Ammianus: RES GESTAE A FINE CORNELI TACITI

1 Haec per orbis varias partes uno eodemque anno sunt gesta. At in Galliis cum in meliore statu res essent et Eusebium atque Hypatium fratres sublimarent vocabula consulum, Iulianus contextis successibus clarus apud Parisios hibernans sequestratis interim sollicitudinibus bellicis haut minore cura provinciarum fortunis multa conducentia disponebat, diligenter observans, nequem tributorum sarcina praegravaret, neve potentia praesumeret aliena, aut hi versarentur in medio, quorum patrimonia publicae clades augebant, vel iudicum quisquam ab aequitate deviaret inpune.

1 These things were done in diverse parts of the world in the one and same year. But in the Gauls, since matters were in a better state and they were raising the brothers Eusebius and Hypatius to the consular titles, Julian, famed by interwoven successes, wintering at Paris and the war-anxieties meanwhile suspended, was arranging many measures conducive to good with no less care for the fortunes of the provinces, diligently observing that he should not overburden anyone with the weight of tributes, nor should power presume upon another’s (rights), nor should those be left in the lurch whose patrimonies public calamity had increased, nor should any of the judges deviate from equity unpunished.

2 Idque ea re levi labore correxit quod ipse iurgia dirimens, ubi causarum cogebat magnitudo vel personarum, erat indeclinabilis iustorum iniustorumque distinctor.

2 And he set that matter right with light toil, for he himself, settling disputes when the magnitude of causes or of persons pressed them together, was the undeclinable discerner of the just and the unjust.

3 Et licet multa sint eius laudanda in huius modi controversiis, unum tamen sufficiet poni, ad cuius similitudinem acta vel dicta sunt.

3 And although many things of his are to be praised in controversies of this sort, yet one will suffice to be set forth, after whose likeness deeds or sayings were made.

4 Numerium Narbonensis paulo ante rectorem accusatum ut furem inusitato censorio vigore pro tribunali palam admissis volentibus audiebat, qui cum infitiatione defenderet obiecta, nec posset in quoquam confutari, Delphidius orator acerrimus vehementer eum inpugnans documentorum inopia percitus exclamavit "ecquis, florentissime Caesar, nocens esse poterit usquam si negare sufficiet?" Contra quem Iulianus prudenter motus ex tempore "ecquis" ait "innocens esse poterit si accusasse sufficiet?" Et haec quidem et huius modi multa civilia.

4 Numerius of Narbo, a short time before accused by the governor as a thief with an unusually censorial vigour, was hearing openly at the tribunal those who wished to be admitted; and when he defended the charges with denial, and could not be refuted on any point, Delphidius, a most fierce orator, vehemently attacking him and stricken by a paucity of documents, cried out, "whoever, most flourishing Caesar, will be able to be guilty anywhere if denial will suffice?" Against whom Iulianus, moved prudently and on the spur of the moment, said, "whoever will be able to be innocent if accusation will suffice?" And these indeed and many of this sort are civil matters.

Iulianus C. castellorum ad Rhenum quae receperat moenia reparat; Rhenum transit, et hostili Alamanniae parte vastata, V Alamannorum reges ad pacem petendam et captivos reddendos compellit.

Julian C. repairs the walls of the castellums on the Rhine which he had received; he crosses the Rhine, and, the hostile part of Alamannia having been laid waste, compels five kings of the Alamanni to sue for peace and to restore the captives.

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1 Egressurus autem ad procinctum urgentem, cum Alamannorum pagos aliquos esse reputaret hostiles et ausuros inmania, ni ipsi quoque ad ceterorum sternerentur exempla, haerebat anxius qua vi, qua celeritate, cum primum ratio copiam tribuisset, rumore praecurso terras eorum invaderet repentinus, seditque tandem multa et varia cogitanti, id temptare quod utile probavit eventus.

1 About to set forth to the pressing muster, when he judged that some cantons of the Alamanni were hostile and would dare monstrous deeds unless examples of the others were likewise laid low, he hung anxious as to by what force and with what celerity, once deliberation had granted a supply, with rumor gone before, he should suddenly invade their lands, and at last, after much and varied deliberation, it settled upon him to attempt that which the event proved useful.

2 Hariobaudem vacantem tribunum fidei fortitudinisque notae nullo conscio legationis specie ad Hortarium miserat regem iam pacatum, ut exinde facile ad conlimitia progressus eorum, in quos erant arma protinus commovenda, scitari possit quid molirentur, sermonis barbarici perquam gnarus.

2 He had sent Hariobaudus, an available tribune renowned for fidelity and fortitude, with no one privy to the guise of an embassy, to Hortarius, the king now pacified, so that thence, by an easy advance to their contiguous borders — into whom arms were to be at once transported — he might be able to reconnoiter what they were plotting, being very skilled in the barbarous speech.

3 Quo fidenter ad haec patranda digresso ipse anni tempore oportuno ad expeditionem undique milite convocato profectus id inter potissima mature duxit implendum, ut ante proeliorum fervorem civitates multo ante excisas introiret receptasque conmuniret, horrea quin etiam exstrueret pro incensis, ubi condi possit annona a Brittannis sueta transferri. Et utrumque perfectum est spe omnium citius.

3 With confidence in this undertaking, having set out himself at a season of the year opportune and with soldiers summoned from every quarter for the expedition, he carried this among the most important things to be accomplished promptly: that before the heat of battle he might enter cities long before they were overrun and secure and fortify those received, and even build granaries for the burned, where the corn, accustomed to be transported by the Britons, could be stored. And both were completed sooner than all had hoped.

4 Nam et horrea veloci opere surrexerunt alimentorumque in isdem satias condita, et civitates occupatae sunt septem: Castra Herculis, Quadriburgium, Tricensimae, Novesium, Bonna, Antennacum et Bingio, ubi laeto quodam eventu etiam Florentius praefectus apparuit subito partem militum ducens et commeatuum perferens copiam sufficientem usibus longis.

4 For the granaries likewise rose with swift work and provisions, stored to satiety in those same places, and seven towns were occupied: Castra Herculis, Quadriburgium, Tricensimae, Novesium, Bonna, Antennacum and Bingio, where, by a certain joyful event, Florentius the prefect also suddenly appeared, leading a part of the soldiers and bringing a supply of rations sufficient for long uses.

5 Post haec inpetrata restabat adigente necessitatum articulo receptarum urbium moenia reparari nullo etiam tum interturbante, idque claris indiciis apparet ea tempestate utilitati publicae metu barbaros oboedisse, rectoris amore Romanos.

5 After these things were secured, it remained — the pressing strait of necessities urging — that the walls of the recaptured cities be repaired, no one even then causing disturbance; and this is shown by clear signs: at that time the barbarians obeyed out of fear for the public welfare, the Romans out of love for their ruler.

6 Reges ex pacto superioris anni aedificiis habilia multa suis misere carpentis et auxiliarii milites semper munia spernentes huius modi ad obsequendi sedulitatem Iuliani blanditiis deflexi quinquagenarias longioresque materias vexere cervicibus ingravate et fabricandi ministeriis opem maximam contulerunt.

6 The kings, by covenant of the preceding year, miserly stripped many serviceable parts from buildings for their own use, and the auxiliary soldiers, ever scorning duties and offices, were diverted by Julian’s blandishments of this kind to a zealousness for obedience; they bore fifty‑year and older timbers heavily upon their necks and by their ministrations of building rendered the greatest assistance.

7 Quae dum diligenti maturantur effectu, Hariobaudes exploratis omnibus rediit docuitque conperta. Post cuius adventum incitatis viribus omnes venere Mogontiacum, ubi Florentio et Lupicino, Severi successore, destinate certantibus per pontem illic constitutum transiri debere, renitebatur firmissime Caesar adserens pacatorum terras non debere calcari ne, ut saepe contigit, per incivilitatem militis occurrentia vastitantis abrupte foedera frangerentur.

7 While these matters were diligently brought to effect, Hariobaudes, with all things examined, returned and declared what had been discovered. After his arrival, all, urged on with haste, came to Mogontiacum, where, Florentius and Lupicinus—appointed successors of Severus—contending that the passage there set up across the bridge must be crossed, Caesar resisted most firmly, asserting that the lands of the pacified ought not to be trodden upon lest, as often happened, by the incivility of meeting soldiers ravaging, treaties be abruptly shattered.

8 Alamanni tamen omnes, quos petebat exercitus, confine, periculum cogitantes Suomarium regem amicum nobis ex pactione praeterita monuerunt minaciter ut a transitu Romanos arceret. Eius enim pagi Rheni ripis ulterioribus adhaerebant. Quo testante resistere solum non posse, in unum coacta barbara multitudo venit prope Magontiacum prohibitura viribus magnis exercitum ne transmitteret flumen.

8 The Alamanni, however, all those whom the army sought on the confine, considering the peril, menacingly warned Suomarius, a king friendly to us by a past pact, to bar the Romans from passage. For his pagi (districts) clung to the farther banks of the Rhine. This showing that one could not resist alone, the barbarian multitude, gathered into one, came near Mogontiacum to prevent with great force the army from crossing the river.

9 Gemina itaque ratione visum est habile quod suaserat Caesar, ne pacatorum terrae corrumperentur, neve renitente pugnacissima plebe pons cum multorum discrimine iungeretur, iri in locum ad conpaginandum pontem aptissimum.

9 It was therefore judged expedient by a twofold plan, namely what Caesar had advised: that the lands of the pacified should not be corrupted, and that, the most pugnacious populace resisting, a bridge should not be joined amid the danger of many; they went to a spot most fit for composing (conpaginandum) the bridge.

10 Quod hostes sollertissime contemplati per contrarias ripas leniter incedentes ubi nostros figere tentoria procul cernebant, ipsi quoque noctes agebant exsomnes custodientes pervigili studio ne transitus temptaretur.

10 And the enemies, having very cleverly observed this, advancing slowly along the opposite banks where they saw our tents set up in the distance, themselves likewise spent sleepless nights, keeping guard with watchful zeal so that no crossing might be attempted.

11 Verum cum nostri locum adventarent provisum, vallo fossaque quievere circumdati et adscito Lupicino in consilium Caesar certis imperavit tribunis, ut trecentenos pararent cum sudibus milites expeditos, quid agi, quove iri deberet penitus ignorantes.

11 But when our men arrived at the prepared spot, surrounded they rested by rampart and ditch, and with Lupicinus summoned to counsel, Caesar commanded certain tribunes to ready three hundred troops with stakes, the soldiers light and fit, wholly ignorant what was to be done or whither they ought to go.

12 Et collecti nocte provecta inpositique omnes, quos lusoriae naves quadraginta quae tunc aderant solae ceperunt, decurrere iubentur per flumen adeo taciti ut etiam remi suspenderentur ne barbaros sonitus excitaret undarum, atque mentis agilitate et corporum, dum hostes nostrorum ignes observant, adversas perrumpere limitis ripas.

12 And having gathered and advanced by night and having got aboard all those which the forty pleasure-ships then present alone had taken, they are ordered to run down the river so silently that even the oars should be hung up, lest the sound of the waves rouse the barbarians, and with agility of mind and body, while they watch the fires of our men, to burst through the opposing banks of the boundary.

13 Dum haec celerantur, Hortarius, rex nobis antea foederatus, non novaturus quaedam, sed amicus finitimis quoque suis, reges omnes et regales et regulos ad convivium conrogatos retinuit epulis ad usque vigiliam tertiam gentili more extentis, quos discedentes inde casu nostri ex inproviso adorti nec interficere nec corripere ullo genere potuerunt tenebrarum equorumque adiumento, quo dubius impetus trusit, abreptos, lixas vero vel servos, qui eos pedibus sequebantur, nisi quos exemit discrimine temporis obscuritas, occiderunt.

13 While these things were being hurried, Hortarius, a king formerly foederate to us, not about to change but friend also to his neighbours, detained all the kings, both regales and regulos, gathered to a banquet, stretched out in the gentile custom until the third watch; whom, as they were departing thence by chance, our men unexpectedly fell upon and, with the aid of darkness and of horses — by which a dubious onset routed — could neither slay nor seize them by any means, the chiefs being carried off; but they killed the lixas or servitors who followed them on foot, save those whom the darkness, by a separation of time, rescued.

14 Cognito denique Romanorum transitu, qui tunc perque expeditiones praeteritas ibi levamen sumere laborum opimabantur, ubi hostem contingeret inveniri, perculsi reges eorumque populi, qui pontem, ne strueretur, studio servabant intento, metu exhorrescentes diffuse vertuntur in pedes: et indomito furore sedato necessitudines opesque suas transferre longius festinabant. Statimque difficultate omni depulsa, ponte constrato sollicitarum gentium opinione praeventa visus in barbarico miles per Hortarii regna transibat intacta

14 Finally, when the passage of the Romans was learned — who then, from former expeditions, there were wont to take abundant relief from labors wherever they chanced to find the enemy — the kings and their peoples, struck and who zealously kept watch that the bridge not be built, bristling with fear, broke away in flight: and with their indomitable fury quelled they hastened to remove their dependents and their wealth to a greater distance. And immediately, every difficulty having been driven off, the bridge laid, and, as it were, anticipated by the anxious opinion of the alarmed nations, the soldier seemed to pass through Hortarius’ barbarian realms unscathed.

15 Ubi vero terras infestorum etiam tum tetigit regum, urens omnia rapinisque per medium rebellium solum grassabatur intrepidus. Postque saepimenta fragilium penatium inflammata et obtruncatam hominum multitudinem visosque cadentes multos aliosque supplicantes cum ventum fuisset ad regionem cui Capellatii vel Palas nomen est, ubi terminales lapides Alamannorum et Burgundiorum confinia distinguebant, castra sunt posita ea propter ut Macrianus et Hariobaudus germani fratres et reges susciperentur inpavidi, qui propinquare sibi perniciem sentientes venerant pacem anxiis animis precaturi.

15 When indeed he then touched the lands of hostile kings, burning all and ravaging through the midst of the rebels’ soil he prowled intrepid. And after the enclosures of fragile penates had been set on fire and a slaughtered multitude of men and many others seen falling and supplicating, when they had come to the region called Capellatii or Palas, where terminal stones marked the borders of the Alamanni and Burgundians, camps were pitched there so that Macrianus and Hariobaudus, brothers and kings of the Germans, might be received, fearless, who, having come and sensing destruction drawing near to them, prayed for peace with anxious minds.

16 Post quos statim rex quoque Vadomarius venit, cuius erat domicilium contra Rauracos, scriptisque Constanti principis, quibus commendatus est artius, allegatis leniter susceptus est, ut decebat, olim ab Augusto in clientelam rei Romanae susceptus.

16 After these men immediately also came King Vadomarius, whose domicile was opposite the Rauraci, and with the letters of Prince Constans, by which he was more closely recommended, having been presented, he was gently received, as was fitting, once long ago received by Augustus into the clientage of the Roman state.

17 Et Macrianus quidem cum fratre inter aquilas admissus et signa stupebat armorumque varium decus, visa tunc primitus, proque suis orabat. Vadomarius vero nostris coalitus utpote vicinus limiti mirabatur quidem apparatum ambitiosi procinctus sed vidisse se talia saepe ab adulescentia meminerat prima

17 And Macrianus indeed, admitted among the eagles and the standards with his brother, stood astonished at the varied decus of arms, then seen for the first time, and begged on behalf of his own. Vadomarius, however, allied with our men, being a neighbor of the limite, marvelled at the apparatum, armed for ambitious ends, but remembered that he had seen such things often from his adulescentia prima

18 Libratis denique diu consiliis concordi adsensione cunctorum Macriano quidem et Hariobaudo pax est adtributa, Vadomario vero, qui suam locaturus securitatem in tuto et legationis nomine precator venerat pro Vrio et Vrsicino et Vestralpo regibus pacem itidem obsecrans interim responderi non poterat ne, ut sunt fluxioris fidei barbari, post abitum recreati nostrorum parum adquiescerent per alios inpetratis.

18 Finally, after deliberations had been weighed for a long time and with the unanimous assent of all, peace was granted to Macrianus and Hariobaud; but to Vadomarius, who had come as a suppliant in the name of a legation to place his security in safety and likewise imploring peace for the kings Vrio and Vrsicino and Vestralpo, it could not meanwhile be answered, lest—since barbarians are of more fickle faith—after their departure those refreshed by our men should be little inclined to acquiesce to what had been obtained through others.

19 Sed cum ipsi quoque missis legatis post messes incensas et habitacula captosque plures et interfectos ita supplicarent, tamquam ipsi haec deliquissent in nostros, pacem condicionum similitudine meruerunt. Inter quas id festinatum est maxime, ut captivos restituerent omnes, quos rapuerant excursibus crebris.

19 But when they themselves also, with envoys sent, after the harvests and dwellings had been burned and many taken and slain, thus implored, as if they themselves had committed these things against our men, they earned peace by the similarity of the conditions. Among these terms it was most hastened especially that they should restore all the captives whom they had seized in their frequent raids.

Barbationi magistro peditum et uxori eius cur capita abscissa sint iussu Constantii Aug.

On Barbatio, master of the infantry, and his wife: why their heads were cut off by order of Constantine Augustus.

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1 Haec dum in Galliis caelestis corrigit cura, in comitatu Augusti turbo novarum exoritur rerum a primordiis levibus ad luctus et lamenta progressus. In domo Barbationis pedestris militiae tunc rectoris examen apes fecere perspicuum, superque hoc ei prodigiorum gnaros sollicite consulenti discrimen magnum portendi responsum est, coniectura videlicet tali, quod hae volucres post conpositas sedes opesque congestas fumo pelluntur et turbulento sonitu cymbalorum.

1 While this heavenly cura corrects things in Gaul, in the comitatus of Augustus a turbo of new rerum arises, advancing from slight beginnings to luctus and lamenta. In the house of Barbatio, then rector of the pedestrian militia, an examen made manifest by apes was clear, and moreover to him, versed in prodigies and anxiously consulting, a great portentous responsum was declared, a conjecture to wit that these volucres, after their settled sedes and amassed opes, will be driven away by smoke and by the turbulent sound of cymbals.

2 Huic uxor erat Assyria nomine nec taciturna nec prudens, quae eo ad expeditionem profecto et multiplici metu suspenso ob ea quae meminerat sibi praedicta, perculsa vanitate muliebri, ancilla adscita notarum perita, quam a patrimonio Silvani possederat, ad maritum scripsit intempestive velut flens obtestans, ne post obitum Constanti propinquantem in imperium ipse ut sperabat admissus, despecta se anteponeret Eusebiae matrimonium tunc reginae decore corporis inter multas feminas excellentis.

2 His wife was called Assyria, neither taciturn nor prudent, who, on account of that expedition and with manifold fear suspended by reason of those things she remembered had been foretold to her, struck by feminine vanity, and having taken to herself a maid skilled in omens, whom she had acquired from Silvanus’s patrimony, wrote to her husband untimely, as if weeping and imploring, that after the death of Constans, when he himself, as he hoped, should be admitted to the impending empire, he would not, despising her, set before her the marriage of Eusebia, then queen, distinguished among many women for the beauty of her body.

3 Quibus litteris occulte quantum fieri potuit missis ancilla, quae domina dictante perscripserat, reversis omnibus e procinctu exemplum ferens ad Arbetionem noctis prima quiete confugit avideque suscepta chartulam prodidit.

3 With those letters secretly sent as far as could be, the maid—who had written them at her mistress’s dictation—after everyone returned from the baggage bore a copy and, at the first quiet of the night, fled for refuge to Arbetio and, eagerly received, produced the little paper.

4 Hocque indicio ille confisus ut erat ad criminandum aptissimus principi detulit atque ex usu nec mora ulla negotio tributa nec quiete Barbatio epistulam suscepisse confessus et mulier scripsisse documento convicta non levi cervicibus interiere praecisis.

4 And relying on this clue, he, as he was most fit for accusing, carried it to the prince; and from the evidence, with no delay nor pause in business, Barbatio confessed to having received the letter, and the woman, convicted by the document of having written it, were put to death with their necks cut through by no slight stroke.

5 Hisque punitis quaestiones longe serpebant vexatique multi nocentes sunt et innocentes. Inter quos etiam Valentinus ex primicerio protectorum tribunus ut conscius inter conplures alios tortus aliquotiens supervixit, penitus quid erat gestum ignorans. Ideoque ad iniuriae periculique conpensationem ducis in Illyrico meruit potestatem.

5 With these punished, inquiries spread far and wide, and many guilty and innocent were harassed. Among whom also Valentinus, once primicerius and tribune of the protectors, as one suspected was tortured among many others and several times scarcely survived, wholly ignorant of what had been done. And therefore, as a compensation for injury and peril, he earned the command (potestatem) of the duke in Illyricum.

6 Erat autem idem Barbatio subagrestis adrogantisque propositi, ea re multis exosus quo et, dum domesticos protectores sub Gallo regeret Caesare, proditor erat et perfidus et post eius excessum nobilioris militiae fastu elatus in Iulianum itidem Caesarem paria confingebat crebroque detestantibus bonis sub Augusti patulis auribus multa garriebat et saeva, 7 Ignorans profecto vetus Aristotelis sapiens dictum, qui Callisthenem sectatorem et propinquum suum ad regem Alexandrum mittens ei saepe mandabat, ut quam rarissime et iucunde apud hominem loqueretur vitae potestatem et necis in acie linguae portantem.

6 Now that same Barbatio was a rustic upstart of arrogant design, hated by many for that reason and, while he ruled the household protectors under Gallus the Caesar, a traitor and perfidious; and after his death, exalted by the pride of the higher soldiery, he fabricated like accusations against Julian, likewise Caesar, and oftentimes, with the good detesting him, babbled many harsh things under Augustus’ broad ears, and savage, 7 Ignoring indeed the old sage Aristotle’s maxim, who, sending Callisthenes his follower and kinsman to King Alexander, often charged him to speak as rarely and as agreeably as possible in the presence of a man bearing on the edge of his tongue the power of life and death.

8 Ne sit hoc mirum, homines profutura discernere non numquam et nocentia quorum mentes cognatas caelestibus arbitramur, animalia ratione carentia salutem suam interdum alto tueri silentio solent, ut exemplum est hoc perquam notum.

8 Let this not be strange: men, thought likely to be of use, sometimes fail to discern the harmful — those whose minds we judge akin to the celestial — while animals lacking reason are sometimes wont to preserve their safety in deep silence, as this example is very well known.

9 Linquentes orientem anseres ob calorem plagamque petentes occiduam cum montem penetrare coeperint Taurum aquilis abundantem, timentes fortissimas volucres, rostra lapillis occludunt, ne eis eliciat vel necessitas extrema clangorem, isdemque collibus agiliore volatu transcursis proiciunt calculos atque ita securius pergunt.

9 The geese, leaving the eastern quarter because of the heat and seeking the western region, when they begin to penetrate Taurus, a mountain abundant in eagles, fearing the very strong birds, stop up their beaks with little stones, lest even extreme necessity should draw forth a cry; and, having skimmed the same hills with a swifter flight, they cast away the pebbles and thus proceed more safely.

Rex Persarum Sapor Romanos totis viribus aggredi parat.

Sapor, king of the Persians, prepares to attack the Romans with all his forces.

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1 Dum apud Sirmium haec diligentia quaeruntur inpensa, orientis fortuna periculorum terribiles tubas inflabat. rex enim Persidis ferarum gentium, quas placarat, adiumentis accinctus augendique regni cupiditate supra homines flagrans arma viresque parabat et commeatus, consilia tartareis manibus miscens et praesciones omnes consulens de futuris, hisque satis collectis pervadere cuncta prima verni temperie cogitabat.

1 While at Sirmium these expenses were being sought with diligence, the fortune of the East was blowing terrible trumpets of danger. For the king of the Persians of wild peoples, whom he had placated, girded with auxiliaries and aflame with a desire to increase his kingdom beyond ordinary men, was preparing arms and forces and provisions, mingling counsels with Tartarean hands and consulting all presagings of the future; and with these things sufficiently gathered he was plotting to overrun all at the first mildness of spring.

2 Et cum haec primo rumores, dein nuntii certi perferrent omnesque suspensos adventantium calamitatum conplicaret magna formido, Comitatensis fabrica eandem incudem - ut dicitur - diu noctuque tundendo ad spadonum arbitrium, imperatori suspicaci ac timido intendebat Vrsicinum velut vultus Gorgonei torvitatem, haec saepe taliaque replicans quod interempto Silvano quasi penuria meliorum ad tuendas partes eoas denuo missus altius anhelabat.

2 And when at first rumors, then certain messengers, brought these things, and great dread, entangling all who hung in suspense, at the coming calamities, the Comital apparatus beat the same anvil — as it is said — long day and night, striking it to the will of the eunuchs; it presented Ursicinus to the suspicious and timid emperor as the grimness of a Gorgonean visage, often repeating these and such things, that with Silvanus slain, as if by a scarcity of better men, he was again sent to those parts to defend them, and he longed all the more.

3 Hac autem adsentandi nimia foeditate mercari conplures nitebantur Eusebi favorem, cubiculi tunc praepositi, apud quem - si vere dici debeat - multa Constantius potuit, ante dicti magistri equitum salutem acriter inpugnantis ratione bifaria, quod omnium solus nec opis eius egebat ut ceteri, et domo sua non cederet Antiochiae, quam molestissime flagitabat.

3 By this excessive meanness of assent many strove to buy the favour of Eusebius, then commander of the chamber, before whom — if it must be truly said — Constantius could obtain many things, for a twofold reason in respect of the salvation of the aforesaid magister equitum who was fiercely protesting: namely, that he alone of all neither lacked his aid as the others did, nor would he leave his house at Antioch, which he demanded most vexatiously.

4 Qui ut coluber copia virus exuberans natorum multitudinem etiam tum aegre serpentium excitans ad nocendum, emittebat cubicularios iam adultos, ut inter ministeria vitae secretioris gracilitate vocis semper puerilis et blandae apud principis aures nimium patulas existimationem viri fortis invidia gravi pulsarent. Et brevi iussa fecerunt.

4 Who, like a serpent abundant in venom and prolific of offspring, even then scarcely rousing other serpents to do harm, sent forth chamberlains now grown, that, among the ministrations of a more secret life, with a gracility of voice ever boyish and with blandishments at the prince’s ears, they might strike with grave envy the too-broad esteem of a man of strength. And soon they carried out the orders.

5 Horum et similium taedio iuvat veterem laudare Domitianum, qui licet patris fratrisque dissimilis memoriam nominis sui inexpiabili detestatione perfudit, tamen receptissima inclaruit lege qua minaciter interdixerat ne intra terminos iuris dictionis Romanae castraret quisquam puerum, quod ni contigisset, quis eorum ferret examina, quorum raritas difficile toleratur?

5 Wearied by these and the like, it pleases one to praise the old Domitian, who, although unlike his father and brother and having stained the memory of his name with inexpiable detestation, nevertheless became famed by a received law whereby he menacingly forbade that anyone castrate a boy within the bounds of Roman jurisdiction; for had this not occurred, who among them would have borne the thinning of their ranks, whose scarcity is hardly tolerable?

6 Actum est tamen cautius ne, ut fingebat, rursus accitus idem Vrsicinus metu cuncta turbaret, sed cum fors copiam detulisset, raperetur ad mortem.

6 It was, however, done more cautiously, lest, as he feigned, the same Ursicinus, if summoned again, should throw everything into confusion through fear; but when chance had afforded the opportunity, he was snatched up and carried off to death.

7 Haec operientibus illis et ancipiti cogitatione districtis, nobis apud Samosatam, Commageni quondam regni clarissimam sedem, parumper morantibus repente novi motus rumoribus densis audiuntur et certis. Quod docebit orationis progrediens textus.

7 While these things covered them and they were drawn tight by wavering thought, to us, sojourning briefly at Samosata, once the most illustrious seat of the kingdom of Commagene, suddenly new movements were heard in dense and certain rumors. Which the advancing text of the oration will show.

Antoninus protector cum suis omnibus ad Saporem transfugit; eumque in bellum Romanum sponte iam motum impellit.

Antoninus protector, with all his men, defected to Sapor; and he urged him—already of his own accord moved—into war against the Romans.

[5]

1 Antoninus quidam ex mercatore opulento rationarius apparitor Mesopotamiae ducis, tunc protector, exercitatus et prudens perque omnes illas notissimus terras, aviditate quorundam nexus ingentibus damnis cum iurgando contra potentes se magis magisque iniustitia frangi contemplaretur, ad deferendam potioribus gratiam qui spectabant negotium inclinatis, ne contra acumina calcitraret, flexit se in blanditias molliores confessusque debitum per conludia in nomen fisci translatum, iamque ausurus inmania rimabatur tectius rei publicae membra totius et utriusque linguae litteras sciens circa ratiocinia versabatur, qui vel quarum virium milites ubi agant vel procinctus tempore quo sint venturi describens, itidem armorum et commeatuum copiae aliaque usui bello futura an abunde suppetant indefessa sciscitatione percontans.

1 Antoninus, a certain steward of a wealthy merchant and an apparitor to the duke of Mesopotamia, then protector, experienced and prudent and well known through all those lands, seeing himself ever more unjustly broken by quarrelling against the powerful because of the greed of certain connections that brought great losses, bent himself toward milder blandishments in order to bring his business to those who sought the favor of the greater, lest he kick against their sharpness; and, having confessed the debt conveyed by conludia into the name of the fisc, and now daring, he secretly examined the monstrous members of the res publica, knowing the letters of both tongues and busying himself about accounts, describing who or by what forces the soldiers act and where, or, when mustered, at what time they will come, and likewise, by indefatigable inquiry, questioning whether the quantities of arms, supplies, and other things useful for war are abundantly at hand.

2 Et cum totius orientis didicisset interna, virorum stipendiique parte maxima per Illyricum distributa, ubi distinebatur ex negotiis seriis imperator, adlapsuro iam praestituto die solvendae pecuniae, quam per syngrapham debere se confiteri vi metuque conpulsus est, cum omnibus se prospiceret undique periculis opprimendum, largitionum comite ad alterius gratiam infestius perurgente, fugam ad Persas cum coniuge liberis et omni vinculo caritatum ingenti molimine conabatur.

2 And when he had learned the internal affairs of the whole East, the greater part of the soldiers' pay having been distributed through Illyricum, where the emperor was detained by serious business, with the day now approaching to repay the money which he was compelled by force and fear to confess he owed by written pledge, and since he saw himself on all sides threatened with crushing dangers, with a companion in largesses pressing him more fiercely toward another's favor, he strove with great exertion to flee to the Persians with his wife, his children, and freed from every tie of affections.

3 Atque ut lateret stationarios milites, fundum in Hiaspide, qui locus Tigridis fluentis adluitur, pretio non magno mercatur. Hocque commento cum nullus causam veniendi ad extremas Romani limitis partes iam possessorem cum plurimis auderet exigere, per familiares fidos peritosque nandi occultis saepe conloquiis cum Tamsapore habitis, qui tractus omnes adversos ducis potestate tunc tuebatur, et antea cognitus misso a Persicis castris auxilio virorum pernicium, lembis inpositus cum omni penatium dulcedine nocte concubia transfretat, re contraria, specie Zopyri illius simi]is Babylonii proditoris.

3 And so that the stationed soldiers might be kept unaware, he purchases for a not-large price an estate at Hiaspide, a place washed by the flowing Tigris. With this device, since no one dared to demand of the new possessor the reason for coming to the far parts of the Roman frontier, he, by means of trusted household retainers and experts in swimming and by often-held secret parleys with Tamsapor—who then guarded all those hostile tracts by the duke’s authority, and who had formerly been known when men sent from the Persian camp as aid for destruction were dispatched—being put aboard a lembus, with all the sweetness of his household, crossed by night for concubines; yet the thing was otherwise, under the guise of that Zopyrus, the treacherous man of Babylon.

4 Rebus per Mesopotamiam in hunc statum deductis Palatina cohors palinodiam in exitium concinens nostrum invenit tandem amplam nocendi fortissimo viro, auctore et incitatore coetu spadonum, qui feri et acidi semper carentesque necessitudinibus ceteris divitias solas ut filiolas iucundissimas amplectuntur.

4 Matters having been brought through Mesopotamia to this condition, the Palatine cohort, chanting a palinode toward destruction, at last found our man — one possessing ample capacity for harm, a very brave fellow, the author and instigator of a cohort of castrati — who, fierce and harsh and always lacking the necessities that others possess, embrace riches alone as if they were most delightful daughters.

5 Stetitque sententia ut Sabinianus vietus quidem senex et bene nummatus sed inbellis et ignavus et ab impetranda magisterii dignitate per obscuritatem adhuc longe discretus praeficiendus eois partibus mitteretur, Vrsicinus vero curaturus pedestrem militiam et successurus Barbationi ad comitatum reverteretur, quo praesens rerum novarum avidus concitor, ut iactabant, a gravibus inimicis et metuendis incesseretur.

5 And it was resolved that Sabinianus, an aged and well-moneyed man indeed but unwarlike and cowardly, and by obscurity still far removed from obtaining the dignity of magisterium, should be appointed and sent to the eastern parts; while Ursicinus, to take charge of the infantry and succeed Barbatio, should return to the comitatus, where the present stirrer, eager for new affairs, as they vaunted, might be pressed upon by weighty and to-be-dreaded enemies.

6 Dum haec in castris Constantii quasi per lustra aguntur et scaenam et diribitores venundatae subito potestatis pretium per potiores diffunditant domos, Antoninus ad regis hiberna perductus aventer suscipitur et apicis nobilitatus auctoritate - quo honore participantur mensae regales et meritorum apud Persas ad suadendum ferendasque sententias in contionibus ora panduntur - non contis nec remulco ut aiunt, id est non flexiloquis ambagibus vel obscuris, sed velificatione plena in rem publicam ferebatur eundemque incitans regem ut quondam Maharbal lentitudinis increpans Hannibalem, posse eum vincere sed victoria uti nescire adsidue praedicabat.

6 While these matters in Constantius’ camp were being conducted, as it were, over lustrums, and the stage and the venders of the spoils, their price suddenly diffused through the more powerful houses with the price of authority, Antoninus was led to the king’s winter-quarters, received with avid welcome and ennobled at the summit by authority — with which honour the royal tables and rewards are shared, and among the Persians mouths in assemblies are opened to urge and to accept decrees — not by poles nor by remulco, as they say, that is, not by pliant circumlocutions or obscure evasions, but he was borne into public affairs full of bold sailing, and urging the king like once Maharbal reproving Hannibal for slowness, he continually proclaimed that he was able to win but did not know how to make use of a victory.

7 Educatus enim in medio ut rerum omnium gnarus auditorum nanctus vigiles sensus et aurium delenimenta captantes nec laudantium sed secundum Homericos Phaeacas cum silentio admirantium iam inde quadragesimi anni memoriam replicabat, post bellorum adsiduos casus et maxime apud Hileiam et Singaram, ubi acerrima illa nocturna concertatione pugnatum est, nostrorum copiis ingenti strage confossis quasi dirimente quodam medio fetiali Persas nondum Edessam nec pontes Euphratis tetigisse victores, quos armipotentia fretos successibusque magnificis ita dilatasse decuerat rem et maxime eo tempore quo diuturnis bellorum civilium motibus sanguis utrimque Romani roboris fundebatur.

7 For brought up in the midst, having become knowing of all things and of his hearers, he obtained wakeful perceptions and the delights of the ears, taking up not those who praise but, according to Homeric Phaeacians, those who admire in silence, and already he recounted the memory of his fortieth year; after the continual vicissitudes of wars and especially at Hileia and Singara, where that most fierce nocturnal engagement was fought, our forces being transfixed by a vast slaughter, as if by a certain dividing middle, the victors — the Persians, who had not yet touched Edessa nor the bridges of the Euphrates — whom reliance on arms and on magnificent successes had becomefit to have swelled the affair, and especially at that time when by long movements of civil wars blood of Roman strength was poured out on both sides.

8 His ac talibus subinde inter epulas sobrius perfuga, ubi de apparatu bellorum et seriis rebus apud eos Graiorum more veterum consultatur, regem incendebat ardentem, ut exacta hieme statim arma fretus fortunae suae magnitudine concitaret, ipse quoque in multis ac necessariis operam suam fidenter promittens.

8 With these and such matters continually amid the banquets a sober deserter, where the rigging of wars and serious affairs among them are debated in the Greek manner of the ancients, was inflaming the king, who burning, that with winter having been completed he should at once, relying on the greatness of his fortune, stir up arms; he himself also confidently promising his service in many and necessary matters.

Ursicinus magister militum ex Oriente evocatus, cum iam venisset in Thraciam, remittitur in Mesopotamiam; quo reversus, per Marcellinum Saporis adventum explorat.

Ursicinus, magister militum, summoned from the East, when he had already come into Thrace, was sent back into Mesopotamia; there having returned, he, through Marcellinus, reconnoiters Sapor’s advent.

[6]

1 Sub isdem fere diebus Sabinianus adepta repentina potestate sufflatus et Ciliciae fines ingressus decessori suo principis litteras dedit hortantis, ut ad comitatum dignitate adficiendus superiore citius properaret, eo necessitatum articulo quo etiam, si apud Thulen moraretur Vrsicinus, acciri eum magnitudo rerum ratione probabili flagitabat, utpote disciplinae veteris et longo usu bellandi artis Persicae scientissimum.

1 About the same days Sabinianus, having gained sudden power, puffed up and having entered the bounds of Cilicia, gave letters to his successor the prince, exhorting that he should hasten more promptly to be invested with the dignity of the comitatum; by that pressing necessity which demanded, with a probable reason, that even if Ursicinus were lingering at Thule he be summoned, he being most learned in the ancient disciplina and by long practice of the Persian art of warfare.

2 Quo rumore provinciis percitis ordines civitatum et populi decretis et adclamationibus densis iniecta manu detinebant penes se publicum defensorem, memores, quod relictus ad sui tutelam cum inerti et umbratili milite nihil amiserat per decennium, simul metuentes saluti quod tempore dubio, remoto illo advenisse hominem compererant inertissimum.

2 With that rumor having run through the provinces the orders of the cities and the peoples, by dense decrees and acclamations and with the hand raised, held fast in their own keeping a public defender, mindful that, when left to his guardianship with an inert and shadowy soldiery, he had lost nothing for ten years, and at the same time fearing for their safety, because in a doubtful season, with that man removed, they had discovered the man who had arrived to be most inert.

3 Credimus - neque enim dubium est - per aerios tramites famam praepetem volitare, cuius indicio haec gesta pandente, consiliorum apud Persas summo proponebatur: et multis ultro citroque deliberatis placuit Antonino suadente ut Vrsicino procul amoto despectoque novello duce, posthabitis civitatum perniciosis obsidiis perrumperetur Euphrates ireturque prorsus, ut occupari possint provinciae fama celeritate praeventa, omnibus ante bellis, nisi temporibus Gallieni, intactae paceque longissima locupletes, cuius rei prosperante deo ductorem commodissimum fore spondebat.

3 We believe — for there is no doubt — that rumor, swift, flies along aerial routes; by whose indication, revealing these deeds, the matter was set before the highest councils among the Persians: and after much deliberation on both sides it pleased, with Antoninus urging, that Ursicinus being far removed and disregarded and a new commander held in contempt, the pernicious sieges of the cities being set aside, the Euphrates should be forced and a full advance made, so that the provinces might be seized, anticipated by the speed of fame, all hitherto untouched by wars, save in the times of Gallienus, and richly endowed by the longest peace — of which enterprise, God favoring, he pledged that he would be the most fitting leader.

4 Laudato firmatoque concordi omnium voluntate consilio conversisque universis ad ea quae erant citius congerenda, commeatus milites arma ceteraque instrumenta, quae poscebat procinctus adventans, perpetua hieme parabantur.

4 With praise bestowed and a plan confirmed by the unanimous will and counsel of all, and with everyone turned to those things which were to be gathered more swiftly, supplies, soldiers, arms, and other implements, which he demanded, coming forth ready for action, were prepared during the continuous winter.

5 Nos interea paulisper cis Taurum morati ex imperio ad partes Italiae festinantes prope flumen venimus Hebrum ex Odrysarum montibus decurrentem ibique principis scripta suscepimus iubentia omni causatione posthabita reverti Mesopotamiam sine apparitione ulla expeditionem curaturi periculosam, ad alium omni potestate translata.

5 We meanwhile, having lingered a little on this side of the Taurus, from the command hastening toward the parts of Italy, came to the river Hebrus running down from the Odrysaean mountains, and there received the prince’s written orders, commanding, every pretext being set aside, that we return to Mesopotamia without any appearance, to undertake a perilous expedition, the leadership being transferred to another with full authority.

6 Quod ideo per molestos formatores imperii struebatur ut, si Persae frustra habiti redissent ad sua, ducis novi virtuti facinus adsignaretur egregium; si fortuna sequior ingruisset, Vrsicinus reus proditor rei publicae deferretur.

6 Which thing therefore was being contrived by the troublesome architects of the empire, so that if the Persians, vainly held, had returned to their homes, an outstanding exploit might be assigned to the virtue of the new commander; if a more favorable fortune had rushed in, Vrsicinus would be presented as guilty, a betrayer of the republic.

7 Agitati ita sine rationibus, diu cunctati reversique fastidii plenum Sabinianum invenimus hominem mediocris staturae et parvi angustique animi vix sine turpi metu sufficientem ad levem convivii nedum proelii strepitum perferendum.

7 Thus driven without reason, long delayed and returned, we found Sabinianus full of fastidiousness, a man of mediocris stature and of a small and narrow spirit, scarcely, without disgraceful fear, adequate to endure the slight noise of a banquet, much less the din of battle.

8 Tamen quoniam speculatores apparatus omnes apud hostes fervere constanti adseveratiove perfugis concinentibus adfirmabant, oscitante homunculo Nisibin propere venimus utilia paraturi, me dissimulantes obsidium Persae civitati supervenirent incautae.

8 Yet since the scouts asserted with steady insistence that all the apparatus was seething among the enemies, and refugees chanting together confirmed it, with the little man of Nisibis yawning we came quickly to prepare useful things, we feigning ignorance so that the Persians’ siege might overtake the unwary city.

9 Dumque intra muros maturanda perurgerentur, fumus micantesque ignes adsidue a Tigride per Castra Maurorum et Sisara et conlimitia reliqua ad usque civitatem continui perlucebant solito crebriores, erupisse hostium vastatorias manus superato flumine permonstrantes.

9 And while within the walls those matters to be hastened were being urged on, smoke and flashing fires continually shone, more frequent than usual, from the Tigris through the Camps of the Moors and Sisara and the adjoining confines even up to the city, indicating that the enemy’s devastating bands had burst forth after the river was crossed.

10 Qua causa ne occuparentur itinera, celeri cursu praegressi cum ad secundum lapidem venissemus, liberali forma puerum torquatum, ut coniectabamus octennem, in aggeris medio vidimus heiulantem, ingenui cuiusdam filium, ut aiebat; quem mater dum inminentium hostium terrore percita fugeret, inpeditior trepidando reliquerat solum. Hunc dum imperatu ducis miserati commotique inpositum equo prae me ferens ad civitatem reduco, circumvallato murorum ambitu praedatores latius vagabantur.

10 For this reason, lest the roads be occupied, having gone on with swift course when we had come to the second milestone, we saw in the midst of the ramparts a boy wearing a torque, as we conjectured eight years old, wailing, the son of a certain freeborn man, as he said; whom, while his mother, stirred by the terror of the threatening enemies, fled, more hindered, she had left alone in her panic. While, by the command of the leader, pitying and moved I had had him placed on a horse and was carrying him before me back to the city, the plunderers were roaming more widely about the circumvallated circuit of the walls.

11 Et quia me obsidionales aerumnae terrebant, intra semiclausam posticam exposito puero nostrorum agmen agilitate volucri repetebam exanimis, nec multum afuit quin caperer.

11 And because the besieging hardships terrified me, with our boy placed outside I, within the half-shut back-gate, was returning to our column with bird-like swiftness, breathless; and it was not far off that I should be captured.

12 Nam cum Abdigildum quendam tribunum fugientem cum calone ala sequeretur hostilis, lapsoque per fugam domino servum deprehensum, cum ego rapido ictu transirem, interrogassent quisnam provectus sit iudex, audissentque Vrsicinum paulo ante urbem ingressum montem Izalam petere: occiso indice in unum quaesiti conplures nos inrequietis cursibus sectabantur.

12 For when a certain Abdigildus, pursuing a fleeing tribune with a camp‑follower of the ala, and with a servant of his master found having slipped in the flight, while I was passing by with a rapid stroke, they had asked who the judge had advanced, and had heard that Ursicinus a little before had entered the city and was making for Mount Izala: with the informant slain, many sought us and pursued us in restless courses.

13 Quos cum iumenti agilitate praegressus apud Amudin munimentum infirmum dispersis per pabulum equis recubantes nostros securius invenissem, porrecto extentius brachio et summitatibus sagi contortis elatius adesse hostes signo solito demonstrabam isdemque iunctus impetu communi ferebar equo iam fatiscente.

13 Having gone ahead because of the beasts’ swiftness, I found our men more safely at Amudin by a weak fortification, scattered and reclining on fodder with their horses; with my arm stretched out farther and the tassels of my cloak twisted into points I signalled that the enemies were approaching more proudly by the accustomed sign, and, having been joined to them, I was borne with the common onslaught on a horse already failing.

14 Terrebat autem nos plenilunium noctis et planities supina camporum, nulla, si occupasset artior casus, latibula praebere sufficiens, ubi nec arbores nec frutecta nec quicquam praeter herbas humiles visebatur.

14 Moreover the full moon of the night and the level plain of the fields terrified us, for they would have offered no sufficient latibula (shelter) if a nearer misfortune had seized us, where neither trees nor shrubs nor anything besides low herbs was to be seen.

15 Excogitatum est ergo ut ardente superposita lampade et circumligata, ne rueret, iumentum solum, quod eam vehebat, solutum sine rectore laevorsus ire permitteretur, cum nos ad montanos excessus dextra positos tenderemus ut praelucere sebalem facem duci lenius gradienti Persae credentes eum tenerent potissimum cursum; quod nisi fuisset praevisum, circumventi et capti sub dicionem venissemus hostilem.

15 It was therefore contrived that, with a lamp set burning upon it and bound around so that it would not fall, the beast alone which carried it should be permitted to go loose to the left without a guide, while we made for the mountainous exits placed on the right—believing that the lamp, shining forth to lead, and the Persians, stepping more slowly, would chiefly hold that course; which, had it not been foreseen, we would have been surrounded and taken and brought under hostile dominion.

16 Hoc extracti periculo cum ad nemorosum quendam locum vineis arbustisque pomiferis consitum Meiacarire nomine venissemus, cui fontes dedere vocabulum gelidi, lapsis accolis omnibus solum in remoto secessu latentem invenimus militem, qui oblatus duci et locutus varia prae timore ideoque suspectus, adigente metu qui intentabatur, pandit rerum integram fidem docetque quod apud Parisios natus in Galliis, et equestri militans turma vindictam quondam commissi facinoris timens ad Persas abierat profugus, exindeque morum probitate spectata sortita coniuge liberisque susceptis speculatorem se missum ad nostra, saepe veros nuntios reportasse. At nunc se a Tamsapore et Nohodare optimatibus missum, qui catervas ductaverant praedatorum, ad eos redire, quae didicerat, perlaturum. Post haec, adiectis quae agi in parte diversa norat, occiditur.

16 Having drawn ourselves out of that peril, when we had come to a certain woody place planted with vines and fruit-bearing shrubs called Meiacarire, to which the springs gave the name Gelidi, we found a single soldier hiding in a remote retreat, all the inhabitants having fallen; who, having presented himself to the leader and speaking diversely through fear and therefore suspected, with dread pressing him who questioned, lays open the whole truth and relates that he was born among the Parisii in Gaul, and serving as a cavalryman in a turma, fearing vengeance for a crime once committed had fled as a fugitive to the Persians, and thence, his probity of manners having been noted, having taken a wife and children, he was sent as a scout to our men, and often had brought back true messages. But now he says that he had been sent by the chiefs Tamsapor and Nohodar, who had led bands of plunderers, to return to them and to tell over to them what he had learned. After these things, having added what was doing in another quarter which he knew, he was killed.

17 Proinde curarum crescente sollicitudine inde passibus citis Amidam pro temporis copia venimus civitatem postea secutis cladibus inclytam. Quo reversis exploratoribus nostris in vaginae internis notarum figuris membranam repperimus scriptam a Procopio ad nos perferri mandatam - quem legatum ad Persas antea missum cum comite Lucilliano praedixi - haec consulto obscurius indicantem, ne captis baiulis sensuque intellecto scriptorum excitaretur materia funestissima.

17 Therefore, with the anxiety of cares growing, we hastened thence with swift steps and, for want of time, came to Amida, a city afterward made renowned by the disasters that followed. There, on the return of our scouts, we found in the inner markings of a sheath a membrane written upon, which Procopius had ordered to be brought to us — whom I have previously named as the envoy sent to the Persians with the count Lucillianus — these things purposely indicating more obscurely, lest, the bearers having been captured and the sense of the writings understood, the most deadly matter be roused.

18 "Amendatis procul Graiorum legatis, forsitan et necandis rex longaevus non contentus Hellesponto, iunctis Granici et Rhyndaci pontibus Asiam cum numerosis populis pervasurus adveniet, suopte ingenio inritabilis et asperrimus, auctore et incensore Hadriani quondam Romani Principis successore; actum et conclamatum est ni caverit Graecia".

18 "Having sent away the Graecian legates far off, perhaps even to be slain, the aged king, not content with the Hellespont, with the bridges of the Granicus and Rhyndacus joined, will come to overrun Asia with its numerous peoples; by his own bent irascible and most harsh, at the instigation and incitement of the successor of the former Roman prince Hadrian; it has been proclaimed and shouted, 'unless Greece take heed'."

19 Qui textus significabat Persarum regem transitis fluminibus Anzaba et Tigride, Antonino hortante dominium orientis adfectare totius. His ob perplexitatem nimiam aegerrime lectis consilium suscipitur prudens.

19 This passage signified that the king of the Persians, having crossed the rivers Anzaba and the Tigris, with Antoninus urging, aimed at the dominion of the whole East. Because of their excessive obscurity, these things were read with the greatest difficulty, and a prudent council was taken.

20 Erat eo tempore Satrapa Corduenae, quae obtemperabat potestati Persarum, Iovinianus nomine appellatus in solo Romano adulescens, nobiscum occulte sentiens ea gratia, quod obsidatus sorte in Syriis detentus et dulcedine liberalium studiorum inlectus remeare ad nostra ardenti desiderio gestiebat.

20 At that time there was a Satrap of Corduene, which submitted to the power of the Persians, called by the name Iovinianus, a youth on Roman soil, secretly sharing with us that goodwill; for, having been taken as a hostage by lot among the Syrians and detained, and enticed by the sweetness of the liberal studies, he yearned to return to us with ardent desire.

21 Ad hunc missus ego cum centurione quodam fidissimo exploratius noscendi gratia, quae gerebantur, per avios montes angustiasque praecipites veni. Visusque et agnitus comiterque susceptus causam praesentiae meae uni illi confessus adiuncto taciturno aliquo locorum perito mittor ad praecelsas rupes exinde longe distantes, unde nisi oculorum deficeret acies, ad quinquagesimum usque lapidem quodvis etiam minutissimum apparebat.

21 I was sent to him with a certain most faithful centurion for the sake of exploring to learn what was being done; I came through pathless mountains and precipitous narrows. Having been seen and recognized, I was courteously received and confessed the cause of my presence to that one alone; a taciturn local expert being joined to me, I am sent to very lofty cliffs far distant from there, whence, unless the keenness of the eyes failed, even to the fiftieth stone any, however minute, could be seen.

22 Ibi morati integrum biduum, cum sol tertius adfulsisset, cernebamus terrarum omnes ambitus subiectos, quos horizontas appellamus, agminibus oppletos innumeris et antegressum regem vestis claritudine rutilantem. Quem iuxta laevus incedebat Grumbates Chionitarum rex novus aetate quidem media rugosisque membris sed mente quadam grandifica multisque victoriarum insignibus nobilis; dextra rex Albanorum pari loco atque honore sublimis; post duces varii auctoritate et potestatibus eminentes, quos ordinum omnium multitudo sequebatur ex vicinarum gentium roboribus lecta, ad tolerandam rerum asperitatem diuturnis casibus erudita.

22 There having remained a whole two days, when the third sun had shone, we perceived all the ambits of the lands subjacent, which we call horizons, filled with innumerable ranks and the king advancing before them, flashing with the brightness of his robe. Beside him on the left strode Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, new indeed in years, with wrinkled limbs but noble in a certain grandiose mind and distinguished by many insignia of victories; on the right the king of the Albanians, lofty in equal rank and honour; behind, various leaders eminent in auctoritas and potestates, whom a multitude of all orders followed, chosen from the strengths of neighbouring nations, schooled by long trials to endure the asperity of affairs.

23 Quo usque nobis Doriscum Thraciae oppidum et agminatim intra consaepta exercitus recensitos Graecia fabulosa narrabis? Cum nos cauti vel, ut verius dixerim, timidi nihil exaggeremus praeter ea quae fidei testimonia neque incerta monstrarunt.

23 How long, fabulous Greece, will you tell us of Doriscus, a town of Thrace, and of the troops drawn up in ranks within the army’s enclosures? For we, cautious or, to speak more truly, timid, exaggerate nothing beyond those things which the testimonies of faith have shown, not uncertain.

Sapor cum Chionitarum et Albanorum regibus Mesopotamiam intrat. Romani suos ipsi agros incendunt, agrestes in oppida compellunt, ac citeriorem ripam Euphratis castellis praesidiisque communiunt.

Sapor, with the kings of the Chionitae and of the Albanians, enters Mesopotamia. The Romans burn their own fields, drive the countryfolk into towns, and secure the nearer bank of the Euphrates with castles and garrisons.

[7]

1 Postquam reges Nineve Adiabenae ingenti civitate transmissa, in medio pontis Anzabae hostiis caesis, extisque prosperantibus transiere laetissimi, coniectantes nos residuam plebem omnem aegre penetrare post triduum posse, citius exinde ad satrapen reversi quievimus hospitalibus officiis recreati.

1 After the kings of Adiabene, with a vast multitude, had been conveyed through Nineveh, crossing at the middle of the bridge Anzaba with sacrifices slain and the entrails showing favor, we, very joyful and supposing that we could hardly penetrate all the remaining populace after three days, returned sooner from there to the satrap and rested, refreshed by hospitable attentions.

2 Unde per loca itidem deserta et sola magno necessitatis ducente solacio celerius quam potuit sperari reversi confirmavimus animos haesitantium, unum e navalibus pontem transisse reges absque ulla circumitione perdoctos.

2 Whence, through places likewise deserted and solitary, and with great necessity leading as a solace, having returned more swiftly than could be hoped, we confirmed the spirits of the hesitating, that one of the boats had crossed the bridge — the kings being thoroughly informed, without any circumvention.

3 Extemplo igitur equites citi mittuntur ad Cassianum Mesopotamiae ducem rectoremque provinciae tunc Euphronium, conpulsuri agrestes cum familiis et pecoribus universis ad tutiora transire et agiliter deseri Carras oppidum invalidis circumdatum muris, super his campos omnes incendi, ne pabulorum suppeteret copia.

3 Immediately therefore horsemen are swiftly sent to Cassianus, commander of Mesopotamia, and to Euphronius, then governor of the province, to compel the countryfolk with their families and all their cattle to cross to safer places and to abandon promptly Carras, a town girded with weak walls; moreover, to set fire to all the fields above it, so that no store of fodder might remain.

4 Et imperatis sine mora conpletis, iniecto igni furentis elementi vis maxima frumenta omnia, cum iam stipula flaventi turgerent, herbasque pubentes ita contorruit, ut ad usque Euphraten ab ipsis marginibus Tigridis nihil viride cerneretur. Tunc exustae sunt ferae conplures maximeque leones per ea loca saevientes inmaniter, consumi vel caecari sueti paulatim hoc modo.

4 And with the commands carried out without delay, the greatest force of the raging element being cast upon all the grain, when already the straw swelled, yellowing, and it so tormented the sprouting herbs that as far as the Euphrates from the very banks of the Tigris nothing green could be discerned. Then many wild beasts were burned up, and lions above all, raging ferociously through those places, were gradually accustomed in this way to be consumed or to be blinded.

5 Inter harundineta Mesopotamiae fluminum et frutecta leones vagantur innumeri, clementia hiemis ibi mollissimae semper innocui. At ubi solis radiis exarserit tempus, in regionibus aestu ambustis vapore sideris et magnitudine culicum agitantur, quorum examinibus per eas terras referta sunt omnia. Et quoniam oculos quasi umida et lucentia membra eaedem appetunt volucres palpebrarum libramentis mordicus insidentes, idem leones cruciati diutius aut fluminibus mersi sorbentur, ad quae remedii causa confugiunt, aut amissis oculis, quos unguibus crebro lacerantes effodiunt, inmanius efferascunt: quod ni fieret, universus oriens huius modi bestiis abundaret.

5 Among the reedbeds of the Mesopotamian rivers and the thickets innumerable lions wander, winter’s clemency there always most mild and harmless. But when the time has burned with the sun’s rays, in regions scorched by the heat they are driven by the vapor of the star and the multitude of gnats, whose swarms fill the whole country. And because the same birds, as it were craving moist and shining eyelids and limbs, sit biting at the lubrications of the eyelids, the same lions, thus tormented, are either swallowed up, having been plunged into the rivers to be sucked away, to which they flee as a remedy, or, their eyes lost—which they often tear out with their claws, digging them away—grow more monstrously savage: if this did not happen, the whole East would abound with beasts of this kind.

6 Dum campi cremantur, ut dictum est, tribuni cum protectoribus missi citerioris ripae Euphratis castella et praeacutis sudibus omnique praesidiorum genere conmunibant, tormenta, qua non erat voraginosum, locis oportunis aptantes.

6 While the fields were burned, as was said, the tribunes with the protectores, sent to the nearer bank of the Euphrates, were fortifying castles and pointed palisades and every kind of garrison, fitting up siege-engines in suitable places where there was no abyss.

7 Dum haec celerantur, Sabinianus inter rapienda momenta periculorum communium lectissimus moderator belli internecivi, per Edessena sepulchra quasi fundata cum mortuis pace nihil formidans, more vitae remissioris fluxius agens militari pyrrica sonantibus modulis pro histrionicis gestibus in silentio summo delectabatur ominoso sane et incepto et loco, cum haec et huius modi factu dictuque tristia [futuros praenuntiant motus] vitare optimum quemque debere saeculi progressione discamus.

7 While these matters were being hurried on, Sabinianus, chosen as the most select moderator of internecine war amid the snatching moments of common dangers, moving through the sepulchres of Edessa as if founded with the dead and fearing nothing in peace, living in the more lax manner of a relaxed life and carrying on with a military flow, delighted in the utmost silence by the pyrrhic, warlike modulations sounding like actors’ gestures in place of these histrionic displays—ominous indeed both in their inception and in their setting—since these deeds and sayings of this sort [presage future movements], we ought, by the progression of the age, to learn that everyone should shun the best (course) of action.

8 Interea reges Nisibi prostratione vili transmissa, incendiis arida nutrimentorum varietate crescentibus, fugitantes inopiam pabuli sub montium pedibus per valles gramineas incedebant.

8 Meanwhile the kings of Nisibis, after a vile prostration had been inflicted, their provisions parched by fires and the variety of fodder failing, fled and marched into a scarcity of pasture beneath the feet of the mountains through grassy valleys.

9 Cumque Bebasen villam venissent, unde ad Constantinam usque oppidum, quod centesimo lapide disparatur, arescunt omnia siti perpetua, nisi quod in puteis aqua reperitur exilis, quid agerent diu cunctati iamque suorum duritiae fiducia transituri, exploratore fido docente cognoscunt Euphratem nivibus tabefactis inflatum late fusis gurgitibus evagari, ideoque vado nequaquam posse transiri.

9 When they had come to the village Bebasen, whence to the town Constantina is distant by a hundred stones, everything dries up with perpetual thirst, except that scant water is found in the wells; long uncertain what to do and now about to attempt passage by confidence in their own hardness, they learn from a faithful scout instructing them that the Euphrates, swollen by melted snows, runs abroad in widely spreading currents, and therefore cannot in any wise be crossed by ford.

10 Convertuntur ergo ad ea quae amplectenda fortuita daret occasio, spe concepta praeter opinionem exclusi, ac proposito pro abrupto rerum praesentium statu urgenti consilio, Antoninus dicere quid sentiat iussus orditur, flecti iter suadens in dexterum latus, ut per longiorem circumitum omnium rerum usu regionum feracium et consideratione ea qua rectus pergeret hostis adhuc intactarum, castra duo praesidiaria Barzalo et Claudias peterentur sese ductante, ubi tenuis fluvius prope originem et angustus nullisque adhuc aquis advenis adulescens facile penetrari poterit ut vadosus.

10 They therefore turn to those things which chance gave occasion to embrace, excluded beyond expectation by the hope conceived, and with a plan laid down because of the abrupt, pressing state of present affairs urgent in counsel; Antoninus, ordered to speak his mind, begins, urging the route be bent to the right, so that by a longer circuit—by the use of all the fertile regions and by considering the way by which the enemy, still unassailed, would march rightly—two garrison camps, Barzalo and Claudias, might be sought with him leading, where a slender river near its source, narrow and as yet without waters arriving, young and shallow, could be easily penetrated by newcomers so as to be fordable.

11 His auditis laudatoque suasore et iusso ducere qua norat, agmina cuncta ab instituto itinere conversa praevium sequebantur.

11 When these things were heard, and the adviser praised and, at his command, to lead where he knew, all the columns, having been turned from the established march, followed the vanguard.

Septingenti equites Illyriciani necopinantes a Persis coniiciuntur in fugam. Evadunt hinc Ursicinus, inde Marcellinus.

Seven hundred Illyrician horsemen, taken by surprise, are put to flight by the Persians. From here Ursicinus escapes, from there Marcellinus.

[8]

1 Quo certis speculationibus cognito nos disposuimus properare Samosatam ut superato exinde flumine pontiumque apud Zeugma et Capersana iuncturis abscisis hostiles impetus, si iuvisset fors ulla, repelleremus.

1 When that was known by certain speculations, we arranged to hasten to Samosata so that, the river there having been crossed and the bridges at Zeugma and the junctions at Capersana cut off, we might, if any chance had aided, repel hostile attacks.

2 Sed contigit atrox et silentio omni dedecus obruendum. Namque duarum turmarum equites circiter septingenti ad subsidium Mesopotamiae recens ex Illyrico missi enerves et timidi praesidium per eos traductus agentes nocturnasque paventes insidias ab aggeribus publicis vesperi, quando custodiri magis omnes tramites conveniret, longius discedebant.

2 But an atrocious disgrace occurred and was to be buried in complete silence. For about seven hundred horsemen of two squadrons, recently sent from Illyricum as a reinforcement to Mesopotamia, weakened and timorous, conducted the garrison handed over through them, and, fearing nocturnal ambushes from the public ramparts at evening — when it would have been more fitting that all routes be guarded — were moving off farther away.

3 Hocque observato eos vino oppressos et somno viginti milia fere Persarum Tamsapore et Nohodare ductantibus nullo prospiciente transgressa post tumulos celsos vicinos Amidae occultabantur armata.

3 And with this observed, some twenty thousand Persians, overcome by wine and sleep, led by Tamsapores and Nohodar, with no one keeping watch, crossed over and, beyond the high tumuli near Amida, concealed their armed men.

4 Moxque, ut dictum est, cum abituri Samosatam luce etiam tum dubia pergeremus, ab alta quadam specula radiantium armorum splendore praestricti hostisque adesse excitatius clamitantes, signo dato quod ad proelium solet hortari, restitimus conglobati, nec fugam capessere cum essent iam in contuitu qui sectarentur, nec congredi cum hoste equitatu et numero praevalente metu indubitatae mortis cautum existimantes.

4 And soon, as has been said, when we were onward to Samosata to depart in a light then also uncertain, dazzled from a certain high watch-tower by the brightness of gleaming arms and the enemy shouting that they were at hand more urgently, at the signal given which is wont to urge to battle, we held back clustered together, neither to take flight since those who pursued were already in sight, nor to engage since the enemy, prevailing in cavalry and number, we judged it prudent by fear of inevitable death.

5 Denique ex ultima necessitate manibus iam conserendis, cum quid agi oporteat cunctaremur, occiduntur quidam nostrorum temere procursantes et urgente utraque parte Antoninus ambitiose praegrediens agmina, ab Vrsicino agnitus et obiurgatorio sonu vocis increpitus proditorque et nefarius appellatus, sublata tiara, quam capiti summo ferebat honoris insigne, desiluit equo curvatisque membris, humum vultu paene contingens salutavit patronum appellans et dominum, manus post terga conectens, quod apud Assyrios supplicis indicat formam.

5 Finally, driven by the last necessity and with hands now about to clasp, when we hesitated what ought to be done, certain of our men, rushing forth rashly, were killed, and Antoninus, ambitiously advancing before the ranks with both sides pressing in, having been recognized by Ursicinus and rebuked with a chastising note of voice, called a traitor and nefarious, the tiara removed—which he had borne on his head as the token of highest honor—leapt down from his horse and, with limbs bent and his face almost touching the ground, greeted him calling him patron and lord, fastening his hands behind his back, which among the Assyrians marks the form of a suppliant.

6 Et "ignosce mihi" inquit "amplissime comes, necessitate, non voluntate ad haec, quae novi scelesta, prolapso: egere me praecipitem iniqui flagitatores, ut nosti, quorum avaritiae ne tua quidem excelsa illa fortuna propugnans miseriis meis potuit refragari". Simul haec dicens e medio prospectu abscessit non aversus, sed dum evanesceret verecunde retrogradiens et pectus ostentans.

6 And "forgive me," he said, "most illustrious companion, by necessity, not by will I have slipped into these things, which I know to be wicked: unjust accusers drove me headlong, as you know, whose avarices not even that lofty fortune of yours, defending my miseries, could avail to repel." At the same time, saying these things, he withdrew from the middle of sight — not turned away, but, as he vanished, retiring modestly and displaying his breast.

7 Quae dum in curriculo semihorae aguntur, postsignani nostri, qui tenebant editiora collis, exclamant aliam cataphractorum multitudinem equitum pone visam celeritate quam maxima propinquare.

7 While these things were done in the half-hour's course, our postsignani, who held the upper parts of the hill, shouted that another multitude of cataphract horsemen had been seen behind, approaching with the greatest speed.

8 Atque ut in rebus solent adflictis, ambigentes cuinam deberet aut posset occurri, trudente pondere plebis immensae passim, qua cuique proximum videbatur, diffundimur universi, dumque se quisque expedire discrimine magno conatur, sparsim disiecti hosti concursatori miscemur.

8 And as in afflicted affairs is wont, hesitating about whom one ought or could encounter, with the weight of the immense populace pressing everywhere, toward whoever seemed nearest to each we are all spread abroad; and while each strives to extricate himself from the great crisis, scattered, we are mingled with the enemy rushing in attack.

9 Itaque spreta iam vivendi cupiditate fortiter decernentes ad ripas pellimur Tigridis alte excisas. Unde quidam praecipites pulsi implicantibus armis haeserunt ubi vadosus est amnis, alii lacunarum hausti vertigine vorabantur, non nulli cum hoste congressi vario eventu certabant, quidam cuneorum densitate perterriti petebant proximos Tauri montis excessus.

9 And so, our desire for living already spurned, resolutely deciding, we are driven to the banks of the Tigris, cut deep. Whereupon some, driven headlong, stuck fast with entangling arms where the river is shallow; others were swallowed by the vertigo of sucked-out pits; not a few, having joined battle with the enemy, fought with various event; and some, terrified by the density of the cunei (wedge‑formations), sought the nearest exits of Mount Tauri.

10 Inter quos dux ipse agnitus pugnatorumque mole circumdatus cum Aiadalthe tribuno caloneque uno equi celeritate ereptus abscessit.

10 Among them the leader himself, recognized and hemmed in by the mass of fighters, together with Aiadalthe the tribune and one groom, was snatched away by the speed of a horse and withdrew.

11 Mihi dum avius ab itinere comitum quid agerem circumspicio, Verennianus domesticus protector occurrit femur sagitta confixus, quam dum avellere obtestante collega conarer, cinctus undique antecedentibus Persis, civitatem petebam anhelo cursu rependo ex eo latere quo incessebamur in arduo sitam, unoque ascensu perangusto meabilem, quem scissis collibus molinae ad calles artandas aedificatae densius constringebant.

11 While I, off the route of the comrades, looked about to see what I should do, Verennianus, a domestic protector, met me with his thigh pierced by an arrow, which I, a colleague beseeching me not to, strove to tear out; surrounded on all sides by the Persians pressing forward, I made for the city with a panting run, hastening from that side by which we had been advanced, the city being set on a steep; and by a single very narrow ascent, passable with difficulty, which, the hills having been cut and the mills built, more densely constricted the lanes.

12 Hic mixti cum Persis eodem ictu procurrentibus ad superiora nobiscum, ad usque ortum alterius solis immobiles stetimus ita conferti, ut caesorum cadavera multitudine fulta reperire ruendi spatium nusquam possent, utque miles ante me quidam discriminato capite, quod in aequas partes ictus gladii fiderat validissimus, in stipitis modum undique coartatus haereret.

12 Here, mingled with Persians who, with the same onset, ran forward with us toward the heights, we stood immobile until the rising of another sun, so packed together that, the slain’s corpses supporting us by their multitude, nowhere could any space to rush be found; and a certain soldier before me, his head severed at the throat — which the mighty sword had split into even parts — was stuck fast on all sides like a stake.

13 Et licet multiplicia tela per tormentorum omnia genera volarent e propugnaculis, hoc tamen periculo murorum nos propinquitas eximebat, tandemque per posticam ingressus refertam inveni confluente ex finitimis virili et muliebri sexu. Nam et casu illis ipsis diebus in suburbanis peregrina commercia circumacto anno solita celebrare multitudo convenarum augebat agrestium.

13 And although many missiles of every sort of engine flew from the battlements, yet the proximity of the walls exempted us from this peril; and at last, having entered by the postern, I found it crowd-packed, flowing together from the neighboring places of both male and female sex. For by chance in those very days in the suburbs the multitude of assemblies was swelling the rustics, foreign markets—customarily celebrated after the year’s turning—being held.

14 Interea sonitu vario cuncta miscentur partim amissos gementibus, aliis cum exitio sauciis, multis caritates diversas, quas prae angustiis videre non poterant, invocantibus.

14 Meanwhile with varied sound all things are mingled: partly the lost ones with groaning, others the wounded with deadly blows, many calling upon diverse cherished ones, whom, on account of the crush, they could not see.

Descriptio Amidae, et quot tum ibi legiones ac turmae in praesidio fuerint.

Description of Amida, and how many legions and turmae then were there in the garrison.

[9]

1 Hanc civitatem olim perquam brevem Caesar etiam tum Constantius, ut accolae suffugium possint habere tutissimum, eo tempore quo Antoninupolim oppidum aliud struxit, turribus circumdedit amplis et moenibus, locatoque ibi conditorio muralium tormentorum fecit hostibus formidatam suoque nomine voluit appellari.

1 This city, once very small, Caesar Constantius at that time likewise—so that the inhabitants might have a most secure refuge—when he built another town called Antoninupolis, surrounded it with ample towers and ramparts, and, having stationed there a depot for the wall-siege engines, made it feared by enemies and wished it to be called by his own name.

2 Et a latere quidem australi geniculato Tigridis meatu subluitur propius emergentis; qua euri opponitur flatibus, Mesopotamiae plana despectat; unde aquiloni obnoxia est, Nymphaeo amni vicina, verticibus Taurinis umbratur gentes Transtigritanas dirimentibus et Armeniam; spiranti zephyro contraversa Gumathenam contingit regionem uberem et cultu iuxta fecundam, in qua vicus est Abarne nomine sospitalium aquarum lavacris calentibus notus. In ipso autem Amidae meditullio sub arce fons dives exundat potabilis quidem, sed vaporatis aestibus non numquam faetens.

2 And on its southern flank, with the Tigris’ course bent, it is washed by the stream as it issues forth nearer; against which the east wind is opposed with blasts, it looks down upon the plains of Mesopotamia; whence it is subject to the north wind, near the Nymphaeum brook, overshadowed by Taurine peaks, severing the Trans-Tigris peoples and Armenia; crossed by a breathing zephyr it reaches the Gumatha region, fertile and, next to it, rich in cultivation, in which a village called Abarne is known as a hostel of waters for warm washings. In the very heart of Amida, under the citadel, a wealthy spring wells up — potable indeed, but at times emitting a stench from its vaporous heats.

3 Cuius oppidi praesidio erat semper quinta Parthica legio destinata cum indigenarum turma non contemnenda. Sed tunc ingruentem Persarum multitudinem sex legiones raptim percursis itineribus antegressae muris adstitere firmissimis. Magnentiaci et Decentiaci quos post consummatos civiles procinctus, ut fallaces et turbidos ad orientem venire compulit imperator, ubi nihil praeter bella timetur externa, et Tricensimani Decimanique Fortenses et Superventores atque Praeventores cum Aeliano iam Comite, quos tirones tum etiam novellos hortante memorato adhuc protectore erupisse a Singara Persasque fusos in somnum rettulimus trucidasse complures.

3 Whose garrison was always the Fifth Parthica Legion assigned, with a troop of indigenes not to be despised. But then, against the oncoming multitude of Persians, six legions, having hastily run their routes, advanced and stood by the very strong walls. The Magnentiaci and Decentiaci, whom, after the civil wars had been brought to an end, the emperor, deeming them treacherous and turbulent, compelled to come to the East when mustered; and the Tricensimani, the Decimani Fortenses, the Superventores and the Praeventores with Aelianus now Count — whom, then, with the aforesaid protector still exhorting, we report were raw recruits and even novitiates — sallied forth from Singara and, the Persians routed and left stupefied in sleep, slew many.

4 Aderat comitum quoque sagittariorum pars maior, equestres videlicet turmae ita cognominatae, ubi merent omnes ingenui barbari, armorum viriumque firmitudine inter alios eminentes.

4 A larger part of the companions' archers was present too, namely the mounted turmae so called, in which all freeborn barbarians serve, outstanding among others in the firmness of arms and strength of body.

Sapor duo castella Romana in fidem recipit.

Sapor receives two Roman forts into his allegiance.

[10]

1 Haec dum primi impetus turbo conatibus agitat insperatis, rex cum populo suo gentibusque quas ductabat, a Bebase loco itinere flexo dextrorsus, ut monuerat Antoninus, per Horren et Meiacarire et Charcha ut transiturus Amidam, cum prope castella Romana venisset, quorum unum Reman, alterum Busan appellatur, perfugarum indicio didicit multorum opes illuc translatas servari, ut in munimentis praecelsis et fidis, additumque est ibi cum suppellectili pretiosa inveniri feminam pulchram cum filia parvula Craugasii Nisibeni cuiusdam uxorem, in municipali ordine genere, fama, potentiaque circumspecti.

1 While the first rush of the storm urged these things with unexpected exertions, the king, with his people and the nations which he led, having turned his march to the right from the place Bebase, as Antoninus had warned, by way of Horren and Meiacarire and Charcha to pass by Amida, when he came near the Roman fortresses, one of which is called Reman, the other Busan, learned from the report of deserters that the wealth of many had been moved there to be kept, as in high and secure bulwarks; and it was added that there was found, together with precious furnishings, a beautiful woman with a little daughter, the wife of a certain Craugasios of Nisibis, esteemed in municipal rank, birth, reputation, and power.

2 Aviditate itaque rapiendi aliena festinans petit inpetu fidenti castella, unde subita animi consternatione defensores armorum varietate praestricti se cunctosque prodidere qui ad praesidia confugerunt, et digredi iussi confestim claves obtulere portarum, patefactisque aditibus quicquid ibi congestum erat eruitur et productae sunt adtonitae metu mulieres et infantes matribus implicati, graves aerumnas inter initia tenerioris aetatis experti.

2 Therefore, hastening with avidity to seize what belonged to others, he made for the castles with a trusting assault; whence, by a sudden consternation of spirit, the defenders, hemmed in by the variety of arms, surrendered themselves and all who had fled to the garrisons, and, being ordered to disperse, at once offered the keys of the gates; and with the approaches opened whatever had been piled up there was carried out, and women and infants, struck with terror and entwined with their mothers, were brought forth, having endured severe hardships in the beginnings of their tender age.

3 Cumque rex percontando cuiusnam coniux esset, Craugasii conperisset, vim in se metuentem prope venire permisit intrepidam et visam opertamque ad usque labra ipsa atro velamine, certiore iam spe mariti recipiendi et pudoris inviolati mansuri benignius confirmavit. Audiens enim coniugem miro eius amore flagrare, hoc praemio Nisibenam proditionem mercari se posse arbitrabatur.

3 And when the king, by questioning, had learned whose wife she was — that she belonged to Craugasus — he permitted the fearless woman, fearing violence against herself, to come near and be seen, covert even to the very lips with a dark veil, and more kindly reassured her with the surer hope of reclaiming her husband and of her chastity remaining unviolated. For believing that his wife burned with a wondrous love for him, he judged that with this reward he could buy Nisibis’s betrayal.

4 Inventas tamen alias quoque virgines Christiano ritu cultui divino sacratas custodiri intactas et religioni servire solito more nullo vetante praecepit, lenitudinem profecto in tempore simulans, ut omnes, quos antehac diritate crudelitateque terrebat, sponte sua metu remoto venirent exemplis recentibus docti humanitate eum et moribus iam placidis magnitudinem temperasse fortunae.

4 Having found moreover other virgins also, consecrated to divine worship in the Christian rite, he ordered that they be kept intact and serve religion in the accustomed manner with no one forbidding; feigning mildness for the time, indeed, so that all those whom formerly he terrified with harshness and cruelty would of their own accord, fear removed, come, taught by recent examples that by his humanity and now placid manners he had tempered the greatness of fortune.