Book VI. xxx. 30.

HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK II

THE PERSIAN WAR (_Continued_)

HISTORY OF THE WARS: BOOK II

THE PERSIAN WAR (_Continued_)

I

Not long after this Chosroes, upon learning that Belisarius had begun to

win Italy also for the Emperor Justinian, was no longer able to restrain

his thoughts but he wished to discover pretexts, in order that he might

break the treaty on some grounds which would seem plausible. And he

conferred with Alamoundaras concerning this matter and commanded him to

provide causes for war. So Alamoundaras brought against Arethas, the

charge that he, Arethas, was doing him violence in a matter of boundary

lines, and he entered into conflict with him in time of peace, and began

to overrun the land of the Romans on this pretext. And he declared that,

as for him, he was not breaking the treaty between the Persians and

Romans, for neither one of them had included him in it. And this was

true. For no mention of Saracens was ever made in treaties, on the

ground that they were included under the names of Persians and Romans.

Now this country which at that time was claimed by both tribes of

Saracens[1] is called Strata, and extends to the south of the city of

Palmyra; nowhere does it produce a single tree or any of the useful

growth of corn-lands, for it is burned exceedingly dry by the sun, but

from of old it has been devoted to the pasturage of some few flocks. Now

Arethas maintained that the place belonged to the Romans, proving his

assertion by the name which has long been applied to it by all (for

Strata signifies "a paved road" in the Latin tongue), and he also

adduced the testimonies of men of the oldest times. Alamoundaras,

however, was by no means inclined to quarrel concerning the name, but he

claimed that tribute had been given him from of old for the pasturage

there by the owners of the flocks. The Emperor Justinian therefore

entrusted the settlement of the disputed points to Strategius; a

patrician and administrator of the royal treasures, and besides a man of

wisdom and of good ancestry, and with him Summus, who had commanded the

troops in Palestine. This Summus was the brother of Julian, who not long

before had served as envoy to the Aethiopians and Homeritae. And the one

of them, Summus, insisted that the Romans ought not to surrender the

country, but Strategius begged of the emperor that he should not do the

Persians the favour of providing them with pretexts for the war which

they already desired, for the sake of a small bit of land and one of

absolutely no account, but altogether unproductive and unsuitable for

crops. The Emperor Justinian, therefore, took the matter under

consideration, and a long time was spent in the settlement of the

question.

But Chosroes, the King of the Persians, claimed that the treaty had been

broken by Justinian, who had lately displayed great opposition to his

house, in that he had attempted in time of peace to attach Alamoundaras

to himself. For, as he said, Summus, who had recently gone to the

Saracen ostensibly to arrange matters, had hoodwinked him by promises of

large sums of money on condition that he should join the Romans, and he

brought forward a letter which, he alleged, the Emperor Justinian had

written to Alamoundaras concerning these things. He also declared that

he had sent a letter to some of the Huns, in which he urged them to

invade the land of the Persians and to do extensive damage to the

country thereabout. This letter he asserted to have been put into his

hands by the Huns themselves who had come before him. So then Chosroes,

with these charges against the Romans, was purposing to break off the

treaty. But as to whether he was speaking the truth in these matters, I

am not able to say.

II

At this point Vittigis, the leader of the Goths, already worsted in the

war, sent two envoys to him to persuade him to march against the Romans;

but the men whom he sent were not Goths, in order that the real

character of the embassy might not be at once obvious and so make

negotiations useless, but Ligurian priests who were attracted to this

enterprise by rich gifts of money. One of these men, who seemed to be

the more worthy, undertook the embassy assuming the pretended name of

bishop which did not belong to him at all, while the other followed as

his attendant. And when in the course of the journey they came to the

land of Thrace, they attached to themselves a man from there to be an

interpreter of the Syriac and the Greek tongues, and without being

detected by any of the Romans, they reached the land of Persia. For

inasmuch as they were at peace, they were not keeping a strict guard

over that region. And coming before Chosroes they spoke as follows: "It

is true, O King, that all other envoys undertake their task for the sake

of advantages to themselves as a rule, but we have been sent by

Vittigis, the king of the Goths and the Italians, in order to speak in

behalf of thy kingdom; and consider that he is now present before thee

speaking these words. If anyone should say, O King, putting all in a

word, that thou hast given up thy kingdom and all men everywhere to

Justinian, he would be speaking correctly. For since he is by nature a

meddler and a lover of those things which in no way belong to him, and

is not able to abide by the settled order of things, he has conceived

the desire of seizing upon the whole earth, and has become eager to

acquire for himself each and every state. Accordingly (since he was

neither able alone to assail the Persians, nor with the Persians

opposing him to proceed against the others), he decided to deceive thee

with the pretence of peace, and by forcing the others to subjection to

acquire mighty forces against thy state. Therefore, after having already

destroyed the kingdom of the Vandals and subjugated the Moors, while the

Goths because of their friendship stood aside for him, he has come

against us bringing vast sums of money and many men. Now it is evident

that, if he is able also to crush the Goths utterly, he will with us and

those already enslaved march against the Persians, neither considering

the name of friendship nor blushing before any of his sworn promises.

While, therefore, some hope of safety is still left thee, do not do us

any further wrong nor suffer it thyself, but see in our misfortunes what

will a little later befall the Persians; and consider that the Romans

could never be well-disposed to thy kingdom, and that when they become

more powerful, they will not hesitate at all to display their enmity

toward the Persians. Use, therefore, this good chance while the time

fits, lest thou seek for it after it has ceased. For when once the time

of opportunity has passed, it is not its nature to return again. And it

is better by anticipating to be in security, than by delaying beyond the

opportune time to suffer the most miserable fate possible at the hands

of the enemy."

When Chosroes heard this, it seemed to him that Vittigis advised well,

and he was still more eager to break off the treaty. For, moved as he

was by envy toward the Emperor Justinian, he neglected completely to

consider that the words were spoken to him by men who were bitter

enemies of Justinian. But because he wished the thing he willingly

consented to be persuaded. And he did the very same thing a little later

in the case of the addresses of the Armenians and of the Lazi, which

will be spoken of directly. And yet they were bringing as charges

against Justinian the very things which would naturally be encomiums for

a worthy monarch, namely that he was exerting himself to make his realm

larger and much more splendid. For these accusations one might make also

against Cyrus, the King of the Persians, and Alexander, the Macedonian.

But justice is never accustomed to dwell together with envy. For these

reasons, then, Chosroes was purposing to break off the treaty.

III

At this same time another event also occurred; it was as follows. That

Symeon who had given Pharangium into the hands of the Romans persuaded

the Emperor Justinian, while the war was still at its height, to present

him with certain villages of Armenia. And becoming master of these

places, he was plotted against and murdered by those who had formerly

possessed them. After this crime had been committed, the perpetrators of

the murder fled into the land of Persia. They were two brothers, sons of

Perozes. And when the Emperor heard this, he gave over the villages to

Amazaspes, the nephew of Symeon, and appointed him ruler over the

Armenians. This Amazaspes, as time went on, was denounced to the Emperor

Justinian by one of his friends, Acacius by name, on the ground that he

was abusing the Armenians and wished to give over to the Persians

Theodosiopolis and certain other fortresses. After telling this,

Acacius, by the emperor's will, slew Amazaspes treacherously, and

himself secured the command over the Armenians by the gift of the

emperor. And being base by nature, he gained the opportunity of

displaying his inward character, and he proved to be the most cruel of

all men toward his subjects. For he plundered their property without

excuse and ordained that they should pay an unheard-of tax of four

centenaria[2]. But the Armenians, unable to bear him any longer,

conspired together and slew Acacius and fled for refuge to Pharangium.

Therefore the emperor sent Sittas against them from Byzantium. For

Sittas had been delaying there since the time when the treaty was made

with the Persians. So he came to Armenia, but at first he entered upon

the war reluctantly and exerted himself to calm the people and to

restore the population to their former habitations, promising to

persuade the emperor to remit to them the payment of the new tax. But

since the emperor kept assailing him with frequent reproaches for his

hesitation, led on by the slanders of Adolius, the son of Acacius,

Sittas at last made his preparations for the conflict. First of all he

attempted by means of promises of many good things to win over some of

the Armenians by persuasion and to attach them to his cause, in order

that the task of overpowering the others might be attended with less

difficulty and toil. And the tribe called the Aspetiani, great in power

and in numbers, was willing to join him. And they went to Sittas and

begged him to give them pledges in writing that, if they abandoned their

kinsmen in the battle and came to the Roman army, they should remain

entirely free from harm, retaining their own possessions. Now Sittas was

delighted and wrote to them in tablets, giving them pledges just as they

desired of him; he then sealed the writing and sent it to them. Then,

confident that by their help he would be victorious in the war without

fighting, he went with his whole army to a place called Oenochalakon,

where the Armenians had their camp. But by some chance those who carried

the tablets went by another road and did not succeed at all in meeting

the Aspetiani. Moreover a portion of the Roman army happened upon some

few of them, and not knowing the agreement which had been made, treated

them as enemies. And Sittas himself caught some of their women and

children in a cave and slew them, either because he did not understand

what had happened or because he was angry with the Aspetiani for not

joining him as had been agreed.

But they, being now possessed with anger, arrayed themselves for battle

with all the rest. But since both armies were on exceedingly difficult

ground where precipices abounded, they did not fight in one place, but

scattered about among the ridges and ravines. So it happened that some

few of the Armenians and Sittas with not many of his followers came

close upon each other, with only a ravine lying between them. Both

parties were horsemen. Then Sittas with a few men following him crossed

the ravine and advanced against the enemy; the Armenians, after

withdrawing to the rear, stopped, and Sittas pursued no further but

remained where he was. Suddenly someone from the Roman army, an Erulian

by birth, who had been pursuing the enemy, returning impetuously from

them came up to Sittas and his men. Now as it happened Sittas had

planted his spear in the ground; and the Erulian's horse fell upon this

with a great rush and shattered it. And the general was exceedingly

annoyed by this, and one of the Armenians, seeing him, recognized him

and declared to all the others that it was Sittas. For it happened that

he had no helmet on his head. Thus it did not escape the enemy that he

had come there with only a few men. Sittas, then, upon hearing the

Armenian say this, since his spear, as has been said, lay broken in two

on the ground, drew his sword and attempted immediately to recross the

ravine. But the enemy advanced upon him with great eagerness, and a

soldier overtaking him in the ravine struck him a glancing blow with his

sword on the top of his head; and he took off the whole scalp, but the

steel did not injure the bone at all. And Sittas continued to press

forward still more than before, but Artabanes, son of John of the

Arsacidae, fell upon him from behind and with a thrust of his spear

killed him. Thus Sittas was removed from the world after no notable

fashion, in a manner unworthy of his valour and his continual

achievements against the enemy, a man who was extremely handsome in

appearance and a capable warrior, and a general second to none of his

contemporaries. But some say that Sittas did not die at the hand of

Artabanes, but that Solomon, a very insignificant man among the

Armenians, destroyed him.

After the death of Sittas the emperor commanded Bouzes to go against the

Armenians; and he, upon drawing near, sent to them promising to effect a

reconciliation between the emperor and all the Armenians, and asking

that some of their notables should come to confer with him on these

matters. Now the Armenians as a whole were unable to trust Bouzes nor

were they willing to receive his proposals. But there was a certain man

of the Arsacidae who was especially friendly with him, John by name, the

father of Artabanes, and this man, trusting in Bouzes as his friend came

to him with his son-in-law, Bassaces, and a few others; but when these

men had reached the spot where they were to meet Bouzes on the following

day, and had made their bivouac there, they perceived that they had come

into a place surrounded by the Roman army. Bassaces, the son-in-law,

therefore earnestly entreated John to fly. And since he was not able to

persuade him, he left him there alone, and in company with all the

others eluded the Romans, and went back again by the same road. And

Bouzes found John alone and slew him; and since after this the Armenians

had no hope of ever reaching an agreement with the Romans, and since

they were unable to prevail over the emperor in war, they came before

the Persian king led by Bassaces, an energetic man. And the leading men

among them came at that time into the presence of Chosroes and spoke as

follows: "Many of us, O Master, are Arsacidae, descendants of that

Arsaces who was not unrelated to the Parthian kings when the Persian

realm lay under the hand of the Parthians, and who proved himself an

illustrious king, inferior to none of his time. Now we have come to

thee, and all of us have become slaves and fugitives, not, however, of

our own will, but under most hard constraint, as it might seem by reason

of the Roman power, but in truth, O King, by reason of thy

decision,--if, indeed, he who gives the strength to those who wish to do

injustice should himself justly bear also the blame of their misdeeds.

Now we shall begin our account from a little distance back in order that

you may be able to follow the whole course of events. Arsaces, the last

king of our ancestors, abdicated his throne willingly in favour of

Theodosius, the Roman Emperor, on condition that all who should belong

to his family through all time should live unhampered in every respect,

and in particular should in no case be subject to taxation. And we have

preserved the agreement, until you, the Persians, made this much-vaunted

treaty, which, as we think, one would not err in calling a sort of

common destruction. For from that time, disregarding friend and foe, he

who is in name thy friend, O King, but in fact thy enemy, has turned

everything in the world upside down and wrought complete confusion. And

this thou thyself shalt know at no distant time, as soon as he is able

to subdue completely the people of the West. For what thing which was

before forbidden has he not done? or what thing which was well

established has he not disturbed? Did he not ordain for us the payment

of a tax which did not exist before, and has he not enslaved our

neighbours, the Tzani, who were autonomous, and has he not set over the

king of the wretched Lazi a Roman magistrate?--an act neither in keeping

with the natural order of things nor very easy to explain in words. Has

he not sent generals to the men of Bosporus, the subjects of the Huns,

and attached to himself the city which in no way belongs to him, and has

he not made a defensive alliance with the Aethiopian kingdoms, of which

the Romans had never even heard? More than this he has made the

Homeritae his possession and the Red Sea, and he is adding the Palm

Groves to the Roman dominion. We omit to speak of the fate of the

Libyans and of the Italians. The whole earth is not large enough for the

man; it is too small a thing for him to conquer all the world together.

But he is even looking about the heavens and is searching the retreats

beyond the ocean, wishing to gain for himself some other world. Why,

therefore, O King, dost thou still delay? Why dost thou respect that

most accursed peace, in order forsooth that he may make thee the last

morsel of all? If it is thy wish to learn what kind of a man Justinian

would shew himself toward those who yield to him, the example is to be

sought near at hand from ourselves and from the wretched Lazi; and if

thou wishest to see how he is accustomed to treat those who are unknown

to him and who have done him not the least wrong, consider the Vandals

and the Goths and the Moors. But the chief thing has not yet been

spoken. Has he not made efforts in time of peace to win over by

deception thy slave, Alamoundaras, O most mighty King, and to detach him

from thy kingdom, and has he not striven recently to attach to himself

the Huns who are utterly unknown to him, in order to make trouble for

thee? And yet an act more strange than this has not been performed in

all time. For since he perceived, as I think, that the overthrow of the

western world would speedily be accomplished, he has already taken in

hand to assail you of the East, since the Persian power alone has been

left for him to grapple with. The peace, therefore, as far as concerns

him, has already been broken for thee, and he himself has set an end to

the endless peace. For they break the peace, not who may be first in

arms, but they who may be caught plotting against their neighbours in

time of peace. For the crime has been committed by him who attempts it,

even though success be lacking. Now as for the course which the war will

follow, this is surely clear to everyone. For it is not those who

furnish causes for war, but those who defend themselves against those

who furnish them, who are accustomed always to conquer their enemies.

Nay more, the contest will not be evenly matched for us even in point of

strength. For, as it happens, the majority of the Roman soldiers are at

the end of the world, and as for the two generals who were the best they

had, we come here having slain the one, Sittas, and Belisarius will

never again be seen by Justinian. For disregarding his master, he has

remained in the West, holding the power of Italy himself. So that when

thou goest against the enemy, no one at all will confront thee, and thou

wilt have us leading the army with good will, as is natural, and with a

thorough knowledge of the country." When Chosroes heard this he was

pleased, and calling together all who were of noble blood among the

Persians, he disclosed to all of them what Vittigis had written and what

the Armenians had said, and laid before them the question as to what

should be done. Then many opinions were expressed inclining to either

side, but finally it was decided that they must open hostilities against

the Romans at the beginning of spring. [539 A.D.] For it was the late

autumn season, in the thirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor

Justinian. The Romans, however, did not suspect this, nor did they think

that the Persians would ever break the so-called endless peace, although

they heard that Chosroes blamed their emperor for his successes in the

West, and that he preferred against him the charges which I have lately

mentioned.

IV

[539 A.D.] At that time also the comet appeared, at first about as long

as a tall man, but later much larger. And the end of it was toward the

west and its beginning toward the east, and it followed behind the sun

itself. For the sun was in Capricorn and it was in Sagittarius. And some

called it "the swordfish" because it was of goodly length and very sharp

at the point, and others called it "the bearded star"; it was seen for

more than forty days. Now those who were wise in these matters disagreed

utterly with each other, and one announced that one thing, another that

another thing was indicated by this star; but I only write what took

place and I leave to each one to judge by the outcome as he wishes.

Straightway a mighty Hunnic army crossing the Danube River fell as a

scourge upon all Europe, a thing which had happened many times before,

but which had never brought such a multitude of woes nor such dreadful

ones to the people of that land. For from the Ionian Gulf these

barbarians plundered everything in order as far as the suburbs of

Byzantium. And they captured thirty-two fortresses in Illyricum, and

they carried by storm the city of Cassandria (which the ancients called

Potidaea, as far as we know), never having fought against walls before.

And taking with them the money and leading away one hundred and twenty

thousand captives, they all retired homeward without encountering any

opposition. In later times too they often came there and brought upon

the Romans irreparable calamity. This same people also assailed the wall

of the Chersonesus, where they overpowered those who were defending

themselves from the wall, and approaching through the surf of the sea,

scaled the fortifications on the so-called Black Gulf; thus they got

within the long wall, and falling unexpectedly upon the Romans in the

Chersonesus they slew many of them and made prisoners of almost all the

survivors. Some few of them also crossed the strait between Sestus and

Abydus, and after plundering the Asiatic country, they returned again to

the Chersonesus, and with the rest of the army and all the booty betook

themselves to their homes. In another invasion they plundered Illyricum

and Thessaly and attempted to storm the wall at Thermopylae; and since

the guards on the walls defended them most valiantly, they sought out

the ways around and unexpectedly found the path which leads up the

mountain which rises there[3]. In this way they destroyed almost all the

Greeks except the Peloponnesians, and then withdrew. And the Persians

not long afterwards broke off the treaty and wrought such harm to the

Romans of the East as I shall set forth immediately.

Belisarius, after humbling Vittigis, the king of the Goths and Italians,

brought him alive to Byzantium. And I shall now proceed to tell how the

army of the Persians invaded the land of the Romans. When the Emperor

Justinian perceived that Chosroes was eager for war, he wished to offer

him some counsel and to dissuade him from the undertaking. Now it

happened that a certain man had come to Byzantium from the city of

Daras, Anastasius by name, well known for his sagacity; he it was who

had broken the tyranny which had been established recently in Daras.

Justinian therefore wrote a letter and sent it by this Anastasius to

Chosroes; and the message of the letter was as follows: "It is the part

of men of discretion and those by whom divine things are treated with

due respect, when causes of war arise, and in particular against men who

are in the truest sense friends, to exert all their power to put an end

to them; but it belongs to foolish men and those who most lightly bring

on themselves the enmity of Heaven to devise occasions for war and

insurrection which have no real existence. Now to destroy peace and

enter upon war is not a difficult matter, since the nature of things is

such as to make the basest activities easy for the most dishonourable

men. But when they have brought about war according to their intention,

to return again to peace is for men, I think, not easy. And yet thou

chargest me with writing letters which were not written with any dark

purpose, and thou hast now made haste to interpret these with arbitrary

judgment, not in the sense in which we conceived them when we wrote

them, but in a way which will be of advantage to thee in thy eagerness

to carry out thy plans not without some pretext. But for us it is

possible to point out that thy Alamoundaras recently overran our land

and performed outrageous deeds in time of peace, to wit, the capture of

towns, the seizure of property, the massacre and enslavement of such a

multitude of men, concerning which it will be thy duty not to blame us,

but to defend thyself. For the crimes of those who have done wrong are

made manifest to their neighbours by their acts, not by their thoughts.

But even with these things as they are, we have still decided to hold to

peace, but we hear that thou in thy eagerness to make war upon the

Romans art fabricating accusations which do not belong to us at all.

Natural enough, this; for while those who are eager to preserve the

present order of things repel even those charges against their friends

which are most pressing, those who are not satisfied with established

friendships exert themselves to provide even pretexts which do not

exist. But this would not seem to be becoming even to ordinary men, much

less to kings. But leaving aside these things do thou consider the

number of those who will be destroyed on both sides in the course of the

war, and consider well who will justly bear the blame for those things

which will come to pass, and ponder upon the oaths which thou didst take

when thou didst carry away the money, and consider that if, after that,

thou wrongly dishonour them by some tricks or sophistries, thou wouldst

not be able to pervert them; for Heaven is too mighty to be deceived by

any man." When Chosroes saw this message, he neither made any immediate

answer nor did he dismiss Anastasius, but he compelled him to remain

there.

V

[540 A.D.] When the winter was already reaching its close, and the

thirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian was ending,

Chosroes, son of Cabades, invaded the land of the Romans at the opening

of spring with a mighty army, and openly broke the so-called endless

peace. But he did not enter by the country between the rivers, but

advanced with the Euphrates on his right. On the other side of the river

stands the last Roman stronghold which is called Circesium, an

exceedingly strong place, since the River Aborras, a large stream, has

its mouth at this point and mingles with the Euphrates, and this

fortress lies exactly in the angle which is made by the junction of the

two rivers. And a long second wall outside the fortress cuts off the

land between the two rivers, and completes the form of a triangle around

Circesium. Chosroes, therefore, not wishing to make trial of so strong a

fortress and not having in mind to cross the River Euphrates, but rather

to go against the Syrians and Cilicians, without any hesitation led his

army forward, and after advancing for what, to an unencumbered

traveller, is about a three-days' journey along the bank of the

Euphrates, he came upon the city of Zenobia; this place Zenobia had

built in former times, and, as was natural, she gave her name to the

city. Now Zenobia was the wife of Odonathus, the ruler of the Saracens

of that region, who had been on terms of peace with the Romans from of

old. This Odonathus rescued for the Romans the Eastern Empire when it

had come under the power of the Medes; but this took place in former

times. Chosroes then came near to Zenobia, but upon learning that the

place was not important and observing that the land was untenanted and

destitute of all good things, he feared lest any time spent by him there

would be wasted on an affair of no consequence and would be a hindrance

to great undertakings, and he attempted to force the place to surrender.

But meeting with no success, he hastened his march forward.

After again accomplishing a journey of equal extent, he reached the city

of Sura, which is on the River Euphrates, and stopped very close to it.

There it happened that the horse on which Chosroes was riding neighed

and stamped the ground with his foot. And the Magi considered the

meaning of this incident and announced that the place would be captured.

Chosroes then made camp and led his army against the fortifications to

assail the wall. Now it happened that a certain Arsaces, an Armenian by

birth, was commander of the soldiers in the town; and he made the

soldiers mount the parapets, and fighting from there most valiantly slew

many of the enemy, but was himself struck by an arrow and died. And

then, since it was late in the day, the Persians retired to their camp

in order to assail the wall again on the following day; but the Romans

were in despair since their leader was dead, and were purposing to make

themselves suppliants of Chosroes. On the following day, therefore, they

sent the bishop of the city to plead for them and to beg that the town

be spared; so he took with him some of his attendants, who carried fowls

and wine and clean loaves, and came before Chosroes; there he threw

himself on the ground, and with tears supplicated him to spare a

pitiable population and a city altogether without honour in the eyes of

the Romans, and one which in past times had never been of any account to

the Persians, and which never would be such thereafter; and he promised

that the men of Sura would give him ransom worthy of themselves and the

city which they inhabited. But Chosroes was angry with the townsmen

because, being the first he had met of all the Romans, they had not

willingly received him into their city, but even daring to raise their

arms against him had slain a large number of Persian notables. However

he did not disclose his anger, but carefully concealed it behind a

smooth countenance, in order that by carrying out the punishment of the

inhabitants of Sura he might make himself in the eyes of the Romans a

fearful person and one not to be resisted. For by acting in this way he

calculated that those who would from time to time come in his way would

yield to him without trouble. Accordingly with great friendliness he

caused the bishop to rise, and receiving the gifts, gave the impression,

in a way, that he would immediately confer with the notables of the

Persians concerning the ransom of the townsmen, and would settle their

request favourably. Thus he dismissed the bishop and his following

without any suspicion of the plot, and he sent with him certain of the

men of note among the Persians, who were to be ostensibly an escort.

These men he secretly commanded to go with him as far as the wall,

encouraging him and cheering him with fair hopes, so that he and all

those with him should be seen by those inside rejoicing and fearing

nothing. But when the guards had set the gate open and were about to

receive them into the city, they were to throw a stone or block of wood

between the threshold and the gate and not allow them to shut it, but

should themselves for a time stand in the way of those who wished to

close it; for not long afterwards the army would follow them.

After giving these directions to the men Chosroes made ready the army,

and commanded them to advance upon the city on the run whenever he

should give the signal. So when they came close to the fortifications,

the Persians bade farewell to the bishop and remained outside, and the

townsmen, seeing that the man was exceedingly happy and that he was

being escorted in great honour by the enemy, forgetting all their

difficulties opened the gate wide, and received the priest and his

following with clapping of hands and much shouting. And when all got

inside, the guards began to push the gate in order to close it, but the

Persians flung down a stone, which they had provided, between it and the

threshold. And the guards pushed and struggled still more, but were

quite unable to get the gate back to the threshold. On the other hand

they dared not open it again, since they perceived that it was held by

the enemy. But some say that it was not a stone but a block of wood

which the Persians threw into the gateway. When the townsmen had as yet

scarcely realized the plot, Chosroes was at hand with his whole army,

and the barbarians forced back and flung open the gate, which was soon

carried by storm. Straightway, then, Chosroes, filled with wrath,

plundered the houses and put to death great numbers of the population;

all the remainder he reduced to slavery, and setting fire to the whole

city razed it to the ground. Then he dismissed Anastasius, bidding him

announce to the Emperor Justinian where in the world he had left

Chosroes, son of Cabades.

Afterwards either through motives of humanity or of avarice, or as

granting a favour to a woman whom he had taken as a captive from the

city, Euphemia by name, Chosroes decided to shew some kindness to the

inhabitants of Sura; for he had conceived for this woman an

extraordinary love (for she was exceedingly beautiful to look upon), and

had made her his wedded wife. He sent, accordingly, to Sergiopolis, a

city subject to the Romans, named from Sergius, a famous saint, distant

from the captured city one hundred and twenty-six stades and lying to

the south of it in the so-called Barbarian Plain, and bade Candidus, the

bishop of the city, purchase the captives, twelve thousand in number,

for two centenaria. But the bishop, alleging that he had no money,

refused absolutely to undertake the matter. Chosroes therefore requested

him to set down in a document the agreement that he would give the money

at a later time, and thus to purchase for a small sum such a multitude

of slaves. Candidus did as directed, promising to give the money within

a year, and swore the most dire oaths, specifying that he should receive

the following punishment if he should not give the money at the time

agreed upon, that he should pay double the amount and should himself be

no longer a priest, as one who had neglected his sworn promise. And

after setting down these things in writing, Candidus received all the

inhabitants of Sura. And some few among them survived, but the majority,

unable to support the misery which had fallen to their lot, succumbed

soon afterwards. After the settlement of this affair Chosroes led his

army forward.

VI

It had happened a little before this that the emperor had divided into

two parts the military command of the East, leaving the portion as far

as the River Euphrates under the control of Belisarius who formerly held

the command of the whole, while the portion from there as far as the

Persian boundary he entrusted to Bouzes, commanding him to take charge

of the whole territory of the East until Belisarius should return from

Italy. Bouzes therefore at first remained at Hierapolis, keeping his

whole army with him; but when he learned what had befallen Sura, he

called together the first men of the Hierapolitans and spoke as follows:

"Whenever men are confronted with a struggle against an assailant with

whom they are evenly matched in strength, it is not at all unreasonable

that they should engage in open conflict with the enemy; but for those

who are by comparison much inferior to their opponents it will be more

advantageous to circumvent their enemy by some kind of tricks than to

array themselves openly against them and thus enter into foreseen

danger. How great, now, the army of Chosroes is you are assuredly

informed. And if, with this army, he wishes to capture us by siege, and

if we carry on the fight from the wall, it is probable that, while our

supplies will fail us, the Persians will secure all they need from our

land, where there will be no one to oppose them. And if the siege is

prolonged in this way, I believe too that the fortification wall will

not withstand the assaults of the enemy, for in many places it is most

susceptible to attack, and thus irreparable harm will come to the

Romans. But if with a portion of the army we guard the wall of the city,

while the rest of us occupy the heights about the city, we shall make

attacks from there at times upon the camp of our antagonists, and at

times upon those who are sent out for the sake of provisions, and thus

compel Chosroes to abandon the siege immediately and to make his retreat

within a short time; for he will not be at all able to direct his attack

without fear against the fortifications, nor to provide any of the

necessities for so great an army." So spoke Bouzes; and in his words he

seemed to set forth the advantageous course of action, but of what was

necessary he did nothing. For he chose out all that portion of the Roman

army which was of marked excellence and was off. And where in the world

he was neither any of the Romans in Hierapolis, nor the hostile army was

able to learn. Such, then, was the course of these events.

But the Emperor Justinian, upon learning of the inroad of the Persians,

immediately sent his nephew Germanus with three hundred followers in

great disorder, promising that after no great time a numerous army would

follow. And Germanus, upon reaching Antioch, went around the whole

circuit of the wall; and the greater part of it he found secure, for

along that portion of it which lies on the level ground the River

Orontes flows, making it everywhere difficult of access, and the portion

which is on higher ground rises upon steep hills and is quite

inaccessible to the enemy; but when he attained the highest point, which

the men of that place are accustomed to call Orocasias, he noticed that

the wall at that point was very easy to assail. For there happens to be

in that place a rock, which spreads out to a very considerable width,

and rises to a height only a little less than the fortifications. He

therefore commanded that they should either cut off the rock by making a

deep ditch along the wall, lest anyone should essay to mount from there

upon the fortifications, or that they should build upon it a great tower

and connect its structure with the wall of the city. But to the

architects of public buildings it seemed that neither one of these

things should be done. For, as they said, the work would not be

completed in a short time with the attack of the enemy so imminent,

while if they began this work and did not carry it to completion, they

would do nothing else than shew to the enemy at what point in the wall

they should make their attack. Germanus, though disappointed in this

plan, had some hope at first because he expected an army from Byzantium.

But when, after considerable time had passed, no army arrived from the

emperor nor was expected to arrive, he began to fear lest Chosroes,

learning that the emperor's nephew was there, would consider it more

important than any other thing to capture Antioch and himself, and for

this reason would neglect everything else and come against the city with

his whole army. The natives of Antioch also had these things in mind,

and they held a council concerning them, at which it seemed most

advisable to offer money to Chosroes and thus escape the present danger.

Accordingly they sent Megas, the bishop of Beroea, a man of discretion

who at that time happened to be tarrying among them, to beg for mercy

from Chosroes; and departing from there he came upon the Median army not

far from Hierapolis. And coming into the presence of Chosroes, he

entreated him earnestly to have pity upon men who had committed no

offence against him and who were not able to hold out against the

Persian army. For it was becoming to a king least of all men to trample

upon and do violence to those who retreated before him and were quite

unwilling to array themselves against him; for not one of the things

which he was then doing was a kingly or honourable act, because, without

affording any time for consideration to the Roman emperor, so that he

might either make the peace secure as might seem well to both

sovereigns, or make his preparations for war in accordance with a mutual

agreement, as was to be expected, he had thus recklessly advanced in

arms against the Romans, while their emperor did not as yet know what

had come upon them. When Chosroes heard this, he was utterly unable by

reason of his stupidity to order his mind with reason and discretion,

but still more than before he was lifted up in spirit. He therefore

threatened to destroy all the Syrians and Cilicians, and bidding Megas

follow him, he led his army to Hierapolis. When he had come there and

established his camp, since he saw that the fortifications were strong

and learned that the city was well garrisoned with soldiers, he demanded

money from the Hierapolitans, sending to them Paulus as interpreter.

This Paulus had been reared in Roman territory and had gone to an

elementary school in Antioch, and besides he was said to be by birth of

Roman extraction. But in spite of everything the inhabitants were

exceedingly fearful for the fortifications, which embraced a large tract

of land as far as the hill which rises there, and besides they wished to

preserve their land unplundered; accordingly they agreed to give two

thousand pounds of silver. Then indeed Megas entreated Chosroes in

behalf of all the inhabitants of the East, and would not cease his

entreaty, until Chosroes promised him that he would accept ten

centenaria of gold and depart from the whole Roman empire.

VII

Thus, then, on that day Megas departed thence and went on the way to

Antioch, while Chosroes after receiving the ransom was moving toward

Beroea. This city lies between Antioch and Hierapolis, at a distance

from both of two-days' journey for an unencumbered traveller. Now while

Megas, who travelled with a small company, advanced very quickly, the

Persian army was accomplishing only one half of the distance which he

travelled each day. And so on the fourth day he reached Antioch, while

the Persians came to the suburb of Beroea. And Chosroes immediately sent

Paulus and demanded money of the Beroeans, not only as much as he had

received from the Hierapolitans, but double the amount, since he saw

that their wall in many places was very vulnerable. As for the Beroeans,

since they could by no means place confidence in their fortifications,

they gladly agreed to give all, but after giving two thousand pounds of

silver, they said that they were not able to give the remainder. And

since Chosroes pressed them on this account, on the following night all

of them fled for refuge into the fortress which is on the acropolis

together with the soldiers who had been stationed there to guard the

place. And on the following day men were sent to the city by Chosroes in

order to receive the money; but on coming near the fortifications they

found all the gates closed, and being unable to discover any man, they

reported the situation to the king. And he commanded them to set ladders

against the wall and to make trial of mounting it, and they did as

directed. Then since no one opposed them, they got inside the

fortifications and opened the gates at their leisure, and received into

the city the whole army and Chosroes himself. By this time the king was

furious with anger and he fired nearly the whole city. He then mounted

the acropolis and decided to storm the fortress. There indeed the Roman

soldiers while valiantly defending themselves slew some of the enemy;

but Chosroes was greatly favoured by fortune by reason of the folly of

the besieged, who had not sought refuge in this fortress by themselves,

but along with all their horses and other animals, and by this

inconsiderate act they were placed at a great disadvantage and began to

be in danger. For since there was only one spring there and the horses

and mules and other animals drank from it when they should not have done

so, it came about that the water was exhausted. Such, then, was the

situation of the Beroeans.

Megas, upon reaching Antioch and announcing the terms arranged by him

with Chosroes, failed utterly to persuade them to carry out this

agreement. For it happened that the Emperor Justinian had sent John, the

son of Rufinus, and Julian, his private[4] secretary, as ambassadors to

Chosroes. The person holding this office is styled "a secretis" by the

Romans; for secrets they are accustomed to call "secreta." These men had

reached Antioch and were remaining there. Now Julian, one of the

ambassadors, explicitly forbade everybody to give money to the enemy, or

to purchase the cities of the emperor, and besides he denounced to

Germanus the chief priest Ephraemius, as being eager to deliver over the

city to Chosroes. For this reason Megas returned unsuccessful. But

Ephraemius, the bishop of Antioch, fearing the attack of the Persians,

went into Cilicia. There too came Germanus not long afterwards, taking

with him some few men but leaving the most of them in Antioch.

Megas then came in haste to Beroea, and in vexation at what had taken

place, he charged Chosroes with having treated the Beroeans

outrageously; for while, as it seemed, he had sent him to Antioch to

arrange the treaty, he had both plundered the property of the citizens,

though they had committed no wrong at all, and had compelled them to

shut themselves up in that fortress, and had then set fire to the city

and razed it to the ground in defiance of right. To this Chosroes

replied as follows: "Verily, my friend, you yourself are responsible for

these things, in having compelled us to delay here; for as it is, you

have arrived, not at the appointed time, but far behind it. And as for

the strange conduct of your fellow-citizens, my most excellent sir, why

should one make speeches of great length? For after agreeing to give us

a fixed amount of silver for their own safety, they even now do not

think it necessary to fulfil the agreement, but placing such complete

confidence in the strength of their position, they are disregarding us

absolutely, while we are compelled to undertake the siege of a fortress,

as you surely see. But for my part, I have hope that with the help of

the gods I shall have vengeance upon them shortly, and execute upon the

guilty the punishment for the Persians whom I have lost wrongfully

before this wall." So spoke Chosroes, and Megas replied as follows: "If

one should consider that as king thou art making these charges against

men who are in pitiable and most dishonoured plight, he would be

compelled without a word of protest to agree with what thou hast said;

for authority which is unlimited is bound by its very nature to carry

with it also supremacy in argument; but if one be permitted to shake off

all else and to espouse the truth of the matter, thou wouldst have, O

King, nothing with which justly to reproach us; but mayst thou hear all

mildly. First, as for me, since the time when I was sent to declare to

the men of Antioch the message which thou didst send them, seven days

have passed (and what could be done more quickly than this?) and now

coming into thy presence I find these things accomplished by thee

against my fatherland; but these men, having already lost all that is

most valuable, thereafter have only one struggle to engage in--that for

life--and have come, I think, so to be masters of the situation that

they can no longer be compelled to pay thee any of the money. For to pay

a thing which one does not possess could not be made possible for a man

by any device. From of old indeed have the names of things been well and

suitably distinguished by men; and among these distinctions is this,

that want of power is separated from want of consideration. For when the

latter by reason of intemperance of mind proceeds to resistance, it is

accustomed to be detested, as is natural, but when the former, because

of the impossibility of performing a service, is driven to the same

point, it deserves to be pitied. Permit, therefore, O King, that, while

we receive as our portion all the direst misfortunes, we may take with

us this consolation at least, that we should not seem to have been

ourselves responsible for the things which have befallen us. And as for

money, consider that what thou hast taken into thy possession is

sufficient for thee, not weighing this by thy position, but with regard

to the power of the Beroeans. But beyond this do not force us in any

way, lest perchance thou shouldst seem unable to accomplish the thing to

which thou hast set thy hand; for excess is always punished by meeting

obstacles that cannot be overcome, and the best course is not to essay

the impossible. Let this, then, be my defence for the moment in behalf

of these men. But if I should be able to have converse with the

sufferers, I should have something else also to say which has now

escaped me." So spoke Megas, and Chosroes permitted him to go into the

acropolis. And when he had gone there and learned all that had happened

concerning the spring, weeping he came again before Chosroes, and lying

prone on the ground insisted that no money at all was left to the

Beroeans, and entreated him to grant him only the lives of the men.

Moved by the tearful entreaties of the man Chosroes fulfilled his

request, and binding himself by an oath, gave pledges to all on the

acropolis. Then the Beroeans, after coming into such great danger, left

the acropolis free from harm, and departing went each his own way. Among

the soldiers some few followed them, but the majority came as willing

deserters to Chosroes, putting forth as their grievance that the

government owed them their pay for a long time; and with him they later

went into the land of Persia.

VIII

[June 540 A.D.] Then Chosroes (since Megas said that he had by no means

persuaded the inhabitants of Antioch to bring him the money) went with

his whole army against them. Some of the population of Antioch thereupon

departed from there with their money and fled as each one could. And all

the rest likewise were purposing to do the same thing, and would have

done so had not the commanders of the troops in Lebanon, Theoctistus and

Molatzes, who arrived in the meantime with six thousand men, fortified

them with hope and thus prevented their departure. Not long after this

the Persian army also came. There they all pitched their tents and made

camp fronting on the River Orontes and not very far from the stream.

Chosroes then sent Paulus up beside the fortifications and demanded

money from the men of Antioch, saying that for ten centenaria[5] of gold

he would depart from there, and it was obvious that he would accept even

less than this for his withdrawal. And on that day their ambassadors

went before Chosroes, and after speaking at length concerning the

breaking of the peace and hearing much from him, they retired. But on

the morrow the populace of Antioch (for they are not seriously disposed,

but are always engaged in jesting and disorderly performance) heaped

insults upon Chosroes from the battlements and taunted him with unseemly

laughter; and when Paulus came near the fortifications and exhorted them

to purchase freedom for themselves and the city for a small sum of

money, they very nearly killed him with shots from their bows, and would

have done so if he had not seen their purpose in time and guarded

against it. On account of this Chosroes, boiling with anger, decided to

storm the wall.

On the following day, accordingly, he led up all the Persians against

the wall and commanded a portion of the army to make assaults at

different points along the river, and he himself with the most of the

men and best troops directed an attack against the height. For at this

place, as has been stated by me above, the wall of fortification was

most vulnerable. Thereupon the Romans, since the structure on which they

were to stand when fighting was very narrow, devised the following

remedy. Binding together long timbers they suspended them between the

towers, and in this way they made these spaces much broader, in order

that still more men might be able to ward off the assailants from there.

So the Persians, pressing on most vigorously from all sides, were

sending their arrows thickly everywhere, and especially along the crest

of the hill. Meanwhile the Romans were fighting them back with all their

strength, not soldiers alone, but also many of the most courageous

youths of the populace. But it appeared that those who were attacking

the wall there were engaged in a battle on even terms with their enemy.

For the rock which was broad and high and, as it were, drawn up against

the fortifications caused the conflict to be just as if on level ground.

And if anyone of the Roman army had had the courage to get outside the

fortifications with three hundred men and to anticipate the enemy in

seizing this rock and to ward off the assailants from there, never, I

believe, would the city have come into any danger from the enemy. For

the barbarians had no point from which they could have conducted their

assault, for they would be exposed to missiles from above both from the

rock and from the wall; but as it was (for it was fated that Antioch be

destroyed by this army of the Medes), this idea occurred to no one. So

then while the Persians were fighting beyond their power, since Chosroes

was present with them and urging them on with a mighty cry, giving their

opponents not a moment in which to look about or guard against the

missiles discharged from their bows, and while the Romans, in great

numbers and with much shouting, were defending themselves still more

vigorously, the ropes with which the beams had been bound together,

failing to support the weight, suddenly broke asunder and the timbers

together with all those who had taken their stand on them fell to the

ground with a mighty crash. When this was heard by other Romans also,

who were fighting from the adjoining towers, being utterly unable to

comprehend what had happened, but supposing that the wall at this point

had been destroyed, they beat a hasty retreat. Now many young men of the

populace who in former times had been accustomed to engage in factional

strife with each other in the hippodromes descended into the city from

the fortification wall, but they refused to flee and remained where they

were, while the soldiers with Theoctistus and Molatzes straightway

leaped upon the horses which happened to be ready there and rode away to

the gates, telling the others a tale to the effect that Bouzes had come

with an army and they wished to receive them quickly into the city, and

with them to ward off the enemy. Thereupon many of the men of Antioch

and all the women with their children made a great rush toward the

gates; but since they were crowded by the horses, being in very narrow

quarters, they began to fall down. The soldiers, however, sparing

absolutely no one of those before them, all kept riding over the fallen

still more fiercely than before, and a great many were killed there,

especially about the gates themselves.

But the Persians, with no one opposing them, set ladders against the

wall and mounted with no difficulty. And quickly reaching the

battlements, for a time they were by no means willing to descend, but

they seemed like men looking about them and at a loss what to do,

because, as it seems to me, they supposed that the rough ground was

beset with some ambuscades of the enemy. For the land inside the

fortifications which one traverses immediately upon descending from the

height is an uninhabited tract extending for a great distance and there

are found there rocks which rise to a very great height, and steep

places. But some say that it was by the will of Chosroes that the

Persians hesitated. For when he observed the difficulty of the ground

and saw the soldiers fleeing, he feared lest by reason of some necessity

they should turn back from their retreat and make trouble for the

Persians, and thus become an obstacle, as might well happen, in the way

of his capturing a city which was both ancient and of great importance

and the first of all the cities which the Romans had throughout the East

both in wealth and in size and in population and in beauty and in

prosperity of every kind. Hence it was that, considering everything else

of less account, he wished to allow the Roman soldiers freely to avail

themselves of the chance for flight. For this reason too the Persians

also made signs to the fugitives with their hands, urging them to flee

as quickly as possible. So the soldiers of the Romans together with

their commanders took a hasty departure, all of them, through the gate

which leads to Daphne, the suburb of Antioch; for from this gate alone

the Persians kept away while the others were seized; and of the populace

some few escaped with the soldiers. Then when the Persians saw that all

the Roman soldiers had gone on, they descended from the height and got

into the middle of the city. There, however, many of the young men of

Antioch engaged in battle with them, and at first they seemed to have

the upper hand in the conflict. Some of them were in heavy armour, but

the majority were unarmed and using only stones as missiles. And pushing

back the enemy they raised the paean, and with shouts proclaimed the

Emperor Justinian triumphant, as if they had won the victory.

At this point Chosroes, seated on the tower which is on the height,

summoned the ambassadors, wishing to say something. And one of his

officers, Zaberganes, thinking that he wished to have words with the

ambassadors concerning a settlement, came quickly before the king and

spoke as follows: "Thou dost not seem to me, O Master, to think in the

same way as do the Romans concerning the safety of these men. For they

both before fighting offer insults to thy kingdom, and when they are

defeated dare the impossible and do the Persians irreparable harm, as if

fearing lest some reason for shewing them humanity should be left in

thee; but thou art wishing to pity those who do not ask to be saved, and

hast shewn zeal to spare those who by no means wish it. Meanwhile these

men have set an ambush in a captured city and are destroying the victors

by means of snares, although all the soldiers have long since fled from

them." When Chosroes heard this, he sent a large number of the best

troops against them, and these not long afterwards returned and

announced that nothing untoward had come to pass. For already the

Persians had forced back the citizens by their numbers and turned them

to flight, and a great slaughter took place there. For the Persians did

not spare persons of any age and were slaying all whom they met, old and

young alike. At that time they say that two women of those who were

illustrious in Antioch got outside the fortifications, but perceiving

that they would fall into the hands of the enemy (for they were already

plainly seen going about everywhere), went running to the River Orontes,

and, fearing lest the Persians should do them some insult, they covered

their faces with their veils and threw themselves into the river's

current and were carried out of sight. Thus the inhabitants of Antioch

were visited with every form of misfortune.

IX

Then Chosroes spoke to the ambassadors as follows: "Not far from the

truth, I think, is the ancient saying that God does not give blessings

unmixed, but He mingles them with troubles and then bestows them upon

men. And for this reason we do not even have laughter without tears, but

there is always attached to our successes some misfortune, and to our

pleasures pain, not permitting anyone to enjoy in its purity such good

fortune as is granted. For this city, which is of altogether preeminent

importance in fact as well as in name in the land of the Romans I have

indeed succeeded in capturing with the least exertion, since God has

provided the victory all at once for us, as you doubtless see. But when

I behold the massacre of such a multitude of men, and the victory thus

drenched with blood, there arises in me no sense of the delight that

should follow my achievement. And for this the wretched men of Antioch

are to blame, for when the Persians were storming the wall they did not

prove able to keep them back, and then when they had already triumphed

and had captured the city at the first cry these men with unreasoned

daring sought to die fighting against them in close combat. So while all

the notables of the Persians were harassing me unceasingly with their

demand that I should drag the city as with a net and destroy all the

captives, I was commanding the fugitives to press on still more in their

flight, in order that they might save themselves as quickly as possible.

For to trample upon captives is not holy." Such high-sounding and airy

words did Chosroes speak to the ambassadors, but nevertheless it did not

escape them why he gave time to the Romans in their flight.

For he was the cleverest of all men at saying that which was not, and in

concealing the truth, and in attributing the blame for the wrongs which

he committed to those who suffered the wrong; besides he was ready to

agree to everything and to pledge the agreement with an oath, and much

more ready to forget completely the things lately agreed to and sworn to

by him, and for the sake of money to debase his soul without reluctance

to every act of pollution--a past master at feigning piety in his

countenance, and absolving himself in words from the responsibility of

the act. This man well displayed his own peculiar character on a certain

occasion at Sura; for after he had hoodwinked the inhabitants of the

city by a trick and had destroyed them in the manner which I have

described, although they had previously done him no wrong at all, he

saw, while the city was being captured, a comely woman and one not of

lowly station being dragged by her left hand with great violence by one

of the barbarians; and the child, which she had only lately weaned, she

was unwilling to let go, but was dragging it with her other hand,

fallen, as it was, to the ground since it was not able to keep pace with

that violent running. And they say that he uttered a pretended groan,

and making it appear to all who were present at that time including

Anastasius the ambassador that he was all in tears, he prayed God to

exact vengeance from the man who was guilty of the troubles which had

come to pass. Now Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans, was the one whom

he wished to have understood, though he knew well that he himself was

most responsible for everything. Endowed with such a singular nature

Chosroes both became King of the Persians (for ill fortune had deprived

Zames of his eye, he who in point of years had first right to the

kingdom, at any rate after Caoses, whom Cabades for no good reason

hated), and with no difficulty he conquered those who revolted against

him, and all the harm which he purposed to do the Romans he accomplished

easily. For every time when Fortune wishes to make a man great, she does

at the fitting times those things which she has decided upon, with no

one standing against the force of her will; and she neither regards the

man's station, nor purposes to prevent the occurrence of things which

ought not to be, nor does she give heed that many will blaspheme against

her because of these things, mocking scornfully at that which has been

done by her contrary to the deserts of the man who receives her favour;

nor does she take into consideration anything else at all, if only she

accomplish the thing which has been decided upon by her. But as for

these matters, let them be as God wishes.

Chosroes commanded the army to capture and enslave the survivors of the

population of Antioch, and to plunder all the property, while he himself

with the ambassadors descended from the height to the sanctuary which

they call a church. There Chosroes found stores of gold and silver so

great in amount that, though he took no other part of the booty except

these stores, he departed possessed of enormous wealth. And he took down

from there many wonderful marbles and ordered them to be deposited

outside the fortifications, in order that they might convey these too to

the land of Persia. When he had finished these things, he gave orders to

the Persians to burn the whole city. And the ambassadors begged him to

withhold his hand only from the church, for which he had carried away

ransom in abundance. This he granted to the ambassadors, but gave orders

to burn everything else; then, leaving there a few men who were to fire

the city, he himself with all the rest retired to the camp where they

had previously set up their tents.

X

A short time before this calamity God displayed a sign to the

inhabitants of that city, by which He indicated the things which were to

be. For the standards of the soldiers who had been stationed there for a

long time had been standing previously toward the west, but of their own

accord they turned and stood toward the east, and then returned again to

their former position untouched by anyone. This the soldiers shewed to

many who were near at hand and among them the manager of finances in the

camp, while the standards were still trembling. This man, Tatianus by

name, was an especially discreet person, a native of Mopsuestia. But

even so those who saw this sign did not recognize that the mastery of

the place would pass from the western to the eastern king, in order,

evidently, that escape might be utterly impossible for those who were

bound to suffer those things which came to pass.

But I become dizzy as I write of such a great calamity and transmit it

to future times, and I am unable to understand why indeed it should be

the will of God to exalt on high the fortunes of a man or of a place,

and then to cast them down and destroy them for no cause which appears

to us. For it is wrong to say that with Him all things are not always

done with reason, though he then endured to see Antioch brought down to

the ground at the hands of a most unholy man, a city whose beauty and

grandeur in every respect could not even so be utterly concealed.

So, then, after the city had been destroyed, the church was left

solitary, thanks to the activity and foresight of the Persians to whom

this work was assigned. And there were also left about the so-called

Cerataeum many houses, not because of the foresight of any man, but,

since they were situated at the extremity of the city, and not connected

with any other building, the fire failed entirely to reach them. The

barbarians burned also the parts outside the fortifications, except the

sanctuary which is dedicated to St. Julianus and the houses which stand

about this sanctuary. For it happened that the ambassadors had taken up

their lodgings there. As for the fortifications, the Persians left them

wholly untouched.

A little later the ambassadors again came to Chosroes and spoke as

follows: "If our words were not addressed to thee in thy presence, O

King, we should never believe that Chosroes, the son of Cabades, had

come into the land of the Romans in arms, dishonouring the oaths which

have recently been sworn by thee--for such pledges are regarded as the

last and most firm security of all things among men to guarantee mutual

trust and truthfulness--and breaking the treaty, though hope in treaties

is the only thing left to those who are living in insecurity because of

the evil deeds of war. For one might say of such a state of affairs that

it is nothing else than the transformation of the habits of men into

those of beasts. For in a time when no treaties at all are made, there

will remain certainly war without end, and war which has no end is

always calculated to estrange from their proper nature those who engage

in it. With what intent, moreover, didst thou write to thy brother not

long ago that he himself was responsible for the breaking of the treaty?

Was it not obviously with the admission that the breaking of treaties is

an exceedingly great evil? If therefore he has done no wrong, thou art

not acting justly now in coming against us; but if it happen that thy

brother has done any such thing, yet let thy complaint have its

fulfilment thus far, and go no farther, that thou mayst shew thyself

superior. For he who submits to be worsted in evil things would in

better things justly be victorious. And yet we know well that the

Emperor Justinian has never gone contrary to the treaty, and we entreat

thee not to do the Romans such harm, from which there will be no

advantage to the Persians, and thou wilt gain only this, that thou wilt

have wrongfully wrought deeds of irreparable harm upon those who have

recently made peace with thee." So spoke the ambassadors.

And Chosroes, upon hearing this, insisted that the treaty had been

broken by the Emperor Justinian; and he enumerated the causes of war

which the Emperor afforded, some of them of real importance and others

idle and fabricated without any reason; most of all he wished to shew

that the letters written by him to Alamoundaras and the Huns were the

chief cause of the war, just as I have stated above[6]. But as for any

Roman who had invaded the land of Persia, or who had made a display of

warlike deeds, he was unable either to mention or to point out such a

one. The ambassadors, however, referred the charges in part not to

Justinian but to certain of those who had served him, while in the case

of others they took exception to what he had said on the ground that the

things had not taken place as stated. Finally Chosroes made the demand

that the Romans give him a large sum of money, but he warned them not to

hope to establish peace for all time by giving money at that moment

only. For friendship, he said, which is made by men on terms of money is

generally spent as fast as the money is used up. It was necessary,

therefore, that the Romans should pay some definite annual sum to the

Persians. "For thus," he said, "the Persians will keep the peace secure

for them, guarding the Caspian Gates themselves and no longer feeling

resentment at them on account of the city of Daras, in return for which

the Persians themselves will be in their pay forever." "So," said the

ambassadors, "the Persians desire to have the Romans subject and

tributary to themselves." "No," said Chosroes, "but the Romans will have

the Persians as their own soldiers for the future, dispensing to them a

fixed payment for their service; for you give an annual payment of gold

to some of the Huns and to the Saracens, not as tributary subjects to

them, but in order that they may guard your land unplundered for all

time." After Chosroes and the ambassadors had spoken thus at length with

each other, they at last came to terms, agreeing that Chosroes should

forthwith take from the Romans fifty centenaria[7], and that, receiving

a tribute of five more centenaria annually for all time, he should do

them no further harm, but taking with him hostages from the ambassadors

to pledge the keeping of the agreement, should make his departure with

the whole army to his native land, and that there ambassadors sent from

the Emperor Justinian should arrange on a firm basis for the future the

compact regarding the peace.

XI

Then Chosroes went to Seleucia, a city on the sea, one hundred and

thirty stades distant from Antioch; and there he neither met nor harmed

a single Roman, and he bathed himself alone in the sea-water, and after

sacrificing to the sun and such other divinities as he wished, and

calling upon the gods many times, he went back. And when he came to the

camp, he said that he had a desire to see the city of Apamea which was

in the vicinity for no other reason than that of his interest in the

place. And the ambassadors unwillingly granted this also, but only on

condition that after seeing the city and taking away with him from there

one thousand pounds of silver, he should, without inflicting any further

injury, march back. But it was evident to the ambassadors and to all the

others that Chosroes was setting out for Apamea with this sole purpose,

that he might lay hold upon some pretext of no importance and plunder

both the city and the land thereabout. Accordingly he first went up to

Daphne, the suburb of Antioch, where he expressed great wonder at the

grove and at the fountains of water; for both of these are very well

worth seeing. And after sacrificing to the nymphs he departed, doing no

further damage than burning the sanctuary of the archangel Michael

together with certain other buildings, for the following reason. A

Persian gentleman of high repute in the army of the Persians and well

known to Chosroes, the king, while riding on horseback came in company

with some others to a precipitous place near the so-called Tretum, where

is a temple of the archangel Michael, the work of Evaris. This man,

seeing one of the young men of Antioch on foot and alone concealing

himself there, separated from the others and pursued him. Now the young

man was a butcher, Aeimachus by name. When he was about to be overtaken,

he turned about unexpectedly and threw a stone at his pursuer which hit

him on the forehead and penetrated to the membrane by the ear. And the

rider fell immediately to the ground, whereupon the youth drew out his

sword and slew him. Then at his leisure he stripped him of his weapons

and all his gold and whatever else he had on his person, and leaping

upon his horse rode on. And whether by the favour of fortune or by his

knowledge of the country, he succeeded completely in eluding the

Persians and making good his escape. When Chosroes learned this, he was

deeply grieved at what had happened, and commanded some of his followers

to burn the sanctuary of the archangel Michael which I have mentioned

above. And they, thinking that the sanctuary at Daphne was the one in

question, burned it with the buildings about it, and they supposed that

the commands of Chosroes had been executed. Such, then, was the course

of these events.

But Chosroes with his whole army proceeded on the way to Apamea. Now

there is a piece of wood one cubit in length in Apamea, a portion of the

cross on which the Christ in Jerusalem once endured the punishment not

unwillingly, as is generally agreed, and which in ancient times had been

conveyed there secretly by a man of Syria. And the men of olden times,

believing that it would be a great protection both for themselves and

for the city, made for it a sort of wooden chest and deposited it there;

and they adorned this chest with much gold and with precious stones and

they entrusted it to three priests who were to guard it in all security;

and they bring it forth every year and the whole population worship it

during one day. Now at that time the people of Apamea, upon learning

that the army of the Medes was coming against them, began to be in great

fear. And when they heard that Chosroes was absolutely untruthful, they

came to Thomas, the chief priest of the city, and begged him to shew

them the wood of the cross, in order that after worshipping it for the

last time they might die. And he did as they requested. Then indeed it

befell that a sight surpassing both description and belief was there

seen. For while the priest was carrying the wood and shewing it, above

him followed a flame of fire, and the portion of the roof over him was

illuminated with a great and unaccustomed light. And while the priest

was moving through every part of the temple, the flame continued to

advance with him, keeping constantly the place above him in the roof. So

the people of Apamea, under the spell of joy at the miracle, were

wondering and rejoicing and weeping, and already all felt confidence

concerning their safety. And Thomas, after going about the whole temple,

laid the wood of the cross in the chest and covered it, and suddenly the

light had ceased. Then upon learning that the army of the enemy had come

close to the city, he went in great haste to Chosroes. And when the king

enquired of the priest whether it was the will of the citizens of Apamea

to marshal themselves on the wall against the army of the Medes, the

priest replied that no such thing had entered the minds of the men.

"Therefore," said Chosroes, "receive me into the city accompanied by a

few men with all the gates opened wide." And the priest said "Yes, for I

have come here to invite thee to do this very thing." So the whole army

pitched their tents and made camp before the fortifications.

Then Chosroes chose out two hundred of the best of the Persians and

entered the city. But when he had got inside the gates, he forgot

willingly enough what had been agreed upon between himself and the

ambassadors, and he commanded the bishop to give not only one thousand

pounds of silver nor even ten times that amount, but whatsoever

treasures were stored there, being all of gold and silver and of

marvellous great size. And I believe that he would not have shrunk from

enslaving and plundering the whole city, unless some divine providence

had manifestly prevented him; to such a degree did avarice overpower him

and the desire of fame turn his mind. For he thought the enslavement of

the cities a great glory for himself, considering it absolutely nothing

that disregarding treaties and compacts he was performing such deeds

against the Romans. This attitude of Chosroes will be revealed by what

he undertook to do concerning the city of Daras during his withdrawal at

this same time, when he treated his agreements with absolute disregard,

and also by what he did to the citizens of Callinicus a little later in

time of peace, as will be told by me in the following narrative[8]. But

God, as has been said, preserved Apamea. Now when Chosroes had seized

all the treasures, and Thomas saw that he was already intoxicated with

the abundance of the wealth, then bringing out the wood of the cross

with the chest, he opened the chest and displaying the wood said: "O

most mighty King, these alone are left me out of all the treasures. Now

as for this chest (since it is adorned with gold and precious stones),

we do not begrudge thy taking it and keeping it with all the rest, but

this wood here, it is our salvation and precious to us, this, I beg and

entreat thee, give to me." So spoke the priest. And Chosroes yielded and

fulfilled the request.

Afterwards, being filled with a desire for popular applause, he

commanded that the populace should go up into the hippodrome and that

the charioteers should hold their accustomed contests. And he himself

went up there also, eager to be a spectator of the performances. And

since he had heard long before that the Emperor Justinian was

extraordinarily fond of the Venetus[9] colour, which is blue, wishing to

go against him there also, he was desirous of bringing about victory for

the green. So the charioteers, starting from the barriers, began the

contest, and by some chance he who was clad in the blue happened to pass

his rival and take the lead. And he was followed in the same tracks by

the wearer of the green colour. And Chosroes, thinking that this had

been done purposely, was angry, and he cried out with a threat that the

Caesar had wrongfully surpassed the others, and he commanded that the

horses which were running in front should be held up, in order that from

then on they might contend in the rear; and when this had been done just

as he commanded, then Chosroes and the green faction were accounted

victorious. At that time one of the citizens of Apamea came before

Chosroes and accused a Persian of entering his house and violating his

maiden daughter. Upon hearing this, Chosroes, boiling with anger,

commanded that the man should be brought. And when he came before him,

he directed that he should be impaled in the camp. And when the people

learned this, they raised a mighty shout as loud as they could,

demanding that the man be saved from the king's anger. And Chosroes

promised that he would release the man to them, but he secretly impaled

him not long afterwards. So after these things had been thus

accomplished, he departed and marched back with the whole army.

XII

And when he came to the city of Chalcis, eighty-four stades distant from

the city of Beroea, he again seemed to forget the things which had been

agreed upon, and encamping not far from the fortifications he sent

Paulus to threaten the inhabitants of Chalcis, saying that he would take

the city by siege, unless they should purchase their safety by giving

ransom, and should give up to the Persians all the soldiers who were

there together with their leader. And the citizens of Chalcis were

seized with great fear of both sovereigns, and they swore that, as for

soldiers, there were absolutely none of them in the city, although they

had hidden Adonachus, the commander of the soldiers, and others as well

in some houses, in order that they might not be seen by the enemy; and

with difficulty they collected two centenaria[10] of gold, for the city

they inhabited was not very prosperous, and they gave them to Chosroes

as the price of their lives and thus saved both the city and themselves.

From there on Chosroes did not wish to continue the return journey by

the road he had come, but to cross the River Euphrates and gather by

plunder as much money as possible from Mesopotamia. He therefore

constructed a bridge at the place called Obbane, which is forty stades

distant from the fortress in Barbalissum; then he himself went across

and gave orders to the whole army to cross as quickly as possible,

adding that he would break up the bridge on the third day, and he

appointed also the time of the day. And when the appointed day was come,

it happened that some of the army were left who had not yet crossed, but

without the least consideration for them he sent the men to break up the

bridge. And those who were left behind returned to their native land as

each one could.

Then a sort of ambition came over Chosroes to capture the city of

Edessa. For he was led on to this by a saying of the Christians, and it

kept irritating his mind, because they maintained that it could not be

taken, for the following reason. There was a certain Augarus in early

times, toparch of Edessa (for thus the kings of the different nations

were called then). Now this Augarus was the most clever of all men of

his time, and as a result of this was an especial friend of the Emperor

Augustus. For, desiring to make a treaty with the Romans, he came to

Rome; and when he conversed with Augustus, he so astonished him by the

abundance of his wisdom that Augustus wished never more to give up his

company; for he was an ardent lover of his conversation, and whenever he

met him, he was quite unwilling to depart from him. A long time,

therefore, was consumed by him in this visit. And one day when he was

desirous of returning to his native land and was utterly unable to

persuade Augustus to let him go, he devised the following plan. He first

went out to hunt in the country about Rome; for it happened that he had

taken considerable interest in the practice of this sport. And going

about over a large tract of country, he captured alive many of the

animals of that region, and he gathered up and took with him from each

part of the country some earth from the land; thus he returned to Rome

bringing both the earth and the animals. Then Augustus went up into the

hippodrome and seated himself as was his wont, and Augarus came before

him and displayed the earth and the animals, telling over from what

district each portion of earth was and what animals they were. Then he

gave orders to put the earth in different parts of the hippodrome, and

to gather all the animals into one place and then to release them. So

the attendants did as he directed. And the animals, separating from each

other, went each to that portion of earth which was from the district in

which it itself had been taken. And Augustus looked upon the performance

carefully for a very long time, and he was wondering that nature

untaught makes animals miss their native land. Then Augarus, suddenly

laying hold upon his knees, said: "But as for me, O Master, what

thoughts dost thou think I have, who possess a wife and children and a

kingdom, small indeed, but in the land of my fathers?" And the emperor,

overcome and compelled by the truth of his saying, granted not at all

willingly that he should go away, and bade him ask besides whatever he

wished. And when Augarus had secured this, he begged of Augustus to

build him a hippodrome in the city of Edessa. And he granted also this.

Thus then Augarus departed from Rome and came to Edessa. And the

citizens enquired of him whether he had come bringing any good thing for

them from the Emperor Augustus. And he answering said he had brought to

the inhabitants of Edessa pain without loss and pleasure without gain,

hinting at the fortune of the hippodrome.

At a later time when Augarus was well advanced in years, he was seized

with an exceedingly violent attack of gout. And being distressed by the

pains and his inability to move in consequence of them, he carried the

matter to the physicians, and from the whole land he gathered all who

were skilled in these matters. But later he abandoned these men (for

they did not succeed in discovering any cure for the trouble), and

finding himself helpless, he bewailed the fate which was upon him. But

about that time Jesus, the Son of God, was in the body and moving among

the men of Palestine, shewing manifestly by the fact that he never

sinned at all, and also by his performing even things impossible, that

he was the Son of God in very truth; for he called the dead and raised

them up as if from sleep, and opened the eyes of men who had been born

blind, and cleansed those whose whole bodies were covered with leprosy,

and released those whose feet were maimed, and he cured all the other

diseases which are called by the physicians incurable. When these things

were reported to Augarus by those who travelled from Palestine to

Edessa, he took courage and wrote a letter to Jesus, begging him to

depart from Judaea and the senseless people there, and to spend his life

with him from that time forward. When the Christ saw this message, he

wrote in reply to Augarus, saying distinctly that he would not come, but

promising him health in the letter. And they say that he added this also

that never would the city be liable to capture by the barbarians. This

final portion of the letter was entirely unknown to those who wrote the

history of that time; for they did not even make mention of it anywhere;

but the men of Edessa say that they found it with the letter, so that

they have even caused the letter to be inscribed in this form on the

gates of the city instead of any other defence. The city did in fact

come under the Medes a short time afterwards, not by capture however,

but in the following manner. A short time after Augarus received the

letter of the Christ, he became free from suffering, and after living on

in health for a long time, he came to his end. But that one of his sons

who succeeded to the kingdom shewed himself the most unholy of all men,

and besides committing many other wrongs against his subjects, he

voluntarily went over to the Persians, fearing the vengeance which was

to come from the Romans. But long after this the citizens of Edessa

destroyed the barbarian guards who were dwelling with them, and gave the

city into the hands of the Romans. * * *[11] he is eager to attach it to

his cause, judging by what has happened in my time, which I shall

present in the appropriate place. And the thought once occurred to me

that, if the Christ did not write this thing just as I have told it,

still, since men have come to believe in it, He wishes to guard the city

uncaptured for this reason, that He may never give them any pretext for

error. As for these things, then, let them be as God wills, and so let

them be told.

For this reason it seemed to Chosroes at that time a matter of moment to

capture Edessa. And when he came to Batne, a small stronghold of no

importance, one day's journey distant from Edessa, he bivouacked there

for that night, but at early dawn he was on the march to Edessa with his

whole army. But it fell out that they lost their way and wandered about,

and on the following night bivouacked in the same place; and they say

that this happened to them a second time also. When with difficulty

Chosroes reached the neighbourhood of Edessa, they say that suppuration

set in in his face and his jaw became swollen. For this reason he was

quite unwilling to make an attempt on the city, but he sent Paulus and

demanded money from the citizens. And they said that they had absolutely

no fear concerning the city, but in order that he might not damage the

country they agreed to give two centenaria of gold. And Chosroes took

the money and kept the agreement.

XIII

At that time also the Emperor Justinian wrote a letter to Chosroes,

promising to carry out the agreement which had been made by him and the

ambassadors regarding the peace[12]. When this message was received by

Chosroes, he released the hostages and made preparations for his

departure, and he wished to sell off all the captives from Antioch. And

when the citizens of Edessa learned of this, they displayed an

unheard-of zeal. For there was not a person who did not bring ransom for

the captives and deposit it in the sanctuary according to the measure of

his possessions. And there were some who even exceeded their

proportionate amount in so doing. For the harlots took off all the

adornment which they wore on their persons, and threw it down there, and

any farmer who was in want of plate or of money, but who had an ass or a

sheep, brought this to the sanctuary with great zeal. So there was

collected an exceedingly great amount of gold and silver and money in

other forms, but not a bit of it was given for ransom. For Bouzes

happened to be present there, and he took in hand to prevent the

transaction, expecting that this would bring him some great gain.

Therefore Chosroes moved forward, taking with him all the captives. And

the citizens of Carrhae met him holding out to him great sums of money;

but he said that it did not belong to him because the most of them are

not Christians but are of the old faith.

But when, likewise, the citizens of Constantina offered money, he

accepted it, although he asserted that the city belonged to him from his

fathers. [503 A.D.] For at the time when Cabades took Amida, he wished

also to capture Edessa and Constantina. But when he came near to Edessa

he enquired of the Magi whether it would be possible for him to capture

the city, pointing out the place to them with his right hand. But they

said that the city would not be captured by him by any device, judging

by the fact that in stretching out his right hand to it he was not

giving thereby the sign of capture or of any other grievous thing, but

of salvation. And when Cabades heard this, he was convinced and led his

army on to Constantina. And upon arriving there, he issued orders to the

whole army to encamp for a siege. Now the priest of Constantina was at

that time Baradotus, a just man and especially beloved of God, and his

prayers for this reason were always effectual for whatever he wished;

and even seeing his face one would have straightway surmised that this

man was most completely acceptable to God. This Baradotus came then to

Cabades bearing wine and dried figs and honey and unblemished loaves,

and entreated him not to make an attempt on a city which was not of any

importance and which was very much neglected by the Romans, having

neither a garrison of soldiers nor any other defence, but only the

inhabitants, who were pitiable folk. Thus spoke the priest; and Cabades

promised that he would grant him the city freely, and he presented him

with all the food-supplies which had been prepared by him for the army

in anticipation of the siege, an exceedingly great quantity; and thus he

departed from the land of the Romans. For this reason it was that

Chosroes claimed that the city belonged to him from his fathers.

And when he reached Daras, he began a siege; but within the city the

Romans and Martinus, their general (for it happened that he was there),

made their preparations for resistance. Now the city is surrounded by

two walls, the inner one of which is of great size and a truly wonderful

thing to look upon (for each tower reaches to a height of a hundred

feet, and the rest of the wall to sixty), while the outer wall is much

smaller, but in other respects strong and one to be reckoned with

seriously. And the space between has a breadth of not less than fifty

feet; in that place the citizens of Daras are accustomed to put their

cattle and other animals when an enemy assails them. At first then

Chosroes made an assault on the fortifications toward the west, and

forcing back his opponents by overwhelming numbers of missiles, he set

fire to the gates of the small wall. However no one of the barbarians

dared to get inside. Next he decided to make a tunnel secretly at the

eastern side of the city. For at this point alone can the earth be dug,

since the other parts of the fortifications were set upon rock by the

builders. So the Persians began to dig, beginning from their trench. And

since this was very deep, they were neither observed by the enemy nor

did they afford them any means of discovering what was being done. So

they had already gone under the foundations of the outer wall, and were

about to reach the space between the two walls and soon after to pass

also the great wall and take the city by force; but since it was not

fated to be captured by the Persians, someone from the camp of Chosroes

came alone about midday close to the fortifications, whether a man or

something else greater than man, and he made it appear to those who saw

him that he was collecting the weapons which the Romans had a little

before discharged from the wall against the barbarians who were

assailing them. And while doing this and holding his shield before him,

he seemed to be bantering those who were on the parapet and taunting

them with laughter. Then he told them of everything and commanded them

all to be on the watch and to take all possible care for their safety.

After revealing these things he was off, while the Romans with much

shouting and confusion were ordering men to dig the ground between the

two walls. The Persians, on the other hand, not knowing what was being

done, were pushing on the work no less than before. So while the

Persians were making a straight way underground to the wall of the city,

the Romans by the advice of Theodoras, a man learned in the science

called mechanics, were constructing their trench in a cross-wise

direction and making it of sufficient depth, so that when the Persians

had reached the middle point between the two circuit-walls they suddenly

broke into the trench of the Romans. And the first of them the Romans

killed, while those in the rear by fleeing at top speed into the camp

saved themselves. For the Romans decided by no means to pursue them in

the dark. So Chosroes, failing in this attempt and having no hope that

he would take the city by any device thereafter, opened negotiations

with the besieged, and carrying away a thousand pounds of silver he

retired into the land of Persia. When this came to the knowledge of the

Emperor Justinian, he was no longer willing to carry the agreement into

effect, charging Chosroes with having attempted to capture the city of

Daras during a truce. Such were the fortunes of the Romans during the

first invasion of Chosroes; and the summer drew to its close.

XIV

Now Chosroes built a city in Assyria in a place one day's journey

distant from the city of Ctesiphon, and he named it the Antioch of

Chosroes and settled there all the captives from Antioch, constructing

for them a bath and a hippodrome and providing that they should have

free enjoyment of their other luxuries besides. For he brought with him

charioteers and musicians both from Antioch and from the other Roman

cities. Besides this he always provisioned these citizens of Antioch at

public expense more carefully than in the fashion of captives, and he

required that they be called king's subjects, so as to be subordinate to

no one of the magistrates, but to the king alone. And if any one else

too who was a Roman in slavery ran away and succeeded in escaping to the

Antioch of Chosroes, and if he was called a kinsman by any one of those

who lived there, it was no longer possible for the owner of this captive

to take him away, not even if he who had enslaved the man happened to be

a person of especial note among the Persians.

Thus, then, the portent which had come to the citizens of Antioch in the

reign of Anastasius reached this final fulfilment for them. For at that

time a violent wind suddenly fell upon the suburb of Daphne, and some of

the cypresses which were there of extraordinary height were overturned

from the extremities of their roots and fell to the earth--trees which

the law forbade absolutely to be cut down. [526 A.D.] Accordingly, a

little later, when Justinus was ruling over the Romans, the place was

visited by an exceedingly violent earthquake, which shook down the whole

city and straightway brought to the ground the most and the finest of

the buildings, and it is said that at that time three hundred thousand

of the population of Antioch perished. And finally in this capture the

whole city, as has been said, was destroyed. Such, then, was the

calamity which befell the men of Antioch.

And Belisarius came to Byzantium from Italy, summoned by the emperor;

and after he had spent the winter in Byzantium, the emperor sent him as

general against Chosroes and the Persians at the opening of spring,

together with the officers who had come with him from Italy, one of

whom, Valerianus, he commanded to lead the troops in Armenia. [541 A.D.]

For Martinus had been sent immediately to the East, and for this reason

Chosroes found him at Daras, as has been stated above. And among the

Goths, Vittigis remained in Byzantium, but all the rest marched with

Belisarius against Chosroes. At that time one of the envoys of Vittigis,

he who was assuming the name of bishop, died in the land of Persia, and

the other one remained there. And the man who followed them as

interpreter withdrew to the land of the Romans, and John, who was

commanding the troops in Mesopotamia, arrested him near the boundaries

of Constantina, and bringing him into the city confined him in a prison;

there the man in answer to his enquiries related everything which had

been done. Such, then, was the course of these events. And Belisarius

and his followers went in haste, since he was eager to anticipate

Chosroes' making any second invasion into the land of the Romans.

XV

But in the meantime Chosroes was leading his army against Colchis, where

the Lazi were calling him in for the following reason. The Lazi at first

dwelt in the land of Colchis as subjects of the Romans, but not to the

extent of paying them tribute or obeying their commands in any respect,

except that, whenever their king died, the Roman emperor would send

emblems of the office to him who was about to succeed to the throne. And

he, together with his subjects, guarded strictly the boundaries of the

land in order that hostile Huns might not proceed from the Caucasus

mountains, which adjoin their territory, through Lazica and invade the

land of the Romans. And they kept guard without receiving money or

troops from the Romans and without ever joining the Roman armies, but

they were always engaged in commerce by sea with the Romans who live on

the Black Sea. For they themselves have neither salt nor grain nor any

other good thing, but by furnishing skins and hides and slaves they

secured the supplies which they needed. But when the events came to pass

in which Gourgenes, the king of the Iberians, was concerned, as has been

told in the preceding narrative[13], Roman soldiers began to be

quartered among the Lazi; and these barbarians were annoyed by the

soldiers, and most of all by Peter, the general, a man who was prone to

treat insolently those who came into contact with him. This Peter was a

native of Arzanene, which is beyond the River Nymphius, a district

subject to the Persians from of old, but while still a child he had been

captured and enslaved by the Emperor Justinus at the time when Justinus,

after the taking of Amida, was invading the land of the Persians with

Celer's army.[14] And since his owner showed him great kindness, he

attended the school of a grammatist. And at first he became secretary to

Justinus, but when, after the death of Anastasius, Justinus took over

the Roman empire, Peter was made a general, and he degenerated into a

slave of avarice, if anyone ever did, and shewed himself very fatuous in

his treatment of all.

And later the Emperor Justinian sent different officers to Lazica, and

among them John, whom they called Tzibus, a man of obscure and ignoble

descent, but who had climbed to the office of general by virtue of no

other thing than that he was the most accomplished villain in the world

and most successful in discovering unlawful sources of revenue. This man

unsettled and threw into confusion all the relations of the Romans and

the Lazi. He also persuaded the Emperor Justinian to build a city on the

sea in Lazica, Petra by name; and there he sat as in a citadel and

plundered the property of the Lazi. For the salt, and all other cargoes

which were considered necessary for the Lazi, it was no longer possible

for the merchants to bring into the land of Colchis, nor could they

purchase them elsewhere by sending for them, but he set up in Petra the

so-called "monopoly" and himself became a retail dealer and overseer of

all the handling of these things, buying everything and selling it to

the Colchians, not at the customary rates, but as dearly as possible. At

the same time, even apart from this, the barbarians were annoyed by the

Roman army quartered upon them, a thing which had not been customary

previously. Accordingly, since they were no longer able to endure these

things, they decided to attach themselves to the Persians and Chosroes,

and immediately they sent to them envoys who were to arrange this

without the knowledge of the Romans. These men had been instructed that

they should take pledges from Chosroes that he would never give up the

Lazi against their will to the Romans, and that with this understanding

they should bring him with the Persian army into the land.

Accordingly the envoys went to the Persians, and coming secretly before

Chosroes they said: "If any people in all time have revolted from their

own friends in any manner whatsoever and attached themselves wrongfully

to men utterly unknown to them, and after that by the kindness of

fortune have been brought back once more with greatest rejoicing to

those who were formerly their own, consider, O Most mighty King, that

such as these are the Lazi. For the Colchians in ancient times, as

allies of the Persians, rendered them many good services and were

themselves treated in like manner; and of these things there are many

records in books, some of which we have, while others are preserved in

thy palace up to the present time. But at a later time it came about

that our ancestors, whether neglected by you or for some other reason

(for we are unable to ascertain anything certain about this matter),

became allies of the Romans. And now we and the king of Lazica give to

the Persians both ourselves and our land to treat in any way you may

desire. And we beg of you to think thus concerning us: if, on the one

hand, we have suffered nothing outrageous at the hands of the Romans,

but have been prompted by foolish motives in coming to you, reject this

prayer of ours straightway, considering that with you likewise the

Colchians will never be trustworthy (for when a friendship has been

dissolved, a second friendship formed with others becomes, owing to its

character, a matter of reproach); but if we have been in name friends of

the Romans, but in fact their loyal slaves, and have suffered impious

treatment at the hands of those who have tyrannized over us, receive us,

your former allies, and acquire as slaves those whom you used to treat

as friends, and shew your hatred of a cruel tyranny which has risen thus

on our borders, by acting worthily of that justice which it has always

been the tradition of the Persians to defend. For the man who himself

does no wrong is not just, unless he is also accustomed to rescue those

who are wronged by others when he has it in his power. But it is worth

while to tell a few of the things which the accursed Romans have dared

to do against us. In the first place they have left our king only the

form of royal power, while they themselves have appropriated the actual

authority, and he sits a king in the position of a servant, fearing the

general who issues the orders; and they have put upon us a multitude of

soldiery, not in order to guard the land against those who harass us

(for not one of our neighbours except, indeed, the Romans has disturbed

us), but in order that they may confine us as in a prison and make

themselves masters of our possessions. And purposing to make more speedy

the robbery of what we have, behold, O King, what sort of a design they

have formed; the supplies which are in excess among them they compel the

Lazi to buy against their will, while those things which are most useful

to them among the products of Lazica these fellows demand to buy, as

they put it, from us, the price being determined in both cases by the

judgment of the stronger party. And thus they are robbing us of all our

gold as well as of the necessities of life, using the fair name of

trade, but in fact oppressing us as thoroughly as they possibly can. And

there has been set over us as ruler a huckster who has made our

destitution a kind of business by virtue of the authority of his office.

The cause of our revolt, therefore, being of this sort, has justice on

its side; but the advantage which you yourselves will gain if you

receive the request of the Lazi we shall forthwith tell. To the realm of

Persia you will add a most ancient kingdom, and as a result of this you

will have the power of your sway extended, and it will come about that

you will have a part in the sea of the Romans through our land, and

after thou hast built ships in this sea, O King, it will be possible for

thee with no trouble to set foot in the palace in Byzantium. For there

is no obstacle between. And one might add that the plundering of the

land of the Romans every year by the barbarians along the boundary will

be under your control. For surely you also are acquainted with the fact

that up till now the land of the Lazi has been a bulwark against the

Caucasus mountains. So with justice leading the way, and advantage added

thereto, we consider that not to receive our words with favour would be

wholly contrary to good judgment." So spoke the envoys.

And Chosroes, delighted by their words, promised to protect the Lazi,

and enquired of the envoys whether it was possible for him to enter the

land of Colchis with a large army. For he said that previously he had

heard many persons report that the land was exceedingly hard to traverse

even for an unimpeded traveller, being extremely rugged and covered very

extensively by thick forests of wide-spreading trees. But the envoys

stoutly maintained to him that the way through the country would be easy

for the whole Persian army, if they cut the trees and threw them into

the places which were made difficult by precipices. And they promised

that they themselves would be guides of the route, and would take the

lead in this work for the Persians. Encouraged by this suggestion,

Chosroes gathered a great army and made his preparations for the inroad,

not disclosing the plan to the Persians except those alone to whom he

was accustomed to communicate his secrets, and commanding the envoys to

tell no one what was being done; and he pretended that he was setting

out into Iberia, in order to settle matters there; for a Hunnic tribe,

he kept saying in explanation, had assailed the Persian domain at that

point.

XVI

At this time Belisarius had arrived in Mesopotamia and was gathering his

army from every quarter, and he also kept sending men into the land of

Persia to act as spies. And wishing himself to encounter the enemy

there, if they should again make an incursion into the land of the

Romans, he was organizing on the spot and equipping the soldiers, who

were for the most part without either arms or armour, and in terror of

the name of the Persians. Now the spies returned and declared that for

the present there would be no invasion of the enemy; for Chosroes was

occupied elsewhere with a war against the Huns. And Belisarius, upon

learning this, wished to invade the land of the enemy immediately with

his whole army. Arethas also came to him with a large force of Saracens,

and besides the emperor wrote a letter instructing him to invade the

enemy's country with all speed. He therefore called together all the

officers in Daras and spoke as follows: "I know that all of you, my

fellow officers, are experienced in many wars, and I have brought you

together at the present time, not in order to stir up your minds against

the enemy by addressing to you any reminder or exhortation (for I think

that you need no speech that prompts to daring), but in order that we

may deliberate together among ourselves, and choose rather the course

which may seem fairest and best for the cause of the emperor. For war is

wont to succeed by reason of careful planning more than by anything

else. Now it is necessary that those who gather for deliberation should

make their minds entirely free from modesty and from fear. For fear, by

paralyzing those who have fallen into it, does not allow the reason to

choose the nobler part, and modesty obscures what has been seen to be

the better course and leads investigation the opposite way. If,

therefore, it seems to you that any purpose has been formed either by

our mighty emperor or by me concerning the present situation, let no

thought of this enter your minds. For, as for him, he is altogether

ignorant of what is being done, and is therefore unable to adapt his

moves to opportune moments; there is therefore no fear but that in going

contrary to him we shall do that which will be of advantage to his

cause. And as for me, since I am human, and have come here from the West

after a long interval, it is impossible that some of the necessary

things should not escape me. So it behoves you, without any too modest

regard for my opinion, to say outright whatever is going to be of

advantage for ourselves and for the emperor. Now in the beginning,

fellow officers, we came here in order to prevent the enemy from making

any invasion into our land, but at the present time, since things have

gone better for us than we had hoped, it is possible for us to make his

land the subject of our deliberation. And now that you have been

gathered together for this purpose, it is fair, I think, that you should

tell without any concealment what seems to each one best and most

advantageous." Thus spoke Belisarius.

And Peter and Bouzes urged him to lead the army without any hesitation

against the enemy's country. And their opinion was followed immediately

by the whole council. Rhecithancus, however, and Theoctistus, the

commanders of the troops in Lebanon, said that, while they too had the

same wish as the others concerning the invasion, they feared that if

they abandoned the country of Phoenicia and Syria, Alamoundaras would

plunder it at his leisure, and that the emperor would be angry with them

because they had not guarded and kept unplundered the territory under

their command, and for this reason they were quite unwilling to join the

rest of the army in the invasion. But Belisarius said that the opinion

of these two men was not in the least degree true; for it was the season

of the vernal equinox, and at this season the Saracens always dedicated

about two months to their god, and during this time never undertook any

inroad into the land of others. Agreeing, therefore, to release both of

them with their followers within sixty days, he commanded them also to

follow with the rest of the army. So Belisarius was making his

preparation for the invasion with great zeal.

XVII

But Chosroes and the Median army, after crossing Iberia, reached the

territory of Lazica under the leadership of the envoys; there with no

one to withstand them they began to cut down the trees which grow

thickly over that very mountainous region, rising to a great height, and

spreading out their branches remarkably, so that they made the country

absolutely impassable for the army; and these they threw into the rough

places, and thus rendered the road altogether easy. And when they

arrived in the centre of Colchis (the place where the tales of the poets

say that the adventure of Medea and Jason took place), Goubazes, the

king of the Lazi, came and did obeisance to Chosroes, the son of

Cabades, as Lord, putting himself together with his palace and all

Lazica into his hand.

Now there is a coast city named Petra in Colchis, on the sea which is

called the Euxine, which in former times had been a place of no

importance, but which the Emperor Justinian had rendered strong and

otherwise conspicuous by means of the circuit-wall and other buildings

which he erected. When Chosroes ascertained that the Roman army was in

that place with John, he sent an army and a general, Aniabedes, against

them in order to capture the place at the first onset. But John, upon

learning of their approach, gave orders that no one should go outside

the fortifications nor allow himself to be seen from the parapet by the

enemy, and he armed the whole army and stationed them in the vicinity of

the gates, commanding them to keep silence and not allow the least sound

of any kind to escape from them. So the Persians came close to the

fortifications, and since nothing of the enemy was either seen or heard

by them they thought that the Romans had abandoned the city and left it

destitute of men. For this reason they closed in still more around the

fortifications, so as to set up ladders immediately, since no one was

defending the wall. And neither seeing nor hearing anything of the

enemy, they sent to Chosroes and explained the situation. And he sent

the greater part of the army, commanding them to make an attempt upon

the fortifications from all sides, and he directed one of the officers

to make use of the engine known as a ram around the gate, while he

himself, seated on the hill which lies very close to the city, became a

spectator of the operations. And straightway the Romans opened the gates

all of a sudden, and unexpectedly fell upon and slew great numbers of

the enemy, and especially those stationed about the ram; the rest with

difficulty made their escape together with the general and were saved.

And Chosroes, filled with rage, impaled Aniabedes, since he had been

outgeneralled by John, a tradesman and an altogether unwarlike man. But

some say that not Aniabedes, but the officer commanding the men who were

working the ram was impaled. And he himself broke camp with the whole

army, and coming close to the fortifications of Petra, made camp and

began a siege. On the following day he went completely around the

fortifications, and since he suspected that they could not support a

very strong attack, he decided to storm the wall. And bringing up the

whole army there, he opened the action, commanding all to shoot with

their bows against the parapet. The Romans, meanwhile, in defending

themselves, made use of their engines of war and all their bows. At

first, then, the Persians did the Romans little harm, although they were

shooting their arrows thick and fast, while at the same time they

suffered severely at the hands of the Romans, since they were being shot

at from an elevation. But later on (since it was fated that Petra be

captured by Chosroes), John by some chance was shot in the neck and

died, and as a result of this the other Romans ceased to care for

anything. Then indeed the barbarians withdrew to their camp; for it was

already growing dark; but on the following day they planned to assail

the fortifications by an excavation, as follows.

The city of Petra is on one side inaccessible on account of the sea, and

on the other on account of the sheer cliffs which rise there on every

hand; indeed it is from this circumstance that the city has received the

name it bears. And it has only one approach on the level ground, and

that not very broad; for exceedingly high cliffs overhang it on either

side. At that point those who formerly built the city provided that that

portion of the wall should not be open to attack by making long walls

which ran along beside either cliff and guarded the approach for a great

distance. And they built two towers, one in each of these walls, not

following the customary plan, but as follows. They refused to allow the

space in the middle of the structure to be empty, but constructed the

entire towers from the ground up to a great height of very large stones

which fitted together, in order that they might never be shaken down by

a ram or any other engine. Such, then, are the fortifications of Petra.

But the Persians secretly made a tunnel into the earth and got under one

of the two towers, and from there carried out many of the stones and in

their place put wood, which a little later they burned. And the flame,

rising little by little, weakened the stones, and all of a sudden shook

the whole tower violently and straightway brought it down to the ground.

And the Romans who were on the tower perceived what was being done in

sufficient time so that they did not fall with it to the ground, but

they fled and got inside the city wall. And now it was possible for the

enemy to storm the wall from the level, and thus with no trouble to take

the city by force. The Romans, therefore, in terror, opened negotiations

with the barbarians, and receiving from Chosroes pledges concerning

their lives and their property, they surrendered to him both themselves

and the city. [541 A.D.] Thus Chosroes captured Petra. And finding the

treasures of John, which were extremely rich, he took them himself, but

besides this neither he himself nor anyone else of the Persians touched

anything, and the Romans, retaining their own possessions, mingled with

the Median army.

XVIII