, I. Xi. 31; persuades Cabades to leave a written declaration concerning Chosroes, I. Xxi. 17-19; opposes the claim of Caoses, I. Xxi. 20; secures the election of Chosroes as king, I. Xxi. 22; his tragic death, I. Xxiii. 25 ff. 

Medea, the tale of her adventure with Jason in Colchis, II. Xvii. 2

Medes, the name used by Procopius as an equivalent for "Persians" (_q. V. _)

Medic garments, called to Procopius' time "seric, " I. Xx. 9

Megas, bishop of Beroea, sent to Chosroes, II. Vi. 17; begs him to spare the Roman cities, II. Vi. 18 ff. ; goes to Antioch, II. Vii. 1; fails to persuade the citizens of Antioch to pay money to Chosroes, II. Vii. 14; his conference with Chosroes at Beroea, II. Vii. 19 ff. 

Melitene, chief city of Armenia Minor, I. Xvii. 22

Mermeroes, Persian general, invades Roman Armenia, I. Xv. 1 ff. ; driven back by Dorotheus and Sittas, I. Xv. 8; invades Roman territory a second time, I. Xv. 9; defeated at Satala, I. Xv. 12 ff. ; shares command of an invading army, I. Xxi. 4; lends an army to the relief of Petra, II. Xxix. 13, xxx. 1 ff. ; forces the pass into Iberia, II. Xxx. 8-10; reaches Petra, II. Xxx. 15; taunts the Romans, II. Xxx. 17; leaving a garrison in Petra, starts back, II. Xxx. 20; attacked by Phoubelis and Goubazes, II. Xxx. 22; departs from Lazica with the greater part of his army, II. Xxx. 32, 33

Mesopotamia, bounded by the Tigris and the Euphrates, I. Xvii. 23; its hot climate, II. Xix. 31; Persians accustomed to invade Roman territory from here, I. Xvii. 25; avoided by invading Persian army, I. Xvii. 2; invaded by the Persians, I. Xxi. 4 ff. 

Michael, sanctuary of, in Daphne, burned by Chosroes, II. Xi. 6, 12, 13; temple of, at Tretum, II. Xi. 7, 13

Mindouos, place near the Persian border, Justinian attempts to fortify it, I. Xiii. 2, xvi. 7

Mirranes, a Persian term (_lit. _ "Mithra-son, " denoting properly, not an office, but a patrician family); _see_ Perozes 2; also, commander in Petra, deceives Dagisthaeus, II. Xxx. 7

Mocheresis, important city of Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Molatzes, commander of troops in Lebanon, brings succour to Antioch, II. Viii. 2; flees precipitately with the soldiers, II. Viii. 17-19

Monks, distinguished for piety, I. Vii. 22, 24

Moors, II. Ii. 8, iii. 46

Mopsuestia, a city of Cilicia, II. X. 2

Mundus, general in Illyricum, assists in quelling the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 40 ff. 

Nabedes, commander of the Persian soldiers in Nisibis, II. Xviii. 9; attacks the Roman troops before the city, II. Xviii. 19 ff. ; general in Persarmenia, takes measures to urge the Romans toward making peace, II. Xxiv. 6; takes up his position in Anglon, II. Xxv. 6; defeats the Roman armies, II. Xxv. 20 ff. 

Narses, a Persarmenian, the emperor's steward, receives Narses and Aratius when they desert to the Romans, I. Xv. 31; a eunuch, I. Xxv. 24; sent by Theodora to assist in the assassination of John the Cappadocian, _ib. _; overhears his conversation with Antonina, I. Xxv. 26

Narses, a Persarmenian, in company with Aratius defeats Sittas and Belisarius, I. Xii. 21, 22; deserts to the Romans, I. Xv. 31; dismantles the sanctuaries in Philae at Justinian's order, I. Xix. 37; encamps with Valerianus near Theodosiopolis, II. Xxiv. 12; leads the attack at Anglon, II. Xxv. 20; dies bravely, II. Xxv. 24; brother of Isaac, II. Xxiv. 14

Nicetas, father of the general John, I. Xiii. 21, II. Xix. 36, xxiv. 15

Nika insurrection, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 1 ff. ; significance of the name, I. Xxiv. 10

Nile River, the Nobatae dwell along its banks, I. Xix. 28, 29; the island of Philae in it, I. Xix. 34

Nisibis, distance from the Tigris, I. Xi. 27; from Daras, I. X. 14; from Sisauranon, II. Xix. 2; bulwark of the Persian empire, II. Xviii. 7; its capture by the Persians, I. Xvii. 25; its territory invaded by Libelarius, I. Xii. 23; by Belisarius, II. Xviii. 1 ff. ; negotiations with Chosroes there, I. Xxii. 10

Nobatae, a people of upper Aegypt, I. Xix. 28; settled along the Nile by Diocletian, I. Xix. 29 ff. ; receive annual payment from the Roman emperor, I. Xix. 32, 33; their religion, I. Xix. 35

Nymphius River, near Martyropolis, I. Viii. 22, xxi. 6; forms boundary between the Roman and Persian territory, I. Xxi. 6; boundary of Arzanene, I. Viii. 21, II. Xv. 7

Oasis, city in upper Aegypt, former home of the Nobatae, I. Xix. 30

Obbane, on the Euphrates, distance from Barbalissum, II. Xii. 4

Octava, place in Armenia, distance from Satala, I. Xv. 9

Odonathus, ruler of the Saracens, husband of Zenobia, II. V. 5; his services to the Romans, II. V. 6

Oenochalakon, place in Armenia, II. Iii. 15

Olyvrius, emperor of the West, father-in-law of Areobindus, I. Viii. 1

Orestes, the story of his flight from Tauris, I. Xvii. 11 ff. 

Origenes, a senator, counsels moderation, I. Xxiv. 26 ff. 

Orocasius, highest part of the city of Antioch, II. Vi. 10

Orontes River, flows along by Antioch, II. Vi. 10, viii. 3, 35

Osiris, worshipped by the Blemyes and Nobatae, I. Xix. 35

Osroene, name applied to country about Edessa, I. Xvii. 24; its strongly fortified cities, I. Xvii. 34

Osroes, ancient king of Edessa, I. Xvii. 24

Pacurius, king of Persia at the time of the truceless war with the Armenians, I. V. 10; entraps Arsaces, I. V. 16 ff. ; confines Arsaces in the Prison of Oblivion, I. V. 29; flays Bassicius, I. V. 28; grants favour to a friend of Arsaces, I. V. 30 ff. 

Palestine, bounded by the "Red Sea, " I. Xix. 2; Saracens dwelling in it, I. Xix. 10; the objective of Chosroes' third invasion, II. Xx. 18; visited by the pestilence, II. Xxii. 6

Palm Groves, held by Saracens of Arabia, I. Xix. 8, 9, II. Iii. 41; presented to Justinian, I. Xix. 10 ff. 

Palmyra, city of Phoenicia, II. I. 6

Parthians, their connection with the first Arsaces, II. Iii. 32

Patriciolus, an officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3

Patricias, the Phrygian, Roman general, I. Viii. 2; his army routed by Cabades, I. Viii. 10-18; his escape, I. Viii. 19; entraps Glones with two hundred Persians, I. Ix. 5-18

Paulus, interpreter of Chosroes, II. Vi. 22; a Roman reared in Antioch, II. Vi. 23; presents the Persian demands at Hierapolis, II. Vi. 22; at Beroea, II. Vii. 5; at Antioch, II. Viii. 4; where he exhorts the citizens to abstain from their folly, II. Viii. 7; at Chalcis, II. Xii. 1; at Edessa, II. Xii. 33; a second time at Edessa, II. Xxvi. 14, xxvii. 24, 45

Pearl, story of the, I. Iv. 17-31

Peloponnesus, escapes plunder by the Huns, II. Iv. 11

Pelusium, in Aegypt, the starting point of the pestilence, II. Xxii. 6

Peranius, son of Gourgenes, king of Iberia, I. Xii. 11; commands a detachment of an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 15; invades the country about Taraunon with Justus, II. Xxv. 35; with Peter and Martinus defends Edessa against Chosroes, II. Xxvi. 25 ff. , xxvii. 42; Chosroes demands that he and Peter be surrendered to him, II. Xxvi. 38; his death, II. Xxviii. 1

Perozes, Persian king, wages war against the Ephthalitae, I. Iii. 1, 8; entrapped by the Ephthalitae, I. Iii. 10 ff. ; escapes with his army, I. Iii. 22; his second expedition, I. Iv. 1 ff. ; destroyed with his army by the Ephthalitae, I. Iv. 14 ff. ; his famous pearl, I. Iv. 14

Perozes, Persian general, I. Xiii. 16; interchange of letters with Belisarius and Hermogenes, I. Xiv. 1 ff. ; address to his troops, I. Xiv. 13 ff. ; defeated by Belisarius, I. Xiv. 28 ff. ; punished by Cabades, I. Xvii. 26 ff. 

Perozes, sons of, murder Symeon, II. Iii. 3

Persarmenia, its trade with India, II. Xxv. 3; devastated by Sittas and Belisarius, I. Xii. 20

Persarmenians, in the Persian army, I. Xv. 1

Persians, worship the rising sun, I. Iii. 20; their fire-worship, II. Xxiv. 2; do not bury the dead, I. Xi. 35, xii. 4; their set character, II. Xxviii. 25; their trade in Indian silk, I. Xx. 9; the arrogance of their officials, I. Xi. 33; their custom of counting an army before and after a campaign, I. Xviii. 52 ff. ; their infantry inefficient, I. Xiv. 25; their bowmen quick, but inferior to those of the Romans, I. Xviii. 32; their skill in bridging rivers, II. Xxi. 22; maintain spies at public expense, I. Xxi. 11; suffer a severe defeat at the hands of the Ephthalitae, I. Iv. 13, 14; pay tribute to the Ephthalitae for two years, I. Iv. 35; make peace with Theodosius, I. Ii. 15; unable to prevent the fortification of Daras, I. X. 15; capture Amida, I. Vii. 29; receive money from the Romans and give back Amida, I. Ix. 4; wage war with the Huns during the seven-years' peace with the Romans, I. Ix. 24; seize certain forts in Lazica, I. Xii. 19; prevent the fortification of Mindouos, I. Xiii. 7, 8; defeated in battle at Daras, I. Xiv. 47 ff. ; defeated in Persarmenia, I. Xv. 8; and in Armenia, I. Xv. 16; refrain from entering Roman territory by Mesopotamia, I. Xvii. 25; victorious in the battle on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 37; invade Mesopotamia, I. Xxi. 4; besiege Martyropolis in vain, I. Xxi. 5 ff. ; make peace with the Romans, I. Xxii. 17, 18; capture Sura, II. V. 25; and Beroea, II. Vii. 12 ff. ; capture and destroy Antioch, II. Viii. 20 ff. ; capture Petra, II. Xvii. 27; besiege Edessa in vain, II. Xxvi. 5 ff. , xxvii. 46; save Petra from capture by the Romans, II. Xxix. 41 ff. ; suffer a severe defeat in Lazica, II. Xxx. 39 ff. 

Pestilence, The, devastates the whole world, II. Xxii. 1 ff. ; in Byzantium, II. Xxii. 9 ff. ; in Persia, II. Xxiv. 8, 12

Peter, captured as a boy in Arzanene by Justinus, II. Xv. 7; Roman general, sent to Lazica, I. Xii. 9; summoned to Byzantium, I. Xii. 14; bodyguard of Justinian, commander of infantry, I. Xviii. 6; at the battle on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 42; favours invasion of Persia by Belisarius, II. Xvi. 16; attacked by the Persians before Nisibis, II. Xviii. 16 ff. ; commands a detachment in an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 13; precipitately enters Persia, II. Xxiv. 18; commands the right wing at the battle of Anglon, II. Xxv. 17; with Martinus and Peranius defends Edessa against Chosroes, II. Xxvi. 25 ff. ; Chosroes demands that he and Peranius be surrendered to him, II. Xxvi. 38; his base character and misrule in Lazica, II. Xv. 6-8

Petra, built by Justinian in Lazica, II. Xv. 10, xvii. 3, xxix. 20; its impregnable defences, II. Xvii. 18 ff. ; attacked by the Persians, II. Xvii. 4 ff. ; besieged by Chosroes, II. Xvii. 13 ff. ; captured by Chosroes, II. Xvii. 26; fortified with a garrison, II. Xix. 48; besieged by the Romans and Lazi, II. Xxix. 11 ff. ; the siege abandoned, II. Xxx. 11; valour of the Persian defenders, II. Xxix. 35; monopoly established there by John Tzibus, II. Xv. 11, xxix. 21

Petrae, ancient capital of the Arabs, I. Xix. 20

Phabrizus, high Persian official, II. Xxviii. 16; employed by Chosroes for the furtherance of his plans, II. Xxviii. 17; attempts to destroy Goubazes, II. Xxix. 2 ff. ; left as commander in Lazica by Mermeroes, II. Xxx. 32; his forces almost annihilated by the Lazi, II. Xxx. 42 ff. 

Pharangium, fortress in Persarmenia, occupied by the Romans, I. Xv. 18; gold-mines of the Persians there, I. Xv. 27, 29; given over to the Romans, I. Xv. 29, II. Iii. 1; its return demanded by Chosroes, I. Xxii. 3; given up by the Romans, I. Xxii. 18; near the source of the Boas River, II. Xxix. 14

Pharas, an Erulian chief, at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 19, 25 ff. , xiv. 32, 33, 39

Pharesmanes, of Colchis, an officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3

Pharsanses, a man of note in Lazica, II. Xxix. 4; his friendship sought by Phabrizus, II. Xxix. 5; saves Goubazes, II. Xxix. 7

Phasis River, its source in the Taurus, I. Xxv. 21; its course through Lazica, II. Xxix. 16; its size and strong current, II. Xxx. 25, 26; strongly defended by the Lazi, II. Xxx. 27; forded by the Lazi, II. Xxx. 37

Philae, fortress established by Diocletian on an island in the Nile near Elephantina, I. Xix. 34-36; its temples dismantled by Justinian, I. Xix. 36, 37

Philemouth, an Erulian chief, encamps near Martinus, I. Xxiv. 14; with Beros follows Peter into Persia, II. Xxiv. 18

Phison, place in Armenia near Martyropolis, II. Xxiv. 15

Phocas, made pretorian prefect in place of John the Cappadocian, I. Xxiv. 18

Phoenicia, II. Xvi. 17

Phoubelis, a notable among the Lazi, with Dagisthaeus attacks Mermeroes, II. Xxx. 22

Pitius, a fortress in Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Pityaxes, Persian general at the battle of Daras, I. Xiii. 16, xiv. 32, 38

Placillianae, palace In Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 30

Pompeius, nephew of Anastasius, sent from the palace by Justinian, I. Xxiv. 19-21; brought before Justinian as a prisoner, I. Xxiv. 53; his death, I. Xxiv. 56

Pontic Romans, their location, II. Xxix. 19

Pontus, visited by Orestes, I. Xvii. 14

Potidaea, known in later times as Cassandria, captured by the Huns, II. Iv. 5

Priapus, worshipped by the Blemyes and Nobatae, I. Xix. 35

Prison of Oblivion, in Persia, reason for the name, I. V. 8; law regarding it suspended once in the case of Arsaces, I. V. 9-29; Cabades confined therein, I. V. 7

Probus, nephew of Anastasius, sent by Justinus to Bosporus to collect an army of Huns, I. Xii. 6, 9

Proclus, quaestor, dissuades Justinus from adopting Chosroes, I. Xi. 11 ff. 

Procopius of Caesarea, author of the _History of the Wars_, I. I. 1; eye-witness of the events described, I. I. 3; chosen adviser to Belisarius, I. I. 3, xii. 24; in Byzantium at the time of the pestilence, II. Xxii. 9; had seen Cappadocia and Armenia, I. Xvii. 17; his frankness in writing, I. I. 5

Pylades, the story of the flight with Orestes from Tauris, I. Xvii. 11 ff. 

Red Sea, its location, extent, harbours, etc. (confused by Procopius with the Arabian Gulf), I. Xix. 2 ff. , II. Iii. 41

Rhecinarius, envoy to Chosroes, II. Xxvii. 24, 25

Rhecithancus, of Thrace, commander of troops in Lebanon, objects to invading Persia with Belisarius, II. Xvi. 17 ff. ; eager to return to Lebanon, II. Xix. 33, 34; commands an army sent to Lazica, II. Xxx. 29

Rhizaeum, a city near Lazica, II. Xxix. 22, xxx. 14

Rhodopolis, important city of Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Romans, used by Procopius to designate the subjects of the empire of Byzantium, and mentioned constantly throughout; lack of discipline in Roman armies, I. Xiv. 14; their bowmen more efficient than those of the Persians, I. Xviii. 34; maintain spies at public expense, I. Xxi. 11

Rufinianae, suburb of Byzantium, I. Xxv. 21, 23

Rufinus, son of Silvanus, sent as an envoy to the Persians, I. Xi. 24; slanders Hypatius, I. Xi. 38; sent as ambassador to Hierapolis, I. Xiii. 11; treats with Cabades at Daras, I. Xvi. 1 ff. ; reports to the emperor I. Xvi. 10; meets Chosroes on the Tigris, I. Xxii. 1; sent, to Byzantium, I. Xxii. 7; false report of his death, I. Xxii. 9; persuades Chosroes to give back the money brought by the ambassadors and postpone the war, I. Xxii. 13, 14; slandered to the emperor, I. Xxii. 15; sent again as ambassador to Chosroes, I. Xxii. 16; brother of Timostratus, I. Xvii. 44; father of John, the ambassador, II. Vii. 15

Sabeiri Huns, their location, II. Xxix. 15; in the Persian army, I. Xv. 1; persuaded by Goubazes to form an alliance with him, II. Xxix. 29; receive promised money from Justinian, II. Xxx. 28

Saccice, mother of Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 1

Samosata, city on the Euphrates, I. Xvii. 22; on the boundary of Euphratesia, I. Xvii. 23

Saracens, experts at plundering, but not at storming cities, II. Xix. 12; in Persia, all ruled by Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 45; some in alliance with the Romans, I. Xviii. 46; their king Odonathus, II. V. 5; of Arabia, ruled by Arethas, I. Xvii. 47; receiving annual payments from the Romans, II. X. 23; settled in the Palm Groves, I. Xix. 7, 8; and in Palestine, I. Xix. 10; cannibals in Arabia, I. Xix. 15; never mentioned in treaties, II. I. 5; observe a religious holiday at the vernal equinox, II. Xvi. 18; dispute possession of Strata, II. I. 6; in the army of Chosroes, II. Xxvii. 30; in the army of Azarethes, I. Xvii. 1, xviii. 30; with the army of Belisarius, I. Xviii. 7, 26, 35, 36, II. Xvi. 5; wage war among themselves, II. Xxviii. 12-14

Sarapanis, a city of Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Sarus River, in Cappadocia, I. Xvii. 17

Satala, city in Armenia, its location, I. Xv. 9, 10; battle of, I. Xv. 12 ff. 

Scanda, a city in Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Sebastopolis, a fortress of Lazica, II. Xxix. 18

Seleucia, city on the Tigris, founded by the Macedonians, II xxviii. 4

Seleucia, distance from Antioch, II. Xi. 1; visited by Chosroes, _ib. _

Senecius, body-guard of Sittas, given as a hostage to the Persians, I. Xxi. 27

Seoses, rescues Cabades from the Prison of Oblivion, I. Vi. 4. 10; receives the office of "adrastadaran salanes, " I. Vi 18, 19; sent as envoy to the Romans, I. Vi. 25; slandered by Mebodes and brought to trial, I. Xi. 31 ff. ; condemned to death, I. Xi 37

Sergiopolis, city in Mesopotamia, II. V. 29; citizens of, give much treasure to Chosroes, II. Xx. 7; saved from capture by Ambrus, II. Xx. 10; besieged In vain by Chosroes, II. Xx. 11 ff. 

Sergius, an illustrious saint, II. V. 29

Sergius, of Edessa, II. Xxiv. 4; envoy to Chosroes with Constantianus, II. Xxiv. 3; a second time envoy to Chosroes with Const. , II. Xxviii. 3 ff. 

Sestus, city opposite Abydus on the Hellespont, II. Iv. 9

Silentiarius, a title given to certain officials in the palace at Byzantium, "privy councillors, " II. Xxii. 1, II. Xxix. 31

Silvanus, father of Rufinus, I. Xi. 24, xvi. 4

Simmas, Massagete chief, in the Roman army, I. Xiii. 21, xiv. 44

Siphrios, a fortress, distance from Amida, I. Viii. 10

Sisauranon, fortress in Mesopotamia, II. Xix. 2; attacked by Belisarius, II. Xix. 4; capitulates to Belisarius, II. Xix. 23, 24

Sittas, Roman general, in company with Belisarius invades Persarmenia, I. Xii. 20, 21; defeated by Narses and Aratius, I. Xii. 22; attacks the Persian army invading Armenia, I. Xv. 3 ff. ; occupies the hills about Satala, I. Xv. 10; attacks the Persian army unexpectedly, I. Xv. 12; defeats the Tzani in battle and then wins them over by kindness, I. Xv. 24, 25; proceeds to the East, I. Xxi. 3; awaits the Persian army at Attachas, I. Xxi. 9; opens negotiations with the Persians before Martyropolis, I. Xxi. 23 ff. ; sent against the Armenians, II. Iii. 8 ff. ; his death, II. Iii. 25; his valour and achievements, II. Iii. 26

Snail, Gate of the, in the palace in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 43

Soinian Gate, in the wall of Edessa, II. Xxvii. 41

Solomon, an Armenian, according to one report slew Sittas, II. Iii. 27

Sophanene, district in Armenia, I. Xxi. 6

Sophia, sanctuary of, destroyed by fire to the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 9; its treasures guarded by the priest Augustus, II. Xxx. 53

Stephanacius, commander of Isaurians, I. Xviii. 7

Stephanus, a physician of note, begs Chosroes to spare Edessa, II. Xxvi. 31 ff. 

Strata, its possession disputed by the Saracens, II. I. 6; meaning of the name, II. I. 7; unproductive, II. I. 11

Strategius, guardian of the royal treasures, sent as an envoy by Justinian, II. I. 9; his advice concerning Strata, II. I. 11

Summus, father of Julian, commander in Palestine, sent as an envoy by Justinian, II. I. 9, 10; his advice concerning Strata, II. I. 11

Sunicas, Massagete chief, in the Roman army, I. Xiii. 20, xiv. 39. 40, 44; charges the standard bearer of Baresmanas, I. Xiv. 47; kills Baresmanas, I. Xiv. 60

Sunitae, march in the Persian army, I. Xv. 1

Sura, a city on the Euphrates, I. Xviii. 14, II. V. 8; distance from Sergiopolis, II. V. 29; besieged by Chosroes, II. V. 10 ff. ; bishop of, begs Chosroes to spare the city, II. V. 13 ff. ; captured by a stratagem and destroyed, II. V. 22 ff. ; a woman of, made captive by a barbarian in sight of Chosroes, II. Ix. 9, 10

Sycae, a suburb of Byzantium, modern "Galata, " II. Xxiii. 9

Symeon, Sanctuary of, at Amida, burned, I. Ix. 18

Symeon, manager of the Persian gold-mine at Pharangium, I. Xv. 27; goes over to the Romans, I. Xv. 28, 29; presented with certain Armenian villages, II. Iii. 1; murdered by the sons of Perozes, II. Iii. 2; uncle of Amazaspes, II. Iii. 3

Syria, open to invasion by the Persians, I. Xvii. 34 ff. , II. Xvi. 17, xix. 34; attacked by Chosroes, II. V. 4, vi. 21

Syriac tongue, II. Ii. 3

Taraunon, a district In Persarmenia, invaded by Justus and Peranius, II. Xxv. 35

Tatianus, of Mopsuestia, quarter-master of the camp in Antioch, witnesses the portent of the standards, II. X. 2

Taurians, The, in Celesene, I. Xvii. 11 ff. , 21

Taurus Mountains, The, their size and extent, I. X. 1, 2, xv. 20, xvii. 17

Theoctistus, commander of troops in Lebanon, brings succour to Antioch, II. Viii. 2; flees precipitately with the soldiers, II. Viii. 17-19; objects to invading Persia with Belisarius, II. Xvi. 17 ff. ; eager to return to Lebanon, II. Xix. 33, 34; commands a detachment in an army to invade Persia, II. Xxiv. 13

Theodoric, leader of the Goths, I. Viii. 3

Theodora, wife of Justinian, greatly beloved by him, I. Xxv. 4; her hatred of John the Cappadocian, _ib. _; counsels firmness in dealing with the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 33 ff. ; encourages Antonina in her plan to entrap John the Cappadocian, I. Xxv. 22; succeeds in punishing him, I. Xxv. 30; her death, II. Xxx. 49

Theodoras, a citizen of Daras, skilled in mechanics, II. Xiii. 26

Theodorus, an official in the palace in Byzantium, superintends the work of providing burial for the victims of the pestilence, II. Xxiii. 6 ff. 

Theodosiopolis, its location, I. X. 18, xv. 2, II. Xxiv. 12; near the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris, I. Xvii. 4; fortified by Anastasius, I. X. 19; near Bolum, I. Xv. 32; distance from Doubios, II. Xxv. 1; from Citharizon, II. Xxiv. 13

Theodosiopolis, city near the Aborrhas River, II. Xix. 29

Theodosius II. , son of Arcadius, as a child is made the ward of the Persian king Isdigerdes, I. Ii. 1 ff. ; sends Anatolius as envoy to the Persians, I. Ii. 12; makes peace with the Persians, I. Ii. 15; Arsaces' abdication of the kingship of Armenia in his favour, II. Iii. 35

Thermopylae, attacked by the Huns, II. Iv. 10

Thessaly, plundered by the Huns, II. Iv. 10

Thilasamon, village near Amida, I. Ix. 14

Thomas, chief priest of Apamea, displays the wood of the cross, II. Xi. 16 ff. ; goes before Chosroes, II. Xi. 20 ff. ; saves the wood of the cross, II. Xi. 29, 30

Thomas, ambassador to the Persians, meets Chosroes on the Tigris, I. Xxii. 1

Thomas Gouzes, commander in Lazica, II. Xxx. 5

Thrace, Thracians in the army of Belisarius, II. Xix. 32, xxi. 4; home of Coutzes and Bouzes, I. Xiii. 5

Timostratus, brother of Rufinus, Roman officer, captured by Alamoundaras, I. Xvii. 43, 44

Tigris River, its source in Armenia, I. Xvii. 4; its course into Assyria, I. Xvii. 5, 6; distance from Nisibis, I. Xi. 27; its junction with the Euphrates, I. Xvii. 22; flows between Seleucia and Ctesiphon, II. Xxviii. 5

Trajan, a guardsman, sent with Arethas into Assyria, II. Xix. 15 ff. ; they return by another route, II. Xix. 28 ff. 

Trapezus, city on the Euxine, II. Xxix. 22, xxx. 14

Tretum, a place near Antioch where was a temple of Michael, II. Xi. 7

Tribunianus, a Pamphylian, quaestor, I. Xxiv. 11; his dexterity in manipulating laws, I. Xxiv. 16; dismissed from office, I. Xxiv. 17; restored to office, I. Xxv. 1, 2; his death, I. Xxv. 2

Tribunus, a physician, beloved by Chosroes, II. Xxviii. 8 ff. 

Tripod, before the palace of the Persian king, where all must sit who fell under the king's displeasure, I. Xxiii. 28

Tripurgia, a place at Edessa, II. Xxvii. 41

Tzani, called Sani in early times, I. Xv. 21; the source of the Boas River among them, II. Xxix. 14; conquered by the Romans, I. Xv. 19 ff. ; become Christian, I. Xv. 25; reduced to subjection, II. Iii. 39; with the Roman army at Petra, II. Xxix. 10, 41; defend the Roman camp, II. Xxx. 13; return to their homes, II. Xxx. 14

Valerianus, appointed general of Armenia, II. Xiv. 8; receives Persian envoys, II. Xxiv. 6-8; reports to Justinian, II. Xxiv. 9; ordered to invade Persia with Martinus, II. Xxiv. 10; encamps near Theodosiopolis, II. Xxiv. 12; follows Peter in invading Persia, II. Xxiv. 19; commands the left wing at the battle of Anglon, II. Xxv. 17

Vandals, II. Ii. 8, iii. 46

Vararanes, Persian king, invades Roman territory, I. Ii. 11 ff. ; concludes peace with the Romans, I. Ii. 15

Varizes, title of a Persian general (_lit. _ "victorious, " properly a family name), I. Xii. 10

Varrames, son of Adergoudounbades, shares the secret of the sparing of Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 10; reveals to Chosroes the true story, I. Xxiii. 13; made chanaranges, I. Xxiii. 22

Veneti, name of one of the factions, I. Xxiv. 2-6; supported by Justinian, II. Xi. 32; also called the Blue Faction, _ib. _

Venetian Colonnade, The, in Byzantium, I. Xxiv. 49

Veredi, the government post horses, II. Xx. 20

Vesta, _see_ Hestia

Vitalianus, son of Patriciolus, an officer in the Roman army, I. Viii. 3; becomes tyrant, _ib. _ his hostility to Anastasius, I. Xiii. 10; his adviser Hermogenes, _ib. _

Vittigis, king of the Goths, sends ambassadors to Chosroes, II. Ii. 1; they address Chosroes, II. Ii. 4 ff. ; brought to Byzantium by Belisarius, II. Iv. 13, xxi. 28; remains in Byzantium, II. Xiv. 10; envoys of, one dies, the other remains in Persia, II. Xiv. 11; their interpreter captured, II. Xiv. 12

White Syrians, old name for the inhabitants of Armenia Minor, I. Xvii. 21

Zaberganes, misrepresents Mebodes to Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 25, 26; reproaches Chosroes, II. Viii. 30 ff. ; at the bidding of Chosroes receives the envoys of Edessa, II. Xxvi. 16-19

Zames, son of Cabades, disqualified from succeeding his father, I. Xi. 4; II. Ix. 12; plot to put him in power in place of Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 4, 5; slain by Chosroes, I. Xxiii. 6

Zechi, their location, II. Xxix. 15

Zeno, Roman emperor at the time of the Persian king Arsaces, I. Iii. 8

Zenobia, city on the Euphrates, II. V. 4; founded by Zenobia, II. V. 5; Chosroes refrains from attacking it, II. V. 7

Zenobia, wife of Odonathus, founder of the city of Zenobia, II. V. 5

Zeuxippus, Baths of, destroyed by fire in the Nika insurrection, I. Xxiv. 9

 * * * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

 Index errata:

 "Caisus" should read "Caïsus"

 Under Aigan "Massagete" should read "Massagetae" Also under: Ascan Simmas Sunicus

 Under Auxomis "Elephantina" should be "Elephantine" Also under: Elephantina Philae

 Under Darras "Ammodius" should be "Ammodios"

 "Florentinus" should be "Florentius"

 Under Julian "Summas" should be "Summus"

 "Orocasius" should read "Orocasias"

 Under Phocus "pretorian" should read "praetorian"]