A Prefaces to be considered as a certain and blessed possession are the victories of wars and trophies, cities founded and restored, and finally all great and admirable deeds. And these things and others of this kind, even if they bring some glory and pleasure to their possessors, yet they accompany those who depart from the living with difficulty. But oblivion also intervenes, obscuring and subverting the true outcomes of historical events; and when those who knew them have ceased to live, the knowledge of these things dies and vanishes, extinguished together with the individuals themselves. Thus, therefore, B naked memory is something fleeting and not very firm, nor is it of a nature to extend through long periods of time. And I do not think that some would have known to risk danger for their country or to undertake other labors, knowing well that even if they had performed the greatest of deeds, their glory would perish along with them and would pass away, measured only by the duration of their own lives; unless, as it seems, a divine providence, supporting the weakness of human nature, had bestowed the benefits of history C and the hope that shines forth from it. For, I think, it was not for the sake of wild olive and parsley that the Olympic victors went down naked into the arenas, nor again were the brave warriors of wars, kindled only by the desire for spoils and present gain, casting themselves into open and manifest dangers; but both were inflamed by the desire to attain a firm and undefiled glory, which it was impossible to reap in any other way than through history immortalizing them; not in the way of the institutes of Zalmoxis and D the Getic delusions, but in a manner truly divine and immortal, by which alone mortal things can endure forever. It would by no means, therefore, be easy to pursue in speech and enumerate all the good things with which history fills human life. But to speak summarily, I would judge it not inferior to civil philosophy, if indeed it does not perhaps confer even more utility. For the latter, like a certain severe and not at all gentle mistress, commands and prescribes what one ought to follow and what to flee, mixing in its persuasions a certain degree of force and necessity; but the former, using many delights and as it were seasoning its precepts with the variety of examples, and setting before the eyes the things in which men have acted excellently by using prudence and justice, and also the things in which they have strayed from what is fitting through some contrary intention or the impulse of fortune, gently and placidly insinuates virtues into the mind. For things that are pleasant and exposed to the judgment and choice of our will slip more easily into human minds and take root there. I, therefore, having contemplated and pondered these things for a long time, thought it fitting to admire and celebrate as common benefactors all those who have already completed such works. Yet it is not for me to attempt
A this labor, nor did it even seem, at the beginning, that it should be undertaken. For I was, from my youth, more addicted to heroic measures, and greatly delighted by the sweetness of poetic elegances; and thus I composed certain short poems in hexameter, which were called "Daphniaca," variegated with certain erotic tales and filled with allurements of that kind. But it also seemed to me, at the start, a laudable and not inelegant plan to collect into one, as far as possible, and to arrange and write down in order, those new and recent epigrammatic poems which were still lying hidden and were being whispered here and there by some. And this too has been completed by me, along with many other exercises, made not for the sake of utility, but for the pleasure and soothing of the soul. For poetry is truly a sacred and divine thing. For the souls in it are inspired, as that wise man Plato would say, and those who are full of the Muses and seized by this madness bring forth very graceful things. Therefore, B it was my intention to frequent these things, and never by my own will to abandon these youthful and pleasant studies, but rather to follow that Delphic maxim and to know my own affairs. But since, in the time in which I lived, it happened that great wars were unexpectedly kindled in many parts of the world, and migrations of many barbarian nations took place, and there occurred irrational outcomes of uncertain and incredible actions, and turbulent vacillations of fortune, and the destruction of geneaologies, and the enslavement of cities and the change of inhabitants, and as it were, all human things were set in motion; since, I say, these things and such as these occurred, a fear crept into my mind, lest it be unholy to leave in silence and unmentioned so great and marvelous works, which would be useful and beneficial to those who come after. Therefore, it seemed to me not inappropriate to attempt to write [history], so that my whole life might not be consumed entirely in mythology and superfluous toil, but that it might also bring something useful to the public. Many of my friends also, urging and exhorting me, stimulated and strengthened this impulse, among whom the chief advocate was Eutychianus the younger, a primary D scribe of the kings, a man who was otherwise both good and prudent, and not moderately
A solicitous of my benefit, never ceased to urge me and to place good hopes before my eyes, asserting that the task ought not be considered so arduous and unattainable, nor, because it was untried and unconventional, should one fear it like a sea voyage to those inexperienced at sea; but he insisted that it should be decided that history is not far removed from poetry, but that these two are twin and kindred arts, differing from one another only in rhythm. With a good heart, therefore, he urged me to proceed as one migrating from homeland to homeland, and to apply myself to the work with all my strength. By chanting such things to me constantly, he easily delighted my willing spirit and brought me over to his opinion. Having therefore set myself to write history, I have the hope of producing something worth this noble pursuit and undertaking, and of approaching as closely as possible the magnitude of the deeds performed. B It remains, as is the custom of those who write history, to declare who I am and from where I come. My name is Agathias, my homeland is Myrina; my father is Memnonius, and my profession is the laws of the Romans and the contests of the courts. I do not mean by Myrina that Thracian city, nor any other that might be called by this name throughout Europe or Libya, but the one in Asia, a colony of the ancient Aeolians, situated at the mouth of the Pythicus river; which river, flowing from the region of Lydia, discharges its channel into the furthest C inlet of the Elaïtic gulf. It is my wish, therefore, to pay back, as fully as I can, the rewards of my upbringing to this place, and to record accurately all its famous and ancestral deeds. But for now, may she be kind and gracious and accept my zeal. D I, however, must move on to public affairs and the greatest of matters. I shall compose my history not as it is practiced by others today—for there are others in this season who are engaged in the same arena—but I say, not as those who have the least care for the truth, and who, rather than recounting deeds as they occurred by fortune, explicitly choose to flatter many of the powerful and fawn upon them so thoroughly that, even if on occasion they happen to speak the truth, belief is revoked from them. And yet, those skilled in these matters say that it is appropriate only for panegyric and praise to exaggerate and extol with words the good qualities with which anyone is endowed. I do not think that history—although it does not shrink entirely from the praise of those who have performed some noble deed—wishes to have this as its goal and defining mark. But if the effect of actions brings either praise or disgrace, it is not permitted to do violence to history, nor is it right to palliate or falsify the deeds themselves. For those who admit that they are producing history, and indeed the profession of the title suggests this to them, are nonetheless caught by experience decorating their reputation. For not only do they praise by their narrative of deeds those who are still living, whether they be kings or otherwise prominent [(for they would commit few errors if they did so)], but they become manifest to all that they are doing nothing else
A than to seek out praise and admiration beyond what is necessary to the persons they favor. But as for those who have already died, whatever sort of men they happened to be, such writers either call them the worst of men and spoilers of the common good, or—which is at least less severe—they overlook them so completely that they impart no remembrance of them at all; and in this way they think they are managing their own current affairs most excellently and, by always fawning upon those in power, providing for their own private interests, not sufficiently understanding that not even those whom they have extolled with praises are very pleased by such things, for they reflect, of course, that plain flattery is a weak foundation for their own glory and reputation. Let these men write, then, according to their own desire and custom; but as for me, it is laid upon me to hold the truth in the highest regard, wheresoever it may lead B. I shall call to mind as many things as have been done worthy of narration by both the Romans and the majority of the barbarians up to this present time, not only by men who are perhaps still living—or rather, indeed, by those who have already passed away—and I shall omit nothing that is worthy of account. Therefore, even if I had not been moved to write history before, or only from the time when Justin the Younger succeeded to the imperial throne upon the death of Justinian, I shall reach back even to earlier times, and whatever has not yet been worked out by anyone else, these I shall make my own proper task. For most of the events that occurred during the times of Justinian, since they have been recorded with precision by the rhetor Procopius of Caesarea, it is for me to pass over those things, inasmuch as they have been sufficiently spoken of; C but I shall go through the events after him as best I can. For his own history was prefaced by him with the death of Arcadius, and how Isdigerdes, the king of the Persians, became guardian to his son Theodosius, and the occurrences involving Vararanes and Perozes, and how King Cabades, having been established, was deprived of his rule and then quickly recovered it, and how Amida was captured by him while Anastasius was the Roman emperor, and how many struggles Justin the Elder endured after him in this same work. Following these, all the Persian wars that were waged by the Roman emperor Justinian against both Cabades and Chosroes concerning Syria and Armenia, and indeed also concerning the borders of the Lazi—all these you might best know from the discourses of Procopius, as well as the account of Gelimer the Vandal, and the city of Carthage, and the entire land of the Africans, which was enslaved to Justinian long after the revolt of Boniface and Gizericus and D became a part of the Roman Empire once again. And after the destruction of the Vandals, those things which the Moors
A have done and suffered in many places of Libya, arraying themselves against the Romans; and how Stotzas and Gontharis, having once been of the Roman party, set themselves up as tyrants and became the authors of the greatest calamities and seditions in Libya; and how evils did not cease before these two men were destroyed—you would find all these things among them. Also, how the civil sedition raised in Byzantium against the emperor reached a great pitch of evil and damaged the commonwealth; the incursions of the Huns, as they crossed the Ister B river at that time, how they afflicted the Roman Empire with the greatest damage, plundering the Illyrians and the Thessalians and the greatest part of Europe, and even a portion of Asia, having crossed the Hellespont. The city of Sura in Syria, and Berrhoea, and Antioch on the Orontes river, how they were most miserably devastated by Chosroes; the siege of Edessa, and how, being repulsed from there, he afterwards departed—these things are also there to be seen; the battles of the Ethiopians and the Homerites, and for what reason both those tribes C came into such enmity with each other. He also writes much concerning the great plague, how it first entered into the human race at that time, and what strange things occurred during it. But as for all the deeds afterwards performed by the Roman army around the towns of the Lazi and the fortress of Petra, and against Chorianes and Mermeroes and the Persian hosts, these are also to be gathered from there. And passing over to the West, how Theodericus, the king of the Goths, departed from life, and Amalasuntha, his daughter, was slain by Theodatus, and all the reasons for which D the Gothic war broke out—not even these are omitted by him. Nor, indeed, how Wittigis, who after Theodatus ruled over the Gothic nation, was brought a prisoner to Byzantium by the general Belisarius after a great many battles. Nor yet how Sicily and Rome and Italy, having cast out the intrusive barbarians, were again adorned with ancestral customs and laws. From there, one may learn also that Narses the eunuch was sent into Italy, having been appointed supreme general by the emperor, and the illustrious wars which he conducted most excellently against Totila; and how, again, after him, Teias, the son of Fredigern, having taken up the Gothic command, was himself not long after slain. All these things have come to pass by the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Justinian, and for Procopius the rhetor, I believe, the matters of his history in these works are finished and brought to
their conclusion. I, however, pursuing the events following upon these, set about the things themselves.
1. Teias, having been established as leader of the Goths after Totila, recalled his forces and, having marshaled them for war with all his power against Narses and the Romans, was defeated by force and perished while fighting in the battle. The Goths who survived, pressed by the Romans who were pursuing them without any intermission, and burdened by constant raids and because they happened to be gathered in a waterless region, made terms with Narses, on the condition that they might peacefully occupy their own land and continue for the remainder of their time as subjects of the Roman king. B When these matters had proceeded thus, it seemed to everyone that the wars in Italy had found an end and conclusion, as I had initially intended to set forth; but in reality, they were merely the preludes to other wars. For I believe that such things will never cease from our age, but will remain and thrive forever, so long as the same human nature exists; since from the beginning, if I may so speak, they have entered into life along with us. And so, all poetry is full, and all history, too, is heavy with wars and battles—and you would find nothing else in it recorded to a greater degree. But I think the cause of these things is not what the majority say: the motions of the stars, and fate, and certain irrational necessities. For if the necessity of fate prevailed in all things, and the elective and voluntary faculty were taken away from men, we would judge all admonitions and arts and teachings to be empty and useless, and the hopes of those who live best would vanish and be fruitless. C But, as far as I am concerned, it is not fitting to consider the divine to be the cause of murders and conflicts. For I would neither say myself, nor believe one who stated it, that that supreme goodness, the banisher of all evil, delights in slaughter and war. But human souls, sliding into greed and injustice, embroil all things with wars and tumults; and from this, many deaths occur, and whole races of men are snatched away, and myriad other woes are brought to birth. D Thus, indeed, even then the Goths, after making treaties and separating—those of them who previously dwelt inside the Po river proceeded into Tuscany and Liguria, wherever it was agreeable and familiar to each, while the others, crossing over, dispersed around Venetia and the fortresses and towns in those parts, just as they had done in the time before—since they happened to be in these places, it was incumbent upon them to confirm and stabilize with their actions the things they had sworn, and, holding their own affairs in safety, to be freed from long-standing dangers and to breathe again, at least with difficulty, from their terrible straits. But they, pausing only a very little, again set their minds on new deeds and sat themselves down at the beginning of another war. And since they judged themselves to be no longer, by their own strength, a match for the Romans in battle...
they turned immediately to the Franks, judging that their situation would improve and their advantage be A far more enduring if they brought about an alliance with those who bordered their territory and lived in their vicinity, so that they might the sooner resume the struggle.
2. For the Franks are neighbors and live in close proximity to Italy. They are the people formerly called Germans. This is quite clear, for they live about the river Rhine and on the continent adjacent to it, and they occupy the largest part of the Gauls—not, however, a territory they possessed in ancient times, but one they acquired later. They also hold the city of Massilia, a colony of the Ionians. For this city was formerly settled by the Phocaeans, who had been driven out of Asia by the Medes while Darius, son of Hystaspes, was reigning over the Persians; and now, from being Greek, it has become B barbarian. For, having cast off its native constitution, it uses the laws of those who are currently in power. Nor does it appear even today to be very far inferior to the dignity of its ancient inhabitants. For the Franks are not nomads, as perhaps some of the barbarians are, but they use for the most part the Roman form of government and the same laws, and in other respects, such as contracts, marriages, and the worship of the divine, they hold the same customs. For they are all Christians and adhere to the most correct doctrine; C they also have magistrates in their cities, and priests, and they celebrate festivals just as we do. For a barbarian race, they seem to me to be very orderly and highly civilized, having no difference from us except in their barbarian dress and the peculiarity of their language. I, for my part, admire them greatly, both for the other good qualities they possess and for the justice and harmony they show toward one another. For it is agreed that often, both in the past and in my own time, although the empire was divided among three or even more rulers, they never stirred up war against each other nor thought to defile their fatherland with civil bloodshed. Yet where large armies of D equal or doubtful strength appear, there of necessity hard and haughty spirits spring up, and ambitions, as is to be expected, and rivalries for the first place, and countless other passions, which are the most fertile sources of disturbances and seditions, are conceived. Among them, however, even if it happens that they are divided into as many principalities as possible, nothing of the kind occurs. But if it should happen that any dispute arises between the princes, all set their battle lines as if they were going to fight and decide the matter by arms; then they advance together. But once the masses on both sides see one another, they immediately cast aside their anger and turn to harmony, and they order their leaders either to resolve the doubtful points by law, or, if not, to fight it out themselves and face the danger for their own lives alone, since they consider it neither holy nor traditional that...
common affairs should be harmed or overturned due to their private enmity. A At once, therefore, they dissolve their phalanxes, lay down their weapons, and henceforth there is peacefulness and gentleness, open visitation of one another, lack of suspicion, and mutual intercourse, and the evils are gone and vanished. Thus, then, for them, the subject is just and patriotic, and the ruling power is kindly in time of need and obedient; these are the reasons why they continue to possess a firm power, and by using the same laws, they have lost nothing of what is their own, while having acquired very much. For justice and friendship, when nurtured in one, render the state blessed, stable, and in no way easily captured by enemies.
B 3. Thus, then, the Franks live in the best manner, ruling both themselves and their neighbors, with sons succeeding their fathers [in the kingdom]. But indeed, at that time when the Goths sent an embassy to them, there happened to be three leaders [v. 14] for them. And it seems not out of place to me, having begun a little further back regarding the race and what happened to those who came before, to then bring the digression to an end when speaking of those who were ruling at that time. For Childebert and Chlothar, and furthermore Theuderic and Chlothomer, were brothers born. And when their father, Chlothar, had died, they divided the kingdom into four parts, according to cities and peoples, in such a way that each received equal portions, as I believe. Not much later, Chlothomer led an army against the Burgundians (for this is a Gothic race, C self-directed and illustrious in matters of war), and in the very battle, having been struck in the breast by a javelin, he was slain. When he had fallen, because the Burgundians saw his hair long and loose and hanging down to his shoulder blades, they immediately realized that they had killed the leader of the enemies. For it is a matter of law for the kings of the Franks never to be shorn; but they remain with uncut hair from childhood, and the tresses hang down exceedingly well on their shoulders, and the front part is parted from the forehead and flows down to either side. It is not, however, as with the hair of the Turks and Avars, D which is unkempt, filthy, and dirty, and indecently matted by neglect; but they apply various unguents to it themselves and groom it carefully; and this is considered as a mark and an exceptional privilege of honor bestowed upon the royal race among them. For the subjects are shorn roundly, and it is not easily permitted for them to grow longer hair. The Burgundians, therefore, having cut off the head of Chlothomer and displayed it to the forces that were around him, immediately cast them into great trepidation and despair, and their spirits fell so much through fear that they declined to fight thereafter, and the victors resolved the war according to their own desire and on the conditions and pacts that seemed appropriate.
A And the survivors of the Frankish host gladly returned to their own lands. Thus, upon the death of Chlothomer, his kingdom was divided among his brothers (for he had not yet fathered any children), while to his son Theodibert, among other goods, the dignity of leadership was also left. B 4. Theodibert, having taken up his paternal authority, subjugated the Alamanni and certain other neighboring nations, for he was extremely audacious and turbulent, and fond of danger beyond measure. When, therefore, the war against Totila, the leader of the Goths, was being waged by the Romans, that same Theodibert had conceived of this in his mind and was pursuing it with the greatest diligence: that while Narses and the armies were simultaneously laboring and occupied in Italy, he himself, having gathered C mighty and most warlike forces, should penetrate into the region of Thrace, and, having devastated and subjugated all that land, transfer the war to Byzantium, the royal city. He pursued this plan of his so vigorously and with such great preparation that he even instituted an embassy to the Gepids, the Lombards, and certain other neighboring nations, so that they too might join in an alliance for the war. For he did not deem it tolerable that Emperor Justinian should, in his imperial edicts, claim for himself the titles of "Frankish," "Alamannic," and furthermore "Gepidic," and "Lombardic," D and other such appellations, as if he had subjugated all of these nations. Therefore, he himself felt this injury deeply and solicited the others to share in his indignation, as those who had been equally insulted. I, for my part, conclude that if he had undertaken this expedition, his audacity would have resulted in no good; rather, whether he had come into Thrace or into the Illyrian provinces, he would have fallen upon the Roman garrison legions in those places and perished ignobly. But the very fact that he had conceived such a plan in his mind, and desired and wished for it, and had moved every stone—as far as he was concerned—to this end, can be the most evident argument as to what kind of man he was, and how ferocious and arrogant, inasmuch as he considered madness and impulsiveness to be courage. For if the end of his life had not forestalled his undertaking, perhaps he would have actually begun the march; but as it was, when he went hunting, a bull met him, huge and possessed of high horns, not resembling some tamed or plowing bull, but a forest-dweller and savage,
A destroying whatever stood in its path. I believe they call this species buffaloes. For the most part, they roam that region, for the woods there are dense, the mountains rough, and the regions very cold, all of which this animal is accustomed to enjoy. Theodebert, having seen this bull leaping out from a thicket and rushing toward him, stood his ground as if to meet it with his spear; but when it had drawn near, being carried by the momentum of its rush, it struck a tree of no great size with its forehead and horns. And the tree having been shaken all over and inclined to one side, it happened that a massive branch, one of the larger ones broken off from it, was sent swinging with greater violence and struck Theodebert upon the head. B For the wound was fatal and unbearable; he immediately fell backward, and having been carried with difficulty to his own quarters, he departed this life that same day. His son Theodebald succeeds to the kingdom, who, although he was quite young and still under the care and instruction of a tutor, was nevertheless summoned to the government by ancestral law.
5. In that time, therefore, when Teias had died and the Gothic state was in need of foreign aid for its affairs, the kings among the Franks were this youth Theodebald, and Childebert and Chlotharius, the boy's greatest uncles, as the Roman laws would say. But the Goths did not think it right to go to them—as they were located very far away—but they openly sent an embassy to Theodebald. Yet it was not the whole nation, C but only those who were settled by the river Po; for the others were indeed happy with the innovation of affairs and the change of status, yet they were nevertheless struck with concern, doubting the outcome and fearing the instability of fortune, and with suspended and undecided minds they observed and inquired what was being done, determining to attach themselves to those who would be stronger and superior. The envoys of the others, however, having arrived and having come into the sight of the ruler and of all those in authority, begged them not to let them be oppressed by the Romans, but rather to join in the struggle and to bring aid to a neighboring and friendly nation, which was otherwise in danger of being utterly destroyed. They pointed out besides that this would be of the greatest interest to them, D if they did not allow the Romans to be raised to such power, but rather obstructed their growth with all their might. "For if," the envoys said, "they destroy the entire Gothic race, they will immediately lead an army against you as well and will renew their former wars. For there will not be wanting to them any fair"
A pretext for their greed; but they will believe that they are attacking you with justice, recounting certain Marios and Camilluses and most of the Caesars, who long ago fought against the Germans of old and occupied everything beyond the Rhine. In this way, they will appear not to be using force, but to be waging a just war, as though they were not seeking anything foreign, but recovering the possessions of their ancestors.
B Furthermore, they will accuse us of the crime that, because our former prince and leader of the migration, Theodoric, did not occupy Italy appropriately, they have despoiled us of our property, slaughtered the greater part of our nation, and cruelly sold into slavery the wives and children of the most affluent men among us. And yet, Theodoric did not seize Italy by force, but had previously gained it with the permission of their own King Zeno, depriving the Romans of nothing (for they were already bereft of it). Instead, after the alien tyrant Odoacer was slain, he occupied by the law of war all that had been his.
But after they gained the greater power to inflict violence, they soon ceased to do anything justly; rather, having first been incensed against Theodatus on account of Amalasuntha—taking this as the beginning and pretext C for the war—have since that day never ceased to act and plunder violently. These, indeed, are the "wise" and "pious" ones, who alone boast of administering the commonwealth with justice. Therefore, lest you find yourselves afflicted by such evils and repent too late for your own folly, you must forestall the enemy, and the opportunity which currently presents itself must not be neglected; but rather a just army must be sent against them, and some leader from among your very selves, experienced in warfare, must be commissioned, who, having brought to an excellent conclusion the war against the Romans, will drive them from this place as quickly as possible and recover the territory for us. For by doing this, you will be doing the greatest favor to the Gothic race, having revealed yourselves as saviors and deflectors of evil, and at the same time you will secure your own affairs, if nothing D hostile remains to you from your neighbors. In addition, an immense amount of money will accrue to you, not only from the booty which you will take from the Romans, but also from the tributes which we ourselves shall pay."
6. When the envoys had said these things, Theodibald (for he was of a base-born and unwarlike youth, and was already quite sickly, and his body was in a wretched state) did not much approve of their petition, nor did he think it right on account of foreign calamities...
to burden his own subjects with labors A. Leutharis and Butilinus, however, even if it did not please their king in the least, nevertheless accepted the alliance. These two men were brothers, Germans by race, but they had attained such great power among the Franks that they stood at the head of their nation, having first been appointed by Theodebert. The Alemanni, if one should trust Asinius Quadratus, an Italian man who wrote an accurate account of German affairs B, are a mixed and motley people, and their name signifies just that. Formerly, Theoderic, the king of the Goths, when he was in possession of all Italy, had made them tributary and had subjected the whole tribe. But as soon as he departed from the land of the living, and the most severe war broke out between Justinian the Roman Emperor and the Goths, the Goths, currying favor with the Franks and trying by every means possible to make them their friends and allies, withdrew from many other places and also released the Alemannic tribe. For they thought it necessary at that time to gather their forces from everywhere, and to release those parts of their subjects that were superfluous and not very useful, since they were no longer going to contend for sovereignty and glory, but were about to risk, for the sake of Italy C itself, the danger of not being utterly destroyed. Therefore, having foreseen and anticipated in their own minds the danger to come, they conformed their will to necessity. In this way, then, the nation of the Alemanni, having been set free by the Goths, was brought under his own power by Theodebert; and upon his death, as I have already mentioned, they surrendered themselves, along with the rest of his subjects, to his son Theodibald.
7. They have indeed certain ancestral institutions; however, as regards the administration of the commonwealth, they follow the polity of the Franks; they differ in opinion only in matters relating to God D. For they venerate certain trees, the rushing of rivers, hills, and ravines, and to these—as if performing a rightful duty—they sacrifice horses, oxen, and countless other animals by cutting off their heads. But the social intercourse they have with the Franks benefits them, changing them for the better and, in a way, drawing along the more intelligent among them; and in a short time, I trust, this will prevail among them all. For the absurdity and insanity of their opinions is recognized, I believe, even by those who are steeped in them, unless they are utterly foolish, and it could easily be removed from them. And indeed, all those who stray from the truth are worthy of pity and forgiveness rather than hatred. For they do not, I suppose, fall into error and slip of their own free will; rather, they are desirous of the good and right, but having been deceived in their judgment, they cling tenaciously to the opinions they have once conceived.
As for the brutality and miserable madness of the sacrifices—whether performed in sacred groves, as is the custom among barbarians, or to the gods of old, as the Greek religion A desires—I do not know if it is possible to remedy them with words. For my part, I believe that there is nothing that finds pleasure in altars defiled with blood and the most violent slaughter of animals. But if, by chance, anything of this sort is naturally inclined to accept such things, it would not be a good or gentle being, but something savage and perhaps possessed by madness, such as the poets vainly imagine in their tales of Phobos [Panic] and Enyo, and Ate and Eris—the "implacable" ones, as they themselves might call them. Add to these, if you wish, the one the Persians call Arimanes, and all the other infernal phantoms that are B harmful and bloodthirsty.
Now, even if these digressions might seem to some not at all to pertain to my stated project, and to be superfluous and foreign to my purpose, nevertheless, it pleases me greatly to bring to light all that I know: to praise what is right, to openly condemn what is evil, and to expose what is useless. For if histories did not have this—if they were not, in this respect, most useful and beneficial to human life, but consisted only of a simple and poorly-researched narration of past events—they would be in danger, in the opinion of some (if it be not too harsh to say so), of being considered no better than the myths C chanted by women at the loom. Let each person think as he wishes regarding these matters; as for me, I must continue with the subject at hand.
For Leutharis and Butilinus, when they first began to lead their armies against the Romans, were both raised up by great hope, as if they would no longer remain in their previous state; for they believed that Narses would not even be able to withstand the first assault, and that all of Italy, together with Sicily, would fall into their power. They said they were amazed at the Goths for being so greatly afraid of a puny man, one accustomed to the bedchamber, to the shade, and to a life of luxury, and who displayed D nothing manly or courageous. Thus, puffed up by their own glory and arrogant, having gathered mighty forces and an army of seventy-two thousand valiant men from among the Alemanni and the Franks, they prepared for war, intending to invade Italy at any moment.
8. Narses, the general of the Romans, although he did not yet have precise knowledge of these things, yet, exercising the greatest foresight and always wishing to forestall the impulses of the enemy, decided immediately [to secure] the towns in Tuscany that were still held by the Goths.
A For he was not one to be puffed up to unseemly arrogance by victory beyond measure, nor, as happens to others, did he deflect into sloth and self-indulgence after his toils. Instead, he immediately set his army in motion and advanced on Cumae. Cumae is a most strongly fortified Italian town, and one not easily taken by an enemy. For it is situated on a hill that is difficult to approach and steep, and it serves, as it were, as a watchtower over the Tyrrhenian Sea. The hill rises above the shore in such a way that the waves of the sea, striking against its foot, are broken; and in a higher place it is surrounded by a rampart, and most strongly fashioned with towers and battlements. In this most fortified and secure town, Totila and Teias, the former kings of the Goths, had deposited whatever precious and admirable possessions they had. As soon as Narses arrived, he strove with all his might to get possession of both the town and the treasures as quickly as possible, lest a safe seat of war be left for the Goths, from which they might harass Italy with raids, and so that, with that town taken, a full and absolute victory might be achieved. For Aligern, the youngest brother of Teias, who had been the leader of the Goths, was inside the town, and having gathered no small army, he harbored no thought of peace, both because Teias had been killed in the war and because he clearly understood that the affairs of the Goths were shattered and dissipated. B By no means, therefore, did he lose heart or fear the blows of adverse fortune; rather, the situation of the place and the abundance of necessary supplies so increased his confidence and arrogance that he hoped to repulse the enemy's assaults with ease.
9. Statim itaque Narses suos adhortatus, exercitum oppido admovit. C Those who with great toil had climbed to the higher hill, and had approached the fortress, immediately began to throw javelins at those appearing on the battlements; and they held their bows taut with a persistent discharge of arrows; slings were brandished aloft, and all the engines that are brought forward for the siege of walls were set in motion. Those around Aligern, having gathered in the spaces between the towers of the wall, fought back with no less speed, throwing javelins and shooting arrows in return, rolling down large stones with their hands upon those approaching, as well as logs, axes, and whatever seemed convenient for the purpose; they also used engines and implements adapted for repelling hostile violence, and nothing at all was neglected. The arrows, however, that were released by the hands of Aligern himself were easily recognized by the Romans over the arrows of others. For they were borne with a great whistling sound and immense speed, so much so that if they were to fall upon some stone or some other hard thing difficult to break, they would
AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS
A Palladium, therefore—for he was a man of no ordinary standing with Narses, but was a leader of the Roman army and among the foremost commanders—, B Aligernus, having caught sight of him clad in iron armor and approaching the wall with great confidence, loosed a bolt at him from the heights. It instantly transfixed the man clean through his breastplate and shield; so far did he surpass others in strength, and so powerful were his hands for the drawing of the bow. For many days thereafter, skirmishes of this kind took place, and things were not proceeding to the satisfaction of either side. For it appeared shameful to the Romans to withdraw with their task unaccomplished and without having brought the town under their power, and the Goths clearly appeared as if they would by no means yield to the siege.
B Narses, therefore, the general, was greatly vexed and angered if much time was to be wasted by the Romans upon a tiny town. While he was wavering and weighing every detail, it seemed best to him to attempt the storming of the fortress in the following manner. At the eastern turn of the hill, there lay a certain cave, covered on all sides and very hollow, such that it possessed, as it were, natural sanctuaries and a huge, deep abyss like a chasm. They say that in this place the great Italian Sibyl once dwelt, inspired by the divine, and that she would foretell the future to those who inquired. They even say that when Aeneas, son of Anchises, came there, the Sibyl told him everything that would happen afterward. Over this cave, then, a part of the fortifications rested and was supported. When Narses noticed this, he thought it worked in his favor, and immediately sending into the hollows of the cave a great number of men carrying tools C suitable for cutting stones and undermining walls, he gradually excavated and cut away the roof of the cave at the part where the fortification rested upon it; and at length, by cutting and scraping, he progressed to the base of the structure, so that the beginning of the foundations was now being laid bare. Then he set up wooden beams in an orderly row, which might support the entire weight of the wall, so that the masonry might not gradually become loose and collapse, and the Goths immediately perceive what was being done. For otherwise, had they encountered them at the very outset and repaired the damage, they would thereafter have guarded their position most firmly. Lest, therefore, what was being done should become known to them at all, and the crash of the stones being cut be heard, the Roman army would then charge the higher wall with the greatest force, stirred up by loud shouts and the clashing of arms. D There was, therefore, a tumult greater and more boisterous than was necessary, and a turbulent siege. But when the entire wall, in the extent that it stretched along the length of the cave, had been undermined and was hanging aloft
A and was sustained only by those timbers which happened to be firmly planted as uprights, then, having piled up bunches of leaves and whatever other dry material was at hand that could easily be set on fire, and having placed this under the timbers and set fire to it, they withdrew. Not long after, as the flame rose up, the supports were immediately charred and shattered, and gave way under the opposition; and as much of the fortification as was hanging upon them sank down all at once and collapsed into the void. The towers and breastworks that were there were suddenly torn away from the others and rolled down the slope. The gate also, which was attached to this part of the wall, had been shut very securely indeed, as was expected with enemies present, and the bolts were held fast by the guards; but it was thrust out along with its bars and catches, and collapsed onto the shore and the rocky coast, and at the same time all that was attached to it was carried away—namely, the jambs, the lintel, B and the doorposts fitted to the threshold. When these things had happened, it seemed that the entrance into the city was henceforth easy for the Romans, and that the enemy was to be despised. But they were frustrated in this expectation as well. For certain chasms and rough places of the terrain, extending a great distance both in the hill itself and in the inner circuit, rendered the city truly difficult and no less hard of access than before. And Narses made another assault upon the fortress with all his might, as if about to capture the whole thing in an instant; but the Goths, who had gathered there and were defending the wall with all their strength, repulsed him, and he achieved nothing of any value.
11. Now, when it seemed impossible C to take the place by either war or raids, he decided not to keep the entire army detained in this laborious siege, but to proceed immediately to Florence and Centumcellae and certain other cities of the region of Tuscany, and having set things in order there, to forestall the arrival of the enemies. For it had already been reported to him that Leutharis and Butilinus, together with the Frankish and Alemannian armies, had come inside the Po river; for which reason, with as much speed as he could, he led the greater part of the army toward that region. And since Philimuth, the commander of the Heruls who were with him, had died of disease only a few days before, and it was necessary that they be under some leader of their own and of their own nation, he immediately appointed Fulcaris, a kinsman of theirs and the nephew of Phanitheus, as their commander; and he ordered him, together with John the son of Vitalianus, and furthermore with Valerian and Artabanes, and other commanders and officers, to take the larger and more valiant part of the army, and having gone around the mountain range of the Alps, which rises between the region of Tuscany and Emilia, to betake themselves to the neighborhood of the Po river, and having pitched their camp there and D occupied the more fortified places, to repel and repress the assaults of the enemies; and if they should be able to rout them completely
to render thanks to fortune; but if, pressed by the multitude, they were unable to do so, they should make their advance slower, and not allow them to proceed forward with too much confidence, but rather to intimidate them as much as possible and keep them at a distance until he himself could arrange all matters at hand according to his own judgment. So they went on their way to these positions. He left also a A sufficient force at Cyme, so that, by encamping there and keeping the enemies hemmed in within, in the course of time he might B reduce them by siege. They accordingly threw up a rampart around them and kept watch on the exits, determined to seize anyone who might emerge in search of fodder. For they thought that since they had already been besieged for nearly a year, all their provisions must be exhausted. Narses, however, attacking the towns, brought most of them under his control without a struggle. For the Florentines, having met him and received assurances that they would suffer nothing hostile, surrendered themselves and all their possessions of their own accord. The inhabitants of Centumcellae did the same, as did the Volaterrani, and in like manner the Lunenses, and indeed the Pisans also: so prosperously did everything succeed for him that he subdued all things as he journeyed.
12. The inhabitants of Lucca alone attempted to delay and were most reluctant to yield, although they had previously concluded an agreement with Narses, having given hostages and taken an oath that if thirty days should pass by without any allied reinforcements arriving to them capable of sustaining a siege and engaging in open warfare—not from towers and walls, but in C stationary battle—they would immediately surrender themselves and the city. For they hoped that the Franks would soon come to their aid, and it was in this confidence that they had concluded the agreement with Narses. But when the appointed time had already elapsed and no reinforcements appeared, they nevertheless decided not to abide by their compacts and agreements. Narses, therefore, feeling deceived and being understandably annoyed, prepared himself to assault the walls. D Some of those around him were of the opinion that all the hostages should be put to death, so that those in the city, overwhelmed with grief, might pay the penalty for their treachery. But the general, who managed everything with prudence and did not allow himself to be carried away by anger to such a degree of cruelty as to kill those who had done nothing wrong on account of the transgression of others, devised a ruse of this kind. He brought them into the middle with their hands bound behind their backs and their heads bowed down, and in this piteous state he exposed them to the townspeople, threatening that they would be beheaded immediately unless they fulfilled what they had agreed upon. Indeed, certain pieces of wood
A had been inserted from their shoulder blades down to their tendons, covered with rags so that the enemies might not discern the ruse from afar. But when they would not obey, he immediately ordered that all of them be beheaded, as it were, in a row. The guards drew their swords with great force and struck and descended upon them, as if they were cutting off their necks. However, the blow, striking the pieces of wood, did them no further harm. Nevertheless, they fell face down, as they had been commanded, and twitched and writhed of their own accord, pretending that they had perished. When those in the city saw this, and because of their great distance from the place they could not discern the reality, but only what was appearing to the eye, they immediately gave themselves over to weeping and lamentation, as if they had accepted a most grievous calamity. For those men who were held as hostages were not of the many and the ignoble, but were among the most distinguished and were of noble birth. Since, therefore, they thought that they were being deprived of such men, a boundless wailing overcame them, and frequent cries of woe were heard, and a mournful and prolonged voice, and many women, tearing themselves with their nails and rending their garments, ran about the battlements, whether they were the mothers of those who were thought to have been slain, or their wives, or whether they were affected by this in any other way. And all of them openly heaped insults upon Narses, calling him an impostor and a knave; they said that in truth he was violent and bloodthirsty, and that he falsely pretended to piety and the worship of the divine.
B 13. While they were shouting these things, "Are you not then," said Narses, "the cause of this destruction, having neglected and betrayed these men, and failing to take good counsel for yourselves, having sworn a perjured oath and shamelessly violated the treaty? But if even now you should wish to learn what is expedient and to fulfill the agreements in deed, you will suffer no harm. For both your hostages shall live again, and we shall do no damage to your city. But if not, it is not for their sake that you will have to grieve, but you must now be on guard lest you all suffer the same things." When the Lucanians heard this, they thought they were being mocked and deceived with the promise of the resurrection of the dead. And there was indeed altogether a ruse in his words, though not in the way they thought. Nevertheless, they very readily professed and swore again that they would surrender themselves and the city to the judgment of Narses, if they saw the hostages safe. For since it seemed impossible to them that the dead should come to life, they thought that by this agreement they would most honorably avert the accusation and C make their own case just.
A Then Narses, having given the order, caused them all to stand up at once, and they appeared to their fellow-tribesmen safe and unharmed. Those who saw them were indeed struck with amazement, as was natural, at the unexpected sight, yet not even so did all of them think it right to fulfill their oaths; rather, there were some who still demurred. For when their men had returned to them, their grief and distress of mind had, as it were, been transformed; again, being but a mob, they reverted to their former state, and the spirit of mistrust prevailed. Seeing that they were thus driven to such foolishness, the general Narses, displaying great magnanimity, released them straightway and sent them home, without having taken any ransom or forced the city to agree to anything else. While the Lucanians marveled and were full of doubt as to why he had done this, he said, "It is not my custom to flatter or to deceive with vain hopes. For even without these men, unless you surrender as quickly as possible, you shall be subdued by these," and saying this, he pointed to his swords. Having thus released the hostages, after they had been returned to their fellow-citizens, they mingled with the crowds and began to praise Narses with the highest commendations, proclaiming the kindness with which they had been received, and whispering everywhere that he was endowed with gentle and affable manners, and that he tempered his greatness of mind with justice. And it seemed that these words would soon achieve more than weapons, charming as many of the common people as were contentious and fickle, and persuading a great number to choose the Roman side. C
14. While Narses was still besieging the city, the Roman troops D that had been sent into Aemilia were troubled by the events that followed, and, as was to be expected, they were overcome with great despondency. For when they had first arrived there, they performed everything with prudence and order. And if they went to plunder any village or fortified town, they proceeded in excellent battle formation, did not stray further than was appropriate, nor were they dispersed in wandering to different places; but they kept their ranks, with the rearguard remaining in the proper places, while the formation was arranged as a square, and all the booty was taken into the center, so that it might be preserved as firmly and securely as possible. Indeed, while they devastated the enemy territory in this way at the beginning, a few days later everything was turned upside down and went to ruin. For Fulcaris, the commander of the Heruli, was indeed a brave man and was not accustomed to fear any enemy at all, but he was rash and unruly, and not at all well prepared for planning and executing military operations. He did not consider it a virtue of a commander and leader to draw up and arrange the battle line; but wherever he himself appeared in the fray, dashing ahead of others and charging with great force and ardor of spirit into the enemy,
he deemed it a great honor to engage them with his own hands, and indeed he gloried in this name. A Then, carried away by an even greater foolhardiness of the moment, he undertook an incursion against the city of Parma. Parma was, at that time, already occupied by the Franks. Although he ought to have first sent out scouts to examine the enemy's counsel with precision and thus, in good order, to lead his army toward situations already known, he, relying only on precipitancy and a reckless impulse of spirit, marched rapidly, bringing along the army of the Heruli in disorder, as well as those from the Roman legions who followed him, suspecting nothing adverse would happen, for he supposed no one would dare to oppose him. B When Butilinus, the leader of the Franks, learned of this in advance, he hid a select band of his own troops—the most valiant and warlike of his soldiers—in a certain amphitheatre erected not far from the city (this was indeed intended for those who, in the sight of the people, were to fight against beasts). Having set this great ambush, he kept watch and awaited the moment for the endeavor to be carried out successfully. But when Fulcaris and the Heruli had already advanced inside the enemy's positions, then, without the signal being given, the Franks rushed out, and falling upon them in a body—disorderly and negligently as they were—they immediately slaughtered all who were in their hands with their swords, as they were struck by the sudden and unexpected event, nearly paralyzed. C But most of them, barely realizing what misfortune had befallen them, sought a base and most shameful safety. For they turned their backs to the enemy and fled at full speed, oblivious to all their martial valor and their long years of training in perils.
15. Thus, with the army scattered, the general Fulcaris, left behind with a few of his guards, did not think he should flee as the others did, believing it would be much more glorious for him to meet a noble death than to live on ignobly. D Therefore, standing as firmly as he could, with his back supported by a certain hillock or sepulchral monument, he killed many of the enemy, now rushing upon them in a body, now facing them and slowly retreating backward. Although it was still fully possible for him to escape quite easily, even while his own men urged him to do so, "And how," he said, "could I endure the tongue of Narses, accusing me of rashness?" Fearing the reproach, it seems, more than the sword, he remained and resisted for a very long time, and did not cease fighting until, surrounded by a multitude of enemies and having received many javelins in his chest, and also having been struck on the head with an axe, he finally, struggling with death, fell prone upon his shield. Upon him, moreover, the rest were all stretched out in heaps, all those who happened
A to remain about him, whether by their own will or perhaps constrained by the enemy. Fulcaris, therefore, having been chosen general, did not long enjoy his distinction, but after a brief period of prosperity—like the joy that occurs to those in dreams—he met with a swift end to both his command and his life. Upon this disaster having occurred, the morale of the Franks was greatly lifted and strengthened. The Goths, however, inhabiting Aemilia and Liguria and the neighboring regions—who had previously maintained a peace and alliance with the Romans that was treacherous and insincere, being moved more by fear than by will—now took heart, and openly breaking their treaties, immediately crossed over to the barbarians, as they were allied by a similarity of customs and life.
The Roman armies, led, as I have said before, by John, son of Vitalianus, and Artabanes, along with as many of the Heruli as had escaped in the flight, immediately withdrew to the city of Faenza; for the generals deemed it not in their interest to remain any longer near Parma, since the enemy's forces had converged there, and because, having prospered beyond expectation, they were no longer using their fortune with moderation. For the cities of the Goths were opening themselves to them, and having already received strong garrisons, it was manifest that they were about to make an attack upon them with all their strength. For this reason the generals judged that they should proceed as close to Ravenna as possible, and by that means avoid the enemy's assault, since they were not their equals in a set battle.
When these things were reported to Narses, he was indeed grieved and vexed at the arrogance of the barbarians, and that Fulcaris had thus perished so suddenly—a man not of the common or obscure sort, but preeminently a most valiant and illustrious warrior, who, I think, would never have been overcome by the enemy had he possessed prudence joined with his fortitude. For these reasons, therefore, he grieved and lamented; yet he did not, like many, lose heart or become fearful. But when he saw the troops around him dismayed by the unexpected disaster, he decided to give them an address in public, by which he might recall them to courage and take away their fear. B C
16. For Narses was a man of the greatest prudence and energy, and skilled at accommodating himself to any fortune or event; and though he had not applied himself greatly to learning or eloquence, he excelled in natural dexterity, and was able to explain and demonstrate his thoughts with ease; and this, despite being a eunuch, and having been reared D rather delicately in the royal courts. He was also short in stature and accustomed to a slender frame, yet his bravery
A matched his achievements so well that it almost exceeded belief. From this it is sufficiently clear that to one who is endowed with a liberal and generous spirit, nothing can be an impediment to his flourishing in the highest degree in any matter whatsoever.
Then Narses, having advanced into the midst of the army, spoke to this effect: "Those who are accustomed at all times to victory over the enemy, and who are used to having every endeavor turn out successfully, are immediately disquieted and their hopes dampened if anything should happen, even for a short time, that is not entirely to their liking. But I, for my part, believe that it befits men of prudence not to be carried away by fortune B in times of prosperity; rather, just as the changing of present circumstances is easy and prone to happen, so should they always keep their minds prepared for every eventuality. For to those who are so disposed, prosperity will seem a most pleasant thing, yet it will not be excessively bitter or troublesome if, by chance, they should occasionally fall short of their expectations. I see, therefore, men, that you are more distressed than this incident warrants; and it is clear that this feeling comes from no other source than from this one fact: that you boast beyond measure in the habit of winning, as if you could never stumble. If, therefore, you were to lay aside this opinion C and examine the event in and of itself, it would not appear as harsh and grievous as you otherwise think. For if Fulcaris the general—being a barbarian and, as is his wont, presumptuously and with every disregard for order joining battle against such a multitude of the enemy—suffered penalties fitting for his rashness, you, O men, should neither lose heart in the present situation nor depart from your established course. For it would be shameful if, while the remnants of the Goths, though their race has almost entirely wasted away, are still recruiting allies for waging war and are causing us greater trouble, showing no total surrender to fortune, we, on the other hand, thinking ourselves defeated now for the sole reason that we have not achieved D continuous victory, should abandon the glory of our past deeds and cast aside our zeal. And yet, it rather befits us to rejoice at what has happened. For in this, I think, the excess of our good fortune has been chastened, and we have escaped being the objects of excessive envy; and from this point forward it will be permitted to us to approach the battles with a more confident mind, having made a new beginning of victory for ourselves. For even if the host boasts and glories in its numbers, we will certainly be far superior to them in the excellence of our military order, provided we are wise. Furthermore, we are fighting against foreigners who, as is to be expected, are suffering from a lack of necessary provisions, whereas all things abound for us. Castles and towns will afford us security when there is need; they, however, will lack these. Moreover, we have God himself as our helper and author, inasmuch as we are justly defending our own affairs, while they are coveting the possessions of others: thus, there is every reason for us not to despair, much less to fear,"
Therefore, let us by no means allow these Luccans to take a breath from the siege, and let every one of you most zealously prepare himself with eagerness for the war as a whole.
17. Having spoken thus, Narses immediately encouraged the army and pressed the siege against the Luccans more strictly. He was severely displeased with the other military commanders because they had abandoned more advantageous positions and had betaken themselves to Faventia, whereby their plans had turned to an outcome contrary to his own. For he had judged that the forces over which he had set them should be stationed around the city of Parma as a rampart and bulwark, so that they might prevent the enemy from advancing further, and he himself, once all things in Tuscany were as well-ordered as possible, would eventually cross over to them. But now that they had departed far from there, it came about that the forces which were around Narses were the first exposed to the enemy. Thinking this in no wise tolerable, he immediately sent to those commanders a man most suitable for the purpose, whose name was Stephen—his homeland being the Illyrian town of Epidamnus—to rebuke them for their cowardice with sharp words and to denounce them as deserters of the public good, unless they returned again to their former positions. C Stephen, therefore, having taken with him two hundred most warlike horsemen, equipped with the best armor, set out as quickly as possible and made the journey with the greatest labor and most wakeful watching. For a certain part of the Frankish army was roaming widely over all the plains, partly for the sake of foraging and partly to carry off plunder from the fields. Hence, for the most part, the Romans marched by night, huddled together and mutually guarding one another’s backs, so that if they had to fight, they would not be found unprepared. The wailing of the country folk was heard, and the lowing of the oxen being driven off, and the crash of the timber being cut in the woods; and as these terrifying noises rang in their ears from every side, they finally arrived, with difficulty, at Faventia and the army. When he had come into the sight of the commanders, Stephen said: "What evil, O men, has taken hold of you? Where is now the glory of your past deeds, and the boast of so many victories? D And in what way could Narses capture Lucca and bring all that is within the Alps under his own power, when you are all but granting the enemy a passage by agreement, and giving them the power to go wherever they wish? And I, indeed, will say nothing harsher to you than this; but perhaps some other man might—"
A call it cowardice, and a disregard for the common interest. For unless you hasten to return to Parma, Narses will never cease from his anger, and will blame you for what may happen, should any reverse occur. Consider, therefore, best of men, lest the Emperor also be angered B.
18. Upon hearing this, the commanders, knowing that what was being said by Narses was not an unjust charge against them, could not defend themselves, but offered certain excuses and causes, namely that they had been forced by necessity to abandon their station, since they could not obtain enough provisions for the soldiers from the regions around Parma; nor had the governor Antiochus, to whom this concern was entrusted, assisted them; nor had the customary pay been distributed to them. Stephen, therefore, having returned to Ravenna with the utmost speed, brought the governor from there to the commanders, and having removed all the difficulties as far as it was possible, persuaded them all to recall their line of march and to transfer their camp back to Parma. When these things were accomplished, he returned to Lucca, and told Narses to be of good courage and to carry forward his plan with vigor. For the enemy would not oppose him, but the Roman legions, occupying the favorable positions again, would suppress their attacks. Narses, therefore, C thinking it no longer tolerable that the people of Lucca should resist, and that the city was being besieged too slackly, approached the walls fearlessly; and immediately the siege engines were brought up, and fiery missiles were cast onto the battlements and the inner circuit of the walls; and those who appeared in the intervals of the towers were pelted with stones and arrows; and the masonry of the circuit wall was being cut through in some places, and every form of evil pressed upon the city. Those who had previously given hostages D were then doing more for the Romans. And for that reason, the whole city would have very quickly yielded; but now the commanders of the Franks, who happened to have been stationed inside for the guard and protection of the city, were inciting them with hostile spirits to fight and to repel the siege with arms. Therefore, the gates were immediately thrown open, and they made sudden sorties against the Romans, thinking that by this means they would prevail. But they were destined to do very little harm to the enemy, while bringing great and significant damage upon themselves. For most of the people of Lucca, already persuaded by those who were working from within, were fighting with intentional lethargy. But after they had frequently attempted the matter and their efforts were in vain, and having lost many of their own, they were shamefully and ignobly forced to retreat, and again into the walls re-
A they were driven, and more strictly confined than before, such that no more hope of egress remained for them. Then, indeed, all of them, seeing that there was no other possible way to save themselves, changed their minds under necessity toward a more peaceful course and resolved to make the best of their present situation. And so, having forthwith received pledges from Narses that he would by no means be hostile toward them on account of what had passed, they surrendered the city and gladly admitted the army, three months having by now been consumed in the siege; and thus, once again, the Lucenses became subjects of the Roman king.
19. Narses, however, since Lucca had been taken by siege and there was no longer any opposing force, did not consider it at all necessary to linger there, nor even to take the slightest breather from their labors. Having therefore left behind there Bonus, a general B from Moesia, which extends toward the Ister River, a man who had reached the pinnacle of prudence and was most expert in both civil and military affairs, and having assigned to him a force sufficient to overcome and restrain the barbarians if they should happen to contemplate any revolution, C he set things in order in this way and hurried off toward Ravenna, in order to allow the troops there to pass the winter. For since the autumn was already ending and the winter solstice was approaching, it did not seem to him at all appropriate to engage in war at that season. Indeed, this would truly have seemed advantageous to the Franks, to whom the heat is very hostile and burdensome; they do not willingly make war in the summer, but in the time of winter they become invigorated and stronger, and then they most conveniently endure their labors. For by nature, on account of the cold of their homeland, they are so constituted that it is somehow inherent to them to be cold. For these reasons, therefore, he thought it best to prolong the war and defer it until the coming spring. He commanded, then, that the army be dispersed D among the centurions and tribunes, so that they might winter in the nearby towns and fortresses, but that as soon as spring began, all should come to Rome and assemble, so that there they might draw up the army with all their forces joined together. And they, for their part, complied with what had been commanded. Narses himself withdrew to Ravenna, taking with him only his own household staff and attendants, and those who administered his court, to whom the care of the archives was committed, both for the sake of dignity and equipment, and so that power to enter would not be granted indiscriminately to anyone who wished. These, it is the custom of the Romans to call *cancellarii*, from the screens [cancelli] and the work they perform therein. He had also taken with him Zandalas, the prefect of his domestic retinue, along with the entire remaining crowd of household slaves and chamberlain eunuchs. Leading with him, therefore, in all some four hundred men, he came to Ravenna.
A
20. Aligern, the son of Fredeger and brother of Teias—of whom I made mention before in the siege of Cumae—was also B the only one who, once the Franks had come into Italy and the affairs of the Goths had all devolved upon them, seemed to have understood what was advisable and in their interest, and to have foreseen the future. For as he was deliberating within himself concerning the present state of affairs, the thought came to his mind that the Franks were grasping at a specious title and pretext of a military alliance formed with the Goths, inasmuch as they had come ostensibly at their invitation; but as for what they were agitating in their own minds, it would appear as something quite different in the reality of the event. For he saw that even if they should prove superior to the Romans, they would not cede Italy to the Goths, but, having first subdued those to whom they had come in name to bring aid, they would impose Frankish leaders upon them and strip them of their ancestral laws. Since he was frequently turning these thoughts over within himself and pondering them in his mind, and was at the same time being hard-pressed by the siege, it seemed to him most advisable to surrender the city and its treasures to Narses, and henceforth to live according to the Roman way of life and customs, wishing to be rid of the dangers and of the barbarian style of living. For it seemed just to him that, if the Goths were unable to possess Italy, its ancient inhabitants and descendants from the beginning should at least recover it, and not be forever deprived of their own dwellings. These things he resolved to carry out C himself, and to set an example of prudent counsel for all his fellow tribesmen.
And so, having first reported to the besieging Romans that he desired to approach the general, and permission having been granted to him, he came to Classes, where he had learned that Narses was tarrying; this fortress is situated in the territory of Ravenna. When he came into the sight of him and handed over to him the keys of Cumae, he offered him all his good services. Narses, having greeted him kindly upon his arrival, promised to reward him with greater benefits; and he immediately sent a portion of the troops besieging Cumae into the city, with orders to take charge of it and of all the money, and to keep everything in safety, while commanding the rest of the troops to withdraw into other small towns and fortresses so that they might winter there. And thus all these things were accomplished.
But after the army of the Heruli was once again deprived of its own leader, and since there were two men among them who were distinguished and of equal merit, the multitude was divided in their loyalties between them. For one part of the army held the highest esteem for Aruth, and fully persuaded themselves that all things would succeed better if he were given to them as leader; the other part was more pleased by Sindual, as he was exceptionally energetic and well-trained in the arts of war. Narses, agreeing with this latter D party, appointed him as their leader and sent him also
those men who were best prepared for wintering. He sent Aligern to the city of Cesena, with instructions that once he had arrived there, he should ascend the wall and conspicuously show his head, so that he might be recognized by everyone as to who he was. He ordered these things so that the Franks (as they were intending to pass by there) might see him having defected, and might lose heart concerning their expedition to Cuma and their hope of money, and perhaps even concerning the entire war, seeing that all [strategic] places had already been seized. When Aligern saw the Franks passing by, he mocked them from the high wall and ridiculed them, saying that they were hastening in vain and were arriving "after the feast," as the saying goes, since all the wealth had come into the power of the Romans, and indeed the very standards of the Gothic principate itself; so that even if someone were to be declared king of the Goths in the future, he would have nothing by which he might be more impressive or honored, but would be clothed only in a soldier's cloak and in that attire would appear a private citizen. B The Franks, on the other hand, insulted him in return and reviled him, calling him a traitor to his people; and they seemed to be in doubt about the present situation and whether they should continue the war. However, the opinion prevailed that they should not give up, but rather press on with their original plan.
21. Meanwhile, Narses, staying in Ravenna and spending time among the troops stationed there, after having properly settled all matters, departed for the city of Ariminum with the escort with which he had previously arrived. For Vaccaro, a Varni by birth, a man of exceptional gravity and bellicosity, had died shortly before, and his son Theodibald (for this was the boy’s name) had immediately approached the Roman emperor with the Varni following him, and was at Ariminum as if he were about to meet Narses there, for which reason [Narses] himself had also come, so that by bestowing gold liberally upon everyone, he might have them as the firmest allies in the war. C While Narses was occupied with these affairs, about two thousand of the Franks, a mixed force of infantry and cavalry—who happened to have been sent out by their commanders to ravage and plunder the countryside—having now approached the city, were ravaging the fields and driving off the plow oxen, and carrying everything off indiscriminately, while Narses watched (for he himself was sitting in an elevated chamber with a view over the plain). He considered it shameful and ignoble not to repel the violence in the present circumstances, so he went out of the city, having mounted a horse that was most obedient and well-bred and spirited, and one that knew not only how to spring and leap in a disciplined and skillful manner, but had also been trained by long experience D to charge against the enemy, to stop his course, and to turn back; and he ordered those of his escort who were not entirely inexperienced in military matters to follow him. And they, having leaped onto their horses (there were, in fact, three hundred men), followed him and headed straight for the enemy. Then, when the latter saw them charging,
A they were no longer wandering about scattered, nor, I suppose, were they mindful of their booty; but they all gathered together, the cavalry and the infantry, and arrayed themselves in a phalanx. It was not very deep (for how could it be, when not many had arrived there?), yet it was sturdy, thanks to the locking of shields and the fact that the flanks were inclined in good order. When the Romans arrived within bowshot, they did not judge it at all advantageous to engage and clash with the enemy standing in battle array, but, skirmishing with arrows and javelins, they attempted to unseat the front rank and break through the density of the front. But they, being most excellently hedged in by their shields, stood firm and unshaken, nowhere breaking the continuity of their formation, since they had encountered a certain thick wood and were using the trees as a rampart. Already now they were also defending themselves by throwing those weapons which are called *angones* in their native tongue.
B 22. When nothing came of this, Narses, having considered everything, devised a certain barbarian stratagem, one more familiar to the Huns. For he ordered those with him to turn their backs and retreat rapidly to the rear, as if they were struck by fear and taking flight, so that by this means the barbarians might be lured as far as possible from the wood into the open plain; for he said that he would take care of the rest. And they did according to these orders, and took to flight. But the Franks, deceived by the flight and thinking the fear to be genuine, immediately and full of spirit broke their phalanx and, having exited the wood, eagerly pursued the fugitives. First of all the cavalry sped out, and those of the infantry who were strongest and fleetest of foot followed; and they were all pressing the matter most fiercely, as if they were about to capture Narses himself alive at any moment, and by a short labor were to put a desired end to the whole war. And they, having forgotten all order, were advancing in a disorderly and careless manner, rejoicing and amusing themselves with good hope. The Romans, on the other hand, were borne toward the front with loose reins: you would surely have said that they were fleeing out of actual terror, so closely did they simulate fear. But after the barbarians were already dispersed throughout the bare plain and had been pulled as far as possible from the wood, then indeed, C at a signal given by Narses, the Romans wheeled their horses around and, deploying themselves against their opponents, met those who were pursuing them face to face; and they struck and pushed back all of them, who were amazed by the unexpected event, and the flight was transformed into a counter-pursuit. The cavalry of the barbarians, therefore, aware of the danger that had arisen, and having very quickly run back through the wood and to their own camp, were happily rescued. But the infantry, being shamefully cut down, did not even lift a hand to defend themselves, but were struck dumb by the unexpected change D and, as it were, bereft of their senses. And so they all lay scattered, as if their own...
and were slaughtered like flocks of sheep in a miserable fashion. B When those nine hundred or more most brave men had been killed, the rest immediately turned their backs and made for their leaders, in the belief that they would no longer be secure if they remained with the rest of the host. Narses, having returned to Ravenna and having arranged all matters there most fittingly, moved to Rome and wintered there. C
AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS BOOK II OF THE HISTORIES
ARGUMENT
The following spring, the Franks and Alamanni, under the leadership of Butilinus and Leutharis, ravage Italy (I). Leutharis, returning home with his forces, is destroyed by the Huns and Romans (II). He himself, with the remnants of his troops, is seized by a serious illness in Venetia and dies (III). Butilinus, withdrawing, pitches camp in Campania by the river Casilinus (IV). He exhorts his army. The armor of the Franks (V). Narses advances to meet Butilinus; he intercepts the Franks' supplies (VI). The justice of Narses (VII). The battle lines are drawn up on both sides (VIII). The signal defeat of the Franks (IX). The victory of Narses is compared with the ancient triumphs of the Greeks (X). Narses recalls his army from sloth (XI). His speech (XII). The remnants of the Goths, under the command of Ragnaris, are besieged at Compsa (XIII). Ragnaris is killed, and the Goths surrender. Clotharius gains the kingdom of the Franks (XIV). A huge earthquake. The vain opinions of the wise concerning it (XV). The island of Cos is utterly devastated by the same shock (XVI). Tralles was once affected by a similar calamity (XVII). War between the Romans and the Persians (XVIII). Mermeroes attempts to invade the territory of the Lazi (XIX). The Romans, oppressed by guile, are forced to withdraw (XX). The Romans [retreating]... rites of the Persians (XXIII). The new Persian superstition originated by Zoroaster (XXIV). The Persians, under various kingdoms, acquired various customs (XXV). The origins of the New Persian kingdom (XXVI). The lineage of Artaxares (XXVII). The education of Chosroes becomes a matter of suspicion (XXVIII). Uranius, feigning the appearance of a philosopher, is held in high esteem by Chosroes (XXIX). The migration of the Roman philosophers into Persia (XXX). Deceived in their expectations, they return home. On the journey, they are deterred by a nocturnal vision of a certain dead man (XXXI). The great favor of Uranius with Chosroes (XXXII).C 1. Now when spring began, the army there was restored according to the command, and all the troops were gathered together. D Narses ordered them to be trained in martial affairs with precision, and he fortified their spirits with daily exercises, compelling them to wheel in circles, to mount their horses nimbly, and to be carried around in the manner of an armed Pyrrhic dance; and he insisted that the trumpet be sounded continuously so that they might not, through the relaxation of the winter season, grow oblivious to war and thereby become soft in the battle itself. Meanwhile, the barbarians, advancing more slowly, were devastating and laying waste to all the places through which they passed. Passing far beyond Rome and the regions surrounding the city, they pressed further onward, having the Tyrrhenian Sea on their right and the shores of the Ionian Gulf extending on their left. But after they had passed Samnium, they marched forward...
the country so called, where they separated to pursue different routes. A Butilinus, with the larger and more valiant part of the army, proceeded along the Tyrrhenian coast; he plundered most of Campania and indeed even entered Lucania, and then advanced into Bruttium, reaching as far as the strait which separates the island of Sicily from the borders of Italy. Leutharis, leading the remaining troops, was allotted the task of ravaging Apulia and Calabria; he went as far as the city of Hydruntum, which is situated on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, from where the Ionian Gulf begins. B Now as many of them as were Franks by birth displayed much reverence and piety towards the temples, as they had embraced the correct view concerning God, as I have already mentioned, and practiced the same rites as the Romans. But the entire Alemannic race (for they were otherwise disposed regarding religion) irreverently plundered the temples and despoiled them of their ornaments, robbing them of many holy vessels, such as lustral basins, sprinklers of pure gold, and very many chalices and censers, and whatever else was consecrated for the performance of mystical ceremonies, appropriating these as their own possessions. C But not even content with these things, they tore down the roofs of the holy temples and overturned the foundations; the shrines were awash in gore and corruption, and the fields and crops were polluted, as corpses lay scattered everywhere unburied. However, the signs of what followed did not long delay in overtaking them. For some perished in war, others by disease, and not one of them realized his former hope. For injustice and the neglect of God are always to be shunned and are harmful, but especially so in wars and conflicts. For to defend one’s fatherland and ancestral laws, and to resist with all one's strength those who attempt to ruin them, is truly a just and very noble thing; D but those who invade the property of others for the sake of gain and wanton hostility, having no just cause, and who harass those by whom they have not been provoked by any injury, are certainly insane and impious; they know neither what is lawful nor right, nor do they care if God is offended by their misdeeds. Therefore, the harshest punishments await them, and their affairs end in extreme and irremediable disasters, even if for a short time they appear to fare prosperously. And such things even then happened to the barbarians following Leutharis and Butilinus.
2. For when they had done these things and had gathered a great quantity of plunder, and the spring had already passed and the season of summer was at its height, Leutharis—one of the two leaders—wishing to return home and to enjoy his rich spoils, sent messengers to his brother, admonishing him that he should as quickly as possible...
A take his leave of the war and the uncertain chances of things to come, and [return to him]. Butilinus, however, because he had sworn to the Goths that he would join them in the struggle against the Romans, and because they were flattering him by promising to declare him their king, thought it best to remain and to carry out the things that had been agreed upon. So he, on that account B, remained where he was and busied himself with preparations for war. Leutharis, meanwhile, immediately departed with his own army, intending, as soon as he had conveyed all his spoils as safely as possible and had reached home, to dispatch his army to bring aid to his brother in his peril. But neither did his plans turn out for him in the end as he had intended, nor was he of much assistance to his brother. For as he was returning along the same route, he met with no opposition until he reached the territory of Picenum. But when he had arrived there, C he himself encamped near the city of Fanum. He immediately sent out, according to his custom, about three thousand scouts and skirmishers, to explore not only the areas ahead, but also to drive off any enemies if they should appear anywhere. Now Artabanes and Uldach the Hun—who happened to have gathered together with both a Roman and a Hunnish force at the city of Pisaurum, and were lying in wait for the passage of the army—when they caught sight of those scouts walking along the very shore and gravel of the Ionian gulf, issued forth from the city and attacked them all at once, drawn up in excellent order, and by striking with their swords they slaughtered many. Not a few, having climbed up the steep and rugged cliffs of the shore, were then carried headlong down the slope D and fell into the sea, where they perished, overcome by the crashing of the waves. For the coast rises there in a way that creates a sort of hill, which is not accessible or passable from every side, and which, once one has reached its summit, does not offer an easy descent, but for the most part exposes one to precipices that are prone to sliding, gaping open, and leaning toward the deeper abyss of the sea. Seeing, therefore, many of their number perishing in this way, the others fled in utter disorder, and with a great clamor and wailing they rushed back to the main army, filling everything with confusion and tumult, as if the Romans were already at hand. Leutharis, indeed, preparing himself for battle, began to put his whole army in motion. They, seizing their arms, drew up a battle line that was both dense and extended to a great length. This
A arrangement having been made, and with the moment providing no other alternative for them to consider, the majority of the captives, having been left unguarded, seized the opportunity presented by the enemy’s preoccupation: they fled as quickly as they could and carried off whatever spoils they were able to the nearby fortresses.
B 3. When Artabanes and Uldach (for they thought they were not a match for them) did not lead out the army to battle, then the Franks, finding their battle line dissolved, came to themselves and consulted, judging how much they had happened to lose. Therefore, before they could suffer any worse misfortune, it seemed advisable to them to move camp from the city of Fano as quickly as possible and proceed further ahead. They set out immediately, leaving the Ionian Gulf to their right, along with the entire coastal and sandy route, and traveled along the foothills of the Apennine Mountains. Thus, going straight towards Aemilia and the Cottian Alps, they managed with difficulty to cross the Po. Upon C reaching the region of Venetia, they made their encampment at the city of Ceneta, which was subject to them at that time, intending to remain there safely for the duration. They were grieved, however, and took it badly, showing a deep sorrow because only a very small amount of their booty remained, and they seemed to themselves to have endured useless and unrewarded labors. But their calamity was not limited to these bounds. For shortly thereafter, a pestilential disease suddenly broke out and destroyed the multitude. Some of them blamed the corruption of the surrounding air, attributing the cause of the disease to it; others thought that the change in their way of life was to blame, because after completing continuous wars and long journeys, they had suddenly been transferred to an idle and soft life. But they did not at all understand D the true origin and necessary cause of the evil, which was, in fact, injustice and their wanton trampling of divine and human laws. Thus, it was evident that the leader himself was subject to punishments sent by God; for he was seized by insanity and manifest rabies, like those who are deranged and mad, and he was agitated by much dizziness and let out heavy wailing. Now prone, now falling on his side onto the ground, he emitted much foam from his mouth; his eyes were also wild and horribly rolled back; finally, the wretch had reached such a point of insanity that he did not even refrain from consuming his own limbs. He constantly clung to his own arms with his teeth and, tearing off the flesh, he [devoured it] like some wild beast
licking up the gore. Thus, gorging himself on his own self and gradually wasting away, he died most miserably. The others also died in great numbers, the evil not relenting at all until they were all destroyed. Most were oppressed by fever, yet they perished while still of sound mind. A violent apoplexy struck some, while others suffered from heaviness of the head, and some from delirium. For they labored under diverse diseases, but all ended in destruction. Such, then, was the calamitous end of the expedition of Leutharis and those who followed him. B
4. But while these things were happening in Venetia, Butilinus, the other commander, having devastated almost all the towns and fortresses as far as the Sicilian strait, immediately betook himself as quickly as possible toward Campania and Rome. For he had heard that Narses and the Emperor's forces had gathered somewhere there. He wished no longer to delay or to waver, but to draw up his whole army in battle array and risk the decisive struggle; for no small part of the army that was with him had already been carried off by disease. Now, as the summer was waning and autumn beginning, the vines were indeed heavy with grapes; but they, lacking other necessary provisions (for all supplies had been most prudently intercepted by Narses), plucked the grapes, and having squeezed the juice with their hands, they gorged themselves on the must, making on the spot the fragrant wine which the Greeks call *anthosmias*; whence they labored under C a most violent flux of the belly: and some of them perished from this, while some even survived. Therefore, before this disease could overcome everyone, he decided that battle must be joined, whatever the outcome. Wherefore, upon arriving in Campania, he camped not far from the city of Capua, by the banks of the river Casulinus, which, flowing from the Apennine mountain and winding through the surrounding plains, carries itself into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Having established his army here, he fortified it with a strong rampart, relying on the nature of the place. For the river, flowing past him on the right, seemed to serve as a bulwark so that no one might attack from that side; and he fixed in the ground the wheels of the wagons, of which he had a very great force, fitted together in a row, having piled D up earth as far as the wheel hubs, so that only half of their circumference stood out and projected. Having fortified the entire army with these and many other logs, he left a certain exit, not very wide nor obstructed by any fence, so that it might easily be possible through it, if he wished, to make incursions against the enemy and retreats. But lest the bridge by which the river was spanned be left unguarded, and lest he receive harm from that side, he occupied this as well, and having built a certain wooden tower upon it, he [stationed] brave men in it
as possible, both martial and best armed, so that from this position of safety he might defend himself and ward off the Romans should they attempt to cross. Having arranged each of these things in this way, he thought that his current situation had been made ready as it should be, so that the war might begin exactly when it pleased him, and that the battle would not happen before he wished. For the events regarding his brother in Venetia he had not yet heard, but he was amazed that he had not sent his troops to him as had been agreed between them. And he suspected that they would not have been delayed so long unless some misfortune or reverse had happened to them. Nevertheless, he still believed that he would carry off the victory from the enemy even without them, since even in that state he was superior in the number of his troops. For the army that remained with him amounted to nearly thirty thousand fighting men, while the army of the Romans was scarcely eighteen thousand.
B 5. Therefore he himself was in the best spirits, and he exhorted the entire army, [telling them] to recognize that the present struggle would not turn upon some small matter, but, "Either," he said, "we shall hold Italy, for the sake of which we have come, or this one thing alone will remain for us all: to die ingloriously here." "Therefore, we ought, brave men, to choose that rather than this, since it is in our hands, if we wish to be valiant, to attain what we desire." Butilinus, therefore, did not cease to exhort the multitude with these and suchlike words. They, buoyed by good hope, began to prepare their arms as it pleased each one. For in one place many axes were being sharpened, in another the native spears—which they call *angones*—and elsewhere the broken shields C were being mended so as to be useful, and everything was easily prepared for them. For the armament of this nation is of such a kind that it does not require various craftsmen, but is decorated by those who use it themselves, I think, if anything happens to be damaged. For they happen to be unacquainted with breastplates and greaves; most of them keep their heads uncovered, and only a few fight covered with helmets. They are naked in their chests and backs down to the loins, and from there they are girded with trousers, some linen and others leather, which they wear around their legs. They use horses very little, except for a very few, since fighting on foot is both customary to them and ancestral, and they are excellently trained in it. A sword hangs at the thigh, and a shield at the left side. Furthermore, they do not carry bows, or slings, or other long-range weapons, but battle-axes and the *angones*, with which they accomplish most things. These *angones* are spears, not very small, yet not very large, but of a size to be thrown both if there is need D to strike from a distance, and where it is necessary to fight at close quarters, foot to foot, and to make an assault. Most of these on their part are iron-tipped.
A For the most part they are so covered with iron that very little of the wood can be seen, and even the shaft is scarcely visible. Up towards the tip of the point, there are certain curved barbs projecting on both sides from the very head of the spear, resembling hooks B that are bent downwards. When a Frank joins in the struggle, he throws this spear; and if it should pierce anywhere into a body, the point naturally penetrates, but neither the man who has been struck nor anyone else can easily pull the spear out. For the barbs, getting stuck inside the flesh, cause more bitter pains, so that even if the enemy should not happen to have received a mortal wound, he perishes nonetheless. But if it should stick into a shield, it immediately hangs down from it and swings about, dragging and twisting along the ground in its lower part. The man who is struck is unable to pull the weapon out of the shield, as the barbs are biting into it, nor can he cut it with a sword, because he cannot reach the wood C as the iron plates shielding it prevent him; as soon as the Frank sees this, he immediately jumps on it with his foot, and by stepping on the shaft, he bears down on the shield and pulls it down so that the hand of the one bearing it relaxes and slackens, and his head and chest are left exposed. Then, having caught the enemy unprotected, he easily kills him, either by striking his forehead with an axe or by thrusting another spear through his throat. Such is the armament of the Franks, and in these ways they prepared for battle.
6. But Narses, the general of the Romans, when he heard of this, straightway led the entire army out D of Rome and encamped not far from the enemies, but at a distance from which he could hear their clamor and discern their rampart. And so, when the two armies had come into each other's view, battle lines were accurately arrayed on both sides, guards and sentries were stationed, and the commanders went around the military ranks. Hope and fear and hesitation, and all the unexpected passions that usually arise in those about to contend for great stakes, came over now one side and now the other. All the towns of Italy hung in suspense, uncertain as to which side would eventually yield. Meanwhile, the Franks, ravaging the neighboring villages, were carrying off provisions whenever they wished. When Narses perceived this, he considered it a personal disgrace and took it ill that the enemy's baggage-bearers should pass through the regions closest to them so freely, just as if they saw no opponent. He therefore decided that this was no longer to be tolerated, but that it must be prevented with all his might. Cha-
- A rangares, a certain Armenian, had been enrolled among the Roman commanders; he was a man of the greatest courage and intelligence, and bold in danger when the need arose. Narses therefore directed this Charangares (for his tents were pitched at the very edge of the camp, closest to the enemy) to make an attack upon the wagon-drivers, and to harm them as much as he could, so that they would no longer dare to transport fodder. And he, having at once spurred his horse forth together with a few men from his unit, intercepted the other wagons and killed those driving them. One of them, however, which was laden with wild and withered grass, he brought up to the tower which the Franks happened to have constructed upon the bridge, of which I have made mention before. B Having brought the wagon up to this point, he set fire to the grass; and as a massive flame suddenly arose, the entire tower—being, as it was, constructed of wood—easily burned down. The barbarians, as many as had been stationed there as a guard, since they could not defend it and saw that they themselves were about to perish in that conflagration, decided to abandon the post; and having with difficulty escaped from there, they fled to their own army, while the Romans became masters of the bridge. When these things had thus come to pass, the Franks were at once filled, as was to be expected, with confusion, and they began to arm themselves. Seething with rage and maddened, they were unable to restrain their impulses, but were bold beyond measure, and confident, thinking that they should no longer remain quiet or delay, but should join battle that very day; C and this despite the fact that it had been predicted to them by the Alemannic seers that they should not fight on that day, or they would know that they would all be destroyed utterly. I, for my part, think that even if the engagement had taken place on the following day, or some other day, the result would have been exactly the same as it was on that occasion. For surely the shift of a single day would not have sufficed to keep them from paying the penalty for the impieties they had committed. However, whether it happened thus, or whether perhaps in whatever manner the Alemannic seers had foreseen the future, the prophecy certainly did not seem to many to be empty or without effect. But in what manner the subsequent events were carried out, I shall straightway describe as accurately as possible.
7. The Frankish host was thus filled with D agitation, and their arms were already in their hands. Narses also armed the Romans and led them out of the camp, until he had reached the space midway between the two armies, where they had to be drawn up into a phalanx. But while the army was moving, and the general had already mounted his horse, word was brought to him that a certain Herulian, not one of the many among them, nor obscure, but a man of high nobility and distinction, had most miserably killed one of his own household servants because he had offended him in some matter. Immediately, therefore,
A he stopped his horse with the reins and brought the homicide into the center, as if it were not lawful to enter into battle before the defilement had been expiated and cleansed away. When the barbarian was questioned by him, he confessed to the deed and did not deny it; on the contrary, he even claimed that it was permitted for masters to deal with their own slaves at their own discretion, so that others might know that if they did not perform their duty, they would be treated in the same way. Since he was—as if not at all struck by compunction for the murder he had committed—persistent and boastful, and still seemed as though he were breathing out slaughter, Narses commanded the lictors to put the man to death. And he, having been pierced in the groin with a sword, died. But the crowd of Heruli, being barbarians, were grieved and took the matter ill, and decided to withdraw themselves from the battle.
Narses, however, having by this means expiated the murder and being little concerned about the Heruli, advanced into the battle line and proclaimed to the whole multitude, calling out that whoever wished to be a participant in the victory should follow with him; to such a degree did he openly rely on the help of the divine power, and approached the matter as if it had been already decided. B Sindual, the leader of the Heruli, considered it something shameful and unworthy of a noble spirit if, with such a great battle drawn up on both sides, he himself and the army under him should be accused of desertion, and should seem, by the very act, to have feared the enemy, while masking their fear under the pretext of goodwill toward the dead man. Not sustaining, therefore, to remain quiet, he signaled to Narses to wait for him, as he and his men were just about to arrive. But Narses replied that he would not wait, yet he would take care that they too should be stationed in their own place in the line of battle, even if they arrived a little later. The Heruli, therefore, being very well armed, were proceeding in good order.
8. But when Narses had arrived at the place where the battle was to be joined, he immediately drew up and arranged his army into a phalanx. The cavalry were stationed on both C sides at the wings, carrying spears and shields, and having bows and swords hanging at their sides; some were also holding long pikes. Narses himself stood on the right wing. Zandalas, the master of the household, and as many of the servants and attendants who were not unfit for war, were also present. On both flanks were Valerian and Artabanes with their troops, to whom it had been ordered that they should lie hidden for a short time near the denser part of the woods, and when the enemy made their attack, then suddenly to rush out upon them from their hiding place and encircle them. The infantry occupied all the space between. For in the very front of the army, the vanguard, wearing breastplates reaching down to their feet,
A and very sturdy helmets, had formed a testudo; and next to them, the others were packed in depth one behind another, until the formation ended at the rearguard. All the light-armed troops and archers and slingers were stationed to the rear, awaiting the moment when it would be necessary to skirmish. A place had been set apart for the Heruli [P. 44] in the very center of the phalanx, and it was still empty, for they had not yet arrived. In this, two men of the Heruli (for they happened to have deserted to the enemy a short time before, so that they were presumably unaware of what Sindual had meanwhile plotted) were urging all the barbarians to attack the Romans as quickly as possible. For you will find them, they said, filled with confusion and disorder, the troops of the Heruli being angry and refusing to share in the danger, and the rest of the multitude B struck with panic at their defection. By these things Butilinus was easily persuaded, since he wished, I suppose, for the facts to be so indeed. So he led the army forward immediately, and they all marched with eagerness straight toward the Romans, yet not quietly, nor in order, but spurred on by the messages, they advanced with noise and rashness, as if they were going to tear to shreds everything resisting them in the very first charge. In their ranks, the shape of the formation was like a wedge; for it resembled the letter A, and the forward part, in so far as it ended in a point, was solid and dense, being fenced in on all sides by shields, so that you would say they had modeled the head of a boar in their composition. But the legs on either side, composed in depth by files and rows, and stretched out for the most part to the diagonal, were separated from one another C slightly and stood apart, and as they went forward they ended in a very great width, so that the space between remained empty, and the backs of the men were exposed to view in rows. For they happened to have turned away from each other so that they might face the enemies, and might fight from a safe position, keeping their shields pushed forward, and might be protected; their backs were guarded by that mutual contraposition toward D one another.
9. But to Narses, having met with good fortune and having devised the necessary course of action in the best way, everything turned out as he wished. For when the barbarians, having brought themselves around with a great shout and wailing at a run, had clashed with the Romans, they immediately shook the front-line soldiers in the center, having rushed into the void; for the Heruli had not yet arrived, and the vanguard, having cut through the depth of the ranks and having done no great slaughter, was carried beyond the rearguard. Some of them even advanced further as if to capture the camp of the Romans. Then Narses, having gently turned and extended the wings, and turning the front forward (as the tacticians would call it) — for the rear parts were held against one another —
A commanded his horse-archers to shoot their arrows alternately from both sides into the backs of the enemy. And they did this easily. For since the barbarians were infantry, and they themselves were mounted on horses and thus higher up, they were able quite easily to strike those who were standing apart and exposed and free from any obstruction. And it was not difficult, I think, for the horsemen stationed at the ends to reach with their arrows those of the enemy who were closest and nearest to them, B or to wound those who appeared opposite them. Thus, the Franks were pierced on all sides in their backs, those arranged on the right wing of the Romans harassing the enemy on that side, and those on the other wing doing the same to the others. And so the missiles, flying alternately from both sides in opposite directions, destroyed everything that they encountered, and the barbarians could neither avoid the volley of arrows nor clearly discern from where they were being struck. For as they stood with their front opposite the Romans, each man looking only at what was directly before him and contending hand-to-hand against the heavy-armed infantry in the front ranks, and not clearly seeing the horse-archers C who were stationed (as it were) behind them, nor receiving the impact of the arrows in their chests, but rather in their backs, they were unable to understand from what evil they were suffering. For most of them there was not even time left for hesitation or doubt concerning what was happening, since death seized them simultaneously with the very strike of the weapon. For as the outer ranks were always falling, the backs of the interior ranks were immediately exposed, and as this happened incessantly and continuously, their forces were broken and perished as quickly as possible, and were reduced to a small number. Meanwhile, Sindual and the Heruli, having approached the battle, charged upon those of the enemy who had broken through and penetrated the Roman line and had outflanked the rest. Immediately, therefore, D upon coming to close quarters, they joined battle; the others, shaken by the unexpected event, and indeed suspecting that the whole affair was an ambush, turned immediately to flight, blaming the deserters, as though they had been deceived by them. But those with Sindual did not let up, but pressed hard upon them until they had struck some down and driven others into the swirling eddies of the river. And so, with the Heruli once again established in their own place, the void in the middle of the army was filled, the phalanx was closed up, and the Franks henceforth were cut down from all sides as if caught in nets. For their order was thoroughly dissolved, and they were huddled together in confusion, ignorant of what to do. The Romans, moreover, were not only destroying them with arrows, but the heavy-armed and light-armed troops also advanced, hurling javelins and pushing with their pikes and cutting them down with their swords; the cavalry also, by opening their wings, received them inside and intercepted them. And if any of them escaped the swords, they were forced by the pursuit to be carried into the river, and
the barbarians everywhere perished most miserably. A Thus, the general Butilinus himself and his entire army perished with utter destruction; among whom were also those Heruli who had crossed over before the battle; nor did anyone among the Germans return to his ancestral customs 8, except for five men, in whatever manner they might have escaped. How, then, could it not be manifest that they paid the penalty for their injustices, and that some higher necessity pursued them? For that immense multitude of Franks and Alemanni, and whosoever else had joined them in the war, had been completely wiped out, while only eighty Roman men had died, those who happened to have received the initial charge of the enemy. 9 Those who distinguished themselves in this exploit from the Roman legions were almost all, and of the allied barbarians, Aligern the Goth (for he, too, was present in the battle) and Sindual, the leader of the Heruli, who was in no way inferior to the others. And all praised and admired Narses, as it was through his foresight that they had attained such great glory.
B 10. For such a brilliant and manifest victory, and one having reached such a height of excess, I do not believe, I think, has easily happened to any other person in former times. But if, perhaps, any others before this have suffered disasters similar to that of the Franks, you would find that they, too, perished by reason of their own injustices and impious deeds. For Datis, long ago, the satrap of Darius, when he had arrived at Marathon with the Persian army, thought it necessary 14 to ravage Attica, and indeed the whole of C Greece as well. The cause of the expedition was neither equitable nor just; but because King Darius, as it seems, was not contained by the magnitude of Asia, it was grievous and annoying to him if he did not also subjugate Europe. Therefore, the Medes were defeated with all their might by Miltiades 15. So many of them were slain in that exploit, that the Athenians, because they had threatened (for so it is said) before the battle to sacrifice to Artemis 18 as many he-goats as the number of their enemies slain, found the Agrotera so propitious, and prospered so much in the hunt, that they were unable to fulfill the vows they had undertaken; for by sacrificing the goats, they could not even match the number of the slaughtered. D But that great Xerxes, and the wonders of Xerxes, how, I pray, were they defeated by the Greeks, other than because he was arrogant and wicked, and came to enslave those who had done him no wrong, and, relying solely on the multitude and the preparation of arms, did not much employ good counsel? The Greeks, however, acting justly, fought for their own
A liberty, omitting nothing that might be of service, but both consulting and executing what was fitting. For would anyone find that the trophies of Gylippus the Lacedaemonian, the defeat of Nicias and Demosthenes, and all the evils at Syracuse, had sprung from any other source than folly and injustice? For what did the Athenians intend, by ignoring the enemy at their very doors and leading an army as far as possible from home to harass Sicily? Many other such foolish and wicked plans could indeed be enumerated, and how they were ruinous to their own authors; but it suffices to have mentioned these for the present. The Romans then (for we must return to our starting point), having buried their own dead according to ancestral custom and despoiled the corpses of the enemy, had amassed a great quantity of arms. Having also razed their ramparts and plundered everything, they finally returned to Rome, laden with booty, singing paeans, crowned with garlands, and escorting their commander in a disciplined and orderly manner. One could see everywhere around Capua all the fields B soaked with blood and gore, and the river overflowing with the multitude of corpses with which it was filled. A local inhabitant told me that a certain inscription in verse had been carved by someone on a stone slab set up along the river banks, which runs as follows:
The Casulinus river, by the current swept C With corpses, to the Tyrrhenian shore them cast; There where the Ausonian blade the Franks had reaped, And all who to wretched Butilinus held fast. O happy river! That long in the stead of a trophy Could with barbarian blood be dyed and washed.
This epigram, whether it was truly carved in stone, or came to me as something celebrated in the speech of men, is, I think, not without purpose that it is recorded here by me. For it would be a not ungraceful monument to the events that occurred in that battle.
11. Meanwhile, word reached the Romans of what had happened in Venetia to Leutharis and all those with him. Then, indeed, even more than before, the citizens and the armies performed festive dances and celebrated public games, as if they feared nothing hostile any longer, and were to live henceforth in peace and tranquility. For with the enemies who had invaded Italy having thus been utterly destroyed everywhere, they did not think others would come to attack. And this was, indeed, the judgment of the multitude, since they were not accustomed to carefully examine matters D but to measure them by the ease...
that they were accustomed to, and judging everything by whatever is pleasant and agreeable to their own minds. A To Narses, however, viewing everything correctly, it seemed a folly and madness if they thought that the necessity of undergoing other labors had been taken away from them, and that they ought rather to surrender themselves entirely to a softer way of life. For they were not far, out of sheer stupidity, from exchanging their shields and helmets for wine jars and lutes, so superfluous and useless did they consider their weapons to be for the future. But the general correctly reasoned that new wars with the Franks would not be lacking; and he feared that if they should once surrender themselves to idleness and softness, their masculine vigor would be enervated; and if they should need to go out into battle again, they would, being overcome by sloth, lose heart in the conflicts. And perhaps B this very thing would have happened not long after, had he not immediately called the troops together, and by delivering a most excellent exhortation to guide their minds toward temperance and courage, and to curb the excess of their arrogance. So when all were gathered together, he came forward into the midst and spoke as follows:
12. It is not, I think, unreasonable for those who have suddenly and not long ago enjoyed some good fortune to incline toward a lack of experience and to be struck by the novelty of it, especially if it happens unexpectedly to those who might seem to be little deserving of it. But you, men, what excuse would you offer if anyone were to accuse you of such a change of mind? Is it because you now taste victory for the first time, never having been accustomed to it before? But you yourselves have swept Totila and Teia and the entire Gothic C nation out of the way! Or is it because you are experiencing a fortune greater than is usual for you yourselves to bear? Yet what magnitude of good fortune can be weighed against the glory of the Romans? For it is innate and ancestral to you always to conquer your enemies. Therefore you do conquer, and you are worthy of no lesser victory, nor have you attained a fortune inferior to your dignity and merits. And you must attribute the fact that you have received these things D not to sloth and softness, but to your continuous labors, your sweat, and the exercise of battle. Therefore, it is necessary for you even now to persist in your old customs, and not to rejoice only in the present state of affairs, but also to be anxious about the future, that it may be similar. For to those who do not consider these things, their success cannot be stable and lasting, but for the most part, fortune turns toward the contrary. And let the disaster of the Franks, on account of which you now justly boast, be a clear proof of this. For when their affairs were hitherto in a good state, they themselves, having become elated and insolent in spirit, undertook war against us, the instability of hope...
A They have therefore perished, all of them, more through their own imprudence than by our arms. It is shameful, then, you men of Rome, that you should be affected by these barbarians, and that they should not be inferior in judgment to you as much as they are in strength. For let no one among you think that there will no longer be any war, on the assumption that all the hostile forces have been destroyed. Even if this were most certainly the case, you ought not even then to abandon your customs, nor refrain from your duty; nor indeed would anyone find the nature and state of affairs themselves to be in harmony with your present mindset. For the Frankish nation is very populous and great, and exceedingly well-trained in the art of war; those who were slain by us were but a small portion of them, and such a number as would not strike fear into them, but rather provoke their anger. It is therefore not likely that they will remain quiet, or bury this insult in their hearts in silence, but rather that they will lead a greater army against us and, before long, rekindle the war. Do you, therefore, now cast aside, if you please, this sloth, and renew your eagerness in facing the perils of war, making it greater than before, to the extent that what is to come is greater than what has passed. B For as you persevere in this way, if they should arrive as quickly as possible, they will find you prepared and lacking in no delay. But if they should delay entirely (for both possibilities must be mentioned), your affairs will nonetheless have been placed in safety, and you will be seen to have consulted your own interests as best as possible. Given this exhortation by Narses, shame overcame the entire army, and repentance for their former madness. And they, having cast off their negligence and cowardice, returned to their ancestral customs.
13. A detachment of the Goths, amounting to seven thousand C fighting men, who happened to have been aiding the Franks in many places, when they considered with themselves that the Romans would not remain quiet, but that before long they would fall upon them as well, immediately withdrew into the fortress of Campsa. For it was a quite secure and most strongly fortified place, inasmuch as it was situated on a steep mountain, and on the very ridge itself, abrupt rocks stood out and extended on every side, so as to offer a difficult approach to the enemy. Thither, therefore, the Goths gathered and thought they would be in safety, and they had not at all determined to surrender to the Romans, but rather to resist with all their strength if anyone should come against them. For they were incited and urged on to this by a certain barbarian who was their leader, by name Ragnaris, although he was not of the same nation or tribe as them (for he was one of those who are called Vittores, D of the Hunnish race), but for the reason that he was most cunning and very crafty, and skilled in how he might conciliate the multitude to himself.
he held sway over the crowd and planned to fight again, so that from this he might become even more conspicuous. Narses, therefore, proceeded immediately with his entire army against him, and then, since it was not possible for him to approach the fortress by a sudden attack, and to fight in difficult terrain, he settled into a siege A and hemmed it in from every side, so that nothing at all could be brought in to those inside, nor could they go out intrepidly wherever they wished. But the barbarians were not greatly distressed by these things. For they were using a very great abundance of necessary supplies, since they had already brought in all the provisions and the most valuable of their possessions into this fortress, as if it were impregnable. Nevertheless, they were displeased by the Romans' blockade, and considering it shameful if they were to be thus long hemmed in and confined within a small circuit, they made frequent forays against their adversaries, if by any means they could drive them from that place, but they achieved nothing worthy of mention.
14. While the winter was being spent in these matters, at the beginning of spring, B Ragnaris thought it necessary to come to terms with Narses concerning the present situation. Having received safe passage, he came with few attendants to the place between the army and the fortress; the two met together and discussed many matters. But Narses, seeing Ragnaris puffed up with arrogance and using a great deal of boasting as if he were aiming at greater things than suited him, and magnifying them in a wondrous manner, immediately broke off the conversation, and refusing the agreement, C sent him back again to his own side, with his business unaccomplished and remaining as it was before. When he had reached the hill and was already not far from the wall, being indignant that absolutely nothing of what he had hoped for had come to pass, he quietly and secretly strung his bow, and then, suddenly turning, he shot a bolt straight at Narses, but it missed the mark. For the shaft flew elsewhere and fell, hurting no one. Yet justice immediately pursued the lawlessness of the barbarian. For the guards around Narses, D becoming angry at his boldness, shot arrows at him, and the wretch was struck. For how was it not to happen, since he had committed an unjust and base deed? And with difficulty his followers carried him inside the enclosure. After two days he died ingloriously, and his faithlessness and drunken madness ended in such a disaster. Upon his destruction, the Goths immediately—for they seemed no longer able to endure the siege—begged Narses to give them pledges that he would not take their lives; and he, having very quickly sworn, they surrendered themselves and the fortress. Narses, indeed, put no one to death, because he had sworn it, and otherwise it would not have been right
that those who had been defeated should be treated most cruelly. But those who might later attempt a revolution, he sent all of them to the emperor in Byzantium. While these things were happening, Theodibald, the youth who was ruling over the Franks bordering Italy, as I have said before, had already most miserably departed from the living, consumed by the disease with which he had been afflicted from birth. Since the law called upon Childebert and Chlotharius, as being the closest in lineage, to the inheritance of the child, a dire strife immediately fell upon them, such that it almost destroyed the entire line. For Childebert was already an old man and, besides being heavy with years, he suffered from extreme infirmity, to such a degree that his whole body was shriveled and wasted away. He had no male offspring to succeed to the kingdom, but had grown old having only daughters. Chlotharius, however, was still in a vigorous body and not yet very aged; he had only developed his first wrinkles, and he had four sons, who were already young men, bold, and eager for action. B And so he said that he should not yield the wealth of Theodibald to his brother, as in a short time the very kingdom of Childebert itself was destined to devolve upon him and his sons. Nor did his hope deceive him. For that old man willingly yielded the inheritance to him, fearing, I suppose, the power of the man and desiring to avoid his hostility. A little later he himself departed from the living, and the entire empire of the Franks devolved to Chlotharius alone. Such, then, was the state of affairs in Italy and Francia.
15. At the same time, during the summer season, a great earthquake occurred in Byzantium and in many other places of the Roman empire, so that many cities, both on the islands and on the mainland, were suddenly overturned, and the inhabitants were utterly destroyed. Berytus, therefore, the most beautiful, the pride of the Phoenicians at that time, was then completely deformed, and those famous and celebrated structures, fashioned with the highest artistry, collapsed, so that almost nothing was left except for the bare floors of the buildings. C A great multitude of both the native citizens and the islanders perished, crushed by the weight of the debris; many young strangers also, noble and educated, who had traveled there for the purpose of learning the Roman laws, perished. For this was customary for the city and was, as it were, its greatest prerogative of honor, that schools of this kind were dedicated to it. D Therefore, at that time, the interpreters of the law moved to the neighboring city of Sidon, and the schools were transferred there, until Berytus was rebuilt. And that is what happened; although, by no means was it as it was before,
nor yet so dissimilar that its former state could not be recognized from its appearance. A But this rebuilding of the city and the restoration of the schools was to happen at a later time. During that same period, however, in great Alexandria, situated by the river Nile (although that city is not accustomed to be troubled by earthquakes), a certain sense of tremor did occur; it was indeed very slight, brief, and not altogether manifest, yet it did happen. B All the inhabitants, therefore, and especially the very aged, found the event a great wonder, as something that had never happened before; no one remained at home, but the multitude flocked into the streets, struck beyond measure by the unexpectedness and novelty of the event. Even I myself—for I happened to be staying there at that time for the sake of the education that precedes the study of law—was seized by fear, reflecting that although the tremor was very slight, the buildings were neither strong nor spacious, and were of such a sort that they could not withstand even a tiny bit of shaking, being altogether weak and unstable (for they are constructed of a single layer of brick). C But also, because there were learned men in the city, they too were afraid, not so much, I think, owing to the past tremor, as because it seemed likely that this very thing might happen again. For those who say that the causes of this affliction are certain dry and smoky exhalations, confined within the concavity of the earth, and because they cannot easily evaporate, they whirl about more violently inside and shake whatever hangs above, until by the violence of the pressure the structure gapes and gives way, and they are carried into the open—those, I say, who discourse D on the nature of earthquakes in this way, are of the opinion that the Egyptian region is not accustomed to be shaken by earthquakes, as it is exceedingly low and flat, and by no means cavernous, and therefore not filled with exhalations of this kind; or if it does contain some within it, they evaporate of their own accord due to the looseness of the earth.
But since at that time this opinion was held, and was found to have little stability, those distinguished men reasonably feared lest the epigram should turn out contrary to them, as if there were a danger for the future that they might experience not only the "Earth-holder" but also the "Earth-shaker" (that is, Neptune). Perhaps, therefore, even if some part of Egypt has moved, there will not be lacking to those skilled in these matters other arguments, through which even thus this opinion of theirs regarding vapors might hold true. To me, however, it seems that they, insofar as it is possible for a man using strong arguments to reach an understanding of abstruse things, by no means wander away from probability and the semblance of truth, but they are far removed from the truth itself. For how could anyone perfectly understand the things which
to consider it entirely useless or unpleasant to investigate and inquire into them by reason, yet to suppose and believe that it is possible to attain the truth of the matter itself might perhaps be arrogance, and more ignorant than that double ignorance. But enough of these for me! Let the discourse now return to its subject. A
The movements and causes of each of the events that occur.
16. For at that time also the island of Cos, which lies at the extremity of the Aegean, was shaken 11 and only a very small part of it was saved, while all the rest had fallen, and various and unheard-of calamities were added to it. For the sea, rising to an enormous degree, overwhelmed the coastal houses and destroyed them along with their possessions and the men themselves. The magnitude of the shaking, moreover, was immense, since that shattering force of the earth, enclosed and unable to burst through from above, was overturning and casting down everything. Almost all the townspeople perished indiscriminately, whether they had fled into temples, or remained at home, or had gathered in some other place. For my part, as I was returning from Alexandria to Byzantium around the same time and had been brought to that island, as the opportunity arose (for it lies on the route), a miserable sight appeared, and one such as words could not sufficiently describe. For the entire town was almost a long mound of earth extended out, and stones were lying scattered about, along with fragments of broken columns and timbers, and so great a force of dust was being carried above, obscuring the air, that not even the areas of the streets could be easily identified, except by conjecture. A few little rooms stood unaffected, and these were not those which had been built from lime and stone and some more solid and durable material—as is fitting—but only those constructed of unbaked brick and clay in a rustic manner. D Very few men appeared here and there, with faces extremely sad and downcast, and as if they were in total despair of their own lives. For besides other evils, even the entire water of the town, its pure, fresh, and potable nature immediately taken away, had gradually taken on a saltiness and was not fit to drink; and everything there seemed to be horribly overturned, so that nothing remained for the city to its credit, except only the celebrated name of the Asclepiadae and the glorious fame of Hippocrates, who was born there.
to feel pity for such things, for that is not foreign to the human character; but to be utterly amazed and struck with awe at it would be the quality of men who have little understanding of ancient history, and who do not know that this region of the earth is of its own nature perpetually liable to take on various conditions. Frequently, indeed, even in former times, entire cities have perished by earthquake, so that they were stripped of their ancient inhabitants and rebuilt by other founders.
17 The city of Tralles, then, B which is situated in the region now called Asia, somewhere near the Maeander river, was in the ancient past a colony of the Pelasgians, but under the times of Augustus Caesar, it was shaken throughout and overturned, and nothing of it was left intact. And as the city had fallen in such a most pitiable manner, they say that a certain rustic, one of those who cultivate the fields, Chæremon by name, conceived a great sorrow in his soul on account of its fall, and being unable to bear it, performed a certain miraculous and incredible deed. For he was not deterred by the length of the journey or the magnitude of his petition, nor by the fact that he seemed about to encounter the greatest dangers, as is likely, and that in an uncertain outcome; nor did he take into account the abandonment of those he had left at home, nor any other thing out of which, when men think upon them, they change their minds C about what they had resolved. He arrived not only at Rome, but indeed even in the region of the Cantabrians, somewhere around the very shores of the Ocean (for Caesar happened to be there at that time, intending to war against certain tribes), and announced to him the things that had occurred. And he so prevailed upon the emperor by his speech that he immediately chose seven men of consular rank, those who were most distinguished among the Romans for the splendor of their lineage and their fortunes, and sent them with a great retinue to the colony. And they, having traveled to the place as quickly as possible, provided a very great amount of money and used such diligence that they rebuilt the city from the ground up, and brought it to the form which is observed to this day. D Now, therefore, the citizens there can no longer be justly called Pelasgians, but rather Romans, even if they have changed their language into Greek and a more Attic style. For how could it have been otherwise, when they dwell next to Ionia? That these things happened in this way is shown clearly enough both by the native history of the city, and not least by the epigram which I, when I went there, read. For in one of the fields around the city, from which this Chæremon happened to be (the name of that field is Siderus, or 'the iron' one), a most ancient altar is set up, upon which, it seems, the statue of Chæremon formerly stood. For now, nothing at all is visible upon it. Nevertheless, the elegy is still seen inscribed upon the altar even now, which runs as follows:
A that Chæremon, when an earthquake had once leveled his native land, should fly to the shores of far-off Cantabria and prostrate himself at the knees of Caesar, to rebuild the great city of Tralles, which had at that time collapsed. For which things, in return, his kinsmen set up this image, so that, like an altar, it might bring this grace to a founder of justice. And the matters regarding the Trallians are believed to be in this state. But it came to pass that many other cities in Asia, both Ionian and Aeolian, suffered similar things at that time. B
18. But for my part, leaving such matters aside for now, and again taking up my previous narrative, I must proceed to the region of the Lazes and the Persian wars, since each of these events was taking place during the same times. For a most serious war had already been joined between the Romans and the Persians for a long time, and they frequently ravaged and damaged one another’s lands, sometimes by devising undeclared incursions and assaults, and at other times by advancing with large armies to open battle. A little earlier, they had indeed made a truce, although not so as to conduct a perfect peace, nor such that the dangers ceased everywhere; but only in the East and along the borders of Armenia was peace concluded for each nation, while the war persisted around the Colchian land. These Lazes were called Colchians in ancient times, and they are indeed the same people. No one could doubt this, judging by the Phasis and the Caucasus and their inhabitation of these parts for a long time. C It is said that the Colchians are settlers from Egypt. For they say that long before the arrival of the heroes around Jason, and indeed even before the empire of the Assyrians and the times of Ninus and Semiramis, a certain Egyptian king named Sesostris gathered a very great army of the inhabitants of his land, marched over and conquered all of Asia, and reached even this region, and left behind a portion of his company here, and so the nation of the Colchians is derived from them. This is stated both by Diodorus the Sicilian and by very many other ancient historians. These people, then, whether they be Lazes or Colchians or displaced Egyptians, D have become objects of contention in our own time, and very many battles have been fought on account of their country. For Chosroes, the king of the Persians, having already seized and holding many of the most strategically important places in that region, did not believe he should stop, but intended to subjugate the rest as well, and to demand from Justinian, the emperor of the Romans, [p. 56] the surrender of Gubazes, the king of the Lazes.
A to abandon the entire nation, which was subject to him, well-disposed, B and united by the bond of a common religion and divine worship; indeed, he attempted with all his might to rout the enemy as quickly as possible. For he considered within his own mind and feared that if the Persians proved victorious in the war, nothing would prevent them from sailing the Euxine Sea without any fear and reaching the interior regions of the Roman Empire. Therefore, he stationed a very large and most powerful army there and appointed the most excellent commanders over it. For Bessas, Martinus, and Bouzes were in charge, men who were most distinguished and highly experienced in frequent battles. Justin, the son of Germanus, was also sent; he was still quite young indeed, but already skilled in military matters. C Mermeroes, the general of the Persians, having twice made an assault upon Archaeopolis and been repulsed, and having accomplished other things which I pass over—since the rhetor Procopius has sufficiently recorded matters up to this point—then once again (for here I must arrange what follows for one beginning from this place) arrived at Muchiresis and the fortress of Cotaesium. He wished, by bypassing the difficult terrain around Telephis, to reach the Phasis River and, by striking the Romans with his unexpected arrival, to put to trial whether he might be able to bring some of the fortresses there under his power. Yet for him to accomplish this while proceeding and advancing openly was impossible. For the general Martinus, stationed with his forces at Telephis (this is a strong and most fortified stronghold), was guarding the entrances most diligently; and the place itself is, in any case, most difficult to access. For both precipices and craggy rocks, D leaning toward each other, make the path lying below them plainly most narrow, and there is no way for anyone to enter from any other side. For the surrounding plains are extremely marshy and muddy, and dense thickets and forests overhang them, so that even for one man, and he unencumbered, the transit is difficult, let alone for armed troops. But not even so did the Romans desist from any labor; if they happened to find any place that was insecure and passable, they immediately blocked it with timber and stones, and were constantly intent on this work. Mermeroes, therefore, being in doubt regarding these present circumstances and reflecting much, this thought came into his mind: if by any means he could break up the Roman guard and slowly push them back, his attempt at crossing would not be entirely in vain. For since the enemies were persistently guarding this place, it was not possible for him to attain both his wishes.
A for him to interfere with the disadvantage of the terrain, he did not consider it altogether impossible to overcome it B and render the difficult paths passable, and the access, which was so hard to enter, somewhat easier. For he hoped that by cutting down the forest with the labor of many hands and clearing it away, and by hewing out the obstructing rocks, he would not find it difficult to cross. And so, to carry out what he had conceived in his mind, he devised a ruse of this kind. He pretended that he had suddenly been seized by a grave and incurable illness. He therefore took to his bed, feigning the utmost sickness and lamenting his lot. This rumor immediately permeated the entire army, that the commander was very ill and would not live long. Furthermore, the true state of affairs remained hidden from those who sold their services to the enemy by betraying the plans of their own side and secretly revealing their secrets. For the plan was kept with the utmost care, and was not communicated even to his closest friends; those who were deceived by the rumors circulating through the crowd then reported it to the Romans—who were easily persuaded, I believe, not so much by the report as by the fact that it was exactly what they wished to be true.
20. Thus, immediately relaxing and slackening their diligent care, they mounted guard less strictly. A few days later, Mermeroes was reported to have died. For he had hidden himself in a small room, to such an extent that even among his closest associates this belief prevailed. Then, indeed, it seemed to the Romans even more superfluous to keep watch, and superfluous to undertake great labors. Therefore, abandoning those measures to clear the ways and the labors C that they were devoting to this work, they slid into a more relaxed way of life; they slept through entire nights and stayed in the farmhouses, and neither sent out scouts nor did any of the things they should have done. For they persuaded themselves that the Persians, bereft of their leader or commander, would never come against them, but rather would flee as far away as possible. When Mermeroes learned of this, he suddenly dropped his deception and showed himself to the Persians as he had been before, and immediately, with all the energy he possessed, having moved all his forces and overcome the difficulties of the journey by the method he had long since devised in his mind, he approached the rampart; and he was already looming over the Romans, who were struck by the unexpectedness of the event and were no longer capable of defending themselves. At that point, accordingly, Martinus decided to abandon the place before Mermeroes, by making a deeper penetration, could get inside and inflict some great evil upon the Romans who were there. For how was it possible for them, few as they were, to withstand the throngs of the enemy, and not be utterly D destroyed? Thus it was that, outmaneuvered by the Barbarians and making a most shameful retreat, they hurried toward the others...
A to allow them to be cut down to destruction at the very first onset?
Caught by this deception and overcome by the barbarians, and having made a most shameful retreat, the Romans were hastening to join up with the rest of their forces. For the army which Bessa and Justin were leading had pitched [their] camp in a certain field not far from Telephis, being distant from it by only seven stades. B There is nothing else at all in that place but a market for pots, from which the place itself has derived its name; for it is called Ollaria, as a Latin might say, which is exactly the same as if one were to say in the Greek tongue, Pot-market. Now after many had already outstripped their fellows with Martin and had arrived in a safe place, it seemed best to all the commanders to wait there for the enemy, standing in battle array, and to prevent them from passing any further.
There was one among the most distinguished of the commanders named Theodorus, who, though by birth he was of the race of the Tzani, had been raised among the Romans, and had already cast off the barbarian ways of his manner of life, even though they were ancestral, and had transformed himself into the highest degree of urbanity. This Theodorus, then, together with his own contingent (for there followed him no fewer than five hundred men of his own nation), had remained at Telephis, having been instructed by Martin not to move from there before he had seen all the enemy's forces having invaded, and could estimate them, as far as possible, as to how many they were, and could understand what kind of strength and spirit they possessed.
21. He, then (for he was in all things energetic and bold), was doing just this; and then, C when he saw that the multitudes of the Persians had entered within the fortress, and realized that they would not stop there, but were very eager to wage war, he immediately departed. Discovering on his way many of the Romans who were not marching straight to Pot-market, just as it had been commanded them, but were jumping into the houses of the Lazi, and plundering flour and millet and other things to eat, he was trying to drive them away, and rebuking their recklessness, as if they did not know in what evils they were involved. As many of them, therefore, as were not overly gluttonous and intemperate, having listened to better advice, joined themselves to him, and slowly withdrew.
However, there was no opportunity for Theodorus to inform the commanders in time that Mermeroes was drawing near. For while some of the army were still intent upon the looting and not desisting, the Persians suddenly D came upon them, and killed some of them; the rest, running at a more hurried pace, quickly rushed into the army with tumult and wailing, so that everyone, disturbed by the sudden movement and frightened beyond measure, began to retreat from the camp. The commanders, indeed (for they had not yet drawn up their line of battle), fearing also lest the barbarians should overwhelm them unprepared,
A for the generals (for the army had not yet been drawn up in phalanx for them), fearing that the Barbarians would fall upon them while they were unprepared, were already holding in contempt what had previously seemed wise, yet they did not know what they should do; for neither did the circumstances allow time for deliberation, nor did the disturbance of their own minds. Immediately, therefore, having raised their camp from the plain, and taking all their troops with them, they departed ignobly and in disorder, and they did not stop running before they had reached the Island. B This Island is distant from Telephis about five parasangs. Such a journey, therefore, did the brave men complete in a single day, fleeing most swiftly. For a parasang is, as it seems to Herodotus and Xenophon, thirty stades, but as the Iberians and Persians now say, it is one more than twenty. The Lazi hold the same opinion, yet they do not use that name, but call them "resting-places," and, I think, rightly so. For their porters, having traversed each parasang, set down their burdens and rest a little, while others take their place in turn to carry the loads; and as often as they do this, by that many spaces they measure and divide their journeys. Whether, therefore, one must call it a parasang in this way or that, the Island is distant from the fortress by a hundred and fifty stades. This place is, moreover, very strongly fortified and not easily accessible, being girded by the whirlpools of rivers. C For the Phasis and the Docon, flowing down separately from the Caucasus and at the beginning being very far apart from one another, there, constrained by the situation of the places, gradually approach one another and are no longer borne far apart, so that indeed the Romans, having engineered a certain canal and having diverted the flow of the Phasis into the Docon by digging through the bank, in this way caused both rivers, at the part where the Island faces the East, to come together and gird the place. Then, again, as they make certain bends and windings, they enclose within themselves no small portion of the plain. But progressing further towards the sunset, they come together of their own accord and are thoroughly mingled, so that everything that is intercepted by them is perfectly made into an island. Here, then, the Romans happened to be gathered. D 22. Mermeroes, having arrived at the Ollaria, and having taunted those who were not listening with many reproaches for their effeminacy and cowardice, decided that he should proceed no further, nor invade the Island. For neither was he able to provide supplies for so great an army in the midst of hostile territory, nor had he otherwise been prepared for a siege. Therefore, he had to return again to Telephis and to the difficult terrain there.
A difficulties whatsoever, but by using logs and boats, which had been prepared for this purpose, he bridged the banks of the Phasis, and constructing a kind of bridge, he brought the entire army across fearlessly, with no one hindering him. And indeed, having encouraged the Persians who were stationed at the fortress in Onogoris—which he himself had previously established in the territory of Archaeopolis as a bulwark against the Romans—and having thrown in another force, and having fortified all things there as best he could, he returned again to Cotais and Muchirisi. But suddenly seized by some illness and suffering most severely, he left behind the greatest and most valiant part of his army to protect his own interests, and he himself departed for the country of Iberia. And so, having with difficulty been brought to the city called Meschitha, and unable to bear his suffering, then indeed truly died Mermeroes, a man who was among the B most eminent of the Persians, very clever in counsel, most excellent in warfare, and extremely courageous in soul; for being already old, and having for a long time been crippled in both feet, and unable even to ride a horse, he nevertheless exerted himself C just like some most robust youth, and did not shrink from hardships, but was carried in a litter to the battle lines, and by this method both struck terror into the enemy and encouraged and exhorted his own men; and by rightly ordering what needed to be done, he won many victories; so that truly, generalship should be attributed not to the strength of the body, but rather to wisdom. Then indeed the body of Mermeroes was taken up by those around him, and carried out of the city, and thus it was abandoned, deserted and exposed according to the ancestral law, to be consumed by dogs and by those birds D that are foul and carrion-eating.
23. For the Persians observe this custom regarding burial: in this way the flesh is removed, and the bare bones are found scattered here and there over the plains. For it is by no means permitted for them to place the dead in any casket or chest, or even to bury them in the earth. And upon whichever body the birds do not quickly swoop down, or which the dogs do not immediately come running to tear apart, this man they judge to have been of impure character, and his soul to have been unjust and hellish, and dedicated to the evil demon. Then indeed, the more intimate ones and his friends lament and follow him as he lies there, as one who has completely died and has no part in a better lot. But whoever is devoured most quickly, him they proclaim most happy, and they follow his soul with great admiration, as being most excellent and God-like and destined to ascend into the place of the Good. The common and more obscure multitude, if anywhere in the army [they happen to be afflicted with some very difficult illness, while they are still breathing, and [the rest] sober. [For]...
When someone has been exposed in this way, a piece of bread and water and a staff are placed beside him; and for as long as he is able to taste the food and some strength remains in him, he defends himself with that staff against the animals that rush upon him, and wards off the banqueters. But if he has not yet completely perished, but the power of the disease finally prevails so that he can no longer move his hands, then they devour the wretch, half-dead and just beginning to expire, and destroy whatever hope he might have had of perhaps surviving. For many have already recovered and returned home, like those in a scene and a tragedy who have returned from the dark gates of Hades, thin and sallow and frightening those they meet. If anyone returns in this way, everyone turns away from him and flees from him as from one most accursed, considering him still B among those beneath the earth; and he is not permitted to resume his former way of life before he has been purified by the Magi from the pollution of the anticipated death, and as it were, has received back the ability to live again. And it is clear that all the human nations, if they have been accustomed for a long time to some law that has prevailed, judge it to be the best and most righteous; and if anything should happen contrary to it, it seems to them to be something to be rejected and ridiculous and worthy of disbelief. Yet causes and reasons for their own laws have been invented by men, some one way and some another, perhaps indeed true ones, but perhaps also contrived for the sake of persuasion. Hence it does not seem strange to me if the Persians, while giving an account of their own rites, C think them superior to those of any others. But I am indeed vehemently surprised that the most ancient inhabitants of that region, namely the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Medes, do not think the same as the Persians. For around the city of Nineveh and throughout the Babylonian region and, moreover, in the Median region, the tombs and burial places of those who died long ago stand, preserving no other custom than our own; and whether they are bodies or ashes that are buried in them, since they were cremated according to the Greek rite, these things were in no way similar to what is done now.
24. Therefore, those people did not think in this way, neither concerning burials, nor, furthermore, with regard to the laws of the marriage bed, which those now do by indulging in debauchery, D not only having relations freely with sisters and nieces, but fathers with daughters, and—O laws and nature!—the most abominable thing of all, sons with their mothers. That this, too, has been newly introduced among them, one might most clearly understand from this. For it is reported
A that the great Semiramis the Assyrian fell into such incontinence that she wished to have intercourse with her son Ninyas, and even solicited the young man; but he refused and was pained by it. Finally, however, when he saw his mother impatient of passion and pressing upon him, he killed his mother, preferring this to the commission of that other crime. Yet if these things had been permitted by law, I do not believe that Ninyas would have resorted to such cruelty. But why is it necessary to speak of such very ancient matters? For some time after the Macedonian period and the overthrow of the Persians, they say that Artaxerxes, the son of Darius, though his mother Parysatis was afflicted with the same evil as Semiramis and desired to have relations with him, did not kill her, but turned away from her in anger and rejected her, because this was neither pious nor ancestral, nor accustomed in common life. B But the Persians who are now have abandoned and cast aside almost all the earlier customs, and they use other and, as it were, adulterated laws, having been bewitched by the teachings of Zoroaster, the son of Oromasdes. Now this Zoroaster, or Zarades (for a double name is attributed to him), when he first flourished and established his laws, cannot be clearly determined. But the Persians of the present day say he lived during the time of Hystaspes, though quite simply and without any qualification, so that it is much doubted and cannot be certainly known whether this Hystaspes was the father of Darius or some other person. At whatever time he flourished, he became the author and leader for them of the magic religion, and, having changed the original ritual of sacred observances, he introduced certain confused and varied opinions. C For in ancient times they worshipped Jupiter and Saturn and all the other gods celebrated by the Greeks, except that they did not retain the same names for them; but they called Belus Jupiter, and Sandes Hercules, and Anaitis Venus, and they called others by other names, as Berosus the Babylonian, and Athenocles, and Simacus, who recorded the most ancient history of the Assyrians and Medes, bear witness. But now, for the most part, they agree with those who are called Manichaeans, in that they posit two first principles: the one good, and at once having produced the most beautiful of existing things; the other, contrary to both, having the other nature. They give them barbarian names, fashioned in their own language. For the good one—whether one calls him God or Creator—they name Hormisdates, while Arimanes is the name for the most wicked and destructive one. They also perform the greatest festival of all, which they call the "taking away of evils," during which they kill a great number of serpents and as many of the other animals as live in the wilderness and are D wild and harmful, offering them to the magi,
A as if in demonstration of piety. For in this way they think they are performing a service pleasing to the good [deity] and causing pain and injury to Arimanes. They honor water most highly, to the point that they do not even wash their faces with it, nor do they touch it in any other way, except for the sake of drinking and for the care of plants.
25. They also designate and propitiate many other gods; this is Greek. They also use sacrifices, purifications, and divinations; this too is in the Greek manner. But fire appears to them most honorable and most holy; and therefore, in certain small shrines that are supposedly sacred and set apart, the magi keep it unquenchable, and looking toward it they perform secret rites and inquire about future events. This custom, I suppose, they adopted either from the Chaldeans or from some other nation, for it does not accord with the others. Thus, their belief is somehow composed of a great many nations and is put together in a most varied manner. And this does not seem to me to have happened without reason. For I know of no other state B that has changed into so many forms and shapes and that has not been able to remain for a long time in one and the same condition; but since it admitted the rule of very many and most diverse nations, it therefore likewise preserves the monuments of many forms and laws. For the first of all the peoples of whom we have heard are said to have been the Assyrians, who occupied the whole of Asia, except for the Indians who dwell beyond the river Ganges. Ninus also appears to have been the first to establish an empire there, and after him Semiramis, and subsequently all their descendants down to Belus, the son of Dercetades. For when the succession of the Semiramid line ended in this Belus, a certain man named Belitaras, a gardener and supervisor of the gardens that were in the palace, C usurped the empire in a strange manner and implanted it in his own kin, as has been recorded by Bio and Alexander Polyhistor, until, as they write, toward the reign of Sardanapalus, when the empire had already withered, Arbaces the Mede and Belesys the Babylonian took it away from the Assyrians, having killed their king and transferred it to the Median nation, one thousand three hundred and some few more years having already passed since the time when Ninus first held the supreme power there. For thus Diodorus the Sicilian also agrees with Ctesias of Cnidus, who described these times. The Medes therefore took possession of the empire again, and everything was arranged according to their laws. And when they had held the empire for not less than three hundred years, Cyrus D the son of Cambyses, having defeated Astyages in war, transferred the empire to the Persians. For how would he not have done so, when...
he was himself a native Persian, and at the same time felt bitter toward the Medes on account of the battles fought alongside Astyages? B But the Persian kings also held power for two hundred and twenty-eight years; and indeed, their rule also completely collapsed, being overthrown by an invading army and a foreign king. For Alexander the son of Philip, having killed Darius, the son of Arsamus, the king, and having brought all of Persia into subjection, transferred affairs to the Macedonian government. For he was so exceedingly grand in his deeds and unconquerable that, even when it befell him to depart from life, his successors, being Macedonians, nevertheless retained foreign and alien land for the longest time, and arrived at great power. And I believe that they would have held sway and dominated even up to this current time, strengthened by the fame of their founder, had they not fallen into factional strife with one another, and having engaged in battle frequently both among themselves and against the Romans for the sake of greater power, they dissolved their own forces and no longer seemed impenetrable to their neighbors. C Therefore, having ruled for a time not much less than the Medes, lacking only seven years (for one must believe Polyhistor in this matter as well), and having ruled for so long a time, they were removed from power by the Parthians, a nation previously subject to others and not at all famous before that. And then those men ruled over everything except Egypt, with Arsaces having first begun the rebellion, so that those who came after him were called Arsacids, and with Mithridates, not much later, bringing the name of the Parthians to great glory.
26.
When two hundred and seventy years had already passed from Arsaces the first to Artabanus, the last king, at the time when Roman affairs were arranged under Alexander the son of Mamaea, at that very time the lineage of Chosroes who reigns in our day began to rule, and the government which prevails among the Persians even until now took its beginning and, as it were, its first establishment at that time. For a certain man named Artaxares, a Persian, inglorious at first and most obscure, but otherwise a man of great deeds and enterprising, and clever at shaking what is established, having gathered conspirators and attacked, slew the king Artabanus, and having placed the cidaris upon himself, and having overthrown the Parthian power, he renewed the kingdom of his own people for the Persians. D And he was indeed an initiate of the magical ritual and a practitioner of the secret arts. For this reason, the magical race became powerful and arrogant from that time forward; which indeed it had been even before, and it retains this appellation from ancient times, not...A even from old times this appellation was preserved, and although it had not yet been raised to such a degree of honor and authority, it was still considered to be such that it could be overlooked by those in power. And this is evident; for the Persians around Darius did not consider what happened to be a calamity, when Smerdis the magus, long after Cambyses the son of Cyrus had seized the kingdom, had usurped it; rather, they killed Smerdis himself, and many of those who happened to be like-minded with him, as it was not permitted B for the magi to adorn themselves with the royal throne and sit upon it. In this way, these killings did not seem to them to be profane; rather, they were considered worthy of even greater remembrance, so much so that that insurrection was called the festival of the "Magophonia," and thank-offerings were instituted to the gods. But now, all people hold them in the highest honor and veneration, and all public affairs are administered by their counsels and predictions; and for each person privately, to whomever is pursuing a suit or a cause, the magi are present, investigating what is being done, and giving their judgment; and nothing at all would seem to the Persians to be lawful and just if it were not confirmed and established by a magus.
27. It is said that the mother of Artaxares had married a certain Pabecus, a man who was entirely obscure—a tanner or cobbler by trade—but one most skilled in the course of the stars, and capable of easily foreseeing future events. A certain military man, named Sasan, while traveling by chance through the region of the Cadusians, was received into hospitality by Pabecus and turned into his C little house. Pabecus, having recognized him somehow—I suppose as a seer—that the progeny from this guest would be most excellent and illustrious, and would reach a high pinnacle of happiness, grieved and lamented that he himself had neither a daughter, nor a sister, nor any other woman closely related to him. In the end, he permitted his wedded wife to lie with him and granted him access to his bed, having very bravely cast aside shame, and having exchanged the immediate disgrace and ignominy that loomed over him for the future good fortune he expected. Thus Artaxares was born, and reared by Pabecus; but when, having become a young man, he most strongly seized the kingdom, D a contention and huge quarrel erupted openly at once between Sasan and Pabecus. For each wished for the son to be called after him. With difficulty, however, they both came to an agreement that he should indeed be called the son of Pabecus, but that he was nevertheless born from the seed of Sasan. In this way, the Persians, tracing the lineage of Artaxares, affirm these things to be true, as they are written in the royal parchments. I, for my part, will a little later enumerate the names of all the descendants in succession, as many as succeeded him, and for how long each reigned; for this is omitted by all those who are chroniclers until now, and
they have not deemed it of the greatest importance to investigate such things. A But although those who write the history of the Roman emperors, stretching back from Romulus, or even earlier from Aeneas the son of Anchises, count them down to Anastasius and Justin the Elder, they have not similarly set down or clarified the times of the kings among the Persians—by whom I mean those who happened to reign after the destruction of the Parthians—even though it was necessary to do so. But I have collected the accurate details concerning these matters from the records preserved among them, and I believe it is most appropriate for the present work to mention all of them. I shall therefore mention them as I proceed, whenever I think it necessary, even if it requires making simple lists of many names, and those barbaric ones, and this of some men who have performed nothing worth recounting. B I will say this much for the present, for the sake of clarity and for its great usefulness for many things: that three hundred and nineteen years end and terminate at the twenty-fifth year of the reign of this same Chosroes. At which time the wars in the region of Colchis were raging, and it happened that Mermeroes passed away. At that time, the Emperor Justinian had completed his twenty-eighth year of ruling over the Romans.
28. But since I have spoken a few things about Chosroes, I will return immediately to the previous subject. C For not only the Persians, but also some of the Romans, praise and admire him beyond his worth, as a lover of literature and one who has reached the pinnacle of our philosophy, since the Greek writings had been converted for him into the Persian language by some interpreter. They say, therefore, that he drank in the whole of the Stagirite more completely than the orator from Paeania did the works of Olorus, and that he was completely filled with the dogmas of Plato the son of Ariston; and that not even the Timaeus escaped his understanding, although it is adorned with highly grammatical theory and investigates the movements of nature, nor the Phaedo, nor the Gorgias, nor indeed any other of the elegant and more intricate dialogues, such as, I think, the Parmenides is. D Now, I for my part could never believe that he was endowed with the best and highest education. For how could it be possible that that purity of the ancient words, and their innate grace, and furthermore its aptitude and quite
accommodated, in a certain rustic and most unrefined tongue? But by what means could a man steeped from childhood in royal pride and much adulation, and one who had chosen a life that was altogether barbarian and focused always on wars and battle arrays—by what means, I say, could he who so conducts his life be thought to have derived any great or memorable fruit from these studies, or to have been well-practiced in them? If, therefore, anyone were to praise him for that, being a king and a Persian, and having the care of so many nations and affairs weighing upon him, he nevertheless desired to taste of literary pursuits and took pleasure in this reputation, I myself would indeed praise the man and prefer him to other barbarians. But as for those who call him exceedingly wise and all but surpassing all who have ever practiced philosophy, as if he had perceived the principles and causes of every art and science—the sort of person whom the Peripatetics define as exceedingly learned—those who hold such opinions could, I say, be most easily caught deviating from the truth, following only the fame of the multitude. A B C D
29. For a certain man, a Syrian by race, named Uranius, wandered about Byzantium, professing indeed to practice the art of medicine, but knowing nothing accurately of the dogmas of Aristotle, though he was swollen with the empty opinion of diverse learning because he was contentious in his gatherings. For he was frequently to be found at the porticos of the palace and sitting in bookshops, where he would argue and speak in bombastic terms with those who were accustomed to frequent such places, tossing about these standard terms concerning God, such as "nature" and "essence," and "passibility," if I may so call it, and "impermissibility." Most of these men had not even frequented the schools of the grammarians, nor were they men of sufficiently sober character; they easily considered it, meanwhile, something simple and ready at hand to be carried, as the proverb has it, "foot-dragged," and to discourse about God, a subject so blessed and incomprehensible, transcending human understanding, and admirable for that very reason: that it is unknown. Wherefore, frequently in the evening hours, when they have returned from a carouse, as is likely, and from luxury, they hold their little meetings; and as it pleases each, they irreverently mingle discourses concerning these sublime matters and divine questions. And while they always wrangle about the same, they neither persuade others of anything, nor do they depart from an opinion once conceived, whatever it may be, but they always hold fast to and defend the same.
A With minds thus embittered by altercation, they take their leave of one another, and openly rail at each other, uttering disgraceful words like men quarreling over dice. And so the contest is broken off, and they depart with difficulty, having neither gained anything nor offered any benefit, but having become the bitterest enemies instead of friends. Among these, that Uranius, taking the lead like that Thersites in Homer, would not cease to growl and speak at length. And yet he neither had any firm opinion about God, nor did he know how one ought to oppose probable arguments; nevertheless, sometimes by contradicting the primary thesis of the questions, and sometimes by asking for the causes of the problems before he himself had answered, he would not allow the discourse to proceed in order, but by openly creating confusion, he caused the truth of the matter sought for to be unable to sparkle and be found. For he wished to emulate the discipline called ephectic (whereby judgement on any proposed subject is suspended), and to make responses according to Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus, and to attain the end of vacuity from perturbation in the soul, by supposing, of course, that there is nothing which can be perceived or comprehended by the intellect. But he had not thoroughly learned even these things, but had only tasted of them and had attained a certain small knowledge, by which he could deceive and circumvent those who had not at all partaken of such study. B Indeed, he was not unskilled in words, but he was all the more unskilled in the way of life. For, entering the houses of the prosperous and glutting himself without restraint upon rather varied foods, and frequently lifting a Thericlean cup to his mouth, and using words, due to drunkenness, that were extremely base and licentious, he was held in the greatest mockery, so that at times he was struck with blows, and his face was splashed with cups like the dregs of the previous days' drink, and he was a common plaything to the diners, no less than the fools, actors, and buffoons. But since Uranius was such a man, he once came among the Persians, having been brought by a certain envoy, Areobindus. C As a deceiver and one as versatile as a tragic boot, and one who knew how to procure for himself an appearance of respectability that he did not possess, he immediately donned a most solemn robe, such as the professors and teachers of letters among us wear, and thus, with a countenance supposedly severe and grave, he made his way to Chosroes. The latter, struck by the strange spectacle, and imagining that the matter was something divine, and believing him to be a philosopher in truth (for that was indeed how he was called there), gladly and kindly received him. D Having then summoned the Magi, he engaged him in discussions concerning generation and nature, and whether this universe would be without end, and whether one should posit a single principle of all things.
30. Therefore, Uranius said nothing at all to the point, nor did he understand the subject in the beginning; but by the mere fact of being bold and most talkative, just as
A Socrates says in the Gorgias, "he who knows nothing won out among those who know nothing." Thus that foolish buffoon captivated the king, to such an extent that he bestowed upon him a great sum of money, admitted him to his common table, and offered him a cup from which he had first tasted—a thing he had never done for any other person; he also frequently swore that he had never seen such a man, although he had previously truly seen the most excellent philosophers who had betaken themselves to him from here. For not long before, Damascius the Syrian, and Simplicius the Cilician, and Eulamius the Phrygian, and Priscianus the Lydian, and Hermias and Diogenes from Phoenicia, and Isidorus the Gazan—these men, I say, all of them the very flower and peak, to speak poetically, of the philosophers of our time—because they did not approve of the opinion concerning God which prevailed among the Romans, B considered the Persian policy to be far superior. Being persuaded by these things, which are celebrated by many: that among them the government is most just, and such as the reasoning of Plato describes, with philosophy and kingship conspiring into one; that the subjects are primarily upright and modest; and that neither thieves nor robbers arise there, nor do they commit other species of injustice; so much so that if anyone were to leave something of his own precious belongings in a place ever so deserted, no one who chanced upon them would carry them off, but it remains intact for the one who left it, even if it be unguarded, until he returns. Moved by these things as if they were true, and besides because they were forbidden by the laws to live securely here, since they did not accommodate themselves to the received customs and institutions, C they betook themselves to foreign nations not joined by any similarity of morals, as if they were to live there thereafter. First, therefore, when they discovered those who were established in any dignity or magistracy to be very haughty and with spirits raised beyond measure, they detested and condemned them; afterwards, they observed that many wall-burglars and highwaymen and thieves were being caught, and partly lying hidden, and that every species of injustice was flourishing. For the more powerful oppress the lesser, and practice much cruelty and inhumanity among themselves; and, what is most absurd of all, D although it is permitted to each one to take as many wives as they wish, and they have already taken them, they nevertheless do not abstain from adulteries. For all these reasons, therefore, the philosophers were affected with the greatest distress of mind, and blamed themselves for their migration.
31. But after they had spoken with the king and were frustrated in their hope, having found a man who indeed boasted of the study of philosophy, but who had not yet heard anything of higher matters, and did not even agree with them in opinion, but had become accustomed to certain other institutions, such as those I have just recounted; and [being unable to bear] that madness of promiscuous intercourse, they returned as quickly as possible. Yet he wished them to remain there.
A Since the men, however, considered it far better for themselves—once they had merely set foot within Roman borders—to die immediately, should it so happen, rather than to stay among the Persians and obtain the greatest honors, they all returned home and bid farewell to the hospitality of the barbarian king. Yet they did derive a benefit from their journey abroad, not in some trifling or negligible matter, but one from which they were subsequently able to live out their whole lives most agreeably and according to their heart's desire. For since at that time the Romans and Persians had established peace and concluded treaties, it was a part of the stipulations recorded between them that those men, upon returning to their own homes, should henceforth be able to live there without any fear, being forced neither to think anything beyond what they believed to be right, nor to change their ancestral faith. For Chosroes did not allow these agreements to stand and be maintained B without this condition also being included.
It is said, furthermore, that on their way back something wondrous and worthy of mention befell them. For, having rested in a certain Persian field, they caught sight of the corpse of a man who had recently died, lying there neglected and unburied. Taking pity on the iniquity of the barbarian law, and considering it by no means holy to overlook nature being injured in this way, they covered the body as best they could through their servants, and burying it by piling earth upon it, they interred it. But as they were all asleep that night, one of them—I do not know who, for I cannot mention his name—at any rate, he thought he saw in a dream an elderly man, not at all a familiar figure, nor even one recognizable, but otherwise grave and venerable, and displaying by the shape of his garment and his long, flowing beard that he was a student of philosophy. C He cried out to him, as if commanding and exhorting him, these verses:
Do not bury one unburied; leave the corpse naked For dogs to tear, and for birds to be food; For Earth, the mother of all, does not receive him Who dared to violate his mother by a nefarious deed.
Waking suddenly through fear, he reported the dream to the others. They were at first doubtful, wondering what the dream might eventually signify. But when, having risen at dawn, they were continuing their journey and passing through that very field—as the layout of the terrain forced them to do, the same spot where they had arranged the sudden burial—they found the corpse lying bare again on top of the mound, D just as if the earth had by some spontaneous force cast it back into the open, and could not endure to keep it whole and consumed. Struck with awe at the miracle of the sight, they continued on their journey, no longer performing any of the rites or customs customary to them upon it. For they pondered the dream and acknowledged from that point that the Persians indeed had a punishment...
that they are to remain unburied and be deservedly torn apart by dogs as a punishment and penalty for the incestuous union with their mothers. A
32. Although Chosroes had by now gained experience of these men, he nevertheless admired and desired Uranius all the more. The reason for this, I suspect, is naturally inherent in the human race. For we are all accustomed to consider what is closer to us and similar to ourselves as friendly and excellent, while we shrink from and turn away from what is greater and superior. For this reason, he sent most friendly letters to him upon his return and made use of him as a teacher. B Consequently, he became unbearable, swollen and puffed up by the king’s friendship; he would go around among the banquets and gatherings, picking at everyone and singing no other tune than that of the honor with which Chosroes had treated him and the things they had discussed with one another. And this noble fellow returned to us much more arrogant than he had been before, just as if he had undertaken such a long journey for this reason alone. Yet, although he was a most trivial and ridiculous man, by frequently praising the barbarian king and proclaiming his deeds, he persuaded many that he was highly learned. For those who accept everything without careful consideration and gape with greedy ears at stories that are foreign and paradoxical, were easily led by him as he adorned and amplified them with magnificent and splendid words, without considering who the orator was, whom he was praising, or what the subject was. For, regarding the formation of armies, C the correct administration of weapons, and constant training for war, one might justly praise Chosroes, for he never yielded to labor nor to the infirmity of old age; but as for literature and philosophy, he must be considered to be such a man as it is likely a person who has been declared a comrade and auditor of that Uranius would be.
AGATHIAS THE SCHOLASTIC HISTORY, BOOK III
ARGUMENT. Agathias feels sorry for himself, longing for leisure from legal affairs (I). Nachoragan is created general of the Persians (II). The enmity of Martinus and Rusticus against Gubazes, king of the Lazs (III). By means of stratagems they conspire against him (IV).
A
BOOK III
A As for the customs of the Persians, the varied fluctuations of their polity, and all that I deemed necessary to say regarding Chosroes and his lineage, I have pursued all of these matters at considerable length, even if they do not strictly pertain to what has gone before. Yet perhaps they might not seem superfluous or useless, but rather, in my judgment, combining the useful with the sweet. For I desire—indeed, I value it most highly—to mingle, as they say, the Graces with the Muses. Yet other cares drag me away, and I follow the compelling necessity that surrounds me, certainly not of my own free will. For to me, the writing of history—that greatest and most solemn of labors, and one surpassing all other occupations—becomes a mere sideline to travel and life, and it is not permitted to me to pass my time as sweetly as I might wish in the things I love. For one ought to read the ancient sages more leisurely for the sake of imitation, and to judge with precision all the useful things recorded here and there, and to keep one’s mind relaxed and free for these tasks; but I, sitting at the royal portico, am occupied from morning until sunset in handling and unrolling many documents, full of lawsuits and troubles. And I am greatly vexed by those who disturb me, yet I am also distressed if they do not, since it is not possible for me to be sufficiently provided with the necessities of life without labor and pain. B Nevertheless, not even so will I leave off my own work, nor will I cease to follow where love leads me, even if someone should cavil and reproach me for attempting things beyond my strength, and, as the saying goes, trying one’s hand at pottery in a large jar. For even if my writings should seem to someone truly spurious and supplementary, and as it were the offspring of a mind distracted by many things, they will perhaps not displease me myself, just as usually happens to unskilled singers. But in order that I may not be carried away by further digressions and excursions, I must return to the Colchian struggles and my previous narrative.
A 2. For when Chosroes heard that Mermeroes was dead, he felt the pain that was to be expected at such a loss and mourned him; but, so that the military forces in Lazica might not lack a leader, he immediately appointed Nachoragan as general, a man of outstanding renown and fame. He had indeed prepared everything for his journey and was already on his way. While he was thus occupied, certain strange and lawless events occurred in the region of Colchis. For since the Romans, as I have mentioned before, had fled most disgracefully and had partially abandoned their affairs to the enemy, Gubazes, the king of the Lazi, considering such shame unendurable and fearing that something even worse might be committed in the future, reported everything to Justinian. He accused the commanders and attributed the entire situation to their folly, lodging a formal complaint especially against Bessas, and after him, against Martin and Rusticus. This Rusticus was a Graeco-Gaul by birth; he was not present there as a general or a commander of a thousand, nor did he perform any military duty, but was merely the quaestor of the royal funds—not that which was collected from tributes and taxes (for that had been entrusted to someone else), but that which was sent from the royal treasuries so that those whose valor and fortitude had shone forth in battle might be rewarded with appropriate gifts. B Consequently, this man was not insignificant, but was considered one of the most powerful, such that even the most confidential matters were shared with him, and the commands of the princes were thought to be firm and more reliable once they had met with his approval. Justinian was already deeply offended with Bessas, because, having captured the fortress of Petra before the arrival of Mermeroes, he ought to have barred the entrances from Iberia most strongly, as the nature of the terrain would have helped him, and thus rendered the borders of Lazica impassable to the barbarians; but he had neglected this out of sloth, being intent instead on visiting the cities entrusted to him and collecting money from them. The emperor, recalling these things, and since these recent reports were also brought to him, was easily persuaded. Therefore, he immediately dismissed Bessas from his command and, stripping him of his possessions, relegated him to the Abasgi to remain there until further action should be taken concerning him. C Although he was very severely incensed against Martin, he nevertheless left him the primacy of the command. For among the praetors or commanders of the army he held the first place, Justin was second, then Bouzes, and the others in order. Now, even before this, relations between Martin and Rusticus and Gubazes had not been good; rather, a certain resentment was smoldering between them, a grave and most atrocious enmity, but one that had not yet broken out into open conflagration. It had been born initially of envy, and then fanned and increased by the bellows of constant and reckless suspicion. For everything that D
was done by him, they examined with spirits already wounded, and being in every way distressed, they turned his actions to ill account and confirmed their own grievances. Since he, for his part, suspected their hatred A and was consequently driven to retaliate, he would frequently upbraid them, calling them cowards and boasters, and claiming that they cared nothing for the business at hand; he was perpetually chiding them at his drinking parties and assemblies, and never ceased or stayed his tongue even when embassies from neighboring nations arrived. They, unable to bear these things, and being angered by the accusations brought against them to the emperor, and knowing that he would not cease from putting them to the test should they stumble again, deliberated on how to remove Gubazes from their path, so that they might both avenge the injury they had sustained and for the future be free of fear B of anyone.
3. Many, therefore, were the schemes they discussed among themselves, and they finally arrived at this decision: since they did not think they ought to dispatch him before they had sounded out the emperor, they sent to Byzantium John, the brother of Rusticus, to declare, ostensibly, that Gubazes had been caught meddling with the Medes. 68 John, having reached the emperor quite secretly, slandered Gubazes, claiming that he had already defected and was bringing in the Persians, and would shortly transfer the whole province to them unless he were quickly restrained by some means or other. The emperor, though struck by the unexpected report, did not yet lend it full credence, but held a middle opinion: C “Come,” he said, “see to it that he is sent hither to us.” John, fearing lest, if he should arrive, the fraud might be uncovered, said, “So be it, master; but what must we do if he refuses to come of his own accord?” “He must be compelled,” the king said, “since he is a subject, and by whatever means he must be sent away.” John immediately taking up the king’s words, “What,” he said, “if he is compelled but resists, what then should come of it?” “What else,” said the king, “but that he shall suffer the lot of tyrants and perish most miserably?” “Nothing, then,” said John, “is to be feared by the one who kills him?” “Nothing at all,” said the king, “if, D while resisting and disobeying, he should perish as an enemy.” Having received such a reply, and with the king having written to his military commanders to nearly the same effect, John made no further inquiry, but deeming that he had sufficiently achieved his aim, he returned posthaste to the Colchians with this letter. When Martin and Justin had read it, and saw that the matter had been shrewdly arranged, they braced themselves to dare the deed. Having therefore summoned Justin and Buse, and concealing what they were plotting in their own minds, they gave orders to Gubazes to come to them as quickly as possible.
to consult with him as to how we might jointly attack the Persians who are A occupying Onoguris. They, having been persuaded by these reasons, set out with him. A small detachment from the legions followed them. But Gubazes, realizing that the commanders would be coming to him at any moment, and suspecting nothing at all adverse, proceeds to meet them around the Chobus River. There, the poor man encounters them, unguarded B and valiant, bringing with him very few of his attendants, and these unarmed and not prepared for battle. How would he not have been thus situated, among friends and acquaintances and guardians of the country, and by no means among enemies—nay, rather, protectors against foreign foes?
144 4. Thus then, as they were all sitting on their horses, they continued to discuss with one another how the present state of affairs should be settled. Then Rusticus said, "Come, O Gubazes, join our expedition against the Persians, and take upon yourself a common share of the labors with us against those who are occupying Onoguris. For it would be shameful if we were to allow them to sit securely for the longest time C in the middle of our territory, especially since they are very few in number and by no means capable of engaging us in battle." Then Gubazes answered, "It is necessary, O brave men, for you alone to labor in this, upon whom alone the entire blame for what has happened rests. For had you not been impeded in the management of these affairs by a certain supine sloth and cowardice, neither would that fortress have been walled off against us, nor would you have resorted to such a base and shameful flight, nor would any of those things which were not fitting have happened. Now then, O excellent men, if you claim to be lovers of glory, and if you bear in your breasts spirits worthy of military commanders, this dereliction of duty must be compensated for by you. For I shall never follow you, nor shall I engage in war, until everything that has been sinned by you has been rectified." When these things had been said, D suddenly, as if the contradiction itself were sufficient evidence of a defection to the Persians and of a tyranny aimed at and premeditated, that John, who had brought the news of the evils, having drawn a dagger secretly, strikes Gubazes in the chest, though not yet fatally. He (for he happened to have both feet crossed over the neck of the horse) immediately fell to the ground, cast down not so much, I think, by the blow of the hand as by the unexpectedness of it. But while he was still struggling on the ground and trying to rise, a guard of Rusticus standing by, as had been ordered to him, striking his head with a sword, kills him completely. In this way, then, they say that Gubazes was killed, and for such causes, according to those who are believed to know these things most accurately. Justin and Buse were indeed grieving and...
A they were aggrieved, and considered the deed an atrocious act. Nevertheless, they remained quiet, supposing that Emperor Justinian had clearly ordered these things by letter. But the entire army of the Lazoi was thrown into confusion and seized with such dejection that they would no longer associate with the Romans, nor did they choose to campaign with them. Instead, after they had buried the dead man according to their own custom and practice, they seceded from the war and abstained from it thereafter, as people who had been afflicted with an atrocious injury and had lost their ancestral glory.
5. The nation of the Colchians is exceedingly great and haughty
and they rule over many others. Boasting in the ancient name of the Colchians, they exaggerate and praise themselves beyond what is reasonable, and perhaps not without some cause. For among the nations that are subject to another empire, I do not know of any other race so renowned and fortunate, both in the eminence of its wealth and the multitude of its subjects, and in the convenience of its territory and abundance of necessities, as well as in the civility and skill of their customs. And indeed, the ancient inhabitants were altogether ignorant of the goods that the sea yields, since not even the name of a ship had been heard by them until that Argo of old arrived among them. But those of the present time are even seafarers B and earn profits from trade. They are no longer barbarians at all, nor do they live in that manner, but have been transformed by their association with the Romans into a civil and lawful way of life. So much so, that if one were to remove the brazen-footed bulls and the crops of earth-born men, and all the other monstrous and incredible things that the poets have cleverly fashioned about Aeetes, one would find the present to be much better than the past. Being such, then, the Lazoi naturally thought they had suffered intolerable injuries, as they had been senselessly deprived of their king.The Romans, at the urging of Martinus, immediately prepared to attack with all their might the Persians stationed at Onoguris. This place had received this name from ancient times. Perhaps in the early days, when the Huns—who were called the Onoguri—clashed there with the Colchians and were defeated, they had bestowed this name upon the local inhabitants as a memorial and trophy. In the present time, however, it is not so called by the majority; C but since the temple of the divine Stephen, whom they say was the first in olden times to voluntarily risk his life for those who seemed to be the finest of Christians and was stoned by the adversaries, has been established there, it is believed that the place received its name from him. But there is nothing, I think, to prevent us from using the most ancient appellation for the sake of clarity, since it is also more appropriate for history. The Roman army, therefore, prepared to go against Onoguris; for the authors of the murder were pressing for this, hoping that they would easily reduce this fortress to their power, and by this means [would appease] the Emperor, even if...
A they were recognized as having committed the treachery, not to be excessively incensed at them, but rather to dispel the accusation through this final timely achievement. All the generals and their forces, therefore, having encamped on the plain of Archaeopolis, began preparing what are called *testudo* [tortoises], and catapults for hurling great stones, and other such engines, as if they were needed to attack the wall. The *testudo* is a structure fashioned from osier-twigs into the shape of a roof, made watertight by its density and completely covered, so that on both sides it extends downwards and encloses those underneath. Having covered the machine above and on all sides with hides and leathers, they make it safer and capable of repelling missiles. The men inside, hiding in safety, secretly lift it and move it where they wish; and when it has been brought to a tower or wall, those who are in it dig up the adjacent earth, remove the soil, lay bare the foundations, and then, striking them incessantly with crowbars and hammers, shake the masonry. In this way, then, the Romans prepared for the siege.
6. In the meantime, a certain Persian man was seized by the bodyguards of Justin while walking around the fortress. When he had been brought into the camp, he was beaten with scourges and forced to truthfully reveal the plans of his own people. And indeed he reported that Nachoragan had already arrived in Iberia, and had sent him to encourage the troops that were there, as the general would arrive very soon. The Persians, he said, who were stationed in Muchiris and B Cotais, are also soon to arrive to bring aid to their fellow tribesmen, since they have already been informed of your expedition against them. When these things had been said, the Roman commanders immediately deliberated concerning the present situation. Buzes, for his part, asserted that it was necessary first for the entire army to go out to meet the approaching enemy; for if they should be defeated in this engagement, as is likely due to their small numbers, it followed that those in the fortress would surrender as quickly as possible, being deprived of support; but if they should resist, they could be destroyed without any trouble. This plan also pleased Uligangus, the commander of the Herulian force; hence he frequently used a certain proverbial saying, barbaric and simple, yet nonetheless effective and useful: that one must first drive away the bees, and then later gather the honey more easily. Rusticus, however (for he had by this time become more audacious and tyrannical, as I think, emboldened by his crime and the unanimous conspiracy with Martinus, which gave him confidence), attacked Buzes with open mockery and verbal insults, as if...
he were never capable of calculating what was required. But he A said that it was best not to weary the army with superfluous labor, but to bring all the forces up to the fortress, to take it easily, and to forestall any aid arriving from without, and, if it seemed good, to send a few against them to hinder the speed of their advance. And indeed, the strategy proposed by Buzes was far better and more in accordance with the nature of things, becoming a most excellent general, and providing both efficiency and security. But since, as it seems, the whole multitude had shared in the guilt by joining those bloodthirsty men and following them, the worse and less advantageous opinion prevailed, in order that they might immediately pay the penalty. B For there were sent against those coming from Muchiris both cavalrymen numbering no more than six hundred. They were led by Dabrageras and Usigardus, both of them barbarians by birth, but leaders of Roman cohorts. All the others, together with the generals, attacked the fortress and straightway set to work. For they moved up siege engines and probed the gates, and encircling the enclosure with their multitude, they discharged missiles from every side. The Persians, however, as it was possible for them to do while running along the battlements, defended themselves from their current position, both by shooting frequent arrows and by guarding C what was outside. For having hung certain linen cloths and coverings from a height, they rendered the impacts of the missiles weaker in this way, since they became entangled in these first. With great effort and eagerness, therefore, the battle was fought on both sides, so that the engagement might seem a pitched battle rather than a siege; so great was the ardor of spirit and the display of military prowess on both sides, with the one party fighting for their own survival, as no small danger surrounded them, and the others deeming it truly shameful, once they had started the attack, to retreat without results and not to capture the fortification and deliver Archaeopolis from an enemy presence.
7. Now the rest of the Persians, arranged as three thousand D fighting cavalry, having set out from Cotasium and Muchiris, were moving toward the Onoguris. As they were marching somewhat carelessly, and suspecting no hostility from anyone, they were suddenly fallen upon by the men around Dabrageras and Usigardus, who, having struck them with surprise, immediately put them to flight. When this was announced to the Romans who were besieging the place, they immediately attacked the fortress with greater ferocity, tore down those curtains with which the wall had been covered, and dispersed themselves in disorder through many places along the walls, as if they were now about to plunder everything easily, since the enemy who...
A had been put to flight by those from outside, and no one was left to harass them. But they, having very quickly B perceived that the entire Roman army had not attacked them, as they had at first supposed, but rather that they were very few, and to be considered scouts rather than competent soldiers, suddenly turned back upon them, shouting. Unable to bear this reversal, they shifted into retreat, and fled with great speed. The Persians followed them, pressing as closely as possible, so that, in effect, as these struggled to flee and those to pursue, both the fugitives and the pursuers happened to mingle with the rest of the Roman troops. A great tumult naturally arose, [P. 80] and the entire multitude, holding the siege and the capture of the fortress—which had been expected at any moment—in contempt, fled away along with their commanders, without stopping to learn what had ever happened, or how many they themselves were, and then by how many they were being driven. For they were so frantic, and were in such a state of confusion, as if caught in a panic. The Persians, having become much bolder for this very reason, pursued more fiercely. For those in the fortress (since they were watching what was happening) suddenly burst out and joined the rest of the Persians, C and by continuing further in their pursuit of the Romans, they made their flight more manifest. And while all the Roman cavalry easily escaped out of range of the missiles at high speed, many were killed from the infantry, delayed by the bridge of the river called Catharus, through which they absolutely had to pass. For there, since many could not cross it at once because of the narrowness, they pushed and shoved one another. And some of them fell into the streams of the river, while others, being pushed back and returning the way they had come, fell into the hands of the enemies; and they were everywhere mixed in the worst of ways with the worst of fates. Perhaps all of them would have perished at that time in total destruction, had not the commander Buzes, having heard their cries and lamentations and D recognized the magnitude of the danger, turned back with his own troops and, positioning himself against the barbarians, gently checked the pursuit until they had crossed the bridge and finally arrived with difficulty in safety, where all the others also were. For from the previous camp, which they had established near Archaeopolis, not a single one of them returned; but having run past it out of fear, and having left there all the provisions and other necessary and valuable things they were carrying, and having escaped by flight to more interior places, they provided the enemy with a victory that was not only glorious and impressive, but also profitable.
A For these men, having found the plains in that region deserted of men, demolished the rampart, and after plundering everything within, they returned home in such great joy 10 and once again held their former territory. 11 And yet, how is it not entirely manifest 12 that a certain divine wrath, because of the innocent blood, 13 brought low the multitudes of the Romans, seeing that they had deliberated on the most wicked courses, and being no fewer than fifty thousands of fighting men, they fled so ignominiously before three thousand Persians, having lost as many as possible? Nevertheless, the very workers of this murder 14 did not long after pay the ultimate penalty, as we shall relate in the course of the narrative. Then truly, as winter set in, the entire army was dispersed throughout the towns and fortresses, 15 wherever each had been assigned to spend the winter. B In the meantime, the affairs of the Colchians were extremely uncertain and in turmoil. And thus all the men of rank were at a loss as to what might happen and whither they should turn. Therefore, having gathered the greater part of the nation in secret under a certain ravine of the Caucasus mountain, so that the things being discussed might not become known 16 to the Romans, they proposed a council as to whether they ought to move over to the Persians, or remain where they were among the Romans. Immediately many arguments were bandied about, some urging one way, others the other. But the clamor was C confused and tumultuous, so that it could not be clearly discerned 17 who was speaking, or what on earth he was saying. Then the most powerful men commanded the multitudes to keep silent, and that whoever wished might come forward in an orderly manner and explain what ought to be done, whoever he might be. Now there was a man among the most esteemed, named Aetes, 18 who was more vexed and indignant than all others at what had occurred, being otherwise a hater of the Roman name and always favorable to the Persian cause. D Then, taking advantage of the more specious pretext of the cause, he strove to exaggerate the event beyond what was proper; and he asserted that there was no need of deliberation regarding present circumstances, but that they ought immediately to defect completely to the Persians. While others were saying that one ought not so suddenly to change one’s whole life, 19 before a more leisurely deliberation had been held among them as to what was most advantageous, he rose up in anger, and having leaped 20 into the midst, he harangued them as if in a democratic council. For he was able to speak with more skill than is usual for barbarians, and was the type to play the orator with his thoughts by a certain natural dexterity. And so he spoke as follows: 9. If the Romans had harmed us 21 in word or counsel, we would rightly and properly continue to avenge the injury with similar measures; but now, how is this to be endured, that they have already done the most terrible things to us of all, while the opportunity for us to retaliate—
A continues to slip away through our procrastinating and deliberating? For it is not as if one could say that the enemies have not yet been caught in the act, but that it is merely conjectured that they have planned and intended this; nor is there any need to recount certain pieces of evidence to prove their latent and hidden treachery. But Gubazes, such a great man, has been so miserably wiped from the midst, just like one of the many and neglected. The ancient dignity of the Colchians has vanished, and from now on we should not strive to rule others, but we must be content if it is permitted B that we not be treated too meanly by those who were formerly our subjects. How then is it not extremely absurd if we sit deliberating about those by whom these things have been perpetrated, whether we should judge them to be our most bitter enemies or our friends? And yet, one must know that their audacity will not stop even at these things; but even if we drop our accusation, they will not refrain, and they will harm even those who remain quiet more recklessly. For they are, indeed, more emboldened C toward those who submit, and are accustomed to despise those who serve them. They also possess a king who is most treacherous, and one who takes pleasure in the changing of those currently present; whence also the deed of murder was accomplished all at once, the one having strictly commanded it, and the others having promptly served him. And we have been devastated, nearly by them, although we had provoked them with no injury, nor had any rivalry occurred with them, but, while using the same D familiarity that they formerly held with us, they have committed the most unholy of all things, as if having been filled all at once with cruelty, and madness, and hatred, and all such evils together. But such are not the customs of the Persians; for there is a very great difference. For those whom they might have once acquired as friends, they proceed to cherish most firmly; while against an enemy, so long as he is an enemy, they bear hostile and aggressive hearts. I would have wished, then, that the Colchian state might possess its ancient power, so that it would in no way stand in need of any foreign or external assistance, but be entirely self-sufficient for all things, both in war and in peace. But since, whether by the change of time, or by the adversities of fortune, or else by both, we have been forced into such a state of weakness that we must be subjected to others, I would consider it most prudent to submit to those who are more moderate and equitable, and who maintain goodwill toward their own people and their allies firm and intact. In this way, we shall even overcome those who are truly our enemies, if the crime that has been committed does not go entirely unpunished, and at the same time we have taken counsel for the security of our affairs in the future. For their deceitful and flattering manners, which they display to deceive the credulous with a certain wily gentleness and feigned familiarity and to inflict injuries upon them, will be rendered utterly vain and useless; nor will they have the power to employ such traits against us, since no [opportunity/pretext] for us to...
engage with them remains, because the nature of our enmity is unmixed and clearly distinguished. But if they should even attempt to wage war, let them engage against the Lazi and the Persians simultaneously, and that too on hostile soil; for even from that moment, they would not be able to withstand their charge. For lately, having encountered even a very small part of the Medes with their whole army, they immediately turned to a most disgraceful flight, and even now they are almost panting and out of breath from the speed of their running; having been defeated in every way, so to speak, by others, they have only and solely outdone their pursuers in swiftness.
B 10. A manifest and most ready cause for this, one might say, is cowardice, and the failure to deliberate upon what is appropriate. For such disgraces, as if they were proper and innate, truly adhere to them; yet when a voluntary act of injustice is added to those things that are evil by nature, it has doubled their misfortune, having fallen as they have from the providence of the Higher Power due to an impious crime. For victory is secured not so much by arms as by piety; and I would never say that those who are wicked and most defiled can share in the aid of the Supreme Good. Therefore, if we are wise, we must not adhere to those to whom the things of the mind are not best ordered, and whom He who is accustomed to save all things detests. C That our transition to the Persians, then, will be easy, most advantageous, and pleasing to the Higher Power, has been shown by the reality of events rather than by words. Nor would we appear to be acting unjustly, or to have become faithless. For many times before, having been insulted by the Romans, we nonetheless believed that we must remain in the state we were in, judging it to be most base to change easily on account of certain charges—even if they were very grave, they were still endurable and not altogether D insufferable. But to bear the greatest injuries and irremediable sufferings always without any struggle, and to be vexed by absolutely nothing concerning such unholy and most absurd deeds, I say is the sign not of moderate men, but of cowardly and miserable ones, who make a pretense of their listlessness regarding public affairs under the name of "tranquility." And I do not think that any such suffering of murder could occur elsewhere, nor, should it occur, could it be overlooked. Therefore, it must not be overlooked by us, lest we be ashamed if we should appear to have forgotten the King, while fawning upon those who killed him. For if it were possible for him to be present here in person, he would surely rebuke and censure us for our negligence, for the reason that these polluted men are dwelling in his land and were not driven out long ago. Since, however, he will no longer be present personally, nor will he be able to call you to account, do you yourselves take into account...
A be absent exists, nor will [he] speak. You, therefore, consider the man 1, and let him stood in the midst of your assembly be portrayed in your thoughts, showing his wound and chest and neck, and imploring his own kin to take vengeance on the enemies, if only now. Then who among you 2 would welcome those who hesitate and consider whether it is just for Gubazes to receive pity from the Colchians? For we must fear lest, while we fear that our transition to the Persians might appear insufficiently honorable, we become sharers in the guilt by abandoning him and neglecting vengeance for the dead man; and we might be deemed all the more treacherous from this, if, having measured our affection toward him solely by his lifetime, we also cast away his memory along with him. For when things are proceeding prosperously, it would be great madness to change prior plans; but when matters turn out the other way, I consider it imprudent not to accommodate oneself immediately to the events. For consistency is judged B by things consistent with reason; but to endure the state of current affairs constantly is not always praiseworthy, but only when prudence accompanies it. But where it happens that one neglects what should be of concern and embraces what is not fitting, there he is more to be blamed who clings and insists upon prior things than he who transfers himself to others. Thus, when the Persians hear and understand these things from us, they will deservedly embrace us and fight in our defense, since they are both humane and magnanimous, and know best how to probe the minds of their neighbors; and what is more, a region so opportune, and an army so distinguished—which they would deem of more value than many riches and labors—will have been admitted by them into an alliance of war by a spontaneous declaration. Do not therefore think of anything else besides these things, but immediately set about the business, and reveal what has been planned; for thus we would win the greatest C glory, by doing things that are holy and just, and which have been found useful.
11. When Aeetes had said these things, the entire multitude was immediately excited and shouted out, and desired to go over to the Persians that very day, though the Persians had not been informed, nor were they so prepared as to be able to either escape the notice of the Romans or repulse them if they prevented it; but without pondering in their minds anything at all of what was to happen, nor what outcome their attempts would have, (it is otherwise a familiar and innate vice of a multitude to be eager for novelty and to delight in revolutions of affairs). These men, however, were even more sharply irritated and excited, not only as barbarians, but also because they deemed the cause to be just and were greatly amazed at the speech of Aeetes; which indeed moved and stirred them up even more vehemently. While they were being thus disturbed, a certain man, Phartazes by name—a man who was among the most D
A distinguished of the Colchians, and who was also prudent, moderate, and highly popular—checked their impulse and restrained their ardor, entreating them not to proceed to action before they had heard what he, too, had to say. With difficulty, they were persuaded by their reverence for the man and remained where they were; whereupon he himself moved into the center and spoke as follows: "Nothing new has befallen you, O Colchians, in being so perturbed in spirit by the power of highly polished words. Eloquence is indeed an invincible thing, and it strikes all men, especially those who have never before experienced its power; yet it is not so entirely beyond resistance, provided one uses sober reasoning and grounds one’s judgment in the facts themselves. Do not, therefore, approve of the things that have just been said merely by considering that they seemed plausible because they were sudden and strange, rather than honorable and useful. B Understand, rather, that even if these things seem highly agreeable to you, it is still possible to embrace things that are better; and let it be an evident proof to you of the deception that you were so easily persuaded. For he who wishes to urge falsehoods has need of greater ornament and variety of language; and thus, using much enticement of speech, he attracts the simpler-minded more quickly. Just so, you too, because Aeetes has put forward certain alluring and irrational arguments, do not know how you have been deceived. Yet, if nothing else, this at least can be most clearly evident to anyone: that he immediately brought in a different question at the start, one most alien to those for whose sake we have gathered. For just as you all were saying that the events which occurred were not terrible, and were not in the least accusing this shameful murder, C and were considering only whether those who killed Gubazes had truly sinned, he passed over the charge against them and spent many words on matters that were already known. I, for my part, declare them to be accursed and hateful to God, and men whom I would most gladly see perish by the most cruel of all deaths—not only those who struck the blows and carried out the slaughter with their own hands, but also all those who, while able to prevent it, allowed it, and furthermore, those who rejoiced in it and those who did not grieve greatly. Yet, even so, though I am thus moved, it does not follow that it is expedient to defect to the Persians; nor should anyone take this as a logical or necessary consequence—that because they have trampled upon the laws, we must therefore bid farewell to our ancestral customs, nor that, while being hostile to them as treacherous, we should ourselves hold to the very same opinion they do. D For we ought not now to deliberate about that which is past, finished, and no longer capable of being undone, lest we darken our own judgment by deliberating while our souls are inflamed with anger and indignation, thereby depriving ourselves of finding better and sounder counsel; but rather, we should be so moved by this evil that, while we do not seem to have neglected it, we nevertheless take care that we...
A settle the remainder of our affairs in the best possible way. For it is the behavior of the unwise to be tormented and distressed by past evils forever, but it is the behavior of the prudent to recognize the irregular shifts of fortune, and not to be disturbed by its mutations, nor, when deprived of former things, to destroy the hopes of those to come as well.
12. But this counselor, who has long favored the Medes and longs to turn us toward them, tries to frighten us like children, claiming that the Romans will not be satisfied with what they have already dared against us, but are about to inflict worse evils; and that their king is a great innovator, and was himself the instigator of the murder that had been deliberated and planned long before. And saying these things, he sings the praises of the Persians and admires them greatly, believing that he will thereby persuade us to become straightway suppliants and voluntary deserters to those who are by nature our bitterest enemies. For he directs his entire purpose toward this one goal, laboring and struggling from the beginning, so that the things he has carefully plotted may be brought to completion; and by advising without reflection, he confuses and disturbs the order of deliberation, and renders it useless. For deliberation is always accustomed to come first, subjecting matters that are not yet plain to examination. But when at last it has been thoroughly discovered what must be done, then it is truly necessary that the will and desire to obtain the things that have been decided should follow. But this man makes the end the beginning, C deciding even before he has weighed anything. What benefit, then, will there be from such a deliberation, if it comes after judgment? But you, O Colchians, do not let your minds be preoccupied by any prejudice, and do not look toward one fixed end, but approach your inquiries in this way. For how is it possible to force the vicissitudes of affairs and to reshape them to one's own liking? On the contrary, it is proper to follow them in an orderly fashion, and to bring to them a mind pure, free, and autonomous, so that by carefully sifting through the circumstances, one may attain what is advantageous. For if we deliberate in this way, it will immediately appear that the treachery against Gubazes was devised neither by the Roman legions, nor by all the generals collectively, and still less by their emperor himself. For it is already spread abroad among them and confessed that Rusticus and Martinus, envying his good fortune, were carried away into voluntary brutality, while the other leaders not only did not assist them, but even bore it bitterly. It would therefore be unjust and, moreover, useless to brazenly violate the public laws which we have resolved to observe due to the fault of perhaps one or two men, D and for the whole...
commonwealth and our familiar and A intimate way of life, and, as concerns those who stand guard over our land and brave so many dangers in order that we might live in prosperity, to be shown as traitors—and, what is the most impious thing of all, to despise right belief concerning religion and the dignity of the sacred mysteries. For how shall we not seem to be doing this if we go over to the most bitter enemies of the divine Power? For if they were to forbid us to practice our religion thereafter, and force us to adopt their own, what could befall us that is more grievous, whether for the living or the dead? For what profit would we have gained if we were to join—let us assume it is so—the whole of Persia to ourselves, but suffered the loss of our souls? But if, indeed, they were to permit and concede it, they would nevertheless not follow us with firm goodwill; rather, it would be faithless and dubious, measured only by utility. For among those who are imbued with B different opinions, no society can endure; nor, should fear arise, or no benefit intervene, does faith remain constant and firm among them, unless there also be a consensus of opinion. Indeed, even kin, relatives, and fellow tribesmen, if they are devoid of this agreement of mind and opinion, offer friendship in name alone, while in reality they are the greatest of strangers. In the hope of what good, then, men of Colchis, shall we defect to the Persians, if they are to be our enemies in this way too, and nothing more shall accrue to us at present than the fact that we can be injured by them so much more easily, in as much as it is harder for us to guard against a hidden enemy than one who is open? But, if it seems best, let us grant that the deed itself conflicts neither with equity nor with honor, and let us assume that the customs of the Persians are constant and faithful, and that they are going to observe C covenants and agreements forever. For even if these things be granted and nothing else shall stand in our way, yet our own strength will not suffice. For how could we go over to others, with the Romans looming over us, [being] so many and so brave and assigned to the finest generals? And how, indeed, is it possible not to incur the most atrocious punishment, when those who ought to come to our aid are still tarrying far from here in Iberia and moving slowly, whereas those who will exact vengeance are occupying the entire region and living in our cities?
13. And yet, this noble man says that they will not even withstand our attack, arguing from these...
A events that have occurred just recently. For who would be ignorant of the fact that the reversals of war do not come about by any fixed necessity, nor that those who happen to have fared poorly at this moment will find themselves always sharing in the same failures? On the contrary, victory very often passes over to those who were defeated, and cures their distress. We must not, therefore, be overconfident, as if it were the custom and habit of these men to be defeated in every subsequent engagement. If they were defeated only because they did not consider what needed to be done, we should indeed turn this example to our own use, and guard against the dangers that follow upon rashness and the precipitation of counsel. Yet it must not be assumed from this that a victory over them will be easy. It is probable that, having erred before and having been taught by experience itself what to avoid, they will compensate for what they previously neglected by taking greater care in their future actions. But if God is angry with them because of the nefarious murder that was committed, and they are suffering these evils for that reason, why is there need for us to be present and to assist, as if He were not sufficient of Himself to carry out justice, but stood in need of our aid? What extreme of impiety would be left to others if we were to treat with contempt this supreme goodness, which fights on our behalf in appropriate fashion even when we are resting? Let no one, therefore, bring before us the dead Gubazes, B supposedly weeping in an unmanly way and begging his fellow countrymen to take pity on him by showing the wounds inflicted upon his body. Such things might perhaps befit base and effeminate souls, but they certainly are not to be attributed to a king, and a king of the Lazi at that, namely Gubazes. For if he were present here, he would surely, as a pious and wise man, rebuke us for entertaining such plans; he would order us not to be so disheartened and weak-spirited, nor to choose to flee like slaves, but rather to summon a spirit that is Colchian and free, to endure our misfortune bravely, and to commit no base act unworthy of ancestral customs; he would urge us to stand firm in the present situation, confident that divine aid will by no means fail the Colchian people. Therefore, how could it not be monumentally absurd that these things are likely approved by him who was violently killed, while we, who pretend to have goodwill toward him, plan the very opposite? But I fear that for this reason alone—that we have entertained and pondered these thoughts in our minds—we shall suffer the greatest penalties. For if we had attempted a defection with uncertain hope and doubtful outcome, and in a situation liable to shift in either direction, this would indeed have been a grave matter, to depend on fortune alone in an upheaval of such magnitude; yet perhaps it might have been permitted to those who had adopted such a counsel to proceed more freely and brazenly. But if...
A depravities of this plan and the evils to be expected from it are in every respect conspicuous and manifest. How, then, are those who led you into this line of thought not worthy of hatred? How, therefore, we should abstain from them has been said with moderation. For my part, I am of the opinion that the deed itself, exactly as it happened, must be reported to the emperor, so that he may most justly take action against the principal authors of the murder. If he does this, our discord with the Romans will be put to rest, and we shall restore our former partnership in labors and expeditions, and our old intimacy with them. But if we suffer a refusal, and he rejects our petition, then at last it will be time to deliberate whether it is expedient to pursue another path. For by acting in this way, we shall appear neither to have forgotten the dead Gubazes, nor to be ordering our affairs by rashness rather than by counsel.
14. Having said these things, the Colchians sang a palinode, as the saying goes, and changed their opinion; B they were moved to this especially because they feared that if at any time they should desert to the Persians, they would also be deprived of the true opinion and religion concerning God. Since, therefore, the opinion of Phartazes prevailed, some of the best and most noble men of the Colchian nation were immediately chosen to report to the Emperor Justinian what had been perpetrated against Gubazes, and to uncover for him the whole fraud; and namely that he had never favored the side of the Persians, nor attempted anything against the Romans; but that Martinus and Rusticus, because he justly rebuked and was angry with them for frequently failing through cowardice and folly, had concocted C this calumny against him and murdered an innocent man. Therefore, they besought the emperor to provide this favor to the soul of the departed; they said nothing else, in fact, but that he should not leave that crime unpunished, and that he should appoint as king for them not some stranger, nor a foreigner, but Tzathes the younger, the brother of Gubazes, who was at that time living in Byzantium, so that their ancestral law might again be preserved for them, and the royal lineage, which had been continued and constant and inviolate for them since ancient times, might be maintained. The emperor, accordingly (for it seemed to him an D equitable and just thing), satisfied their petition as quickly as possible, and sent Athanasius, one of the leading senators, to investigate the matter accurately and to pass judgment on it according to the prescription of the Roman laws. When he arrived, he immediately sent Rusticus to the city of Apsarus and ordered him to be kept in the prison there. But as for John, who had deceived the emperor and had been the actual perpetrator of the pollution, and had at that time stolen away most secretly and was attempting to secure his safety in flight—to this John, I say, who for this reason was making his way to...
A environs of the royal palace of those bodyguards whom they call Scribones. He had been sent there for this very purpose, to serve Athanasius and to carry out whatever decisions the latter might make. Metrianus, therefore, having seized John, brought him before the judge Athanasius. The latter sent him to Apsarunt, to remain there in prison and in the stocks until the legal process, which was already being prepared, should be concluded.
15. For at the very beginning of spring, Nachoragan came to Mucheiris, and immediately he began to assemble his troops and to prepare for war with all the diligence possible. Nevertheless, the Romans also, gathering around the Island B were preparing themselves with the utmost effort, and the judgment was rightly delayed. For what, in the current state of affairs, should have been a greater care to them than to establish as best as possible the things necessary for war? Already, too, Tzathes had arrived from Byzantium along with the general Soterichus, having received his ancestral kingdom and its insignia from the Roman emperor, according to ancient custom and rite. These are: a golden crown studded with precious gems, a robe C reaching to the ankles and interwoven with gold, shoes dyed with murex, and a headband similarly decorated with gold and stones. It is not permitted for the kings of the Lazi to wear a purple chlamys; they may only wear a white one. This, however, is not absolutely common or ordinary, for around the middle it shines on both sides with a gold fabric. The royal clasp of the chlamys is also distinguished by hanging gems and other ornaments. Therefore, as Tzathes entered his own territory, adorned in royal habit, the prefects and the entire Roman army immediately greeted him and D honored him with the customary tributes, preceding him, clad in the most splendid arms and for the most part mounted on horses. The Lazi, turning to joy and with difficulty laying aside their sorrow, accompanied him in order, with trumpets sounding on every side and standards raised on high. The procession was quite bright and very proud, and more pompous than the kingdom of the Lazi usually permits. Tzathes, having been established in his authority, thereafter administered all things and governed his own nation as he himself wished and as the ancestral custom suggested.
The general Soterichus immediately set out on the journey for which he had been sent. For he brought money from the king to distribute to the neighboring barbarians for the sake of a military alliance; a practice that has been customary for a long time and is performed annually. He was accompanied by two of his sons, the elder ones, Philagrius and Romulus, so that, having departed from home, they might become accustomed to moderate labors, since both had already passed the age of boyhood and were capable of bearing work. The third of them, Eustratius, had been left in Byzantium because he was still quite young and, moreover, in body not yet
A robust. When Soterichus arrived at the country of those called the Misimiani—who, like the Apsilii, happen to be subject to the king of the Colchi, though they use a distinct language and other laws; they are more northerly than the Apsilian race and turn slightly toward the sunrise—when he arrived among these people, a certain idea occurred to them: that he perhaps wished to betray to the Alans one of their own fortresses, situated right on the borders of the Lazi, which they call Buchloum, so that when the ambassadors of the nations dwelling further away gathered there, they might bring their payments, and there would no longer be any need for the one who brought the money to go around the foothills of the Caucasus himself and go to them.
16. B These things the Misimiani, whether they had learned them or merely suspected them, sent two men of renown among them, Chadus by name, and Thuanes. Having found him encamped near that very fortification, and having had their suspicion more strongly confirmed, they said, "You are intending to do us an injustice, Prefect. For you ought not to permit another to take away what is ours, let alone wish to do it yourself. But if this is not truly your intention, come, depart from here as quickly as possible and spend the time in another place, where you will lack nothing necessary, but we ourselves shall bring everything. For you must not stay here at all, nor shall we endure your lingering and stalling here." C When they spoke so insolently, Soterichus, thinking it utterly intolerable that the subjects of the Colchi should be allowed to be so bold against the Romans, to whom the Colchi are themselves subject, ordered his attendants to strike them with the staffs they were carrying. They set upon them fiercely and sent them away half-dead. After this had happened, Soterichus, thinking that nothing hostile would occur, and behaving much as if he had punished his own servants for being delinquent, and considering that nothing at all was to be feared from it, stayed in that place; and later, when night had fallen, he slept very fearlessly and without any guard. In like manner also his children, his guards, and all others D of his, whether hired men or servants, all of them also rested more securely than was fitting in an enemy land. Meanwhile, the Misimiani, unable to bear the injury they had received, armed themselves most powerfully and rushed against them, and immediately breaking into the little house where the Prefect was sleeping, they cut down the servants who were lying closest by. Thus, as was natural, a great tumult and noise being raised, an awareness of the evil came to Soterichus himself and to all who were with him. Wherefore, since they had been shaken from their beds in fear, but still weighed down and languid with sleep, they could not very well defend themselves; for some, since they had their feet wrapped in skins...
were hindered in their movement, while others, already rushing for their swords and attempting to improvise a defense, wandered about most pitiably in the darkness and confusion; colliding with walls, they had forgotten where they had laid their weapons. Some of them, indeed, having already been overwhelmed and despairing, attempted nothing at all, but only cried out and lamented, one here and another there, not knowing what to do. While they were thus struck with panic, the barbarians burst in and slaughtered Soterichus himself, his sons, and all the rest, save for any who perhaps chanced to leap out through some higher door or otherwise escaped by stealth. Having perpetrated these things, the criminals despoiled the fallen and plundered all their other goods, and also the king’s money, treating them in reality as enemies and not as friends and their own leaders whom they had put to death.
17. After the slaughter was committed
. Since this crime had been carried out by them, and that inner B turbulence of mind and anger seemed, with the satisfaction of their desire, to be bridled and assuaged, they then began to consider the deed itself, reflecting and realizing what a die had been cast for them, and that before long the Romans would come to exact vengeance, and they would not be able to withstand the Romans’ might. Therefore, they openly defected and approached the Persians, and sent envoys requesting that they receive them under their protection and henceforth aid them as subjects. When all these things were reported to the Roman commanders, they were indeed indignant and troubled, but they were unable to exact immediate vengeance upon the Misimiani, being restrained by a commitment to a matter of greater importance. For already Nachoragan was leading some sixty thousand fighting men toward the island C where Martinus and Justinus, son of Germanus, and the troops with them were stationed. The mercenary soldiers of the Hunnic nation, who are called Sabiri (for there was present with the Romans a detachment of heavily armed soldiers numbering about two thousand, led by Balmach, Coulitsis, and Iuliger, men who were most renowned among them), these Sabiri, therefore, had pitched their camp, as Martinus had ordered, around Archaeopolis and the surrounding fields, so that they might harass the enemy as much as they could (for they seemed likely to pass that way) and render their passage more difficult and dangerous for them. But Nachoragan, once he learned that the Sabiri had occupied those places, selected three thousand men from the Dilimnite D auxiliary troops and immediately sent them against them, with orders (for he was arrogant and boastful) to completely destroythem all, so that they A should not be left behind planning an attack from the rear while he himself went to battle. The Dilimnites are the greatest nation living within the Tigris river in the Persian territory, and they are among the most warlike. They are not much given to archery or long-range fighting, as is naturally the case with most of the Medes; for they carry spears, sarissae, and a sword hanging from the shoulder; moreover, girding a very small dagger to their arm, they hold out shields and light bucklers. You would say that they are neither altogether light-armed nor yet heavy-armed infantry meant for standing combat. For B they throw javelins at a distance if need be, but they also fight hand-to-hand; they are good at engaging in an enemy phalanx and using their pushing power to break apart dense formations, and they are quick to redeploy and adapt to whatever encounters them. They themselves run easily up steep hills, taking the higher ground, and when they turn to retreat, they do so with great speed, but they also pursue others and press the chase most methodically. Being skilled and practiced in almost every form of warfare, they inflict the greatest damage on their opponents; and most of the time they are accustomed to fight alongside the Persians, though not out of compulsion as if they were subjects. For they are autonomous and free, and not of such a nature as to be led by force.
18. A detachment of these Dilimnites, therefore, once night had fallen, marched against the Sabiri, for it seemed better to them to attack while they were still asleep, and thus more easily kill them all. And, I think, they would not have been disappointed in their hope had not some C fortune frustrated them. For as they were moving toward this, a certain Colchian man happened to meet them in the darkness and wilderness, having chanced upon them; they seized him most eagerly and forced him to be their guide on the journey to the Sabiri. He most willingly undertook the order and was already leading the way, but when he encountered a certain dense thicket, he crouched down quietly and slipped away. Having thus escaped those following him and having gotten ahead, he raced D toward the Huns. Finding them all sleeping soundly and snoring, "O wretched men," he said, "you are about to perish this very instant," shouting this out in a clear and piercing voice. Only with difficulty did he rouse them from sleep, and he reported that the enemy would arrive at any moment. They rose in confusion and, having put on their armor, withdrew outside the rampart and hid themselves, having divided into two groups; they left the entrance unguarded, and likewise left the huts fashioned of wood and skins standing in their place. The Dilimnites, after traveling through many meandering paths due to their lack of knowledge of the terrain, nevertheless reached the camp of the Huns before dawn.
A They burst in, bold to their own undoing, and all made their way inside. There was no clatter or cry, lest they be perceived by them and rouse them from sleep, but rather they silently hurled their spears into their shelters and huts, as if to slaughter them while they slept. And they already thought the task completed for them, but then the Sabiri, rushing forth from either side out of ambush, suddenly fell upon them and attacked. They, suddenly dismayed by the unexpected event, and finding that things had turned out contrary to their hopes, were plunged into the greatest lack of counsel and confusion; for it was neither easy for them to take flight, being hemmed into a small space, nor indeed could they clearly distinguish their enemies, struggling as they were with night and fear. B Thus they were slaughtered everywhere by the Sabiri without even attempting to defend themselves. Eight hundred men perished inside the camp, while the others, having escaped with difficulty, wandered about dispersed, not knowing where to turn; and when they seemed to have fled far off, they circled back, and falling into the same trap, ran into the enemy. In this way that whole night was spent. But when morning had dawned, those of the Dilimnites who remained, having recognized the paths, ran straight for the Persian camp, with the Sabiri still pursuing them and pressing on their rear. C Meanwhile Babas, the commander who had long been the leader of the Romans residing in the Colchian region, since he had passed that night at Archaeopolis, and the tumult and shouting had been ringing in his ears from all sides, remained quiet and kept himself inside for as long as it was dark and he was uncertain of what was happening. But as soon as the sun shone upon the mountain ridges, he truly perceived what was occurring—that the Dilimnites were being put to flight by the Sabiri. Then he, too, pouring out of the city with the retinue he had at hand, wrought no small slaughter among them, so that in total scarcely one thousand returned to Nachoragan.
19. When this attempt had not succeeded according to his intentions, he immediately withdrew to the island, and having pitched his camp near the Romans, he summoned Martinus to come to him for a parley. D When he had arrived, he said, “As for you, general, being so sagacious and prudent, and one of the most powerful among the Romans, do you not desire to free both our kings from toil and mutual hostility? Will you allow them to continue to damage each other as long as possible? Rather, if it please you to enter into covenants and treaties, come, move yourself with your army to Trapezus, the Pontic city; we Persians, meanwhile, will remain here. It will thus come to pass that, regarding the establishment of a truce or peace...
we shall deliberate at our leisure, using reliable messengers. A For if you do not lead the army away from here of your own will, know, my brave fellow, that you will be driven out by force. For I have the victory most securely, and I have acquired it no less easily than this piece of property.” And as he spoke, he displayed the ring he was wearing. B Martinus took up the matter in reply: “To me, my friend, peace is also desirable and of the highest value, and I shall cooperate with you in proposing and establishing it; but I think we would do this better if you were to move yourself to Iberia as quickly as possible, while I withdraw to Muchirisis. Thus we shall deliberate upon the immediate situation. As for the victory, you are free to boast and act arrogantly in speech, and to count it among things that are cheap and easily obtained at one's own pleasure. But I, for my part, say that even this is balanced by the judgment of the Almighty, and it does not come to those who boast loudly, but to those to whom the Creator and Governor of all sees fit to grant it.” When Martinus had responded in this most spirited and honorable manner, the barbarian, offended by his arrogance, broke off the peace negotiations, and they parted from one another. The latter returned to his camp, while Martinus retired to the Island. C Nachoragan, however, considering it in no way appropriate to linger there, decided to betake himself to the city of Phasis, and rather to call out the Romans to that place. For he had heard that the fortress there was very easy to storm, since it was constructed entirely of wood, and it possessed flat and favorable fields surrounding it, suitable for pitching a camp. It is, I believe, well known to all that the city of Phasis received its name from the river; for the river Phasis flows not far from it, and circles around it as it empties into the Euxine Sea. For the fortress is situated upon the coast and at the mouths of the river; it is at a distance of about six parasangs from the Island toward the sunset.
20. Immediately, then, Nachoragan, late in the night, launched into the river the boats that he had been hauling on wagons; having joined them together, he secretly—without the Romans noticing—constructed a bridge, and transported his entire force to the opposite bank. D For he wished to arrive at the side of the city that faces the south, from which quarter the currents of the river were not likely to be any obstacle to him as he approached the wall; for it flows down and extends along the northern side. And he, having lifted his camp from the bank, continued his march, and having bypassed the Island at the greatest possible distance, proceeded further on. But the Romans, when at broad daylight—hardly by the sixth hour of the day—they finally learned that the Persians had crossed the river, were greatly disturbed, and strove with all their might to be the first to reach the city before the enemy.
A For this reason, having manned all the triremes and light thirty-oared vessels that were stationed in the harbor, they were carried away with the greatest speed down the current of the river. But Nachoragan had outstripped them and had already reached the space between the island and the city, having blocked the entire width of the eddy with logs and small boats, and having stationed the troop of elephants behind, as far as was possible for them to reach the foundation. The Roman fleet, seeing this from afar, immediately turned their stems about; making much use of their oars in reverse, and struggling with great force and difficulty against the rush of the rapid river, they retreated. Nevertheless, the Persians captured two ships empty of their crews; for the men, seeing that they were about to be captured, boldly committed themselves to the waves B, preferring, I suppose, the lesser evil to the greater and imminent danger, and choosing rather to risk the uncertainty of fortune. Therefore, they leapt into the water quite nimbly, and for the most part swam long distances underwater, managing with difficulty to escape back to their own side. Then, indeed, the Romans left the general Buzes on the island with his own troops to attend to all matters there and to provide aid if it should be needed; but all the others crossed the river transversely and, proceeding by another path through the mainland, so as not to come into the same places where the enemy were lying in wait, arrived at that city named for the river Phasis. Having been received at the gates by the commander, they arranged the guards along the walls in their proper order; for they did not think they would be a match for the enemy in strength if it were necessary to fight a pitched battle. C Justin, the son of Germanus, with his own company, was stationed first at the highest part of the city facing the sea; a short distance away stood the commander Martin and the forces of Martin. Towards the center, Angilas with his Moorish shield-bearers and javelin-men, and Theodore with the Tzanni heavy infantry, and Philomatius with his Isaurian slingers and javelin-throwers. Not far from these, a detachment of Lombards and Heruli, led by Gidrus, kept guard. All the remaining part of the wall, sloping down towards the east wind, was the responsibility of the Eastern regiments, stationed under the general Valerian. In this way the Roman army was disposed in orderly fashion for the defense of the wall.
21. There was also an earthwork constructed in front, most strongly built, so as to be able to withstand the first onsets of the enemy, and which served as a bastion in front of the wall; for they feared for it, as was reasonable, since it was constructed of wood, and besides, through age, it had in many places fallen into disrepair. For this reason, they had also dug a very wide ditch around it, which was thus [fixed with water...]
A filled and overflowing, so as to hide even the stakes, which happened to be very densely driven in, so that they could not be seen. For they had diverted into it the lake which they call the Small Sea, which flows into the Euxine Pontus, and had easily filled all of it. Large merchant ships, moored closest to the lapping waves of the sea and the mouths of the Phasis near the city, held their boats aloft, hoisted up to the very mastheads and hanging by most secure ropes, so that they were far superior in size and height to the towers; and soldiers stood upon them, along with as many of the sailors as were bolder and more warlike, carrying bows and slings, and having installed long-range engines, which were already prepared for effective use. B But also other ships brought up through the river were present on the other side, where Valerian was stationed, equipped in exactly the same way as the others, so that the enemies might be driven back from both sides, being pelted from higher positions, should they wish to press the city with a closer siege. But so that these ships deployed in the river might not easily be harmed by anyone, Dabragezas, a tribune of the Antae nation, and a certain company commander named Elmingirus, as had been ordered to them by the commanders, equipped ten double-prowed actuariae from the forces over which they presided; with these they advanced higher up and guarded the river with great vigilance, watching and observing the crossings from every side, now sailing in the middle of the river bed, now C navigating to this or that bank. Meanwhile, a very pleasant and agreeable thing, as occurs in war and battle, happened there. For further up than these merchant ships were the two thirty-oared galleys which I said before had been taken by the Persians empty of men; these, I say, were ships manned with heavy-armed soldiers, and tied in that way to the shore by ropes. But when night had fallen, while all the men were sleeping in them, and by reason of the great heat that had arisen, which stretched the ropes, the cable of one of those vessels was suddenly snapped by the depression and agitation of the ships; and when the whirlpool had received it, loosened and free, and neither could those on board offer resistance with rowing, nor could anyone steer it elsewhere with a rudder, it was brought down most rapidly and swiftly to the Romans, over whom Dabragezas presided. And they, having seen D this, joyfully took the prize, and delighted in the good fortune, that this ship, which previously had gone away empty, had then returned full of men.
22. Meanwhile, Nachoragan, having moved with his entire force from the camp, approached the city, wishing to skirmish and to make a trial of the Romans, as to whether they would make a sortie; and by that means, most clearly, to know what
kind of preparations they had made for the war for the following day. A Then, indeed, when the Persians arrived within bowshot, they immediately, according to their custom, discharged a vast quantity of arrows; and as many of the Romans were wounded, some still held their ground and resisted, while others retired from the combat. Angilas and Philomathius, however, with about two hundred men of the troops around them—even though Martinus had commanded the entire army that each should remain in his assigned place and fight from a position of safety—nonetheless rushed out from the gate nearest to them and were carried against the enemy. Theodorus, the commander of the Tzannic group, at first held his men back and repressed their attack, accusing them of rashness. But when they would not obey his command, he himself joined the majority, not indeed willingly, but yielding to them, and immediately went out with them, so that he might not be considered a coward. For this reason alone he offered the pretext of honorable counsel; for the deed did not at all please him, yet he wished to be a participant in it, whatever end it might eventually have. And indeed, they B were very nearly all destroyed at that place simultaneously, had not some other plan, strengthened by God, been their salvation. For the Dilimnitae, who were guarding that section and standing with their line drawn up, having held the fewness of the attackers in contempt, awaited them quietly and did not stir from their post. But when they had already approached closer, they immediately curved and extended their wings, surrounding them all, and enclosed them in a precise circle. The Romans, shut in on all sides, were no longer thinking of inflicting any harm whatever upon the enemies; rather, they deemed it a glorious and unheard-of feat if they could by any means escape. Therefore, drawn up together and holding their spears out in front, they rushed against the enemies who were standing toward the city. When those saw them rushing with great force and as though desperate for their lives, they immediately parted and separated their line, unable to withstand the attack of men struggling with near certainty of death and daring the ultimate, not stopping to reckon where their audacity would lead. Thus, as the Persians yielded, the Romans escaped and C joyfully withdrew within the walls, and simultaneously barred the gate. To such a great peril had they come, having performed no other glorious deed than that they had achieved their own safety by flight alone.
23. As for the Persian baggage carriers, who had long been laboring at filling the ditch, they had now completely filled it; and whatever had been broken off and torn away on every side was now leveled and made even, so that the place was passable for an army intending to attack the walls, and the siege engines and other machines adapted for the taking of cities could without difficulty be moved up to the walls. D And more
The Persian Work at the Ditch
time than according to the multi-multitude of the tasks expended on this work had been consumed. For, since they had thrown in stones for the most part and earth, these were not sufficient to fill the trench; for timber was not at hand, unless it were cut down far away in the woods and brought with much labor. For the Romans had already previously burned all the fields surrounding the city, and furthermore all the travelers' inns, and if any other dwellings were in the vicinity, A with the remarkable plan that the enemy, not finding here-at-hand material suitable for their use, might not easily construct their siege works. That day, therefore, nothing else worthy of mention was done; but as night approached, Nachoragan withdrew with his forces to the camp. B On the following day, Martinus, wishing to strengthen the morale of his own men and to strike terror into the enemy, gathered the entire Roman army into one place, as if to deliberate upon the present state of affairs. C And straightway there came into the midst (for he himself had so arranged it) a man not very well known, covered with dust as if he had traveled a long distance; he said that he had recently come from Byzantium and was bringing a letter from the Emperor. When the commander had received this most gladly and unsealed it, he did not read it secretly to himself, nor did he inwardly ponder its contents by running through it silently with his eyes alone, but he recited it in a loud voice, so that all might hear. And perhaps that document contained something else; but what was recited was this: "We have sent you also another army, not smaller than the one you have, and therefore even if the enemy should happen to be much more numerous than you, they will not surpass you in numbers as much as you [surpass them] in bravery, so that it will result that there is an equality between the small number and the D excess. But that they may not boast even on this account, receive also this army, sent for the sake of honor and display rather than because necessity might demand it. Therefore be of good courage and set to your work with zeal, as we shall neglect nothing of what shall appear expedient." And straightway, therefore, he asked where the army was. He replied that it was not far off, distant only four Persian parasangs; for he had left them still encamped about the river Neognus. Martinus, feigning a certain anger in his countenance, said: "Let them turn back, as quickly as possible, and return home; for I would never permit them to join us. For it would be a shameful thing if, when these men have long been our fellow-soldiers and have endured huge labors with us for a long time, and have frequently fought against the enemy, and have now brought the affair to the point that they are not far from routing the enemy and obtaining the most complete crown of victory, those [others] should arrive after the necessity and obtain equal glory without having tasted the dangers, and the outcome of the war be ascribed to them, and, which is the most unjust of all, that they should be equal with these
A. But as for them, they must remain here as long as it takes to prepare for the departure, and these men will suffice for us to finish the remainder of the war in the best way." And at the same time, turning to the rank and file, he said, "Does this not also seem right to you, my fellow soldiers?" And they cheered with a shout, and cried out that what the general had planned was just. They became much more confident, as though they had no need of any other reinforcements. For they were stirred to competition and ambition most of all by the hope of spoils, and by the fact that they thought they would soon possess everything once the enemy had been destroyed; and this concern alone occupied them, as to how they would divide the booty among themselves.
24. Yet the other of Martin's ideas also came to pass. For this report, having slipped through the crowd and wandered far and wide, was also brought to the Persians themselves, that another Roman army had arrived at the Neognus River and was already on the verge of joining the others. Consequently, fear seized them all, fearing that, if they were to engage in battle, worn out as they were by such great toils, they would have to fight against fresh and vigorous enemies. Nachoragan, without any delay, sent a moderate troop of cavalry from the Persian ranks along that pass through which he thought they would cross, regarding whom he had been deceived by the rumor. They, having arrived, applied themselves to this useless task with zeal and sleeplessness. For, having occupied the strategic points of the region, they hid there and awaited those who were not going to come at all, intending to fall upon them unexpectedly as they advanced insecurely and in disorder B, to check the speed of their march until the town could be taken. So it was that a not inconsiderable force of the Persians labored in vain, having been withdrawn from the rest of the army. Nachoragan, however, even so led out his army, wishing, of course, to forestall the arrival of those who were in no way going to arrive; and with a very haughty spirit he advanced against the Romans, boasting openly and even swearing that he would burn the whole city, together with the men in it, that very day. For he had forgotten, as is likely, fanatic that he was from his arrogance, that he was engaging in a battle, a thing so obscure and uncertain, and one liable to many inclinations and turns in either direction, and most of all subject to some divine and superior necessity C, since not even the smallest of matters remain permanently in the same state, but even infinite nations of men and numerous cities and all of life are changed, and are ever being perturbed, and the hopes regarding all things are tossed about. And he, to such a degree D
A was puffed up with arrogance, that he even commanded those laborers and attendants who were dispersed through the forest cutting down trees—whether for the sake of lumber or for the construction of siege engines—that whenever they saw smoke rising on high, they should know that fire had already been applied to the wooden enclosure of the Romans, and, abandoning the work at hand, they should run speedily to him and simultaneously cast in fire, so that everything might more easily be consumed by the conflagration. And he, boasting of such things to himself, assaulted the wall of the city. But to Justin, son of Germanus (for he did not think that Nachoragan would invade the city at that time), a certain thought came from God, I believe, to go as quickly as possible to a certain temple, one of the most venerable among the Christians, which stood not far from the city, and to implore the aid of God. Having therefore selected from the troops of Martin and from his own the most stalwart and warlike men, and having gathered five thousand horsemen, and having optimally equipped them all as if for battle, he proceeded with them, with the standards and the rest of the military equipment following him. But it happened by chance that neither did the Persians descry them as they departed, nor did they themselves observe the others as they came towards the city; but, led along a different path, they made an assault upon the enclosure en masse, and employed a much greater barrage of arrows than before, as if in this way they would the more terrify the Romans and most quickly capture the city.
25. And so arrows were carried together in such numbers, and then others upon these, that they covered the entire intermediate air by their density, as if they were joined together. One might have likened the phenomenon to a great snowfall, or to heavy hail falling with a violent wind. Others were moving the machines and casting fire-bearing missiles; and others, creeping under the so-called tortoises, were attacking the wall with axes, since it was wooden and could therefore be easily cut through. Others were attempting to dig through the ground floor and reach the primary base, and in this way to overturn and tear apart that which was joined and fitted together. But the Romans, standing on the towers and the battlements, held their ground with zeal and fought back, as if wishing to demonstrate by the reality of the situation that there was no need for new reinforcements to come to their aid. And the deception of Martin appeared manifest in the very work itself, how useful and most effective it was. For all were laboring unceasingly from every side, omitting nothing at all that pertained to repelling the enemy. For many spears and missiles D
A cast from the heights wounded the enemy, as they were falling upon a multitude exposed and protected by no ramparts, and they could not be carried anywhere else. Wagon-sized stones were also cast onto the testudo formations, breaking through their entire construction. Furthermore, other smaller stones, cast from slings, shattered the helmets and shields of the Medes and did not allow them to approach very close to the wall, causing much trouble and damage. As for those who were in the baskets, as I have just mentioned, some were harming great numbers with arrows, as they were launched from on high, while others managed the machines most skillfully, and certain destructive weapons, launched with great violence, were carried a very long distance, so that they even pierced many of the barbarians who were still approaching from far off, together with their horses, and suddenly struck them down. Then a huge shout was raised, and trumpets on both sides struck up a battle song or call to arms. The Persians, for their part, were clamoring with drums and letting out huge howls to cause terror; the neighing of horses, the striking of shields, and the breaking of breastplates also mingled into a certain confused and savage din. Meanwhile, Justin, returning from the temple, B recognizing what was happening from the turbulent sound and clamor, immediately turned his cavalry around, and having brought them into order, commanded the standards to be raised high, and ordered everyone to gird themselves for the task, deciding among themselves that it had not happened without the nod of divine power that they had sallied out from the city; but that by an unexpected incursion they might strike fear into the enemies and drive them from the siege. But as soon as they had advanced a little and caught sight of the Persians making an assault against the wall, then indeed they rushed in a body with a shout against the part that was drawn up in line of battle near the sea. For it was also from that quarter they had come; and immediately, some striking with pikes, others with long spears, others with swords, they were laying low whatever was in their way; and having made a more violent attack into the dense ranks of the enemy, and pushing with their shields, they broke through their compact and crowded line.
26. The Persians, thinking that this was the very army they had heard was coming, and that they had arrived D unnoticed by those who had been assigned to deal with them, were filled with perturbation and fear, and in confusion turned back upon themselves, gradually retreated, and gave way. When the Dilimnitae saw this from afar (for they were fighting near the middle of the wall, and left only a few there, while the others moved toward the part that was laboring most heavily), Angilas and Theodorus, the Roman commanders, whom I have mentioned before, noting the smallness of those who had remained, immediately made a sally from the city with a sufficiently strong force; and the
A Persians, having slaughtered some among them, while others betook themselves to flight, were not pursued by the Romans. The other Dilimnitae, observing this, having come to the assistance of the Persians who were being hard-pressed, immediately turned back in the opposite direction, wishing to confront the Romans, judging it better that they should assist their own countrymen as quickly as possible; they rushed forward with disorderly eagerness and in a great run, so that they appeared more like men fleeing indecorously than like those advancing against others. For they ran as if they were going to aid their own people, yet there was more of the confusion of anger in them. The Persian army, as it stood drawn up in battle array as close as possible, seeing the Dilimnitae moving with such confusion and disorder—and thinking that they were doing nothing else but fleeing, and reasoning that they would never have reached such a state of disgrace unless they had been reduced to some extreme and inescapable danger—then they themselves also turned and shamefully scattered. B Indeed, the flight which had been practiced and hidden for some time now broke out into the open for them. But the Dilimnitae, having perceived this regarding the Persians, joined themselves to them and fled together with them, deceiving others and being deceived at the same time. These things having been done, a very great force of the Romans, pouring forth from the walls, rendered the flight of the Persians more manifest, clinging to their backs and cutting down those who were at the rear; while others, attacking from another side, fought fiercely against those who were still resisting and massed together. For the left wing of the barbarians had already clearly collapsed and been loosened; but those who stood on the other side resisted most bravely. For the elephants, C placed in front like a bulwark and charging, whenever the Romans engaged in battle with shields locked, would immediately throw the phalanx into turmoil; and the archers who were carried upon them did great injury to the surging Romans, given that they were raised on high, and because they were higher up, they hurled their missiles with the greatest accuracy; and the squadrons of horsemen, running about, easily attacked and harassed the foot soldiers and those armed with heavier gear; and already the Romans in that part, leaning toward flight, were being driven away.
27. Now there was a certain man among them, one of the spear-bearers of Martinus, Ognaris by name. [P.104] Being trapped in a most narrow pass, so that not even an escape route was open or allowed to him, he immediately, as one who had despaired of the circumstances he had encountered, and as if testing the toss of fortune, D struck the one who was rushing at him—a certain one of the more ferocious elephants—with great force on the lower part of its forehead near the eyebrow with his spear, and he drove the point in so that the rest of the spear hung down dangling. The beast, being impatient of the blow received and, moreover, being disturbed by the spear rotating around its eye, immediately backed away and fell...
and turning itself in a circle, and brandishing its trunk now like a whip, it struck many of the Persians and threw them into the air; but then, extending it to its full length, it emitted a certain horrible and monstrous trumpet sound. Soon it even threw down those standing upon it, and trampled and destroyed them. Then it threw the entire Persian host into confusion, causing the horses, to which it came closer, to become unmanageable A and to rest with manes erect; and those it seized with its teeth it tore apart and mangled. Everything, therefore, was full of wailing and tumult. For the horses, terrified by the ferocity of the beast, were not very obedient to the reins, but, raising their front hooves into the air, they threw off their riders, and thus ran leaping turbulently through the midst of the ranks, panting and snorting frequently from their nostrils. As for the men, withdrawing into themselves and all pushing and shoving one another with their elbows, and with each one striving to get ahead of his neighbor, very many were cut down by their own people, falling upon the swords of their dearest friends and countrymen. B When, therefore, the tumult and disturbance had become extremely intense, the Romans—all those who had previously gone out from the wall, and if any had chanced to remain inside—all gathered together into a single phalanx, and having fortified their front as strongly as possible with shields, they charged against the enemies, who were still in confusion. But they, unable to withstand the attack because they were already worn out by past labors, fled most swiftly; and they did not even do this while maintaining any order, nor did they drive off their pursuers in any way, but were scattered and dispersed, one this way and another that, as each man’s fortune favored him. Nay, Nachoragan himself, C struck dumb by the unexpected turn of events, rode back in haste, signaling to everyone with his whip and ordering them to flee as quickly as possible, a thing which was by then already being done by them. Thus, indeed, did his boasting turn into the opposite. But the Romans did not cease pursuing and slaughtering the barbarians until Martinus, judging it sufficient, recalled them with the trumpet and calmed their anger-stricken spirits. And thus the Persians with difficulty finally escaped safe to their own camp, having lost in that engagement no fewer than ten thousand fighting men.
28. The Romans, however, having returned from the pursuit, D set fire to the siege towers and whatever other Persian machines had been left around the wall. From this a huge flame was raised, and the laborers who were cutting timber—the servants of the Persians and the burden-bearers—when they saw from a distance the smoke rising to the height and rolling for a long way through the air, the poor wretches immediately hurried toward the city, thinking that the city walls were burning, as Nachoragan had previously boasted. They were carried along, therefore, at a rapid pace, fearing, I suppose, lest they arrive, as the saying goes, after the feast,
A and all be reduced to ashes before they could be present. They vied with one another in speed, unaware that it would happen that whoever won would be the first to die. For all of them, being captured in turn by the Romans, were slaughtered, as if they had come for this purpose alone. And so, not many fewer than two thousand perished. For so many laborers, unskilled in the business of war and never having arrived at a pitched battle, Nachoragan was the author of an automatic and irrational destruction, by having ordered them foolishly. Thus, indeed, arrogance destroys not only those who possess it, but also those who happen to serve them and obey them.
When these things had been brought about in this way, the Romans were full of the greatest hope that they would easily prevail again in the future, if by chance the barbarians should attempt to renew the battle. As for those of their own men who had perished in the fight—they were no more than two hundred—they buried them most honorably, praising their boldness, in that they had shown themselves to be brave men; but they plundered the corpses of the enemy and acquired an abundant supply of arms and other property. B For some of the fallen were wearing not only shields and breastplates and quivers for arrows, but also golden twisted chains and necklaces and earrings, and other such feminine and elaborate ornaments, with which the more honorable of the Medes are wont to adorn themselves, so that they may be more conspicuous and distinguished from the common crowd.
Nachoragan, however, since supplies had failed him and the winter season was already setting in, appeared to desire to fight again and was making preparations to do so. Yet in deed he did not carry out his plan; but by sending the band of the Dilimnitae out on the following day to the stadium, and by instructing them to stand facing the Romans, and by this very action inciting the expectation that he would join battle himself, he meanwhile moved slowly with the rest of his forces toward Cotais and Muchiris. As soon as he had covered the greatest part of the road, then indeed the Dilimnitae also broke their line and withdrew most easily, inasmuch as they were always lightly equipped C and were, moreover, stalwart and swift of foot.
There arrived also the other part of the Persian detachment, which had previously happened to have been sent to the Neognus River on account of the deceit of Martinus, as I have already related. For when they learned that the Persians had been defeated and that the Romans were already in full possession of the entire region, they immediately made their way to Muchiris by a secret route, away from the public roads, taking no part in the conflicts, but having shared in the shame of flight much more ignobly than the others. Since, therefore, the entire army had D assembled in one place, with most of the cavalry left behind there, and with Watrise, a man of great renown among the Persians,
with the master of the horse appointed for them, he himself returned with a few A to Iberia, as if he were going to winter there.
AGATHIAS THE SCHOLASTIC, BOOK IV OF THE HISTORIES
ARGUMENT
. A trial concerning the murder of Gubazes is instituted, with Athanasius as inquisitor (I). First, the letters of Justinian given to Rufinus, by which he had ordered Gubazes to be sent to Byzantium, are read (II). The speech of the accusers against Rufinus and John (III, IV, V, VI). With the clamors of the mob barely settled, they defend themselves in a long speech (VII, VIII, IX, X). The case having been pleaded on both sides, Athanasius orders the condemned defendants to be led to execution (XI). The envoys of the Misimiani, seeking aid, are kindly received by Nachoragan (XII). In the following year, the Romans, under the leadership of Barazes and Pharsantes, wage war on the Misimiani: the Persian army comes to meet them on the borders of the Apsilii (XIII). The Romans unexpectedly attack the Sabir Huns, who were fighting with the Persians this year, and press them vehemently; they retreat when the Persian army arrives (XIV). Meanwhile, Elminzur, a Roman general sent by Justin, suddenly attacks and occupies Rhodopolis, a town of Lazica, formerly captured by the Persians. The Misimiani kill the envoys of the Apsilii sent by the Romans for the sake of peace (XV). The angry Romans invade their borders and defeat the army. The defeated retreat to Tzachar, a most fortified castle (XVI). The Romans, besieging it sluggishly, are incited to new zeal by John Dacna, whom Martin had sent to them (XVII). A hundred of them, under his leadership, having explored the path, ascend by night to the town situated under the very citadel (XVIII). Having overcome the guards in the darkness of the night, they slaughter all the inhabitants most cruelly (XIX). But they themselves are shortly after driven down by the Misimiani with great slaughter. Nevertheless, as the Romans continue to besiege the castle, the Misimiani beg for peace, which John grants (XX). With the affairs of the Misimiani settled, Justinian revokes the supreme command from Martin and hands it to Justin (XXI). A certain African named John, having obtained pardon from Justin, exacts money from the provincials by wicked deceit (XXII). Chosroes orders Nachoragan to be flayed because of the defeat received at the city of Phasis (XXIII). A digression on the kings of the new Persian empire (XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII). The fates of Cabades, king of the Persians, are compared with the similar cases of Zeno the Isaurian and Nepos. The inglorious death of Chosroes, the latest king (XXIX). The diligence of Sergius the interpreter is praised. Chosroes, through the envoy Zichus sent to Byzantium, negotiates a truce with Justinian (XXX).1. Having thus obtained this victory, the Romans, and B with a truce having been made in a way from the war, and arms immediately resting, then at last an inquiry was held concerning the crime committed against Gubazes. Athanasius therefore sat decently upon a certain high throne, wearing a chlamys, such as the most polished princes are accustomed to use. There were present with him men both highly skilled in writing and in reading writings promptly and expeditiously, and other ministers, severe and grave, and excellently versed in judicial matters, also heralds crying aloud, and lictors; all these were chosen from the Constantinopolitan court. Those to whom it was entrusted brought forth into the midst iron chains, collars, fetters, and racks, and other instruments of torture of that kind.
A And it seems to me that the Emperor Justinian did not order this, without reason or rashly, but most prudently and with due regard for propriety, that the trial should be instituted with such order and display, not only so that the barbarians who were there, when the institutions of the Romans were set before them with more magnificent preparation, might both admire them and become more accustomed to being governed by them; but also so that, if Gubazes were indeed found to have been killed most justly for having previously attempted defection to the Medes, the Colchians might no longer grieve over his slaughter, nor be indignant at having received a grievous wrong. But if the slayers were proven by false accusation to have committed a sin of expiation, then, with them condemned by a public trial, and led round through the army by a herald making proclamation, and then beheaded with the death-dealing sword in the sight of all, the outcome of the affair would seem B to the barbarians more terrible, and the punishment doubly severe. For he knew that if he had ordered Rusticus and John to be put out of the way in the barbarian manner by a secret slaughter, the Colchians would have thought that the injury they had received had not been avenged sufficiently as it ought to have been, nor that punishments sufficiently grave had been exacted for the crime. But when a court was established, and argument was brought forward on both sides, and judicial attendants were moving up and down, and arrangements were made as to how each of the defendants should stand in order and make his defense, and the weight of the court was made manifest, and grand eloquence struck their ears, and by all this display their impending death was rendered more horrible; by these things, I say, all being done in this way, he knew that the affair itself would appear to the barbarians as something greater and more terrible, and perhaps exceeding the merit of the crime committed. For even the citizens in Byzantium are struck with awe and C discomposed by such things, even though they happen there frequently, let alone barbarians who are not accustomed to them. For these reasons, therefore, I believe, a Roman—or rather, a most Attic—tribunal was convened at the Caucasus.
2.
Then Rusticus and John, having been led from the prison, stood on the left side, as defendants; and over against them stood those who were to accuse them, the wisest of the Colchians, who had for a long time already learned the Greek language. And first, indeed, they requested that the letter of the Emperor, which John had previously brought regarding these matters to the commanders of the army, be read publicly. And when this request was approved also by the judge, one of those who had been assigned to this task read it out in a louder voice, D running thus: "It seems incredible and absurd to me, what is reported by you, that it is the will of Gubazes to abandon the ancestral customs and those who share exactly the same opinion with him in all things; and the ancient...A rulers, by whom I mean the Romans, to defect to our most hostile and alien enemies, and who are, furthermore, of a different religion from God, and this, having suffered nothing unpleasant from us of any sort. Yet, since we know that human affairs are fickle and slippery, and are naturally driven about and turned by the variety of occurrences, we have not deemed it proper to withhold our belief entirely from your report, nor to allow ourselves to reach a point where we might make provision against those things which he has perhaps only contemplated, or perhaps fully resolved upon; for we retain great cares for ourselves, and a mind fluctuating and wavering in the uncertainty of the outcome. And certainly it is absurd and burdensome to trust no one at all firmly, but to be always laboring under suspicion and fear, even regarding those who are most intimate to us. Nevertheless (for this prevails in all things), we also follow nature and are distrustful. But so that we might neither rashly do something cruel and savage against Gubazes, nor, having been persuaded by what is supposedly not to be expected, become soft, but rather might flee from the regrets that threaten from both sides, it seemed more seemly to us to maintain a certain moderation and something of a middle ground, namely, to have the man brought here. Send him, therefore, as quickly as possible, whether he be willing or forced. If, however, once your will is understood, he should resist, and refuse to go, and should someone B try to push him away and struggle against you and those who are leading him to us—for it will also be permitted for you to do this from now on—if he should fend off and resist, and in whatever way he might lift his hands against the servants of the law, then we shall finally have clear proofs of what has been plotted, and from then on he shall be counted among our greatest enemies, so much so that if someone should even kill him for daring such things, we shall not consider even this to have been done unjustly, nor shall the striker pay the penalty for his act; for he should not be punished as a murderer, but praised as a tyrannicide. Such were the things known to have been commanded by the imperial letter.
3. The men of the Colchians who had been appointed to accuse, C as soon as the judge permitted them to bring forward in public such arguments as they wished for their own case, set about the accusation with alacrity, and spoke as follows: "The crime itself that has been committed, O judge, openly cries out, even though we remain silent, that its authors are liable to the most severe punishments; but since it is provided by your laws that judgment should not be rendered even regarding clear and most serious crimes until the facts themselves have been explained in plain language, we have come now, ready to set forth simply what has happened. For in this way, even by us will that which is provided by law be fulfilled, even if we use simple and D not at all ornate speech, and such as is worthy of great events, if only our own..."
A argument of the crimes committed does not fail. For what excuse can present itself for those who have so nefariously killed such a man, a friend and intimate to you, joined in alliance of war and treaties, and feeling the same as you do about God, and who possessed everything that is familiar to you, and who declared such hostility against you, while being caught procuring the favor of enemies? For the king who was killed, O judge, was from a race not ignoble, and was most energetic in his pursuit of virtue, and always loved the Romans much more than his murderers. The affairs of the Colchians have now been overturned and collapsed—indeed, the public affairs rather, since we too are a part, and no small one, of the subjects—and your own state of affairs, formerly intact and unassailed, has perished, and your power B has been violently diminished. For a republic which is not valid and firm in all its parts, but is weakened even in a small part of itself, can rightly no longer stand, but on the contrary assumes a false name, since it has been deprived of its integrity and perfection. Since they themselves are the authors of all these things, they say that you ought not to consider the deed itself, however atrocious it may be, but only to investigate and admit the mind and purpose with which it was done, and from certain obscure and in some way plausible arguments, to represent to your own minds a benefit received from it, rather than to give credence to the evident damage which we experience in fact. For they thought that by frequently casting these sophistries and deceptions into the public ear even before the trial began, they had deluded the minds of many. But if they suggest these same things in the trial itself, let them understand, O judge, that it is neither Roman nor just, having neglected so open and manifest an injury, to be deceived rather by uncertain causes which they have invented in vain. For those are not to be endured who openly confess that they themselves killed the man, but prodigiously lie that a very great benefit for public affairs has resulted from this slaughter. For how can contraries be consistent with themselves? Or how, calling the deed itself atrocious, shall we praise the mind of him who perpetrated it, as aiming at the public good? For these things are as far removed from one another as possible and are incompatible; and neither D can utility and iniquity, cruelty and justice, ever subsist together.
4. But if the mind of these men themselves is also to be examined, they will be proven to be evil and most wicked in this respect as well, inasmuch as they have agitated for plans pleasing to the Persians, to such an extent that they should not even be called Romans.
A Indeed, it is not fitting that one should maintain friendly relations with such bloodthirsty men, nor even treat them as fellow citizens, but they should rather be deemed the greatest of enemies; for even now they are separated by the common law of nature, even if it has not yet been written down by you. For adversaries and enemies are to be judged by their deeds, not by spatial separation. But this man, who procured with the greatest zeal what was pleasing to the enemies, is deservedly to be judged an enemy, even if he were present, and served in the army, and were connected as closely by kin as possible. But they say that they did not kill a friend or a king, but rather an enemy and a tyrant and one who was diligent for the Persians. To such a point of lawlessness have they reached, that they prosecute the deceased for Medism; and the poor wretch is beset by the misfortune that not even in death is he free from evils, but is now accused of treason when victory is of no profit to him. What law, either among you or among the barbarians, would praise an accusation made after a trial has already taken place? For they were at once judges and enemies and accusers; and having arranged everything at once, they inflicted punishment, untried, upon the innocent, such as it was fitting to bear upon one who had truly been convicted of tyranny. And now they appear—when they ought to be making a defense—to complain against the man who has been wronged. Although they ought, before they killed him, if they trusted in their accusations, to have openly instituted a lawsuit against him, and first summoned him to justice, and not now, being accused, to recriminate. B For if this is permitted to all, why then have we not also destroyed these bloodthirsty men with our own hands? For it would be permitted to us, if we were brought to trial, to bring counter-charges against them, even for those things formerly committed by them, and thus to try to prove that we have retaliated reasonably. For we, indeed, having been angered by things clearly committed beforehand, could rightly avenge ourselves upon them, and the arguments would have proceeded fittingly. But it is not right that such things be dared either by us or by others, if you are to live according to your ancestral laws. For come, if it were permitted to those who wished to kill their own enemies thus off-hand, and if this, happening many times, were allowed to be dared into infinity, how could the power of judging freely and fearlessly remain intact for you? For since all both kill and are killed, and dare to plot against each other with impunity, you would not be able to exact punishment from them; but rather the whole tribe of fellow citizens would rashly perish, and the perversity of those who always recompense evil with evil will snatch away the opportunity for holding an examination.
5. And yet, what is terrible, they say, if, when one man—and he a traitor—has been destroyed, all who are united with us in the alliance of war should behave more moderately? C For the traitor...
A indeed, though many others perish, even if no other benefit should accrue to the slayers, the very death of such men is in itself sufficiently profitable. But if, without any treachery being proven, a person of very great renown is suddenly made away with and put to death, just as if he had been caught red-handed, how could the allies be expected to behave moderately toward you from now on? Or rather, how would they not, on the contrary, dissolve the established pacts, if they thought you had become participants in such a crime, reflecting that if you are so inhuman and unjust B toward those who are most intimate and familiar to you, you would in no way be steadfast toward aliens and strangers, and only act according to necessity or mere acquaintance? But you were neither participants in that wicked design, nor does the foul guilt that privately infested them involve the whole Roman nation, nor will their wicked malice break the former opinion held of you, that you are indeed faithful and steadfast and use just laws; on the contrary, we believe this present tribunal has been established for the common glory of the nation, so that all men may know that it was by no means your will that so atrocious an injury and violence were inflicted upon the Colchians. C For now, perhaps, the opinions of many lean to both sides and judgments are fluctuating; but from your decision, O judge, regarding those who have just now been put to death, it will become even clearer now that you are not accustomed to be traitors to your friends, but rather correctors of those who do wrong. For even if they seem to defend their own cause with words, in reality they are proven to be accusing themselves, and confess the indignity of the murder committed by them. For the royal letter commands D the military commanders to send Gubazes to Byzantium, first using persuasion, and if he were disobedient and resisted necessity, to compel him; but in no way to kill him, until he had made an open defection and begun to act as an enemy. But these men, although they were neither military commanders, nor was it otherwise permitted to them to do whatever they pleased, suddenly killed the miserable man, never having encouraged him to go to Byzantium, nor having used even a moderate amount of force against him if he resisted, nor having tried at all to see whether he would eventually disobey the king's command. Meanwhile, they boast and brag that they have executed the emperor's commands, when they are rather caught having despised his will, and have not feared to burden Gubazes with false accusations, and of their own authority to decree against him things contrary to what was correctly commanded; and, which is the most iniquitous thing of all, without even showing the emperor's letters, so that upon knowing his will they might determine what needed to be done.
A 6. B By what manner, then, could we judge that the nature of their slaughter or punishment was surpassed? For injustice committed against anyone at all is a thing to be fled and forbidden by the laws, especially if it should happen that the one who has been wronged is a friend and well-disposed, and one who has frequently braved dangers for his allies. For who is there who, with Persian riches and all manner of things offered, exchanged his goodwill towards you? Who is there who, spurning the friendship of Chosroes—with whom an easy path to the greatest wealth would have lay open for him—preferred instead to be in a lower station among you? Who is there who, when his country had been oppressed for a very long time by the Medes, and while your assistance was still being delayed, immediately changed his residence and moved his seat of habitation, ascending the highest ridges of the Caucasus, and chose to endure a somewhat savage life there rather than return home and live in softness and luxury through the munificence of the enemy? Who, then, was this man? He to whom nothing was so arduous or grave that he would shrink from it if it had to be endured for your sake—Gubazes, O laws, O justice! That man, I say, Gubazes, who was allegedly attempting a defection to the Medes, that tyrant, that traitor to the Romans; he was struck down by Rusticus and John—men so wicked and base, and he a king! Even if he had truly been liable to such a charge, it was not right that he be immediately removed from the midst by these men, but rather, as a defendant who has been apprehended, he should have been punished with greater deliberation by the common emperor of the Romans and the Colchians, as the greatest and superior to all in every respect. C But since no legitimate cause existed for them to perpetrate this slaughter, but rather a certain insane hatred born of envy had brought them to this point, they left no time for sound judgment, for moderate reflection, or for the consideration of what was most expedient. Instead, giving the reins to a mind puffed up with pride and burning with hatred, they allowed themselves full license, and in this way they executed what they had long ago meditated upon and been in labor with, having seized the occasion, such that they neither observed the reality of the present time nor even gave it any thought. D For in the pressure of such a difficult war, it would have been the task of prudent men to win over even foreign nations not yet known to them through kindness. But these men have considered it of the greatest importance to make war even upon those who had long since been most closely joined to the Romans. And, so far as it depended upon them, we have been surrendered to our enemies, we plot against those who were formerly our dearest friends, the country is Persian, and the ancestral customs have been utterly abolished; what a furious judgment of sedition and intestine tumult this is. Therefore, since all these things are so, and our situation has collapsed in every respect, such fitting punishments as can be devised must be inflicted upon them. For if even we, who are faithful and constant towards the Romans...
it is not just, O judge, that they should benefit from our leniency and suffer less than the atrocity of their crime requires.
7. When the accusers had thus carried out their indictment, the multitudes of the Colchians (for they had gathered there) could not quite hear the enunciation of the words nor the weight of the arguments; yet, understanding the situation itself for which each point had been brought forward, they labored along with them in their enthusiasm as they struggled, and were carried along by the changes in their gestures; and they were so disposed in their souls as those men appeared to them to have feelings of pity or insight. Then, when they had ceased speaking, the others, after the judge had paused for a moment and was deliberating, began to complain silently and were indignant that their opponents were not immediately put to death. But when the judge commanded that they too should say what they wished in their own defense, then indeed they began to clamor openly, and were already murmuring, and the voices themselves were heard more clearly. But the accusers, by signaling with their hands to maintain silence, cut off the further onrush of the tumult. B Silence having been made, Rusticus came forward into the midst with his brother John and spoke to this effect: "Fortune has suddenly changed for us and turned the outcome of our plans to the contrary, O judges: and although the greatest rewards are due to us, we are being brought to face a capital charge. But in truth this judicial contest seems to us most pleasant and most glorious; for it will be C clear to everyone that it is due to us alone that the man who was a traitor and a tyrant has been killed, and that our Emperor’s interests have been in part preserved; so that even if it should befall us to die, we would willingly embrace even this as a friendly and voluntary thing—what is bitter and forced—and we shall die having this most beautiful provision for the alacrity and tranquility of our soul: to know within ourselves that we have left the Romans still holding power over the Colchians, and that it has not yet been snatched away by others. For if this present tribunal were Persian, and we were being judged by them, we would entirely need to deny what has been done, and we would have to fear the proofs; and we would labor greatly as to what words we might use to refute them before judges who were most hostile and gravely offended by this deed, because their expectation had been frustrated. D But since the judge is a Roman, for what reason should it be denied by us that it was done, or what need is there to make excuses to you for that by which we have deserved well of you, having killed a tyrant? For the name of king should not be attributed to him, who from him...
A in his deeds appeared most alien, although the accusers cry out loudly, and say that terrible things have been dared, as if a king had been destroyed. But it is necessary not to attribute this title to the brooch and the cloak and the external ornaments that appear, but to him who exercises justice, and does not exceed the limit of his desires, and measures his thoughts by what is honorable alone. If, therefore, we have killed such a man, we have dared things contrary to the law; the accusation is just, and we are deservedly called violent, arrogant, and murderers by the Colchians. But if he was completely removed in his ways from these virtues, and no moderate intent was in him, but rather he sought to bring the Persians against us secretly and to betray the country to them, how was it not rather necessary to forestall the occasion of the impending evil by this preemptive deed, than, by reverencing the royal robe, to fall into the power of the enemies? For to those who have anticipated some danger premeditated by anyone, and who could immediately avert the snare, and by warding off the present crisis in some way, adapt themselves more deliberately later against future events, it would be a mark of great cruelty to inflict punishment upon them before that time, and not rather to be content with the ability they have to ward off snares with counter-snares. But where, when schemes have already been led into action, nothing is left for relief, but all things are already perishing, and every hope along with the common safety is removed, there for prudent men acceleration must be used, and one must be on guard lest they receive some irremediable evil.
8. If, therefore, the accusers should even burst B crying out of pollution and sacrilege and murder, and dramatizing the event with such names, and striving to look only at the deed done; yet it is your task, O judge, to weigh accurately the preceding causes, which impelled us to this deed, and from the equity of the deed to discern the good intent of our purpose. For since we see everywhere in the cities some impostors and thieves, or those who have committed some other of the unholy deeds, now being beheaded, now having their feet severed; we do not blame the punishment itself, which we see with our eyes, however inhuman and terrible it may appear, nor do we feel indignation at the magistrates, to whom the authority of such punishments is entrusted, calling them C accursed and nefariously wicked; but when we consider what had been dared by them, and reflect with ourselves that they are paying the penalties for their crimes, we rejoice at such cruelty. For the punishment was not invented in vain, as long as crimes do not cease. Therefore, he who was killed is D
A in our estimation Gubazes; and what wrong is it, if we have killed a man who is a traitor and an enemy? And yet, when the accusers clarify the definition of an enemy, they say it does not apply to one who is situated furthest away, but to anyone, even a fellow countryman, who is zealous in performing services for the enemy. This opinion we also consider excellent and most true, since it touches upon the very nature of the matter. Since, therefore, this judgment is accepted by both of us, come, let us prove that Gubazes was an enemy, using the evidence provided. For once this is demonstrated, the fact that he was justly killed will also become self-evident. Now, every barbarian nation, even if it be subject to the Romans, is by nature inclined B towards innovation and turbulence, being separated from us by the most alien way of thinking and chafing at the order of our laws; and although they might wish to live most placidly among themselves while under the rule of others, they never persist in doing so without incurring some crime. And since that is impossible for them, they try to associate with themselves nations of the same customs and those which most closely approach their own ways. Furthermore, even if Gubazes was subject to these vices, because he was born a barbarian and suffered from the common faithlessness of his race, he had also conceived such hatred against us that he decided this could no longer be covered up, but on the contrary, that the hostility which he had long harbored and kept hidden in his mind should be brought into the open and exercised in reality. For while we were toiling and undergoing every danger C so that nothing at all might turn out for the enemies according to their wishes, he himself thought that he ought to remain at home with his fellow barbarians and keep as far as possible from the labors of war. Nevertheless, he would watch accurately the movements of the battles, to see which way they might turn. Therefore, if any brilliant success had been achieved by the Romans, and they had carried off a strenuous and most true praise of victory, he, showing his hostile and envious spirit, would immediately attempt to mock it in a biting and comical manner, and strive to obscure the splendor and dignity of the achievements, calling the ridiculous undertaking a ridiculous result, and saying that it was due not to their own fortitude, but to the rashness of fortune. But if by chance we happened to stumble (for how is it possible that human affairs should not also turn to the opposite, D instead of remaining always in one and the same state?), then he, as if he were a volunteer judge of events, would immediately absolve fortune of all blame, just as if the outcome of events did not depend upon it: for this was his fixed and settled decree, that there was no other cause for a matter poorly performed by us, except solely our own weakness of spirit, imbecility of hands, and stupidity of counsel. For he by no means attributed to the enemies the mutability, inconstancy, and rashness of fortune, and other things which he insultingly cast at us, as if these matters
had been provided for him A by chance—for it was in every way intended and determined by him that no other cause should be deemed responsible for any lack of success on our part except for cowardice of mind, weakness of hands, and foolishness of counsel. For the fickle, disorderly, and irrational nature of fortune, and the things with which he disparaged it against us, he by no means applied to the enemies, as if they were excelling us in these things, having provided for them in such a way.
9. And so he would proclaim these things openly, and showed that he would make it known, not only to the armies of the Persians, B by whom he was individually striving and acting out each matter, but immediately messengers sent by him proclaimed it into Iberia, to the Alans, to the nation of the Suani, to the barbarians dwelling beyond the Caucasus, to those beyond these, and to those even further than them, to the ends of all the earth—if it had been possible for him to traverse it, he would not have ceased to send to all. The gist of the message was this: the Romans are poor in war, and are being defeated by the barbarians. And he exercised his fervor in these matters not only to bring insult upon the Roman race—although this was indeed serious and a very manifest sign of a hostile spirit C —but another thing far greater than this lay underneath, in which he was especially laboring and contriving. For he believed that he must in part break that opinion which occupied the minds of all the barbarians concerning the greatest emperor—that he was, namely, most powerful and renowned for countless trophies—in order that he might thereby render them, who had formerly been seized by terror and admiration of the Roman name, more daring and confident. Would a foe, therefore, who does such things be justly called an enemy, or rather a friend and well-wisher and king and ally, and whatever other titles the accusers adorn him with? Although, even if this is granted to both sides in common, the friend is to be distinguished D from the foe in no other way than solely by the outcome of events as they occur, and by a good or perhaps evil disposition of mind. Since, therefore, it has been proved even now that Gubazes was grieved when we were victorious, but rejoiced if anything sinister happened through our own fault, why then do the barbarians clamor against the laws among the Romans, by whose prescription we are accustomed to punish, or even remove from the midst, those who disturb or undermine the state of the commonwealth in part? But if it seems best, let us leave aside the signs and tokens and proofs sought from likelihoods, and consider only the experience of the things themselves, whither it leads and brings us. For the fortress Onoguris was held by the Persians, having been taken from the territory surrounding Archaeopolis, and it was an intolerable disgrace for a hostile army to have settled firmly within our own walls in our own lands. A decision had prevailed among the commanders of the army to move against them with the entire force, and to remove and drive away that which was to us most hostile and treacherous. We clearly had need also of the Colchian army, so that not only could they, as experts of the region, [do] something more than those ignorant of them,
but also, as we fought against heavy-armed men drawn up out of fortifications, and as others were likely to arrive from Muchiris, they might assist and stand by us. What, therefore, were the generals to do in these circumstances? It seemed they should entreat the leader of the nation and ask for the alliance, having demonstrated the fairness of the request; and so, they did entreat and demonstrate. But he, as if truly believing himself some king, and as if it were permitted to him to live according to his own will, would not even tolerate appearing to us, much less joining his forces against the storming of that fortress. He would not even devise any excuses, even if they were inadequate and unseemly, B or some fair-seeming pretext for his refusal, but rather rejected their requests more severely and haughtily than became a mercenary subject. Moreover, persisting in his hatred toward the generals, he was hostiley abusive to them; he considered this to be fortitude and becoming to kings. For he said openly that they had behaved impudently in the things which had already been accurately handled. Was it then necessary to delay longer, or to await greater proofs, or to show the imperial letters commanding that he go to Byzantium, when he would not even gird himself for the shortest journey within our own territory? And how was it possible, if we had attempted to send one so hostile to us to Byzantium, but that we would have incited C infinite disturbances and many internal slaughters, and would have also given occasion for open revolt and for the incursions of the Persians, since this whole nation is in a wonderful way stubborn and rebellious and very eager for sedition, being naturally inclined, after the barbarian manner, to change the state of things; especially when they would have those nearby who might undertake to protect them? And so we, having slain the ringleader of the sedition, very easily suppressed in this way such a swarm of calamities, already present and brooding, so that now it is openly disbelieved whether anything at all was even going to happen.
5. Do not, therefore, O judge, bring forward the letter, nor blame us on the grounds that we did not at all follow what was written in it. For to whom is it not very D clear that what was written was that he ought to go to the city of the Emperor, solely for the purpose of being tested and investigated.
A Was it then a trial and test, if he might of his own free will yield to the orders, so as to be justly accommodated? Since, therefore, it was easily known to us that his mind was stubborn and refractory, when he refused what was less, how were we to incite him to what was greater, and not rather come immediately to extreme remedies, to which we had necessarily arrived due to the many grievous evils pressing upon us? For he who has neglected the opportune moment of an occasion, and has not immediately seized the opportunity for action, will thereafter in vain recall the occasion once slipped by. It remained, therefore, perhaps, as the accusers say, to move some lawsuit against Gubazes, and to stir up trifling contentions in court, and to prefer bombastic words to the safety of affairs. But the Persians, O wretches, did not permit this, as they were already present, impending by the very deed itself, and prepared to invade the whole region of the Colchians by his counsel and aid. But since Gubazes was clearly demonstrated to be an enemy and a traitor in every respect, and lifted up to tyrannical hopes, what does it matter to the Colchians, they think, whether he was killed by us or by others? For it is not the desire for good will that wishes to grow and cling only to generals or to those who are otherwise most powerful, but it is available and fitting for every man who wishes, for the sake of the republic in which he holds some position, to toil and to strive with all his might to provide for the common good. Wherefore, although we are judged detestable and abominable by their judgment, we are nevertheless most faithful to the Emperor and zealous for the Romans, and hostile to those who attempt to set snares. If, however, anything further must be said, be fully persuaded of this, O judge, that we have dared to perform a right and most equitable deed at a most opportune time, nor was it done without the will of Martinus. B Indeed, it is true and right that what was dared by us was done in due time, and not without the will of Martinus.
11. ια΄. These things having been said, C Athanasius at first nonetheless inclined his ear to the words of Rusticus. But after the discussion and the debate had been held twice regarding this matter, when he himself had weighed and investigated everything more accurately, it appeared to him that no open betrayal or tyrannical attempt had been made by Gubazes, and consequently that the killing was carried out unjustly and nefariously: to such an extent that his refusal to join his forces with them for the attacking of Onoguris was not caused by his own defection to the Medes, but because he was hostile to the commanders of the army, because through their folly and negligence that bulwark had been lost. All these matters having been recognized D by the judge, regarding what had been said about Martinus, that he too was conscious and a participant in these designs,
A he brought forth a written judgment, in which he commanded that they be put to death as soon as possible, undergoing the judicial sword and having their heads removed. And they, seated upon mules and led through the public roads, seemed to the Colchians to be a very great spectacle and worthy of the utmost awe. They were struck with fear by the herald, who was crying out in a very loud and clear voice, and exhorting them to fear the laws and to abstain from unjust murders. B But when their necks had indeed been severed, then everyone turned to pity, having cast off their anger. And with this, the trial was ended; and the Colchians continued to be as loyal as possible to the Romans, and renewed their former way of life.
12. These things having been done, the Roman camps spent the winter throughout the towns and fortresses, as each had been ordered. In the meantime, some of the most powerful men among the Misimiani, having arrived in Iberia to visit Nachoragan, reported to him all that they had dared to do against Soterichus, hiding the truest cause in silence, but saying that since they had for a long time chanced to be followers of the Persians, they were being insulted by the Colchians themselves and by the Romans, and were ranked among the most contemptible, and finally that Soterichus had come upon them, in word indeed pretending as if he wished to distribute money to his allies, but in deed plotting things that pertained to the ruin and destruction of the whole race. Since, therefore, it was necessary for us, the envoys said, either to perish utterly, or by acting first to incur perhaps among some the reputation of being rash and precipitate, and to be spoken ill of for that reason, yet to retain our ancient right of living and to decide about our own affairs as might seem most prudent: we chose the better course, the one more in keeping with human nature, being little concerned about reproaches and accusations, but caring chiefly for our salvation. C For we killed Soterichus and those who had come with him to this end, that we might avenge the injury done by them, and by this very deed, having provided a most firm argument of our goodwill and zeal toward the Persians, we might defect more gloriously. Since, however, the Romans will by no means desist from being angry on account of all these things, and especially on account of our defection to the Persians, but will attack us as quickly as possible and will destroy us all, as far as they are able, it is your duty, O general, to receive us kindly and to defend us, to be vigilant for the safety D of the region as for your own from now on and for its subjects, and not to neglect a race that is in danger of perishing, not a small one, nor obscure, but one which can bring the greatest utility to the Persian empire. For not only is it skilled in warfare...
A and likely to be found most firm in fighting alongside you, but the country itself, situated in the upper region of the Colchians, will become for you a secure base and a sort of bulwark against your enemies." When Nachoragan heard these things, he received them most gladly and commended their plan for defection, and ordered them to depart with good courage, as they would have the Persian auxiliaries in due time. The envoys, therefore, having returned to their own people and reported each detail separately, filled the nation with the greatest hopes.
13. As spring began, the commanders of the Romans immediately gathered together in one place and decided to campaign against the Misimiani. But Buzes and Justin were ordered to remain at the Island to guard the places there and attend to all matters. Assigned to the war were some four thousand men, both infantry and cavalry; among them were others of the greatest name, including Maxentius and Theodorus, leader of the Zannic forces, as I have often said, both being warlike and commanders of ranks. And they began their expedition; it was expected that not long afterwards Martinus would also be added to them as their leader. Yet, so that they would not be left for even a short time without a commander, the command of the entire army, as long as they were traveling through the region of the subjects, was conferred upon Barazes the Armenian and Parsantes the Colchian, who neither in martial valor nor in any other rank stood above all their allies, B or indeed were even equal to some. For Barazes was reckoned among the captains, and the other was a commander of the king of the Lazs’ troops in the court (Magister is the name of the office; for this is customary among the barbarians of that place); yet there was not in him so much prudence or confidence that he could boldly command the Roman army. C This army, therefore, with summer now in effect, came into the region of the Apsilii. And as they wished to advance further, a Persian force collected at the same place proved a hindrance. For, becoming aware of the Roman preparations and that they were marching against the Misimiani, they had moved from Iberia and the fortresses around Muchiris and had gone to them as well, intending to seize the region beforehand and to assist them with their strength as much as possible. For this reason, the Romans, lingering about the fortresses of the Apsilii, attempted to draw out the matter by delay until the harvest season had passed. For they judged it ill-advised and indeed most dangerous to go and meet the Persians and Misimiani in an arrayed battle. Thus, therefore, both armies remained quiet, and neither side ventured to move a foot further, but they watched one another and were waiting D to see if anyone would move first. For there were also present with the Persians the Savir Huns
A as mercenary auxiliaries. For this is a very great and populous nation, and most thirsty for war and plunder; it is a nation that loves always to live abroad in foreign lands, and is always coveting the possessions of others, and for the sake of pay alone and the hope of booty, it joins itself now to these, now to those, and now to some other party in partnership of war and danger, constantly shifting to opposite sides. For frequently, while the Romans and Persians were waging war against each other, they have joined in the fighting, and after a short interval of time, changing sides and abandoning their previous masters, they have hired out their services to the others. For in the former war against the Persians, they fought, and killed many of the Dilimnitae B who were attacking them in a night battle, as I have related in detail. But when that enterprise had reached its end, they were dismissed by the Romans after receiving the pay that had been agreed upon; yet afterwards they followed those who had lately been their fiercest enemies—whether these were the same men or others—yet they were Sabiri, and had been sent from their own nation for the alliance with the Persians.
14. Now some five hundred of these Sabir men had encamped in some open-air enclosure at a distance from the rest of the army; and when Maxentius and Theodorus clearly learned this, and that they were living there in a somewhat unarmed and relaxed manner, they immediately led three hundred cavalry against them. Having surrounded the enclosure C (for it was not very high, but only such that the face of a horseman standing outside could be seen), they approached this wall, and from every side began to strike the barbarians with javelins, stones, arrows, and whatever other missile came to hand. The barbarians, imagining that there were more of the attackers than there really were, and at the same time struck with sudden panic, did not much think of defending themselves, nor was there any place to flee, as they were surrounded by the wall. There, therefore, all the others were slaughtered in turn, but only forty men, having climbed the wall with marvelous agility of hand and foot, slipped down to the other side and hid in the density of the nearby forest; and yet the Romans did not cease to track them. As soon as this was reported to the Persians, they immediately sent squadrons of cavalry against them, D up to twenty thousand men, drawn up in order. The Romans, yielding to the multitude and as if content with what had been done, retreated at a run, and having fled back into the fortress from whence they had come, kept themselves in safety; they were boastful of their glorious deed, but felt sorrow only on account of Maxentius, for he had been very severely wounded by one of the barbarians who had hidden themselves in the forest, so that he was carried off on a litter, having been preserved against all expectation. For immediately after he had been struck, his attendants at once took him up and snatched him away with the greatest speed before the entire host of the enemy could rush upon them. When
they were pursuing and pressing upon them, the rest of the Romans fled by a different route and, by drawing their pursuers after them, afforded him the opportunity to be carried A off more securely into the fortification.
15. Meanwhile, Justin, son of Germanus, sent one of the commanders with him, a Hun by race named Elminzur, from the Island to Rhodopolis with two thousand cavalry. Now this Rhodopolis is a Colchian town, but at that time it was held by the Persians, having been captured long before by Mermeroes, who had also installed a Persian garrison there. How this was achieved, I shall leave aside, as it has been clearly recorded by the rhetor Procopius. When Elminzur arrived there, a certain piece of good fortune aided him. For by chance the Persian guards at that time happened to be spending their time somewhere outside the city, and the majority of the inhabitants had dispersed in different directions. Accordingly, he entered without a struggle and, having brought the city under his own control, he also overran the surrounding countryside. Whatever Persian force he encountered, he slaughtered every one of them to a man. As for those who were native and resident there, since he understood that they had joined the Persians out of fear of foreigners rather than out of their own treachery, he permitted them B to dwell again in their own fatherland; and having taken hostages to ensure greater reliability, he properly secured all matters. And so Rhodopolis was restored to its former state, embracing its ancestral customs and subject to the Roman Emperor. During this summer, nothing else occurred worthy of mention.
When winter approached, the Persians immediately broke camp and withdrew toward Cotais and Iberia, intending to pass the winter there; they bade a long farewell to providing aid to the Misimiani, for it is not consistent with their ancestral institutions or customs to undertake long, arduous military expeditions during the winter. The Romans, now free from the Persians lying in wait along the roads, proceeded again with their former expedition against the Misimiani. When they reached the fortification called Tibelegos, which marks the boundary and separates the territory of the Misimiani from the Apsilii, Martinus arrived, having been appointed to lead the remaining forces C and to organize the entire army. However, a severe illness befell him, which confounded and interrupted his plan. He himself remained there, intending to return to the Colchian land and its forts a little later, but the army nonetheless continued to advance, led again by its former commanders. They decided in the first place to test the minds of the Misimiani, to see if they might perhaps be willing to change to saner counsels, and, having acknowledged their own princes, might at last be led to repentance for their transgressions and themselves…
A to the Romans might surrender all the money they had taken from Soterichus, and restore it. Accordingly, they selected from the Apsilian people men of distinction as envoys, and sent them to them for this purpose. But the Misimiani were so far from mitigating their cruelty or correcting the absurdity of their past action with new acts of service, that they rather—worthy of being called impious, accursed, wretched, and every other insult that indignation might suggest to one—rejected and trampled upon the law common to all mankind and instantly slaughtered the envoys, even though they were Apsilians, of the same customs and neighbors as themselves, and entirely innocent and unaware of those things for which they accused the Romans and Soterichus, merely announcing a friendly admonition that would have been to their advantage, without any harshness.
16. Thus, having made a start from madness and unholy deeds, they persisted in the same, or indeed in much more impious enterprises. For knowing that the Persians had departed B and would not come to their aid as agreed, yet relying on the difficulty of the terrain and hoping that the Romans would never be able to pass it or overcome it, they committed more terrible acts. There is a mountain situated in the region, not indeed very high nor rising very steeply, but very precipitous and sheer, and dense on both sides with jagged rocks. In the middle, a narrow and little-trodden path appears, and it is such that it is not even easily or readily passable for a single man walking fearlessly, so that if anyone stood at the summit and prevented those approaching from entering, the enemy could never cross it, even if they were an infinite multitude, nor even if they were all light and agile, such as they say the Isaurians are. C Trusting in this place, they turned to the most extreme madness. But the Romans, when this abomination was reported to them, were filled with indignation at what had happened. And while the barbarians were still delaying, and had not yet set a guard upon the hill, the Romans anticipated them, seized the peaks of the ridge, and crossing over with no one to hinder them, immediately poured out into the flatter and more open plains of the region. The Misimiani, frustrated in this hope, immediately burned the greater part of their superfluous forts, since they could not possibly defend them all, and gathered D all together into one that seemed to them the most fortified. This is called Tzachari from ancient times, and they surname it "The Iron" because of its strength and invincibility. And a few of the Romans, no more than forty cavalrymen gathered together (there were
indeed not many, but they were the most outstanding and commanders of troops), withdrew A from the rest of the group as they traveled. Six hundred Misimiani, men both on foot and on horseback, set upon them, thinking that they would easily prevail over all of them by their numbers. But they, relying on their experience in war, retreated to a certain hill and performed deeds of valor. The battle was long, fierce, and indecisive, as some of the enemy attempted to encircle them, while the Romans now made sudden sallies against them, so as to break up and throw into confusion the whole phalanx of the enemy, and now again ran back and gained a position of safety. B Meanwhile, the rest of the Roman army appearing from above on a higher mountain, the barbarians, suspecting that this force was an ambush and a ruse, immediately fled in headlong rout. But the Roman army (for now they were all mixed together) pressed hard upon the backs of the enemy, pursuing them until they killed the greater part of the enemy, so that of such a great number only eighty men returned safely to that Iron fortress. And if indeed the Romans had attacked that fortress with the same impetus, the barbarians being struck by this recent defeat, I would not doubt that they could have been captured in the first assault, and the war would have ended on that very day. C But now, because they were destitute of some more celebrated commander who excelled in power and prudence, but were all practically equal among themselves, and struggled by disapproving of mutual counsel and giving contrary commands, and what anyone said, he himself heard in return, their actions were imperfect and not very worthy of praise. For being divided into diverse opinions, and since some approved of one thing and others of another, nothing of what was consulted upon was carried out; but each one, taking it ill that his own opinion had not prevailed, approached the task more negligently and was slower to act, and rejoiced more in sinister events, so that in the future he might glorify himself and boast more freely before his own men, and could demonstrate no other cause for the sinister event than that they had not followed his private counsel.
17. While things were in this state, they had camped not much further from the enemy than as in a siege; D furthermore, they did not make, at daybreak, the kind of assaults that the work required; but, overcome by sloth and cowardice, they considered serious and most opportune matters as secondary and superfluous; indeed, they attacked the enemy later than they ought, and retreated earlier than was expedient. When Martinus had learned of this, he sent to them as quickly as possible a man to command and lead them all, a man Cappadocian by nation, but already for a long time distinguished by praetorian rank, whose name was Joannes, whom also they surnamed Dacnas. He had been sent to the Colchians not
A long before by the emperor, carrying Rusticus’ mandate, that he should accurately report all that was happening, and that he should honor with royal gifts those soldiers whose bravery had stood out. This Joannes, therefore, having arrived at the Misimians and taken command of the Roman army, immediately brought all his forces to the fortification and attempted to besiege it, and at the same time to attack those who were living outside and to throw everything into confusion. For most of the dwellings were not, in fact, contained within the circuit of the wall, but were situated on a certain crag nearby, in which precipices and jagged rocks, extending over a great distance, made all things difficult of access and passage for those who were foreign and unaccustomed to them. The inhabitants, however, through their knowledge of the places, descend, though with difficulty and labor, by a certain very narrow and hidden path—if the need arises—and climb up again. At the root of the mountain, in a low and level spot, springs of drinkable water gush forth, from which the dwellers on the hill draw their water. At that time, therefore (for the Romans were keeping watch and were partly obstructing that area), the barbarians used to descend by night and draw water. A certain Isaurian, B Illus by name, who was stationed in that area, having spotted many of the Misimians who had descended to this place deep in the night, remained hidden and silent in his place and allowed them to pass. But as soon as they had filled their jars and were departing, Illus followed them secretly and made the ascent with them, until he reached the summit and had best observed—as much as was possible in the darkness—the position of the place, and that no more than eight men were posted to watch and guard the ascent. Having learned all these things, I say, he immediately descended and explained each detail to the commander; he, indeed, was greatly pleased by this report, and on the following night he chose a hundred brave and stouthearted men and sent them to the approach, to reconnoiter the place and to deliver an assault when the situation allowed. He ordered them, moreover, that when they had reached the top most certainly, they should give a signal with the trumpet, so that, with the rest of the army assailing the wall, the enemies would be thrown into confusion from both sides.
18. Illus, therefore, going on ahead, led the men in the ascent, as one for whom it had already been explored by experience and was known. Immediately following him was Ziper, Marcellinus’ bodyguard, and after him Dabragesus, and after him Theodorus, commander of the Tsanni; and thus in order C all the others followed one another in a line. When, however, they had already come to the middle, those who were in front very clearly saw the fire of the guards kindled, and them lying down nearby; of whom, indeed, seven were sleeping openly and lay snoring, but one only D
B was leaning on his elbow, acting as if he were awake. For he was overcome and weighed down by sleep, and it was not yet clear where he would fall, as he kept nodding frequently and shaking his head. In the meantime, Leontius, the son of Dabrageses, slipping on some slippery mud, fell down all at once and slid downward, and at the same time broke his shield. A great noise having been raised, as is natural, all the guards leapt up in a state of alarm, and sitting up on their couches, they drew their swords and looked down, turning their necks in every direction; but they could not conjecture what the matter was. For, as the brightness of the fire had dazzled their eyes, they were unable to see those standing in the darkness, and the noise falling upon them while they were sleeping was not very distinct, nor clear, nor of a kind to openly betray the crash of the arms only. The Romans, however, observed everything most accurately. Wherefore, having checked their pace, they remained quiet and silent, as if fixed to the roots of the earth; and neither was any murmur of a voice heard, nor did they move their feet even in the slightest degree, but remained standing just as they had been fixed, whether they happened to be treading on a sharp rock or some bush. For if they had not done so, and any awareness of what was happening had come to the guards, they would certainly have pushed down some huge rock, which, rolling down the slope, would easily have crushed all those who were struggling upward. Therefore, the Romans stood silent and motionless, to the extent that they did not even exhale, but kept their breath suppressed within their chests. And indeed I marvel at and praise their excellent discipline, in that all at once, as if by agreement, at one and the same moment of time, aiming at what was to be done according to the situation, they persisted in their order, and thought within themselves such things as there was no time to speak. But the Barbarians, when they perceived no trouble or danger, turned again to what was pleasant, C sleeping most soundly.
19. Then, therefore, the Romans, falling upon them as they were thus relaxing and resting, slaughtered both the others and also that half-awake one, as someone might jokingly have called him. And from there, proceeding intrepidly, they spread through the rows of houses, and at the same time the trumpet sounded the call to battle. Hearing this, the Misimiani were struck by the novelty of the event; and not understanding what the state of affairs was, though roused, they strove to come together among themselves, and to gather others springing up from elsewhere. D But the Romans, encountering them in the very doorways, and as it were receiving them with their swords, wrought a very great slaughter. For some, having already come out, were immediately killed, and others were present, and others were yet to come, and there was no remission of the carnage, as all were pressing forward. By now, also, many women, having poured out of their beds with great wailing
were fleeing outside. But the Romans did not refrain even from these, for they were carried away by rage, and these women too were most cruelly slaughtered, paying the penalty for the wickedness of their men. One of the more elegant of them, carrying a burning torch in her hand, was walking quite conspicuously; but she too perished most miserably, having had her belly pierced by a spear. Then one of the Romans, having seized a torch, cast fire into the outbuildings; and these (for they happened to be constructed of wood and brushwood) very quickly began to burn; and the flame rose to such an extent that it announced what was being done even to the Apsilian nation and to those who were still further away. Then, indeed, it was that the Barbarians were dying in greater numbers, and everywhere. For those who had remained in their houses were being burned up, or were being overwhelmed by the buildings; while for those who rushed out of the houses, a readier death from the swords awaited them. Many children, too, wailing and calling out for their mothers, were seized; and of these, some were cruelly dashed against the rocks and torn to pieces; others, as if in sport, were tossed on high and then, carried down by their own weight, were received upon upright spears and pierced through while suspended in the air. And indeed it was not far from reasonable for the Romans to be extremely angry at the Misimian race, both on account of the murder of Soterichus and the wicked crime committed against the envoys; yet it was not just to rage so foully even against infants newly born, who were in no way conscious of what their parents had committed; thus, this act did not go unpunished for them.
20. For when the whole of the night had been spent C in such evils, D and when it already seemed that the place was about to be taken, then indeed five hundred of the Misimians, very well armed, issued forth from the fortress, and at the very break of dawn attacked the Romans, who were keeping no watch—or at least very slack ones—because they thought they had attained a most complete victory. They slew many of them, and threw all into flight, pushing them back with great violence. The Romans fled in a disorderly manner, driven down to the slopes, and returned to the camp full of many and various wounds, having been struck by the missiles of their enemies, and having their shins severely injured by frequently striking against the rocks; and they had not the slightest intention of climbing up that crag again, but rather thought of attacking the wall where it seemed to be more vulnerable to assault, and at the same time of filling in the trench. Wherefore, having constructed some little houses and huts nearer by, they attacked the wall from a position of safety, using both siege engines and archery, and in every other possible way rendering the siege most grievous and intolerable for those within. The Barbarians were laboring mightily and were being severely pressed, yet they did not cease from defending themselves. For already some, carrying testudo-coverings, were advancing toward the Roman fortifications.
A but before they could draw near and conceal themselves, a certain man by the name of Suarunas, a Sclavenus, hurled a spear at the one who was most exposed and struck him fatally. When he fell, the testudo was immediately shaken off and collapsed, turning over; as its interior and capaciousness were thus turned upward, the men were exposed and laid bare. The Romans easily kept shooting them down and killed all of them, except for one who escaped by fleeing. He had already drawn near and was in the act of stepping onto the wicket-gate, but then he was struck by a volley of arrows and perished. He fell right there, lying across the threshold, with a small part of his body left outside, but the greater part stretched toward the inside. B When the Misimiani saw this, and interpreted it, I believe, as an ominous and baleful sign regarding what was to come—being besides exhausted by the toils [of war] and desiring to return to favor with the Romans, especially since the reinforcements from the Persians had not arrived as agreed—revolving these things in their minds and weighing their own strength, and [perceiving] that they would not be capable of standing up to the Romans nor could they endure the war any longer, at the very last, with difficulty, they returned to a saner frame of mind. They immediately sent envoys to Joannes to beseech him not to destroy them utterly C nor to root out entirely a nation that had been subject to the Romans for a long time, held the same religion as they, and, though provoked by very many injuries, had finally turned to repaying them—and that indeed out of a certain barbaric madness. However, they said they were not entirely unworthy of pity and pardon, having already suffered such terrible evils and paid such heavy penalties: in that the dwellings surrounding the position had been consumed by fire, and no fewer than five thousand men in the prime of life had been slain, with many more women and yet more children, so that it lacked little for the entire Misimian race to be wiped out. Joannes most willingly accepted their petition, partly so as not to continue risking the army for long in a deserted and frozen place, and partly because those who had sinned had in truth already paid a sufficient penalty. Therefore, having taken hostages and all the money which Soterichus had brought with him, along with other things, and besides this the gold from the Emperor (there were, in fact, twenty-eight thousand and eight hundred pieces of coin, D whole and unadulterated), having received all these things, I say, and added much booty, he permitted them to cultivate their own lands again without fear and to restore their former way of life. He himself, however, returned to the Colchian region, leading back his illustrious and glorious army, having lost only thirty men.
A 21. After this, Emperor Justinian removed Martinus entirely from his command and in his place appointed Justin, the son of Germanus, to have full and absolute authority over all the legions in the Colchian region and Armenia. B Indeed, it had not been very pleasing to him even before this that Martinus should hold the first rank and command everyone, considering he had been no small part of the conspiracy plotted against Gubazes. However, he kept his intention and counsel hidden for the time being, thinking that the command ought not to be stirred up or changed while affairs there were still in such a state of disturbance, especially since Martinus was popular with the army, both for his experience in military operations and for his ability to organize every detail at the right time. This fact, I believe, was his salvation; otherwise, he too would have had to die along with John and Rusticus. Now, however, due to a certain respect for his victories and the prudence he displayed in entering upon any kind of crisis, the Emperor, by letting go a little and relaxing the law’s extreme rigor and harshness, C indeed dismissed the criminal charge against him, but he did not allow him to hold command; instead, he ordered him to live a private life, thinking it sufficient if he visited him with disgrace, even if he had been a participant in such a great crime. Therefore, when the Persians were quiet and the state of affairs was like a truce, he removed this man, and summoning Justin—who was most closely related to him by birth and who was, moreover, the man of greatest name at that time—to Byzantium, he handed over the entire command to him and sent him back to the Colchians to manage everything from then on.
There was in the throng that followed him a certain man named John, an African, a man of no note at first and most impoverished, so much so that for the sake of obtaining his daily bread he engaged his labor as a mercenary to another, following in the train of attendants D and enduring the tasks of servants, though not long after he was raised to great wealth and arrogance. For having contrived a great many schemes and having traversed a varied train of thought, he became known before long to Justin, being otherwise a most wicked and crafty man, and one who would refuse no unjust or unholy undertaking for the sake of gain. He asked for a certain sum of gold from the general, promising that if he received it, he would provide supplies in a convenient manner for as long a time as the general wanted, and furthermore, that he would fill with the necessary provisions all the hired men, slaves, and as many other followers, servants, and attendants as the general had. And in doing these things, he promised not only to return the gold, all of it, and to restore as much as he had received, whole and unharmed, as if it had been given as a loan, but even to add to it another sum as interest. And it seemed to many to be a sort of empty boast and a saying akin to a riddle; but Justin, though he ought to have been indignant at the African's foolishness, knowing that he would not fulfill his promise without unjust...
and violent acts, and by certain illicit dealings ruining all with whom he had any business, he admitted his arguments and, by counting out gold to him, permitted him to do whatever he A wished, while he committed both violent deeds and lawless acts, causing harm to all with whom he might converse.
B 22. Then, therefore, John, going around the Roman villages wherever they happened to be established along the route, and gathering the inhabitants, where there was not a supply of oxen, he would proclaim to the assembly that the army was in need of these. And so, producing twenty talents, he would say, "It is necessary for you to hand over oxen for this sum, and it is not possible to give less; but receive the payment first, so that you may bring all the oxen to me as quickly as possible." But while they were begging him to desist and swearing that they did not even possess enough for plowing their own fields, the cursed man would sternly refuse, and he would make grave threats if it were not permitted for the commander of the army to buy the necessary provisions; and he would insist with such indignation until they, having sold their most precious items and having collected as much gold as was possible for them, would ransom themselves from his wicked command.
C Then, setting out again from there and coming to another place where neither the name of camels nor mules was even heard, he would shout that he had come for these very animals, and using the same words again, he would show the gold, and again, after receiving the gold, he would depart. In this way, therefore, traveling around to all the villages and hamlets, searching and demanding what they did not have, and neither ever selling anything anywhere, nor buying, nor entering into any other contract, he would exact and scrape together money from those to whom no benefit at all returned, and very quickly the principal sum itself was doubled by the new accumulation. But after he arrived at the Colchians, he did the same things, and furthermore, having acquired cargo ships by some method I know not, he gathered the native produce of that region most violently, and buying many things at a very low price, he exported and sold them in foreign lands.
D The army was, therefore, pressed by a scarcity of necessities, to such an extent that even herbs were being sold. But that wicked merchant and monopolist was making huge profits. From these resources, therefore, he paid to Justin what had been agreed, both providing provisions and returning the previous sum of gold with interest. Justin, however, although he was not ignorant of what was being done, and although men whom that man had despoiled frequently came to him and threw themselves at his feet with lamentation, begging that there be a remission of the extortions, nevertheless, making little account of their lamentations and tears, he feasted without fear on the ill-gotten gains, and he rejoiced, enjoying his unbought feasts, and moreover, being satisfied for the most part and more heavily...
A rendering his purse filled. But with the passage of time he was to pay heavy penalties. For although he subsequently endured countless toils and achieved the greatest glory around the Ister river, repelling the incursions of the barbarians, yet by these things the divine justice was not mollified, nor were those deeds obscured by them; but they remained, I think, quiet and firmly fixed in memory, and were guarded for the opportune time. For we are not born such that we pay the penalties for our sins at the same time as we commit them, but for the most part after a space of time, and perhaps when we have forgotten the things we have done. And we are indeed pained at the moment by the things that happen to us, as if they had occurred senselessly and unjustly, and we blame perhaps human envy and enmity, as if we had suffered things not deserved from them; but God, in whose hand and power we are, knows what is appropriate and owed to each, and in the manner he himself wills, he pursues and investigates the sins which were committed a long time before. B But what manner of things befell Justin later, and how his life and such great prosperity came to an unexpected end, will be told by me accurately, individual by individual, when the narrative, proceeding in logical order and following the continuous series of events, has been brought to those times. But now I must return to what came before and proceed with the rest.
23. For while matters in the region of Lazica were in this state, and Justin had been appointed commander over all, C neither were the Persians preparing as if about to resume fighting, nor were the Romans attacking; but both sides were maintaining outposts and were watching and inquiring into each other's plans as much as they could; neither side, however, began the fighting, but they remained at rest, as if this had been settled by common consent. Chosroes, however, the king of the Persians, as soon as he learned what had happened at the Phasis, and that Nachoragan had fled and departed from the battle, immediately summoned him from Iberia and punished him most cruelly according to the ancestral law. For he did not think it sufficient punishment for his cowardice to kill him simply in a common manner of death, but by lacerating the skin from his neck, he flayed it entirely down to his feet, D and removed it, turning it inside out against the flesh, so that the forms of his limbs were also visible on the reverse side, and having inflated it gently like a wineskin, he ordered it to be hung from a certain crag; a pitiable and most foul spectacle, and one which, I believe, was first dared by that Sapor who had reigned over the Persians long before Chosroes. For the stories handed down about Marsyas the Phrygian, how a contest arose for him against Apollo concerning the pipes and the art of pipe-playing, that he was defeated by...
A Apollo and that, most justly—if it were not too foolish to say—he dared to compete with a god; and as for that punishment for his presumption at the hands of the victor, that his whole skin was flayed and hung upon a tree—all these things, I say, must be the marvels of poets, and myths and trifles, containing neither truth nor anything likely. For if they say that Apollo became a flute-player and competed in his art, and after his victory became so enraged as to inflict such an impious and maddened punishment upon the defeated, how could it have been a source of pleasure for him to look upon him hanging on high, as a proof of his own cruelty? For this is what the ancient poets sing, and what the moderns, having received it from them, also sing in harmony. Therefore, even that Nonnus, who was born in Panopolis in Egypt, in one of his own poems which he named the *Dionysiaca*, after having narrated – I know not why – a few things about Apollo (for I do not remember the preceding verses), adds:
*When he had tested Marsyas, the contender in battle, as one defeated, B* *He hung his skin from a tree, distended by the winds.*
That this pollution, then, was never known to the human race from that time on, there are clear and sufficient proofs for those who are accustomed to rightly consider and observe the most ancient affairs, and not to be deceived by poetic myths and fabrications. Now, as for Shapur, since he was exceptionally unjust and bloodthirsty, and prone to anger and cruelty, but slow to mercy and forgiveness, I cannot clearly affirm whether he committed such a monstrous act against others previously; but that he inflicted this very punishment upon Valerian, the king of the Romans at that time, who had waged war against him and was subsequently defeated and captured alive, many histories testify. And in truth, the first of those who held the Persian kingdom after the destruction of the Parthians—Artaxerxes, I mean, and Shapur—were both C wicked and most unjust; for one of them, having killed his own master, seized the kingdom by force and tyranny, while the other was the author of so atrocious a punishment and such an impious crime.
24. But since, among other things, the discourse has devolved again to Artaxerxes, it would be appropriate to fulfill what I promised above, and to complete and weave the series of the subsequent kings. And this man, born of whom and how and from D what... [P. 134] Now that the argument, having been carried along by other intervening matters, has returned again to Artaxerxes, the time would be right to fulfill what was promised earlier and to make mention of the subsequent kings. Now, as for this man, from whom he was born and how and from what kind of [father...]
A manner he donned the tiara, I have already explained precisely. I would only add this concerning him: that five hundred and thirty-eight years after that great Alexander the Macedonian, and in the fourth year of the reign of the other Alexander, son of Mamaea, when Artaxares, as was mentioned before, had seized the Persian kingdom, a period of fifteen years, less two months, had elapsed therein.
Sapor, that most accursed man, succeeded to the power, and he lived for a total of thirty-one years, inflicting very many evils upon the Romans. For, assuming that because he had killed their king, nothing would stand in his way, he marched further ahead and devastated the region of the Mesopotamians; and then, advancing into the parts adjacent to it, he ravaged the Cilicians and the Syrians, and pushing on as far as the Cappadocians, he wrought an extraordinary B slaughter, to such a degree that he filled the chasm-like and hollow places of the mountain passes with the corpses of the fallen, and leveled the distances and the heights of the hills—so that he drove his cavalry over the corpses and crossed the mountain ridges as if they were a plain.
But Odenathus the Palmyrene—a man obscure and unknown at first, but who had gained the greatest glory from the disasters inflicted upon Sapor and the deeds done against him, and who has been deemed worthy of mention by many of the C ancient historians—checked his arrogance not long after he had returned home and made immoderate use of his impious success, having been lifted up to great haughtiness.
After Sapor was dead, Hormisdates, the son of this man, received the kingdom and lived in it for a very short time; for he enjoyed life for only one year and ten days, having done nothing at all worthy of being recorded in memory, just as was the case with Vararanes, who followed him and reigned for three years. The son of the latter was his namesake, and he remained in the kingdom for seventeen years. The third, Vararanes, tasted of the kingdom for only four months; D but he was surnamed Segansaa, not without reason, I think, nor casually, but having attained it in accordance with some ancient and ancestral custom. For when the kings of the Persians have conquered a very great nation of their neighbors and have laid hold of their land, they no longer kill the defeated, but, having subjected them all to the payment of tribute, they permit them to inhabit and plow the fields captured in war, while only the leading chiefs of the nation are miserably slaughtered, while to their sons they grant the title of prince, for the sake of remembrance, as is likely, and for a magnificent glorification of the victory gained in part. Since, therefore, the nation of the Segestani also, by Vararanes...
for whom this man was named, had been enslaved to the father of the present king, it is reasonable that the son was named Segansaa; for this can be rendered in the Greek tongue as "King of the Segestani."
25. This man having perished prematurely, Narses immediately succeeded to the kingdom for seven years and five months. The throne was then succeeded to by his son Hormisdates, who inherited not only his father’s power, but also the parity of his time; for one might indeed wonder that for both of them, the years and months of their reigns were measured most accurately in the exact same way. But Sabor, B who followed them, enjoyed the kingdom for a very long and extended period, having ruled for as many years as he lived. C For while his mother was still carrying him in her womb, the succession of the royal line called the one about to be born to the throne. But the conditions of the birth were uncertain, as to what sex it might turn out to be. Therefore, all those in authority proposed prizes and gifts to the Magi for the prediction of future events. And so they brought a pregnant mare into their midst, and, as it was very close to giving birth, they ordered them to prophesy concerning it first, as to what they thought would happen. For they believed that in a few days after this, they would know what their divination would amount to, and from this, they would infer that what was predicted concerning the human would also turn out with a similar outcome. What exactly they divined concerning the mare, I cannot say with certainty, for nothing precise about this has been reported to me; but everything turned out exactly as they had predicted.
When, therefore, the others knew from this that the Magi were highly skilled in the art of prophecy, they urged them D and asked them to explain also what they knew would come to pass regarding the woman. When they replied that she would bring forth a male child, they did not delay any further, but placed the tiara upon her womb and proclaimed the embryo king; they also bestowed a name upon the fetus that had just been formed and organized—to the extent, I suppose, that it moved slightly and throbbed within. Thus, they took what was obscure and uncertain by nature and, by opinion and expectation, grasped it as certain and indubitable; yet they were not frustrated in their hope, but obtained even more than they had expected. For not long after, Sabor was born and reigned; he grew up and grew old in it, his life extended to seventy years. In the twenty-fourth year of his reign, the city of Nisibis came into the power of the Persians, having long been subject to the Romans, but it was surrendered and betrayed by Jovian, their king. For when Julian, who was previously the Roman king, had suddenly perished in the inner regions of the Persian empire...
he was proclaimed king by the generals, the troops, and the rest of the multitude. Since his rule was just being established for him and affairs were, as is to be expected, in confusion—and that in the midst of a hostile region—he was unable to settle the present situation with any deliberation. Therefore, wishing to be rid of his life in a foreign and hostile region, and desiring most quickly to secure a return to his own land, he entered into ignominious and shameful treaties with the enemy, such as even to this day the Roman state feels to its great detriment. He confined the empire within new boundaries, and it fell far short of its ancient extent. Now, what happened during that time has already been recorded by many of the earlier historians; but I have no leisure to dwell on these things, but must continue with the previous narrative.
26. After Sabor, Artaxer, who was his brother and had shared in the kingship, died after a reign of four years. His son, who was also named Sabor, held the empire for five years; and Vararanes, his son, who was also called Cermasa, held it for double that time and one year more. I have already mentioned the reason for such appellations. For Kerma was likely the name of a nation or region, which, having been subdued by the father of Vararanes, the son realistically acquired as an appellation, just as formerly among the Romans one was called Africanus, another Germanicus, and another was named after some other defeated nation. After these, Isdigerdes, son of Sabor, received the Persian empire, whose memory is frequent and famous among the Romans. For they say that the emperor Arcadius, when he was already dying and, as is human custom, was arranging affairs after his passing, appointed him as guardian and protector of his son Theodosius and of the whole Roman state. This story is widely sung among us, having been handed down from ancient times to those who came after, and is still circulated among both the learned and the common people to this day; but I find no mention of this in any writing or historical books, not even in those who wrote about the death of Arcadius, with the single exception of the rhetorician Procopius. And, in my judgment, it is certainly not surprising that it reached that man, who was most learned and had, so to speak, read through all history, and had received this narrative previously worked out by someone else, while it in no way reached me, who have minimal knowledge—if indeed I have even that much. But this I do consider most worthy of admiration, that in narrating these events, he does not simply recount what was ordained by him, but praises the man himself and extols him with magnificent words, as if he were the best of men.
For he says that while he was not naturally very sharp-witted in other matters, yet in this alone he showed himself to be sensible and very prudent. A But it seems to me that he who admires this is not judging the reasonableness of the decision from the first impulse of the counsel, but from the outcome that followed. For how could it be said to have been done prudently and rightly to entrust one's most beloved objects to a foreign and barbarian man, to a king of a most hostile race, not sufficiently known as to whether he would cherish faith and justice, and furthermore, one who was erroneous and of a different opinion concerning God, and indeed somewhat alien in mind? If, however, he did no harm at all to the infant entrusted to him, but the child’s empire was preserved completely intact by that guardian, and that while he was still being nursed at the breast, one ought rather to praise the integrity of the guardian than the action of Arcadius. For these reasons, therefore, let everyone judge as each may possess mind and judgment. Isdigerdes, moreover, having reigned for one and twenty years, never once undertook a war against the Romans, nor did he inflict any annoyance upon them, but remained always B benevolent and peaceful, whether this happened by chance, or indeed truly out of regard for the child and the common laws regarding the guardianship of orphans.
27. Upon his death, Vararanes, his son, having taken charge of the empire, did indeed make an incursion against the Romans; but when the prefects who were stationed on the frontiers received him in a friendly and peaceful manner, he immediately withdrew and returned to his own territories, having neither warred against his neighbors nor otherwise caused any damage to their lands. And having ruled for twenty years, he handed over the kingdom to Isdigerdes, his other son, who possessed the throne for seventeen years and about four months. After him, Perozes was declared king, a man excessively rash and fond of war, and he always paraded his magnificence, but he did not make much use of solid and safe counsels; rather, there was in him more rashness than counsel. C And so he perished in an expedition against the Nephtalites, not so much, I think, by the strength of the enemy as by his own rashness. For when he ought to have proceeded safely through the hostile region, foreseeing and guarding against hidden snares, neglecting these cares, he immediately fell into ambushes; and he fell into pits and trenches which had been prepared for a great distance in the field for the purpose of deception, and there he perished together with his army in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, and finished his life ingloriously, having been out-generaled by the Huns; for the Nephtalites are a Hunnic race. Balas, however, his brother, having been raised to the kingdom, did nothing worth D recording in the way of wars or battles; not only because he was of a placid and mild disposition, and towards the impetuous—
and hostile impulses was not much given to rising up, but also because he spent only a short time there; for only four years elapsed for him in the kingdom. After him, Cavades, son of Perozes, having obtained the Persian empire, waged many wars against the Romans and set up many trophies against the neighboring Barbarians, and he let no time pass without being involved in turmoil and danger. He was, therefore, both savage and intractable toward his subjects, and such a one as to stir up established things, and to innovate upon the political way of life, and to overturn customs long A accustomed. It is said that he even enacted a law that wives should be common to men, not according to the discourse of Socrates, I think, and Plato, and the benefit hidden within that discourse, but so that it might be permitted to anyone who happened upon a woman to go to whomever he wished and to share her bed, even if she happened to be married to someone else and lived assigned to him.
28. Thus, this was frequently practiced in accordance with the law, while the nobles were openly indignant and considered the disgrace intolerable. But this very law of his became the chief cause of a plot against him and of his removal from power. Wherefore, all B conspiring and rising up, they deposed him from his rule in the eleventh year of his reign and cast him into the castle of Lethe. They transferred the power of the kingdom to Zamaspes, who was himself a son of Perozes, and who was otherwise well reputed for mildness and justice. And thus they thought that all things had been well managed for them, as if they would henceforth be able to live and conduct their affairs in tranquility and ease. But Cavades, not long after having escaped—whether his wife C aided him in the deceit, as Procopius says, and chose to undergo death on his behalf, or whether he employed some other way—having nevertheless escaped and gotten out of the prison, went off to the Nephtalites and became a suppliant of their king. He, considering the disorderly changes of fortune, received him most kindly and continued to console him and to alleviate the distress of his mind; first by kind flattery and by exhortation strengthening his spirit toward better things, D and besides, frequently receiving him at a lavish table with friendly toasts, and presenting him with precious garments, and fulfilling all the duties of hospitality; and a little later he even betrothed his own daughter in marriage to the stranger, and gave him a sufficient army for his return, sending him back with the slaughter of those who would oppose him, to recover his former kingdom.
Since it is in the nature of things often to turn out for men in a manner quite contrary to what they intended, such a thing happened then as well, and the life of Cavades was balanced with various impulses and diverse mutations in either direction, and that within a fairly short space of time. For from being a king, he had earlier become a defendant and a prisoner; once he escaped from prison, he became a fugitive, an outcast, and a suppliant; from a suppliant and a stranger, he became the king’s son-in-law and his closest intimate; and immediately upon returning to his ancestral customs, he took back the rule without labor or danger, just as if he had never been stripped of it, but had found it still vacant and as if awaiting him. For Zamasphes of his own accord stepped down from the throne, B and chose rather to relinquish the kingship, after enjoying it for four years, preferring to renounce pride and ambition, and to choose a private life joined with security; and thus by the rectitude of his counsel he forestalled external necessity. Cavades, having become much more powerful than before, held the monarchical rule for thirty years beyond the previous eleven, so that he lived with royal power for forty-one years in total.
29. Now, while the precise details of what happened to him before and after have already been C diligently treated by the wise men of old in the manner of history, what was omitted by those earlier writers, and what I believe is worthy of knowing and noting, it would be well to add. For one might marvel that at that time, among both the Romans and the Persians, certain similar events occurred, just as if, spontaneously in both states, some contrary revolution of fortune had descended upon those in power. For a very short time before, Zeno the Isaurian, the Roman emperor, who was formerly called Tarasiscodisaeus, having been plotted against by Illus, Basiliscus, and Conon, with the D principal collaboration of Verina, was cast out of the empire and driven into exile, and with difficulty escaped in safety to Isauria; yet he returned again to the palace, and after overthrowing Basiliscus, who had exercised tyranny for no more than two years, and stripping him of the royal insignia, he continued to hold the rule again and manage all things—not for a very long time, yet he died while still reigning. Not otherwise, too, did Nepos, the emperor of the West, become immersed in similar or even greater calamities. For, deceived by Orestes, he fled from Italy, stripped of the purple, which he never recovered, but he perished living as a private citizen. So unexpected were the transformations that occurred at that time to the most powerful kings. Now let those who are accustomed to investigate the hidden principles of obscure matters search for the causes of these things.
A They are accustomed to make their inquiries concerning things unknown, and let them say what they wish; but I, for my part, must return to where I turned aside. For Kavadh having died in the fifth year of the reign of Justinian among the Romans, Chosroes, the great one of our time, succeeded to his hereditary power and performed very many and most great deeds, some of which have been previously written down by Procopius the rhetorician. As for the rest, some have already been mentioned by me, and others will be told in due order. To ensure that the continuous series of time is observed most accurately, I shall state for the present only this: that for the forty-eight years during which he held the empire, he adorned himself with many victories and proved to be such a one as no other of those who had reigned previously among the Persians has been revealed to be, if one should compare him with every one of them—not even if someone were to name Cyrus the son of Cambyses, nor Darius the son of Hystaspes, nor indeed that Xerxes who showed the sea to be accessible to horses and the mountains to be navigable by ships. B Yet, being such as he was, his end of life was inglorious, pitiable, and most alien to his previous deeds. For it happened that at that time, because of the summer season and the mildness of the regions, he had moved to and was dwelling in the village of Thamanon, around the Carduchian mountains. But Maurice, son of Paul, who had been ordered by Tiberius Constantine, the emperor of the Romans, to command the armies in the East, suddenly burst into the Araxian territory, which was adjacent and border-linked to the dominion and surrounded that village, and he did not cease from ravaging and plundering the whole area without restraint. Having crossed the currents of the Zirma river, he still advanced further, and was plundering and burning everything in his path. C And as he was utterly destroying and confounding everything, Chosroes (for he was not far away, but only far enough to be able to see the flame rising on high) could by no means endure the sight of the enemy fire, since he had never seen it before. Therefore, struck with both shame and fear, he neither went out to meet him nor defended his own territories; but being seized by a certain huge and immoderate grief in his mind from that slaughter, and being in a way brought to despair, he was immediately gripped by a grave and incurable disease caused by dejection. Carried on a litter with great speed to the palaces in Seleucia and Ctesiphon, D and having made his retreat a flight, not long after he departed from this life.
30. But I do not know in what way the flow of my narrative, having taken hold of me and being delighted, I suppose, by the praise-worthy nature of these deeds, has led me to such precipitation that I have passed over the events in between to mention those much further away. Therefore, since I now recognize where I have arrived and from where I departed, those matters should be omitted for the present, as we shall write them down in their proper times.
A I shall now return to the continuous and coherent narrative of the preceding events. For I have already finished the succession of the Persian kings and the count of their years, and, to sum it up in a word, the whole of what I had promised. I believe these things to be absolutely true and highly refined, as they were taken directly from the Persian books. For when that interpreter, Sergius, was in that land, and had earnestly requested the guards and overseers of the royal records to share those writings with him (for I had frequently urged him to do this), and had also added the reason—stating that he sought to obtain them for no other purpose than that these things, which were known and prized among them, might also be recorded among us—they at once acted rightly and granted his request. They thought the matter would not be unpleasing, but rather something that would redound to the glory of their own kings if it were known even among the Romans what manner of men they were, how many they were, and how the order of their dynasty had been preserved. B Sergius, therefore, having received their names, their dates, and the most important of the deeds performed during their reigns, and having translated them skillfully into the Greek language (for he was the best of all interpreters, and a man such that Chosroes himself admired him as being the leading scholar-interpreter in both empires), and having produced the most perfect translation possible, he brought everything to me faithfully and as a friend, urging me to fulfill and accomplish the purpose for which he had obtained them; and this has now been performed and completed by me. Wherefore, although some of the things mentioned regarding Cavades are told otherwise by the rhetor Procopius, we must rather follow the writers of the Persian Annals and hold to what they write as being truer. Having therefore perfectly completed this labor, come, let us return to continue the history which we interrupted with the narrative of events in Lazica, and which we have brought to this point. C In this way, then, Nachoragan, because of his ignoble character, and because he had been defeated with force by Martinus and the Roman troops, and because of his shameful flight into Iberia, was put to a most cruel death, in the manner I have previously described. Chosroes, however, considering that he could not lead an army in the Colchian region against the Romans, because they held command of the sea, and for that reason could easily have all necessary supplies sent to them from there, while he himself, by way of long and desolate routes, was forced with the greatest difficulty to send to his camps even a meager supply of provisions by means of porters and beasts of burden, D decided that the whole war should be abandoned, lest they—being unequal in such conditions, and restricted to certain, mostly limited locations, and with the cause reduced to a fragmented and imperfect
forcing him to send them in a most difficult manner. A Since he realized that the war would have to be laid aside entirely, lest peace, restricted to certain regions, might remain incomplete and, as it were, limping, but rather might be strengthened everywhere with equal force, he sent as an envoy to Byzantium a Persian of great distinction among his people, named Zich. When Zich arrived and gained audience with Emperor Justinian, he spoke at length about the current situation and heard much in return. Finally, they reached an agreement that the Romans and Persians should both retain all those places which they had already seized in the region of the Lazi by right of war, whether they were small towns or fortresses, while they themselves would keep the peace and abstain from war until their respective rulers could enter into a more perfect and definitive treaty. Zich, having thus concluded his mission, returned to his own people. When this was announced to the commanders, the armies remained completely free from war for a long time, and what had previously happened spontaneously was then confirmed by pacts. B
AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS, HISTORIES, BOOK V
ARGUMENT
The brigandage of the Tsannoi. Theodore, setting out from Colchis against them, camps near Theodoriade (I), and there conquers the rebels, who were puffed up by a minor success, by surrounding them with a ruse; the Emperor imposes an annual tribute upon them (II). Byzantium is shaken by a sudden earthquake. Death of Anatolius (III). The judgment of the populace regarding this is refuted (IV). Terror, increased by ominous predictions, impels the Byzantines toward a vain display of virtue (V). The cause of earthquakes is attributed by some to subterranean vapors. Anthemius the mechanic's clever invention (VI, VII, VIII). Justinian concerns himself with the reconstructing of other buildings, as well as the most holy church of Sophia. The description of this temple, composed by Paul the Silentiary, is praised (IX). The plague rages in Byzantium (X). Concerning the ancient abodes and fates of the Huns. The Cotrigur Huns, led by Zabergan, invade the Roman Empire, making for Greece and the Chersonese (XI). Description of the Chersonese. Zabergan, having entered the suburban region through the long wall, which was empty of defenders, threatens Byzantium itself (XII). The savagery and outrages of the Huns. The military resources of the Roman Empire were at that time greatly diminished (XIII). The causes of this decline. The city is filled with great terror (XIV). The origin and condition of the Scholarian soldiers. Belisarius, now an old man, is appointed to defend the city (XV). He leads the army, gathered from every quarter, out of the city and exhorts them to virtue and restraint (XVI, XVII, XVIII). Confirmed by this speech, the Romans repel the Barbarians with vast slaughter (XIX). Once they are routed, Belisarius is immediately recalled (XX). Meanwhile, Germanus, son of Dorotheus, defends the Chersonese valiantly. The Huns fashion rafts from reeds to sail around the fortifications (XXI). Against these, six hundred men are sent by the Romans; all who were sailing are either drowned or slaughtered (XXII). Not long after, the barbarians are defeated in a land battle as well. Zabergan, having accepted gold from Justinian, leads all his Hunnic forces back to their native lands (XXIII). Justinian incites Sandil, king of the Utrigurs, against them as they depart (XXIV). Constant wars arise from this, by which these nations consume one another (XXV).So indeed, the greatest and most contentious nations laid down their arms, as had been agreed, and remained at peace.
A And for a very long time they continued in this state, so that neither side took any action against the other. During this time, the Zanni, a nation inhabiting the southern parts of the Euxine Sea near the city of Trapezus—these Zanni, I say, although they had long been federates and subjects of the Romans, nevertheless, at that time, while some of them adhered to their former agreements and were not overly inclined to insolence, the majority, neglecting their previous way of life, lived after the fashion of brigands, making hostile incursions into the regions adjacent to the Pontus, plundering fields, and infesting travelers. Moreover, having crossed into Armenia wherever the opportunity arose, they carried off spoils and behaved no differently than if they were open enemies.
Therefore, Theodorus was sent against them, a man of their own race, who held the foremost position among the Roman commanders, and whom I have frequently mentioned above. For he, being most expert in his own region, knew to his fingertips from which side it would be best to invade, where most conveniently to pitch camp, and how the enemy might be tracked. Consequently, by the emperor's command, he was deservedly sent to accomplish this business. Moving his camp from the Colchian region with a proper army and having passed beyond the boundaries of the Phasis river toward the sunset, he immediately arrived in the inmost places of the hostile region. B Having pitched his camp around the city of Theodoriada and the place called Rhizaeum, and having conducted ramparts around his army there, he summoned the Zanni who were still quiet and friendly and not yet turned away, and he treated them with gifts and praised their prudence and moderation. As for those, however, who had already insolently broken their treaties and defected, he prepared to punish them with war as quickly as possible.
But they, without delay, approached closer to the ramparts and, having gathered in great numbers upon a certain neighboring, more prominent hill, they hurled missiles and arrows upon the Romans from the higher ground, C so that the entire army was disturbed by this unexpected audacity. Nevertheless, many burst forth from the ramparts and moved vigorously against the enemy, but they proceeded without composition or any order, nor did they wait until they had lured them down into the level and open plain. Instead, hindered by anger and disorder, with shields held sideways above their heads, crouching slightly, they strove to climb up the steep hill. But the Zanni, continuously throwing spears from the height and rolling down rocks, easily repelled them, and having made a sortie, they killed forty men and turned the rest into a most disgraceful flight. D The barbarians, however—the matter having been successfully and unexpectedly managed—approached as near as possible to the camp, and there a very fierce battle was ignited, with the Zanni striving to break into the camp and rout everyone, while the Romans deemed it a disgrace not only to repel the enemy from their tracks, but unless they utterly destroyed them. Having thus been repulsed one against the other, and
struggling and grappling with their hands, they relaxed in no way A in their bravery; but the conflict remained for the most part balanced, filled with much uproar and confused clamor, and as yet undecided.
2. Theodorus, the commander of the Romans, seeing the enemy destitute of a skilled leader, and not fighting in any secure position, nor besieging or attacking the rampart from various sides, but all simultaneously gathered in one mass, B commands some of his men to remain in their own position and fight the enemy face to face, while he sends the greatest part of his forces in secret to fall upon the enemy from the rear. These men, marching most stealthily and appearing at their backs, raised a sudden, loud, and terrifying battle-cry, so that the Zanni, thrown into confusion, could think of nothing else but to take to shameful flight. The Romans, catching them as they fled and were, so to speak, beside themselves with fear, slaughtered them most easily; two thousand of them were killed, and the rest were scattered, each in a different direction. Thus, having conquered the entire nation, Theodorus reported the events to the Emperor and inquired what he wished for them to be subjected to. He ordered that a fixed annual tribute be imposed upon them for the future, so that by this they might understand they were subjects and tributaries, and thoroughly conquered. Consequently, an immediate census of everyone was taken, and the burden of paying tribute was imposed upon them; and from that time even to this day they continue to pay these dues. This achievement pleased the Emperor Justinian greatly, as if it were one of his greatest deeds. For, indeed, in certain of his own laws, which we call C 'Novellae', while recounting his other victories, he also mentions this nation among the foremost. Thus, the insolent arrogance of the Zanni had this outcome, and Theodorus returned through the region of Lazica to the army commanders.
3. Not long before these events, a tremendous earthquake again struck Byzantium, to such a degree that the entire city came within a little of being overturned and shattered. For it was in itself the greatest, and, I believe, stronger than any before, both in the violence of its quaking and the duration of its tremors. The time itself, and the necessity of the events that concurred with it, made it even more horrific. For when the autumn of that year was then finished, and already by the custom of the Romans
natal feasts were A being celebrated, there was a cold such as is typical when the sun is driving toward the winter solstices and moving toward Capricorn—and especially in the eighth climate, as it is called by those skilled in such matters, which, in my opinion, received this name from the Euxine Sea. Then, about the middle watch of the night, while the citizens were occupied with sleep and rest, this evil suddenly fell upon them, and everything was immediately shaken from its very foundations. The movement, although most violent from the beginning, still continued to grow and increase, as if the evil were heading toward some progression and excess.
Thus, when everyone was awakened, weeping and wailing were heard from all sides, and the voice that usually is wont to be proclaimed to God in such evils. For B some heavy and immense sound, like subterranean thunder sent forth from the entrails of the earth, followed the shaking and doubled the terrors. And the air near the earth was obscured by a smoky mist—I know not from where it was raised—and the whole was dark and, as it were, stained. Consequently, men, set outside themselves by fear and terror and bereft of counsel, went forth from their houses, and immediately the streets and alleyways were filled with the multitude, just as if they could not perish even there, if such were to happen. For the buildings of the city are continuous everywhere and joined to one another, and you would rarely see any place open and free and entirely devoid of an adjacent building. Nevertheless, by directing their gaze C on high and looking toward the heavens—and thus, in some way, appeasing the Divine—it seemed that the fear and perturbation of their souls were gently loosened. And although they were being sprinkled by a light snowfall and were being pressed by the cold, yet not even so did they go under roofs, unless perhaps as many as were fleeing to the temples and casting themselves down at the altars. Many women, too, not only of the common folk but even of the most honorable, were intermingled with the men; and all order and reverence, and the prerogative of the elderly because of their age by which they take precedence over others, and respect, were at that time D disturbed and trampled underfoot. For even slaves despised their masters and, disobeying their commands, fled to the sacred places, overcome by the greater fear; and those of lower status stood on equal terms with those in authority, as if a common danger had fallen upon them and everyone thought they were about to perish at any moment. So very many houses were demolished that night, and especially in the Regium (which is the naval station of the city), and many incredible marvels occurred. For in some places the roofs, whether constructed of stone or wood, parted from one another, refusing their connection and yawning open, so that the heavens and the stars could be seen through the roofs, as if in the open air, and then immediately returned to their original structure; in other places, columns placed in the portico of some house were shaken out by the force of the concussion and, carried over neighboring houses, [P. 146] D were cast into more remote buildings.
from the heights and shattered everything. Other, more horrific things also occurred, which had frequently happened before and will always happen as long as the earth exists and nature has faults, but at that time they all occurred together. A large crowd of common and obscure people perished; but among the powerful and those inscribed in the senatorial order, only Anatolius perished, a man distinguished by consular dignity and who, moreover, managed the care of the royal estates and administered their resources—the Romans call them curators. B Now that Anatolius happened to be sleeping in his customary bedchamber, a piece of marble, among those closely attached to the building near his bed and elegantly extended—as many are for the sake of show and luxury, being nailed to the walls by those who are excessively pleased with such superfluous and unnecessary ornaments—that marble weight, broken off by the force of the shaking and dislodged from its place, fell onto his head and completely crushed it. And he, having survived the blow only long enough to utter a heavy and deep sigh from the bottom of his chest, lay back again upon the very same bed, overcome by death.
C When day began to dawn, the dearest of friends and acquaintances saw one another, meeting head-on, and embracing one another with weeping, they kissed, happy at once and yet distressed. And when the funeral of Anatolius was carried out and he was being buried, then some of the crowd began to whisper in the public squares that it was most deservedly that he had been destroyed, for he had been most unjust and had despoiled many of his own friends and acquaintances; furthermore, that those legal documents and purple-bordered robes of his had come to this end—garments which he would often impose upon the houses of the wealthy, D pretexting benevolence toward the emperor, and by this means would annex everything to himself, shamelessly and violently tearing up and invalidating the final wills of the deceased, bidding farewell to the laws which desire that children inherit the goods of their parents. Such things, then, were whispered among the masses, and the cause of such an evil appeared to have been clearly discovered.
I, however, am greatly in doubt regarding these matters, and I am unable to assert in what way they come to pass. For an earthquake would indeed be a desirable thing and worthy of much praise, if it knew how to distinguish the wicked from the good and destroy those who are evil, while sparing and indulging these latter. And even if we grant that he was unjust, there were others, very many...
throughout the city similar to him, or rather even more unjust; yet the man died suddenly while they have remained unharmed. It is A not, I think, clear or easy to discern why Anatolius alone of all of them perished; since even the discourse of Plato says that those who live most wickedly are more miserable and wretched if they do not pay the penalty here for their transgressions, either by a violent death or by being punished in some other way, but depart in such a state, branded with the marks of their offenses like the slaves, and without having been cleansed of them. So that if this is to be maintained, he who has suffered would be happier than he who has been preserved. B But that this view should be present and deeply fixed in the souls of men is most desirable. For perhaps some of the wicked, fearing that they might perish wretchedly, would turn to more moderate behavior. It is manifest, however, that neither is it sufficient to prove a man's justice if he survives a long time and prospers with impunity in all things, nor would his dying, even by a most cruel death, be a sure proof of greater injustice; but we shall know most certainly the account of the life lived here and what the punishment is when we have arrived there. Let others, therefore, feel and say what they will concerning these matters, as it seems best to each; I, however, must return to what I had begun to relate.
5. For then, and for many days thereafter, an earthquake occurred—slight, it is true, and not like the one at C the beginning, yet sufficient to disturb what remained. Absurd prodigies and predictions were immediately spread among the populace, as if the whole world were about to perish at any moment. For certain impostors and self-appointed seers were wandering about, prophesying whatever they pleased, and they terrified the majority all the more, as they were easily persuaded out of the fear they had already conceived. Furthermore, pretending to rave and to be tormented by a demon, these men uttered more dire prophecies, as if taught of the future by phantoms that presented themselves to them, and they gloried vehemently in their own misery. Others, examining the courses and configurations of the stars, D interpreted and proclaimed greater calamities and all but the total destruction of all things. For it is the habit of a swarm of such men to multiply in very difficult times. Fortunately, however, both prophecies were false. For I think it would be right to accuse of impiety those who dream of such things and who leave absolutely nothing concerning the knowledge of future things to God. But there was no one at that time who was not vehemently struck with fear. Consequently, everywhere there were prayers and songs of [index: entries preserved]
A supplication heard, with all people gathered together; and things which were always praised in word, but more rarely confirmed in deed, were at that time most zealously performed. For all men were seen to be immediately just in their mutual contracts, to such an extent that even the magistrates, renouncing profit, administered justice according to the norm of the laws, and those who were otherwise powerful remained quiet, acting with piety and restraining themselves from the basest things. Some, indeed, having entirely changed their manner of life, embraced a solitary and mountain-dwelling existence, renouncing and bidding farewell to honors and riches, and all those things which are accustomed to be most pleasant to men. Many offerings also were brought to the temples, and by night the best of the citizens, walking through the public streets, B showed kindness with abundant food and clothing to those destitute and most wretched men, such as many who, maimed in their bodies, lay cast upon the ground, begging for alms. Now all these things were measured out for a certain time, as long as the fear was still fresh and vigorous. But as soon as the evil appeared to remit and subside, immediately the greater part returned to their accustomed ways. Such an impulse and motion of souls could not truly be called justice, nor a firm and active piety, such as is naturally formed in the mind by right opinion and the most constant zeal; but rather it was a certain disordered mechanism and a sort of most fallacious bargaining, instituted for the sake of escaping and warding off C the evil. Thus, we taste of good works only when necessity compels us, so long as the fear presses upon us.
6. During that same time, there were again various discussions held concerning exhalations, and there was frequent mention of Aristotle in the assemblies; at one moment as if he had dissertated most correctly concerning these things and had understood their causes, and at another as if he had wandered from the truth. Some, indeed, in order to confirm and establish the opinion of Aristotle, that a thick and smoky spirit, enclosed beneath the hollows of the earth, produces such movements as these, brought forward as evidence such a thing as had previously been ingeniously devised and effected by D Anthemius. For to this Anthemius, the city of Tralles was his fatherland, and his craft was that of the makers of machines, who, bringing linear speculation to bear upon matter, construct certain imitations and, as it were, likenesses of things that truly exist. He had blossomed as excellent in this art, and was distinguished in mathematical science, just like his brother Metrodorus among those who are called grammarians. And surely I would deem their mother happy, for having brought forth an offspring so filled with varied erudition. For she gave birth to these two men, and Olympius, and
A exercised in the practice of law and the treatment of forensic controversies, and illustrious for his skill; moreover, Dioscorus and Alexander, both very expert in the medical art. And of these, Dioscorus lived in his native land, and gave forth most clear proofs of his art; but the other dwelt in B old Rome, having been honored by an urgent summons. The glory and fame of Anthemius and Metrodorus, having reached far and wide, came even to the emperor himself. Wherefore, summoned to Byzantium, they arrived, and spent the remainder of their lives there, both of them providing the greatest tokens or specimens of their own virtue: the one teaching many youths of noble birth, and making them partakers of that most excellent learning, in such a way as to inspire all with a desire and zeal for literary and oratorical pursuits; the other indeed constructing works of the highest admiration, both in the city and in very many other places; which, I think, even if nothing at all is said about them, are in themselves sufficient to procure him perpetual glory, for as long as they shall stand and remain intact. But for the reason why I have made mention of this man, it shall be told by me, and indeed, immediately. There was a man in Byzantium by the name of Zeno, inscribed in the register of rhetoricians, otherwise well-known and most familiar to the emperor. He dwelt near Anthemius, in such a way that both houses appeared to be joined, and to be bounded by one and the same limit. But as time went on, a certain contention and discord fell between them, whether on account of the view, which perhaps was not previously accustomed to occur, or because a new building, raised too high, was obstructing the light, or for some other cause, just as it is necessary for many controversies to arise between those who dwell in the closest proximity.
C 7. And so, when Anthemius was overcome by his adversary, acting as accuser, and could not, by the eloquence and gravity of his words, meet him on equal terms, he repaid him for this trouble by means of the art which he knew, in the following manner. Zeno possessed a certain lofty house, very ample and beautiful and most curiously adorned, in which he himself was accustomed to pass much of his time and to entertain all his closest friends with banquets. The lower habitations of this house were nearest to the D ground on the part of Anthemius's house, so that the intermediate ceiling was stretched out with one part as a roof for the one, and with the other as a foundation for the other. There, therefore, he placed large cauldrons filled with water, and set them apart in many places throughout the room; these, on the outside, he surrounded with leathern pipes, broader in the lower part, so that they might blockade the entire circumference of the cauldrons; then, fashioned into a narrower form like a trumpet, and ending in a just proportion, he fixed their extremities to the beams and planks, and fastened them with precision, so that both the air
though having its upward movement through the void, might touch the roof uncovered A by the provision made, and being enclosed by the leather, might by no means flow out or escape to the exterior parts. Having thus established these things from an unseen source, he placed a powerful fire under the bottoms of the cauldrons, and kindled a great flame. And immediately, as the water grew hot and bubbled up, a great deal of steam was raised and sent upward, thick and dense; and since it had no outlet to be diffused, it crept up into the pipes, and being compressed by the narrowness, it was sent upward with more violence, [P. 151] until, striking the ceiling most persistently, it shook and agitated the whole structure, so far as to make the timbers tremble slightly and creak. Those who were with Zeno were troubled and terrified, and they rushed out into the public street, praying aloud and crying out, struck by the terrible sight. And he himself, going about the palace, inquired of his acquaintances how the earthquake had appeared to them, and whether it had harmed them in any way. But when they said, "Speak words of good omen, my friend," and "Away with such talk," and "May it never happen," and were, moreover, angry with him for reporting such ominous and ill-omened portents, he did not know what to think. For he could not bring himself to disbelieve what he knew had just taken place, and he was ashamed to argue for a long time against so many men who were blaming him in this way.
8. Accordingly, those who attribute the origin of earthquakes to exhalations and smoky spirits employed this argument B to a great extent. For they said that the mechanical engineer, having discerned the cause from which it happens that the earth is moved, produced similar results, and by art imitated nature. And they were indeed saying something, but not as much as they thought. For to me, such things seem indeed plausible and cleverly devised, but not yet clear proofs of what truly occurs. For just because those little Melitean lapdogs, running about on the roofs, shake and move them, and that too with a very light tread, one might perhaps say that the matter is similar, and use this as a sufficient example. But those are mere toys of mechanical engineering—not to be considered trivial or unpleasant, however—but the causes of the faults of the earth must be sought elsewhere (if indeed one should seek them at all). For Anthemius did not devise only this against Zeno, but he even turned C lightning and thunder into the house. For he had prepared a disk in the likeness of a mirror, and slightly hollow, and, setting it opposite to the rays of the sun, he filled it with brilliance; and then, moving it elsewhere, he would suddenly shoot a great light into the house, so that it would dazzle and blind the sight of all upon whom it was turned. Also, the bodies of some... D
A, by inventing some sorts of heavy-sounding collisions and impacts, he would produce intense claps like thunder, adapted to stun the senses, so that Zeno, when at length he understood how each thing was happening, would openly throw himself at the feet of the Emperor and accuse his neighbor of being an evil and most wicked man; so much so that, in his anger, he even let slip a graceful and elegant remark. For he recited some poetic verses and shouted them out before the senate as if in irony and mockery, saying that, being but a man, he could not fight simultaneously against both Zeus, the lightning-hurler [P. 152] and loud-thunderer, and Poseidon, the earth-shaker. B The products of this art are indeed fine, at least as playthings; yet nature is not obliged to follow these things and be leveled with them. But let each man hold whatever opinion he desires concerning these matters; I, however, must return to my former narrative.
9. For during that winter the city was troubled by these evils, and to all the inhabitants for many days the ground seemed still to be shaking, even though it was already quiet and settled. For this distress had settled into the souls of men, and suspicion had struck its roots within them, casting shadows upon their reason. But the Emperor attempted to restore many of the buildings, some of which had become unsound and weak, while others had already collapsed. C But his principal concern was the most august temple of God. This, having been previously burned by the populace, he had rebuilt from its very foundations, making it exceedingly conspicuous and wonderful, adorning it with a superiority of size, a beauty of form, and a variety of metals; and he had vaulted it with baked brick and lime, binding it together in many places with iron, and using no wood at all, so that it might not again be most easily burned. Now this was that same Anthemius whom I mentioned just a moment ago, who had intelligently devised and constructed every part of it. But at that time, because the central part of the roof and everything projecting beyond it had fallen away due to the shock, the Emperor repaired it again, making it stronger D and raising it to a greater height. Although Anthemius had long since died, Isidorus the Younger and the other architects, contemplating in themselves the former design and discerning from what had remained intact what the nature of the damage was and what defect it had possessed, left the eastern and western arches in their place as they were; but the northern and southern parts, extending the structure that was above the curvature inward and making them slightly broader, so that it might fit as aptly as possible with the others and present an equilateral structure, were thereby able to contract the excess of the void and subtract a small portion of the extension, to the extent that a figure of differing length was produced; and thus they set again upon those...
A that are prominent, whether a circle or a hemisphere, or by whatever other name it is called among them. Consequently, it has reasonably become more direct and easily pivoted, and equalized everywhere by the line; it is narrower and tends toward an acute angle, and as such it does not strike the observers with such great wonderment as before, yet it has undoubtedly been established in much greater safety. Those points concerning the history of the temple which it was necessary to mention, and to which the sequence of the narrative was logically led, have been sufficiently explained by me. To praise each of the wonders herein and to pursue them in discourse would be superfluous and not the proper task of this work. But if anyone, perhaps living far from the city, should wish to know all things clearly, just as if he were present and seeing them, let him read what has been composed in hexameter verse by Paul, son of Cyrus B the Florus—a man who, holding a primary rank among the silentiaries of the emperor, was illustrious for the glory of his lineage and had inherited abundant wealth from his ancestors, yet had nonetheless devoted great effort to learning and the practice of rhetoric, in which he took even greater pride and honor. And so he has produced many other poems worthy of memory and praise; but those which he wrote concerning the temple seem to me to be filled with greater labor and skill, in as much as the subject itself is more wondrous. For you will find in them the entire order of the site and its elegant arrangement, the natures of the metals examined with the greatest subtlety, as well as the beauty and utility of the vestibules of the temple, the heights and dimensions, and all the rectilinear shapes, and the circular ones, and those that are hanging C and extended. You would also know from the poems how the more sacred place, set apart for the mysteries, has been most sumptuously adorned with silver and gold, and recognize any other great or small detail, no less than those who frequently walk about through it and examine everything. But this second repair and restoration of the temple was completed and brought to an end after a short time.
10. (A. D. 558) In that same year, with the coming of spring, the pestilential disease again attacked the city and destroyed an infinite multitude. It had never ceased entirely from the time it first broke out—specifically, in the fifth year of the reign of Justinian—when it crept into our world. D Moving frequently from one place to another, and ravaging one region after another, it thus granted, as it were, certain intervals of truce to those who remained, and then returned again to Byzantium, as if, I think, deceived by the prospect, having departed from there again sooner than it ought to have. Therefore, many died suddenly, as if seized by a violent apoplexy. Those who bore the greatest force of the disease did not survive beyond the fifth day.
A The nature of the malady was similar to the earlier one; for the fevers that were kindled were accompanied by buboes, and were continuous, not subsiding even slightly, nor ceasing by any other means than the death of those they had seized. Some, without any preceding fever or other pain, while occupied with their customary affairs both at home and in the streets, would suddenly succumb to the force of the compulsion and fall down lifeless, as if summoned by a temporary death. Thus, people of every age perished indiscriminately, but especially those in the prime of life and adolescence, and among these, the males particularly, for the female sex did not suffer to the same degree.
The most ancient oracles of the Egyptians, and those among the Persians who are most expert in the movement of the heavenly bodies, assert that the revolutions of certain times are swept along in the infinite aeon, sometimes as good B and happy, and sometimes as evil and ill-omened; and they say that the present revolution is from among those very worst and most calamitous ones. From this, they argue, arise wars everywhere and seditions in the cities, and that pestilential diseases endure and persist for a long time. Others again attribute the cause of this destruction to the divine wrath, which punishes the sins of the human race and cuts down the multitude. For my part, it is not within my province to judge between either opinion or to discern which is the truer—perhaps because I do not know, or even if I did know, I consider it of little necessity and not congruent with the present account. For if I have briefly commemorated the events that occurred, I have satisfied the law of history. C
11. Now, while these things were taking place, other events happened at that time in the city, full of turmoil and disturbance, and no less distressing than the things we have recounted. What these were, I shall now say, having first briefly discussed more ancient matters. The tribe of the Huns in ancient times dwelt about that part of the Maeotic Lake D which faces the east wind, and they were situated more to the north of the Tanais river, just as were the other barbarian nations that happened to be settled within the Imaus mountain in Asia. All these were commonly called Scythians and Huns, but individually according to their tribes, some were called Cotriguri, others Utiguri, others still Ultizuri, and others Burgundi, and others by whatever name was customary and familiar to them from their fatherland. But many centuries later they crossed into Europe, either truly lead by some deer, as the story has become widespread, or by making use of some other fortune, and they crossed the outlet of the lake which flows into the Euxine Sea, which had hitherto been thought impossible to traverse; then, at any rate, in whatever manner they had done so, they wandered through the country and did the native inhabitants a great deal of damage.
having attacked them unexpectedly; so much so that, the prior inhabitants having been driven out, they themselves occupied their territory, in which, however, they did not seem destined to remain for a very long time, but rather, as the proverb goes, to be destroyed root and branch. Thus, the Ultizuri and Burugundi were famous up to the time of the Emperor Leo and the Romans of that era, and were considered valiant; but we who live in the present age neither know them, nor will we know them, perhaps because they were destroyed, or because they migrated as far away as possible. In that same year, however, in which I said that the pestilential disease struck the city, the remaining tribes of the Huns were still safe and A of the greatest renown. When, therefore, the Huns descended into the regions sloping toward the south, they encamped not far from the bank of the Ister river, whenever they wished. Then, when winter took hold, the currents of this river, according to custom, froze to such a depth on account of the cold that they became hard, passable, and traversable by cavalry. Zabergan, the leader of the Cotriguri Huns, having crossed with a very great number of horsemen over the eddies just as if they were dry land, entered the Roman empire with the greatest ease; and finding the regions there deserted and no resistance being offered to him as he marched forward, he immediately passed through Mysia and Scythia B and attacked Thrace. There, having divided his own army, he sent one contingent through Greece, to scour and pillage the places there that were undefended; and he sent the other part of the army into the Thracian Chersonese.
12. This Chersonese faces towards the rising sun and the southeast wind, and extends as far as the meridian point around the Hellespont. For it is almost entirely surrounded by water, and follows the curves of the shores, being cut off from the mainland by a small portion, that is to say, about forty stades, which prevents it from being an island. In this isthmus a wall has been built, extending continuously and C stretched out to both seas; and cities have been attached to it on the inside, namely Aphrodisias, Thescos, and Ciberis. As far as possible from these, around the strait itself and the coastal bends, is Sestos, a city celebrated in poetry and most famous, for no other reason, I believe, than for the lamp of that Hero of Sestos, and the love and death of Leander. Not far from this, another small town also lies, very small indeed and not at all beautiful, nor D having anything whatever that is lovely, yet it is called Callipolis; the surrounding region, however, is adorned by fields, dockyards, and an abundance of various trees and potable streams, and the land is well-irrigated.
A Such, then, are the small towns and the very extensive land that that wall encloses within itself, so that access to them is not easy for enemies. Then, therefore, Zabergan, puffed up by good hope, reflected within himself that if he were to demolish the wall and penetrate into the interior regions, he would more easily bring even the sea under his power. B From there, he imagined, as if in a dream, that a supply of ships would not be lacking to him; and that he would cross into Asia, the intermediate strait being very narrow and not being furrowed by rough waves, and that he would most easily sail across and immediately ravage Abydos, and plunder the customhouse that was there. Driven by these rash plans, he sent an army into the Chersonesus, as great as he thought would suffice for accomplishing this task; he himself, however, with seven thousand horsemen, proceeded straight to Constantinople, and he was ravaging the fields and attacking the small towns, and was moving and disturbing everything indiscriminately. C The most powerful and truest cause of this expedition and assault was barbarian violence and the desire to have more, for which, however, he held out a pretext of hostility toward the Utigurs. For a certain man named Sandichus, a Hun, was a leader of that race, but he was most well-disposed and an ally to the Romans. Wherefore the emperor pursued him with benevolence and honor, and frequently sent him gifts. The Cotriguri, however, inasmuch as they did not share in similar treatment, but were altogether despised and provoked by manifest contempt, decided that they must undertake this expedition, so that they too might seem, as it were, fearsome and worthy of account, and such as would not yield to those who treated them with contempt.
13. And so, for no one stood in their way to oppose or repel them, they were savagely ravaging the country, carrying off an immense quantity of booty and gathering multitudes of captives; among these, many women of noble birth and those who had chosen a chaste life were seized most cruelly, subject to the gravest evil of all, in that they were forced to serve the immoderate lust of the barbarians. D Some of them, however, who had already from childhood renounced marriages and worldly desires and the cares and occupations of this life, and were hiding in some remote little house dedicated to divine worship, pursuing with the greatest zeal a life that was completely free and immune from all mingling and association with men, even these, having been snatched from the sacred convents of virgins, they were treating with contumely, shamefully violating them by force. Many other women, too, who had not at all abhorred the company of men, and who were pregnant at that time, were seized, when
A necessity pushed them, as they were in the middle of their journey, and they gave birth in the most public way; nor could they conceal the shameful pangs of labor, nor wrap up and lift their infants 157 as is fitting. They were actually dragged along in this state, and, incredible to say, were not even allowed to feel pain; while those wretched infants were left in the wilderness to be torn to pieces by dogs and carnivorous birds, just as if they had been brought into the light of day for that purpose alone, and had tasted the beginnings of life in vain. For the affairs of the Romans had been reduced to such a plight that, even in the very territory surrounding the imperial city, they suffered such terrible evils at the hands of a very few barbarians. B Yet their audacity did not end here; they advanced further, easily crossed the so-called Long Walls, and approached the fortifications within. For in many places the structure of the great wall had collapsed through age and neglect; and some parts they themselves had torn down as fearlessly and easily as if they were demolishing houses. There was nothing to stop them, since no military garrison was stationed there, nor were there any siege engines to repel the enemy, nor any who knew how to handle them; indeed, not even the barking of dogs was heard, unless—to speak in a way that is utterly ridiculous—it were as in pigsties or sheepfolds. For the Roman armies were no longer as great as they had been under the ancient emperors, but had been reduced to an insignificance that was no longer commensurate with the size of the empire. For whereas the entire Roman forces ought to have consisted of six hundred and forty-five thousand fighting men, at that time they barely numbered one hundred and fifty thousand. Of these forces, some were stationed in Italy, others in Libya, others in Spain, others near the Colchians, and others near Alexandria and the Thebaid in Egypt. A few were also stationed toward the eastern borders of the Persians, for there was no need for more there, on account of the treaties concluded and the firm truce. Thus, the forces had been reduced to a very small part and curtailed by the negligence of those in power.
14. For the Emperor, since he had previously subdued the whole of Italy and Libya, and had finished those great wars, and was the first, as one might say, among those who have reigned in Byzantium, to be proclaimed Roman Emperor in name and in fact; since, then, he had accomplished these and other similar things while still in the vigor of his youth, D then indeed, toward the end of his life...
(for by this time he had grown aged A) he seemed to have despaired of his labors. It pleased him more, in a way, to set his enemies against one another, and to cajole them with gifts if need be, and by this means repel them somehow, rather than to trust in his own strength and risk danger to the very end. Therefore, he even looked on while the ranks were being corrupted, as if he would have no further need of them hereafter.
And so, having seized upon this lethargy, those who held the second rank in the administration of the empire—upon whom the duty had been laid of collecting tribute from the subjects and then distributing the necessary supplies to the armies—they openly defrauded them in part, and in part paid them out much later than they ought. Yet, when the payment was at last made, however late, those who were practiced in this cunning and vulgar art of calculation B immediately attacked those who were collecting the military stipends and demanded back what had already been paid. For this was their "honor" and "dignity": to harass the soldiers with one charge after another and to defraud them of their rations. And just as in the reciprocal ebb and flow of the tide, the very same portion of the tax-money that was delivered to the legions was, I know not how, diverted backward and returned to the point from which it had flowed.
And thus those who were the champions and combatants were neglected, and being pressed by a lack of rations, they abandoned the warfare and warlike labors in which they had been nurtured, and they scattered hither and thither as if to embrace some other way of life. Instead, the military stipends were squandered for the most part upon unseemly women, C and charioteers, and men who were far from brave when the situation demanded it, but were effeminate—men who were driven by a mad zeal and audacity only toward civil turmoil and the strife regarding the colors [of the factions], and upon others even more useless than these.
For this reason, both the rest of Thrace and the regions bordering on the Queen City herself were left deserted and without protection, to the extent that they were passable and easy for the Barbarians to raid. For they had been raised to such a pitch of arrogance that they even encamped around the village of Melantias, which is distant from the city by no more than one hundred and fifty stadia. The river Athyras flows past this place; D it proceeds for a short distance, then, veering slightly toward the Caecias wind, it discharges its current into the Propontis. From this, the harbor that is stretched out along the shore and at its mouth derives that name.
When, therefore, the enemy had encamped so near the city, the multitude of the Byzantine citizens was immediately stricken with great fear and terror, and they pondered in their minds the evils that were not only currently before their eyes, but even greater ones, dreaming of sieges, conflagrations, a lack of necessities, and the breaching of the defensive wall. And so, many times...
and in the inner thoroughfares there occurred mass flights of the throng, and jostling; and groundless panics, as if the Barbarians had already broken in. A great din also arose in the shops, as doors were struck with greater violence. [P. 159] A And it was not only among the common and obscure people that distress and fear were present, but indeed among all those in authority; and the emperor himself, I think, was not very indifferent to what was happening. Therefore, under his instructions, they were stripping the holy places—as many as were established outside the city along the European side and the coastal region which begins, indeed, from the so-called Blachernae and the Horn, and extends as far as the Euxine Sea, ending at the Bosphorus. B Therefore, they removed from all of these both the precious votive offerings and the rest of the equipment with which these were endowed; some they carried on wagons and deposited inside the city, and others they loaded into boats and, crossing the intervening strait, transported them to the opposite continent. And it was possible at that time to see the temples in those places stripped bare and deprived of their ornaments, just as if they had not yet partaken of any holiness, but were only just beginning to be established.
15. So fearful and great were the dangers C that were expected, as being absolutely certain to come, that, to be sure, at the wall near the Fig trees and at the so-called Golden Gate, certain captains, military tribunes, and many armed men were stationed, as though to defend them in case the hostile forces should attack. But they were not truly warlike, nor even moderately trained in such matters, but were from those legions D that are designated to spend the day and night in the palace, whom they call *scholarii*. These men are indeed called soldiers, and are inscribed in the enrollment registers; but for the most part they are urban and splendidly dressed, and, I think, were invented solely for the sake of the pomp of the sovereign and the magnificence in processions whenever he goes out in public. And in the past, it was not permitted to enroll any others in this order than those who were trained in the handling of military affairs; and therefore they paid no money to be inscribed in this order, but were granted this honor free of charge and without any of their own expense, as being judged worthy on account of their previous labors in battles. Zeno the Isaurian, however, appears to have been the first, after the recovery of the empire, to enroll many of his own fellow countrymen in these legions—men who had by no means distinguished themselves in engagements or who were otherwise experienced, but were in some way known to him and familiar. Later, when it was conceded and accepted at that time that not only for labors and fortitude in conflicts did [the soldiers receive...]
worthy deserve to be enrolled, but also that those who were completely inexperienced in war should receive the same rewards, not according to merit but by favor—this having been conceded in the beginning, it appears that from this there crept in also the acceptance of bribes, which, as it seems, is more powerful than all other things, and the matter eventually turned into a market, B such that those who wished to be enrolled in these legions were no longer permitted to do so until they had deposited a certain amount of gold. Once they had paid this, they were immediately inscribed without any inquiry and enrolled with the rest of the army, even if they happened to be utterly unskilled in warlike tasks. And so, with the selection process neglected, it was naturally the case that they were not forced to undertake the labors of military service, since they had obtained that venal honor and had purchased their own idleness at a great price. Such men, therefore, due to the scarcity of veteran soldiers, were seen standing upon the walls and performing the guard duty of those men. But when for many days the city had been in this tumult, and the Barbarians did not cease to ravage everything in their path, then at last Belisarius, the general, already broken by old age, was nevertheless sent against them by the Emperor. And so the old man, putting on after a long time the breastplate he had laid aside, and fitting the helmet to his head, and resuming the whole habit to which he had been accustomed from childhood, C was renewing in his memory things past, and was rejuvenated in his zeal; for having accomplished this final struggle in his own life, he brought to himself no less glory than when he had set up trophies over the defeated Vandals and Goths. For the harshness of the events which had already occurred, and the extreme desperation concerning the future, rendered the undertaking which he was setting upon greater and more illustrious, and the victory most joyful. It shall be described by me immediately and accurately how each detail was accomplished. 16. For the general, having gone out a little way from the city and having encamped at the place called the village of Chettivicus, D demonstrated his skill and knowledge of martial affairs, and a boldness far greater than his age. For he was indeed by now very old, and was laboring under a great weakness, as was natural, yet he appeared neither to yield to the labors nor to be in any other way desirous of his own life. Following him were mailed men, excellent in strength and who had struggled together with him in some of the battles which he had conducted in the lands of the West, not much more than three hundred in number; the remaining multitude was entirely unarmed and unwarlike, and for that reason, because they were inexperienced, they thought war to be something sweet, and had arrived more for the sake of watching than of engaging in the battle line. A crowd of rustic people from the neighboring places also flocked to him. For when their fields had already been ravaged by the Barbarians, having nowhere to turn, they had immediately fled to Belisarius. He, having utilized the crowd of rustics in a convenient and timely manner for his own forces, surrounded himself with a wide trench, and
A kept sending out scouts constantly, so that they might observe the enemy’s forces as much as possible, count them, and report if they could find out anything else. In this state he remained, weighing every detail and revolving it in his own mind, and as night fell, 161 he lit many watchfires, scattered over a wide area of the plain, so that the enemy, seeing them, might suppose that the army was very large, measuring it by the multitude of the fires lit. And indeed they did think so, and because they feared for themselves, they remained quiet. But they did not remain deceived by such military stratagems for very long; for they had already heard how very small the Roman army was, and not at all capable of B matching them in battle. Belisarius' soldiers, meanwhile, were very spirited and despised the enemy, even if they were to make an assault upon them with the greatest forces; relying most of all on their own martial prowess, as being Romans, and well-trained in warfare by the experience of many great dangers already endured. But Belisarius, having noticed this haughtiness of the men, and that, being puffed up more than they ought by their past labors, they were showing contempt for the present, he feared lest they might thereby become too slack in their expectations, and allow themselves to be carried away in whatever direction they wished, because they were imagining the outcomes of the things they were undertaking to be quite easy. Therefore, so that this would not happen, he gathered everyone into one place, as if the struggle were already imminent, C and appearing in their midst, spoke as follows:
17.
I do not come, men, to use the customary words to urge you to bravery, as if I were about to rouse you from fear (which is what usually happens before battles). For I would surely seem to have forgotten what I have known by experience myself, if I were to use some exhortation adapted to shaking off fear toward Roman soldiers, who have always been reared in combat, and who have overthrown the governments of almost the greatest nations, and who are now arrayed against wandering barbarians—and these, too, Huns and Cotriguri. But seeing in you great haughtiness and boldness, and that you are lifted up beyond what is established, I thought it not D unreasonable to remind you of your ancient modesty. For anything excessive is everywhere to be avoided by sensible men, even if it happens to be directed toward something praiseworthy. And boasting too much of past achievements, to the extent that we promise ourselves a similar success perpetually, is wont to banish prudence from the mind and to stir up pride and arrogance. But those who have arrived at such a pitch of madness that they conceive nothing moderate in their minds are likely to go so far as to attack God Himself. Furthermore, it is also necessary to consider that, although the barbarians...are far inferior to us in A warfare and courage, they do surpass us in numbers; and if those things which happen on either side are compared and weighed together, the excess will be reduced to equality. How, then, would it not be shameful for us, who are about to engage with an equal apparatus, to be carried away so precipitously and unrestrainedly that we take into account neither time, nor order, nor the random moments of fortune? For no one, I think, will overcome enemies by the strength of hands alone, unless there is present also the correctness of judgment and counsel. For how could it be possible B that I, who have reached such a hoary age that I am almost defeated and unfit for wars, could be engaged in conflicts and battles, unless I supported myself by the goodness of my counsels and by prudence? Wherefore, if a mind that is upright and firm and desiring what is fitting strengthens the weakness of old age and rouses it to deeds well done, compensating for the defect of age with prudence, how much more useful will it be to you, when conjoined with youth and the strength of the body? For, a right calculation—one that knows how to adapt itself to events—could perhaps transfer to the better the reverses that stem from some fortuitous case or from a failure of hand, and correct what has gone wrong. But where, by a failure of the mind—because we undertake matters more imprudently than is fitting—something adverse has occurred, where, I ask, is the remedy and salvation to be sought, if that very first thing which is accustomed to beget these successes has been depraved and subverted? And yet someone will perhaps marvel at the insolence of my admonition. For when I ought to be exciting and C raising up your confidence and the alacrity of your spirits, I invert this and weaken it, injecting thoughts into you and fears, and making your hopes doubtful.
18. Furthermore, it even seems pleasant and brings me good hope that I am approaching battle with such men, that if I were to persuade them to remit even a little of their keenness of spirit, I would appear to have desired much by speaking. But let each one of you persuade himself of this: that attempts and actions destitute of prudence should not be ascribed to fortitude, but to audacity and rashness and the prevarication of duty. Therefore, let the keenness of your spirits remain in you; indeed, let it flourish more D and more; but let it be pruned by moderate and chastened thought, and, keeping itself within the limits of duty, let excessive audacity, which brings arrogance with it, be cut away. For thinking and considering how one should make use of present matters does not introduce evil and cowardice, but rather dignity and courage. For when things that are of use have been thus weighed, it is entirely consistent that we should conceive a just audacity, as it is not carried away rashly toward the uncertainties of fortune,
A but has its fixity from judgment and what has been understood and believed. But perhaps some one of you might say that it is impossible for a noble nature, moved by a reason that is in accordance with it, and ever craving to labor, to be suddenly reined in and compelled to quiet, remission, and delays and longer deliberations than necessity demands, especially when it bears so indignantly that the barbarians should insult us so contemptuously, plundering everything indiscriminately, and daring to make incursions even up to the very Queen of Cities. These things are indeed so, and it is confirmed by experience that you are right to be inflamed with anger against the enemies. For they have not used your lenity and patience with, any moderation. Nevertheless, I should judge it very easy for men of sense to strip away the madness and turbulence from their anger, and—to speak without refining upon what happens to befall—to retain only its greatness of spirit and steadiness, and its ability to resist opposition. For of the movements of the soul, those that are by nature pure and sincere in that they choose what is right and seemly, these must be held fast and absolutely maintained. But those which also contain a turn and inclination toward the contrary, these are not to be used in all things, but only as far as they have some utility. For all of you, I think, would agree that prudence is a pure and unadulterated good. In anger, indeed, the sharpness and strenuousness is laudable; but audacity is to be shunned, so that it may not be injurious. Wherefore, choosing what is best in anger, and tempering our affairs with prudence, let us thus go forth confidently against the enemy, B since we have neglected none of the things that are necessary. This alone we must know, that we have to contend with barbarian men who are accustomed to attack after the manner of robbers and to make stealthy insults, but are not very trained for open battles, nor learned in holding out in hand-to-hand combat. But now, seeing a set battle prepared against them, and the opposing and defensive force arrayed in camp outside the ramparts and walls, they will likely cast aside their accustomed habits; they will be brought to engage, to approach, and to fight at close quarters, as necessity teaches them. But if we are temperate and use our ancestral order, and proceed to those things that must be done with sound counsel, they will know by experience that that which is acquired by our exercise and our will and study is always by far superior to what is impromptu and forced. C D I9. Belisarius said so much. The soldiers, having learned the better way, maintained even thus their stoutheartedness; and after they had come to their senses, they held fast.
A to their bravery, yet there was in them something more which curbed their impulsiveness. Such a spirit, I think, and such orderliness filled them that one might compare them, though in small things to great, to those who, as they say, of old B—those around Leonidas of Sparta at Thermopylae—behaved with glory when Xerxes C was attacking. But those men, indeed, were destroyed in total slaughter, famous only for the fact that they did not perish basely, but slew many of the Persians first. The Romans, however, who were with Belisarius used Spartan frankness, yet they routed all the enemy in force and slaughtered as many as possible, without suffering themselves any singular harm worth speaking of from their hands. For since two thousand horsemen of the barbarians, separated from the rest of the army, were rushing forward with a shout D as if they were going to destroy their enemies quite easily, and scouts came to Belisarius announcing them and saying they were just about to arrive, he led his own forces against them, feigning the smallness of his numbers as much as he could and concealing it. For he had selected two hundred armored horsemen and javelin-men, and divided them into ambushes on both sides under the woods, from where he supposed the attack of the barbarians would come; having instructed them that as soon as he gave the signal, they should immediately rush out against the enemy phalanx, hurling their javelins, so that the enemy, being pressed, would retreat and their multitude would become useless to them, unable to stretch out but rather coiling and tangling up in itself. He ordered the rustics and such of the citizens as were fit for war to follow him with a great shout and clatter of arms, wherever he might go—for he had taken his stand in the middle with the rest, as if to receive the enemy's attack openly. When the barbarians had already arrived and, moving forward, the majority had come within the ambushes, Belisarius at once, with those who were with him, met them face to face and charged them most vigorously; and the rustics and all the rest of the multitude, shouting and clashing with the sticks they carried for this purpose, encouraged the combatants. When the signal was given, the others, leaping from their hiding places, rushed upon the enemy transversely from both sides; and a shout and tumult arose, greater than the scale of the battle warranted. The barbarians, being pelted with javelins from every side—just as Belisarius had foreseen—retreated into themselves and, crowded and squeezed into an empty space, could not defend themselves by fighting; for it was not easy for them to shoot their arrows, since there was no room for missiles, nor could they make sorties with their horses or perform flanking maneuvers; they seemed to be surrounded by a massive army and hemmed in a circle. For those who were pressing them from the rear with great howling and noise struck terror into them, and the dust raised on high prevented them from being able to judge their numbers in the conflict. But the first of those approaching with shouting and din, [were...]
A Belisarius, having slain many of those arrayed against him and repulsed his own contingent, forced them to flee. Then, as all the others also pressed in, the Barbarians, turning their backs, fled in disorder, scattering in every direction, protecting their rear with no mutual support, but each one fleeing as fast as he thought he could escape. The Romans pursued in good order, slaughtering those in their reach with the greatest ease. A great slaughter of the Barbarians ensued as they fled without looking back; for they had let go of all the reins of their horses, and the lashes of their whips, constantly urging them on, prevented any slackening of their speed. Moreover, they were deprived by terror of that very art in which they were wont greatly to boast; for these Barbarians, when fleeing, usually repel those who pursue them sharply by shooting arrows backwards. At that time, however, the arrows were fixed-in more violently against the target, as the arrows were carried with great momentum straight toward the pursuers, while they, running toward them in opposition, collided and charged against them, inflicting upon themselves a heavier wound by meeting and receiving the missiles at close range.
20. But at that time every course seemed hopeless to the Huns, and it did not even enter their minds to attempt any art of defense. Of them, about four hundred were killed, B while not a single Roman was lost; only a few were wounded. With difficulty, then, did Zabergan the chieftain and those who had escaped reach the camp with joy; for if the horses of the Romans had not been exhausted by the pursuit, they would have been the greatest cause of their survival, otherwise they would have slaughtered them all to a man that day. But now, as they rushed into the rampart and their defensive works with great tumult, they caused the entire remainder of the army to panic, C suspecting that they were all about to be destroyed at once. A long, barbaric wailing was heard; for they were lacerating their cheeks with small knives, mourning according to their ancestral custom. The Romans, however, withdrew with Belisarius to the rear, having accomplished more than they had hoped under the circumstances, but results worthy nonetheless of the general’s foresight. When this disaster had befallen the Barbarians, they immediately broke camp at Melantiades and moved backward in terror. D Belisarius, however, although in all likelihood he could have inflicted greater slaughter and ruin on them as they departed, seeing that they were men already struck with fear and were making a departure resembling a flight, nevertheless returned immediately to the city, and that not so much by his own preference as by the order of the Emperor. For when the entire populace, having been told of the exploit, sang his praises and lauded him in their assemblies as if they had been clearly saved by him, he indeed bit—
A terly affected many of the leading men of the city, who were possessed by envy and jealousy, vices so atrocious and always undermining the best men. They slandered the man, therefore, as arrogant and puffed up by the blandishments of popular favor, and as harboring other ambitions in his mind; for which reasons it came about most quickly that he did not carry away the most absolute glory, nor was he, for the deeds he had brilliantly accomplished, rewarded with the deserved honor; but all the praise of the victory slipped, as it were, from his hands, as far as it depended on those men, being obliterated and destitute of reward, and entirely wrapped in silence. Furthermore, that the keenness of the most excellent souls is blunted when they are not praised nor treated with deserved honor, and how the public interest is harmed as a result, because those things which lie neglected—whether they be labors of war, or scholarly disciplines, or any other of those things which are of the greatest importance—are not rightly cared for and held in esteem, has already been stated and demonstrated by the wise men of old; and it can be easily understood by anyone from the events that occur every day. The Huns, for their part, having at first suspected a pursuit, and having sallied forth from the Long Walls, as they are called, with great tumult, once they learned that Belisarius had been recalled and that no one else was advancing against them, began again to proceed more slowly.
324 21. Meanwhile, another portion of the barbarian army, which had settled near the Chersonese, frequently attacked the wall, bringing up ladders and other siege engines; and they were frequently repulsed by the Romans who were inside, as they defended themselves with all their might. C Now, in command of these was Germanus, the son of Dorotheus, a man indeed still very young, whose beard was just beginning to grow, but who was preeminent in a spirit worthy of a leader, and in a reach for deeds far greater than his age. His fatherland was an Illyrian city, formerly called Bederiana, but later renamed Prima Justiniana. For the Emperor Justinian, inasmuch as he was first brought into the light of day in that place, deservedly adorned his fatherland with various works and structures, and from obscure made it wealthy and illustrious, and bestowed upon it his own name. Germanus, therefore, tracing his lineage from this place, was exceedingly dear to him. Wherefore, when he had completed his eighth year from birth, he was taken by him to the royal city and was treated with the greatest care. For he frequented the schools of the grammarians and attended the classes of philosophy, and was also imbued with the learning of the Latins. But after he emerged from his youth, he immediately sent him to the Chersonese and appointed him over the army that was there, so that the fervor, D pliancy, and appetite for glory of his youth might immediately be satisfied by suitable and productive tasks, and that he might not be swept away and rush toward impulses too little consonant with reason,
and toward the horse races divided by colors, to which youth is for the most part—unless it be occupied in some other more useful pursuit—easily drawn and distracted. A At that time, therefore, when the Huns were encamped upon the Chersonesus and harassing it, this young man did not cease to beat back their attacks and to devise every plan for defense. For he himself, by his own natural industry, most accurately discerned what was most advantageous and appropriate, and he obeyed with the greatest ease the senior men who were with him and who had previously been trained in many feats of war, when they suggested what ought to be done. B When the barbarians had nothing further that they could accomplish—since they were neither, as in a siege, sitting before the ramparts, nor were they intent upon an assault on the walls—they decided to attempt another method by means of an audacious, rash, and peril-filled undertaking, in order to capture the town more quickly, or else to abandon the effort, cease, and return to their own lands. Having therefore collected as many reeds as possible, which were extremely long and as firm and thick as could be, and having assembled them and bound them together with ropes and wisps, they made several rafts. Then, having stretched timbers lengthwise, as if they were crossbeams and benches laid across, not in a continuous series but only around the ends and the very centers of the rafts, and having bound them around with larger ties and joined them together, they fastened and fitted them, pressing them together very tightly, so that perhaps three or four would form one small boat, of a breadth wide enough to receive four rowers, and of such depth that, with weights placed upon it, it might be sufficient for transporting them safely, and by reason of its lightness might not sink. C They constructed at least one hundred and fifty such small boats. And so that they might be more suitable for navigation, they gently curved and bent the front parts of these into the shape of prows, and, imitating beak-heads and naval breastworks, they contrived rowlocks on each side and what were, as it were, natural oar-arrangements.
22. When, therefore, everything had been prepared in this way as well as it could be, they launched all the small boats secretly into the sea, along the western shore of the bay that curves toward the city of Aenus. D Six hundred men embarked in them and, having inserted as much straw as possible into the joints of the reeds, and rowing in a somewhat clumsy manner on that account, they departed to as great a distance as possible from the shore, being well armed and ready for the task. For they thought that, having been carried out into the sea gradually in this way, they would easily overcome
A the bend of the wall as it extended into the deep, and finally proceed without danger to the inner regions, as if these were entirely unprotected by anything except the Hellespont. When Germanus learned these things from his scouts, and understood that the fleet of reeds would not be long in arriving, he mocked the recklessness of the enemy, and indeed rejoiced greatly at it, as if it were a matter that would turn to his own advantage. For he immediately filled twenty light, fast-rowing ships—vessels with prows at both ends—with men in armor, carrying shields and bows and, moreover, grappling-hooks, and having put the rowers and captains on board, he brought them in close, as if in ambush, beneath the inner angle of the wall, which projected out into the sea, so that they could not be seen from a distance. B But when the Barbarians had already passed the prominent and extreme part of the wall that stood out across the shore, and were turning inward, and were advancing with great confidence of spirit, then indeed the Roman ships also pulled out and advanced against them. And as the current assisted them, they descended with their prows head-on, crashing violently into the reed boats. C And certainly these were turned over, driven back by the force of the tide, and they rolled and kept spinning in the salt water, so that those on board could not stand firmly in them, but some were shaken off into the waves and perished, while others were forced to sit down in them, at a loss as to what course of action to take. Those who were still standing were disturbed by the swell, which, while moderate and minimal as far as the movement of ships and small boats was concerned, was nevertheless most difficult for the reeds on account of their lightness. Wherefore they were often lifted high, raised by the convex surge, and then carried back down as it subsided. D The men, therefore, did not even attempt to fight, and there was nothing they desired or struggled for more than to be able just to stand and keep their footing. And in such great commotion and bewilderment were the Barbarians placed, that the Romans, making naval sorties whenever the opportunity allowed, used their own momentum just as in a land battle, and by this method drove many of the enemy off, because they themselves were standing most firmly braced in their own light ships; others they struck at close quarters with their swords and cut down. But when they were too far removed from them, and could not get closer, then they attacked them with long spears, and inserting their hook-shaped grappling-hooks into the ropes with which the reeds happened to be bound together, they cut all of them through in turn, and dissolved the connection. Then, at long last, with the reeds cut apart from one another and floating here and there upon the sea, one was cast in one direction and another in another. As for the Huns, when the foundation of their small boat failed them, they were immediately submerged into the deep, swallowing an unaccustomed drink.
Thus they all perished, and there was not one of them who returned to the continent.
B 23. The Romans, however, immediately gathered the arms of the enemies, as many as were still floating or carried above the water, and having returned to their former positions, they filled the entire army with the greatest pleasure and joy, exulting in their successful outcome. Wherefore, all having gathered together in one place, they thought it necessary to take advantage of the opportunity and the success of the operation for the future as well. A few days later, having taken up arms, they immediately made an excursion from their fortifications and attacked the remaining multitude of Barbarians, who were still grieving over and struck by their recent defeat. B Now Germanus, being very young and not yet able to fully restrain or check the impulses of his nature, but being addicted, beyond measure, to the passion for glory and audacity rather than to prudence and safety, fearlessly attacked the enemies and risked the dangers of the conflict; he did not act in the manner of a commander—urging, inciting, and giving orders—but joined in the fray like a common soldier. Hence, he was struck in the thigh by an arrow, in such a way that he was very nearly forced to withdraw from the battle. Nevertheless, the necessity of the immediate situation and the magnitude of the undertaking conquered the pain; and he did not cease either to fight himself or to hearten the others until he had inflicted great damage C upon the enemy and slaughtered many of them.
Then the battle was broken off, and the Romans returned within their fortifications, judging that it was neither safe nor prudent to engage in a standing battle with the enemy continuously, since they were far inferior in numbers. C The Barbarians, however, were driven to such a state of consternation—partly from the wrecked rafts that were carried about by the sea, and partly because the Romans had made a sudden sally against them—that on that very day they departed from the plains surrounding the Chersonese and reached Zabergan and the crowd around him, the defeated joining the defeated. Those who had been previously sent through Greece did nothing worth mentioning; they made no attack on the Isthmus, nor did they even attempt to cross Thermopylae in the beginning, because the Roman guards stationed there intercepted them. D Therefore, these too departed and set out on the road towards Thrace, intending, as was likely, to join their fellow tribesmen there, and in common, finally, to return to their own lands.
Zabergan and his forces, however, declared that they would not depart before they had carried off a vast amount of gold from the Romans, just as the Utigurs had; and they threatened that they would immediately slaughter the captives unless they were ransomed as quickly as possible by their relatives. But the Emperor sent them as much gold as he judged would suffice for the ransom of the captives, and so that they might thereafter peacefully [leave the region].
Accordingly, they surrendered many others, including Sergius, the son of Bacchus, who was a commander; for he too had been captured a little earlier, having met with some unlucky turn of fate, and was numbered among the captives. Thus they finally ceased their plundering and began their journey home, taking with them, not long after, even those who had arrived from Greece.
A 21. To the citizens of the royal city, such terms did not appear honorable, but rather base and servile; as if it were intolerable that the enemy, who had come very close to the city and mocked it in derision, had not themselves been destroyed with utter ruin, but had, on top of that, carried off gold as a gift, as if we had been the ones who had wronged them. But the Emperor’s mind and counsel had regard for something greater, which, as the event that followed not long after brought about, caused those who had previously accused him to pursue him with great admiration and praises as highly prudent and most sharp-witted. For he had determined that it should be striven for with every art that the enemies should be pitted against one another and clash, and in this way be defeated. And in order that this might come to pass immediately, in the meantime, while Zabergan and his forces were making their journey more slowly, he sent a letter to Sandilch, the other leader of the Huns, who was federated to him and a mercenary. B The argument of the letter was of this sort: "If, being aware of the things which the Cutriguri have attempted against us, you meanwhile remain quiet of your own accord, I should rightly marvel both at your perfidy, and at ourselves for not having sufficiently explored your spirit, but having erred in our judgment and choice. But if you are still ignorant of these things, this is to be pardoned; yet you will be unable to prove to us your ignorance of past events by any other means than this alone: if you do not neglect them hereafter. For they have arrived here, not with the intention and purpose (unless perhaps this was an accessory to their journey) of ravaging my dominions, but to demonstrate by their deeds that we have been deceived by slighting those who are superior and stronger, since we preferred to trust in you; for they do not deem it tolerable if anyone should call them equals and rivals to the Utiguri, C nor even if they surpass them in some small matter, much less in very great ones. Therefore, they did not cease roaming through Thrace until they had carried off all the gold which we are accustomed to bestow upon you each year by way of pay; and yet it was easy for us to destroy them all utterly, or at the very least D to send them away empty-handed."
But we have nevertheless forborne in both, wishing to put your intentions to the test. If you are truly stronger and wiser, and A such a man as not to permit those who despoil you of your own to go unpunished, then even now you will not fare any worse. For the opportunity is afforded you right now to exact vengeance upon your enemies, and, having been victorious in battle, to receive your own pay as if it had been sent to you through their own hands. But if, even after having been insulted by them in such a way, you prefer to remain quiet, yielding, I suspect, to a most disgraceful sloth, you, my good man, will be deprived of payment, while what we had intended for you will be given to them. And for the future, if you think best, put aside your high spirit and learn to yield to your superiors. For know well, most noble sir, that we shall also transfer to them the treaties which we had concluded with you and your nation. For it would be utter madness to do otherwise, and to come into a partnership of ignominy with the defeated, when it is permitted to join with the victors.
B 25. When Sandilch had heard these words read through interpreters, he was immediately angered and raged, and was quite unable to restrain his fury; rather, on that very day, he rushed out to avenge the insult which the Cotriguri had offered him. For how could a mind so barbarian, arrogant, and ever intent on gain fail to be easily incited by such words? Consequently, having set his army in motion, he first of all suddenly invaded the hostile territories, and having struck the inhabitants with an unexpected assault, he carried off a great number of women and children as captives. Then, he also made a surprise attack on those returning from Thrace who had recently crossed the river Ister, and after killing very many of them, he seized all the money and the rest of the plunder from them. Those, however, who escaped from these, when they had with difficulty betaken themselves to their own people and joined with the rest of their forces, drew up in battle array against their enemies, and thus for a long time they were subsequently occupied in mutual slaughter and confirmed their enmities. For at one time they made incursions and gathered booty, and at another they contended in open battle, until, with their strengths both broken and collapsed on both sides, they were utterly subverted and destroyed, to such a degree that they even lost their native appellation. To such a calamity, indeed, were those Hunnish nations reduced, that if any part of them still remains, it serves others in a scattered state and has received its name from them; to such an extent, at any rate, did they pay the atrocious penalties for their past impiety. The final overthrow and annihilation of these nations, however, occurred some time later, and I shall relate each detail as appropriate, C as far as possible in accordance with the sequence of events. While the sedition was still prospering and was being reported at Byzantium, then at last it was acknowledged by all, and it became most clearly manifest, how great was the Emperor's prudence and the rectitude of his counsel, since, as the barbarians were destroying one another, he, without moving his arms at all, conquered entirely by his counsel in both turns of the war and realized his hope. For when they were struggling—