ARGUMENT.
I. Sapor, while exhorting the citizens of Amida to surrender, is
assailed with arrows and javelins by the garrison--And when king
Grumbates makes a similar attempt, his son is slain.--II. Amida is
blockaded, and within two days is twice assaulted by the
Persians.--III. Ursicinus makes a vain proposal to sally out by
night, and surprise the besiegers, being resisted by Sabinianus,
the commander of the forces.--IV. A pestilence, which breaks out in
Amida, is checked within ten days by a little rain--A discussion of
the causes, and different kinds of pestilences.--V. Amida, betrayed
by a deserter, is assailed both by assaults on the walls and by
underground mines.--VI. A sally of the Gallic legions does great
harm to the Persians.--VII. Towers and other engines are brought
close to the walls of the city, but they are burnt by the
Romans.--VIII. Attempts are made to raise lofty mounds close to the
walls of Amida, and by these means it is entered--After the fall of
the city, Marcellinus escapes by night, and flees to Antioch.--IX.
Of the Roman generals at Amida, some are put to death, and others
are kept as prisoners--Craugasius of Nisibis deserts to the
Persians from love of his wife, who is their prisoner.--X. The
people of Rome, fearing a scarcity, become seditious.--XI. The
Limigantes of Sarmatia, under pretence of suing for peace, attack
Constantius, who is deceived by their trick; but are driven back
with heavy loss.--XII. Many are prosecuted for treason, and
condemned.--XIII. Lauricius, of the Isaurians checks the hordes of
banditti.
I.
§ 1. The king, rejoicing at this our disaster and captivity, and
expecting other successes, advanced from this castle, and marching
slowly, on the third day came to Amida.
2. And at daybreak, everything, as far as we could see, glittered with
shining arms; and an iron cavalry filled the plains and the hills.
3. And he himself, mounted on his charger, and being taller than the
rest, led his whole army, wearing instead of a crown a golden figure of
a ram's head inlaid with jewels; being also splendid from the retinue of
men of high rank and of different nations which followed him. And it was
evident that his purpose was merely to try the garrison of the walls
with a parley, as, in following out the counsel of Antoninus, he was
hastening to another quarter.
4. But the deity of heaven, mercifully limiting the disasters of the
empire within the compass of one region, led on this king to such an
extravagant degree of elation, that he seemed to believe that the moment
he made his appearance the besieged would be suddenly panic-stricken,
and have recourse to supplication and entreaty.
5. He rode up to the gates, escorted by the cohort of his royal guard;
and while pushing on more boldly, so that his very features might be
plainly recognized, his ornaments made him such a mark for arrows and
other missiles, that he would have been slain, if the dust had not
hindered the sight of those who were shooting at him; so that after a
part of his robe had been cut off by a blow of a javelin, he escaped to
cause vast slaughter at a future time.
6. After this, raging as if against sacrilegious men who had violated a
temple, he cried out that the lord of so many monarchs and nations had
been insulted, and resolved to use all his efforts to destroy the city.
But at the entreaty of his choicest generals not to break the example of
mercy which he had so gloriously set, by indulging in anger, he was
pacified, and the next day ordered the garrison to be summoned to
surrender.
7. Therefore, at daybreak, Grumbates, king of the Chionitæ, went boldly
up to the walls to effect that object, with a brave body of guards; and
when a skilful reconnoitrer had noticed him coming within shot, he let
fly his balista, and struck down his son in the flower of his youth, who
was at his father's side, piercing through his breastplate, breast and
all; and he was a prince who in stature and beauty was superior to all
his comrades.
8. At his death all his countrymen took to flight, but presently
returning in order to prevent his body from being carried off, and
having roused with their dissonant clamours various tribes to their aid,
a stern conflict arose, the arrows flying on both sides like hail.
9. The deadly struggle having been continued till the close of day, it
was nightfall before the corpse of the young prince, which had been so
stubbornly defended, was extricated from the heap of dead and streams of
blood, amid the thick darkness; as formerly at Troy, the armies fought
in furious combat for the comrade of the Thessalian chieftain.[102]
10. At his death the count was sad, and all the nobles as well as his
father were distressed at his sudden loss; and a cessation of arms
having been ordered, the youth, so noble and beloved, was mourned after
the fashion of his nation. He was carried out in the arms he was wont to
wear, and placed on a spacious and lofty pile; around him ten couches
were dressed, bearing effigies of dead men, so carefully laid out, that
they resembled corpses already buried; and for seven days all the men in
the companies and battalions celebrated a funeral feast, dancing, and
singing melancholy kinds of dirges in lamentation for the royal youth.
11. And the women, with pitiable wailing, deplored with their customary
weepings the hope of their nation thus cut off in the early bloom of
youth; as the worshippers of Venus are often seen to do in the solemn
festival of Adonis, which the mystical doctrines of religion show to be
some sort of image of the ripened fruits of the earth.
II.
§ 1. When the body was burnt and the bones collected in a silver urn,
which his father had ordered to be carried back to his native land, to
be there buried beneath the earth, Sapor, after taking counsel,
determined to propitiate the shade of the deceased prince by making the
destroyed city of Amida his monument. Nor indeed was Grumbates willing
to move onward while the shade of his only son remained unavenged.
2. And having given two days to rest, and sent out large bodies of
troops to ravage the fertile and well-cultivated fields which were as
heavy with crops as in the time of peace, the enemy surrounded the city
with a line of heavy-armed soldiers five deep; and at the beginning of
the third day the brilliant squadrons filled every spot as far as the
eye could see in every direction, and the ranks marching slowly, took up
the positions appointed to each by lot.
3. All the Persians were employed in surrounding the walls; that part
which looked eastward, where that youth so fatal to us was slain, fell
to the Chionitæ. The Vertæ were appointed to the south; the Albani
watched the north; while opposite to the western gate were posted the
Segestani, the fiercest warriors of all, with whom were trains of tall
elephants, horrid with their wrinkled skins, which marched on slowly,
loaded with armed men, terrible beyond the savageness of any other
frightful sight, as we have often said.
4. When we saw these countless hosts thus deliberately collected for the
conflagration of the Roman world, and directed to our own immediate
destruction, we despaired of safety, and sought only how to end our
lives gloriously, as we all desired.
5. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the enemy's lines stood
immovable, as if rooted to the ground, without changing a step or
uttering a sound; nor was even the neigh of a horse heard; and the men
having withdrawn in the same order as they had advanced, after
refreshing themselves with food and sleep, even before the dawn,
returned, led by the clang of brazen trumpets, to surround the city, as
if fated to fall with their terrible ring.
6. And scarcely had Grumbates, like a Roman fecial, hurled at us a spear
stained with blood, according to his native fashion, than the whole
army, rattling their arms, mounted up to the walls, and instantly the
tumult of war grew fierce, while all the squadrons hastened with speed
and alacrity to the attack, and our men on their side opposed them with
equal fierceness and resolution.
7. Soon many of the enemy fell with their heads crushed by vast stones
hurled from scorpions, some were pierced with arrows, others were
transfixed with javelins, and strewed the ground with their bodies;
others, wounded, fled back in haste to their comrades.
8. Nor was there less grief or less slaughter in the city, where the
cloud of arrows obscured the air, and the vast engines, of which the
Persians had got possession when they took Singara, scattered wounds
everywhere.
9. For the garrison, collecting all their forces, returning in constant
reliefs to the combat, in their eagerness to defend the city, fell
wounded, to the hindrance of their comrades, or, being sadly torn as
they fell, threw down those who stood near them, or if still alive,
sought the aid of those skilful in extracting darts which had become
fixed in their bodies.
10. So slaughter was met by slaughter, and lasted till the close of day,
being scarcely stopped by the darkness of evening, so great was the
obstinacy with which both sides fought.
11. And the watches of the night were passed under arms, and the hills
resounded with the shouts raised on both sides, while our men extolled
the valour of Constantius Cæsar as lord of the empire and of the world,
and the Persians styled Sapor Saansas and Pyroses, which appellations
mean king of kings, and conqueror in wars.
12. The next morning, before daybreak, the trumpet gave the signal, and
countless numbers from all sides flocked like birds to a contest of
similar violence; and in every direction, as far as the eye could reach,
nothing could be seen in the plains and valleys but the glittering arms
of these savage nations.
13. And presently a shout was raised, and as the enemy rushed forward
all at once, they were met by a dense shower of missiles from the walls;
and as may be conjectured, none were hurled in vain, falling as they did
among so dense a crowd. For while so many evils surrounded us, we fought
as I have said before, with the hope, not of procuring safety, but of
dying bravely; and from dawn to eventide the battle was evenly
balanced, both fighting with more ferocity than method, and there arose
the shouts of men striking and falling, so that from the eagerness of
both parties there was scarcely any one who did not give or receive
wounds.
14. At last, night put an end to the slaughter, and the losses on both
sides caused a longer truce. For when the time intended for rest was
allowed to us, continual sleepless toil still exhausted our little
remaining strength, in spite of the dread caused by the bloodshed and
the pallid faces of the dying, whom the scantiness of our room did not
permit us even the last solace of burying; since within the circuit of a
moderate city there were seven legions, and a vast promiscuous multitude
of citizens and strangers of both sexes, and other soldiers, so that at
least twenty thousand men were shut up within the walls.
15. So each attended to his own wounds as well as he could, availing
himself of whatever assistance or remedies came in his way. While some,
being severely wounded, died of loss of blood; and some, pierced through
by swords, lay on the ground, and breathed their last in the open air;
others who were pierced through and through the skilful refused to
touch, in order not to pain them further by inflicting useless
sufferings; some, seeking the doubtful remedy of extracting the arrows,
only incurred agonies worse than death.
III.
§ 1. While the war was going on in this manner around Amida, Ursicinus,
vexed at being dependent on the will of another, gave continual warning
to Sabinianus, who had superior authority over the soldiers, and who
still remained in the quarter of the tombs, to collect all his
light-armed troops, and hasten by secret paths along the foot of the
mountain chain, with the idea that by the aid of this light force, if
chance should aid them, they might surprise some of the enemy's
outposts, and attack with success the night watches of the army, which,
with its vast circuit, was surrounding the walls, or else by incessant
attacks might harass those who clung resolutely to the blockade.
2. But Sabinianus rejected this proposal as mischievous, and produced
some letters from the emperor, expressly enjoining that all that could
be done was to be done without exposing the troops to any danger; but
his own secret motive he kept in his own bosom, namely, that he had been
constantly recommended while at court to refuse his predecessor, who was
very eager for glory, every opportunity of acquiring renown, however
much it might be for the interest of the republic.
3. Extreme pains were taken, even to the ruin of the provinces, to
prevent the gallant Ursicinus from being spoken of as the author of or
partner in any memorable exploit. Therefore, bewildered with these
misfortunes, Ursicinus, seeing that, though constantly sending spies to
us (although from the strict watch that was set it was not easy for any
one to enter the city), and proposing many advantageous plans, he did no
good, seemed like a lion, terrible for his size and fierceness, but with
his claws cut and his teeth drawn, so that he could not dare to save
from danger his cubs entangled in the nets of the hunters.
IV.
§ 1. But in the city, where the number of the corpses which lay
scattered over the streets was too great for any one to perform the
funeral rites over them, a pestilence was soon added to the other
calamities of the citizens; the carcases becoming full of worms and
corruption, from the evaporation caused by the heat, and the various
diseases of the people; and here I will briefly explain whence diseases
of this kind arise.
2. Both philosophers and skilful physicians agree that excess of cold,
or of heat, or of moisture, or of drought, all cause pestilences; on
which account those who dwell in marshy or wet districts are subject to
coughs and complaints in the eyes, and other similar maladies: on the
other hand, those who dwell in hot climates are liable to fevers and
inflammations. But since fire is the most powerful of all elements, so
drought is the quickest at killing.
3. On this account it is that when the Greeks were toiling at the ten
years' war,[103] to prevent a foreigner from profiting by his violation
of a royal marriage, a pestilence broke out among them, and numbers died
by the darts of Apollo, who is the same as the Sun.
4. Again, as Thucydides relates, that pestilence which at the beginning
of the Peloponnesian war harassed the Athenians with a most cruel kind
of sickness, came by slow steps from the burning plains of Ethiopia to
Attica.
5. Others maintain that the air and the water, becoming tainted by the
smell of corpses, and similar things, takes away the healthiness of a
place, or at all events that the sudden change of temperature brings
forth slighter sicknesses.
6. Some again affirm that the air becomes heavier by emanations from the
earth, and kills some individuals by checking the perspiration of the
body, for which reason we learn from Homer, that, besides men, the other
living creatures also died; and we know by many instances, that in such
plagues this does occur.
7. Now the first species of pestilence is called pandemic; this causes
those who live in dry places to be attacked by frequent heats. The
second is called epidemic, which gets gradually more violent, dims the
sight of the eyes, and awakens dangerous humours. The third is called
loemodes,[104] which is also temporary, but still often kills with
great rapidity.
8. We were attacked by this deadly pestilence from the excessive heat,
which our numbers aggravated, though but few died: and at last, on the
night after the tenth day from the first attack, the heavy and dense air
was softened by a little rain, and the health of the garrison was
restored and preserved.
V.
§ 1. In the mean time the restless Persians were surrounding the city
with a fence of wicker-work, and mounds were commenced; lofty towers
also were constructed with iron fronts, in the top of each of which a
balista was placed, in order to drive down the garrison from the
battlements; but during the whole time the shower of missiles from the
archers and slingers never ceased for a moment.
2. We had with us two of the legions which had served under Magnentius,
and which, as we have said, had lately been brought from Gaul, composed
of brave and active men well adapted for conflicts in the plain; but not
only useless for such a kind of war as that by which we were now
pressed, but actually in the way. For as they had no skill either in
working the engines, or in constructing works, but were continually
making foolish sallies, and fighting bravely, they always returned with
diminished numbers; doing just as much good, as the saying is, as a
bucket of water brought by a single hand to a general conflagration.
3. At last, when the gates were completely blocked, and they were
utterly unable to get out, in spite of the entreaties of their tribunes,
they became furious as wild beasts. But on subsequent occasions their
services became conspicuous, as we shall show.
4. In a remote part of the walls on the southern side, which looks down
on the Tigris, there was a high tower, below which yawned an abrupt
precipice, which it was impossible to look over without giddiness. From
this by a hollow subterranean passage along the foot of the mountain
some steps were cut with great skill, which led up to the level of the
city, by which water was secretly obtained from the river, as we have
seen to be the case in all the fortresses in that district which are
situated on any river.
5. This passage was dark, and because of the precipitous character of
the rock was neglected by the besiegers, till, under the guidance of a
deserter who went over to them, seventy Persian archers of the royal
battalion, men of eminent skill and courage, being protected by the
remoteness of the spot which prevented their being heard, climbed up by
the steps one by one at midnight, and reached the third story of the
tower. There they concealed themselves till daybreak, when they held out
a scarlet cloak as a signal for commencing an assault, when they saw
that the city was entirely surrounded by the multitude of their
comrades; and then they emptied their quivers and threw them down at
their feet, and with loud cries shot their arrows among the citizens
with prodigious skill.
6. And presently the whole of the mighty host of the enemy assaulted the
city with more ferocity than ever. And while we stood hesitating and
perplexed to know which danger to oppose first, whether to make head
against the foe above us, or against the multitude who were scaling the
battlements with ladders, our force was divided; and five of the lighter
balistæ were brought round and placed so as to attack our tower. They
shot out heavy wooden javelins with great rapidity, sometimes
transfixing two of our men at one blow, so that many of them fell to the
ground severely wounded, and some jumped down in haste from fear of the
creaking engines, and being terribly lacerated by the fall, died.
7. But by measures promptly taken, the walls were again secured on that
side, and the engines replaced in their former situation.
8. And since the crime of desertion had increased the labours of our
soldiers, they, full of indignation, moved along the battlements as if
on level ground, hurling missiles of all kinds, and exerting themselves
so strenuously that the Virtæ, who were attacking on the south side,
were repulsed covered by wounds, and retired in consternation to their
tents, having to lament the fall of many of their number.
VI.
§ 1. Thus fortune showed us a ray of safety, granting us one day in
which we suffered but little, while the enemy sustained a heavy loss;
the remainder of the day was given to rest in order to recruit our
strength; and at the dawn of the next morning we saw from the citadel an
innumerable multitude, which, after the capture of the fort called
Ziata, was being led to the enemy's camp. For a promiscuous multitude
had taken refuge in Ziata on account of its size and strength; it being
a place ten furlongs in circumference.
2. In those days many other fortresses also were stormed and burnt, and
many thousands of men and women carried off from them into slavery;
among whom were many men and women, enfeebled by age, who, fainting
from different causes, broke down under the length of the journey, gave
up all desire of life, and were hamstrung and left behind.
3. The Gallic soldiers beholding these wretched crowds, demanded by a
natural but unseasonable impulse to be led against the forces of the
enemy, threatening their tribunes and principal centurions with death if
they refused them leave.
4. And as wild beasts kept in cages, being rendered more savage by the
smell of blood, dash themselves against their movable bars in the hope
of escaping, so these men smote the gates, which we have already spoken
of as being blockaded, with their swords; being very anxious not to be
involved in the destruction of the city till they had done some gallant
exploit; or, if they ultimately escaped from their dangers, not to be
spoken of as having done nothing worth speaking of, or worthy of their
Gallic courage. Although when they had sallied out before, as they had
often done, and had inflicted some loss on the raisers of the mounds,
they had always experienced equal loss themselves.
5. We, at a loss what to do, and not knowing what resistance to oppose
to these furious men, at length, having with some difficulty won their
consent thereto, decided, since the evil could be endured no longer, to
allow them to attack the Persian advanced guard, which was not much
beyond bowshot; and then, if they could force their line, they might
push their advance further. For it was plain that if they succeeded in
this, they would cause a great slaughter of the enemy.
6. And while the preparations for this sally were being made, the walls
were still gallantly defended with unmitigated labour and watching, and
planting engines for shooting stones and darts in every direction. But
two high mounds had been raised by the Persian infantry, and the
blockade of the city was still pressed forward by gradual operations;
against which our men, exerting themselves still more vigorously, raised
also immense structures, topping the highest works of the enemy; and
sufficiently strong to support the immense weight of their defenders.
7. In the mean time the Gallic troops, impatient of delay, armed with
their axes and swords, went forth from the open postern gate, taking
advantage of a dark and moonless night. And imploring the Deity to be
propitious, and repressing even their breath when they got near the
enemy, they advanced with quick step and in close order, slew some of
the watch at the outposts, and the outer sentinels of the camp (who were
asleep, fearing no such event), and entertained secret hopes of
penetrating even to the king's tent if fortune assisted them.
8. But some noise, though slight, was made by them in their march, and
the groans of the slain aroused many from sleep; and while each
separately raised the cry "to arms," our soldiers halted and stood firm,
not venturing to move any further forward. For it would not have been
prudent, now that those whom they sought to surprise were awakened, to
hasten into open danger, while the bands of Persians were now heard to
be flocking to battle from all quarters.
9. Nevertheless the Gallic troops, with undiminished strength and
boldness, continued to hew down their foes with their swords, though
some of their own men were also slain, pierced by the arrows which were
flying from all quarters; and they still stood firm, when they saw the
whole danger collected into one point, and the bands of the enemy coming
on with speed; yet no one turned his back: and they withdrew, retiring
slowly as if in time to music, and gradually fell behind the pales of
the camp, being unable to sustain the weight of the battalions pressing
close upon them, and being deafened by the clang of the Persian
trumpets.
10. And while many trumpets in turn poured out their clang from the
city, the gates were opened to receive our men, if they should be able
to reach them: and the engines for missiles creaked, though no javelins
were shot from them, in order that the captains of the advanced guard of
the Persians, ignorant of the slaughter of their comrades, might be
terrified by the noise into falling back, and so allowing our gallant
troops to be admitted in safety.
11. And owing to this manoeuvre, the Gauls about daybreak entered the
gate although with diminished numbers, many of them severely and others
slightly wounded. They lost four hundred men this night, when if they
had not been hindered by more formidable obstacles, they would have
slain in his very tent not Rhesus nor Thracians sleeping before the
walls of Troy, but the king of Persia, surrounded by one hundred
thousand armed men.
12. To their leaders, as champions of valiant actions, the emperor,
after the fall of the city, ordered statues in armour to be erected at
Edessa in a frequented spot. And those statues are preserved up to the
present time unhurt.
13. When the next day showed the slaughter which had been made, nobles
and satraps were found lying amongst the corpses, and all kinds of
dissonant cries and tears indicated the changed posture of the Persian
host: everywhere was heard wailing; and great indignation was expressed
by the princes, who thought that the Romans had forced their way through
the sentries in front of the walls. A truce was made for three days by
the common consent of both armies, and we gladly accepted a little
respite in which to take breath.[105]
VII.
§ 1. Now the nations of the barbarians, being amazed at the novelty of
this attempt, and rendered by it more savage than ever, discarding all
delay, determined to proceed with their works, since open assaults
availed them but little. And with extreme warlike eagerness they all now
hastened to die gloriously, or else to propitiate the souls of the dead
by the ruin of the city.
2. And now, the necessary preparations having been completed by the
universal alacrity, at the rising of the day-star all kinds of
structures and iron towers were brought up to the walls; on the lofty
summits of which balistæ were fitted, which beat down the garrison who
were placed on lower ground.
3. And when day broke the iron coverings of the bodies of the foe
darkened the whole heaven, and the dense lines advanced without any
skirmishers in front, and not in an irregular manner as before, but to
the regular and soft music of trumpets; protected by the roofs of the
engines, and holding before them wicker shields.
4. And when they came within reach of our missiles, the Persian
infantry, holding their shields in front of them, and even then having
difficulty in avoiding the arrows which were shot from the engines on
the walls, for scarcely any kind of weapon found an empty space, they
broke their line a little; and even the cuirassiers were checked and
began to retreat, which raised the spirits of our men.
5. Still the balistæ of the enemy, placed on their iron towers, and
pouring down missiles with great power from their high ground on those
in a lower position, spread a great deal of slaughter in our ranks. At
last, when evening came on, both sides retired to rest, and the greater
part of the night was spent by us in considering what device could be
adopted to resist the formidable engines of the enemy.
6. At length, after we had considered many plans, we determined on one
which the rapidity with which it could be executed made the safest--to
oppose four scorpions to the four balistæ; which were carefully moved (a
very difficult operation) from the place in which they were; but before
this work was finished, day arrived, bringing us a mournful sight,
inasmuch as it showed us the formidable battalions of the Persians, with
their trains of elephants, the noise and size of which animals are such
that nothing more terrible can be presented to the mind of man.
7. And while we were pressed on all sides with the vast masses of arms,
and works, and beasts, still our scorpions were kept at work with their
iron slings, hurling huge round stones from the battlements, by which
the towers of the enemy were crushed and the balistæ and those who
worked them were dashed to the ground, so that many were desperately
injured, and many crushed by the weight of the falling structures. And
the elephants were driven back with violence, and surrounded by the
flames which we poured forth against them, the moment that they were
wounded retired, and could not be restrained by their riders. The works
were all burnt, but still there was no cessation from the conflict.
8. For the king of the Persians himself, who is never expected to mingle
in the fight, being indignant at these disasters, adopting a new and
unprecedented mode of action, sprang forth like a common soldier among
his own dense columns; and as the very number of his guards made him the
more conspicuous to us who looked from afar on the scene, he was
assailed by numerous missiles, and was forced to retire after he had
lost many of his escort, while his troops fell back by echellons; and at
the end of the day, though frightened neither by the sad sight of the
slaughter nor of the wounds, he at length allowed a short period to be
given to rest.
VIII.
§ 1. Night had put an end to the combat; and when a slight rest had been
procured from sleep, the moment that the dawn, looked for as the
harbinger of better fortune, appeared, Sapor, full of rage and
indignation, and perfectly reckless, called forth his people to attack
us. And as his works were all burnt, as we have related, and the attack
had to be conducted by means of their lofty mounds raised close to our
walls, we also from mounds within the walls, as fast as we could raise
them, struggled in spite of all our difficulties, with all our might,
and with equal courage, against our assailants.
2. And long did the bloody conflict last, nor was any one of the
garrison driven by fear of death from his resolution to defend the city.
The conflict was prolonged, till at last, while the fortune of the two
sides was still undecided, the structure raised by our men, having been
long assailed and shaken, at last fell, as if by an earthquake.
3. And the whole space which was between the wall and the external mound
being made level as if by a causeway or a bridge, opened a passage to
the enemy, which was no longer embarrassed by any obstacles; and numbers
of our men, being crushed or enfeebled by their wounds, gave up the
struggle. Still men flocked from all quarters to repel so imminent a
danger, but from their eager haste they got in one another's way, while
the boldness of the enemy increased with their success.
4. By the command of the king all his troops now hastened into action,
and a hand-to-hand engagement ensued. Blood ran down from the vast
slaughter on both sides: the ditches were filled with corpses, and thus
a wider path was opened for the besiegers. And the city, being now
filled with the eager crowd which forced its way in, all hope of defence
or of escape was cut off, and armed and unarmed without any distinction
of age or sex were slaughtered like sheep.
5. It was full evening, when, though fortune had proved adverse, the
bulk of our troops was still fighting in good order; and I, having
concealed myself with two companions in an obscure corner of the city,
now under cover of darkness, made my escape by a postern gate where
there was no guard; and aided by my own knowledge of the country and by
the speed of my companions, I at last reached the tenth milestone from
the city.
6. Here, having lightly refreshed ourselves, I tried to proceed, but
found myself, as a noble unaccustomed to such toil, overcome by fatigue
of the march. I happened to fall in, however, with what, though a most
unsightly object, was to me, completely tired out, a most seasonable
relief.
7. A groom riding a runaway horse, barebacked and without a bridle, in
order to prevent his falling had knotted the halter by which he was
guiding him tightly to his left hand, and presently, being thrown, and
unable to break the knot, he was torn to pieces as he was dragged over
the rough ground and through the bushes, till at last the weight of his
dead body stopped the tired beast; I caught him, and mounting him,
availed myself of his services at a most seasonable moment, and after
much suffering arrived with my companions at some sulphurous springs of
naturally hot water.
8. On account of the heat we had suffered greatly from thirst, and had
been crawling about for some time in search of water; and now when we
came to this well it was so deep that we could not descend into it, nor
had we any ropes; but, taught by extreme necessity, we tore up the linen
clothes which we wore into long rags, which we made into one great rope,
and fastened to the end of it a cap which one of us wore beneath his
helmet; and letting that down by the rope, and drawing up water in it
like a sponge, we easily quenched our thirst.
9. From hence we proceeded rapidly to the Euphrates, intending to cross
to the other side in the boat which long custom had stationed in that
quarter, to convey men and cattle across.
10. When lo! we see at a distance a Roman force with cavalry standards,
scattered and pursued by a division of Persians, though we did not know
from what quarter it had come so suddenly on them in their march.
11. This example showed us that what men call indigenous people are not
sprung from the bowels of the earth, but merely appear unexpectedly by
reason of the speed of their movements: and because they were seen
unexpectedly in various places, they got the name of Sparti,[106] and
were believed to have sprung from the ground, antiquity exaggerating
their renown in a fabulous manner, as it does that of other things.
12. Roused by this sight, since our only hope of safety lay in our
speed, we drew off through the thickets and woods to the high mountains;
and from thence we went to Melitina, a town of the Lesser Armenia, where
we found our chief just on the point of setting off, in whose company we
went on to Antioch.
IX.
§ 1. In the mean time Sapor and the Persians began to think of returning
home, because they feared to penetrate more inland with their prisoners
and booty, now that the autumn was nearly over, and the unhealthy star
of the Kids had arisen.
2. But amid the massacres and plunder of the destroyed city, Ælian the
count, and the tribunes by whose vigour the walls of Amida had been
defended, and the losses of the Persians multiplied, were wickedly
crucified; and Jacobus and Cæsias, the treasurers of the commander of
the cavalry, and others of the band of protectores, were led as
prisoners, with their hands bound behind their backs; and the people of
the district beyond the Tigris, who were diligently sought for, were all
slain without distinction of rank or dignity.
3. But the wife of Craugasius, who, preserving her chastity inviolate,
was treated with the respect due to a high-born matron, was mourning as
if she were to be carried to another world without her husband,
although she had indications afforded her that she might hope for a
higher future.
4. Therefore, thinking of her own interests, and having a wise forecast
of the future, she was torn with a twofold anxiety, loathing both
widowhood and the marriage she saw before her. Accordingly, she secretly
sent off a friend of sure fidelity, and well acquainted with
Mesopotamia, to pass by Mount Izala, between the two forts called Maride
and Lorne, and so to effect his entrance into Nisibis, calling upon her
husband, with urgent entreaties and the revelation of many secrets of
her own private condition, after hearing what the messenger could tell
him, to come to Persia and live happily with her there.
5. The messenger, travelling with great speed through jungle roads and
thickets, reached Nisibis, pretending that he had never seen his
mistress, and that, as in all likelihood she was slain, he had availed
himself of an accidental opportunity to make his escape from the enemy's
camp. And so, being neglected as one of no importance, he got access to
Craugasius, and told him what had happened. And having received from him
an assurance that, as soon as he could do so with safety, he would
gladly rejoin his wife, he departed, bearing the wished-for intelligence
to the lady. She, when she received it, addressed herself, through the
medium of Tamsapor, to the king, entreating him that, if the opportunity
offered before he quitted the Roman territories, he would order her
husband to be restored to her.
6. But the fact of this stranger having departed thus unexpectedly,
without any one suspecting it, after his secret return, raised
suspicions in the mind of Duke Cassianus and the other nobles who had
authority in the city, who addressed severe menaces to Craugasius,
insisting that the man could neither have come nor have gone without his
privity.
7. And he, fearing the charge of treason, and being very anxious lest
the flight of the deserter should cause a suspicion that his wife was
still alive and was well treated by the enemy, feigned to court a
marriage with another virgin of high rank. And having gone out to a
villa which he had eight miles from the city, as if with the object of
making the necessary preparations for the wedding feast, he mounted a
horse, and fled at full speed to a predatory troop of Persians which he
had learnt was in the neighbourhood, and being cordially received, when
it was seen from what he said who he was, he was delivered over to
Tamsapor on the fifth day, and by him he was introduced to the king, and
recovered not only his wife, but his family and all his treasures,
though he lost his wife only a few months afterwards. And he was
esteemed only second to Antoninus, though as a great poet has said,
"Longo proximus intervallo."[107]
8. For Antoninus was eminent both for genius and experience in affairs,
and had useful counsels for every enterprise that could be proposed,
while Craugasius was of a less subtle nature, though also very
celebrated. And all these events took place within a short time after
the fall of Amida.
9. But the king, though showing no marks of anxiety on his countenance,
and though he appeared full of exultation at the fall of the city, still
in the depths of his heart was greatly perplexed, recollecting that in
the siege he had frequently sustained severe losses, and that he had
lost more men, and those too of more importance than any prisoners whom
he had taken from us, or than we had lost in all the battles that had
taken place; as indeed had also been the case at Singara, and at
Nisibis. In the seventy-three days during which he had been blockading
Amida, he had lost thirty thousand soldiers, as was reckoned a few days
later by Discenes, a tribune and secretary; the calculation being the
more easily made because the corpses of our men very soon shrink and
lose their colour, so that their faces can never be recognized after
four days; but the bodies of the Persians dry up like the trunks of
trees, so that nothing exudes from them, nor do they suffer from any
suffusion of blood, which is caused by their more sparing diet, and by
the dryness and heat of their native land.
X.
§ 1. While these events and troubles were proceeding rapidly in the
remote districts of the East, the Eternal City was fearing distress
from an impending scarcity of corn; and the violence of the common
people, infuriated by the expectation of that worst of all evils, was
vented upon Tertullus, who at that time was prefect of the city. This
was unreasonable, since it did not depend upon him that the provisions
were embarked in a stormy season in ships which, through the unusually
tempestuous state of the sea, and the violence of contrary winds, were
driven into any ports they could make, and were unable to reach the port
of Augustus, from the greatness of the dangers which threatened them.
2. Nevertheless, Tertullus was continually troubled by the seditious
movements of the people, who worked themselves up to great rage, being
excited by the imminent danger of a famine; till, having no hope of
preserving his own safety, he wisely brought his little boys out to the
people, who, though in a state of tumultuous disorder, were often
influenced by sudden accidents, and with tears addressed them thus:--
3. "Behold your fellow-citizens, who (may the gods avert the omen),
unless fortune should take a more favourable turn, will be exposed to
the same sufferings as yourselves. If then you think that by destroying
them you will be saved from all suffering, they are in your power." The
people, of their own nature inclined to mercy, were propitiated by this
sad address, and made no answer, but awaited their impending fate with
resignation.
4. And soon, by the favour of the deity who has watched over the growth
of Rome from its first origin, and who promised that it should last for
ever, while Tertullus was at Ostia, sacrificing in the temple of Castor
and Pollux, the sea became calm, the wind changed to a gentle south-east
breeze, and the ships in full sail entered the port, laden with corn to
fill the granaries.
XI.
§ 1. While these perplexing transactions were taking place, intelligence
full of importance and danger reached Constantius who was reposing in
winter quarters at Sirmium, informing him (as he had already greatly
feared) that the Sarmatian Limigantes, who, as we have before related,
had expelled their masters from their hereditary homes, had learnt to
despise the lands which had been generously allotted to them in the
preceding year, in order to prevent so fickle a class from undertaking
any mischievous enterprise, and had seized on the districts over the
border; that they were straggling, according to their national custom,
with great licence over the whole country, and would throw everything
into disorder if they were not put down.
2. The emperor, judging that any delay would increase their insolence,
collected from all quarters a strong force of veteran soldiers, and
before the spring was much advanced, set forth on an expedition against
them, being urged to greater activity by two considerations; first,
because the army, having acquired great booty during the last summer,
was likely to be encouraged to successful exertion in the hope of
similar reward; and secondly, because, as Anatolius was at that time
prefect of Illyricum, everything necessary for such an expedition could
be readily provided without recourse to any stringent measures.
3. For under no other prefect's government (as is agreed by all), up to
the present time, had the northern provinces ever been so flourishing in
every point of view; all abuses being corrected with a kind and prudent
hand, while the people were relieved from the burden of transporting the
public stores (which often caused such losses as to ruin many families),
and also from the heavy income tax. So that the natives of those
districts would have been free from all damage and cause of complaint,
if at a later period some detestable collectors had not come among them,
extorting money, and exaggerating accusations, in order to build up
wealth and influence for themselves, and to procure their own safety and
prosperity by draining the natives; carrying their severities to the
proscription and even execution of many of them.
4. To apply a remedy to this insurrection, the emperor set out, as I
have said, with a splendid staff, and reached Valeria, which was
formerly a part of Pannonia, but which had been established as a
separate province, and received its new name in honour of Valeria, the
daughter of Diocletian. And having encamped his army on the banks of the
Danube, he watched the movements of the barbarians, who, before his
arrival, had been proposing, under friendly pretences, to enter
Pannonia, meaning to lay it waste during the severity of the winter
season, before the snow had been melted by the warmth of spring and the
river had become passable, and while our people were unable from the
cold to bear bivouacking in the open air.
5. He at once therefore sent two tribunes, each accompanied by an
interpreter, to the Limigantes, to inquire mildly why they had quitted
the homes which at their own request had been assigned to them after the
conclusion of the treaty of peace, and why they were now straggling in
various directions, and passing their boundaries in contempt of his
prohibitions.
6. They made vain and frivolous excuses, fear compelling them to have
recourse to lies, and implored the emperor's pardon, beseeching him to
discard his displeasure, and to allow them to cross the river and come
to him to explain the hardships under which they were labouring;
alleging their willingness, if required, to retire to remoter lands,
only within the Roman frontier, where, enjoying lasting peace and
worshipping tranquillity as their tutelary deity, they would submit to
the name and discharge the duties of tributary subjects.
7. When the tribunes returned and related this, the emperor, exulting
that an affair which appeared full of inextricable difficulties was
likely to be brought to a conclusion without any trouble, and being
eager to add to his acquisitions, admitted them all to his presence. His
eagerness for acquiring territory was fanned by a swarm of flatterers,
who were incessantly saying that when all distant districts were at
peace, and when tranquillity was established everywhere, he would gain
many subjects, and would be able to enlist powerful bodies of recruits,
thereby relieving the provinces, which would often rather give money
than personal service (though this expectation has more than once proved
very mischievous to the state).
8. Presently he pitched his camp near Acimincum,[108] where a lofty
mound was raised to serve for a tribune; and some boats, loaded with
soldiers of the legions, without their baggage, under command of
Innocentius, an engineer who had suggested the measure, were sent to
watch the channel of the river, keeping close under the bank; so that,
if they perceived the barbarians in disorder, they might come upon them
and surprise their rear, while their attention was directed elsewhere.
9. The Limigantes became aware of the measures thus promptly taken, but
still employed no other means of defence than humility and entreaty;
though secretly they cherished designs very different from those
indicated by their words and gestures.
10. But when they saw the emperor on his high mound preparing a mild
harangue, and about to address them as men who would prove obedient in
future, one of them, seized with a sudden fury, hurled his shoe at the
tribune, and cried out, "Marha, Marha!" which in their language is a
signal of war; and a disorderly mob following him, suddenly raised their
barbaric standard, and with fierce howls rushed upon the emperor
himself.
11. And when he, looking down from his high position, saw the whole
place filled with thousands of men running to and fro, and their drawn
swords and rapiers threatening him with immediate destruction, he
descended, and mingling both with the barbarians and his own men,
without any one perceiving him or knowing whether he was an officer or a
common soldier; and since there was no time for delay or inaction, he
mounted a speedy horse, and galloped away, and so escaped.
12. But his few guards, while endeavouring to keep back the mutineers,
who rushed on with the fierceness of fire, were all killed, either by
wounds, or by being crushed beneath the weight of others who fell upon
them; and the royal throne, with its golden cushion, was torn to pieces
without any one making an effort to save it.
13. But presently, when it became known that the emperor, after having
been in the most imminent danger of his life, was still in peril, the
army, feeling it to be the most important of all objects to assist him,
for they did not yet think him safe, and confiding in their prowess,
though from the suddenness of the attack they were only half formed,
threw themselves, with loud and warlike cries upon the bands of the
barbarians, fearlessly braving death.
14. And because in their fiery valour our men were resolved to wipe out
disgrace by glory, and were full of anger at the treachery of the foe,
they slew every one whom they met without mercy, trampling all under
foot, living, wounded, and dead alike; so that heaps of dead were piled
up before their hands were weary of the slaughter. For the rebels were
completely overwhelmed, some being slain, and others fleeing in fear,
many of whom implored their lives with various entreaties, but were
slaughtered with repeated wounds. And when, after they were all
destroyed, the trumpets sounded a retreat, it was found that only a very
few of our men were killed, and these had either been trampled down at
first, or had perished from the insufficiency of their armour to resist
the violence of the enemy.
15. But the most glorious death was that of Cella, the tribune of the
Scutarii, who at the beginning of the uproar set the example of plunging
first into the middle of the Sarmatian host.
16. After these blood-stained transactions, Constantius took what
precautions prudence suggested for the security of his frontiers, and
then returned to Sirmium, having avenged himself on the perfidity of his
enemies. And having there settled everything which the occasion
required, he quitted Sirmium and went to Constantinople, that by being
nearer to the East, he might remedy the disasters which had been
sustained at Amida, and having reinforced his army with new levies, he
might check the attempts of the king of Persia with equal vigour; as it
was clear that Sapor, if Providence and some more pressing occupation
did not prevent him, would leave Mesopotamia and bring the war over the
plains on this side of that country.
XII.
§ 1. But amid these causes of anxiety, as if in accordance with
old-established custom, instead of the signal for civil war, the trumpet
sounded groundless charges of treason, and a secretary, whom we shall
often have to speak of, named Paulus, was sent to inquire into these
charges. He was a man skilful in all the contrivances of cruelty, making
gain and profit of tortures and executions, as a master of gladiators
does of his fatal games.
2. For as he was firm and resolute in his purpose of injuring people,
he did not abstain even from theft, and invented all kinds of causes for
the destruction of innocent men, while engaged in this miserable
campaign.
3. A slight and trivial circumstance afforded infinite material for
extending his investigations. There is a town called Abydum in the most
remote corner of the Egyptian Thebais, where an oracle of the god, known
in that region by the name of Besa, had formerly enjoyed some celebrity
for its prophecies, and had sacred rites performed at it with all the
ceremonies anciently in use in the neighbouring districts.
4. Some used to go themselves to consult this oracle, some to send by
others documents containing their wishes, and with prayers couched in
explicit language inquired the will of the deities; and the paper or
parchment on which their wants were written, after the answer had been
given, was sometimes left in the temple.
5. Some of these were spitefully sent to the emperor, and he, narrow
minded as he was, though often deaf to other matters of serious
consequence, had, as the proverb says, a soft place in his ear for this
kind of information; and being of a suspicious and petty temper, became
full of gall and fury; and immediately ordered Paulus to repair with all
speed to the East, giving him authority, as to a chief of great eminence
and experience, to try all the causes as he pleased.
6. And Modestus also, at that time count of the East, a man well suited
for such a business, was joined with him in this commission. For
Hermogenes of Pontus, at that time prefect of the prætorium, was passed
over as of too gentle a disposition.
7. Paulus proceeded, as he was ordered, full of deadly eagerness and
rage; inviting all kinds of calumnies, so that numbers from every part
of the empire were brought before him, noble and low born alike; some of
whom were condemned to imprisonment, others to instant death.
8. The city which was chosen to witness these fatal scenes was
Scythopolis in Palestine, which for two reasons seemed the most suitable
of all places; first, because it was little frequented and secondly,
because it was half-way between Antioch and Alexandria, from which city
many of those brought before this tribunal came.
9. One of the first persons accused was Simplicius, the son of Philip;
a man who, after having been prefect and consul, was now impeached on
the ground that he was said to have consulted the oracle how to obtain
the empire. He was sentenced to the torture by the express command of
the emperor, who in these cases never erred on the side of mercy; but by
some special fate he was saved from it, and with uninjured body was
condemned to distant banishment.
10. The next victim was Parnasius, who had been prefect of Egypt, a man
of simple manners, but now in danger of being condemned to death, and
glad to escape with exile; because long ago he had been heard to say
that when he left Patræ in Achaia, the place of his birth, with the view
of procuring some high office, he had in a dream seen himself conducted
on his road by several figures in tragic robes.
11. The next was Andronicus, subsequently celebrated for his liberal
accomplishments and his poetry; he was brought before the court without
having given any real ground for suspicion of any kind, and defended
himself so vigorously that he was acquitted.
12. There was also Demetrius, surnamed Chytras, a philosopher, of great
age, but still firm in mind and body; he, when charged with having
frequently offered sacrifices in the temple of his oracle, could not
deny it; but affirmed that, for the sake of propitiating the deity, he
had constantly done so from his early youth, and not with any idea of
aiming at any higher fortune by his questions; nor had he known any one
who had aimed at such. And though he was long on the rack he supported
it with great constancy, never varying in his statement, till at length
he was acquitted and allowed to retire to Alexandria, where he was born.
13. These and a few others, justice, coming to the aid of truth,
delivered from their imminent dangers. But as accusations extended more
widely, involving numbers without end in their snares, many perished;
some with their bodies mangled on the rack; others were condemned to
death and confiscation of their goods; while Paulus kept on inventing
groundless accusations, as if he had a store of lies on which to draw,
and suggesting various pretences for injuring people, so that on his
nod, it may be said, the safety of every one in the place depended.
14. For if any one wore on his neck a charm against the quartan ague or
any other disease, or if by any information laid by his ill-wishers he
was accused of having passed by a sepulchre at nightfall, and therefore
of being a sorcerer, and one who dealt in the horrors of tombs and the
vain mockeries of the shades which haunt them, he was found guilty and
condemned to death.
15. And the affairs went on as if people had been consulting Claros, or
the oaks at Dodona, or the Delphic oracles of old fame, with a view to
the destruction of the emperor.
16. Meantime, the crowd of courtiers, inventing every kind of deceitful
flattery, affirmed that he would be free from all common misfortunes,
asserting that his fate had always shone forth with vigour and power in
destroying all who attempted anything injurious to him.
17. That indeed strict investigation should be made into such matters,
no one in his senses will deny; nor do we question that the safety of
our lawful prince, the champion and defender of the good, and on whom
the safety of all other people depends, ought to be watched over by the
combined zeal of all men; and for the sake of insuring this more
completely, when any treasonable enterprise is discovered, the Cornelian
laws have provided that no rank shall be exempted even from torture if
necessary for the investigation.
18. But it is not decent to exult unrestrainedly in melancholy events,
lest the subjects should seem to be governed by tyranny, not by
authority. It is better to imitate Cicero, who, when he had it in his
power either to spare or to strike, preferred, as he tells us himself,
to seek occasions for pardoning rather than for punishing, which is
characteristic of a prudent and wise judge.
19. At that time a monster, horrible both to see and to describe, was
produced at Daphne, a beautiful and celebrated suburb of Antioch;
namely, an infant with two mouths, two sets of teeth, two heads, four
eyes, and only two very short ears. And such a mis-shapen offspring was
an omen that the republic would become deformed.
20. Prodigies of this kind are often produced, presaging events of
various kinds; but as they are not now publicly expiated, as they were
among the ancients, they are unheard of and unknown to people in
general.
XIII.
§ 1. During this period the Isaurians, who had been tranquil for some
time after the transactions already mentioned, and the attempt to take
the city of Seleucia, gradually reviving, as serpents come out of their
holes in the warmth of spring, descended from their rocky and pathless
jungles, and forming into large troops, harassed their neighbours with
predatory incursions; escaping, from their activity as mountaineers, all
attempts of the soldiers to take them, and from long use moving easily
over rocks and through thickets.
2. So Lauricius was sent among them as governor, with the additional
title of count, to reduce them to order by fair means or foul. He was a
man of sound civil wisdom, correcting things in general by threats
rather than by severity, so that while he governed the province, which
he did for some time, nothing happened deserving of particular notice.
[102] Patroclus, the companion of Achilles.
[103] The Trojan war. See the account of the pestilence, Homer Il. i.
50.
[104] _i.e._, +loimôdês+, from +loimos+, pestilence.
Pandemic means "attacking the whole people." Epidemic, "spreading from
individual to individual."
[105] Ammian alludes to the expedition of Ulysses and Diomede related by
Homer, Il. viii.
[106] Ammianus is wrong here; it was only the Thebans who were called
+Spartoi+, from +speiro+, to sow, because of the fable of
the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus; the Athenians, who claimed to be
earthborn, not called +Spartoi+, but +autochthones+.
[107] A quotation from the description of the foot-race in Virgil, Æn.
v. 320.
[108] Salankemen, in Hungary.