CORPUS FONTI.UM
HISTORIAE BYZANTINAE
AGATHIAS THE HI STORIES
CONSILIO SOCIETATIS INTERNATIONALIS STT.IDIIS BYZANTINIS PROVEHENDIS DESTINATAE EDITUM
VOLUMEN
TRANSLA]ED §TITH AN INTRODUCTION AND SHORT EXPLANATORY NOTES BY JOSEPH D. FRENDO
II A
SERIES BEROLINENSIS H..G. BECK .
EDIDERI,JNT A, KAMBYLIS
.
R. KEYDELL
ÿYl, 8
r'r3r4 (
APUD §TAL]3,R DE GRTIYTER ET SOCIOS BEROLINI ET NOVI EBORACI MCML)O§T
1975
§TALTER DE GRUYTER
. BERLIN .
NE§T YORK
ACKNO§üLEDGEMENTS The present trânslation olves a very special debt to Professor Rudolf Iftydell. In the first place, it could hardly have come into being in its present form but for the prior existence of his critical'edition of the Greek texr on yhicl my o'ü/n labours have been based. But more particularly I should lilce to exptess my gratitude for the patience and kindness he has shown in readlng
*y
§/ork through and suggesting many valuable improvements and cor-
ttctions, from whid: both it and I have benefited greatly. I should like also h take this opportunity of thanking Professor J. P. Fogarty of University College, Cork for having kindly consented to read the proofs and for help 1lrd encouragement freely and generously given at all times. For such faults aB
remain
f
must, of course, take full responsibiliry.
Cork, May, 1975
I.D.C.Frendo
ClP-Kurztitelaufnabne der Deatscbex Bibliotbek
fuathias The histories / transl. with an inttod. and short explanatory notes by JosephD.Flendo. (C.orpus fontium historiae Byzantinae; Vol. 2
A:
Ser. Berolinensis)
Einheitssadrt.: Historiae (engl.).
ISBN 3-11-003357-7
@ 1975
Co., vormals G. t. Gôsdren's&c. Verlagshandlung ' J. Guttentag, Vetlags' Georg Rcimer Karl J. Trübncr . Veit Ec Comp., Bcrlin 30, Genthincr Stra8e 13' Printcd in GermanY
by I(altcr dc Gruyter
budrhandlung
.
Ec
insbesonderc das der ûbersetzung in fremde Spradren, vorbchalten. Ohnc ausdrü&lidre Gc' nehmigung des verlages ist cs audr nidrt gestattct, diescs Budr oder Tcilc deraus auf photomedranisdlem
Alle Redrte,
lfcge (Photokopic, Mikrokopie' XcroLopie) zu venielfàltigen' Satz und Dru&: Valtcr Piepcr, Vürzburg Einbmd: Lüderitz & Baucr, Berlin
5$6679
CONTENTS
IX 3
I
9
2
32
t3
68
4
101
5
1r5' 163
'*
{*;i;i;;
INTRODUCTION Most of the information we possess concerning the life of Agathias derives from his own writings. The following is a bare outline of the main facts which emerge from a consideration of the explicit and implicit autobiographical data contained in these writings. I Agathias was a native of Myrina in Asia Minor. His date of birth cannot be determined exactly but may be placed somewhere around the year 532 A. D. His father, Memnonius, was a "rhetor" , a title whidr may imply, as in Myrina. His mother, Pericleia, died in Constantinople when he was only three years of age. It was probably in Constantinople too that Agathias'boyhood days were spenr. He received an expensive education, studying rhetoric in Alexandria and law in Constantinople. Once qualified he practised as a lawyer in the capital where, from all accounts, he had to work hard in order to make a living. The date of his death is as uncertain as that of his birth. trr musr have occutred some time after the death of Chosroes in 579 (the last datable evenr menrioned in the Histories) and before the accession of the Emperor Maurice in 582 in view of the apparent ignorance of this latrer evenr berayed by Agathias when he refers to the future Emperor simply as "Maurice the son of Paul" 3. On this red
I
For
a detailed and comprehensive reatment the readet must consult Averil Carneron Agathias (Gxford 1970), pages 1-11. 2 By N{rs. Cameron: op. cit. p.4.
3 Histories IV,29,8.
s cf. lürs. Cameron: Op. cit. p. 9. 4 Ptef.ace,l. 6 Much of it has been preserved and is to be found in the Greek Anthology. z d. Ivlrs. Cameron: ibid.
Introduælon
Introductlon
For the work of fiin mrrtttrlty, tfte Illrtorier, Agatlrlnr wnr cquippccl t neither by noturrrt inclinntion nor by personnl exlrericncc, llis life lrrrd, it of routine dullncss portfaygl of the busy working lifc by his conjured up toil and unremitting e is but slightly relieved by the recollection of a few in the capital lawyer of a
seems, been an uneventful one nrrd the oppressive picttrre
the experience of mild eafth-tremors during his 10 a landing at Cos shortly after its destruction by a tidal wave and the awful scene of devastation that confronted him there,11 a visit to Tralles. 12 Certainly his friend and fellorv poet Paul the Silentiary was a man of wealth and influence who moved in court circles, but it seems that the range of Agathias' acquaintance was confined to a narrow coterie of poets and literati and there is nothing to suggest that he came into direct coniact with any of the importânt political and military figures of his day, Moreover the lad< of ofiicial patronage of whi& he complains so bitterly prôvides a further indication that he always remained something of an outiider.,, Agathias must have begun the writing of his Histories some time after the accession of Justin II. He was still rÿriting in the reigrr of Tiberius and it clear from IV, 22 ,9 and V ,25 , 5 . that he did not live to finish them. The five books that he has left us cover a period of seven years (4. D. 552-9)' la and the stiffness Despite their author's obvious failings as a historian ls Histories ate a style, the his mar and afiectation that not infrequently literary merit. of devoid not altogether detailed and important source and are no means negliby and the hiS.speedres of Indeed the impassioned rhetoric that, had he suggest quality his narrative of uneven gible though sàmewhrt fulfilment as a tme his aclieved have might Agathias age, lived in Jiff.."nt " pfesents of instance, for a theme, he handles way In the historical novelist. a series of events he sometimes shows a sense of dramatic fitness and an ezrgerness to impose a pleasing pattern on the mind of the reader whidr wàuld belong better to a work of romantic fiction than to a piece of sober histodcal writing. The story of Chaeremon of Tralles is a case in point.16
m.-orrtl.
occasions
student days in Alexandria,
Inscrintional eviclence would sppeer to indicote thnt charemon \r,as a mân
;il;;i.Ë;;irr. ttû
common. 10 Histories
tl
III, I,4. II, 15, 5-8.
Histories II ,
12 Histories
L6,4-6.
I1,L7,6.
cf. preface LS-ZO. An unmistakeable note of personal bittemess is strud< in Histories v 20,7. 1+ For â recent and very full discussion of the subject cf. Mrs. Cameron: op. cit. pp.
lr
30-58. 15 Cf. Ibid. pp. 57--{8. 16 Histories II, 17, 1-8.
*"rr,tr
on.t
ro.irt disti'ction.t7 In Agathias' version he be'
cert0in rustic named chreremon, a tiller of the soil", an alteration 18 vhich ccrtninly produces Ê morc atffactive story' being The present iranslation has the advantage over all previogs ones of 1e It edition' Keydell's o[ Professor the Àiri io be based on the Greek text of translation English complete first the ;;; fu* the further merit of being Though earlier translations into other languathe Histories ever to ^pryat. this.version was, in the first_instance, consulted, g"rÀ h"u. been carefuliy them and with reference solely to the Greek
comes
;fur;;à1id"p"nd.ntly'of original. -In
ffanslating an ancient author âccuracy is in the main adrieved by .o*.io,r, and oËjective means - attention to detail and diligent and disfinal form in ."*-* ,pptication of the apparatus of sdrolarship' But athe intangible more by is determined cast is ;hi.hïË:rmpleted r..deriïg propose to give I now idiosyncratic' and or*.r" which is largely instinciive to obstacles obvious more the tad
I have..sought to irfiil i; ;. "uy ti^t i., -att"r, of vocabulary and _idiom and colloquialism
steef a middle course between the extremes of ardraism ,iJ-,fr* I have not hesitated to allow myself whatever freedom in transof lation seemed necessafy in order to meet ihe fundamental requirements
clarity and intelligibilitY.
form §7ith regard to proper names,2l wherev-er there was an acceptable Hellenithe of transliteration g"glfrh unmodified an simply ;iid, wâs nàt r" has been ,.JuËÀio" of the word given by Agathias, such an alternative form to the approximation a closer represented ii if particulaîy fr*fy ,a.p,ed some Non-cotonial coloni of Augustus (in-Transactions and "fjRs,Broughton: ii*"iùæ "f lhe Ametican Philological Association66,l9)5 Pp'20-22)'are cofrect, 18 Of course one cânnot be absolutely slue thât Broughton's identifications.
,,
but-the treatmeEt nor is there âny wây of knowing how garbled Agathias'original ï/as, .approadr. As regards-the gengral his of good"illustàtion a to'pro.ria. ær-;; DI. R_'C. McCail' ,ir*çrr.rr of hi, -rt..iri it is interesting to note thât, accotding to Agathias. G-reek, Roman and of Birth-date the and ». 551 À. q""t" or îrrr."Ë*t uolà. no. ) 1967 pages 246-7), aesthetic considerations have led
s He himself claims üat he turned to the writing of history partly in response to his friends' encouragement (Preface, lL-|2) and confesses that he found the plo6pect àa.-tirrg but tàk comfott in the thought that history and poetry had mudr in e Histories
XI
àô,t""-il;dil
Agâthias to take certain liberties with his chronology' rs Alathiae Mvrinaei Historiarum Libri Quinque. Recensuit Rudolfus Keydell' Pubtitrea bv \0alter De Gmyter & Co. Berlin 1967' as 20 From this point onwrrd, all mention of earlier ffanslations must be understood Ftendr century 17th the and Vulcanius of i.f*ii"g pii".ipally to ihe Latin vetsion any ti*rf"tlori of ù. C-ousin. Ignorance of Russian has prevented. me from making remy of none and 19ÿ) (Moscow-LeningraÀ trà'nslation l,f.V.Levcenko's "r"-"i marks must be construed as having any reference to it' 21
Othet than Greek, that is.
XII
Introductlon
Inçoductlon
XIII
ward, la I hnve enclenvourecl at all timcs, therefore, to correct all sudr involuntnry ulips on the port of my predecessors and to avoid introducing
original name or made possible some useful distinctionl thus ,,wilgang" ancl not "Uligangus", "Ahuramazda" fot the god and ,,I{ormizd,, foi thi man rather than "Hormisdates" used indiscriminately for both, et cetera.22 A more complicated issue is raised by Agathias' frequent recourse to cumbersome and unnatural paraphrases in order to avoid using the normal everyday word and thus sullying the arclaizing purity of hisltyre by the adoption of a barbarous neologism. 23 §(/herever iudr a circumlocution can le-replaced by a single English word without loss of meaning or emphasis, I have done so. Thus I have had no qualms about translatiirg "dome', in v,9,30 rather than employing the absurd paraphrase "the ciicle or hemisphere, or what have you, which projects in the middle". on the other hand, even though it is partly love of archaism which leads Agathias to call the inhabitants of Lazica by their ancient name of "colchians", the word does seem to have emotive overtones and so has generally been retained.
ony new ones
of my own.
Despite the invaluable help afiorded b], professor Keydell,s Index. Graecitatis the would-be translator of Agathias does still oicasionally run into the odd unsolved linguistic difiiculty and will turn in vain ro earlier translations for enlightenment. rn suc.h cases I have done my best, but I do not claim to have always found the right answer. The type of difiiculty I have in mind is well illustrated by the following quotationi
"toürouç ôè ünovruç È.x, rdtv flgoxonlor À6yrov ügroro ôv ôr.oyvo[r1;, feÀtuepâ re rôv BqvôlÀov zol Koplqô6v, tfir, n6i,rv xoi r{v [üptnooov 1d:pu, tô' "Aqgror, àrô Bovrqorlou re z,oi le(eql1ou zoi tflç êv tôp 16.rÊ &noorrïosur( noÀ}"oîç {lorepor, ypôvotç 'rouorlvLsv6 ôou?,
(:
diç_'Pcopolrrrv Ënrzgareloç péQoç Preface, 24,2_5) vhich ^TeyevqpÉvqv" Vulcanius translates as follows: "Haec omnia e Procopii scriptis optime cognoveris et Gelimer vandalum, carthaginemque urbem atque universam Afrorum regionem Justiniano subiugatum, rursumque Romani imperii partem factam, post multos annos quam, Bonifacii Gesericique aetate, inde avulsa fuerat". Now the words "inde avulsa fuerat" are nowhere to be found in the original and have been produced with the same improbable sleight-of-hand with rvhich one might expecr a coniuror to produce a rabbit from a hat. Everything falls into place, horvever, the moment one realizes that ônô and tloregov go together ancl that 6orepor, &16 means the same thing as the Modern Greek tîoreos &n6 i. e. n aftef . Finallv, it is hard rvhen translating a work as long as the Histories, ne,er
*
2a
to.be misled through momentrarv inattention into omitting, distorting or simplv misunderstancling even s,hat is perfectlv obvious an.l straishifor22
on
the other hand
r
have retained the well-know name *Mermeroes" in preference
to the mote cortect but
less familiar form ."Mihr-Mihroe". 2r cf. Mrs. Cameron; op. cit. C. VIII "Classicisrn and Affectation" pages 77-BB.
e,g. in connection with the phrase "ürèp axo?,onôç trvoç" (IV,23,3) we find the words "scopulo' in the Latin and 'rocher" in the Frendr translation! Numbers seem especially liable to mistranslation, which is unfottunate in view of the notorius unreliability even of some of the actaal figures given by ancient authorities. I have made a special e{ort, therefore, to get my figures right and hope that I have succeeded in doing so.
#,
L62
Agatlrlll Thc l.lhtorler
5 The scattered rernnanr of these l:Iunnic tribes han in foct bccn rcducecl to servitude in the lands of other peoples whose nnmes thcy have assumedl so severe has been the penalty which they have paid for their earlier misdceeh. But the complete annihilation of these two peoples occurred at a later dore, so that I shall do my best to preserve a sffict drronological order and prcvitle a detailed account of this evenr in its proper place. 6 §7hen the dissension between the cotrigurs and the utigurs wâs still at its height the news of what had happened reached constantinople and thc wisdom and foresight of the Emperor was clearly and ampiy demonstratccl to all. The barbarians ui"ere destroying one another whilst he withotrr resorting to ârms was, thanks to his brilliant diplomacy, the ultimate victor and was bound to protit wharever rhe outcome of the fighting. And s«r since they were continually embroiled in internal troubles they no longcl had any idea of attacking the domain of the Romans, indeed they sank into an almost total obscurity.
ÏNDEX OF PROPER NAMES The following Index is based on Keydell's Index Nominum. Reference is to the book, paragraph and section numbers of the Greek text * and. though only approximate at times, is never more t-han a few words out. Abasgi: I1I,2,7. Abydus: Y,12,4.
Adriatic:
II,l,5.
Aeetes: 1.
Mythical king of Colchis
2. Prominent Lazian
III,5,
III,8,7; III,
4.
11;
III,11,7; l\I,1.2. Aegean: II,16. Aemilia: (Emilia) ï,LL,3; I,1"4; I,75, 7; II,3,2. Aeneas:'[., I0,2; II,27,7. Aenus: V,22, Aeolians: Preface L4; I1,L7,9. Aûrica
(Libya):
Y,1),8;
Preface 14,25;
v,14.
TY,26,34; IV,
Agatrhias: Preface, 14.
Ahuramazda: II,24,9.
Ahriman: I,7, 5; II,24,9-lO. Alamanni: I,4; I,6,2;1,6,3; I,6,4; I, '6,6; I,7,9; l,Ll,2; IT-,1,7; II,6,7;
, II,6,9;
II,9,L2.
Alamannicus: I,4,3.
Alans: III,
15,
)A 2, Als
II,25,8; IY,
of
Mamaea
=
Alexander: II,26; LY,24. 3. Alexander of Tralles: V,6,5, Severus
II, 25, 5; lI, 25, 9. Il, 15, 5i II, 16, 4; V, 1r, 8. Aligem: I,8,6; I, 9,2; I,9,4; I,20; l, Alexander Polyhistor:
Alexandria:
20,9;1I,9,t3.
Amalasuntha: Preface 30; I,5,
8.
Amida: Prcface23. Anahita: II,24,8.
*
II,27,4;
9; IY,9.
Alexander: L. Alexander T'he Great:
Anastasius:
II,27;
Pref.ace
23; IT,
27
,7
.
i. e. as reproduced in the present translation.
II,29; Y,6. TI,L8,3; IY,21;
Inden o{ prcpet nêËêr
164
4,7i III,6,4*8i III'
Aruth: I, 20,8. Arzanene: IV,29,8, Asia: Pteface L4; Prelace26; I,2,2; Il, LO,2; lI,L7; II,17,9; II,18,5; II, 25,4; Y,tl,2; Y,12,4. Asinius Quadratus: I,6,3. Assyrians: II, 1"8,5; I1,23,9; TI'24,2;
lI,
24,
8; II,25, 4; II,
25, 5.
Astyages: II,25,6,
Ate: I,7,5.
Athanasius: lll,14,
4; III,t4, 5;
Augustus: Tl,t7
Cadusia:
11,27 ,2, Caesarea: Ptef.ace 22.
Caesena: I,20,9.
Calabria: II,L,5. Callipolis: Y,12,).
II,
25,6;LY,29,6'. 2. Cambyses
the son of CYrus: II,
26,4,
; Il,l7,).
24,8; 11,25,5.
Stoa: TI,29,2; III,
1,4.
Basi-liscus: IY,29,2.
Bederiana: Y,2L,2. Beirut: II, 15,2; II, Bel: 1I,24,8.
15, 4.
Beleus: II,25,Ç5. Belesys: 1I,25,5. Belisarius: Preface )0; Y,t5,7; Y,16,); Y,16,7; V, 19; V, 19,2-1;Y,19,6-10; Y,20,1-4; V,20,8,
l,),3;
Chorianes: Preface29.
III,2,)-7.
Bitgors: 1I,11,3. Bladrernae: V, 14,8, Boniface: Preface,24,
Bonus: I,19. Bosporus: V, 14,8.
Bruttium: II,
1,4.
Chosroes: Preiace24,27;
Conon: LY,29,2,
Burugundi: Y,17,34.
Butilinus: I,6,2; I,7,8; T,Ll,2; I, L4,5; lI,t,4; Tl,L,7l; 1I,2,2; lï, 4; II,5,2; II,8,7; I1,9,11; II,10,8.
Buzes: II, 18,8;
III,2,8; III,3,8; III,
III,6,9; III,7,2; III,
of Hystaspes: I, 2,2; II,L0,2; II,24,6; II,26,4;
Darius the son
)art
-
ï, ),5;1,3,6.
II,
d,t'
Darius the son
of
Arsames:
II,
25,8,
Datis: II,70,2. '1. Athenian General: 2. Athenian
II, 18,6; II,26;
Constantinople: Pteface, 26; ïbid.30;
Attâxerxes:
Demosttrenes:
II,
10,5.
Orator and Statesman:
II,29,2. Dercetades: II,25,4.
Dlimnites: III,17,Ç7; IïI,18; III, 18, 5-11; III, 22,5; III,26,24; III,28, 6-:7; IY, t3,8. Diodorus Siculus: II, 18,5; 11,25,5. Dogenes of Phoenicia: II,30,3. Dionysiaca: IV,23,5,
Cilicia: LY,24,3.
Burgundians: I,3,3-5.
4; IY, 29, 6.
II,
Datius:
J.
Ciberis: \1,12,2.
Classis: 1,20,5.
Cambyses:
IV,29,6.
II,27,9; II,28: II,29,9; lI,3L,4; II, )2; 1I, 32, 2; lI, )2' 5; lïï, L; III' 2; IY,6,2; lY,2),3; IY,29,5; IY, 29,9; lY, )0, 4; Iÿ, 30,7. Chytropolia: lI, 20, 5 ; II, 2L, 2; ll, 22.
Budrlous: III,15,9.
26,
2. Darius the father of
Chlodwig (Clovis): I,3,2. Chlota.t: 1,3,2; 1,5; II, 14,8-11.
Berossus: II,24,8. Bessas: II, 18,8; II,20,5;
6; II,
Dioscorus of
l,
4; II,L4,7; II,15; ll,16'4; III,3; III,14,3; I[,L5,2; III,15,7; III' 2),5; IY,l,2i IY,1,8; IV,5,7-8; IV, 9, 10; IY,2l,4; IV, 30, 8; V, 3;
Bgypthnl II, Eloee,
Gulf
Tralles: Y,6,5.
Doconos: II,2L,LO. Don: V,11,2. Dorotheus: Y,21,2.
Enyo: I,7,5.
Ephtlralites: lY,
Egypt: II,t5,9; II,15,11; II,25,L0; IY,23,5,
27,
4; lY,
Epidamnus: I,77,). Eris: I,'1,5. Ethiopians: Prelace2T.
28, 3.
Eulamius of Phrygia: II,30,3. Eutope: Prcface1,4; Ibid.26; II,
IIï,
10,2;
1,5,7.
Eutydrianus: Preface
1.1.
Euxine: II,2A,7; III,
19,
9;
III,21,,2;
Y,L,2; Y,3,2; V, 11,3; V, 14,8.
Fanum: II,2,4; II,3. Faventia: I, 15,8; I,17; I,L7,5. Filimuth: I,7L,3. Florentia (Elorence): I, 11; I, 11,6. Florus: Y,9,7, Franks: I,1,,7; I,2; I,2,3; I,3; I,3,
Ç5; ï,5; I,6,4; I,7; I,7,2; I,7,9; I, lL,2; I, 1,2,2; I,L4, 4-4; I, L5, 6; I,17,4; I,18,5; I,19,2; 1,20; I, 20,2; I,20,9-ll; I,21,4; I,22,2;
II,l,6; II,3; II,5,3-6i 1T,5,8-9;
II,6,3; I1,6,5--7; II,7; II, 9,4 II,9, 9-12; 1I,10; II,10,8; II,11,4; II, 72,5-7; II,13; II, L4,8; II,14,1l.
Fritigern: Preface3L; I,20. Fulcaris: I, 1L, 3; I,14, 3; ï,74,6; T,L5; \15,5; I, 15, 10; I,t6,6. Gaiseric:
Ptef.ace, 24.
Ganges: II,25,4.
Gaul: I,2.
Geümer: Ptef.ace,24. Gepids: I,4,2. Gerrnans: T,2;
I,5,5; I,6,3,
Germanus: 1.
Germanus the father of Justin (3):
II, 18,8; III,17,4; III,20,9; III, 24,7; I1I,25,8; IY,L51' IY,21.
2. Germanus the son of Dorotheus: Y, 2L, 2; Y, 22, 3; Y,23, 3. Getae: Preface,
Gibrus: III,20, Edessa: Pref.ace,27.
li
lE, V,10,r, Preface, 14.
of:
Elmlngclr: IlI,2l,6, Elminzur: IV, 15; IV, 15,2.
Eustratius:
of
Preface 26; I,79; \Y,22,7; Y, 11,5; Y,25,2. Daphniaca: Prctace7. L.
Chaerernon: II, 17, 2; lI, 17,7-8, Chaldaeans: TI,8,9; II,25,2. Chanaranges: II,6,4. Chettus: V, 16. Childebert: I,),2; 1,5; II, 14,8-11.
Chobus: III,3,9.
Cyrus the son
t6,
ptopÊr nünêr
v,11,L
,5.
Danube:
Chadus: III,16.
Chlodomer: I, ),2;
L7
5; I,20; I,20,6-9.
Damascius: II,30, 3.
Centumcellae: I, 11; I, 11,6.
Beroea: Prcface27.
Bion: ïI,25,5.
Cutilzis: III,
LL,
2L,6-8; IV, 18; IV, 18,3. 10,8.
Caucasus:
Balmach: III, 17, r. Barazes: IV,13,34.
Cumae: L,8,2; I,
Dabragezas:
II,L8,4; II,21, 10, III,8,5; III, 15,9; IV, 1, 8; IY,6,2; IY,9. Ceneta; II,3,3.
Bacchus: V,23,8.
Basileios
II,
Ctesiphon: I1{,29,L0.
2.Cytus the son of Florus and lather of Paul the Silentiary: Y,9,7.
Capua: 1I,4,4; II,10,8. Hills: IY'29,7.
Carthage: Pteface 24.. Casulinus: II,4,4-5; Catharus: III,7,8.
14,6i \,25,6, Coet II,16, Cotalsr II, 19; II, 22,3i IlI,6,)i llI,7i III,28,6; IV, 15,4. Cotrigurs: V, 11,2; V, 11,6; Y,72,7; V, 17; V,24,)i ÿ,25. Cronosr I1,24,8; Ctesias of Cnidos: 1I,25,5.
25,
Carduchian
Babas: III,18,10.
V,6,6-7t V, 10,2i V, 12, !; V, 14i V,
1,
Cappadocia: IV,24,).
Babylon, Babylonians: 1I,23,70; II,
d
Cyrus:
II,4; II,4,4. Campsae: II, b; Il, 14, 6. Cantabri-Cantabria: II, 17, 3; II, 17,7. Campania: II, 1,4;
Athyras: V,t4,5.
Avars: 1,3,4.
20,8;
l.Cambyses the father of CYrus:
IV,
Athenocles: 1I,24,8. 10,2.
l0; III,
7,
IV, T',2.
Cambyses:
7,2; IY,tl. Athenians: II, 10,3; II, 10,5.
Attica: II,
Iadrr
Golden
Horn:
l.
10.
V, 14,8. Goths: Preface J0; Ibid. 31; I,l;1, L, Ç7 ; I,3; I,),3; T.,5; \5,2-4; I,6,4-6;
:
Indqx'd proper nrmcl
Ihdrx s, tËpÉ! ârm6r
I,7,8; I,8; I,8, 4-6; I,9,5; \10,4t, I, 10,9; I,15,7-9; I,20; I, 20,2-4i l, 10,9; I,75,7-9, I,20; I,2A,24;1., 20,1.0; II,2,2; Il,9,13; II,12,2; lï, 73; II, L3,2-4; II, 14, 6-7; V, 15, 8. Gteece: 11,L0,2; Y,Ll,l; V,»,6-7, Greek Language: II,2O,5; IV,2; IV, 30,4, Greek Literature:
Greeks: 24,9.
Kclrnanrhehl IV,26,
Mrxentlur: IV, 13,2; IV, 14; IV, Mclrntlar: V, 14,5; V,20,r, 5-9.
Mesdritha: II,22,5.
Mestrianus: III, L4, 5. Metrodorus: V,6,4-5,
IIl,2,3; III,2,8-11;
Miliades: II, 10,3. Misimians: III, 15,8;
IIT,4,2:
IlI,4,5-6; III,9,3; III, 10,8; III, 11,8; III,12,6; III,L3,5; III,L4,
III,
16;
IlI,L6,5;
III,Ll,3; IY,12,2; IV, IJ;
IV,
LJ,
5-6; IY,15,4-7; Iÿ,L6,4-5; IY,L7, 4-6; IY,t9,2; IY,20,6. Mithridates: lI, 25, I0.
2-3; IY,1; IV, 1, 4; IY,2,3-5; TY,5, 7-9; lY,6,3; IY,8,3-4; IV,8,6; IV, 9,5; IY,10,34; IV, 11; IV,21.
Moesia: I, 19; V, L1,6.
Guntarith:
Preface,25. Gylippus: II, 10,5.
!.
Memnonius: Pteface 14. Mermeroes: Pref.ace29; II, 19; II, 19,5; II,20; 11,20,3; Iï,,2L,4; II,22; II, 22, 6; II, 21, 9 ; III, 2; IIT, 2, 6i IY, L5.
II,28.
III,3; III,3,8-9; III.4;
14,
Medesr ïI,21,9-L0; 11,24,8i II,25,
I,7,4; II,10,4; II,23,10; II,
Gubazes: II, 18,6;
167
25; III, 20, 9. II, 19; I1,22,3; III,6, l; III,6,9; III,7; III 15; IlI,L9,5; III,28,6; II1,28,9; IY,9,7; IV,
Moors: rI,
Pref.ace
Muchetuisis:
18,5.
I,11,
L3,5.
TI,30,3.
IIl,2i III,6,2; III,15; 4; III, 77, 6; III,18, 11; III, 19; III,19,8; III,20l' III,20,3-5; IIl,22; III,23,4; I1I,24,24; IIï, 24,7; TII,27,8; III,28; III,28,6i Ill,28, L0; IV, 12,2; TY,l2,7; IY,
Nad:oragan:
III,
IV, TY,2L,5; IY,22.
I,77;
ï,17,6;
23,2t [Y,30,6. Natsah: IY,25. Natses: Prüace3l; I, 1; I, 4; I,7,8;
'
Iliger: TII,L7,5,
Illus:
III,24; III,28,8,
Nepos: LY,29,1. Nesos: II,2l,7-10; Il,22t
Kavad: Preface23,24; IV,27,6-7; IY, 28; TY, 28, 3-8; lY , 29, 5; IV , 30, 5. Kerman: [V,26,2.
l,
9,4; I,10; I,10,3; I,10,9; I,ll,6; L,12; I,12,3; I,L2,9; I,L,13; I,L3, 4-5; T.,L4; I,75,2; I,L5,1.0; I, 16; I, 'L6,3; l,L7; L,L7,2; I,L7,2; T,L7, 6-7; T,18; I, 18, 34; I,18,8; I, 19; I,L9,4i 1,20,1; I,20,5; I,20,8; I, 2li I,2L,24; ï, 22; 1,,22, 1; I,22,8i II, 1; II, 4,2-3; II,6; I1,6,34i lI,7i II,7,3-:7; II,8; II,9; TI,9,2; \I,9, 13; II,LL,3; II,L2,10; II, 11,4; II,
14; II,14,2-7. Neocnos: TII,23,9;
Iberia: II,22,\ III,2,6; \1I,6,2; IJI, 12,L3; III,19,5; l[,28, 10; IV,9; TY,12,2; IY,13,5; IY,L5,4; LY,23, 2;[Y,30,6. Iberians: TI,21.,7.
17,
ll\ llf IIII
17,4; IT1,79; III,lg,7-lt IIl,r0, 3-8; IY,73,2; lY,ll, ,. ,, I j Nicias: II, 10,r, ,']I :I NiIe: IT,lr,5, Ninus:
ïnrlex rrf proper nanlei
168 1. Assyrirn King, perh.
= l:iblicrrl NinrII,l8,5; II,
rod cf. Gen.10,11; 25,4; II,25,5.
2.Capital of Assyria = Nineveh: 23,L0.
II,
Ninyas: II,24,2-3. Nisibis: IY,25,6.
III,7; IY,9,6; IY,
Orestes: IY,29,3, Palladius: T,9,4. Palmyra: [Y,24,4. Panopolis: IV,23,5, Papak: II,27; II,27,2-5. Parma: I,L4,4; I,15,9; I,t7,2;I,
I, t8,2.
19, 3; Y,7,2. II, 15, 10; V,8,5.
Procopius:
Preface 22,
17,7;
Propontis: Y,L4,5.
Pyrrho: II,29,7. Pythicus:
29,9.
Pelasgians: II, L7 ; II, L7, 5. Peroz (Firuz) : Pref.ace23; Preface
IY,27,34; 24, I,2,2;
I,7,5; 1I,10,3; I1,18; II, L9; Il, 21,7; I1,22,); II,23; II,24,5; U,
25,8i II,26; II,26,24; II,27,5;
III, 7 ; III,
7, 5 ;
TII,
II,
8, 2;
III,9,L4; III,12; III,1.2,8; III, 17, 2; III, L7, -9 ; III, 27, ; III, 22, 2; III, 24, 24; lil, 25, 5-7 ; III, 27, 3 ; TII,28. III,28,5; III,28,8-9; IV, 6,2; IY,L2,2; IY,1.3,5-7; IY,15; 7
Sobirs: lII,17,5-6; III, 18; III, 18,2-7; III, 18, 8-11; IV, L3,7 -9. Saghanshah: IY,24, 6; IY,24, 8. $nmnium: Il, 1,4. Sondes: II,24,8. Sandilch: Y,L2,6; Y,24,2; Y,25.
7
IY,L5,24; IY,2L,4; IY,23; IY,30, 2; IY,30,5; IV,30,8; V, 10,5. Petra: Prcface29; III,2,6. Phanitheus: I,11.,3. Phatsantes; IY,73,3. Phattazes: III, 11, 2; III,14,2.
Spoln: V, 11, li, §pnrtnnr; V, 19, Stephanun: 1,,17,1-6; I, 18,2. Stephcn
(St.): III, r,7.
Stotzas; Pteface25. Suanians: IV,9. Suarunas: IY,20,4.
Sura:
Pref.ace 27.
Sycae: V,1r. Syracuse:
Syria:
II,
10,5.
Preface, 24, 27
Teïas: Prüacell;
;
\Y,24,
\l;1,5;
1,
I,8,4-6;
Scythia: V, 11,6.
Y,ll,2.
Segestani: TY,24,8.
Theodahad: Preface3O; I,5,8.
Seleucia: IV,29,L0. Semitamis: II, 18,5;
Theodebald:
II,24,2; II,25,
1. Theodebald
1.
Setgius
the son of Bacdrus:
21,8.
the
Sergius
34.
14,8-10.
V,
Interpreter: IV,10,
Theoderic:
2. Theoderic
Shapur: IY,23,3; IY,23,7; TY, . 1. Shapur 23, 8; IY, 24, 2; [Y, 24, 4; lÿ, 24, 5. IY,25,2; IV, 25, 5; IV, 2. Shapur
I: II: 26.. 3. Shapur III:
Theoderic
the Osrogoth:
Preface
30; I,5,6-7; I,6,4.
l^8,5.
Sextus: II,29,7.
the son of Chlodwig: I,
3,2-4. Theodorias: V,L,4. Theodorus: I1,20,7-8;
TI,2l,4; III,
20,9; III, 22,4; III,26,3; IY,l3,2; IV, 14; IV, 18; V, 1,3;
Y,2; Y,2,
3-5.
IY,26.
Sibyl: I,10,2.
Siderun: IV, 16, 4; LV,16,7. Siderus: II,L7,7.
Pteface )0; I,7,8; II,1, 4; II,4; II, 10,5. Sidon: I1,15,4. Simacus: II,24,8. Simplicius: II,30,). Sindual: I,20,8; II,7,6; II,8,6; II,9,
Sicily:
7-8;11,9,L3.
Slav: IY,20,4. Smerdis: TI,26,4. Soterichus: III,15,2;
IlI,15,6; III,
15,8; III, 16,34; III, 16, 6*8; IV, 12,24; IY,15,6-:1; IV, 19,6; IV,
20,9.
the Varne: I,21,2. Theodebert: I,3,6; I,4; I,4,54; I,6,6. 2. Theodebald
1,
II,
the son of Theodebert:
I,4,7; T,5; T,5,2; I,6; I,6,6; IT,
4-5. Sergius:
l,
Telephis: II,19; TI,L9,2; I1,20,5-8; TI,2L,7; II,22,2. Thamanon: IV,29,7. Thebes (in Egypt): V,13,8.
Satdanapalus: II,25, 5.
Sasan: II,27,2; 1I,27, 4-5.
2. 1,4.
169
20; IT,12,2.
Sestos: Y,12,2.
Paul the father of Maurice: IV,
6;
Preface,
J; IV,7,); IY,1l; IV, 17,3; IV,
Scythians:
prop€r nÂmer
ol' Sotct'lelrurt lII,
llurtlcun lII,2,4; Ill,2,9; ltl, !t Ill, ),7i LI'1,4; Il[,4,6; ,[tl, 6,6i III, 12,6; III, 14,2--1; IV, 1,6; lV,2i IV,
Sesostris:
Paul the Silentiary: Y, g,7 .
5,
32; II, 19; TY, 15;
IY,26,4; IY,28,3; IV,29,5; IV,
30,5.
Paul:
Phasis:
Pontus: III,
Priscian: II,30,3.
Parysatis: II,24,4.
III,
27,7; Y,4,4.
Prima Iustiniana: Y,27,2.
TI, 25, 9-L0,
IY,29,2. Persia - Persian(s):
9; III,22,3.
Pisa: I, 11,6. Pisaurum: II,2,5. Plato: Preface 9; II,28,2; II,30,3; IY,
Poseidon:
ltrurttrhrx, rotr lJ,7 ,
21,).
Picenum: II,2,4.
III,
.1,
6, 1.5,7.
Phocaeans: I,2,2. Phoenicia: II, 1,5,2; II,30, 3.
11.
28;
lII,
Philip: II,25,8.
Ognaris: IlI,27. Ollaria: II,20,5. Olympius: Y,6,5. Onoguri: 1II,5,6. Onoguris: II,22,3; III,3, 8; III,4;
2.
A town situated at the mouth of the river Phasis: III, 19,8; III,22;
Philomathius: III,20,
Odoacer (Odovacar): 1,5,7.
1..
2.
IIT,22,8,
Odenathus: IY,24,4,
Parthians:
l. A rlvcr ln Luzierr: II, I8,4; II, l9l II,2l, 1.0; 11,22,2; III,21,3; IV, 29,2; Y,1,4.
Philagrius:
Nonnus: IY,23,5.
5,6-8; III,6,3;
Ide* d
Theodosius: Prelace 23; IY, 26, 3. Thermopylae: Y, L9; Y,23, 6. Thersites: TI,29,6. Thescos: Y,L2,2. Thessaly: Prelace26. Thrace: I,4; I,4,4; V, 11,6; Y,14,5; Y, 23,6; Y, 24, 5; Y, 25, 2. Thracian Chersonese: Y,LL,7; Y,L2; Y, 12,2; Y,12,5; Y,2L; Y,21,4-5; Y,
23,5.
Thyanes: III,16. Tiberius Constantine: IV, Tigris: TII,L7,7.
Totila:
Preface
29, 8,
3l; I,7; I,4; I,8,4; II,
12,2.
Tralles: II, 17; II, L7,8-9; Y,6,1,
Trebizond (Trapezus):
III, 19,)i V, 1,2,
Ittrlcx ol ltto[]§f nntucrl
170
'l'urks: I,3, 4. Tuscany: I,1,(r; I,8; I,1l; L7,2.
Tyrrhenian:
II,
Lo, g.
I,tl,1;
l,
I,8,3; II, 1,3-4; II,4,l;
Tzadtar: IV,16,4.
Tzani: IY,
II,20,7; III,20,9; III,22,4; "L,
L3,
)-5 Tzathes:
2; IV, 18; V,
III,
-J"4,
3;
III,
2; Y, 1,7 ; Y, 2,
)À. 4
Y,ll,2;
3,); il,4;
1I,4,9;
Verina: IV,29,2, Vitalian: I,ll,3; I, 1r,8. Volaterae: I,
L1,,6.
rlflilgang: IïT,6,5.
§(itigis: 15,
Pteface 10.
2-5.
Uldach: II,2,5;11,3. Ultizurs: Y,L1,2; V, 11,4. Uranius: II,29; II,29,6; II,29,8; 30i II,32. Usigardus: III, 6, 9; III,7,2.
Utigurs:
Vnrncs: I,21,2. Vcnetia: I, 1,6; II, II,11.
Xenophon: II,2L,7. Xerxes: II,l0,4; IY,29,6; Y,19.
Il,
Y,-1.2,6; Y,23,7; Y,
Vaccarus: I,21,2. Vahram:
I: IV,24,5. 3. Vahram III: IV,24,6. 4. Vahram IV: IY,26; LY,26,2. 5. Vahram V: IV,27. 1. Vahram
2.Vahtamll: IY,24, 6; IV, 24, 8.
Yahiz: III,28,L0. Valash: IV ,27, 5.
Valerian:
1.The Emperor Valerian: IY,23,7. 2. Roman General Serving underNarses
in ltaly: I,[L,3; II,8, r.
3. Roman General serving under Martin
Lazica: III,20,10; III,21, Vandals: Preface 24-25; Y,15,8.
5.
Yazdgard (Yezdegerd): l.Yazdgatdl: Prclace
,-8. 2.Y azdgardll: IY;
23; IV, 26,
27, 2.
Zabergat: Y,LL, 6; Y,12, 4-6; Y, 20,2; Y,23,5-7; Y,24,2. Zarnasp: IV,28, 2; IV, 28,7. Zamolxis: Preface J, Zandalas: T,19,5; II,8,2. Zotades; II,24,6. Zeno:
Zeno: I,5,7; IY,29, 2; Y,1.5,4. 2. Rhetor and advocate practising in L. The Emperor
Constantinople; 8,3,
Y ,7
Zeus: II,24,B; Y,8,5.
Zidt:
IV,30,8-9.
Ziper: IV, 18. Zrma: IV,29,8.
Zoroaster: II,24,5-6.
,2;
Y,7
,5; Y,
PREFACE
Honour and success are indeed the natural concomitants of miritary victories and trophies, of the rebuilding and embe[isrr-.", J.iries and of au great and marvellous exploits as such. But whereas this type o.f achievement brings not inconsideiable prestige and pr"uroi. ;;-riâ; who have possessed it, it does not usually .ortirirr" to bl associarà *i*, rhem once tfref dead and gone, bur gblivion ioropor", t.rraf ..r"ai"* *a distor_ Te ting the rgality of evenrs: for when oncà thore *irh fi;r;-hroi experience gone then gone also and extinguished with them i;;;ü.;*re l"re know_ ledge. z Bare recollecrion tqrg àu-q in point of, fact,ro r. un ,oprofitabre and unstable thing, quite ilcapable of ,*riuing ,lr" *i.a.rg" Nor do I suppose that men wourd have resolved * tii dr;;;i.,?;;;i ;*". counrry or to submit to orher forms oJ hardship knor,ving furl w;rl ,:ràr-"" r*rer how great their adrievemenrs, their r*oin, beinfbut with their "o--.ir*r-re perish and dissolve îritr, trr"À, l,rJ n"i r"ro.
liforP,*, mus5inevitabiy
'
divine provrdence, it seems, _strengthened our naturar fuairty by introduciù th; benefits of Historv an{ tf top-r.th"r.Ày afforded. rt was nor, r fancy, for the sake of a ir.ath of wilà orives_ oiparsrey that 3 the competitors at rhe Çlympic and Nemean games entered tË contest, nor is it tfuough
desire plunder and immedi ate gatn that the valiant _of contestants bæt1e-field-expose themserves qo olen ,oa
mere the
of
**il"rt-à;;;;. N" both are
motivated by the desire-for a g1ory which is permanent aÀd unanoyed, such as cannot possibly be obtained save through th. im,oortutirv
.orrr.oua o,
rl:..t,
Hisrory, nor after rhe manner ,r-,"1ir"r-;i;;d"t, and the "Ï à;rhi;r"ilî;tr., delusions of the Getae 1 but in a fashion ,.rly *'-^ the onry one in whidr the foftunes of mortals .rrior. f;r;;;* "rnand .nr..rur" 4 rt would be far from easy to rerate dr the bressings that
'Hisrory showers.on human iff1
ro
p_ut-
ril ;;;;Ë;;;
9"1, opinion that she is by no rneans inferior to polia.ul
it
sci.rrc.;-rî;i, if
is my she is
1ïhe
Getae were a ,hracian *ibe, trst,mentioned by Herodotus (4.94sq.), who gives a shoft accounr of,their r.r.r i" i.*"il^iiry, irr" girt of tt.y nwer really d]9 but simply..go to joln d.ivine beini'cdt.isrl";ü;:ïfrâ, 4 A* frr* the practice, Herodotus telli us, of choosing onr. of their no#J Éyears to send to salmolxis as.a messengef, "ir""y uiith'instructior» to ,rkhia ro.-*t ur.r"a thev frappen to v/anr. Thev diï.atdr *Ëir *.*1"g.. bt ;;;-,i,,J hrr; ait and impaüng him on the points ofltheir javelins.
wÈÀ'irîrt
Ë
'-
r*
ilrr;ï
.l rroL rrr.:tuully rrrole
Itrefucc
ÂHstlllsr: 'l'lre I lirturlee
berrclit'iul, 5 ltrliticuI
Scietrcc irrrrcr
ltcr orr"lers rttrtl irt-
§uLlctiolls, .hcr liats rrrrtl hct' erlvcuts lilcc n stertr rrrrd trtryieldiltg lllistrc§s ruixirrg c<.lrrr1:ulsiorr with pcrsuusiou. llistory, tlxrrrglr slrc ntrtltes evcrything as attrâctivc as possil:lc, rcndcri.ng hct message morc palttuble by the insertion o[ a variety of edifyir:g anecclotes and presenting in hct accoullt the instances whcre men have come to enjoy good repute through the wisdom and justice of their actions and where they have been led astray by some miscalculation or chance, unobtrusively instills virtue into men's hearts. For views pleasingly presented and voluntarily assumed win wider and deeper acceptance. 6 After a prolonged consideration of the matter, I came to the conclusion that those who have busied themselves with this brandr of literatute should be accorded the greatest admiration and eulogized as the benefactorc of
society, without of course even remotely considering the possibility of âttempting to compose in the genre myself , 7 I was indeed predisposed from boyhood to the heroic metre and delighted in savouring the niceties o{ poetic composition, and so have written a numbet of shot pieces in hexameters entitled "Daphniaca", adorned with certain amorous motifs and replete with similarly enchanting topics. 8 Furthermore I thought it a praise' worthy and not unpleasing undertaking to make as complete a collection as possible o{ those recent and contemporary epigrams which were as yet unknown and indiscriminately murrnured on the lips of some, and to write them down appropriately classified and arranged. This undertaking has in fact been accomplished together with the production of several other com' positions written with no suictly practical end in view, but otherwise potentially amusing and entertaining. 9 Poetry is after all a sacred and divinely-inspired activity. In it souls adrieve a state of ecstatic inspiration as the philosopher-son of Ariston 2 would say, in whidr those that are truly seized by the Muse and possessed by this fuenzy give birth to ofispring of surpassing loveliness. ro So I decided to immerse myself in the subiect and nwer willingly to abandon these pleasant pursuits of my youth but to follorv the famous Delphic injunction 3 and cultivate self-knowledge. But seeing that in my ov/n lifetime it has come to pass that great wars have broken out unexpectedly in many parts of the wodd, that wholesale migrations of barbaian peoples have taken place, that bewildering vicissitudes of fortune 2 The refetence is, of course, to Plato. Agathias has a weakness for this type of inane circumlocution; hence the poet Pindar fot example is referred to as the "lyre of Boeotia". It should be noted however, that Byzantine taste in sucih matters difiered essentially from our own and that different societies favour dillerent forms of afiectation. The ideas expressed hete are a reminiscence of Plato's Phaedrus 245 a, where three forms of heaven-sent madness (the prophetic, the cathartic ând the po€tic) are enumerated and discussed. 3 i. e. uknow thyself" one of the famous exhortations carved on the temple of Apollo at Dclphi.
J
hgve tx'c,rrrt'«l rrtrtl utrlorcsccuble ancl incrcdiblc cvcnts whiclr in their outcurnc lrrrvc rrpsct ull cnlculations, thât nations have been wiped out, cities etuluvect, pr4rulrrtions upt'ooted and displaced, so that all mankind has been itrvolvecl. in thc upheaval; seeing therefore that these and similar things had tnken y:lrcc was seized with vague misgivings and felt that it might be *ütogcther reprehcnsible if I, for my part, .were to pass over in silence and [ui[ to rccord such staggering and momentous occurrences, occurrences whidr might rrell have a positive value for posterity. rr I decided therefore that it was not out of place for me to try my hand at history in order that my lifc might not be spent entirely on the impractical elaboration of poetic fancy liut might be made to contribute something useful. And moreover many of my friends spurred on and encouraged my initial endeavour by urging and exhorting me to action, the most enthusiastic suppoft of all coming from the younger Eutych,ianus, a leading member of the Imperial Secretariate who in addition to being an excellent person and possessed o[. a ready wit nnd an adequate amount of culture is in every way a credit to the family of Florus. rz This man, since he really had my interests at heart and was especially anxious to enhance my rEx.rtation and improve my status, nevef, tired of spurring me on and raising my hopes. He kept teltring me not to regard the undertaking as difiicult or beyond me nor to be dismayed by the novelty ofthe experience, like a landsman embarking on his first voyage. He maintained moreover that in his view history \À,âs not far removed from poetry but that both were kindred and related disciplines difiering rudrcally pethaps only in the matter of metre. Accordingly he urged me to proceed with confidence and devote all my energies to the project, bearing in mind that I should be equally at home in both fields. 13 As it happened these promptings of his found in me a ready and receptive listener and he had little difiiculty in winning me over. And here f am now actuaTly writing a history, and I hope and pray that I shall be able to produce a work to match the earnestness of my endeavour and'to do justice if possible to the magnitude of my theme. 14 First I must follow the established practice of historical writing and disclose my origin and identity. My name is Agathias, my birthplace Myrina, my father Memnonius, my profession the practice of the Law of. the Rom,ans and of the calling of an advocate. By Myrina I do not mean the city in Thrace or any other city of that name in Europe or Libya as the case may be, f mean tlre city in Asia which is an ancient colony of the Aeolians, situated at the
I
mouth of the river Pythicus, whicl flows from Lydia to the farthest strait
of the Gulf of.Elaea.n , j I hope to repay her as fully as I can for rearing me by writing a complete account of her splendid adrievements througho'ut the course of her history. For the time being f must beg her to accept with a Previously mistranslated as "the Gulf of Elea",
ô
AgntlrlÉr! 'l'lre llisturler
Pæfrcc
o[ nry goocl intcntiorrr, lol I utur[ llow procse(l to with lnilttefs of gcnelal conccflt ancl ol. tlte uiln(,Ët" itlll)oftrl,itce. r6 I shall write my history in a totally dilIcrcnt spirit l,rorn tlrut whidr has animated the writings of my contemporarics. Othcls in our day ancl age have approacled this task, but for the most part with llagrant disregard for the truth and no concern {or historical accuracy, being so openly intent on flattering and fawning upon a large number of influential people that even if they lrl'ere to speak the truth they would not be believed. 17 Yet the authorities on these mâtters state that the exaggeration of an individual's merits is the proper business o{ panegyric,, und tho'ugh the writing of history does not preclude the possibility of praising those who have done good the historian does not, I imagine, see this to be the chief aim and distinguishing mark of his profession. §Thenever the way in which a situation has been handled calls for praise or blame the historian must on no account try to gloss over or improve upon the facts. r8 Yet these authors who claim to be writing history and ptofess to be historians on the title page of their works, ate shown up on closer inspection to be charlatans. For they eulogize Iiving men during their lifetimes, be they emperors or persons otherwise distinguished, not just by their presentation o{ the facts (that would be a venial error) but they make it plain to all and sundry that their sole concern is the besto,ural of excessive and unjustifiable praise: when deaüng with the dead, however, they either vituperate them as blad
allcnlirltr to wlrrrtever hnr not yet becn thoroughly clenlt with by anyonc clse. rr Since rrlrst of thc cvents o[ the rcign of Justinian have been accurately rccrurlc,r'l by tlrc llret«rricittt't Procopius of Caesarea I {eel I can dispense with thc necessily o[ covcring the same ground, but I must give as full an account ar lxrssiblc of subsccl-rcnt cvents. z3 Procopius' introduction is taken up with thc clcath of Arcadius and the appointment of the Persian king Yezdeger:cl I as guardian to his son Theodosius, the events of the reigns of
o good gtoce this crltucst d«:al
imagine that by cultivating whoever happens to be in pov/er they are securing their own advantage, a mistaken calculation since those who are the object of their eulogies are not pleased with this sort of tribute and consider that open adulation is not capable of ensuring their reputation. zo Let these authors write therefore in the manner to which their inclinations have accustomed them; f, for my part, must make *re truth my supreme object, whalever the consequences. I shall relate all the memorable adrievements, up to the present time in
the Roman and the greater part of the non-Roman wodd, not only of persons who ate still living, but especially of those who have already passed away, and I shall omit nothing of importance. zr So although I did not stârt to $zrite my history until after the death of Justinian and the accession of Justin shall refer bad< to the preceding period and give special
II, I
5 Agathias is probably thinking of the handbooks on rhetoric current in his day which classified in detail the various brandres and subdivisions of literature and oratory, aod pres*ibed minutely the form eaih one of them should take.
Vahram V ancl Peroz, and how Kavad became king, lost his throne and then regained it, hor.v Amida was captured by him when Anastasius was emperor of the Romans, and the troubles that Justin I succeeded to in connection with this deed. z4 Then one can get aî excellent picture from Procopius of the Emperot Justinian's wars with Persia fought against Kavad and Chosroes in Syria, Armenia and the borders of. Lazica, and of Gelimer the Vandal6 and of how the city of Carthage and the whole of Africa was subiugated by Justinian and became once more a pat of. the Empire many years after Boniface and Gaiseric and the revolt of that period.' z5 Procopius' narrâtive also gives an account of how, after the destuction of the Yandal Kingdom and the successes and reverses of the Moors when they took up orms against the Romans in many parts of Afica, Stotzas and Guntarith, who were on the Roman side, set themselves up as tyrants and were the prime cause of untold disasters and dissensions in Africa, and of how that
countrÿ had no respite from her ills until both men were destroyed. z6 Procopius also tells of how the civil disorder in Constantinople erupted in open revolt against the emperor and, reaching aTarming proportions, caused widespread devastation, and of the raids of the Huns, who at that time crossed the Danube and did appalling damage to the territory of the Romans, ruvaging lllvda and Thessaly and the bulk of Europe, and a part of Asia too after crossing the Hellespont. z7 The tale is told also of the tragic sad
ÂsrthlErr Thellbttxbl the_ ostrogoth and the murder of hiu doughter Amaleruntho by Theodahocl and all the evenrs whidr occasioned the ôutbrentc of the GotÉic §7or, oncl then the story is told of how süitigis who sr"rcccccled Theodahad as ruier of t},e Goths was, after prolonged tghting, captured by Belisarius and talcen to Constantinople, and of how Sicily, Rome and ltaly casr ofl the yoke of foreign domination and were restored to their ancieni way of life. 3r The same soufce mofeovef gives an account of the ltalian e
proceed to do.
BOOK
1
l.
Teias, who succeeded Totila as leader of the Goths, rallied his forces and made an all-out attack on Narses and the Romans, but he sufiered an 10 overwhelming defeat in a pitched battle whidr cost him his life; and those Goths who survived the battle were forced to come to terms with Narses because they found themselves exposed to constant attacik from the Romans and crowded together in a confined and waterless str)ot. The terms granted them meant that they would remain in undisturbed possession of their own temitory on condition of their continuing thencdorth to be subjects of the Emperor. This turn of events led everyone to $rppose that the fighting in Italy hud been brought to a successful conclusion: in realiq' it h.ad scarcely begun. z I am convinced, for my patt, that our generation shall see no enà to sudr ills, since, human nâtufe being what it is, they are a permanent and ever increasing phenomenon and, indeed, one whidr is practically as old as man himself. Hisiory and literature, for example, are full of accounts of battler and fishtins. almost to the exclusion of everything else. 3 I do not, ho*.i"r, subicribà'to the general view that sudr events âre controlled by the movements of the heavenly bodies and by some blind impersonal fate. If the influence o{ fate wefe paramount in all things then there would be no place for free-will, we wotild be obliged to regard all attempts at advice, instruction and methodical o
I
benevolenr being, whidr is the negation of all evil, could delight in wholesale slaughter. j It is the souls of men that lapse voluntarily into greed and violence and fill every land with wars and dissensions, giving rise thereby to widespread destruction, to the upfooti.ng of whole nations and to countless other horrors, 6 And so it happened on that occasion that aftet the conclusion of the peace-treaty the Goths went their sepafate §/ays, those. who had previously iived on the near side of the Po maling their way to Tuscany and Liguria and to wherever force of habit and inclination led them, while those from beyond the Po crossed that river and dispersed in the direction of Venice and the garrisons and towns of that region, where they had previously lived. 1o The Battle
of Mons Lactarius (4.D.552),
t0
Agathlau 'Ilra I lhtrrler
Ihtt
onc'e llrey wcrc bnt'lt itr their own ro'rir,r.y, irrrtenrl of lrrrttirrg t6cir lrcaty obligrrtiorrs jnto 1'rlirctice irrrrl e.rrjoying,rr l,iri, in rir" *".,,i.l 1r,rrr"rri,,,, of thcir prop*ty, a brca_thing-s1rn." f.i,i', tir. l,,rz,r*l* ,ri,.i r,rr,iri-,iirs .f war, they started, after the bricfesi of pauscs, to srir rrp frcsh troubre anrl so sparked ofi another war. 7 HowÀver, féeri,g rrrür"iu.r'rîilî, for the Romans they turned ro the Frânr.s. ri."v ,lrorgt r irrrrllr u ,rrt.t., by this course they were to secure the alliance of a neig'hbo"#; p-Jôil and the, resume fig-hting, they would improve their present position and could also count on lasting support.
2' The Franks have a common frontier with rtary. They may reasonabry be identited with the peopre who in ancienr times iè.r.urr,,, were since they inhabit the banks of the Rhine and "â[.d the ,"irrrrai"g-r.riitory, ,rd though they occupy most-of Gaur, it is a later acquisition since they did not
previouslv live there; and the same is true of üà.iry ài ùî*iIà',,, **.n was originally settled by lonians. z Massilia *ur .rtonirJîlg ugo uy Phocaeans who had been driven out of Aria Àf ,il-p;;r,* ; iTi ..ign or Pu.rr the son of Hystaspes. once a Greek.i,i ir l,r, ,à* f-".o,,.lu.urriun ln character, having abandoned its ancestrar constitution and embraced the ways of its conquerors. But even now it does not seem to fall short at all of f9 dignitl - 3 of its ancient inhabitants, for the Frunr., ar. noi rro-rar, u, indeed some barbarian peopres are, bur their system or gou.rnÀ.iiladminis-
tration and laws are modelled more or less o" ih. R"*;p;t;;i",ïpu* Lo,, wLicr thev uphold similar standards_with regard ,. ."rrirô--uîiiug. *a religious observance. 4 They are in fact uî Chrir,i*;;;';î;" to the srictest orthodc,xy. They also have magistrates in their .i,i.; ;J-;;iests and celebrate the feasts in the-sarne_vray as" we d_o, ;rd;l;;;;.b;fi people, strike me as extrenely werl-bred and civflised *a * pir.riJrr;Ë same as ourselves excepr for they uncouth styre of dr.r; ;à-;;;rii*'iu.,*u*". 5 r admire them for their other attriËutes and especiall; f;;;.-'rpirit of justice and harmony whidr prevairs amongst tnË-. aitrr*gn L -urry occasions in.the past an_d even during oiun lifetime ,fr.i.i.irna"m has -u been divided berween rhree or *or""*1.r, ,fr.y frrr" i"r* r.T'*t *"a ** against one another or seen fit to stain their country', hono,r, bftrr" riuogh;, of their kith and kin. 6 And yet whenever great powers are seen to have r9a$9d â srate of parity-, arroganr and uncoÀpromising attitude, ur" i.revitably engendered and the logical outcome is ,iarry,,rr.T"ri ?àiî"rination and a host of other passions that constitut" u f"itil. br""di;;-;;;"nd for unresr and dissension. N-evertheless notring of the kind o...rir-iriilr.ir case no matter how manv difterent kingdoms tÀ.y ,r. split up into. z l, th. rare event of some dispute arising between their kings tlr.y arr* théms.lve, 11
Marseilles.
llootr
I
t1
oslenribly ltr lrnttle-fornrntion nn
classes and so docile and amenable to reason, when need be, are their masters.
It is for this reason that the basis of their power remains secure and their €pvernment stable and that they have not lost any of their territory but have act:uolly increased it greatly. IX/hen justice and amity are second nâture to a people then their state is guaranteed happiness and stability and rendered impregnable to enemy attack. 3. So, living this virtuous life, the Franks rule over their own people and their neighbouts, the succession passing from father to son. Now, at the time when the Goths sent the embassy to them the Franks had tlqee kings. I think it would not be inappropriate at this point if I were to skef,ch briefly the previous history of the dynasty, starting from a stightly eadier period and then proceeding to the kings who were on the throne at the time in question. z Childebert, Chlotar, Theoderic and Chlodomer were brothers. After the death of their father Chlodwig they divided the kingdom into four parts according to to\r/ns and peoples, in sudr a\ray,I believe, as to effect an equitable distribution. 3 But not long afterwards Chlodomer mounted an expedition against the Burgundians (they are a Gothic people, and outstandingly warlike) was struck on the drest in the thick of battle and killed. §7hen he fell the Burgundians realised, as soorl as they caught sight of his long hair flowing loosely down to his bad<, that they had killed the enemy léader. 4 For it is the practice of the Frankish kings never to have their hair cut. It is never cut from drildhood onwards and each individual lock hangs right down over the shoulders, since the front ones are parted on the forehead and hang down on either side. ft is not, however, like that of the Turks and Avars, unkempt, dry and dirty and tied up in an unsightly knot. On the contrary they treat it with all kinds of soap and comb it very carefully. Custom has reserved this practice for royalty as a sort of distinctive badge and prerogative. Subjects have their hair cut all tound, and ate strictly forbidden to groïr it any longer. I So the Burgundians then cut ofi Chiodomer's head and by displaying it
12
Agrthhr
The
BmtrLI
[Ihtorlçr
to hls troops immediatcly fill«l thcm with tctror nncl clcjection. There followed a,n ignominious collnpse of thcir mornle nncl thcy were reduccd to cowardice and no longer capable of fighting bnck. Pence was concluded on the terms dictated by the victors and in the way they felt best setved their own interests. The remnant of the Frankish ârmy tffâs only too glad to return
home.
6 Soon after Chlodomer had met this end his kingdom was patcelled
out among his brothers. since he had no drildren. Not long afterwards Theuderic was taken ill and he too died, Ieaving to his son Theudebert all his possessions and his title. 4. On succeeding to his father's throne Theudebert subdued the Alamanni and certain other neighbouring peoples. He was exceedingly daring and wild and inordinately fond of taking unnecessary risks. Accordingly, when the Romans were embroiled in the war with Totila the lcing of the Coths he hit upon the plan, which he earnestly sought to put into efiect, o[ raising a large and powerful force of fighting men while Narses and his troops were fully engaged and involved tnïtaly, and then heading for Thrace, suMuing the entire region, and bringing the war to the Impetial city of Byzantium. z He made extensive preparatiorls and so far executed his plan as to send embassies to the Gepids and Lombards and certain otler neighbouring peoples with a view to securing their participation in the war. 3 He found it intolerable that the emperor Justinian should announce himself in his imperial edicts by the titles of Francicus, Alamannicus, Gepidicus, Lombardicus and so forth, as though these peoples had all become his subjects. He took tt as a personal insult and expected the others to share his resentment since it was an afiront to them as well. 4 Personally,I arn of the opinion that even i{ he had laundred this expe
w #{ti iir
.
dimenrlonr. The tree war ehaken violently and bowcd right over, and it s{ happenccl thrrt o bullcy brunc'lr, whidr was the largest o[ those that had been brought down was snapped off with violence and struc] Theudebert on the heacl. The blow wns fatal and beyond remedy; he fell at once flat on his bad< nncl ofter being camied with difficulty to his home he died on the same .hy. 7 I{e was succeeded by his son Theudobald, who was vety young and etill under the care of a tutor, but ancestral custom required his succession notwithstanding. 5, At this juncture then, when Teias was dead and the Goths were in a position where they would be needing foreign help for the future, the kings of the Franks \r/ere the young lad Theudobald and Childebert and Chlotar, the boy's great uncles, âs they would be called in Roman law. z But the Goths did not think it a good idea to approadr, these tsro since they lived a long way away; instead they sent an open embassy to Theudobald. It was not from the whole people, however, but only those living beyond the Po. Not that the others were not delighted at their attempt at subverting the established order, but being overawed by the uncertainty of the future, and fearful of the capriciousness o fortune they suspended judgment, and kept awary eye on events, since they were detetmined to be on the winning side. 3 §flhen the embassy from the Goths arrived, then, they came before the king alrd all the high otricials and asked them not to stand by and let them be opfiressed by the Romans, but to join in the struggle and save a neighbouring and friendly people from imminent destruction. 4 And they pointed out that it was in their own best interests too not to allow any further expansion of Roman posrer, but to make every dort to curtail it. "If", the embassadors declared, "they succeed in eliminating the entire Gothic nation, they will soon marcih against you too and fight old wars all over again. 5 They are sure to have some specious justification with which to cover up their temitorial arnbitions and will in fact appeâr to be pursuing a just claim against you, citing as. a precedent men like Marius and Camillus and the majority of the Caesars on the grounds that they had fought in the past against the inhabitants of upper Germany and had occupied all the, territory aooss the Rhine. In this way they will not give the impression of resorting to violence, b'ut of fighting a just war aimed not at the expropriation of a foteign nation but at the recovery of the possessions of their forefathers. 6 They brought a similar charge against us, saying that in the past Theodoric who was the founder o our lcingdom had no right to take ltaly. In consequence of whidr they have robbed us of our property, murdered most of our nation and mercilessly enslaved the womenfolk and drildren of our wealthiest citizens. 7 And yet Theodoric did not take ltaly by force, he anner
l1
A3rthlur
îrHheüt.
tl7hrt he dld wer to put down the fortlgn uiurpÊt Odorccr, eftct whlch hc omrpied hls entkc kingdom by right of conquett. 8 But evcr clnce the Romans have been in a better position ro usc force their actions have been anything but just. First of all they assumed an attitude of righteous indignation against ïheodahad ostensibly on account of his treatement of Amalasuntha, whidr thgy made into an occasion and pretoftracted ftom the Romans but also as a voluntary payment from us.,, 6. §7hen the ambassadors had delivered this speecJr, Theudobald (who 'was an ignoble and unwarlike youth and already seriously ill and, physically, in very bad shape) was, naturally, not inclined to their point of view and sas,'no reâson why he should make trouble for himself in order to extricate foreigners from their difficulties. z Leutharis and Butilinus, however, accepted the alliance on their own initiative even though it held no attraction for their king. These tv/o men were brorhers, Alamanni by birth, but enjoyed gre4t influence among the Franks, so mud: so that they actually ruled over tlieir own people under a dispensation made earlier by Theude. bert. 3 The Alamanni, if we are to take the word of Asinius Quadratus, anltaltan who wrote an accufate account of German afrairs, are a mixed and mongrel people, and their name signifies this. + They were formerly reduced to tribute paying status by Theodoric the king of the Goths, at a ttme when he wâs mâster of the whole of.Italy too. \ÿhen he died and the great war between Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans, and the Goths broke out, the Goths, in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the Frùki, relaxed their hold upon the Alamanni and withdresr from many orher places. 5i Their withdrawal was also motivated by the consideration that they must concentfate their forces by abandoning all superfluous and strategically unimportant positions in the subject territories, since they felt that they rvould no longer be fighting to maintain their own ascendancy and prestige but would be making a desperate last bid for Ïtaly itself and for their own
Booh
I
l,
rurvlvd, And ro, thcy antlclpatod cuch rloks as the futurc might hold by a calculetod cholcc and madc o virtue of necessity. 6 In this way, rhen, Theodebert aubdued thc Alamanni after they had been abandoned by the Goths. After tho death of Theodebert, as I have described, they fell to his eon, Theodebald, along with the resr of his subjects. 7, They have their own maditional sray of life too, bur in matrers of govef,nment and public administration they follow the Frankish sysrem, rcligious observance being the only exception. They worship cef,rain rrees, the waters of rivers, hills and mounüain valleys, in whose honour tj,ey sacritce horses, catde and countless other animals by beheading tüem, and imagine that they are performing aî act of piety thereby. z But conract with the Franks is having a beneficial efiect and is reforming them in this fespect too; already it is influencing the more rational among them and it will not be long, I think, before a saner view wins universal acceptance. 3 For the imationality and folly of their belids can hardly fail, I *ünk, to itrike even those who practise them, unless they happen to be complete fools, and 'as sudr can easily be eradicated. All those who do not attaiû to the truilr merit pity rather than censure and {ulty deserve to be forgiven. Ir is nor, after al7,of their own accord that they fall into error, bur ir, *.i, searclr for moral goodness they form l wrong judgment, and thereafter cling tenac,iously to whatever conclusions they have arrived at. 4 Yet I am not s rre that words are a sufiicient remedy for the savâgery and depravity of sacrificial worship, whether it be paid to groves as is indeed rhe case among barbarians, or to tlre socalled gods of antiquity as was the way with thà dtes oJ the Greeks. 5I am of the opinion that there is no being whidr delights in bloodstained altars and the brutal slaughter of animals. If there is a being capable of accepting suclr practices then it could not be benefi.cent æd benign but would in all probabitity be a malignant, maniacal ffearure Iike the vain personifi.cations of the poets sudr as Terror, Fear, Enyo, Ate, and Eris "the irresistible", as they would call her. You can add the one the Persians call Ahriman to the list, if you like, and atl rhe other bloodthirsty and malevolent phantoms that-are-supposed to inhabit the underworld. 16 Some readers may consider that I have no business to make such remarks in a book of this kind, that they are uncalled for and imelevanr to my avonured intent. But for my part it gives me grear pleasure to bring to light all the facts that come to my knourledge, to praise what is good about them, and fo castigate openly and to expose their bad and unsatisfactory side. Z Indeed, if the writing of history were jusr a simple and uncritical narration of events without the redeeming feature of sewing as a guide to life, then it might, perhaps, be rated scarcely any higher by some (I hope the expression is not too strong) than a collection of old wives' tales. But every one is
lr'
clltille(l
Âunllrint:'l'lrr I llxloller t«r
hisowuopiniotlsorr thesq Drlllcrs, Ârrrl now I lerrlly nlustr I'eturtr
to my llrcvious nafrâtive. 8 \X/lrcn Leutharis and llutilinus ûrst set or,rt to marclr âgainsr the Romans they were filled with exaltecl expectations and were no longer able to live a normal life. They thought that Narses wotrld not withstand even rheir first onset, that all Italy would be tleirs for tlre taking and that they would occupy Sicily into the bargain. They said rhey were surprised at the Gorhs being so terrified of a puny little man, a eunudr of the bedchamber, used to a soft and sedentary exisrence, and bith nothing masculine about him. 9 So, pufied up with such notions anc{ regarding the confrontation with ârrogant disdain they raised an army of seventy-five thousand v/arriors from among the Alamanni and the Franks and made preparations for war with the idea of invading Italy immecliately. 8. The Roman general Narses, although he had not received precise intelligence of these moves, being extremely far-sighted and always anxious to forestall the attacl
6 Aligern, the youngest brother of Teïas the late king of the Goths, was inside the fortifications and had gathered about him as large an army as possible. His intentions were far from peaceful. Presumably he had abeady received ân accurate feport of the death in battle of Teias and of how the fortunes of the Goths lay in ruins, but even so he did not give up, rlor was he dismayed by the disaster which had occurred. R.lyrng on his position and plentiful store of provisions he retained his confidence, arrogance and capacity to repel attack.
9. Meanwhile Narses gave the word of command and instantly ted his troops forward. Toiling painfully up the hill they approadred the fort, and immediately began to hurl their javelins at tlose who could be seen manning
lkxrk
I
l1
tlrc llrttlctrtt.trts,'l'lre bows twungcrl us vollcy upou, vollcy of arrpws was into the air from slings and all the rt1'rpnllrrirrtc siege-cngincs wcfe set in motion. z Aligern and his men, who were rnassccl. along thc stretc}es of wall between the towers, were not slow to rcply with javelins, arro\rrs, huge stones, logs, axes and anything that seemcd to serve their ptrrpose. They had their war-engines too, and used tlrem in an all-out efiort to beat ofi the attad
tlisclurrgcrl, $tonc$ wcrc hulle.cl high up
the man's shield, breastplate and body. Such was the extraordinary strengrh his powerful ârms put into drawing the bow! 5 This sort of inconclusive skirmishing continued for several days. The Romans thought it shameful to withdraw without first carrying the place by force and it was clear that the Goths had no intention of surrendering to the besiegers. 10. Narses was greatly tisffessed and angered at the thought of the Romans having to uraste so much time on an insignificant fortress. After pondering and debating the various possibilities he concluded that he ought to make an attempt on the fortress in the following manner. z In the eastem corner of the hill there is a cavern whidr is thoroughly hollowed out and completely roofed in so as to form a natutal sanctuary of massive and vault-like proportions. They say that in olden times the famous Italian Sibyl lived there aîd that possessed by Apollo and inspired she would foretell future events to those who consulted her. The story goes also that Aeneas the son of Anchises once came there and that the Sibyl totrd him all about the future. 3 Now Narses noticed that part of the fort had been built orr top o{ this cave, a fact he thought he might turn to his own advantage. So he sent as many men as possible down into the hollow recesses of the cave,
with tools for quarrying and tunnelling. In this way he gradually dripped and cut out d:at section of the roof of the cave on whicl the wall had been constructed, removing thereby so much of the ground the building sfood on as actually to lay bare the start of the foundations. 4 He then had upright wooden beams placed as pfops at regular intervals in order to support the weigtrt of the structure, lest a series of falls should cause it to collapse and thus have the effect of quickly in-forming the Goths of what was going on. In which case they would have come to the rescue as soon as the trouble
started, put
the
"
Agrthlr::'fho I'Ihtorlet
18
lt right immedirtely, and thcn trkcn tho rtrl€tctt preceutlonr {or 5 In order to pre\rent them from hearlng the noise of rtones
future.
being quarried or indeed from having the slightest inkling of what war ofoor, the Roman army kept up a furious and sustained attaclc against the fortifications above, sho,uting at the top of their voices and banging their weapons. The din was abnormally great and the siege disordered and confused. 6 §7hen the entire section of the wall above the cave wâs left suspended in mid-air with only the upright props to rest on, they piled up leaves and dry, tinderlike brushwood, which they pl*ced under it, set them alight and then got themselves out of the way. 7 It was not long before the flames blazed up and the charred and burnt out props caved in and crumbled into ashes. That part of the wail whidr rested on thenÀ suddenly collapsed for want of support and came crashing down, while the tow'ers and battlements broke lose all at once from the rest of the structure and toppled forwards. The gate belonging to that part of the wall had been securely fastened, since the enÇrny were all around, and the keys were retained by the sentries. It was flung down still holding to its sockets and landed intact on the rocJ
11. In view of the impossibility of taking the place by stotm Narses noi to commit all his forcei to this tioubleiome operation, but to male straight for Florence, Centumcellaer2 and certain other towns in Tuscany, with the objert of restoring order in the region and anticipating the approach of tJre enemy. z He had alteady been informed that Leutharis decided
and Butilinus and the armies of the Franks anà the Alamanni had crossed the Po, and he set oiff, accordingly, with the bulk of his army in that direction. 3 Since Filimuth, the leader of the Henrls, who were marching with him, had been taken ill and died a few days earlier and it was imperative that they should be led by one of their own people, he immediately put their fellowcountryman Fulcaris, a nq>hew of Phanitheus, in c}arge of them. He then instructed Fulcaris to set out along with John the nephew of Vitalian, with Valerian and Artabanes and other generals and commanders together with the largest and most pourerful paff. of the army; and making a detour of the
TtGtâ
vecrfita.
BoôL
t
19
mngo thit firnt botwsên Tuccany and Emilia, to head for thc river Po and encrmp ln tànt neighbourhood. They were algo to seize all strongholde in thc area ln order to forestall and check the enemy advance. 4If they succeeded in driving them bacl< altogether then they must consider themselvee fortunate, but if tfie pressure of superior numbers prevented them from putsuing such a course, they were to impede their progress and not to allow them to overftm the place, but to scare rhem ofi and keep them as fat away as possible, until he had the immediate situation under conmol. They set oI[ thetefore to câmy o{rt his orders. 5 He left a considerable force at Cumae too. They 'w'ere to invest it with a regular siege, keeping the enemy penned in and blockading them into eventual surrender. So, they set about ringing the place with a continuous line of earthworks and kept a close v/atch on the exits in order to intercept any possible foraging pârties. They reckoned that alter close on a year of. being under siege the enemy must by now be running out of provisions. 6 In a lightning campaign against the cities Narses annexed most of them without encountering any resistance. The Florentines rÀ7'ent out to meet him and, on receiving an undertaking that they would suÉer no ill-treatment, voluntarily surrendered their persons and their property. The inhabitants of Centumcellae did likewise, as did those of Volaterrae,13 Luna la and Pisa. He was in fact so successful that he su/ept everything before him. L2. Only the people of Lucca tried to adopt a policy of temporizing and non-coopefâtiron. 15 And yet it previously come to terms -was they who had with Narses, grvirrg him hosiages and a sworn undertaking to the effect that, if thirty days elapsed and an allied force sufliciently strong nor iust to man the fortitcations but to engage in open combat on rheir behalf, failed to arrive they would then have no hesitation in handing over the city forthwith. z The idea behind this was that the Franks would soon be there to come to their aid, and it was on this assumption that they made the treaty. But when the appointed day had passed and there was still no sign of the Franks, even so, they were still determined to reject and repudiate their reaty obligations. 3 Understandably angered by this deception Narses began to make preparations for a siege. Some of his stafi thought that the hostages should be put to death so that in this way the inhabitants of the city might be made to sufier for their ueachery. 4 The general, however, who would never allow anger to cloud his judgment, did not descend to sudr cruelty as to lcill people who had done no wT ong, merely as a reprisal for the misdeeds of otüers, but devised instead the following ruse. 16 5 He brought
dplnc
13 Voltera. 14 Luni. 15 Autumn, 553, Êor Chronology cf. Averil Carneron: Agathias p. 143. 16 The vetacity of the following accourt has been impugned by M. Ites:
zur Bewertung
20
Agrrtlriru: 'l'lre I lirlrrt ier
lhxrlt
out thc h,.rstngcs with tlreil httrds tietl lrclrirrtl tlrcir hrchn rrrrrl witlr lrowcrl heads ancl clisplayccl thcrn in this pitifulcolr(litiolr ro tlreir lle il«rw corrrrtr:ylucn,
I
relven rt gruvc rlinre t:vicc by your blerrch o[ frrith ru]d wflrrton violation
tteltty, r
2t
of the
Yct cveu at tlris lalc hor-rr i[ yor-r arc prepared to recognize where your real intcrests lic, nncl to fulfil the terms of the agreement, you will Itxe notl,ing: thcse rnen will bc restored to life and we shall do no damage to your city. IJtrt if yotr refuse, your future troubles will not be confined to them, but you can start straightaway considering how to avoid all of you oufiering the same fate yourselves," 3 \X/hen they heard this the peaple of Lucca thought that he was trying to deceive and hoodwink them about restoring the dead to life; and in truth his srords were misleading but not in the way they thought. Nevertheless they eagerly gave their assent and swore that they would hand over the city to him immediately to do what he liked with, if they saw that the hostages \vere still alive. Since, of course, it seemed impossible to them for the dead to come bad< to life they thought they would have no difficulty in freeing themselves of the accusation of meachery and enlisting justice on their side. 4 At this point Narses, giving the command, suddenly made the hostages stand up and they 'ü/ere then displayed safe and unharmed to their compatriots. §7hen the citizens saw them they were not unnaturally taken abad< at the unexpectedness of the sight, though even so they were not all of the opinion that they should fulfil their sworn obligâtions, and in fact some of their number refused to. : With the usual
threatening that he woulcl lose no time in cxecutir.rg tlrern unlcss thc citizcns immediately put into efiect their side of the agrcemcnr. No\M thc hostages had had narro\ÿ wooden boards fâsrened to them fronr thc broad of the back to the nape of the neck and covered over with strips of cloth lest the enemy might make out what they were even from a distance. 6 So when the citizens would not obey him he immediately gave orders to have the hostages lined up and beheaded. The guards drew their s§/ords and came down heavily with them as though about to deop ofi their heads in earnesr. But the blow, failing on the boards, did them no harm, despite whidr they toppled for'ü/ards, as they had been instructed to do, writhing and twisting and feigning death of their own free will. 7 The inhabiranrs of the city who when they saw this could not make out, owing to the considerabLe distance which separated them, what was really happening but saw only what appeared to be happening, broke out into sudden cries of lamentation at the disaster whidr they felt had overtaken them. For the hostages were nor drawn frorn the common herd, but'were men of especially distinguished rank and birth. 8 Thinking themselves deprived of sudr men they were seized by an uncontrollable fit of wailing, while frequent cries of lamentation were heard together with a shrill and plaintive noise, as great numbers of women moved about on the ramparts, beating their breasts and teafing their cloaks. These were the mothers or unmarried daughters, 17 as the câse may be, of the supposedly dead men, or were closely concerned with them in some other way. 9 So now everybody began to abuse Narses openly and to call him a blad
fickleness of a crowd, as soon as their feelings of anguish and distress ïrere replaced by a more hopeful frame of mind, they did a complete volte-face, and the advocates of treadrery ryon the day. But in spite of this despicable
behaviour on their part, Narses the general showed great generosity by freeing the hostages at once and sending them to their homes without securing a ransom or forcing any other sort of concession upon the city. 6 While the citizens of Lucca were marvelling at what he did and quite unable to understand why he did it, "I am not in the habit," he exclaimed, "of priding myself on tasteless histrionics and squalid confidencetricl
13. Now while they were making this outcry Narses said "Is it not you youtselves who have proved responsible for their destruction by callously abandoning them to their fate? You will also be shown to have done your-
spoke he pointed to the swords of his soldiers.
Zelt.26 (1926) p.281" and by E. Stein: Histoire du Bas-Empire II. p.606 n.2. Cf. Also Averil Cameron, op. cit. p. 51. 17 The Greek "ôn[x),1qol" has been variously and, to my mind, irnprob,ably rendered: e. g. as "sponsae" by Vuicanius, and "Les femmes de ceux . . . etc." by Cousin. The basic meaning of "ên'rxl"r1gou" is "heiress". The specialised sense the word often has in connection with the Attic Larv of inheritance is scarcely applicable in this context, des Agathias. Byz.
7 Now the men who had been set free mingled with their fellow-
countrymen and whenever they were in company spoke highly of Narses. They recalled the kind treâtment they had received at his hands, and it was whispered in every quarter that he was gentle and afiable arrd that he tempered justice with magnanimity. These words in fact were destined, by winning over the contentious and unstable element in the population, to prove more efiective than weapons arid to persuade the majority to adopt a pro-Roman policy. 14. Narses was still busy with the siege of Lucca when he learnt of the
but Roman legal usuage in cases of intestate succession whereby married daughters were excluded from the câtegory of those known as "sui heredes" (cf.l.B. Bury Ilistory of the Later Rornan Empire vol. II p.404) suggests a possible way of arriving at the meaning assumed in the present translation. At all events it is hard to see how Agathias could have used the word simply as a synonym for "f,ancées, wives, or widows".
l§
Âgsllrle* 'l'lre I llrlrrt'ler
22
rcvcrse which thc troopr he hncl Bent to Umllia hatl nrficr«I. 'I'lre news wns, understandably, a sevcre shock to him and û greot blow to his morrrle. z Now what happencd in Emilia was that in the carly days after their arival they had conducted all operations in a prudent and orderly manner. §Thenever they set out to plunder some enemy village or to\ÿn they mardred in regular formation and observed a certain amount of caution when attacrking. §7hen retreating they did not al1ow themselves to get dispersed, but proceeded in an orderly fashion, forming themselves into a hollow rectangle, with the rearguard properly in position and the booty in tlee middle to ensure its safety. 3 This u/as the r,vay they set about tavagjng enemy territory at first, but within the space of a few days alL their initial advantages u/ere dissipated and completely reversed.
Fulcaris, the leader
of the HeruIs, was admittedly a brave and utterly
fearless man, b,ut he was of a wild and impetuous disposition. He did not regard tactical skill and the proper disposition of his forces as the mark o{ a true general and leader, but prided himself instead on cutting a dash in the teld o{ battle by leading the drarge against the enemy in person and by keeping himseff in the forefront of the fighting. 4, On this occasion, however, he showed even greater indiscretion by making an attack on Parlnâ, which was abeady in the hands of the Franks. He ought first to have sent out scouts in order to ascertain exactly what the enemy's plans were and, in this way to conduct an orderly offensive on t}e basis of prior intelligence; instead of which he led out his army of Heruls together with any men from
the Roman army who were ready to {ollow him, and relying on tedcless audacity and brute {orce set ofi at full speed, little dreaming that anything would go \vrong. 5 But Butilinus, the leader of the Franks was in{ormed in advance of these moves, and, hiding the pick of his men in an amphitheate (it was designed for the performance of wildbeast hunts) not far from the city, he laid a full-scale ambush and then proceeded to watch and bide his time. 6 §7hen Fulcaris and his Henrls, marching in a slovenly and irregular {ashion, had advanced until they were practically encircled by the enemy, the signal was given. The Franks then rushed out and pounced on them, and straightâway cut down indiscriminately all those within reach, overwheLming them with the suddenness of their attad< and tlre unexpectedness of the trap they had set. 7 The majomty, however, as soon as t'hey rcalized what an appalling disaster had overtaken them readily resorted to an ignoble and utterly shameful expedient in order to save their own skins: they simply turned their backs and rushed headlong into fight, oblivious of all their courage and long training in the hazards of war. 15. So Fulcaris, his army having slipped away, was left alone with his bodyguard. Even so he did not see fit to run away,but drose rather to meet a glorious end than to become an ignoble survivor. Accordingly he took as ûrm
Book
ç
I
23
c rtanrl nr porrlble, wlth hls bod< to o tomt:atone snd alew mnny o[ the cncmy, c'hrrrgirrg furiously ot them 0t one moment ancl elowly retreoting boclcwarcls with his facc towards them at another. : IIe might still have raved himsclf with the greatest of ease, and his attendants urged him to do ao, But his only reply was: "How could I endure the sting of Narses' tongue when he reproadres me for my folly? " 3 Apparently more afraid of abuse than of the sword he stood his ground and held out for a very long time fighting furiously till at length hopelessly outnumbered and with several epear-wounds in his cfiest, his head moreover badly cut by an axe he reluctantly gave up the ghost and fell face downwards on his shield. 4 The others who had stayed by his side, be it of their own free will or because they were hemmed in by the enemy, now lay in a heap on top of him. 5 Thus Fulcaris was appointed genetal, a distinction whidr did him little good, since after a brief and dreamlike spell of prosperity he brought his career and his life to a speedy end.
6 The morale o{ the Franks, however, was raised and strengthened considerably as a result of this disaster. 7 The Goths inhabiting Emilia ond Liguria and the neighbouring regions had previously made what
amounted to a peâce-treatty and defensive alliance with the Romans, though,
admittedly, it was a hypocritical sham, utterly repugnant to them and motivated solely by fear. They wete nosr emboldened openly to violate their tteaty and immediately went over to the side of the barbarians with whom they had so much in common. 8 The Roman forces which, as f have already explained, were under the command of John (the nephew of Vitalian) and Artabanes retired immedietely together with the survivors of the Herul contingent to Faventia. 18 9 The reason fot the move \rÿas that the generals thought it inexpedient to remain encamped in the vicinity of Parma when the enemy had gathered there in force, and because, after their unexpected success, t-he enemy seemed ready fot a tnaL of srength. All the cities occupied by the Goths, in f.act, opened their gates to them, and there was wery indication that they were about to mal
§flhen the news of these events readred Narses he was distressed and angered at the insolence of the barbarians and at the sudden death of Fulcaris, amat" of no mean abilty, brave in the extreme, and with a distinguished record and many victories to his credit; indeed a man who, in my estimation, would never have died at the hands of an enemy, had but his wisdom been proportionate to his valour. rr But despite his very real sorrow and dis18 Faenza.
24
Agrthllr:
The
HLtorlçr
trtss ur whnt hncl hnppcnctl, Nnrrer clirl not, rrr rr lerrer mnn woukl hnve done, allow himself to lrercome dispiritecl unrl tlinheurtenecl. Instend, seeing his troops demoralized l'ry thc unexpectecl turn of events he decicled to address some general words of exhortation and encouragement to them, in order to raise their spirits and dispel their fears. 16. Narses was indeed possessed of a remarkable degtee of shrewdness and an e>rmaordinary capacity for coping eflectively with any eventuality. Though he had received little formal educarion and no training in the art of oratory, he was exceptionally talented and particularly good at putting his views across. These qualities w.ere all the more remarkable in a eunuch and in one who had been brought up in the soft and comfortable atmosphere of the imperial court. z He was moreover of diminutive stature and abnormal thinness; yet his courage and heroism were absolutely incredib,le. The fact is that true nobility of soul cannot fail to make its mark, no matter what obstacles are put in its path. 3 On that occasion then Narses made his way into the midst of the army and addressed them as follows: "People who are accustomed to getting the better of their enemies on eadt and wery occasion and to unfailing and unalloyed success are completely shattered by even the slightest and most momentary reverse. 4 But I think that if a man has any sense he ought not to let success go to his head but should bear in mind how easy ir is for things to drange and always be ready to face the \r7orst. Anyorre who adopts this philosophy will view success with the greatest pleasure and will not consider it a disaster if his calculations are upset. 5 Now I perceive that your distress is disproportionate to what has happened, and it is plain to see that the reason for this is that you have becorne so inordinately conceited through the habitual experience of victory that you imagine you can never go w:rong. ff, therefore, you vÿ'ere to put a\ÿay this illusion and consider the case on its own merits, you would not find it anything as dreadful âs you might otherwise suppose. 6 If Fulcaris, and being abatbafian rashness was second nature to him, if Fulcaris, f say, made a desperate and disorganized attad< against sudr a heavy concentration of enemy forces with disastrous but predictable ponsequences, that is hardly a reason fo us to shrink from our present responsibilities or review our commitments. 7 rt would indeed be shameful if, while those Goths who have survived the holocaust of their nation, far from resigning themselves to their fate, arcbusy forming alliances and stirring up further trouble for us, we, entertaining the notion that we have been beàten simply because we have not won a resounding victory, shoutrd so lose heart as to thro'ff away the glory of our pâst achievements. 8 §7e ought rather to be pleased about what has happened, since it has resulted in ihe signal punishment of overweening prosperity and has freed us from the burdeÀ of immoderate envy. Henceforth we may view the prospect of fighting with
Book I
|'Ç
2'
confideuce irr the full nnnurrlnce thnt we are novr' enterittg upon a new phasc of c«rtrcltrert, 9 Ân for thc enemy's vountccl numericnl superiority, we shall prove very muclr their betters in matters of discipline and organisation, provlcled we l
will, naturally, be short of provisions, whilst we have an A number of cities and strongholds will guarantee our safety if need be, whereas they will have no sudr guarantee to fall back intnrders who
nmple supply of them.
on. lilühat is more the Almighty
will be on our side, since we are engaged in wholly just struggle to defend what is ours, whilst they are ravaging the Iand of others. ro There is every reason, then for extreme confidence on our part and no possible excuse for faintheartedness. Let us determine, n
therefore, not to give â moment's respite to the beleaguered citizens of Lucca nnd let each one of you bring all his energies and enthusiasm to bear effectively on the conduct of the entire campaign. " 17. Having put heart into his troops by addressing them in this vein, Narses immediately set about conducting the siege of Lucca with greater strictness. At the same time he was extemely angry vrith the other generals. They had abandoned an advantageous position and were now in Faventia.
All his careful calculations
were being
reversed. z He expected their
forces to be ranged like a continuous fortification and bulwark around the city
of Parma, in order to keep the enemy atbay andleave him free to bring the situation in Tuscany under control and then set out to join them there. But novÿ', as a consequence of theit having left the spot and transferred themselves to a distant location, Narses and his men were exposed to direct enemy attacl<. 3 Findiç this situation intolerable he sent one of his ôlosest associates, aman called Stephânus, â native of the Illyrian town of Epidamnus, 1e to the generals to upbraid them for their cowardice and to bring home to them that failure to return to their posts §/as tantâmount to
of desertion. 4 So Stephanus set o{[ at fu[l speed with two hgndred of the bravest and besi-armed cavalrymen. Their progress w'as a painful combination of forced mardres and sleçless nights owing to the fact that a detadrment of Franks was roaming about the plains in that region in seardr of forage and p!undering the loutryside. 5 The Romans, therefore, did most of their *u"d.irrg by night keeping together in close formation and protecting theif ,.ur, ,o thut if obligeJ to fight it out they, should not be caught ofi their guard. The anguished cries of the peasantry could be heard and the lowing an open conviction
àf cattle being driven away and the gash of trees being felled. To the dismal accompaniment of sudr sounds they frnally made their v/ay to Faventia and the army there. 19
Dffazzo,
26
"
Âlrthlmr ThHlrtorh:
6 Ao roon ei hc wu ln the prerencc of the gen*dr stcphanus mldr o!ÿhat has come over you? rü(/herc now lo the glory of your forncr ae}ievÇments, and what has become of that coneistent record of euccesa in eo many battlesp
$ow d9 you expect Narses to capturc Lucca and reduce all the territory on this side of the Alps when you are behaving as though you \ÿere in collusion with the enemy, letting them through and allowing them complete freedom of movement? 7 I, f.ot my parr, have no wish to inveigh agàinst you, but other people may well describe this whole afrar as cowaràice and gross neglect of duty. I{ you do not get back to Parma in double quid< time Nàrses will never forgive you and, should anything go \rËong, will hold you personally responsible for the consequences. Take care moreover that you do not also bring down the Emperor's wrath upon your heads". 18. \{/hen they heard these words the generals rcalizdthatthey came from Narses. unable to impugn the justice of what had been said they pur forward a number of lame excuses, saying that they had been forced to drange their quarters owing to the impossibility of procuring an adequate supply of food for their men in the district around Parma. They further alleged that Antiocrus, the Prefect o{ Italy, who was in drarge of these matters, hâd not turned up, and
that they had not even received their regular pay. z stephanus, therèfore, having made his srây to Ravenna with all speed, r"turnà to dre generals with the Prefect. After solving their problemi as besr he could he pekuaded them all to retrace their steps immediately and encamp again in ihe neighbourhood or Patma. 3 His mission accomplishèd, he rerumed ro Luôca and told Narses nor to .\r,.orry, but to give his undivided attention to the business in hand, since the enemy would cause him no further mouble. Indeed they could not possibly make a single move without being chedced since the Roman forces were once âgain bact< in their proper positions and were keqring a close watdr on them. _ 4 Narses, drafing at the thought that the citizens of tucca might still hold out for a very long time, if the siege urere continued in its presàt halfhearted form, closed in relentlessly on the walls. siege-engines were brought up and fire-brands were hgrled at rhe towers, while the archers and slinggrs directed their fire at anybody appearing on the bartlements between -ihe towers. Part of. the wall was breached and the ciry was faced with imminent disaster. 5 Those who had previously been hostages exerted rhemselves even more strenously on behalf of the Romans, and had it been up to them the whole city would have submitted. But the Frankish garrison who rirere directing operations inside the city put pressure on the inhabitants, urgrhg them to fightand repel the besiegers by force of arms. 6 consequentty ilreÿ tfrrew open the gates and directed an unexpeced sortie against tlr" Ror,,*r, lrinkinq to overcome them in this way. But they were destined, in facr, ro have only amarginal efiect on the enemy whilst doing themselves incalculable
damage,
BooL
l
Vhrt hrppcncd wu thrt mort of the local mllltla, drtady
27
cgmple"
tely rion ovq by thc pro-Roman element operating inside the city, fought wiih deliberate co't*rardlce. 7 In spite of repeated efiorts, however, they achieved none of the results that had been hoped for, but instead beat a shameful and ignominious re6eat after incurring heavy losses and, once inside the fortitcations, shut themselves up more securely, determined to malçe no further sallies. Realizing at this iuncture that there was no other way of saving themselves, they all concluded that they had no_option but to àdopt a conciliatory attitude and so decided upon a negotiated settlement of the situation. 8 Accordingly on receiving an assufance frorn Narses that he would let bygones be bygones they immediately surrendered and gladly admitted the troops. Some three months had been spent on the siege, b,rt.ro* they were once more subjects of the Emperor of the Romans. 1g. Now that Lucca had been forced to capitulate and there was no longer any opposition Natses thought that there was no point in :topping o1 tho" *y loog"t, not even if only to have â moment'§ pause from his
exertions. So he left Bonus, the quaestor o{ Moesia on the Danube in drarge, a îran of excq>tional sagacity with a wide experience of civil as well as military matters. Narses entrusted him with a saable force whide would enable him to quell with ease any insurrection on the part of the barbarians
in that region. After making these arrangements, then, he hurriecl straight to Ravenna in order to sendthe troops stationed there to their winter quartels. z The agtufirn had in fact already drawn to a close and these operations had dragged on into the time of the winter solstice. Consequently he felt that this wâs no time for campaigning. SucJr;a policy would indeed have been likely to serve the interests of the Franks,Irho thrive in cold conditions and whose pov/ers of physical energy and endurance reach their peak in winter. Being the inhaËitants of a cold clintate and, as it were, cfeatures of the cold they are
naturally adapped to such conditions. On the other hand their worst enemy is the hàat, since it saps their strength and undermines theit spirits; so r:hat summer is the last time they would clrose to fight in. 3 In view of these considerations, therefore, he tried to delay matters and suspend hostilities until the next yeaf. So he then disbanded his army and ordered them to group themselves into companies and battalions and winter in the neighbouring towns and fortr.rJ.r. At the beginning of spring they were all to assemble in Rome, where they would draw up in full battle-formation. 4 §7hi1e they went about thet business, Narses retired to Ravenna taking vrith him only his personal sefvants and bodyguafd and those members of his general stafi who wete in clrarge of t}le paper-work and had the job of seeing that the rule_s and regulations *"r" àbt"tued and pfeventing anyone from gaining indiscriminate
2e
lېhl
AfrÈhl.r llrrHlrpdor
to hlm, I1:c Romanr crll luch o,lflclrh na cancelllr", a tcnn which refers to the guichet bchlnd which they work, 5 Hc wrr eccompanied also byZondalas, the head of his domestic retinue and by hls annudrs and the rest of his householcl setvants. And so he took with him to Ravenna about access
four hundred men all told.
20. Meanwhile the Franks were in Italy and the fortunes of the Goths v/ere no\v in their hands. The only petson however, to understand where his future interests would lie and to grasp the full implications of their situation was Aligern, the son of Fritigern and brother of Teïas, whom I mentioned earlier on in connection with the siege of Cumae. z A careful assessment of the situatiom,infact, led him to realise that the Franks had indeed come in response to an appeà'l for help, but were in reality availing themselves of an empty formula of alliance in order to mask what, in the event, would prove to be very difierent intentions. Assuming they did get the better of the Romans tley would certainly have no intention of letting the Goths haveltaly, but would in actual fact begin by enslaving the very people whose cause they vere supposed to be drampioning. Th"y would subiect them to the rule of Frankish overlords and thus deprive them of their traditiond. way of life. 3 After much pondering and weighing up of the pros and cons and in view of the fact that the strain of the siege was beginning to tell on him the obvious course seemed to be to hand over the city and its wealth to Narses, renounce his barbarian connections, and secure his future by becoming a subiect of the Empire. 4Hs thought it oriy fur, that, if it were not possible for the Goths to possess Italy, its ancient inhabitants and original masters shoulcl recover it and not be perpetually deprived of their homeland. For his o'ürn part, then he resolved to pursue.this poliry, thereby setting all his compatriots a signal example of good sense. 5 After haying first intimated to the besiegers that he wished to have a meeting rvith their general, and then having received permission to do so, he made his way to Classis in the district of Ravenna, where, he had learnt, was the fort in whiclr Narses was staying. 6 As soon as he found himself face to face with Narses he harded over the keys of Cumae to him and promlsed to serve him with a good grace in all things. Narses congratulâted him on joining the Roman side and assured him that his services would be more than amply rewarded. 7 He then gave immediate orders to a detacihment of the troops encamped around Cumae to move into position inside the fortifications in order to take over the city and its treasures and to guard everything securely. The rest of the troops \rrefe to withdtaw to other towns and forts so that they too might have somewhere in whidr to pâss the winter. All his instructions wete carried out. 8 The Hed army was agan leadeùess and the majority was split over the rival claims of two equally distinguished contesta^Ilts. One body of
29
oplnlon frvouted Aruth rnd fclt that their bcot lnteteatr would be served by hlr lcadcnhlp. On the other hand the military expericnce and forceful personality of Slndual had more appeal for others, including Narses who put hlm in command and eent thenr ofi too to their wintet quaf,ters. 20 9 Aligern he sent to Caesena with instructions to climb up, as soon as he got there, and stick his head over the wall in such a way as to make himcelf generally conspicuous and easily recognized. The object of these inotructions was that the Franks, who would be passing by that way, might on seeing that Aligernhad dranged sides give up the idea of mardring on Cumae, together with any hope they may have had of laying their hands on its tfeasures. They might even perhaps abandon the entire campaign, in view of the fact that all points of vantage had already been seized in advance. ro §7hen Aligern saw the Franks passing by he jeered at them from the top of the wall and taunted them with the futility of any further exetrions and with their failure to keep up with events. Everything of value was aIready in the hands of the Romans including even the royal insignia of the Goths. Any future claimant to the throne would have none of the pomp and outward symbols of majesty but would be obliged to don the garb of a common soldier and a pivate citizen. r r The Franks retorted with abuse and reviled him as the traitor of his nation. Yet they began to have vague doubts about the advisability of their present policy and even wonderec{ whether to continue with the war. The prevailing view, however, \r7as that they should stand firm and press on with the pursuit of their original objective. 21. Meanwhile, Narses after a stay in Ravenna in the course of whidr he rerziewed the troops gationed there and got everything properly organized set
ofl for Ariminum 21 with the
same retinue as
before. z Vaccarus
the
Varne, a man outstanding for his skill and bravery in war, had recently died. His son, whose nâme sTas Theudebald, straightaway attached himself to the Emperor of the Romans, taking his followers with him. He was novr in Atiminum where he was supposed to meet Narses. 3 So Narses arrived there intending to make doubly sure of their allegiance by the bestowal of a special bounty. 4 Vhile he was busying himself with tlese mâtters a mixed cavalry and irtantry force of about t'üro thousand Franks, whidr had been sent by their Ieaders to pillage and plunder the countryside began to ravage the fields, draggrng otr drarrght animals and setting no limit to their depredations. Narses, who was seated in an upper room commanding a view of the plain, could not fail to notice what was going on. 5 Thinking it shameful and ignoble not to ofler all possible resistance he rode out of the city on an obedient and welltrained thoroughbred which was capable of performing every kind of manoeuToGsen
"
21
Rimini.
!0
-
Agathlmr Thc I{lrteirler
I
,l
(r T'he Urunkhh cavolry, apprehending the dangcr they were in, galloped burk towurds the wood at full speed nnd were only too glad to make for the uafety of theit camp. But their in(antry were ingloriously butchered. So hopelessly stunned and ctazed were they by the unexpectedness of the catastrophe
vre ancl military evoluti«rn, IIe nlso orc{cred nll thonc members of hir retinue who had some experiencc of {lghting to follow him. Thcre werc abont threc hundred of them. 6 They leapt on to their horses and rode oI[ with him, heading staight for the enemy. §ÿhen the Franks saw them approadring they did not continue to roam about scattered and dispersed, and one may sa{ely assurne that they had no further thoughts of plunder. Instead they all closed their rânks, both in{antry andcavalry,and drew themselves up into a compact formation which, though
not deep, (that would not have been possible given their numbers)
Ilook
that they did not lift a finger to help themselves. They lay all about in pitiful heaps slaughtered like a herd of swine or cattle. 7 \X/hen these tleir bravest men had been slain (there were more than nine hundred of them) the others retreated and returned to their leaders, convinced that is would no longer be safe for them to be separated from the main body. 8 Narses returned to Ravenna. A{ter organizing everything there on a sound and efiicient basis he set out for Rome, where he passed the winter.
was
nevertheless a solid mass of shields regulary flanked by the converging wings of the cavalry. 7 \X/hen the Romans got within shooting-range, however, they judggd it inexpedient to engage in close combat when the enemy were drawn up in such perfect formation. They began therefore to disc}arge their
arro\vs and to hurl their javelins in an attempt to shoot down the men in the first ranks and thus thin out the enemy front. 8 But they stood firm and immovable behind a walT of shields, protected on every side since they had the good fortune to be next to a thid< forest, the trees serving them as a sort of defensive bulwark. And now they wen began to fight bad< by huding their "angones', as their native spears are called. 22. Tal
*
tearing down the roo&( of the altars. The
ôa{
withblood and the 6ddi unburied
BOOK
t
2
1 i
spring all the armies converged on
Rome and
1. At the beginning of instructions. z Narses subjected assembled there in u..J"duo.à wiih their theirfighting spirit them to a more rigo.oor-.o*bat training and strengthened evolutions ir" iJi, à.iU. Hàade them marc6 at tle double, practise regular of a manner the :|ffi:.ü[,;;il;.tuloru,. whirling movements in
blasts of the bugie so*nding the war- dance and expose ,À;;;;;;, ; fr"qoàt thev might forget the arts ;i;;ril;t brttle, iest uiu uwintet ofinactivity fighting' ;i;;t *d 1or" th.ir nerve when faced with real pace ravaging and a d at marche burb,iians tfr. a Meanwhile' 'làwtr *'d its enviof a.r',r"ri*'rii,h;, i;; in their path' Bvpassing the ciry \"ry Sea Tvrrhenian the with ;;;G;h:;*, i*r"Jrr"," pottiUr" it ey aJ,,anced §ÿhen left' their to ;;,ü, .,*k and the shores o[ th. Io.riuo Sea extending into two groups' ,t"v rl^*ria the region caiied Samnium1 thev solit up along the advanced each one following a difierent itinerary. Butilinus and
,l'.1u'gtu' u"d it'o"g"st part of the army and then attad
Tyrrhenian .ou.t
as
far
as
-itl
Hydrunrum,;
-iiÀ
is situated on the Adriatic coast at the
where the lonian Sea begins' restrâint and 6 Those among the Invaders who were Franks showed
,.rJ.i-,lïu;à;
;ïàü-,r..y
have alreadv ,É ?ht:: ?l -I and were of rraa orthodox views in *rtt"r, of religion, ,u*" pttt"usion as the Romans' 7 But th.e.Alamanni'
e;t h.',;'
more or less the whose beliefs *.r.
abandon and robbecl
was to be expected
with compLete l,,i* Aeàit"t, pilt'ged the clurdres They removed and
th"* of their
precious ofnaments.
solid gold censers' ,ppi"ptirr.a fo, ptoiu"t use large'numbers of fonts' t are set apart for the perforchalices, baskets u.râ *hui.uer o'ther objects 8 Thev \Àrent even further than that' mance od the ,r.r"i ô;;;i;;'
, ar*i*, ai.,rict on the Apennine uplands S' E' of Rome' i ii.*r".'r" irr.i* "r irav'."ti.,qtlt'q roughlv to modem calabda' i Nolw T..t, d'Otranto in the heel of ltaly'
; 8:jïTrr,
containing the unconsecrated bread or
of the Liturgÿ.
.,anridoron, distribured at the end
l 1
colpses:
,
!
killed in war, others ti fulÊlment of his eafid
evil-doing and ur:godq at all times be avoideü,j and a noble duq-
tofr
nadonal identity and
t
destroY these things- E greed and itrational those who have dme I vicious. Sudr men aæ1 they are to the diviæri punishment and ineri{ rity they may enjoY Butilinus and theit
ql
b( t{ gims ftt By the 2.
quantity of loot sP!l{ towards its prime. Ol
at this stage to retunJ gers to his certainties of war mt
brotkr
partly because he htili
in their struggle agdl him and loudly mi Butilinus felt hinsdfl
So he stayed rvhereL(
3 Leutharis
setdl
that, as soon as heil to act as a relief-fotr to achieve his desigd '"1 4 Returning by
witLout encountsirl that region hg sncÉ!{ te§ dispatched, as ü men who were to d
ü
discover what lay the enemy be sigbûd 6 Fano.
i Book 2
te-aqng down the roofs of. th;,altgs.
f,
il
r
ir mærged on Rome and rlftE z Narses subjected ryl-'red
their fighting spirit
q,
regular evolutions
lrciæ
Errq in the manner of a rrd Se bugle sounding the f try mighg fq1gs1 the arts tÇlilr''g.
dmtr paæ ravaging and rcfuy of Rome and its envir
ntyith rrftstg
the Tyrrhenian Sea
to their left. §(hen
ç& q into two groups, tiifu advanced along the r
E* Inrt of the army and [tmia a.d then attac]
d ravaging Apulia and hfuGs yith him and got iolD
:ildlirtic
* m
É
ao4§t at the point
ûos,ed restraint and
d
rdigion, and were of 7 But the Alamanni,
b .*'.'r'tes with iËûs-
:fu,
complete
They removed and solid gold censers,
E Et qrart for the perforG. 4+r
C.}ôdâ.
N
{ i
iil
.i
I
of the clurdres and shrines and uprooting the bases Th: *l.ts and the empry spaces enclori"g tlr. ,fu'; reeked with blood and the ûelds werepollrrted with the foul contigion of ubiquitous cotpses. 9 But reLiburion was swift and teirible. sorie were l:9"rd rn war, orhers died of disease and not one of them lived to enjoy the frl:9 fulfilment of his earlier hopes; whicrr aflordr , rt ikÀg1"r-ùJ of how : .d;f"pU aîd unggililless bring nothing but misery in tËeir t Aï *â;;;; j at all times be avoided, j oirfl in ti-Àe of war. ,o It i, boih;-r;; -ort and a noble duty to fight {or the preservation of o .,u .à,rrrry àd o"",, national identity and to do one's utmost to repel a1l thor. *hà- reek to destroy these things. Bur people who with no juit cause bur merely out of anj irrational spiie go about invading thé hnd of orrr.t, *J"trr.ing 91eed those who have done them no rü/rong can only be described as wicked anà vicious. sudr men are as indifierentlo civilized standards of behavio,rr a, they arc to the divine retribution attendant on their misdeeds. rr-'conaign punishment and inevitable doom await them, and whateve*ppu*, prorp"Ity f.y may enjoy is of short durarion, u, üt r"r, the fate o?ï.,rihari, und Butilinus and their fellow barbarians. Z. they had perpetrated these acrs and appropriated a great lv r\e.time quantilr.of loot spring hgdl akeady gone and th. ."mÀ"r -ur uàurr'.irg toyards its prime. one of the two i.ud""r, Leutrraris t" b. pi..ir., **t.d at this stage to return home and enjoy himserf. A".o"di"J, t" ,."i-.rr.ogers to his brother and urged him to say goodbye ,o rË. i*;d" and uncertainties of war and join him in returningls quickly * porribl..z Bur, partly because he had given the Goths a rJr"nn ordé.tuLirrg to-rrrirt th"m ucain:r.rh: Rolnans and partly U."*r" À.it àpiâu*oing l,--and ]o-udly proclaiming their intention -o{ marcing Àim-their kingl Butilinus felt himself obligedlo stay on and fulfil the ær-i trr. ,gr.ernent. So he stayed where he was and ,tarted to make p..prru,iào, "i i;;;;. 3 Leutharis ser ofi immediately with his tr*pr. He had made up his mind that, as soon as he returned safely with th" ùty, he wo,rù,..ia irie'JË" to act as a relief-force to his brother. But, in the event, he managed neither to acÂiwe his designs nor to render his brother any assistance .4 Retuming by the same route as he had come he got as far as picenum any resisrance. In the course ofii, progr.rs through Jli,tirout.enc,ountering that reglon,he.encamped near the city of Fanum.6 §Thereupon he immediàtely dlspatdred, as was his usual procedure, a force of about three thousand men who 'ù''ere to act both as scà'uts and as an advance gu-rd,;"; just to discover wÿtray ahead of them but arso to beat offi u prr-iut. u,iu.k ,hrord
i t"t',,ïq:
the enemy be sighted anywhere.
IfE'
33
distributed at the end 6 Fano.
Agathias: The Histories
5 Artabanes and Uldach the Hun had joined forces, with a Roman and a Hunish atmy respectively, in the city of Pisaurum 7 and were on the look out in case the Franks should pass by that route. As soon as they saw the adva.nce guard of the enemy actaaL\y walking on the shore of the Ionian coast they slipped out
of the city and laundred a sudden but well ordered
attad<, cutting them down in great numbers. Some o{ the enemy scrambled up the steep rooks that bordered rhe coasr, only to tumble headlong ro their
deaths and be swept away by the wâves. 6 The coastlirre, in fact, at that point rises abruptly and forms a sorr of hill which is not accessible from all sides and afiords a {ar-frctn-easy descent to those who reach its summit, being for the most part a slippery incline pitted with holes and leading to a
bottomless expanse of whirling water, 7 Most of their number perished in the manner described while the rest fled in disorder at the sight, urtering loud lamentarions as they went. Then they burst into their camp spreading panic and confusion and conveying the impression that the Romans would be upon them at any moment. 8 Leutharis got up to marshal his forces in person and the whole army was alerted. They took up their arms and ranged themselves into a wide column. Once they had placed themselves in this position, all other considerations were banished by the urgency of the situarion. Most of the prisoners suddenly finding themselves unguarded losr no time in taking advanrage of the fact that the enemy were {ully occupied. They made their escape as quicJ
with some difiiculty. 3 On readring the district of Venice they encamped in the town of Ceneta, 8 whidr th^t time was subject to them. In spite of ^t their mood was angry and sullen, their the security the place afforded them disgruntlement evident and exteme. Pructically nothing remained of their , Ioot and it appeared that their labours had been completed in vain. 4 But ,their troubles. Not long after, they were decimated i that was not the end of plague. 5 Some pronounced the air of the region by sudden outbreak a of I be contaminated and held it responsible for the disease. Others blamed ito 7 Pesaro. 8 Ceneda.
the abrupt
d
marches andl
dolence. Bd üsaster and j
whi&theyH 6 In rhel
i ! pitdred gld
particularly a madman-
to the gr@ the
mouüq
fury the q arms
withfi
licling cl"-.q
ually wasærlr dying like I was wipedd
the very
d r{
a swooo,
aq
assumed come of thei
4.
\mik
linus, tbe ol having
nn{
z He hadf,1 in Rome rr{ any furrbcc.]
down andül last despcli
3 \rht! beginningq of other fii advanæ) o1 a result of{ up and w
4 Burilirr'.
{
the.l;".'cl
far from C1
Apenninc+1
Tyrrh""'in I of eafttuud
,YffiI
Book2 bes, yith a Roman and rr üd were on the look .6s
$on
ûe
as they sasr the
of the Ionian ra.tteo but well ordered
r
shore
Edûe
€nemy scrambled
ü
\le headlong to their ,octline, in fact, at that t
ir rct
aaæssible from all
uto rea& its summit, lh h.Ie" and leading to a c
r.L..rihed while the rest
fu as they went. Then trm and conveying the üqrmoment.
8 Lcuwas alerted. e yide column. Once s'siderations were rüe ptisoners suddenly
:rtdearmy
b k I
; dvætage of the fact hfr e*ape as quickly as rm& of the booty as r
1ltEie
cr' te
in no position to Fraoks dispersed
ry ralised the extent of
[tcÿsur1d be to leave
:ryûingelsehappened tc lrrrian Sea and the
tliilkof
theApennines.
&rL
clossed the Po
try
qVcnlr
they encamped
inæ rh.-. In spite of J -Gflf "'d sullen, their tEg remained of their dEtEd in
vain.
q,Éryvete
4 But
decimated eir of the region f,=.€. Others blamed
cttE
the abrupt
35
ü-æ
in $gir mode of liÉe, because after a roudne of forced laldres and frequent.fsirti"g rh.v h;; i'u[.n inro habits of ruxury and indolence. But thev raileà utÉr1v i" ;huJffi-"luuflur.a ,r,. ü9as1er and in fact mad: ii ir.Ér"irô;;, the rutlüess wickedness wruluu with whidr they had flouted the laws of GoÉ .ra -*.6 Ig the person of their leader the marks of d.ivine punishmenr were particularly manifest. His mind became unhinged *d t Ë.gÀ-,o.uu" tit. a madman. He was seized with , uioLrrt ,goe ,and ret out a series of rowpitched groaning noises. cne moment h. wldd ruu piori.uà *îî ni, ru." to the ground, another time he would tun:ble ou.rïra.*uiar'1L*hg ut the mouth and with his eyes.ho*iUty.r"t*r.a il;;;rm"of inran.
;;;;
turv the u/rerihed mrn a*uaflv
b.u* ; ;ïis
,
own
ümbs;i;r1;;g
to his with his reerh and r.nàingLd devouring the flesh rike a wild beast *o.,ni. À"a,o iàrring oo his own fl.rh r," grudïH::.*:: ualy wasted i_ïl',fyg* awav and died a most pitiful death-. s The others roo were dying like flies and the pestilence cântinued_ ro ,rg. ,ro;i ,ï.îot. ,.*y was wiped our. Mosr of them, though racked rrirh"f.";;,;.;irrJ U"ia to the very end. Some *.r. ,r*& a"i" ly , ,.izur., à**iJr.U ir. a swoon, while others stil succumbed to deririurn "iol.nt iËil;;, in tact, assumed a vaiety of forms, each one fatal. This rhen was irr. arrJir*, arms
on
"r, 9f the expedition of Leutharis and his men. §7hi1e rhese events were taking prace in the region of venice, Butilinus, the other leader, was humying- bu.r. campania and R.ome, after hl'j"g ravaged-nearly every to*o ur? fort as "iufar as the straits of Messina. z He had heard that NT*l and the imperial forc., *;;";;;;tog.rh", in Rome and therefore didnot"wish to d.ky or ailow hi#rf ;;;; diverted any further. Since a considerable p"r, of É, army had.;;.rd, tJ., ,r*.k ï down and destroved hy disease h"'r"rolu.d àÿ throw L'rvw ur in all hi, rorceù forc.r'riii .- uu" i come
4'
tr
last desperate bià for
'ir''rs
supremacy,
had happened was that when summer
? Y&r, ,beginningand the vines
.\il.as
over and autumn
were laden with fruit they hal À*i àri""îfor wanr (Narses had very .t.u"rry ,âq,iriri"i.Jï"",rir,irg in aovance) lî^q1.t^l;f;, to-pruck the grapes and squeeze out the juice with their Éandsl As a res"lt of filling themselves with tiris improvised wine their bellies swelled up and were afiecred with a flux. some aiiu ,Ë;-,l,i*r, survived. 4 Butilinus decided therefore.to give battre, before the disease became an epidemic. sT g-campaniahe encamped not f.ar from capua on the Èanks of ,rr. riàè*urinus e u,hich flows from the Apennines, winds through the prains àr ir,uir.gioo diÀ;;à, inro
:j;:*
*.* *a *r,ut.".rli"';;;;, *-;;;hi"
Tyrrhenian
g *r*rus e Voltumo
Sea. r Having ,tâtion"d hi, i^i
*d
there he had
*.
u'rtïng fin.
buili around"them, ,rr. æ..üu.ness of which, however,
de-
*,/
,6
Bookz
Aglrhlmr Tho Hhtorlru
pended on the nature of the terraln, eince the rlv* whlell flowed to hla right seemed to constiture a natural bærier against atteck, [Io had brought greot numbers of wagons with him. Taking ofi their wheels and fitring them to. gether rim to rim in a conrinuous line he stucl< their felloes into the grouncl and covered them with earth right up to the hubs, so that only a half circle of wheel protruded above ground-leve1 in eadr case. 6 After ba.rricading his entire camp with these and numerous other wooden objects he 1eft a naffow exit unfenced, to allow them to sally forth against the enemy and retrrn agaia as they wished. z The bridge over üe river constituted a possible source of trouble if le{t unguarded. so he seized it in advance and built a wooden tower on it in which he placed as many as he could of his best armed soldiers apd his 6nest tghting men so that they might do battle {rom a safe point of vanrage and repel the Romans should they decide to closs over.
8 Having arranged eadr particular as described he felt that
adequate
meâsures had been taken and that he had made himself masrer
of
the
situation. The initiative in the fighting would rest with him alone and the battle would take place when, and only when, he wished it. 9 He had not yet received any intelligence of what had happened to his brother in Venetia but he was surprised that he had not sent his army as had been agreed. He surmised, however, that they would not have delayed so long unless some direicalamity had befallen them. But even without their assisrance he thought he could beat the enemy, since he was still superior to them in numbers. ro His remaining forces amounted to thirty thousand fighting men all told. The strength of the Romans was scarcely eighteen thousand. 5. Butilinus himself was in high spirits and urged ail his men ro consider that the impending struggle would be decisive. "§7e are faced", he said, "with the alternative either of becoming the masters of ltaly, which was our object in coming here, or of being annihilated on the ,poi.'It is in our poriler, my brave soldiers, providing we ûght courageously, to adrieve the fulûlrnent of our ambitions. can there b. *y doubt about which alternarive we should droose? ". z He kept on orhorting the toops in this strain and succeeded in boosting their morale considerably. Eadr in his ovm way, rhey began ro make ready their weapons. fn one place axes in large numbers were being sharpened and in another, tle native spears or "angone§" as they are called. Elsewhere broken shields were being mended and pressed inro service. 3 A1l their preparations proceeded with ease since as a narion their style of fighting-equipment is simple and of a kind whicl does not require a varlety of mechanical skills for its maintainance but can, I believe, be pur right, in case of damage, by the men themselves who wear it. They are ignorant of the use of breastplates and greaves and most of them fight with their heads unprotected,
,7
thgush there erg n fcw u'ho wcat helmets, BacI( and chegt are bate as far as thc waiat, the legr bcing encased in linen or leathet trousers. 4. Rarely if lver do thcy uoc horoes, being adepts in infanuy fighting, whidr, is the Êurtomüy mode of waffare of their nation. They wear a sword slung from ühe thigh and a shield hanging at the left side. Bows and arrows, slings and other weapons capable of hitting a distant target form no part of their Gquipment. Two-headed axes and their "angones" are in fact the arms with which they do most of their fighting. 5 Angones are speâts which are ncither especially short nor especially long, but can be used both as javelins ürd, if need be, as thrusting weapons in close combat. They are almost entircly encased in iron so that very little of the wood shows t}rough and even the spike at the butt end of the spear is partly concealed. At the top of the qleatpoint, presumably on either side of the spear-head itself, cuwed barbs pfoiect and are bent round, not unlike fish-hooks. 6 Now your Frank throws this ango of his in the midst of the fray.If. it suikes any part of the body then the point goes in, of course, and it is no easy taslc eithet for the wounded man or for anybody else to pull out the spear. The barbs prevent It, stid
,8 regardcd
looL,
Agrthlrrr Tlre l{l:torler
ir
ac a pereonal diograce and was
furlour rt thc ldea of thc camp.
followers and scullions of thJenemy nondralantly otrolling about right undËr their very noses and acting as though no one w"rl in sighito cJralleige them. He felt that this state of afiairs should no longer be tolerated and -resolved to do everything in his power to put a stop to it. 4 Among the Ronran commanders was a certain Armenian called chanaranges, a maî o{ the utmost bravery and good sense and one who would ÿadly f.ace danger whenever the occasion warranted it. chanaranges, as it happened, had pitcJred his tent at the f.ar end of the camp very near io the enemy. Narses now instructed him to attad< the wagoners and do them as pu$ damage as he could, in order to derer them- from conducting any further foraging expeditions. 5 He suddenly rode ofr therefore, r^iitl, u few of his men, intercepted tJre wagons and killed their drivers. one of the wlgons was loaded with hay. He now brought it up to rhe tower whidr, as I h_ave already menrioned, the Franks had constructed to guard the briige, and set fire to the hay. 6 There was a great burst of flamé and rhe tower's wooden structure was easily enveloped. Thebarbanans posted inside, unable t9 o$.r any.resisrance and on the point of being themselves engurfed by the flames, decided to abandon their position. They barcly manag-"d to g.t clear in time and fled to their carrp, leaving the Romans-in coniol of i=he bridge. Ngt zurprisingly the Franks were rhrown into turmoil by these evenrs -Z and rushed to arms, seething with frenzied impatience and rage. Their blood ura! up and they could no longer contain themselves. §7ith o*ravagant daring and inordinate self-confidence they resolved not to brook anothei moment'i inaction or delay but to give battle that very day, in spite of the exptricit pronouncement of tle Alamannic soothsayers that they should not fight on ÿa1d1v,oq else they must expecr tobe wiped out completely. 8 personally I think that even if the encounter had taken place on the day after or on some other day they would have sufiered precisely rhe same fate as befell them on that occasion. A clrange of date would not have sufiiced to exempr them from payrng in full the penalty of their impiety. 9 Still, whetherlt lÿâs mere coincidence or whether the Alamannic seers might conceivably have somehow discerned the pattern of future events their prediction was, in the opinion of many, neither idle nor unfulfilled. I shall now give without
further delay as accurate an âccount as is in my po\rrer of each consecutive occuffence. 7. The Franks were in a fighting mood. Their weapons urere akeady in theit hands, Narses made his men arm too and instructed them to leave camp and to take up position in proper forrnation somewhere on no man's 1and.
z §7tr9n the army had begun to marc} and the general haà abeady nrounted his horse word was brought to him that one of the most prominent
,9
thc Hcrul eülefr hd brutally murdered 0 rcrvant fot rome trifling ofience, Stopplng hla homa lmmediately hc had the murderer brought before him. It ,rould, he felt, bc lmploue to matdr into battle without first removing the 3rdlty stain by some act of atonement. 3 In answet to his enquiries the bubarian admitted full tesponsibility for what hacl been done and even went oÉ
ro far as to say that masters vrere at liberty to dispose of their own slaves rt thry wished and that if the others did not behave themselves they too ÿould receive similar treâtment. Since it seemed that, fat from feeling any 1gnorse, the murderous brute'üas âctually boasting of his criminal conduct, Nrrses gave orders to his bodyguatd to run the fellow through. 4 A sword Flerced his belly and he lay dead.
There was the usual barbaian reaction frorn the rank and file of the Herul army. They quarrelled and sulked and decided to take no part in the âghting. 5 Narses, however, haüng removed all stain of guilt did not glvo the Heruls any further thought. He set ofi for the battleteld after güving notice that whoever wished to share in the victory must follow him. So great was his confidence in the aid of the divinty that he mardred out to battle with the conviction of foreordained success. 6 Sindual, the leader of the Heruls, thought it would be to their shame nnd disgrace if he and his men 'ü,ere to prove guilty of desertion when such a grc t battle was in progress. Moreover people might think that in rcality they were afuaid of. the enemy, and were using their afiection for the dead man as a pretext and a cloak for their cowardice. 7 Ünable, therefore, to bcar the thought of refraining from active participation he signalled to Narses to'ürait for them, since they would be joining him any moment. Narses, however, said that he could not wait, but that he would see to it that'they should take their proper places in the field even if they were a bit late in arriving. And so theHeruls armed themselves thoroughly and mardred out in an orderly fashion. 8. As soon âs Narses reached the battlefield he made the regular tactical arrangements and dispositions of his troops. The cavalry were placed on the wings at either side, carrying short spears, aàd shields, while a bow and arrosrs and a sword hung at their sides. A few'of them held pikes. z He himself took his stand at the tip of the right wing. Zandalas üe chief of his retainers and all the menials and campfollowers who were capable of bearing arms 'ürere there 3 On the other side were Valerian and Artabanes and their men with instructions to hide themselves for a time in the thicl< of the wood and then as soon as the enemy charged to emerge from their place of concealment and atta&. them on both sides. 4 The infantry occupied all the ground in the centre. The men in the van clad in mail right down to thefu feet and wearing especially strong helmets formed a solid wall of shields. The others stood shoulder to shouldet in successive rows, the
too.
40
ÂrrthlmrThe
loot
t{hprlu
parallel arrangemcnr ortendlng ar fa.r ar the
rorrgued, 5 All the llght. arned troops, slingers and bowmen tagged on behtnd bldtng their tlmi to shoot. A place had been reserved for the Herule in the middle of the phalanx, and it was still empty since they had not yet arrived, 6 Meanwhile two Heruls who had abeady deserted to the enemy some time before and were, in consequence, ignorant of Sindual's later decision were exhorting tle barbarians ro âmad( the Romans as quickly as possible. "You will find them", they said, "in complete disarray, with the Herul contingent sullenly refusing to take any part in the action and the other troops thoroughly disheartened by its ddection". 7 Doubtless because that was what he wished them to be, Butilinus had little difficulty in accepting these words as rrue. He led out his men imme, diately. Their enthusiasm knew no bounds. In a flutter of excitement at the news they had received they all made straight for the Romans. Their advance howevef, was not a deliberate and ordered progress but a wild and impetuous rush, as though they thought that the mere sound of their voices would be enough to crush a1l opposition. 8 The disposition of their forces was in the shape of a wedge. It was like a ttiangalar figure resembling the letter delta,lo the pointed part in front being a dense and compact mass of shields, whidr presented the appearance of a boar's head. 9 The legs of the figure, formed by rows and iolumns stretclring baclc obliquely, gradually grew farther and farther apart until finally it reached avety gteatwidth, so tllat the space in between *ur empty revealing the bad
in Agathias' description:
each individual point
2
4l
clcan thrcugh the r*nl«t, though wlthout cauaing many casualtles, and swept on pnst the, rcarguatd, Some of them advoncod still futher in an attempt to takê the Roman camp, r At this point Narses quietly instnrcted the wings to turîr isund, performing what in military parlance is termed a right about turn, and to extend thernselves somewhat. The mountecl bovrmen \r;efe to
fire their affotü/s crosswise from either side into the bac-ks of the enemy. f They had no di{ficulty in following these instructions. Being on horsebad< ih.y or.ttopped the barbatians, who were on foot, and it was extremely easy for them to hit a target whidr was some distance a§ray, spread out and clear of obstacles. Not was it, I imagine, at all difiicult for the horsemen on the flanks to shoot their arrows over the heads of that pa* of the enemy on their side whidr was neâfest to t-hem and to wound those on the far side whenever they came into sight. 4 Indeed the Franks were pierced in the back from all sides, with the Romans on the right wing pid
the scene of 7 Meanwhile Sindual and his Heruls met, on approac-hing ranks Roman the through brtil., with those of the enemy who had broken
and *"r" drarging on ahead. 8 As soon as they w'ere at close quarters they engaged them. The enemy were taken unawares and thrown into confusion.
Ttioking they had fallen into an ambush they took immediately to flight, blaming the Herul deserters and accusing them of having deceived them'
SinduJ and his men followed hard on their heels, not slacleiring his pursuit until he had slain some and driven others into the eddying w'aters of the river. g once the Heruls were in their place the empty space_was filled in and th* Rrrnun ranks were closed up, with the result that the Franks, being
42
âlrthlnrThrHhæchl
virtually caught in a ner, wme rleughtercd on dl ddcr, îhclr mnln com. pletely broken they were rollcd bad< on themrclver ln e hopcless rcut. ro The Romans did not dispatch them with arrowo onlybut both hcavyarmed and light-armed rroops joined in the onslaught, hurling their javelins, running them through with their pikes and cutting them to pieces with their swords, while the cavalry outflanked them cutting them oJ[ and hemming them in. Those who escaped death by the sword were driven into the rivei by their pursuers and went to a watery grave. cries of lamentation filled the air as the barbarians perished miserably. r r Butilinus their drief and his whole army 'were wiped our and the Heruls who had deserted before the battle were numbered among the slain. Indeed only five out of the entire Teutonic host managed to escape and return to their âncestral abodes. rz §fhat clearer proof could there be that they were punished for their wickedness and ovemaken by the relentless operation of divine justice? That vast throng of Franks and Alamanni and all the others who flocked to their standards met with complete annihilation, whereas only eighty of the Romans lost their lives, and they were the men who sustained the first shock of the enemy attack. 13 In this battle practically everybody in the Roman ranks showed conspicuous bravery. Among the batbanan auxiliaries Aligern the Goth (he too took part in the battle) and Sindual the captain of the Henrls acquitted themselves with as mucJr gallantty as any man. AII were full of praise and admiration for Narses and felt that it was thanks to his foresight that they had distinguished themselves. 10. Scarcely,.I irnagine, have past ages produced another example of such signal and overwhelming victory. And if other men have, in the pasr, su:ffered a similar fateto the Franks, closer inspection reveals that theÿ too wete destroyed because of their wicledness. z Take Datis, for instance, the satrap of Darius, who in olden times arrived at Marathon srith a Persian army thinkillg that he was bound to subdue not iusr Attica but the whole of Greece. llhe attad< was immoral and unj'ustifiable and was motivared solely by the territorial ambitions o{ the Persian monardr Darius. The continent of Asia wâs, âpparently, not big enough for him and he greatly resented the idea of not being master of Europe too. 3 That then is the ràason why the Persians suffered a crushing de{eat at the hands of Militiades. The story goes that the Athenians promised to sacrifice to Arremis, the Goddess of the Chase, a kid for every man of the enemy slain and that she bestowed her flvour upon them so bountiftilly and they enjoyed sudr abundant hunting that even when they resorted to sacrificing goats they could not make up the number. So heavy were the enemy's'losses in that battle! 4 Or takà the celebrated xerxes and his marvels, 13 how else did he come to sufier dereat 13
Ac"ttüæ tr no doubt thinking of the bridging of the Hellespont and the digeing of a canal through the isthmus north of Mount Athos. Both of these incidents became in
Booh 2
4'
d
ths Grtokr thrn beceucc ln hia abandoned wlclccdness he set out to enrleve mÊn utho had done him no wrong and putting might before right relied rgthcr on forcc of numbers and equipment than on discretion, dh"re.a the Grceko wefe fighting in a just cause for their own freedom and, neglecting nothing that it was in their power to do, they took all the appro' priate decisions and acted upon them? 5 How, for instance, coutrd one aciount for the trophies of Gylippus the Spartan, the defeat of Nicias and Demosthenes and the whole Syracusan disaster save in terms of folly and wid
rt
thc hcndr
with the laurels of victory, and singing songs of triumph they led their general bad< in stâte to Rome. 8 All the neighbourhood of Capua as far as the outlying districts presented the spectacle of fields running with blood and the riverside flooded with an overflow of corpses. I have it on the âuthofity of a native of those parts that an anonymous poem in elegiacs was inscribed on a stone pillar erected near the bank of the river and that it ran as follows: "The Casulinus lodged its freight of corpses here, where its currents cross Tyhrrenian shores the Frânkish hordes that fell to the Ausonian spear -and followed Butilinus and his cause. Ah happy stream, oh carnage more than trophies dear, long-reddened by their blood the water pours". 9 §Thether this poem was really engraved on a stone or whether it was simply passed on by word of mouth until it reached me, I see no reason for not transcribing it here. It might perhaps serve as a not inelegant testimony to the course of this battle. ' 11. In the meantime neïr's of the fate of Leuthatis and his men in Venetia reached the Romans. §flhereupon both civilians and soldiers gave themselves up to still more frequent and sustained bouts of merry-making and iollifi-
.âtior, fondly imagining that they would not have to face any further
opposition and that they would spend the rest of their days in peace. Now tËat the enemy who invaded ltaly had met with sudr wholesale destruction Greek rhetorical tradition stock examples of human affogânce seekin§ to subvert the nafural order of things.
44
Booh2
Asrthlmr?he l{htorlu
they u dld not thlnh thet therc would be any more lnvarlona; that, at any rate, was what the rank and file, wlth thelr charsctcrlstic lnability to divine the true flature of afiairs, their propensity for indolence and thiir habit of
judgrng everything according
thought.
to their own pleasure"seeking
srandards,
3 Narses, however, made a detailed and penetrating assessment o{ the situation and concluded that it would be sheer madness to imagine that they would have no further srruggless ro undergo, but could sàttle dourn to a changed existence of blissful and increasing self-indulgence. It only remained, I fancy, for them to se1l, in their stupidity, their shields ancl helmets for a flagon of wine or a lyre, so superfluous and useless for any future contingency did they consider their weapons to 4 Their general, howevef, saw clearly that, in all probability, there would be more wars with the Franks, and was 'afuatd that the Romans might so undermine their morale through soft living, that when the moment for action came they might succumb to cowardice and refuse ro face danger. 5 And indeed his Trorst feârs might soon have been rcalized had he not deemed it opportune to call his men together and address them in noble and rousing tones, in order to bring them back to their senses, restore their courage, curb their vanity and curtail their conceit. And so when they were all gathered together he stood in their midst and delivered the following speeclr: L2. "The experience of sudden and unprecedented prosperity does tend by its very unfamiliarity to confuse people and to make them lose their sense of proportion, and this is especially so i{ the element of surprise is accompanied by an element of undeserved success. z But if someone were to accuse you of acting out of draracter, what excuse could you ofier? That you have now tasted üctory, and that the sensation is a novel one? You, who rid the world of Totila and Teias and the entire Gothic nation! fs it, then, that,you af,e orperiencing a disproportionate measure of success? §7hat measüre o{ prosperiÿ, however great, cotild matdr the fame of Roman arms? To triumph forever over our enemies is our birthright and ancestral
be.
privilege. 3 You are victorious,
therefore, and deservedly so, as your actions and adrievements have amply demonstrated. These things do not accrue to you from a life of ease and pleasure, but are the result of manifold endurance and exertion and of long sdrooling in the hazatds of war. 4 You must, tJrerefore, persist in your former determination, not just confining yourselves to the enjoyment of your pfesent prosperity but also taking steps to ensure its continuance into the future. §Thoever fails to take these factors into consideration deprives success of a lasting basis and discovers all too often that the tide of fortune has turned against him, 5 The fate of the Franks, whidr now fills you with justifiable pride, should serve as an objectlesson. Their affairs were prospering for a time unril in a frt of. arrogance and presumption they waged war against us, Tlot having sufiicient foresight
4,
to reâlitc tho wlld trnprobability of their aime, The recult, as you know, has been total annlhllatlon, a fate consummated by our arms but caused by their folly. 6 It would indeed be shameful, fellow Romans, if you were to sufier the came fate as the barbadans and not to outshine them as mudr by your superiof intelligence as you do in physical prowess. And let none of you lrnagine that all your foes have been desroyed and that there will be no more enernies to fight. Yet, even if this were really the câse, that would be no reason for allowing youtselves to go to seed and surrendering all decency. Z But no efiort of the imagination could make the true situation coincide with yout illusions. The Franlcs are a gteat and populous nation and extremely well-versed in the afi of war. A tiny fraction of them has been defeated, too small to inspire them with fear, but large enough to provoke them to anger. It is unlikely, then, that they will remain inactive and gulp down the insult in silence. Indeed it is rnudr more likely that they will return shortly 8 Resolve, therefore, with a larger army to resume the fighting against to banish idleness novr and to renew your martial qualities, bringing them to ân enr'en higher pitch of perfection than before, seeing that you must face the prospect of stiffer opposition for the future than you have encountered in the past. 9 If you persist in this resolve, then, even should they appear on the scene very shortly, they will find you in a state of complete preparedness the moment they strike. §7heteas, in the event of their giving up the idea altogether, (since we must red
us.
la
compatriot was their leader. He belonged , in {.act, to a Hunnic tribe called la
Perhaps modern Conza, aboat
fifty miles
east
of Naples.
46
Acrthlau The HhCIdu
Book 2
the Bitgorr, Hc rchlcved his pre-cminent poartlon through hls slcill and culnjng and capaclty to acquire personal inf{ucnce by all rneans both fair and foul. Now he was plar:ning to resume hostllities tn the hope of thereby enhancing his o'ilrn prestige, 4 Narses, at once, mardred against them with all his forces. But since it was impossible to get near rhe fort by launching a sudden attad< and there was no question of fighting it out on üsadvantageous terrain, he settled down to a regular siege, guarding every possible supply point, in order to make sure that nothing whatsoever should be convàyed to the men inside and to deter them from venturing forth at will. 5 The barbarians, however, did not sufier any rcal harm as a result of this policy, being, in fact, possessed of an abundancq of provisions, since all their stores and most valuable possessions had previousty been brought to this fort, which they held to be impregnable. 6 Nevenheless the fact of being besieged by the Romans \'as a source of annoyance to rhem and they felt that it would be a grear indignity if they were going to be confined and shut up in an enclosed space for À ind"finitl perlod. so they made frequenr sorries against rhe enemy, hoping that they might succeed in driving rhem away from the place, but the fighring was un-
recelved ê rworn undcrtahing to that eflect they iurmediately surrendered themoelver end thc fort. 7 Nareec put none of them to death, since, apart from the fact thathe had Slvcn his word not to, it would have been unthinkable to kill in cold blood
distinguished and inconclusive. L4. After winter had been spenr on these operarions Ragnaris decided that he should call for a discussion of terms with Narr.r. Having been granted permission for a parley he appeared escorted by a few m.r, Àd th. t\ÿo met somewhere in no marr's land and had a lengthy discussion. z But the_ spectacle of Ragnaris pufied up with conceit,-boasting extavagantly, making outrageous demands and generally adopting a high und Àighiy attitude decided Narses to break off the meeting unconditionally and send him away without further ado. 3 But, when he had already goi to the top of the hill and was not far from the wall of the fort, stealthilÿ and without making a sound he drew his bow and, furious at the failuré of his plans, turned round and shot an arrow straight at Narses. He missed. The arrow
flew wide of its mark and fell to the ground without harming anyone. 4 But the barbanan was quiclly punished for his ffeachery. Angered at his insolence Narses'body-guard shot at him. The wretch was wounded mortally, his inevitable deserts for perpetrating sudr a foul piece of treadrery. §7ith difiiculty his escort carried him into rhe fo$ress. 5 He lingered on there for two days and rhen died an ignominious death, whidr was th. fitting conclusion of his insane perfidy. 6 After his dèath the Goths, thinking that they were no longer in a position to withstand the siege, requested Narses to provide them with an assurance that he woulcl not deprive them of their lives. As soon as they
47
r ddeated encmy. To prwent them from stirring up any further trouble, however, he sent them all to the Emperor in Constantinople. I rù(/hile these events were in progfess the young Theudobald, who ruled ovcr the Franks whose territory adjoined ltaly, (as I explained earlier on) died most wretd:edly from the ruurg., of a congàtal diJease. - Custom required that Childebert and Chlotar, being his next of kin, ghould succeed the lad. But immediatery a violent feud, of sudr intensity that it threatened to have a detrimental efiect on the nation as a wholé, broke out between them. 9 Childebert was already aged and infirm and his whole body had withered and wasted away as a result of an acute debility. Furthermore he was devoid of male issue, having only daughters ro succeed him. ro Chlotaf, on the other hand, was still vigorous and had nor aged mudr, the first wrinkles being just barc7y discernible. Moreover he had four strapping sons who were brimming over with energy and daring. Consequentlÿ Ctlotut insisted that his brother shouJd relinquish his claim to Theudobald's estate, in view of the fact that it would nor be long before Childebert's kingdorn too devolved upon him and his sons. rr He was nor disappointed in his hopes. The old man, in fact, voluntarily resigned his share of the inheritance, through fear, no doubt, of the other man's power and because he wished to avoid incurring his enemity. Not long after, he died,leaving chlotar the sole ruler of the Franks. This then was the situarion in ltaly and the srare of afiaim among the Franks. 15. In summer time, roughly during the same period, 15 there wâs a violent earthquake in Constantinople and in many parts of the Empire, with the result that several cities both on the islands and the mainland were nzedto the ground and their inhabitants wiped out. z The lovely city of Berytus, 16 the jewel of Phoenicia, was completely ruined and its worldfamous arc}itectural treasures were reduced to a heap o{ rubble, practically nothing b'r.rt the bare pavernents of the buildings being left. 3 Many of the local inhabitants were crushed to death under the weight of the wred
srere many cultivated young men
of
distinguished
pffentage who had come there to study the Law. There was, in f.act, a long tradition of.legal studies in the city, and the law schools conferred an aura of peculiar privilege and distinction on the place. 15 551 A. 16
Beyrut.
D.
4ü
Agethlmr Thc Hlrtorler
Book 2
. + 4r^Sr poinr,.then, the profesoors of law moved to the neighbouring city of sidon and the schools werc rransferrcd there, untll Berytü uras re. bu,iIt. The resrored city was very difierent from what it had been in ttrre past, though it was not changed beyond recognirion, since it still preservea a rew traces of its former self. But this rebuilding of the city and the subseguent return of the schools was not to take place for some time yet. ., At that time also some slight tremors u7'ere felt in the great rnetropolis o{ Alexandria on the Nile, an altogether unusual occurrence-for those parts. 6 All the inhabitants and particularly the very old were amazed ,i tH"t SPParently unprecedented phenomenon. Nobody stayed indoors. The populace congregated in the streets, seized with unwarranied panic at th. r,ràdËnness and novelty of the event. 7 I myself was in Alekandria at the time completing the prescribed studies 17 which lead to the law course proper, and I moit confess I was quite overcome with fear considering the faintness of the tremors. §7hat really worried me, though, was the f.act thatpeople's houses there are not at all strongly-built and quite incapable of standing up to even a small amount of vibration, being frail and flimsy srrucrures consiiting of a single thicl
have been {elt sver c pert o( Egypt thc o(pcrts will not fail to find fresh üguments Lr rupport of the vapour thcory. re To my mind, however, though ùeir conclusions do not lac} a certain plau.sibility, to the extent, that is, that it is possible for a rnan to make inIerences about things which are beyond his ken, they are, however, very far rcmoved {rom the real truth. How, indeed, could one hope to gain an accutate picture of things that he can neither see nor influence? 13 It is su,fiiclcnt for us to know that all things are controlled by the workings of a divine mind. To observe and investigate the principles and operations of the physical wodd and the causes of eadr particular phenornenon, such speculstion is admittedly not altogether worthless or unattractive, but it would bc the most reprehensihle kind of presumption to imagine that it is possible to arrive at the ultimate reality by sudr a procedure. Bur enough of such thiogt. Let us retufn to the point where we broke ofi our account. 16. At that time the island of Cos whiih lies at the southern end of the Aegaean was almost completely destroyed. Indeed except for one small part of the island practically nothing was left standing, and the disasrer uTas unprecedented in its scale and complority. z The sea rose up to a fantastic height and engulfed all the buitdings near the shore, destroying thern together with their contents and inhabitants. The heaving mass was of sudr enormous proportiorrs that it flung down everything there that its surging crests could not ride over. 3 Almost all the inhabitants perished indiscriminately, whether they happéned to have taken refuge in pËces of worship or to have stayed in their homes or gathered together in some other spot. 4 I happened to have occasion to disembark there myself just after the disaster, when I was sailing bad< from Alexandria to Constantinople (the island is of course on the route). §7hen I set foot on shore I was confronted with a spectacle that beggared description. 5 Practically the whole city was reduced to a gigantic heap of rubble, littered with stones and fragments of broken pillars and beams, and the air was mur§ with thid< clouds of dust, so that one could bur.ly surmise the eristence of what had once been streets from a few vague hints of their presence. A mete handful of houses stood intact and they \ri'ere not the ones thathaÂ, been built with stones and mortar or some sudr seemingly more solid and durable substance, but only those made in peasant style out of unbaled bricls or mud. 6 Here and there could be seen a few men whose haggard and dejected faces wore a look of hopeless apathy.
able to expect that the same thing would happen again. 9 Some people, in fact, claim that the cause of this phenomenon lies in certain dry and fiery exhalations whidr are imprisoned in underground cavities and, having no proper otrtlet, build up an enormous pressure, until,
violently shaking everything that bars their passage, they &entually force their way out into the open through some weak point in the earth's crust. Nour those who advance this type of scientiÉc explanation say that Egypt is by nature incapable of experiencing earth-tremois, being flai and t"ü-ly*e and devoid of underground caviries, and that in consequénce it does rroi b"come drarged with sudr vapours, which in any case wàuld keep seeping out of the ground even if drey weie present owing to the poros ity and "lurti"ity of the terrain. ro On that occasion, then, when this theory was well and truly refuted and shown to rest on no very firm basis, the good people were naturally dismayed at the thought that the famous epigram might, to their cosr, prove true in reverse and that they might, in future, be in danger of experiencing the god Poseidon not just in tl.e capacity of "earth-supporter,, but also in the more sinister role of "eafth-shaker". 18 rr Still, wen though tremors 17
18
Probably a training in rhetoriq as Mrs. Cameron poinrs out (op. cit. pp. 140-141). This epigram has not come down to us, but it requires rro great ingènüty to deduce that it made use of a mythological conceit in whidr these two tradiiiond epithets of
49
On top of all their other ills the entire local water-suppLy had been with sea-water and rendered undrinkable. All was ruin and desolation. The only vestige of distinction left the city was the famous name contaminated
the sea-god Poseidon were contasted earthquakes,
in order to
express Egypt's immunity from
,0
of the Aadepiadae le and ite proud bomt of hrvlng bcen the birthplaco of Hippocrates. 7 To be moved to pity by tragedies suclr ag these rccmg only human, but to declare oneself utterly bafiled and astonishcd would be to betay one'c ignorance of past history and of the {act that this world of ours is by its very nature continually orposed to a variety of calamities and misfottunes. Indecd many times in the past whole cities have been destroyed by earthquakes, losing all their original population ând eventually being repeopled, as ne\r/
cities rise on their ruins. L7. The city of Tralles on the Maeander is a case in point. This ancient settlement of the Pelasgians situated in what is now ca1led the Province of Asia was completely devastated by an earthquake during the reign of the Emperor Augustus.20 z The story goes that, when the city lay in a tragic heap of ruins, a certain rustic, a tiller of the soii by üe name of Chaeremon \r/as so deeply moved by the calamity that he could bear it no longer and so ser our to accomplish an incredible and ortraordinary feat. 3 Deterred neither by the disrance involved, nor by the magnitude of his petirion, nor by the dangers he was likely to face, nor indeed by his doubtful drances of success, nor, for thar matter, by the fact that he would be leaving his family to fend for themselves, nor by any of the other considerations that lead men to drange their minds, he went not just to Rome but to rhe land of the Cantabri2l on rhe very shores of the Ocean. For Caesar was there at that time conducting a campaign against some of the local tribes. 4 \7hen Chaeremon told him what had happened the EmperorTvas so toudred that he straightaway designated seven of Rome's noblest and most distinguished e:r-consuls and sent them with tleir retinues ro the spot. They got there with all speed and diligently supervised the rebuilding of the city, spending hrige sums of money on the project and giving the city the form which it has preserved right up to the present day. 5 It would be a misnomer to call its present inhabitants Pelasgians, ruther one should think of thern as Romans, even though they have become Greek-speaking, which is understandable since their territory borders on fonia. 6 These happenings ate all voudred for by the ofiicial history of the city and corroborated by an epigram whidr I read when I went there. 7 fn one of the fields on the outskirts of the city, apparently the spot that Chaeremon came from (the name of the field is Siderus) there stands the base of a sratue. It is of great antiquity and on it it appears that a statue of Chaeremon must once have stood, though there is nouT no longer any ttace of. it. 8 Neverle An ancient guild of physicians to which Hippocrates himself belonged. 20 27
Itook
âsrthlerr Thc Illrmrlel
A.D.
zt A tibe of eastern Asturia.
2
thsler the dcdlcrdon ln vetse lnrcrlbed on thc base h ttlll diecernible runi er fsllowr: "Oncc, when an eorthquake razed his city to the ground, . the gdlent Chacremon did smaightaway take thought
to rescue it and uavelled till at length he found in far.away Cantabria the Emperor and his court. Now on this altar does his image stand and citizens by grateful fancy led greet as a second founder of their land tfie man who rescued Tralles from the dead." may safely assume then that the foregoing is a reliable accounr §[e 9 events in Tralles. Many other cities in Asia, in fact, both those settled Ionians and those settled by Aeolians, sufiered a similar Late at that time. 18. §fiell, I think I had better leave rhe subject of narural disasrers tesume the thread of my narrative. But, if I am to give a truly account of the period, the scene must move to tlre land of the Lazt and
with Persia. The Romans and the Persians had been at srar for a very long time a were continually mvagpng each other's territory. Sometimes they resorted a policy of sporadic fighting and undeclared hostility making frequenr and incursions, on other occasions they engaged in open and urars
:
wafi.arc. 3 Shortly before our period both parties had agreed to a limired truce whiih covered the eastern territories and the frontiers of Armenia, but d not e.:
,2
Agrthlmr The Hl:tcrlo
6 Now thece Lazi, ColcJrlana, Egyptlan mignnta or whrt heve you, heve becorne a bone of contention in our day ond ege, §nd innumerablc battles have been fought for the sake of their land. The Persian Emperor Chosroes had already appropriatcd and occupiecl much of their territory including some of the most strategically importanr positions. Far from entertaining any idea of relaxing his hold on the place he was intent on completing its subjugation. On thJother hand the Rôman
Emperor Justinian thoughi it unlearable and quite immoral to abandon Grrbazes, the then king of theLazi, and the whole of his nation, seeing thar they were subjects of the empire and linked by a common bond of friendship and religion. Instead he did his urmost to drive our rhe enemy as quiclly as possible.
7_Justioian gasped clearly the alarming implications of a Persian victory rgsulting in the annexarion of the whole area. Shouid sudr a thing happen there would be nothing ro prevenr t}e Persians from sailing up the Euxine with impunity and probing deep into the heart of the noÀrn Empire. 8 Accordingly he stationed a Targe and powerlul army there under the command o{ some of his best generals. Bessas, Martin and Buzes were in charge of the operation, all of them men of firsr-rare abüty and wide military erperience. Justin the son of Germanus, who despite his extreme youth was well-versed in the att of wat, rÀ7âs sent there too.
19. The Persian general Mermeroes had twice attad
Eoolr 2
vm flm
5t
to srrlh on they lmmcdlately fenccd it round with wooden incessently with these tasks. perplffiity gteat .âJter and deal of hard thinking about how to iorûÊ a 5 dml wtth thc cituatlon it occurted to Mermeroes that if by sorne means he æuld malce the Romans telax theit vigilance and could gradually divert thch attention it would be quite feasible for him to get his forces tlrough. âut ae long as the enemy kept the area undercuru.illrn . it wo'uld not be lchsible for him to tackle simultaneously and overcome both obstacles to his progres§. Once they relaxed their vigilance, however, he thotrght it would not be such an impossible task to deal with the difiicult terain aîd clear a lro§eage for his tl.oops. 6 §7ith the huge resources of manpower at his dleposal he hoped to get through without mucJr difiiculty by cutting and eleating away the woods and by cutting through and removing any rod
ttùer rnd !tone!, burylng themselvea
Pretending that he had suddenly fallen victim to a dangerous and incurable complaint he went to bed, where he made a great display of his vexation and
dlscomfiture and loudly lamented his fate. 8 Soon the word spread throughout the whole atmy that the general was seriously ill and was practically on the verge of death. Ihose who made money out of betraying their o'urn people to the enemy and passing on seüet information were also in the dark about what was really happening, since his plan was kept a carefally grrarded secret and \vas not even disclosed to all his closest friends. Deceived,
then, simply by the rumours whidr were in general circulation they informed the Rornans accordingly. The Romans readily believed the report not so mud1, think, on its own merits as because that was what they wanted to believe.
I
20. Immediately they began to relax their vigilance and no longer bothered to take strict precautions. After an interval of a few days, news amived that Mermeroes had died. He had in fact hidden himself in a room with the result that this belief won the support of even his mosr intimate associates. z §Thereupon the Romans feit that there was even less point in their passing sleepless nights and exerting themselves continually. So they suspended operations on the fences and enclosures and began to take life easy., sleeping all night and billeting themselves in the counrry areas. They did not even send out scouts ot perform any other essential task. They thought that, being apparently leaderless, the Persians would never attack them but would go out of their'ffay to avoid them. 3 As soon as he learnt this, Mermeroes abandoned his pretence and showed himself to the Persians just as he was before. He then promptly mardred out his entire army. Throwing himself into the task with untiring
5,1
,1
Book 2
Ag*tlrixr: 'l'lt' I lietor ler
tlreil irrrrptiorr thnt nll were soizerl witlr utrwrtrt'ntttetl pnnic nncl begrttt to Iu()ve ()ut o[' tltcir (lltnrtcrs. ; '1.'tre pcrrerrrls (their forces fitcl not yet bccn pr
11f
zcal hc lcurovt:d all obstrrcles to thcil progrc$lr lry thc lnsutts whiçih he hrttl long bccn planning ancl approadrcd thc Îort. The Romans were so startlcd by the uncxpcctcclncss of his approadr that they were no longer in a state to defencl themselves. 4 Martin decidccl therefore, to abandon the fort at this point before Mermeroes shoulcl forcc his way in and make havoc of the Romans there. Indeed it is hard to imaginc how tÀey, a mere hand{ul o men, could have resisted such a vast number of enemy ttoops without being massacred. And so, outmanoeuvred by the barbafians, they beat an ignominious retreat and hastened to join the rest of their forces. 5 Bessas and Justin and their men were encamped on a plain
tt
only seven stades distant frorn Telephis. There is nothing there apart {rom a pottery- market, which has given its name to the spot. The place is in fact called Ollaria, aLatin word whidr means the same thing as Chytropolia does in Greek.26 6 Once Martin and the bulk of his men had already made it to safety, the generals unanimously decided to stand their ground and wait for the enemy there in order to prevent them from advancing any further. 7 Among the most distinguished of the commanders \ü'as a man named Theodore, aTzanianby birth who had been brought up among Romans and had, already lost the barbarian ways of his homeland and become quite civilized. 8 This Theodore, then, stayed on near Telephis with his own body of men (no fewer tJran five hundred of his fellow contrymen accompanied him) having received insuuctions from Martin not to leave until the enemy vrere near enough for him to see them all and to gâuge, as far as possibLe, their numbers, their mettle and their intentions. 21. He proceeded to ca"rry out these instructiorrs with his usual energy and daring. So, when he saw that the Persians had overrun the fortress and rcalized that they would not stop at that but were only too eager to do battle, he immediately departed. z On his way back he discovered that many of the Romans had not gone straight to Chytropotria as they had been told to, but had burst into the houses o{ the Laziand were carrying ofi millet and wheat and other foodstufs. He tried to drive them a\\îay, îeproaching them for their irresponsible behaviour and for their failure to reolize what trouble they were in. 3 Those who were able to conuol their rapacity recognized the folly of their ways and mardeed to safety following his lead. 4 But Theodore had no drance to report in due course to tle generals on the approacJr of Mermeroes. \X/hat had actoalTy happened was that the Persians suddenly caught up with some of the soldiers who had carried on plundering regardless, and killed a few o{ them. The others fled and did not stop running until they had burst into the camp banging and shouting at the top of their voices. So great rffâs the general consternation provoked by the suddenness
28 and Xenophon, equal to thirty stades, whereas nccording to Herodotus nowdays the Iberians and Persians say that it is equivalent to t'ürenty-one stades. 8 The Lazi too have the same units of measufement, but call them by tfie difierent and, to my mind, not inappropriate name-of "pauses"' The ,"urr1 for this is that their porters stop fof a shoff rest whenevet they have travelled a parusang and put dovrn their burdens, relays of fresh men taking
them up irturn at each successive stage. They then divide yp 1rrd meâsure 9 But the disànce covered according to the numbet of times they do that remains pafasang fact the whatevelw'ay \ÿ'e may dtoose to red
this.
turns, confining a not inconsiderable'section of the plain. They continue to Ilow until they meet of their o'ürn accofd towards the west and merge completely into one ânother, so that all the intetvening gfound is virtually an island. ft was in this place that the Romans had gathered. 22. When he reached Chytropolia Mermeroes decided, after pouring scofn on thern for their cowatdice and concentfating a considerable amount of invective on people who were not there to hear him, not to advance any further or try to attack Nesos. He had no meâns of conveving supplies to sudr a huge atmy in the middle o{ enemy teffitory nor rlr'âs he in any other respect equipped for a siege. z So, since he did not litr
word means "island". 28 Cf. Herodotus 2. 6,3.
Zll.JFiGy-Mark.t".
il§;
!6
looül
â3rÉ!u ÏtrrHhtorlu
badr to Tclcphir agd tho dllllcult temeln In
tiver Phasis)
thrt
roglon, ho ret up (over the
a bridge of wooden planke and pontoonr rpeclally deaigned for the purpose and conveyed hls w}ole army ecrom wlthout encoontJing .ny opposition._ _3 then, after he had reinforced the Perelan garrison at-ono (whidr he had established in the district of Ardraeopolis as a hostile _guris base against the Romans) pÿftirg new heart into the men and making the
ret'rned to cotais and Mudreirisis. i eç flicted by some disease and reduced ro a srare of qrtreme ill-heatth he 1eft the main body of his army in that region to guard their possessions and ser ofi himself for lberia. After a painful journey in which he was carried to the city of Meschitha, __5 Mermeroes succumbed to the illness and really and tnrly breathed his last this time. His had been one of the most distinguished careers in persian history. A brilliant organiser and an excellent taàtician, he was above all a ryn 9f -intrgnid spirit. §7hen he was akeady an old man and had rong been crippled in both his feet so badly that he was unable even to ride a horse he lisql1:red the stamina and endurance of a young man in his prime. Nor did he fail to take part in the actual fighting, but borne on a litter ire would move ab,out the ranks of battle. Exhorting and encouraging his men and issuing timely and accurate instructions he struck terror into the hearts of the enemy and reaped the fruits of many a victory. Never indeed was there a more sqiking illustration of the fact that brains and not brawn are the prerequisite qlace_a9 secure as possible, he
of a good general. 6 Mermeroes' servants took up his body, caried it out of the city and, follouring their ancestral custorn, left it uncovered and unattended-to be devoured by dogs and by sudr loathsome birds as feed on carrion. 23. Percian funeral customs regularly take this form. Thus the flesh is picked away leaving the bones bare to rot scattered and dismembered on the plains. It is'striely forbidden for them to put their dead into any kind of tomb or cofiin or even to cover them over with earth. z And if the birds do not swiftly s'üoop down on a man's body or the dogs do not straightawair come to tær it up they think that he must have been uttedy vicious and depraved and that his soul has become a sink of iniquity reserved as the exclusive haunt of the foul fiend. In that case his relations moum still more bitterly for him since they consider him to be completely dead and to have no share in a better hereafter. 3 But if a man is devoured on the instant then they bless him for his good fortune and they regarcl his soul with awe and wonder, considering it to be most virtuous and godlike and destined to ascend to the place of bliss, 4 It any of the rank and file happen to be afflicted with some grievous ailment when out on,active service sornewürere, they are taken away while still alive and lucid. §7hen a man is subjected to this type of e4posure a piece of bread, some §,.atef, and a stick are set down
57
g
ho lr rblc to cst ând otlll hei rome rmall resldue of ftfcngth left hlm É wrnds ofi ettachlng animale with thc stid< and scares rway-the ptolpcctlvÊ feasters, 5 But if without actually dlstroying him. the illness rsdücec him to a state whete he can no longet move his atms, then thc animals dcvour the poor \ÿfetch when he is not properly dead and is only him in advance of any possible Juct beginning to breatli his last, thus robbing
bcdds lrJm,
Al
long
hope of recovery. fn.r" havà in fact been many insrânces of people who recovered and feturned home, ptesenting an appearance of deathly pallor and emaciation which was enough to frighten t}e life out of any one who should drance to fall in with thern and looking for all the world like dlaractefs on the tragic 2e. 7 Ïf. anyone returns in stage affiving from "the portals of darkness" theie circumstances everybody shuns him and treats him as a pariah since he is regarded as polluted and still belonging to the netherworld. Nor is he permitted to fesume his place in society until the stain of pollutio1 incurred Ly th" imminence of deàth has been purged by the Magi in order that he may, as it were, embrace life anew. g tt It quite obvious, of course, tlat each of the various nations of man' Iiind consiàers thât any c'ustom whatsoever whidr is both universally accepted in their society and deeptry rooted in their past cannot fail to be perfect and sacrosanct, whereas whatever runs countef to it is deemed deplorable, contemptible and unsrorthy of serious consideration. Nevertheless people have always managed to find and enlist the support of reasoned âfguments from all quafters when their own conventions âre involved. Sudr arguments may indàd be tnre, but they may also very well be specious fabrications. 9 So it does not smike me as particulafly surprising that the ?ersians too rm"U ffy to prove, when accounting for their o§/n customs, that these are
f
superior io ,nyon. else's. Whar I do find altogether remarkable-is that the earliest inhabiiants of their land,that is to say the Assyrians, Chaldaeans and Medes, had very difierent views on the ro subiect, as witness the tombs and sepuldrres of men who died long ago which are still to be found on the outskirts of Nineveh and Babylon and also in the district of Media. The form of burial is no difierent ffom ouf own, and whether the bodies are enclosed or just the ashes, as is the case tÿith those who \I/ere cremated according to the ancient Gteek custom, the fact remains that it is quite unlike anything
that is practised at Present.
24.-'I'hose èarly inhabitants then held no sudr views concerning burial, nof was the sanctity of the mariage-bed violatecl in the way it norr is. Not only do the present-day Persians think nothing of having intercourse with their sisters and nieces, but fathers lie with their own daughters and, horrot
,,
dmrt"t
to the Hecuba of Euripides line
ghost of Polydorus.
t
where the words are spoken by the
Âgathlerl 'l'he I lirrurler
of lrorr:ors, olrt tlre.unnrrtrrrrrtnern of it, ronr rvrrrr rtrcir nrotrrer.s. ,r,rrnt this lrarticular rrlxrmination is rr reccnt jrnnrnii,,,, ln well iflr.rr,i..i..A fry thc folIowing story. z It i-s saicl thnt trrc fa,,lou, .1,,""n ,f Âssyrin scmiramis once sank to sudr depths of dcba_trchery thri tlo ,.t.,rrlly c,,ccivc1 a 6esire to have intercoulse with her son Ninyas ,"a went so fnr us to make advances to the young man. 3 He rejected h.i"uà" angriry ancl finaily whe, he sâv/ rhat she was
i; ffiïii;i:Jr"
determined t6-force É.""ri .,., r,iriË commit the unnatural *ime of matricide ;;rh.r;i;;" be guflty of incest. yet if this type of behaviour was sociafly acceptabre-N"y;;;H ,",, ï'rrrirr., have resorted to such exffeme in àrder to avoid it. "ru"ity 4 ïhere is no need, however, to confine o-ur_examples to the distant past. shortly before the Macedoniur, .ooq*.ri una ,n. desrucdon of the persian empire Parysatis the mother of ArtÀerxes the son LiD;ri* ;'rfu ro have succumbed to the same passion as semiramis and to have become enamoured of her son. He did not k,r her however, i;;Ëôrti;ëJâË advances and thrust her aside. saying that it *rr'rn i.pi*rl *a ,nrr*rJ act, quire foreign both to their natioi" hirtory *J-to irs present way of life. But the present-day persians have armost comptretery . .5 abandoned their o.$ wavs-; an uphea,al whicrr has b".n muik"d ry tlr..r.ÀJt.rl.'làoptioo or alien and degenerare manners, ever since they
have;;;;;; te spefl of Htiumrra.r. 6 Now, as far as rhis Zoroastet or zarudes by both names) 1il" ir is concerned, ir is not possibre to ûx with any "uu.a the dates precision of his floruit and the period of his tef_orming aJütiâr. Th. r.rri*, ,i-p'y ,uy that he lived in tre region ,{ Hyrturp""J*irrroot ,rrr.r"g"iiîi.u. *r,.th.. they mean the father oI D*iu, *À. ,ir.er monarch of the same name. 7 §Thatever the time of his froruit"rh" wur;À; i;;;;;iil;;nr*.r of the magtan religion and he ir was who cJranged rhe crraracter and introduced a motley assorrment of leliefs. "iirr.îrrri"r culs 8 rn ancient times the persians worshipped Zeus and cronos and a[ the other divinities of the Herlenic panth.orfi*..pt ir,"y-"rrlï'th.m by -,r,r,,,Sandes,,, difierent names. They called Ziu, "n"I", Heracles Aphrodite "Analira" and so on ând ,o forif,,'r..o1àirig to the ,.r,ir"ry Ë.roru, of Babylon, Athenocles and simacus *lr" t".&a"a "i tt. ,r.i.rJ il;; of trhe Assyrians and the Medes. g But ,"*uary, their views conform for the most part ro those of the so-cailed Manichaernr, to th. niàf À"i. rrorairrg that there âre n)i/o first principles one;f *hi.( "*t il c;-;;Jh; lr,"ï "ir" ,o all that is fine in reariryand th. oth.r of ;hi.h ir-rh" *.niî"iri;hesis in both its properties and its funaion.-Th.y-urrig, barbarous names drawn from their own language ro these .oriri.r. îÀ..good divinity or creator they call Ahuramazda, whereas the name oi rrr" *it and marevorent one is Ahri the doctrines of Zoroaster rhe son of
man.
ro
of
all the festivars they cerebrate rhe mosr important is one caned
lirrrlt
2
59
tltc " fertlvul of tlre alnying of thc cvil ones " in which tlrcy kill hugc nunrbcr:s of reptiles rltt(l (,tlref wilcl ctcrtttrt'cs rrtrcl clctrizcns of thc descrt and present tltettr to tlre rrrngi rrs n proof of thcil clevotion. Thcy imaginc that in this way fhey nrr rcrrtlcring nn ngrccablc scrvice to the good divinity and that they are thwurtirrg urrtl injuring Ahriman. r r Their veneration of water is so great tlrnt they clo not evcn wash their faces in it or handle it in any other way save qs o drink and fot the purpose of irrigation. 25, They name many other gods, whom they worship, and they perform ractifices and practise ritual purifications and divination. Fire is considered on object of peculiar sanctity and veneration. Accordingly it is tended in certain remote and sacred chambers by the magi who never allow it to go out. Gazing into it they perform their secret rites and scrutinise the course of future events. z I imagine they took over rhis pracrice from the Chalcloeans or some other people, since it is something of an anomaly. Such a procedure would of course be very much in keeping with the composite noture of their religion which is a most varied blend of ideas derived from a multiplicity of difierent peoples. And this srate of afiairs too is what I ehould have expected. 3 Indeed I know of no other society whidr has been subjected to suc}r a bewildering vadety of transformations or whidr through its submission to ân endless succession of foreign dominations has failed so signally to adrieve any degree of continuity. Srnall wonder then that it still bears the stâmp of many different forms and conventions. 4 The AssyriâRs are the first people mentioned in our tradition as having conquered the whole of Asia as far as the river Ganges. Ninus appears to have been the founder of the dynasty and was followed by Semiramis and the whole line of their descendants stretching as far as Beleus the son of Dercetades. 5 §7hen with BeLeus, the last scion of the house of Semiramis, the family became extinct a man called Beletaran, who was head gardener in the palace, gained possession of the throne in extraordinary circumstances and grafted the royal title on to his orvn family. The story is told by Bion and by Alexander Polyhistor and takes us down to the reign of Sardanapalus when, as they tell us, the kingdom entered upon a phase of decline and Arbaces the Mede and Belesys the Babylonian wrested it from the Assyrians, hilling their king and bringing it under the control of the Medes, some one thousand three hundred and six years or more after Ninus' rise to power. This figure is based on the drronology of Ctesias the Cnidian and accords with that given by Diodorus Siculus. 6 A period of Median dornination then ensued in whiclr everyrhing was ordered according to that people's laws and customs. After not less than three hundred years of Median rule, however, Cyrus the son of Cambyses defeated Astyages in battle and brought the country under Persian conrrol. One could hardly expect him to have done otherwise seeing that he was
60
Agrthlmr ?hr
loô12
lllrtsrlcl
61
himself a native Perslan ond reacnted the fact thet the ltdedu had fought on the side of Astyages. 7 The Persian kings nrled for two hundrod and twenty.eight years but their empire disintegrated completely when it rüas ovefrun by the forces of a foreign king. 8 Alexander, the son of Philip slew their king Darius the son of Arsames, annexed the whole of Persia and re-organized the state along Macedonian lines. So outstanding in fact were the aihievements of that invincible warrior that, even after death had removed him {rom the scene, his successors, Macedonians though they were, held sway over an alien land for a great length of time and came to wield very considerable power. Indeed I think that on the stength of their predecessor's fE)utation they would have remained in power right up to the presenr day if internal dissensions and frequent wars of conquest directed against one another and against the Romans had not sapped their stength and destroyed the myth of their
4 Othcrwlæ (to take an example from the diatant patt) Dariua and his rupportêm §rould not hsvÊ bcen appdled, aB they were, ot the usurpatlon of §mcrder aftu the death of Cambyses the son of Cyrus. Nor would they have ktlled Smerdec and large numbers of his polttical and religious sympathizers on the groundo that the magi were not eligible to aspire to the dignity of the lmperial throne. Far from considering the hillings ân ourrage they felt that thcir memory should be perpetuated, with the result that a feast was instituted whidr was named "the Magophonia" 31 after the coup d'état 32 and was accompanied by sacrifices of thanksgiving. 5 Nouradays, however, the magi are the objects of exffeme awe and venefation, all public business being conducted at their discretion and in accofdance with their prognostications, and no litigant or party to a private dlspute fails to come under their jurisdiction. Indeed nothing receives rhe etamp of legality in the eyes of the Persians unless it is ratified by one of the
apparent invincibility. 9 The Macedonian supremacy lasted a mere seven years less than that of t{re Medes, if we are to âccept the testimony of Polyhistor on this matter too. Despite their long period of ascendancy, however, the Macedonians were finally ousted by the Parthians. ro These members of a hitherto insignificant dependenry then became rulers of the whole empire with the excqrtion of Egypt. Arsaces, the leader of the revolt, gave his name to the dynasty of the Arsacids that succeeded him, and was not long before Mithridates raised the name of the Parthians to great heights of renovrn. 26. The passage of two hundred and seventy years from Arsaces the first king to Artabanus 30 tlre last one marks the inception, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Alexander the son of Mamaea, of the dynasty to which the contemporâry Chosroes belongs. It was at this time also that the present'day Persian state took shape. z A cêrtain Persianialled Ardashir, a man of humble and obscure origins but of great daring and resourcefulness and a born revolutionary, laundred attad< with a band of conspirators and killed the king Artabanus. Assuming the diadem of the kings of Persia he put an end to the hegemony of Parttia and restored the empire of the Persians. 3 He was a devotee of the magian religion and arr ofiicial celebrant of its mysteries. Consequently the priestly caste of the magi rose to inordinate porÿer and arrogance. This body had indeed made its influence felt on previous occasions in the course o{ its long history, though it had never before been elevated to such a position of privilege and immunity, but had hitherto been ofiicially accorded what in cettain respects amounted to an inferior status.
magi.
it
aî
i*.
-ro
A.tub*r* v.
27. The mother of Ardashir is believed ro have been married to a certain Papak, a cobbler by profession and a person of no social consequence. He was, however, extremely well-versed in astrology and could divine the future
with ease. z Now it so happened that a soldier called Sasan was travelling thrcugh the region of Cadusia and was hospitably enrertained by Papak, who showed him to his humble abode. 3 Somehow or other. presumably through his own prophetic powers, Papah discovered that his guest's oiffspring was destined to greatness and to singular good fortune. Reflecting that he had neither daughter nor sister nor any close female relative he was troubled and perplexed. Finally he made his wife go to bed with his guest and rurning a blind eye ro the outage took future good fortune as the compensation for present humiliation and disgface.
4 These then were the circumstances of Ardashir's birth. He was brought up by Papah, but no sooner had he gro'ü/n up and seized the throne than a violent quarrel openly broke out between Sasan and Papak, eadr one claiming that the boy should bear his name. _r They eventually agreed, however, that he should be referred to as the son of Papak born of the seed of Sasan. This at arty tate is the account of the genealogy of Ardashir whidr the Persians maintain to be true, basing this assertion on the claim that it accords with the version given in the royal ardrives. 6 I shall presently give a list in drronological order of the names of all the descendants of Ardashir who came to the throne with details of the duration of each particular reign. Historians have so far failed to compile s,udl a list; indeed the whole subject has received scant atrenrion. 7 And yet they
st i. e. "Slaughter-of-the-magi",
62
produce ligts of thc kings and emperon of Rornc whldr go brdr m frr pcrhepa as Romulus, or to the still morc distant daya of Aenoru thc rcn of Anchiceo, and extend to the reigns of Anastasius and Justln, For the kings of Persia, however, that is to say for those that have reigned sincc the break up of the Pathian Empire) they have nor yer drawn up a parallel list setting out the drronology'of their reigns, though sudr a list is still a desideratum. 8 I have t'herefore made it my business to collect âccrrâte information on the subject from official Persian sources and I feel that a detailed e
I
to my eadier narrative. Chosross has been praised and admired quite beyond his deserts nor iusr by the Persians but even by some Rornans. He is in fact credited with being a lover of literature and a profound student of philosophy and somebody is supposed to have translated the works of Greek literature into Persian for him. z It is rumoured moreover that he has absorbed the whole of the Stagirite more thoroughly than the Paeanian otator33 absorbed the works of the son of Olorus,3a that his mind is tlled with the doctrines of Plato the son of Arisçon and that not even the Timaeus, bristling as it does with geometrical theorems and scientific speculations, would elude his grasp, nor lor that matter the Phaedo or the Gorgias or any other of the polished and more intricate dialogues, as for instance the Parmenides. 3 Personally, I could never bring myself to believe that he was so remarkably well-educated and intellectually brilliant. How could the purity and nobility of those time-honoured writings with a"11 their exactitude and felicity of erpression be preserved in an uncouth and uncivilized tongue? 4 More-
over one may well ask how a nnn brought up from drildhood in the glamorous atmosphere of the court, surrounded by pomp and adulation, and
,, tU 33 3a
BêoL2
AlrthloiThrHhtorlcl
,n^, *nich brought l)ârius to power. The orator Demosthenes who belonged to the deme Paeania in Attica. The historian Thucydides. In plain English, then, the assertion that Agathias is so indignantly rebutting is "that Chosroes was more at home with the complete works of Aristotle than Demosthenes was with the writings of Thucydides,
6,
then ruccædlhg to rn uttuly barbarous rtylc of life of which battles and m&noÇuvrcr rtetÊ I legulaf feature, could hope to achieve any real comps tcncc or protclcncy in this branch of leaming. .. Yct if pcople were to praise him on trhe score that, in spite of being a Persian and in epite of being weighed down with the cares of empire and the rceponsibility of governing so many nations, he still showed sorne inreresr ln acquiring a smattering of literature and liked to be considered something of a dilettante, in that case I should add my own voice to rhe general drorus and should not hesitate to regard him as superior to the rest of the barbarians. 6 But those who attribute exceptional wisdom to him and call him the rival of all philososphers that have ever lived, claiming that, in the manner of t}e Peripatetic definition of superior culture, he has mastered every brandr of science, thereby disclose the unreality of their pretensions and make it plain to all that they are merely echoing the ill-considered opinions of the crowd. 29. There was in fact a certain Syrian called Uranius who used to roam about Constantinople. He was a medical practitioner by profession and though he had no accurate appreciation of any of Aristotle's doctrines he used to brag about his encyclopaedic knowledge, basing his enormous selfconceit on the f.act that he was argumentative when in company. z He was often to be found in front of the Basileios Stoa and 'ürould take his seat at the bookstalls and engage in magniloquent debates witJr tüose who congregated there, people who wo'trld keep trotting out the same old catchwords about the Deity how to define its nature and essence, passibility, distinctness and such like things 3 Most of them, I dare say, 'ü/ere people who had not received an elementary education and who had not even led a decent Li[e, so that it was indeed a case of "fools rushing in where
,
-
35
it the easiest thing in the world to try their hands at theology, a subject altogether sublime and unattainable, whidr surpasses human understanding and excites awe and wonder by its angels fear to tread", since they thought
sheer incomprehensibility. 4 So they would often congregate towards evening, in all probability after some drunken orgy, and blithely embark upon ân impromptu discussïon of the most exalted and intangible topics. Sudr discussions invariably degene-
rated into the soit of inconclusive hair-splitting whidr resufus neither in enlightenment. 5 Eadr man would cling tenaciously to his own views till in the end tempers rose at the thought of each other's intransigence and they would resort to open abuse, using foul language like people brawling over a game of dice. Eventually the debate would be adjourned, the contestants being parted with difficulty and the whole fruitless exercise serving merely to make enemies out of friends.
persuasion nor in
95
For a detailed interpretation and discussion of this difficult passage cf. R. Keydell:
8.2.64
(
1971) pp.
70-71.
61
Book2
Agrthlmr The Hlrtorler
6 Now the star performer in thlg group wâ! Uraniur. Llke Homer's Thersites 36 he was full of noisy abuse and endleu chattcr. Yet he held no firm opinions about God and had no idea how to conduct a reasoned argu. ment on this subject. One moment he would attacl< the first proposition on whidr a particular line of enquiry was based, another time he would insist on being given the reason for a question before he would anssuer it. In this way he would not allow the discussion to develop in an orderly fashion but confused the issue and prevented anything positive from emerging. 7 He afiected the manner of what is known as sceptical empiricism and modelled his pronouncements on the style of Pyrrho and Sexus, aiming to escape mental anxiety by denying the possibility of mental activity. But he had not even mastered these notions having barely pid
t}e choicest dainties and consort repeatedly with the wine-jug, drinking himself silly and uttering a stream of obscenities. He made sudr a laughing-stock of himself that at times he \rras even smad
will catry more
con-
eup to
6,
tüm.
9 Ho rwore on many occoeiono that he had nwer belore seen lpltc of the fact that he had prcviously beheld real philosophers of greot dirtinctlon who had come to his court from these parts. . Not long before Damascius of Syria, Simplicius of Cilicia, Eulamius of Phrygia, Priscian of Lydia, Hermes and Diogenes of Phoenicia and Isidore lri.r cqual, in
olGazarall of them, to use â poetic turn of phrase, the quintessential flower
38
of the philosophem of our age,had come to the conclusion, since the ofiicial rcligion of the Roman empire was nor ro rheir liking, that the Persian srate was much supetior. So they gâye a ready hearing to the stories in general circulation according to whidr Persia was rhe land of "Plaro's philosopher king" $ in which justice reigned supreme. Apparently the subjects too rilere qrodels of decency and good behaviour and there was no sudr thing as theft, brigandage or any other sorr of crime. Even ii some valuable objeciwere left in no matter how remote a spot nobody who came across it would make ofi with it, but it would stay put and, wit}out any one's guarding it, would be virtually kept safe for whoever left it until such a time as he should rerurn. 4 Elated therefore by these reporrs whiclr they accqrted as rrue, and also because they were forbidden by law to take part in public life with impunity owing to the tact that they did not con{orm to rhe established religion, ao Éey left immediately and set ofi for a strange land whose ways were completely foreign to their own, determined to make their homes rhere. :iBut in the ûrst place they discovered that those in aud:ority were overbearing and vainglorious and so had nothing but disgust and opprobrium
for them.
place they realized that there were large numbers o housebteakers and robbers, some of whom were apprehended while others escaped detection, and that every form of crime was committed. 6 The powerful in fact ill-treated the weak outrageously and displayed considerable cruelty and inhumanity in their dealings with one another. But the most ex*aordinary thing of all was that even though a man could and did have any number of wives people still had the efirontery ro commir adultery. 7 The philosophers were üsgusted by all these things and blamed rhemselves for ever
In the second
having made the move.
31. The opportunity of conversing with the king proved a further disappoinlment. ft was that monardr's proud boast that he was a student of philosophy but his knowledge of the subject 'ürâs uterly superÊcial. There was no cornmon ground either in matters of religion since he observed the practices I have akeady described. Finally the vicious promiscuity which iharacterized Persian society $/as more.than the philosophers could stand, 38 Perhaps Agathias has in mind Pindar: Isthmians VII 18. 3e cf. Plato's Republic 47.3 d. 40 Justinian's edict of 529 forbade pagans from teadring and resulted
the Academy in Athens.
in the
closure of
6fr
lhxrk 2
Agrrtlrirrn: 'l'lre I lietnt ics
67
they corrtinuctl tlreir jounrcy without thercufter observing trny of their
AII these factors, theu, conrbinecl to scrrrl tlrorr lrrrrryitrg brreh lrornc ns frrst as they could go. z So despite thc king's rrllection fot them ancl cleslritc thç fact that he invited them to stây they fclt thut mcrcly to sct foot on Roman territory, even if it meant instant death, was preferable to a lifc o[ distinction in Persia. Accordingly they resolved to see the last of barbatian
cu$tornrl[y ritcs towut«Js thc rlcud mun. Â crrelul consitlerotion o[ the dream namely that the PersiSns hncl in fnct l«l tlrem to thc samc conclusion fesetved thc lirtc of renraining unburicd an
-
hospitality and all returned home. 3 Nevertheless they derived from their stay abroad a benefit whidr was neither slight nor negligible, but whidr ril'as to secure them peace of mind and contentment for the rest of their days. 4 A clause was inserted in fact
in the treaty, whide at that time was being concluded between the Romans and the Persians, to the efiect that the philosophers should be allowed to return to their homes and to live out their lives in peace without being compelled to alter their traditional religious beliefs or to accept any view whidr did not coincide with them. Chosroes insisted on the inclusion o{ this point and made the ratification and continued observance of the truce conditional on its implementation. '', 5 The story goes that on their return journey they had an extraordinarily impressive and memorable experience, 6 Stopping to rest in a field in Persia they descried the body o[. a man not long dead, flung down unceremoniously without any attempt at.bunal. Moved to compassion by the sight of sudr outfageous barbanty and thinking it sinful to remain the passive spectatofs of an unnatural crime they made their servants lay out the body as best they could, cover it with earth and bury it. 7 That night when they were all asleep one of their number (I cannot be more specific because f do not know his name) dreamed that he saw an old man who, though his face was unfamiliar and his identity could not even be surmised, had an air of dignity and decorum about him and resembled a philosopher in the style of his dtess and in the fact that he had a long, flowing beard. Apparently by way of exhortation and advice, he recited the following verses to him in a loud voice: "Bury not the man whom now you see, tlre man whom buried not you found.
ill
:§i tii
.
rd;
:t
,it
i'
for.
Mother earth'ürill not receive the mother-ravisher till he be by dogs devoured on the ground". 8 §Taking up in sudden terror he related his dream to the others. There and then they were at a loss what to make of it, but towards morning, when they got up and set ofi on their way, they were obliged by the lie of the land to pass by the spot where the improvised burial had been arcanged and once more found the dead man lying uncovered on the ground. It was as though the earth had of its own accord cast him up into the open and refused to protect him from being devoured. 9 Astonished at the extraordinary sight
I
BooL
BOOK
3
1. Even if my account of the customs of the Persians and the various dranges their way of life has undergone, together with what I felt needed to be said about Chostoes and his genealogy, have taken up rârher a lot of space
without having any very strict connection with the preceding matrer, yet I trust deat the whole exercise will appear neither superfluous nor unprofitable but rather that it will be seen to have secured the twin objects of amusement and ediÉcation. z It is indeed my most ardent desire, if it is in my power to do so, " to mingle the Graces with the Muses", 1 as the saying goes. 3 But mundane preoccupations impel me in a different direction and I address myself, albeit with reluctance, to the routine duties imposed by necessity. For the writing of my histories, vast and imposing task though it is, and, ro quore the lyric poet of Boeotia,2 "above all occupation" 3, is reduced to an occasional pursuit and am in consequence unable to devote myself whole-heartedly to this labour of love. 4 And though should be at leisure to improve my sryle by reading through the works of the great writers of antiquity, to survey with critical
I
I
discernment the entire historical scene and to give my full and unfettered attention to these matters, I am instead kept at my desk in the Basileios Stoa a from early mornin g to late evening busying myself with the incessant perusal of innumerable legal documenrs. And though I resenr being overworked f am distessed i{ I arn not, since it is impossible for me to eke out a livelihood without considerable toil and hardship. 5 Bur even so I shall not sladcen iri;my resolve, as long as the creative urge persists, even f:hough some readers may criticise me for overreadring myself and aspiring, as they say, to run before I can walk. 6 Even i{ some should find my writings thoroughly shoddy and superficial and indeed the typical products of an undisciplined mind, yet I may still succeed in pleasing myself, just as people with no ear fôr music enjoy their own singing. 7 But lest by indulgingin further digressions r give the impression of lapsing inro rasrelessness i had my previous accounr of the fighting inLaztca, Ette1g{§ 1 A terniniscence of Euripides: Heracles lites 673-4. z Pindar (518-418 B.C.). 3 Pindar: Isthmian I.2. a The Basileios Stoa or Royal Stoa was, as Procopius tells us (Buildings: I, XI,,12) the place in Constantinople "where the lawyers and prosecutors and all others concerned with sudr matters prepare their cases". §[e are also told (op.cit. I.XI,13) that Justinian had â cisteffr dug under part of the Building. The identification of this cistern with a surviving one, no§/ called Yeri Batan serai, allows us to locate the Royal stoa at a short distance to tfre west of the ChucJr of St. Sophia.
l
69
2, Chorrocr wr. o{ couroê grcatly dictruccd ar the neÿr of the death of àûatnerocr. To prcvcnt tho roops in Lazica from remalning leaderless, howivgrrhe iomediately Bppointed as general Nadroragan, aman of considerable dlrtlnction and renown. : In the time it took Nachoragan to make the IIGCGIaüy preparations for the journey and actually ger starred on his way fome higtrly imegular proceedings took place inLazica. . I §flhen the Romans fled ingloriously and abandoned their positions in thc mannet I have ulr" dy described, Gub,azes the king of tlie Lazi was tlled with afury at the thought of the disgrace incurred ühi.h *æ exceeded only by his apprehension at the prospect of futher blunders. He therefore lort no time in sending a detailed repoft to Justinian in which he held the
a general, or a commânder or in any military capacity but merely as the EEperor's pumebearer. He was not in drarge oI the revenue resulting from thc payment o{ tribute (that was the proviÀce of a di.fierent ofiicial) Lut of tfre pry.*ts the Emperor made our of his privy purse as reward môney for those soldiers who distinguished themselu.r ut ihà front. 5 Consequently his influence was immense and the tact that he had access to confiàential §Ports meant that official instructions seemed to câffy more weight when
they met with his approval. 6 Bessas, however, was already in Justinian's blad< books, ibecause of his conduct on an earlier occasion. Having captured the {ortress of Peffa be{ore fhe arrival o{ Mermeroes he should, in fact, have secured all the approaches tntg $e countf,y frorn lberia, (a task facilitated by the narure of the terrain), ond thus made it impossible for the barbarians ro enrer Lazca. But he wilfully neglected to do so and instead urenr rhe rounds of the cities subiect to his control lgvying money from them. 7 So that when the Empéror carne to hear of these further misdemeanours he remembered the earlier enes and was immediately convinced by the reporr. Accordingly he relieved him of his command, confiscated his property and relegatàd him to the corrntry of the Abasgi, where he was to remain until tlre Emperor's funher pleasure.
8 In spite of being extremely
,annoyed
with Martin, Justinian assigned
the chief command to him. Consequentiy Martin was first in command among the generals and Justin second, followed by Buzes and the rest in descending
otder. 9 Even in the past, relations between Martin and Rusticus on the one hand and Gubazes on the other had always been strained and there w'as an under-
current of hostility whicÀ was all the more dangerous and deadly for never being openly voiced. This animosity, which had its origin in envy,
70
A$thlmr
wa8 grcatly cxocerbated by the oonltant opffetlon
ro Viewing his every
action
lêokt
The Fllrtorler
in thc light o(
of lrtrtlond
aurpicion. thet! rêrcnrmcnr they nureed
their grievances and resentment hardened into angcr. rr Gu,bazes sensing theit intense hostility was moved to reciprocate and spoke abusively of them on several occasions, depicting them as cowardly braggarts with no sense of duty. At ofiicial receptions and meetings he never ceased to vent his anger on them unreservedly even when ir.r the presence of ambassadors from the neighbouring peoples. Finding this situation intolerabi.e, angered âr the accusations he had made to the Emperor and well avrare that if they should rnake any further mistakes he would not fail to expose them, they resolved to get rid of him in order to punish him for past injuries and safeguard rhemselves for the furure. 3. After mudr deliberation in common they sent John the brother of Rusticus to Constantinople to report that Gubazes had been caught collaborating with the Persians, since they had come ro rhe conclusion that it ïras not politic to make away with him until they had first sounded our rhe Emperor's feelings on the matter. z fn a secret interview with theEmperorJohn accused Gubazes of having already defected and of trying to bring in the Persians. Unless he were stopped somehow and stopped qui&ly it would nor be long before he made the country into a Persian dependency. 3 The Emperor was shocked by such a startling revelation but he was nor completely convinced. So still in two minds about the whole business he said, "arrange to have him summoned to o!.rr presence then". 4 John, fearful that if. he did arrive there the plot would be uncovered, said, " so be it, master. But what shall we do i{ he does not choose to come voluntarily?" "You must compel him", answered the Emperor, " since he is a subject, and someho"ür contrive to send him".,. 5 §Thereupon John immediately rerorred, "But if he resisrs compulsion,'rrhat then? " "Then', said the Emperor, "he will most assuredly sufier the fate of a rebel and perish miserably". 6 "In that case, master", said John, "whoever kills hiÀ will have,roihirrg ro fear". "No*ring", answered the Emperor, u that is, i{ he disobeys and ofiers resistance and is then lçilled as an enemy". 7 Once the Emperor had given this reply and had expressed much the same view in a letter to the generals John felt that he had adrieved his goal. So he did not stop to ask any more questions but returned toLazicawith the letter. Martin and Rusticus read it, found that the plot had been nicely contrived and immediately set about putting it into efiect. 8 Summonihg Justin and Buzes and concealing their design they said that they must go to Gabazes as quickly as possible in order to discuss with hjm their plans for a concerted attad< on the Persians at Onoguris. Believing this, Justin and Buzes set offi with them, accompanied by a small detachment of
7l
tt€opr,
g Mcanwhlh Gubrzer recelved wold that the gcncralc v'ere on mcËt hlm and would bc arriving any moment. Llttle Buspecting to thplr wry hortlle lntent he eppearcd near the banks of the river Chobus. Confident rny rnd lclaxed the unfortunate man met them there with only a tiny retinue of unrrmcd attendants. ro Indeed it would have been strange had he acted btherwise. The men he approaclred \il'ere not enernies, they were both frlendly and well-know to him. Had they not been sent to defend his land rnd repel the foreigrr invadet? , 4. §itting on their horses, then, they conducted aioint discussion on the question of how to deal with the present situation. " Gubazes ", said Rusticus, lwhat would you say to the suggestion that you ofier us sorne assistânce in thc task of attacking the Persian garison at Onoguris? It will be a disgrace lf they remain encamped in the middle of our territory, particularly since thcy are a mere handful of men and are in no position to ûght us". 2 "But, my dear fellows", replied Gubazes, "it is up to yott and to you elone to bear the brunt of the present fighting, since you are solely to blame for what has happened. 3If you had not been gilty ,f gross catelessness tund neglect of duty, no hostile base would ever have been built to confront you, neitler would you have turned tai-l and borne the stigma of dishonour' rble flight, nor would any of the other undesirable consequences have ensued. 4 So, my fine fellows, you must now make good your omissions if you profess to be enamoured of gIory and if you delight in the exalted name of general. For you may rest assured that I will not throur in my lot vith you until all youf emors have been rectiÉed"' 5 No sooner had these words been spoken rhan that same John who had played the patt of talebearer, acting as though the expression of a diflerent opinion were sufficient proof of Petsians sympathies and of planned subversion, silently drew his dugg* and stnrck Gubazes in the chest. The blow did not kill him outright. 6 Since he happened to be sitting with his feet crossed over his horse's neck he fell suddenly, knocl
done as an unmitigated disaster. They lcept quiet howwer, because they thought that the Emperor Justinian had er,rpressly authorized it. 8 The I'aztan people were thrown into confusion and despondency and refused to have anything more to do with the Romans in either a civ:[ or a military capacity. fnstead they buried the dead man according to their own rites, after whidr they refrained from all participation in the fighting, in protest at
12
loêlt
&tthlmrItrrHhprlar
the ortrageour uearment they hed rccclved rnd thE rcultant blow to thelr nation's prcstige. 5. .TheÏ-azi are a great and a proud people and they rule over other very considerable peoples. They pride themselves on their connection with the ancient name of the coldrians and have an exaggeratedry, though perhaps
understandably, high_opinion of themselves. ï t kiow of no ""rtrinty other subject race with sudr ample resources of manpower at iis command ot whidr is blessed with such superlluity of wealth, with such an ideal geo-a graphical posirion, with sudr an abundance of all the necessaries of lifeLd with sucJr a high standard of civilisation and refinement. 3 The ancienr inhabitants of the place were indeed completely una\ü.are of ihe benefits of navigation and had nor even heard of ships until the atrtval of the famous Argo. Nowadays they put out to sea whènever practicable and caryr on a thriving commerce. 4 Nor qe they barbarians in any other ,.rp..i, Io"g association with the Romans haüng Ied them to adopi a civilized and hw] sryle of life. rhar, discounting the bulls with brazen feer, the _so -abiding harvest of the sown Men and all the other fabulous and incredible crearions of the poetic imagination that have been elaborated around the figure of Aeetes, 5 one cannot fail to find that conditions no§, are ,.ry *u.li b"tt.. than they were in the past. ,-B"Tg the sorr of people r hâve described, then, the Lazihad every reason for feeling that they had sufrered an intolerable iniury in being arbitrartTy deprived of their king. 6 The Romans, at the instance of Martin, started immediatery to make _ hasty preparations with a view to mounting a full-scale attack aiainst the Persians at onoguris. ono,guris was the ancient name of the placà and may have arisen as the result of an encounter at some time in the past between a branc} of the Huns called the onoguri and the coldrians in which the latter were victorious, the local inhabitants then commemorating the success by laming the §pot after it. 7 Nowadays, hovrever, most pàopl. do nor use this name. A place of worship srands o1 th_e spot and ir diicried to Stephen, the man of God who they say was the firsi in olden times ro volurrtariÇ forfeit his life in defence of Christian principles and was in fact stoned tà death by his enemies. Consequently it has become custornary to associate his name with_the place. Nevertheless r can see no possible objection to my designating it b,y its ancient name and, in any case, srdr upoti""is more in keeping with the style of historical writing. 8 Meanwhile the Roman army '',,âs preparing to march against onoguris. Thqse who had plotted the murder were pressing on with tlrese preparations in the hope that they would easily overwhelm the garrison, ro that even if the Emperor got wind of their duplicity he would not be pa,:'icarafly angry 5 The reference is, of course, to the well-known myth of the Argonauts,
7,
rylth them but would raclnd the rccurrtlon ln conrldeodon of their latest ürc§ült' had been encamped on the plain 9 So all the gcncmla and thelr men, who u Of Ârchaeopons] began to get ready the wicket foofs " as they ate called and the ballistae and other such engines of war with the idea of taking the place by rtorm if necessaty. ro The "wicker toof" is a construction of osiers îIovcn together to ai to form a roof which is carried down on either side so m to enclôse whoever gets under it. Skins and hides are then placed in layers OVer it and the device is completely overlaid with them in order to afiord gfpotef protection and to be proof against missiles. rr fnsicle, men conceal thcnrselves under it in safety lifting it without being seen and moving it to whererrer they wish. §fhen it is brought up to a to'qler or wall as the case may be, then the men underneath dig up the adjacent ground and drawing up the ee::lhlay bare the for.rndations. After that they keep striking it with hlmmerr and irow-bars until they cause the stfuctufe to collapse. These then were the sort of preparations the Romans wefe making for the siege. 6. Meanwhile a Persian who was on his way to the fort was captured by until he gave Justin's bodyguard. He was taken to the camp and flogged that Nadroplanning. declared z He side were his what ,..orrriof â t*. the troops to encoufage him had sent and Iberia readred had abeady ragan be there. soon very general the would that them u6,rr. ,rd aiOnoguris he shordy', arriving be Cotars will and Mudreirisis at stationed 3 "Theten ioid, "r" reinforce their fellow countrymen at Onoguris, since they know that you mean to attad< them". 4 As soon as this information had been entracted the Roman generals heLi a discussion on the situation. Buzes said that they should make a con' certed attad< on the relief force while it was stil1 on its way. It was reasonable to expect that it would be outnumbered and defeated, th. logi.fl outcome of whigl. would be that the garrison, finding itself isolated, would surrender' In the case of theit actually ofiering any resistance it would require little eflort to crush them. 5 This suggestion met wit]r the approval of §Tilgang the leader of the Hetul contingent. Consequently he kept tepeating a sort of proverb which despite its uncouthness and homesprrn simplicity was bot[ forceful and appropriate. He said that "you must first scare awày the bees and then take your time over collecting the honey'' 6 Rusticus however, (emboldened apparendy by his complicity with Martin he had alreadybecome more insolent and overbearing) op9nly scofied and jeered at Buzes, accusing him of habitual ineptitude. , 7 Th2best policy, he raid, §/as not to weaf the troops out unnecessarily but to bring uq ail their men to the fort, reduce it without difiiculty and forestall the reliefforce. They could always send a few men to engâge them and impede their progfess,
71
A3rrhturlluHlrrrlu
.l Buzec' plan waa of coumc r much better ono, It wm rcrlirtlc, rtmtcg! cally sound, effective aLd eafe. Bur since, it reemr, thc whole ,rÉy rtr.iia by association in the guilt of the murdercrs the \ÿorce policy won tÉ" j*y i" order that they might the more speedily be punished. ' 9 some six hundred horse at the most $/ere sent against the relief-force from Mucheirisis. They were under the command ofbabragezas and usigardus, two barbarians who were officers in üe Roman affr.y, ro The rest of the men together with the generals went into action and made an assault on the gates. Then rhey surro'r.rnded the walls with the main bodv of their forces andlet fly with their weapons from all sides. rr The persians for their part defended thernselves by every avail,able means, dashing âbout on the battlements, raining down mis.siles and securing themselves àgainst the oncoming ones by suspending canvas mantlets to soften and absorb the ll"yrr rz The fight was sustained witfr great fu"y by both sides and looked more like a pitched battle than a siege. Both sides ïrere worked up to a feverish state of excitement and were showing their mettle with equal determina'tioa thougtr for difierent reasons. In oneiase it was a ,truggle-for survival in the face of a serious menace, in the other it was the huniiliating
prospect, once the attacl< had been launched, of returning without achiwing
the objective of reducin_g the fort and ridàing ArchaeJpolis of ur, .o.-y in its own neighbourhood. 7. Meanwhile the Persian relief force consisting of about three thousand horse had left cotais and Muclleirisis and ser our for onoguris. z on their way they were suddenly attacl
Rornan lines indiscriminately confused.
! Not surprisingly the confusion whidr ensued was appaning. §Tithout grving agoth-er thought the siege and the by-now-imminent frospect of _to sacking the fort and without even stopping to find our what was happening
loêh-
t
7,
or to mcctdn thck orrn rtrcngth rnd thrt of thetr pumuem the entirc army togpther u'tth thotr lcedur wæe rclzed wlth penic and fled in temor. 7 Growlng boldcr, the Persians preracd their pursuit still harder. Meanwhile thosc who wcre inside üe fort saw what was happening and rushing out to join in thc purouit made the plight of the fleeing enemy redound still further to their credit. 8 The Roman cavalry raced away at a gallop and easily got out of range of the enemy's weapons. But many of the infantry were killed in the stampede which occurred when they had to coss the bridge over the river called the Catharus.6 9 Unable at that point to cross over simultaneously in large numbers because of the nârro\vness of the bridge, they kept shoving and jostling one another. Some fell into the river whilst others were forced bad< into the hands of the enemy. ro The scene was one of unrelieved horror and would have ended in total annihilation had
not Buzes realized from their cries of anguish and aiatm just how serious the danger was. Turning arouad with his troops, he faced the enemy and gradually held bad< the pursuit just long enough to allow them to cross the bridge and get away to safety by the same route âs all the others had taken. rr No one in fact returned to the camp at Archaeopolis. Rushing past it in terror they left their entire stocl of foodstufls and provisions and valuables and escaped to the safety of the interior. They thus afiorded tJre enemy a Iucrative as well as a magnificent victory. 8. \)7hen the Persians found the plains deserted they dismantled the fortiûcations and looted the camp. After that they returned rejoicing to their respective camps and occupied once more all the territory they had previously held.
z Yet who can fail to see that tlre hand of heaven wâs at work bringing about the downfall of the Roman army as a punishment for the foul murder whicll had been committed? That was t-he reason why they chose the wotst possible policy and why, üough they numbeted some fifty thousand fighting men, they §/ere put to flight most shamefully by three t}ousand Persians and sufieted ,severe casualties. 3 But those directly responsible for that hçinous ctime \r7'ere soon to be punished in frrll, as I shall relate in the ensuing na,ffative. Meantime winter set in and the whole army dispered to its various winter-quarters in tàe tovrns and fortresses. 4 The afiairs of the Colchians w'ere in a state of turmoil and suspense. Their leaders had lost all sense of direction. They had no policy or contin§ency plan to fall back on. -l They therefore convened a secret meeting of the bulk àf their nation do'urn in a mountain gorge of t}e Caucasus, so that the Romans should not get wind of what they were about, and proposed a discussion on the subject of whether they should go over to the Persian side 6 The word means "cleaf".
76
BooLt
Atrthlmr T{roHltrertu
ot tetaln thelr link wlth the Romans. 6 A voclfcrout debete lmm«llatcly ensuod berrn een thosc who advocated the formcr rnd thoee who advocated the latter course. Before long it had degencrated lnto a babel of voices in which it was impossible to tell either who was speaking or what he was saying. At this point those with the mosr authority called for silence and insisted that whoever wished to come forward and speak should do so in an orderly fashion and that whoever was able to should give a coherent âccount
of the poliry to be pursued. 7 One of the most distinguished people present \r/âs â rnân called Aeetes. His anger and indignation at what had happened was greater than anyone else's, for he had always hated the Romans and been sympathetically inclined tovrards Persia. On this occasion he took full advantage of the greater conviction his arguments seemed to carry and tried to magnify the afiair out of all proportion, claiming that in view of the situation there was no need for discussion but that rather it was a case for immediately embracing the cause of Persia. 8 §flhen the others said that it was not advisable to proceed to drange their whole way of life on the spur of the moment, but that they should trst embark on a careful and lengthy discussion of the issues invo ved, he leapt up angrily, rushed into their midst and began to harangr:e them like an ofator in a popular assembly. He was a remarkably gifted speaker for a barbanan andhad an instinctive appreciation of the finer points of rhetoric. He now addressed himself to his audience in the following terms: 9. "If the Romans confined their injuries to words and thoughts, then we would still be efiectively repaying them in kind. But are \pe to stand for the present state of afiairs, in whic}r whilst they have aTready committed the most monstrous act of aggression we ourselves hang around debating the iss,ue ând let the opportunity for retaliation slip through our fingers? z It is no longer possible to say that whereas they have not yet been shown to be openly éhgaged in active hostility against us a likely case could be made out for accusing them of hostile intent, nor indeed, will it be necessary ro produce ârguments in order to establish the eristence of a secret plot. 3 But it is no longer possible only because Gtüazes our great and noble king has been unceremoniously disposed of like the meanest of his subjects. Gone forever is the ancient dignity of the Cold-rians. Henceforth there will be no question of our aspiring to rule over others. No, we must rest content if we are alloured to avoid sinking to a much lower level than that of those who until recently were our dependents. 4 And is it not an extraordinary state of alf.aits if we are going to sit around e>ramining the question of whether we should regard the men responsible for this situation as ourlÿ'orst enemies or our friends? 5 Yet it must be rcal:zed that their insolence will not confine itself to this action. Even if we drop the cJrarge against them they will not leave us alone. On the contrary they will ill-treat us with greater impunity
77
ll wo do nothlng, §7hen thcy 6nd pcoplÊ doctlc thelr lnrolcnce knowr no boundr and thcy hrbltually deapire inyôno who trcou thsm wtth deference, 6 Thclr Empcrcr lr utterly unscrupuloua and delightg ln conrinually crcating tçnalon and lngtability. Hence the euddenness s/ith whidr the hideous crime wll perpetrated, since it was committed at his orpress command and with thelr willing collaboration. 7 'üfe have all but sufiered the rape of our eountfy at their hands though there was no prior aggression on our part or tpofltaneous outbrealc of hostility. §flhile appearing to remain on the same friendly tef,ms as bdore they have committed the mosr unspeakable of cfimes, as though seized with a sudden access of insane cruelty and hatred rnd all the other dark and brutal passions. 8 How difierent are the ways of the Persians! Those whose friendship they have had frorn the start they go out o{ their way ro rreat with unfailing kindness, resening their anger for their enemies, as long as they remain enemies. 9 I could have wished that the colc}ian srare were still possessed of iæ ancient might, needing no help from foreign pov/ers and cômpletely independent in all matters that toudr upon vrar and peace, ro But, sincâ ryhether through the passage of time or the whims of fortune or perhaps thtough a combination of both we have been reduced to rhe srarus o] u roiject people, I think it pays us to join the side whose amirude is rhe more reasonable and whose goodwill ror,vards their allies is not liable to flucruarion. r r In tûris v/ay we will get the better of our real enemies since their past
will not go unpunished and we shall have taken dre necessary safety. rz For that sly and tngtatiating manner whidr enables them to injure the unsuspecting by hiding theii true selves belrind atacade of suavity and drarm will be completely wasred on us owing misconduct
steps to ensure our future
to our open and uncompromising hostility towarÀs them. 13 Even if theÿ should try to make war on us they would be fighting on enemy territory and would never be able to stand up ro the combined strength of the Lazi and the Persians or even to sustain the first shod< of our arms. 14 It is not long iince they engaged a detadrment of Persians with their entire army and were at once ignominiously put to flight. They ran so fast that even now they have scarcely recovered their breath and though they were roundly beaten in every other way they did excel their prrro.r, in one respect th; speed of their flight! 10. One might name as the obvious and immediate cause of this rout a combination of cowardice and bad judgement, and indeed sudr shameful defects seem to be part and parcel of their whole make-up. But the addition of deliberate wickedness to natural depravity tipp.d the scales so heavily against them that their plight was made doubly disasrrous, andby their foul misdeed they fodeited the protection of Providence. z For it is not so mudr by force of atms as by godfearing conduct that victory is assured, and
7t
Book,
&rthhrThrl{harhr
I find lt lnconcelvable thet hervcn rhould lntervcnc
on rhc rlde of abendoned
wiclcedness. Therefore we will have no trudr wlth theac men, if we have any sense, since they lack sound judgement and hrve moreover incurred the
wrath of _the being whose special province is the safety of all things. -our 3 Events have shown more clearly than words can that joining tie Persian side will be an easy and advantageous course to pursue and wiù win the approval of the Deity. 4 Nor *oold sudr a .oorr. carry with it the implication, from a hurlan point of view, of treachery or unjust aggression 9n oür part. Indeed we have seen fit on mâny occasions in the pasiio abide
by the terms of our alliance in spite of the insulting behavio,ur oi the Romans felt that to shift one's allegiance on u.Jouot of provocation whicJ-r though serious was nor altogether unbearablewu, .*tràely shabby thing to 5 But to sufier outrageous and irremediable harm witÉout a murmuf, of protest, not to show a flicler of anger in the face of monstrous inhumanity, thgt,r say, is not the reaction of sensible men but of cowards and weaklings who contrive to mask their callous indjfference to the faæ of their country with a-specious prerengg of polirical maturity. 6 It is hard to imagine hour qther people could become the victims of a fouler crime or ho'i, if they did, they could possibly overlook it. similarly we roo musr nor turn a blind gFe _t" what has happened bur must recoil in disgust from the thought of {tplryr"g indifierence ro the memory of our king and betraying a delre to flattet his murderers. 7 rf it were possible for him to be prelent here he would be inveighing bitterly againsr our neglecr of duty whicl, has enabled tfiese guilty wrerdres to conrinue to reside in his land instàad of being expelled from it long ago. 8 But since he will never again be present ,àd..r, you, bethink yourselves of the man and summon up a mental picture of him standing in the midst of the assembled company, pointing to the wound on his neck andhis drest and imploringhis fellowcouÀtry-.n to rake vengeance because we
do.
*
gI
à
even at thih late hour on his .n.Ài.r. §fhidr of yo,, tfr.r. +oUa brook a moment's doubt or discussion concerning the justice of Gubazes' claim to the sympathy of the Coldrians? 9 yes, §re must be on our guard lest through our fear of being branded as deserters we allow ourselves io becorne participants in the crime and throw away the drance of avenging the dead man. §7e will look a great deal more rreacherous if our affection for him lasts no longer than his lifetime and if when once §,'e lose the man we 1ose his memory too.
ro §7hen all is as it should be it is the height of folly to drange one,s whole way of life, but when the reverse is the case it pays, I think, to adapt oneself speedily to events. Reason is the criterion upon which resolution should be based and a dogged attadrment to the status quo is not always something to be praised but only when it makes good sense. But when it is a question of giving heed to unworthy considerations and clinging tênaciously
79
to r frlce podtton üon thc men who mrlntrinr hir prcvlou rtand ir morc blrmavorthy thrn the man who changer rider. rr \trÿhcn the Pcrsiane learn frorn ua of thie decigion and realize its lmplicatione thcir hearte will with good rcaoon warm to us and they will tght on our bchalf, for they üe generoue and magnanimous and especially good at divining their neighbours inrentions. Besides they will be gaining, without anen having to aslc for it, the alliance of a counrry of vital rir*t"gi" lmpotance and considerable military strength, which they themselves would go to great trouble and o
them not to resort to action before they had first given him a hearing-. 3 Out of respect for him they reluctantly consented to stay where they were and hear him out. so he came into their midsr and addressed them in the following words: '4 "That what you heard has had a profoundly disturbing eflect upon your minds is not surprising. You have in fact succumbed to a magnificent
piece of orâtory. The power of eloquence is indeed hard to combat. Nà man is proof against its well-aimed shafts, least of all those who have never before experienced them. But that does not mean that it cannot be countered by the prudent exercise of the faculty of reason and by bringing critical discernmenr to bear on the realities of a situation. -: Do not, thèrefofe, accepr srare-
ments whose credibility turns out on closer inspection to rest noi on arry considerations of honesty or utility but solely on the suddenness and novelty of their appeal. Rather must you rcehize that however attractive they may apwffi better options do in fact e>rist, Fufthermore, rJrat you were easily 'won over should itself be a clear proo{ of the deception practised on you.
80
I
Âscthla;r Tho Hhtorlcr
Booh
6 The man who ie advocating a dlshonest rtand har gtester necd of lmprec. and fine words; thus by eflectlvely sugaring the piü he qui&ly enlists the support of the more simpl+minded, j fiat is precisely what happened to you when Aeetes conrrived to lend an air of atmactivâ
.vËry rçmark 1r rlmed at this objectlve. Rlght ircm hio opcning words he apct !o grÇet point end to $est lengthr to sectue the realization o{ his pet rdrcmcs, And indecd his uncritical haranguc has the efiect of confusing and tmr*ating the whole process of deüberation. 3 It is the function of dclibcradon to take precedence always and to lead the way, subjecting all thrt remains unclear to a rigorous scfutiny. When the course to be pursued hu been detetmined, then and only then does the desire to act upon the deeisions arrived at become a necessary and relevant f.actor. 4 But Aeetes lur put the ca.rt before the horse and, before attempting ro clarify the issue, hrs alrcady embarked upon a decision. Yet what is the use of deliberation if
sive_ arguments
novelty to his tendentious orposition. You have no conception how +oroughly you have been hoodwinked. Yet, if nothing else, one can hardly fail to note how he started ofi by dragging in a completely imelevanr questio;. 8 As though you were all saying that what had happened was nor serious, refusing to condemn the brutal murder and concentraring all your attention on the question of whether the murderers of Gubazes .were really in the vrrong, he came forward and delivered a lengthy indictment of them, in which he devoted mudr discuss:i,on to proving what had ilready been establis9 for my part regard as the vilest and most abandoned wretches whorn I would gladly see put ro the mosr horrible of deaths not only those who strud< the blows and performed the actual killing with their own hands but all those too who had the drance ro prevenr it and did nothing about it. And I include those who were delighted and even those who were not particularly distressed at the crime. ro But the fact that entertain sudr feelings does not make defection to the Persians into a sound poliry. By what logic could the abandonment of principles on their part be construed as implying the necessity for a similar course of action on ours? It is hardly consistent to be angered at their treaclery while ourselves incurring a similar reproadr. rr So we must not now dwell on the uaalterable and irrevocable past lest by deliberating in a spirit of ânger ï/e allow our judgement to be clouded and deprive ourselves of the chance of finding a better solution. No, we must keep our heads without appearing ro lose our hearrs and take thought in advance to ensure the successful conduct of our afiairs. Only fools spend
hed. I
ï
their time btooding in perpetual resentment over past ills. §7ise men are inured to the whims of fortune'and undismayed by cJrance or drange. They do not react to past deprivation by destroying all hope of success for the future.
12. Aeetes' pro-Persian sentiments are of long standing and so is his desire to bring us into an alliance with Persia. This policy he is advocating by trying to scare us like so many d:ildren into believing that the Romans will not stop ât what they have done but that their efirontery will assume still more alarming proportions. Their Emperor is also credited with being an ardr-trouble-maker and is supposed to have ordered the murder personally, the design itseLf having been hatdred and elaborated long before its execution. §7hile making these allegations he praises the Persians to the slries thinking that that will make us desert immediately and become rhe humble petitioners of those who are by nature our deadliest enemies. z His
E1
ths matter has been prejudged? 5 Bring an unbiassed mind to bear, fellow Coldrians, on rhe mamer under congidetation and do not allow your views to be coloured by preconceived notions and ulterior motives. §7e cannot force events to ût into a pattern of out own choosing. That would be absurd. No, it behoves us ro follow them Itcp by step, subjecting them to the rational analysis of a lucid and independent mind. Such a procedure would enable us to form aî accurate picture of what has happened and to discover where our true interests lie. 6 Now lf you deliberate in this fashion it \vill immediately become âpparenr to you thst the conspiracy against Gubazes' life was nor the doing of the Roman forces, nor even of all the generals, and still less of their Emperor. It is alfeady common knowledge âmong the Romans that Rusticus and Martin out of envy for his good fortune embarked on rheir own private piece of wickedfless not just wit]rout the co-operation of the other leaders bur even in the face of their evident displeasure. 7 I consider it unjust as well as unprofitable to do violence to the laws of our community, whidr we set out to cherish, on account of the wrong-doing of one or perhaps two individuals and to do away with the whole of our familiar pattern of life whidr means so much to us, on so slender a pretext. \X/e would also be branding ourselves as the berayers of those who are guarding our land and imperilling their own lives so that we can live in comfort, and most heinous of all we would be showing cootempt for the dignity of the true faith in all its outward and inward manifestations. 8 For that is precisely what 'üe shall seem to be doing if we join forces with the violent ant4gonisis of the Deity. If they debar us from the practice of our religion and force us to adopt theirs, then what more horrible f.ate than that could we sufier both in this world and in the next? Iÿhat will we gain (let us put it this way) if we win the whole of Persia and suffer the loss of our souls? 7 9 Even i{ they were tolerant we would certainly not be able to count on théir hsting goodwill. On the conttary it would be an illusory and insecure arrangement, a mere temporary z c{. Mau. 16t26
e2
âgrthlur
The
Booh,
Hlrtorler
orpcdient. ro There can be no real fellowrhlp rnd no hatlng bond bctween men of dilferent religion nor cyen undcr the rtiàoh of fiaioi oi,À*o,pr*i ous act of kindness. A common religion is the one indlapensabi" pi..ooaition for such a relationship. In its absence even the ti" à? r.*rr,ip'rugg"rr, ,n o,frinrty whiclr is only so in name whfle in reality there is no.ààroïground
whatsoever. rr §7hat then do we srand to gain f.o,, g"i"g ;uer to the Persians.if even so they will remain our enemià and we r-rrrulnrv succeed in making ourselves more vulnerable in that it is more difiicult to guard against tJre enemy from within than the enemy from without? rz But let us assume for the- sake of argument that th"r. is nothing immoral or disreputable about such â move and that the persians are a hun?red per cent trustwomhy and reliable and will never fail ro honour the terms of the future !n-uty. -Yet granted that this were really the case undarr,rming thut none.of the other objections held good we wourd not be in a srong eio,rgh position to act. - 13 How could we desert to a foreign power .irrit. tË. Romans are still in cJrarge and have suih a hrrg. .on..itt tioo of ûrst-rate trools on ouf soil under the command of generars of no mean ability? How could we possibly avoid sufiering the *orirrrug" reprisals when those who were supposed to come ro our aid would be lingering in the region of Iberia ând advancing at snail's pace whilst our avengers *àr. o.*pylng the whole of our couûtry with their roops billeted in our cities? 13. And yet this good fellow informs us, basing his craim on recenr events, that they will not even be able to sustain the first shocl< of our arms. Though it should be perfectly obvious that the vicissitudes of war do not conform to a set patrern and that the failures of the moment are not doomed to be similarly unsuccessful on each and every occasion. on the conrrary victory often follows in the wake of defeat and cures the distress it has caused. p §7e must not therefore become over-confident on the groûnds that habituhl defeat in wery engagemenr has come to be expected of them. For if the sole cause of their defeat has been their failure to maLe the right decision then we should let that be a warning to ourselves to be on our
guard against the dangers of precipitate action. 3 so on no account should we regard-what has happened as a clear indication th"t shall get the better of them. Indeed it is only reasonable to suppose that those whJ'have blundered
*.
in the past and have learnt from .*p..i.n". what to avoid will m"k. good their previous omissions by their vigilance for the future. And if dre ôeity 4 is angry with them because of the heinous crime they have committed against the dead man and that is rhe reason for their pi.r.nt plight, what need is there for us to appear on the scene ro give a helping hand It th"gt, fle were not up to the taslc_ of seeing that justice is done but required heip from us? §7e shallcertainlyüave readred the acmeof impiety if w. dirhonoor by our defection the benetcent Providence whicr euen without our doing
il L
g,
lryülng fightr rlghtcourly
on our bEhalf. 5 So let no oÈlË lntoduce lnto of the dead man uttering the most unmanly complaints urd bcreeehing hia fdlow countrymen to fcelpity for him and pointing to his ïounds. Such behaviour rnay perhaps accord well with the portrayal of rom. purlllanimous and efieminate wretcl, but it should never be attributed to a Ltng and to a king of the Lazi at that, and least of all to Gubazes. 6 If he wefe ptesent here he would, like the pious and rightminded man he was; rtptoadr us for entertaining sudr proposals and would bid us nor ro be so dcjccted and faint.hearted and nor ro resolve to run away like a garrry of, drvcs, He would bid us rather to recover the dignity and self-reliancé o{ Colchians and of free men and to stand up courageously to misfortune, not hh_ryoeeJr the figure
rXlowing ourselves to be induced to do anything dishonourable or unworthy of our country's history and remaining true to its present obligations, secure kr the hnqwledge that Providence will not abandon our narion. 7 Now, if these are the sort of sentiments that are likely to meet with the approval of the very man who was brutally murdered, is it not altogether artraordinary that we, who claim to be motivated by out afiection to,urards hiqr, should hold the opposing view-point? 8 Indeed I am alrndrhar we üall be severely punished merely for toying with the idea of following such I couise. If the prospects of the intended defection were far from clear and the success of the issue could be said to hang in the balance, it would still !O higfily dangerous to make so mornenrous a decision depend solely upon cha4ce, though the advocates of this policy would very piobably have less to fear{rom their impudence. 9 But if it is shown tobe a demonstrably bad policy ftom every conceivable point of view then how can we fail to hate thrq authors of such a suggestion? Enough rhen has, I think, been said to malce it quite plain that we should steer clear of sudr a course. ro In conclusion I propose that we should send a report of what has happpned to the Emperor of the Romans to enable him to visit with condign punishment those most responsible for the ourage. I propose also that if he ptoües willing to do so we should put an end ro our dispute with the Romans and resume normal co-operation in both the civil and the military spheres. 'rr But if he should reject our petition rhen we shall have to consider whether it will not suit'us to explore some other avenue. In this w-ay we vould not appear to be unmindful of the dead nor would we give the impresgion of acting on impulse rather than judgement in the conduct of our
âfiairs".
14. §flhen this speech toohad been concluded the Coldrians had a ihange of heart. §fhat made thern relent was chiefly the fear that a dtange of allegiance would deprive them of the right to practise their religion. z Once Phafiazes' view had prevailed a deputation composed of the flovrer of the nation's nobility reported the circumstances of Gubazes'
,Ç rJ4
Agutlrlur;'l'lu'
I Itst,rr
lLrrh t
irs
luuldet to the l-nrlrcror Justiltirttr.'l'lrcy grrve llinl [Lrll clctdls o[ tlrc slru[lry and frar'rclrrlcnt allair, rcvculing that ncithcr lrrrtl Cubuzcs bccp cr.rnvictecl ol' h1*"g had dealings wirh ths Persians n,r hucl lrc bccn implicatccl i, any other kind of sinister machinarions against rhc ltomans. \x/hafhacl hnppcn"j, they said, was that when he had rebuked them with justifiable r"u"rîty for committing a whole series of careless blunders, Martin and Rusticus and their hen&rnen had rerorted by producing this trumped-up charge and destroying an innocenr man. I They begged him to pèrrorÀ rhis one act o{ kindness for the sake of the dead manr not to let the irime go unpunished and to nominate as their king not some foreigner or outsider but Tzàthes the younger brother of Gubazes, who was staying in constantinople at the time._ In this way their ancestral constitution would once more be upheld and the unbroken succession and integrity of the royal line maintained. 4 convinced of the justice of their requesr, the Emperor hastened to bring about its fulfiknent. so he sent Athanasius, one of the leading senarors, to conduct a fuIl judicial inquiry into the afrauu. and ro rry rhe càse according to Roman law. 5 On his arival he immediately sent Rusricus to the citÿ of Apsarus where he had him imprisoned and kept under close surveillance. Meanwhile John who had deceived the Emperor and had committed the outrage with his own hands had absconded in an artempt to save himself by flight. But it so happened that he was intercepted by Mestrianus, one of the ofiicers of the imperial body-guard who had been senr rhere to atrend upon Athanasius and execute whatever judgement he might pronounce. So Mestrianus arrested John and marched him ofi to Athanasius for judgement. 6 Athanasius sent him too to Apsarus, with instructions that both prisoners should remain incarcerated until the preliminary proceedings for the trial
Ëcl\tËn llre rrtirIlle ol'it. Âttotlrer: lcrlturc ol'Ilre loyrrl innigniu is tlrc clrrsp, rerltlenrlertt rvitlt jcwcllcrl lrcrrrhrrts url(l otlrer hincls ol onlruncnt, with which thc clurk is lïstetrcd, 3 Âs sncln us '.l'zrrllrcs sct foot on his country's soil rplenclirlly arrrryccl irr thr: royal apprrrcl thc gcnerals ancl the entire Roman ârmy greetetl him ancl accorclcd lrim all clue honour and respect, forming a pfilccusion in fi'ont of hirn, their armour and weapons specially polished for thc occasion ancl most of them riding on horsebad<. 4 In their joy at the rlglrt tlre Lazi managed to forget their distress for the moment and, falling Itrto linc, accompanied him to the sound of uumpets and with banners raised eloft, The procession was of a pomp and magnificence beyond what is ttrurrlly associated with the Lazian monarcJry. 5 Once established orr the throne Tzathes proceeded to take over the rcins of government and to rule his people as he thought fit and in accordntrce with the dictates of ancestral custom. 6 Soterichus therefore set ofi lmmcdiately to accomplish the mission on which he had been senr. He was in foct carrying a sum of money from the Emperor whidr he was to distribute to the neighbouring barbarian peoples according to the terms o{ their alliance. 'I'lris payment had long been customary and was made on an annual basis. 7 FIe took his elder sons Philagrius and Romulus with him so rhar straight ofter leaving home they should be given some timely training in physical cndurance, since both of them had akeady come to ma-n's estate and were quite able-bodied. The third son Eusrratius had been left behind in Constantinople because he was still very young and was in any case not physically
fit.
I
Eventually Soteric}us readred the land of the Misimians who are of the king of the Colclians as are also the Apsilians though they clifier from these in both language and customs. They are indeed situated farther north than the Apsilians and slightly more towards the East. 9 \)7hen he got there, at arty rate, it suddenly entered into their heads that he wanted to betay to the Alans one of their forrresses situated near the border with Lazica, whid: they call Bud:lous. The idea behind this, they thought, was that the envoys from the more distanr peoples could all congregate there and collect their pay so that whoever brought the money would henceforth be spared the necessity of travelling round the foot-hills of the caucasus and setting out in person to meet them. subjects
were compl.eted.
15. By the beginning of spring Nadroragan was in Mudreirisis. He mustered his troops at once and made vigorous preparations for war. The Romans for their part concentrated their forces arô,rnà Nesos and also began to ryake prqrarations, with the result of course that the proceedings of th. trial rlge_ adjourned, since military considerarionr t..*àd to take priority over all else z Meanwhile Tzathes had arrived from constantinople accompanied by the general soterichus. He had received his ancestral title together with thl rcyal insignia from the hand of the Emperor in accordance witl a timehonoured uadition. The insignia consisr of a gold cro\Mn set with precious stones, a robe of cloth of gold extending to the feet, scadet shoes and a turban similarly embroidered with gold and precious srones. rt is not lawfr.rl, however, for the kings of theLazi to wear à puple cloak, only a whire one being permitted. Neverheless it is nor an altàgeih.r gamenr since it is distinguished by having a brilliant srripe "o-âonplu.e of gold Jabric ïroven
16. The Misimians may have received intelligence to this efiect or they
may simply have acted on suspicion. At all events they sent a t\Ài.o-man deputation consisting of Chadus and Thyanes, both of them persons of distinction. z 'when they found the general encamped near to the fortress in question their suspicions u7'ere confirmed and they exclaimed, "that was avety bad turn you planned to do us! You have no right to let anyone else steal what belongs to us, still less ought you to be harbouring such designs
#
tt6
yoursclf. llut
Âgrrt
lrlrx:'l'lre I listrrt
if
this is tenlly ttot yout'intention tlrerr nrrrke §urc thrrt you lo rrnother s1:ot. You shu.ll not want for provisions. Wc shall bring you everything you neecl. IJut rest assured you are not staying here, for we will not havc you loitering on any pretext". 3 This impertinence rÀlas too mudr for Soterichus who, thinking it intolerable that the subjects of the Coldei who were rhemselves dependents of tl:e Romans should adopt an insolent tone towards Romans, ordered his body-guard to strike them with their batons. §Thereupon they thrashed them mercilessly and sent them bad< half-dead. 4 After this had happened Soterichus did not imagine that he would encounter any hostility bur stayed where he was, as though he had simply dealt with some misdemeanour on the part of his own servants and consequently had nothing to fear. IX/hen night came he v/ent to bed without bothering to mount a guatd or take any precautions. Likewise his sons and the body-guard and all the other servants and slaves that were with him were less careful about their sleeping-arrangements than they would have been in enemy teritory. 5 Meanwhile the Misimians refused to tolerate the insulting treatment they had received. So the made a heavily-armed attack on the place, entering the general's quarters and killing first those servants who acted as ihamberlains. 6 In the ensuing noise and con{usion, whicl was of course considerable, Soterichus and those nearest to him became aware of the disaster. They leapt out of their beds in reffor, but they were srill heavy-headed and daz.ed with sleep and in noposition to defend themselves. ,7 Some of them got their feet caught in the blankets and could not walk. Others made a dash for their swords in an attempt to stand up and fight it out, whidr was pitifully inefiectual, since they were in the dark and completeJy helpless. They kept banging their heads against the walls and had no recollection of where they had put thefu weapons. Others feeling that they were already rapped gave up all hope and did nothing but shout and utter loud lamentations. 8 Taking full advantage of their consternation, the barbarians fel1 upon them and slew Soterid-rus and his sons and all the others with the exception of the odd survivor who managed to leap to safety thro rgh some emergency door or to escape detection by some other means. 9 After doing this the inhuman'üretcrhes despoiled the dead men, taking away with them everything else that the place contained and even appropriating the Emperor's money. Altogether they acted as though the men they had killed were really their enemies and not the general and other representatives of a friendly po\ver. L7. It \À7as not until the massacre'u7as over when they had glutted their lust for blood and thek fuenzy seemed to be subsiding that they began to reflect upon the consquences of their action and to grasp the full implications of the step they had taken. They realized then that it would not be long leave hcrc as quickly as possiblc .u"l(l llovc:
llxrk I
iFr
w & 4...'
T
87
befr,lc lltc llrtrrrrrrtn urrne thir'sting for vcngertncc ttncl thrrt they worrltl ntlt
tltettt, r S
lre uhlc to sto;r
wcre serving as heavy infantry in the Roman army' They numbered well nigh two thousand and were under the command of some of their most rllstingr"rished leaders, namely Balmadr, Cutilzis and Iliger. These Sabirs then, had, on the instructions of Martin, encamped near the plain of Archaeopolis, the idea being that they should do as much damage as possible to the enemy, who would probably be crossing over by that route, so as to make their passage both more difiicult and most dangerous. 6 lÿhen Nachoragan Tearnt that the Sabirs had been strategically placed with this end in view he selected about three thousand men from the Dilimnite contingent and despatched them against the Sabirs, bidding them üke the braggart he was to wipe them out so that there would not be any of them left to ambush his rear while he was mardring into battle. 7 The Dilimnites are among the largest of the nations on the far side of the Tigris whose territory borders on Persia. They are warlike in the extreme and, unlilce most of the Persians, do not fight principally with the bow and the sling, They carry speârs and pikes and wear a sword slung over one shoulder.
To the left arm they tie a ÿery small dirk and they hold out shields and bucklers to protect themselves with. One could hardly des6ibe them simply as light-armed troops nor for that mattef as the type of heavy-armed infantry that ûght exclusively at close quartefs. 8 For they both disdrarge missiles from adistance when the occasion arises and engage in hand-to-hand fighting, and they are expert at charging an enemy phalanx and btea"king its closeknit ranks with the weight of their drarge. They can re-form their own ranks witlr ease and adapt themselves to any contingency. Even steep hills they rrrn up without difiiculty thus seizing in advance all points of vantage, and when ptit to flight they escape with lightning rapidity whereas when they are the attad
tt
l6ôLt
Â3rtldui ThHllprTu
subject pcoplc otrce thcy arc ln fact ftrc end lndcpendent end lt lr nor in their nature to submit to any form of compuhlon. 18. This detadrmenr of Dilimnites, then, ser out at nightfall against the !r!ïr, since they thoughr it preferable to make , ,utprIr" attaà< on the sabirs while they were still asleep and thus annihilate üem with a minimum of trouble. And they would nor, r suppose, have been deceived of their hopes had it not been for a drance which proved their undoing. z But it so happened that while they"o.*nt.r were on the way under cover of darfness to accomplish their mission a solitary colcleian fell in with them. seizing him with ala.y.ity they forced him ro sho'ü them the way to the sabirs. He was only too eager to do as he was told and set orff at thohead of them. Iüzhen he read:ed a thickly-wooded glen, however, he quietly crouched down and slipped away. Having s''ccessfully eluded his prrrluers he ran hard and managed to readr the camp of the Huns before rh.y did. 3 §7hen he got there he found them all sound asleep. "§fretched men", he-shdeLed at the top of his voice, "another minute and you \rdll all be dead,,. As soon as he had thus awakened them he told them that the enemy would be there any moment. 4 They started up in alarm, armed themselves, left the enclosure of their fortiûed camp and splitting up into rwo bodies took cover. Moreover they left the entrance ànd their wooden "ogourded and canvas huts standing in exactly the same position as before. 5 owing to their ignorance of the terrain the Dilimnitàs went by a very rourrd-ubo"i route though they did readr the camp of the Huns before daybreak. §7ith fatal_ confidence they rushed in and roon wer. all inside. 6 creeping up noislessly lest the enemy should be awakened by what they heard th.y dio""
their spears into the beds and the hurs, seemingly killing tlem in their sleep. 7 But_iust w!9n they thogsht that their mission was already accomplishà the Sabirs^.suddenly rushed out of their hiding places and fell on them-from both sides' The Dilimnites_ uTere completely shattered by the unexpected turn of events and finding themselves caught in their o*t, irup did noiknow where to_tum. Flight was no easy rnatter,penned up as they were in a narro.w. and space. Nor could they clearly distinguish ih. .rr.rrry in the -confined twofold uncertainty of panic and night-fighiing. t tt. r.r,rlt wu, a massacre in whidr they did not even so much as make an attempt to defend themselves. Eight hundred men v/ere killed while the resr br*.ty managed ro ger clgar, o{y to wander,aboyt distractedly not knowing v/hich \üy to go. often wren they thought they had abeady fled to a safe distanc" th"v wüd keep going round in circles ending up where they had started and stumbtring into-the enemy. 9 This sort of thing went on all night. At daybreat whei the first light began ro dawn the survivors immediately recognized the roure they had taken and ran straight for the persian lines though even so the Sabirs were hard on their heels.
89
.
lo Bebat, thc commandcr of thole Romrn fottel thr,t had been atatloned for e very long tlmc, happened on thât occaaion to apend the night Lrzlca h h ArrCraeopollc where hls earc werc aoralled ftom every direction by a dcdenlng noise and shorting. rr Ar long as it was dark and there was [O way of telling what was going on he kept very quiet and did not ventufe fOfth. But when the sun câme streaming ovef the mountain ridges he got an Unmlstakeable vie'ur of what was happening and saw clearly that the Dilimiltcg urefe fleeing before the Sabirs. rüfihereupon he rushed out of the city hlmsclf with sudr troops as formed his immediate entoufage and dispatdred f,trothe not inconsiderable portion of the enemy with the result that out gt euch a latge force there §ras not a thousand men in all who reached Nachoragan.
L9. Straight after the failure of this attempt Nadroragan left for Nesos rnd camping close to the Romans invited Martin to a parley. z On Martin's arrival he said: "You are sudr a shrewd and able general and a person of. gteat influence among the Romans, and yet far from showing any lnclination to stop the two monardrs from engaging in a mutually exhausting Conflict you have allowed them to persist in the protracted ruination of their rcgpective states. 3 If therefore you afe agreeable to the idea of anegotiatCd setflement, why not move with your afmy to the Pontic city of Trebi' zond, whilst we Persians shall remain here? In this way we shall discuss the terms of the armistice at our leisure using trusted messengels to convey our views. 4 If you do not voluntarily withdraw youf afmy from here you may fest assured that you will be driven out by force, for I h91d victory in thepalm of my hand. And, mark you, I wear her no less securely than I wear thisl. A" he uttered these words he showed him the ring whidr he was wearing. 5 In answer to this Martin replied: "I do indeed consider peace to be the titing object of our prâyefs and a most precious possession and shall hetp yoo i. your efiorts to teinstate her. However, I think it would be better ifyou wefe to move with all speed to lberia while I went to Mudrefuisis. That would enable us to oramine the immediate situation, 6 As for victory, you may indulge in boastful talk if you wish and presumptuously imagine t[ai she is up for sale and is there for the taking. But I s_ay that the scalàs of victory are weighted according to the discretion of divine Pro' vidence, ,nd th.y do not incline towatds the boasdul and the agogant but tourards those to whom the Ardritect of the universe nods his approval". 7 After Martin had given this pious and courageous reply and,had shown right"om indignation at the blasphernous insolence of the batbarian they parted withoui any pfogless having been made towards a peaceful settle*.ot. I Nachoragan retumed to his camp and Martin to Nesos. Nadroraganfeltthat there was no point in stâying where he was and so decided to go
t0
Aruhtmr
lkHtrpllc
Boohl
to the town of Ph*tr r and lulc thc Rom*nr thcn Lutord, Thc uron for his decision was that he rcceivedJntuuig.n.. t; iirr*r, *or. was especially vulnerable, being .ntir"ry consffucted of *ooà, *d that the suffounding plains were r"..*Ibl" rndiuitrÈii f*;riltd;:' 9 It is, I suppose comrnor knowledge that üe town of phasis tJ.i ii, name from the river that flows u"ry to it and dir"*bogou, i" it, into the Euxine. e rhe town is in "ràr. "r""rr,y fact situated on the coast flear to the mouth of the Phasis, and lies ar a distance of not o,o.. th* rt;;;;;'ài,.
,h;.EË;;riii
*.r,
Nesos.
of
. 20. Late at night therefore Nachoragan immediatery lowered into the river and fastened ,o.g"r!.r the light cr#t which ;;i;i b;;"sh, with him on \À/'agons and, thus, huu.rlu constructed a pontoonhe -^,hi, troof, over ro the other side withour being obseàed by rhe "o"rr.y.dî R;;;;. ui, pt* v/as to reacl the south side of the iourn; from *rria q"rræ, the'waters of the river would not bar his access ,o ,É. f"" ;;;iâ. .;;J;", in the direction of the north srde. 3 Towards dawn he ser oft from the bank of the river and, alter making , â.torr i, -- uy -r u,, ,ur. u distance as possible, p_roceeded direcly on "rd*-r;-ü;;-ilr* Ài, *ry.'4 ït was not until.late in the morning that thé Romans rearized,to their aTarm' that the persians had crossed olver. conse*.rrr, ,rrlîi'.". .or, anxious ro reach the town before the enemy und Àrnnâ ,uir." ffiremes and thirtv-oared ships whidr they had moored o.u"Ë:-Th. "bàrr, *.r. propelled downstream at a-veîy_gîeat speed. 5 n,rt N*Jrorug* Lad had a verygood sra* and was in fac.t arieaayhalf wuy Éetw.., N"r"JÀà.rre At this point he laid a ba*ier of ti'mber *â ;dl;;;"rt_hr-*d;h;tos,n. river, massing his_elephants behind it in rines *rü.h ;;;à;î f*;;-,h., could wade. 6 seeing this from a disrance, tn. no-* n.., i-L.ai*+ began io bacft water. They had ahad..job iowing in reverse with the current against thqm, but they pulled.rrfully ar the"oars ,"J;;rgJ. b;f ?w?y: 7 Even so the?ersians.caprured rwo empty uor,, *lriÀ'rÈir crevrs had abandoned. §7hen faced with imminent caffiil*;;; ffi;or"ug.orrty cjrosen ro commit themserves to the ,.r.y àf ,rr. *r.r.-iiïï'in {uct u droice between certain and-ress certain duîg.r and they pi.r"rr"a to ,uke :
*Jrf*
so thev leapt nimbrv overboard ;ir#irg-î""Àia"runu 1,9*.". underwater distance brr.ly reached the safety of their .I..uà.r, ,hipr. a At this point tley left Buzes with his rt of everything there and to bring rrerp in.uu" of Àï"inJàL"r, *"r" "".a. ghippe{ along and then across the river, ,ft . *hi.t ;verrand bv a difierenr route so as to avoid rundng into,h. arrived at the rown of Phasis rhey entered its lates and";-.,ni§ri;;i,à:; the gen.iJ, àpJ""i"r.a
,r-i
N.r;;;'rrË;arge *;;;;.ü
, N"* P"d tn the U. s The Black Sea.
S. S. R.
91
rmong thamrelvor ths trrk of mrnnLrg ths fortlficrtlonr, rlnce they dld not fccl ruong enough to cngage the enemy tn a pitched bnttle. 9 Justin the ron of Germanur and hie fncn u'erÊ atationod in front on the highest point, whlc.h faced towards the sea, with Mamin and his forces occupying a nearby porition. The middle part tü/as held by Angiles with a contingent of Moorish troops atmed with shields and lances, by Theodorus and his Tzanianheavy hfaotry, and by Philomathius with the Isaurian slingers and dart-throwers. ro At some distance from these a detadrment of Lombards and Heruls mounted guard under the command of Gibrus. The remaining stretch of wall whiih terminated at the Eastern quarter of the tosm was guarded by the Eastern regiments cornmanded by Valerian. And this completes the account of the üsposition of the Roman forces defending the walls. 2L, They had also built a massive rurnipart. in front of the walls in order to withstand the ûrst shoik of an enemy attack and to serve as a butttess. They were understandably anxious about the walls in view of the fact that they wete built of wood and particularly because they had crumbled and caved in with age in many places. z Accordingly a moat had been dug and filled up to the top with \ÿater, so that the stakes whicJ: had been driven in in great profusion were completely hidden. The latter part of this opetation had been efiected without difiiculty by diverting the seaward outflow of the lagoon which flo,urs into the Euxine and is known locally as the "little seùo. 3 Latge merchantships rode at andror next to the sea-shore and the mouth of the river Phasis very close to the town with their boats securely suspended abirut the mastheads ani:l raised aloft. at such a height that they bvertopped and even dwarfed the towers and battlements of the fortifications. 4 Up in theboats solüers and the more daring and wârlike of the sailors were stationed; They were armed with bows and arrows and slings and had set up catapults loaded and ready for action. 5 Otürer ships too had been fitted out
in almost exactly the same fashion and then conveyed up the river to the op: posite side of the fortifications where Vaierian was in command. Their presence at this point méant that any attempt on dhe part of the enemy to conduct a siege at close {ua.rters would be repulsed, since they would be shot at from a
very great height on either side. 6 To ensure that these ships on the river should come to no harm two cominandêrs ,Dabrugez,as the Ant ahd Elminegeir thé Hun, acting on the instructions of the generals, manned with troops {rom theii own contingents ten skiffs of a special kind equipped with fote-and-aft l.'udders, and travelled up the'river as far as possible. They kept a non-stop watdr, on the various crossing-points, sometimes sailing in the middle of the r-iver and sometimes veering towards one or the other of its banks. 7 In the course of this operation they experienced one of war's most pleasant su4lrises. Even furtler up the river than they were, the two thirty-oared Roman Vessels, whose capture without their crews by the Persians I have
?2
already relntcd, now lay ln walt moorçd to the burk of the rlver and manned At ntghtfall their crews all fell rllcep, The cument.was particularly strong and the cables were stretched by the tilting of rhe boats, with the result that the moorings on one of them suddenly snapped. Cut adrfit and virtually without oars to propel it or a rrldder to steer it, it was caught up in the current, swE)t auray and eventually 9 consigned to Dabragezas and his men, who rejoicing at their good fortune gleefully seized their prey. The ship whidr they had abandoned empry had returned to them full.
by Persians.
I
22. Meanwhile Nadroragan left camp and advanced on the town with his entfue army. He intended to conÉne himself to light skirmishing and the discharging of missiles from a distance in an atternpt to test the Romans' mettle and to see whether they would come out into the open and fight. In this way he hoped to form a cleat idea of what tactics to adopt in the next day's battle. z As soon as the Persians got within shooting distance, therefore, they immediately began, according to their usual practice, to disdrarge volley upon volley of arrows. Many Romans \r7'ere wounded, and thouglr some of them continued to defend the walls, others withdreur altogether from the fighting. 3 In complete disregard of Martin's instructions to the whole army that they were to stay each at his respective post and to tght from a position of safety, Angilas and Philomathius and abotrt two hundred of their troops opened the gate in their section of the wall and made a sortie against the
loohl
A:rthlmr ?hc l{htoçlu
enemy.
4 Theodorus the commander of the Tzanian'contingent
tried at first to restrain them, upbraiding them for their rashness. But when they would not listen to him he fell in reluctantly with the majority decision and set ofl at once with them to avoid being suspected of co,urardice and of seeking to cover up his ignoble ends by an impressive show of prudence and good sense. So, though he had no liking for the enterprise, hç resolved to see it through p the bitter end. 5 And in fact they would almost certainly have been annihiladed on the spot but for a heaven-sent miscalculation whidr saved them. The Dilimnites who were ranged in battle-form ation a,t that point, perceiving the small number of the attad
possibility of escape seerned almost too mudr to hope for. 7 Forming themselves therefore into a cornpâct body they faced about and suddenlv drarged with their spears Ievelled at those of the enemy that vere positioned near the town.
§7hen the Dilimnites saqr them drarging with the fury of despair they immediately opened up their ranks and made way for them, since they were unable to confront men who cared neither for their own lives nor for the consequences of-their actions. 8 In this way the Romans were allowed to
It
rrfoty unoppored, Only too gld ro get back lnrldc the fortlfications, rlemmcd thcy thc gatc behind them. The nÇt achievemenr from sudl a cxploit they had risked their lives to sûve their shins! hurrdous wâs nll 29. Meanwhile an arny of porters on the Persian side had long been totltng to fill in the moat. Their work u/as nortr cornplete. All gaps had been ftopped and all holes had been plugged. In fact they had done sudr a thorough job that even a besieging army could walk over the spot and siegecggines could be brought up with little diIficulty. z But a disproportionate tmount of time had been spent on the operation considering the vast retqrrces of manpower at their clisposal. Thougtr they threw in an enormous quantity of stones and earth it did not sufiice to btock up the moar, and wood was scarce except for what they cut from the forests, travelling far to get it and transporting it with incredible toil. 3 The Rornans had in fact already set fire to all the surrounding countryside, burning down even the wayside inns and any other buildings in the immediate vicinity. Their purpose in doing this had been to ensure that the enemy did not have a reoôy oupply of building material from any of these quarrers. 4 No other event worth recording occured on that day, and at nightfall NacJroragan returned to camp with his troops. 5 On the following day Martin, wishing to raise the morale of his troops and to strike dismay into the hearts of the enemy, assembled the entire Roman army with the apparent object of discussing the immediare situation. Suddenly tüere stepped into their midst a man covered in dust, who to judge from his âppearallce must have travelled a grcat distance, though in actual iact the whole incident had been rehearsed by Martin. His face was unfamiliar and he announced that he had just arrived {rom Consrantinople with a letter from the Emperor. 6 Seemingly overjoyed Martin took the letter, opened it and proceeded to read it not making any secret of what he was doing or reading silently to himself but in a loud clear voice so that every-
il.h
üo
body could hear
him.
7 What that document really contained was possibtry something qüte difierent, but the actual words he read out were as follows: "§7e have sent you a second army no smaller than the one you already have. Yet even if the enemy should happen to be numerically much stronger than you, their superior numbers will never do more than match your superior courage, so that the apparent disparity will cancel itself 8 But, to prevent them from boasting even of a superiority on pâper, receive this army too and note that it has been sent not in response to any real or pressing need but metely to produce a dazzlng and impressive display. Be of good deeer therefore and acquit yourselves with energy and enthusiasm, bearing in mind that we shall play our part to the full 9 Martin then immediately asked the messengef where the army was. "They are not more than four Laziart parasangs away', he said, adding that when he left them they were
out.
".
?1
A&thlr:rÎlr:Hlrtorlu
scttlng up-camp_near the river Neocnur. ro tüfhoroupon Mertin, feigning an_ger, orclaimed, "Let them tum bacÏ and go home as fast as they cân. I will not have them here on any occasion. It-would be intolerable iî, when thes_e men here having {or so long shared with me the hardship of so many battles ate aheady on the verge of destroying the enemy and adrieving todl victory, tlrose others should come along at the eleventh hour when their presen€e is no longer needed and a{ter having shared scarcely any of the haz,ards receive an equal share in the glory and have their namei linked with the triumphant finish of the campaign. And the greatesr injustice of all is that they would reap the same material beneûts as all these here present. rr I-et them stay whele they are for just as long as it takes them to pad< up and get started on the return-journey. These men here will moie than sufiice for the task of bdnging the last stâge of the war to a successful conclusion". rz §7ith these words he turned round and addressed himself to the troops, saying: "May I assume that these are your sentiments too?,, §flhereupon they voiced their approval with a loud dreer and exclaimed that the general's view was absolutely right. 13 They for theii part became more confident and were able to rely on themselves without needing help from any other quarter. The prospect of plunder fired them with arnbltlon and a desire to surpass themselves. They were spurred on still further by their confident anticipation of immediate and unresricted looting as thougL they had aheady destroyed rhe enemy and their one concern was with how they were going to divide the spoils.
24. Similary Martin's other aim was also fulfitled. The story of the reliefforce soon leaked out and was in general circulation and it was not long before the news that a second Roman army had arrived at the banks of the river Neocnus and that at aîy moment it would be joining forces with the ûrst one, cape to the ears of the Persians themselves. z They were all dumbfounded and extremeh alarmed at the prospect of having to do battle
with fresh enemy rein{orcements when they themselves urere exhausted by the innumerable hardships of the struggle aheady sustained. Nadroragan, however, lost no time in sending a not inconsiderable derachment of Persian cavalry to patrol the route along whidr in his mistaken acceptance of the Iumour he imagined they would be passing. 3 \X/hen they got there they
devoted a gîeat deal of misspent energy and vigilance to the task of securing the main points of vantage and then concealed themselves there and lay in wait for an enemy that was never to appear. Their idea rnas to fall on them when they were least o(pecting it and when their line of mardr was ungualded and to retard their progress until the beleaguered garrison was forced to surrender . 4 Tn this way a not inconsiderable Persian force was detadred from the main body of the army and sent on a fool's errand. Even. so Nachoragan, anxious to forestall the arrival of the non-e>ristent relief-force,
Boolr
!
g,
hd sut trh ermy forthwith and boldly rdvrnccd egainat the Romans, bragging opcnly rnd rwearlng thÊt he would tet firÊ on rhor oome day to the entiré elty togcther wlth itg inhabitants, 5 Apparently conccir had so clouded hh judgement that he had forgotten that he was marching off to war, where uncêfteinry reigns supreme, where the scales of victory and defeat incline now onê way and now the other and where above all the issue hangs on the predcstined purpose of a Supreme Being. He seemed equally oblivious o{ the fact that in srar nothing happens on a small scale, thal irs repercussions rfe truly immense, involving as theÿ do on occasion the dismption of countlcas peoples and numerous cities and shâking the very pillurs of human lociety to their foundations. 6 But his boastful amogance rose to such a pitch that he actually gave ins*uctions to the labourers and menials, who wefe scâttered about the forest felling rrees for firewood or possibly for the repair of siege-engines, to the eflect that as soon as they saw smote rising they were to understand it to mean that the fortitcations of the Romans haà already been set on fire and that they must down tools immediately and run to join him in spreading the flames. In this ril'ay one general conflagration would easily engulf everything. Flattering himself then with sudr notions he laundred the attacl<.
7 Meanwhile Justin the son of Germanus was suddenly moved by, I think, divine inspiration to go as quickly as possible (he did not know that Nachoragan would be attacking at that time) to a place of worship enjoying peculiar distinction among cfiristians, whidr was not far distant from the city, and invoke divine aid. 8 Having collected rherefore, the pick of Mattin's troop and of his own plus a ûve-thousand-strong force of cavalry and having armed them for battle, he rode ofi with them. The standards followed him and the whole operarion was conducted in a regular and disciplined manner. 9 Now it so happened that neither did the persians see Justin and his men setting out nor did they see the Persians advancing to attad<. The latter in fact came by a difierent route and made a sudden assault on the walls. They shot even more ârro\r/s than previously, hoping in this §ray to strike greater teffor into the hearts of the Romans and quickly take the place by storm.
25. Missiles were falling thic} and fast, volley succeeding volley in suc[: dense profusion that the surroundtng afu grew dark. The scene was not unlilre that of a fierce blizzard or a violenr burst of z Meanwhile others were bdnging up siege-engines, hurling fire-brands or had
hail.
kind of attack. Others still were trying to undermine the foundations and bring dourn the whole edifice. 3 But the Romans manning the towers and battlements ofiered a spirited and vigorous resistance in their anxiety to
96
AgârhlâË: The Hlrtouler
prove by their actions that thcy could dispcnre with the rewicee of o relicf. fotce. 4 And so the deception procrised by Martin proved in the event to be useftrl and efiective in the extreme. Indeed every man exerted himself to the utmost and they adopted every conceivable defensive measure. .i They rained down javelins on rhe enemy, wounding many of them since their missiles fell on an unprotecred multitude and could hardly be ddlected from their course. Huge stones were rolled down on to the pent houses and went smashing through them while smaller ones rù,ere hurled from slings, shattering the shields and helmets of the Persians and forcibly deterring them from coming up too close to the wall. 6 Some of the troopr pott.à in the ship's boats in the manner I have akeady described used tli'eii bows to deadly efiect and inflicted heavy casualties, shooring as they did from a very greât height. others of them manipulated the catapults with great skill; and the feathered darts, which were specially designed for the purpose, being shot with tremendous force, had an enormous range with the result thai many of the oncoming barbarians were süll lar away when both men and hotses suddenly found themselves transfi.xed and strud< down. 7 Meanwhile the shouting rose to a ternfrc pitdr and the trumpets on either side sounded a martial strain. The Persians banged on drums and yelled trouder still in order to cause alarm and terror and t[,e neighing of horses combined with the heavy thud of shields and the noise of breasrplares being smashed to produce a harsh and strident din. 8 At this point Justin the son of Germanus who was returning from the churdr was made aware of what was going on by the sustained and confused noise that assailed his ears. He immediately rallied his cavalry and drawing them up in regular {ormation gave orders for the standards to be raised aloft and called upon every man to play his part and bear in mind that it was through the workings of providence that.they had ventured outside the rown in order that they might tetomze the hnemy by taking them unawares and force them to râir" th. siege. 9 As soon as they had advanced a short distance tüey saw the Persians storming the walls. §7herzupon they raised a sudden shout and hurled themselves at those of them thar were drawn up alongside the wall facing tlle sea, for that \ÿas the direction from which they had come. Striking with lances, pikes and swords the Romans cut down all who were in their path, and then made a series of furious cJrarges into the enemy's ranks thrusting them back with their shields until they dislodged them arrd broke up their fonnation.
26. Thinking tha,t this was the army whose .imminent arnvaT they had heard about and concluding that it had eluded the ambush ser for it and had reached its destination, the Persians closed their ranks in panic and confusion and began to beat a gradaal retrear. z Meanwhile the Dilimnites who were fighting near the middle of the wall caught a distant glimpse of the
Boolr
!
97
prevrlüng turmoll, Lerving orüy a few of thclr number behlnd, the reut a1l ret ofi to rclleve thoee who wete belng hotd press«l, 3 ltrflhereupon the Roman commondere Angilae and Thcodorus, whom I havc already mentioncd, petceiving the scant nurnbers of those that had remained made a rudden sortie from the town with a faidy latge force. The Romans slew the trrt batdr of thern and then pressed in relentless pursuit upon the remainder thnt had taken to flight. 4 When the rest of the Dilimnites who were on their way to rescue the Persians from their difiiculties saur this, they immediately turned back, determined to confront the Romans and convinced that they ought by preference to be making all haste to relieve their own kinsmen. But they rushed with such frantic ând impetuous speed that they looked more like a band of fugitives than an army on the attack. They were, $ they felt, rushing to the ud of their fellow-countrymen but there was about them an air of panic rather than of truculence. 5 §7hen that part of the Persian army which was drawn up nearest to them saw the Dilimnites milling about in this apparent confusion and disorder they assumed that they must be running away and since they would not have descended to such a disgraceful course except in the face of overwhelming danger arrd impossible odds they too took to their heels and fled ignominiously in all directions. The f,ight which they had for some time been furtively envisaging now became a stark reality. 6 At this point the Dilimnites came to the same conclusion about the Persians and rushed to join them in flight, being themselves both the cause and the victims of a double misunderstanding. 7 §7hi1e these events were tâking place a very large number of Roman troops sallied forth from behind the walls and turned the enemy retreat into a rout, following hard on their heels and cutting down whoever happened to bring up the rear. They also attacked from.li#erent directions and foueht hard against that part of the enemy which was still holding out and keeping its ranks together. 8 For, though the left wing of the barbarians had mani{estly fallen apart, their right wing was still intâct and was ûghting a vigorous rear-guard action. In addition to serving as â soft of defensive wall their elephants kept &arging the Roman rnfantry and throwing their ranks into confusion every time they formed üem. The bowmen riding on the elephants'bad
-
tB
Boolr
AgârhlilrTheHhtotlet
fiercest of the elephanrs u'a8 drarging at hlm and hc rtruc} lt a vlolent blow withlis spear just above the brcw, driving the polnt right in and leaving the rest hanging. z The beast enraged by the blow anà driven wild by the sight of the spear dangling in {ront of its eye drcw baclc suddenly, leaping about and turning in circles. At one moment he was thrashing about with hii trunk smiting large numbers of Persians and tossing them up into the air, at another he was stetdring it out and trumpeting. 3 In split second he threw ofi the soldiers riding on his bad< and trampled them to death. Then he proceeded to strike teror and confusion into the whole Persian army, causing the horses to shy as he approadred them and rending and tearing with his tusks whatever came inro contâcr with 4The m was fifleà wjth cries of panic and lamentation. The horses rerrorized by the ferocity of the beast no longer answered to the reins but raising their front hooves into the air tlrew ofi their riders and with much panting and snorting went careering into the midst of the arrry. 5 §Thereupon rhe men all began to turn badc on themselves jostling and elbowing one another as each one tried to get out of the way before the next rnan did, Large numbers were killed by their own side as they stumbled against the swords of their comrades and kinsmen. 6 As the confusion grew ï/orse the Romans who had remained behind the walls joined with those who had sallied forth from rhe fort some time ago, and together they formed a single phalanx whose front line they strengtlened as much as possible by holding out a conrinuous wall of shields. They then hurled themselves against an enemy thar was still in complete disarray. 7 The Persians already \rrorn out by their previous exertions were
i
him.
unable to withstand the impact of the d:arge and fled precipitately. Their flight was an imegular one and they made no attempt to keep in formation or to ward ofl their artackers, but simply scatrered in difierent directions eaclr man fendi4g {or himself as best he could. 8 Nachoragan too was as bewildered asi anyone else by the startling turn of events and reffeated at a gallop, signalling to all with his whip rhat they must flee as fast as they could, whidr in fact was what they were aheady doing. And so his boastful predictions were completely belied by what actually happened. 9 The Romanscontinued to pursue and kill the barbarians unril Marrin, feeling that enough had been accomplished, sounded the signal for them to redrè and ched
)
9P
lortunrtc wtptehGr tGt ofi for thc to*rn thinklng that whrt Nechoragan had nrlier bogted to *rom had comc true and that the lort war sblazc. r Con rquÈntly they ran sll the way, featlng, I luppose, that thc opportunity for rctlon would êscape them and that everything would be buint to ashes bdorc they got there, So they vied with onc another in speed little dreaming thrt the ûrst to get there wotrld be the trst to die. They were in fact all crptured and killed one after the other by the Româns, as though they had cgmc expressly for that purpose. §fe[ nigh two thousand men mer rheir dcrdrs in this manner. 3 Thus Nachoragan was wholly to blame thro'r.rgh the foolish instructions he issued for the Lact that sudr an enormous number of Itbouers, men with no military training who had never be{ore taken part in rrmed combat, had rushed unsuspectingly to thefu deaths. The whole incldent is indeed a striking illustration of the baneful consequences of the sin of pride not merely for its practitioners but also for their unfortunate minions, 4 As a result of these events Roman morale was extremely high rnd there was a general conviction that any attempt at rene§/ing hostilities oh the part of the barbarians would result in yer anorher victory for the Romans. Those who were killed in action (and they did not number more than two hundred) were given an honourable burial and won universal admiration for the valour with which they had acquitted themselves. 5 The enemy dead, however, the Romans despoiled, thereby acquiring a gtrgantic quantity of weapons and other objects. Some of the dead were wearing on their persons not just shields and breastplates, and quivers full of arro\r/'s but solid gold collars and necldaces and ear-rings and all the other foppish and efieminate ornaments that the more aristocratic Persians beded< themselves 'üdth in order to cut a dash and distinguish themselves from rhe common people.
6 Since he was running out of provisions and winter was already approaching Nachoragan deliberately created the impression that he was eagerly preparing to mount a fresh ofiensive. Far ftom putting sudr a plan into effect, however, he dispat&ed the Dilimnite contingent on the following day to take up position at close quarters wherehe ensured that they attracted the attention of the Romans, and while making it look as tJrough he was aborrt to atta&, quietly set oÆ at once with the rest of his troops for Cotaïs and Mudreirisis. 7 §flhen he had abeady gone most of the way the Dilimnites broke their ranlçs and withdrew, whidr tJrey were able to do with the greatest of ease being light-armed and moreover hardy and fleet of foot. I The other Persian detadrrnent, whidr had been sent previously to the river Neocnus owing to Martin's ruse as I described earlier on, arrived there too. 9 On learning in fact that the Persians had been beaten and that the Romans were in con*ol of the entirê region they set ofi immediately by a secluded route far from the main thoroughfares and reached Mucheirisis, having played
100 Io qrt
Agrthlal TheHlltarler
ln the ûghting-robut-.üarrng atill morc fully ln the rgnomrny and tüflhen thi oT flight. whole armyh"â r".*ut"f,iiir.#r.g*
humiliation
left most of.the cavalry therc,putting vahdz a pcrgian Àbh'rtrnaing in command of the force, and himsef rerurned with a smafl "r ".rr, rétin,ie to lberii where he intended to spend the winter.
BOOK 4
f1 Th9 Rogran victory whidr marked the conclusion of this stage in the ülng btought with it a som of armed rruce and an immediate lull in and made it possible to proceed with the judicial enquiry into the ptcviously committed agunst, Gubazes. z Accordingly Athanasius, Cmnlng the garb of the highest civic magisuares, took his ür on a raised Ëlbunal amid great pomp and splendoui. Trained shorthand wrirers were
lE rttendance upon him and rhere was the full complemenr of all the other §rndcr and more impressive ofiicials who are especially well-versed in the ttkttiee of legal procedure. Also prcsent ïrere heralds, and ushers armed with rhlPs. All these people had been selected from the various ofiicial bureaux la Constantinople. 3 Those who were drarged with that particular duty crsrlod with them iron collars, rad
ÿcre convicted of having produced a trumped-up d:arge and then perperrared i vicious felony they would in that case be sentenced, paraded around in §ublic by a herald andfrnilJy beheaded and put to r:he avenging sword in the dght of all men. In this way the punishment meted ort *oold seem ro be doubly terible and severe. 6 For the Emperor knew full well that if he slete to give orders for Rusticus and John to be put to death in secrer and :' vnth rough justice, the colchians would not feel that the afiront to their $grrrty had been removed or that they had obtained adequate redress fôr:the crime commitred. 7 He realized equally that the r.itirrg up of a ttibrrrd, in whidr either side stated its case-whiie rhe coum otriürl, k"pt btrslling about-to ensure that each man took his stand and answered questions ip the ploper fashion, accompanied as it would be by the full majesiy of the law and the lofty tones of fôrensic eloquence, all of whidr would serve ro render more awe-inspiring tüe prospect of imminent death all these things
-
100
Âglthlnrr Tlrç Hhtorlel
Io q$t in the-fighting hut oharing rtill more futly In the lgnominy and humiliation oJ flight. ro sÿhen thi whole army haâ assembleà Nachoragan left most of.the cavalry therc, puttin gyohnza peralan of very high standïng in command of the force, and himself returned with a smal rétinùe to lberià where he intended to spend the winter.
BOOK 4
r 1. Thc Roman victory which marked the conclusion of this stage in the fuhttog brought with ii a so$ of armed truce and an immediaË lull in lgrtllitice and made it possible to proceed with the judicial enquiry into the Elncs pteviously committed against Gubazes. z Accordinglÿ Athanasius, donning the garb of the higheJt civic magismares, took his üt on a raised *lbund anrid great pomp and splendour-. Trained shorthand wrirers were la rttendance upon him and there was the full complement of all the other grnder and more impressive ofiicials who are .rp"àrlly well-versed in the ttlcetics of legal procedure. Also present were heralds, and ushers armed with rhtpe. All these people had been selected from the vatious ofiicial bureaux h constantinople. 3 Those who were charged with that particular duty Éllttêd with them iron collars, ra&s and various other insruments o{ torrure. 1In pf opinion it was no mere accidenr or caprice but a judicious and welltfmsd assessment of the situatiorr thathadled the Emperoi Justinian ro order that the ttialbe conducted with such thoroughnes"ànd meti.,rlous observüce of legal form. His object §7as ro impress the natives by a somewhat , ôttentatious display of the majesty of Roman justice in order nor only ro l§firstom them better to Ronran rule but also to dispel any resentment or fceling of grievance that the colchians might still ha-rbour in the evenr of tta being proved that Gubazes had been guilty in the ûrst insrance of attcrnpted defection to Persia and that consequently his murder had been pctfectly justifiable. 5 If on the other hand the murderers of Gubazes were convicted of having produced a ttumped-up drarge and then perpetrared vicious felony they would in that case be sentenced, paraded around in public by a herald and finally beheaded and put to the avenging sword in the right of all men. In this way the punishmeàt meted out *oold seem ro be doubly temible and severe. 6 For the Emperor knew full well that if he v:ere to give orders for Rusticus and John to be put to death in secret and
t
,
the colchians would not feel that the afrront to their wth rough justice, 'been digrrrty had removed or that they had obtained adequate redress fot the crime committed. 7 He reaTaed, equally that the seiting up of a in whidr either side stated its case-whiie rhe cout oflilials kept -tribunal, bustling about to ensure that
each man took his stand and answered questions the p_roper fashion, accompanied as it would be by the full majesiy of the Iaw and the lofty tones of forEnsic eloquence, all of whidr would serve to render more awe-inspiring the prospect of imminent death all these things
i[
-
I0l
Âc{tlrlrtx: 'l'lrr- [lirtnt lrr
llxrk
4
t01
ËtÉnrct, lf rrrorcovcr lre lries to lrtertk,t',vrty rttt,l liglrtr lrrrd<, if irr lrrct lrc !eË(lrl$ lo rlny l()t'nr ol violcrrl rll,lxrsiliott wlrtlsoever tltctt wc slrrrll lt,tvct r:l1rr, lrlrlol oI t'r'irtrirtrrl iutcnI rrrrtl he rvill tlrcrcrtltcr Irc clrtsse.l rrs tt lltrblic Ënerrryr s«l tlrut slxx.rtcl ilnyone kill lrirn otrce hc l:chrrvr:tl with suclr cfÏrontcry tlrcit'rtct ion wotrl
tlrcn cott[c[ not firil t«r plivc the 1lt'«lcccrlirrp,s rr rlill'elent rln(l tlrot'c (rxrllt(:([ quality ancl to makc thc lrut'rishmcnt ilp1)clu' ctlrrrrl to i[ rrot cvcn grclrtcl' thru) the crime. 8 Such procccdings in lact, rlcsyritc thcir frcclucnt u..r,rr.rr.. there, strike awe and wonder into the hcurts o[' the inhabitants of constantinopl.e, so that it is not hard to surmise what their efiect would be on barbarians for whom they would constitute a complete novelty. It was, I
think, in view of these considerations then üat a court worthy of the traditions of Imperial Rome and Democratic Athens uras set up ar rhe foot
of the Caucasus. 2. Rusticus and John were led out of prison and, being the accused, took their stand on the left. The other side was occupied by the accusers. These consisted of the ablest of the colchians, mel] who were thoroughly conversant with the Greek language. z They first requested that tlre letter from the Emperor, whidr John had previously brought to the Generals and consequently had a direct bearing on the matter, be read out in public. The judge considered the request to be a reasonable one and it',vas reàd out in a loud clear voice by one of the ofiicials specially appointed for this task. It ran more or less as follows: 3 "The news you have sent me is incredible and altogether exffaordinary. rt amounts in fact to an assertion that Gubazes is intent upon abandoning all his counrry's traditions and forsaking a people whose outlook is so close in all matters to that of his own nation and whôse leadership is a long-established fact (we mean, of course, the Romans) in order to desert to an alien and bitterly hostile people who lack even the bond of a cornmon religion, and aJl.this without having suÆered the slightest injury at our hands. 4 But, recognizing as we do the uncertainty and instability of the human condition whidr is by narure liable to a bewildering variety o fortuitous influences, we have deemed it politic to temper our disbelief and not to refrain from taling all reasonable precautions against any conceivable sinister madrinations, real or imaginary, on the part of Gubazes. fn view, moreover, of the uncertainty of the issue we have determined not to allow ourselves any peace of mind, to suspend judgement and to remain undecided. And yet it is monstrous never to put one's trust firmly in anyone and always to be Iull ot [.eat and suspicion even in the case of one's closest associates. Nevertheless $le too are but human and, therefore, cannot overcome ouf instinctive feelings of difiidence and distrust. 5 A sensible compromise however, which would neither invo ve us in harsh and precipitate action against Gubazes nor allow us to be persuaded by the seeming improbability of the drarge into showing insufiicient firmness, has suggested itself ro us: it is that Gubazes should come ro Constantinople. Send him therefore with all speed whether of his own free wili or by force. 6 If knowing that this is our pleasure he nevertheless resists and refuses to come then you will seize him and drag him off, and you will be fully enrided ro do so in tlese circum-
in fine who possessed all the attributes of a most intimate associate and friend? §7hat vestige o an excuse, then, will be left them once they ate shown to have behaved v/ith e)
whidrls not firmly suppofted througho'ut its entire structure no longer has any tirle to be considered a unified political entity. Indeed to call it a state in terms once its unity has been dlastically impaired. 5 Now the very men who have brought about this situation say that you must take into account not the appalling consequences of their action but the spirit in whidr it was done, and they would have you proceed by an obscrrre and specious form of argu.mentation to coniure up a fanciful picture of the benefi.ts that have accrued to you therefrom rather than give any credence to the manifest harm aTready experienced. 6 Even before the trial in fact they thought by dint of repeating these sophistries to mislead the
b..o*.,
Itk
a contradiction
104
Agrthlrrr Ïho Hhrulcl
Booh
masses. If thucfore they arc golng to put forward thlr typc of orgument ln a couf,r of law then they had better realize that It t, not t i[.epinË with the
principles of Roman justice to turn a brind eyc ro suclr glarin; a ,^"a nrùrm ofience in order to be deceived by sudr obscure ullegrdo; ,nâ i*.pJa*p charggs as theirs. It is intolerable_that they rhoddîp"nly ,aiiiir.it ,r,ô have killed Gubazes and yer persist in making tte wita ;rr;;ril that the common good has benefited immensely from tlreir
action. 7 How can such
glaring inconsisrencies be reconciled? By what logic ,haJl w. d"r.rib. the act as an atrociry while ar the same time praising the pubüc-spirited intent of its perpetators? The 1yo notions of pubric good and illegal violence have from time immemorial been diametriiafly oppposed. Lil
possible point of contac. 4. But if we confi'e ourselves to abarcexamination of the end in view even on that score they will be convicted of malice aforethouglrq ,in". th" policy they adopted has the blessing of persia. These murdei.r, th.r.for" are not fit to be called Rom-ans, nor should they be judged with the indulgence extended to one's fellow countrymen but-rathér aI though tlr.y your urorst enemies, since they are already divided from you by ,h. common Law of humanity eyen i! not yer by your ôwn written coâe. z For actions, not rlistance, arc the o.dr prop"r criterion for determining *hut i, ulien and
*"i.
hostile. §fihoever deliberæelyplays into the hands of thË .ry rurrr"n.Àf ylf wrth good reason be deemed an enemy, even if he is crose ,rîuod, .u.n if he is servjng in the same army, even if he is of the same brood. But 3 they claim that they did not kill a friend or a king bur an a rebel "n.*l.ura and an active sympathizet of persia. yes, in thJr criminai ioiry'iÀ.y nr". even gone so far as to drarge the dead man with conspiracy to b.ff y th. state to the Persians. And-things have now come to r,rd. r'pu* that even in death tlie unhappy man has io ..rt brur must stand trial r* rugr, treason in circumstances where he can gain nothing from an acquittal. 4"§rhrt Ir* is there in force among yourselves or ,*on! brrbarians whidr would sanction thepractice of first pronouncing and exeàting the senten"" ,rJih.r, pro-
ce"ding to draw up the indictment? setting thetselves up as iudges, enemies and accusers all rolled into one, they inflicied upon an innocent Àan
without
even giving him a t'jal the punishment appropriate to one who had been genuinely convicted of seeking to assume arbitrary and unconstitutional po§refs. 5 Now when they are supposed to be defending themselves they h-ave comebringing accusarions against rhe victim of their àwn injusiice. yet tr !h.y believed in the cJ-rarges ih.y ,r. making they ought iiri to l,uu. embarked openly on criminal proceedings againsl him and"been the first to opel tfre case for rhe prosecution beforJkilliàg him and nor ro have waited until they were themselves accused and then bring out a counter-accusation.
I
10,
lr entltlcd to do t$h rort of thlng thcn why dld wc not ta,ke du lrw lnto our handa also and klll there murderous brutes, since when we frrc btought to juetlce we could alwayo have countered the charges pr* frÊ!Êd against us by amaigning them posthumously with their previous É
If
orrcryone
Ëknæ, and thus attempted to demons6ate tlat two'ù/rongs make a right? GIVCn in fact the incontovertible natufe of the evidence for the prior wents b Whtch we had reacted in anger, we would have been punishing them with I1crtef iustice and the case for the defence would have proceedei with all iiUC propriety. 7 But there is no place for sudr outrâgeous conduct either Off Our fart or on anybody else's, that is if you are to üve according to youf
tpditional standards of legality. For if whoever feels so inclined is permitted üO lrill ofl his private enemies in this summary and ofihand mânner, and the set to criminal Fmctice becomes sudr a regular occuffence that no limit is drrlng, horv long do you imagine the authority of the judiciary will remain Unhfaired? à n ih. mutual slaughter and the endless c}ain of plots and Counierplots that will ensue you wjll not be able to punish or bring to heel thc cdËrits in time, and as your nation rushes blindly to destruction all poasibility of impartial investigation will be precluded by awave of personal vendettas.
5. Yet the accused contend that thete is nothing very dreadful about the death of a single individual who happens also to be atraitor, especially in View of the salutary and sobering efiect it will have on all your allies. z I qm in complete agreement. If it is a question of destroying real traitors, then the more ihe mertier. The mere fact of ridding the world of sud-r men is in
itself a sufiicient boon, even if no other benefit derives from the action of their slayers. But if without there being a shred of evidence to convict him a pefson of very great distinction is suddenly stnrck down and punished like a ào.rnon taitor caught red-handed in the act, one is perhaps entitled to ask exactly how that is meant to have a salutary and sobering efiect upon yorrr alliesi 3 surely they would be much more likely to disavow their alliance if they srspected that you were pafty to such an outrage. Indeed they could
il
you show so little concern for associates iustice and humanity in yout dealings with your close friends and who strangers ÿou will scarcely piorr" .or. reliable in your dealings with. pressing need. and La:ue been recognized merely in response to some sudden people be 4 But you were not privy to their plan nor will the whole Roman nor for that individuals, as to them involvld in the guilr whidr attadres teliability and fot honesty, iustice matref will your long-standing'reputation be eclipsed and overshadowed by their nefarious conduct. 5 On the contrary iiis our opinion that this tribunal has been set up to pfeserve the good name of the nàtion and to make it clear ro everybody that you wish to dissociate yourselves entirely from the action of those who have inllicted
hroû, u*id th"
inescapable conclusion that
106
â3rrhlmr 1hc
aodrl
t&re{a
auel *uel and monsrrous indlgniticr on tho colchhnr, 6 perhaoc ar thrr point the minds of mort men are.perprexed rià even find--your motives. open to dôubi. But once,"ia..ra"+;;rrïd',t.; my Lord, your verd^ic, whidr will be their death-wa*ant, i, prorrourr."d;ilir;il t;;;. crystar :l::: :h^t it is your practice nor ro bàtray your fri.oa, Uri ,, püish those
nnd locthrcmG mcn rr John rnd Rultlcur, Yct cven lf he had rcally been guilty of tho cort of crlme hc har bcen accrrred of, they ltill ougtrt not to have àispatched htnr with cuch indecent hacte. He should firet havc been judged by-the Emperot, who is the common sovereign of the Romans and the Coldrians with supreme authotity over both peoples, bdore receiving his due share of punishment. 4 But since their murderous act was motivated not by any just cause but by an irrational hostility which erupted under the stimulus of envy into this piece of diabolical wicl
vrno do wfong.
7 As for the defence wlidr they appeü to be putting up, it is in reality ranramount ro an open admission of guilt. The Empàroc, l.tt". in fact insrructs the generals ro send Gubazest conrtuntinâfi.
in the first insrance and even force shourd he ref,r.e ; ;-ô;;;".ka "rrig-p*suasion ir, ,rr. event of his resisring compulsion not on any account Lifling him until he resorted to actual revolt and armed hostirities. g These
ir.o,'ho*.u.r,
without even themselves being generals and-without il;y o,h", way being authorized ro work their him, m"a trr"ii iôi.rr;riin the _wifls-on twinkling of an eye. They.did nor urge him to go to consiantinipie-They did not find. him*uncooperarive and have recourse ro a reasonatt" a.gé àf compulsion. They did nor even bother to find o,rt o,h.tlr"" rr.-r-rra any intention of not respecting the Emperor's command! g ÿ., iil, iî.i" p"ood fu, hlve gxecgled thÊ Emperor,sinstructiinr, *h.r"r, i, rcafuy P:îi shown thw flagrant theyhave
conciliate and win over even those peoples with whom no had as yet been established, they have done their level best to contacts antagonize even those who until recently were the closest friends of the
beèn
ü
Y:':f}::rl:2f
i;;;;ri;;Jil.cd;
*"J*ïi-irr. p.*i*,îfi"
fection,to,imm.else prosperity and distincitio;, *; hr;p;; "p.r-ii-,i"*gf, ;il; il; links with you? §7ho, I ask, was the man
Iess exalted poslrion and retain his
who, when his Iandlad long been hard pressed uy trr"
pÉrirrr'rrriïrr.,
uia
{eparted suddenly and took to the mountains,
living.on the_ very peaks of thà Caucasu, ,"â p"iri"g .,p ;h';rhuman conditions rather than the friendly overturàs ,h.:;;;;;;;;kil; to him and come down lccepi from hir mountain fastness to live in ease and comfort in his own home? §'ho was this man trr.ri 3 None otrr"i trr*èubazes, the man who was afraid to faSe ng danger y; ;è;;;;Jor,î.in;rrri". "" *h" b"i*ÿ.iir," ËÀpir. of it!), Gubazes rhe ffaitor, the- reber, ,i" *no the Persians! And he, aking, has m.t his Jeath
,t tr* É*a,
t. "r,""J"ri.
to
Romans. Indeed if it depended solely on them we should have gone over to the enemy, we should be plotting against our staunc}est friends, ouf countly would be in the hands of the Persians and violent upheaval and civil strife
disregard for his wishes by daring to emproy vicio,,s slander against Gubazes in the- first prace and then ;;r:t;;;;'I'pL th.-selves to do the exact opposite of whàt had been *ir"Iy .";oiiJ uioo th"-. they prectuded a[ possibitity .toi."îy Jippr.rr;rg the contents of the 41, "f letter. 6, rtis indeed hard to envisage a punishment sufiiciently severe to matcl the enormitv of their ro tiur. another is arways but it is especially so if"-"p.:. the injured party happens to bé a friend and one who has often risked his life on belaff of his'ass#ates. z For who was the man who preferred your friendship to rrr. all the atractive_propositions they made him? rüflro was the .u" *t o,", ,t ,rorrght the friendship of Chosroes and wh9, though the yay fry a.,
trom you was slow in co.minq,
t07
I
would be combining to sound the death-knell of our ancestral traditions. 6 You must, therefore, inflict afrtttngpunishment upon them, if indeed sudr a punishment can be found, iust as though all these things really had taken place and you srere faced with the collapse of your Empire. For even if we have in fact remained true to the cause of the Romans, it is not right that they should benefit from our virtuous conduct and be any less severely punished than the nature of their criminal endeavour demands". 7. §flhile the prosecutors svefe thus ptessing their charges the Coldeian populace who weie assembled there could not understand the terms in whidr tlrà ac.uration was couched or appreciate the rhetorical skill employed. Nevertheless bèing acquainted with the facts upon rvhidr eadr individual count rested, they enthusiastically supported the dorts of the prosecution by echoing their intonation and imitating their gestufes. In a like mannef their mood kept changing from compassion to resolute and confident assertion ,""otditg as they thought they detected a dtange of tone in the voices of the accusers. z Then when the speedr for the prosecution had drawn to a close and the judge paused a while to deliberate they were filled with silent indignation because the accused had not been executed on the spot. And when the judge motioned the defendants to state their case the aisernbled multitude were ready to raise an outcfy and were already mur' mufing and theit voices were becoming clearer and more audible. At this point, however, the âccusers prevented things from getting out of hand by beckoning to them to hold their peace. 3 Accordingly when silence had
108
A3rthlr:r Tlre llhtotla
been procured Rustlcus togerhcr wrth htr brother John ceme' fontrard ---'.---t into their midst and addressed ihem in the followlng .-'--
tennlr
4 "Fortune has given a sudden and unorpected twist to events, with the result that when we should be receiving th" gr"rt.rt revrards *" firrd o,rrselves on trial for our lives. Yet we .oirt.-p-lut. this ordeal with joy and with the 5 conviction that it will redound to our credit, since whatever its outcome it cannot fail to make it still more abundantly cl ear to all that by our own unaided efforts we have brought about the downfall of. a taitor and a rebel and upheld the interests of ihe Emperor. And so even in the e;rent.of our being put to death we would freely accept and welcome as though it were the object of our desire the anguish whi.r, i, for."drpon ,rr. And we _shall depart from this Ii{e comforted and fortified for our fourr.y into the- hereafter by the conscious certainty that vre have left the Romans 9till in fulI possession of their colcJrian dominions and not yet having forfeited them to arry foreign power. 6 If we were standing tial in a Persian court in the presence of persian
judges
it would behove us to deny most srrenuously that we ever did do what in fact we did. §7e would be in fear and tembiing lesr our asserrions be
refuted and,
if
they rvere,
it
is quite conceivable that we should be at a loss
h9w to plead our cause before bittedy hostile judges u,ho were incensed at the failure of their hopes whidr our acions ÉaJbrought about. But 7 since it is a Roman who is presiding over the court whàt possible grounds could we have for denying whar we have done? §7hat need is tlere fir us to justify to you our action ivhen as a result of it we have done you the signal service of destroying the rebel Gubazes? r say 'rebel' because he doeslot deserve to be accorded the âugust title of 'king'. His deeds have shown him to be the negation all that sudr a title stands for, though our accusers are t1rTq an indignant outcry at what they describe as r.he outrageous murder of a king' i8 This name, however, should not be applied tJth" ourward trappings of royalty the jewelled clasp and fancy robe, but to the man who is the active embodiment of justice, whose desires do not cause him to disregard the call of duty and whose aspirations are kept within their proper
bounds. rt that was the sorr of man we killed then vre have .o*,nitt à u heinous crime, the case of the prosecution is a just one and the colchians lave every reâson to describe us as bnrtal and vicious murderers. 9 But if the real Gubazes was the complete antithesis of this, if he was pr.frred to stop,at nothing in his efiorts to harm us by secretly letting in the-persians and betraying his country to them, can there really be a-riy question as to whether we ought not to have nipped the potential menace in the bud by
our timely intervention nther than allow our deference to the crown to make us play into the hands of the enemy? ro If, however, anybody receives prior intelligence of some threatening move being conteûrplar;d in
109 Bæ14 aomc pâftlculrr quuter rnd hru it ln hh pourer to frurtrcte thc design
hrrncdlatcly and havlng avcrted the crlcis to proceed to take delibefate and eonce*ed ection to cope with any poreible emergency, it would in such a erre bc the height of cruelty on his pâtt to fesort to punitive measures in ldvancc instead of ddending himself by ensuring the possibility of foiling rny hostile attempt should the occasion arise. rr But when one is faced with a fait accompli against which all remedies are of no avail, when the Itate is threatened with imminent destruction and the situation seems to preclude even the faintest ray of hope then swift and decisive action is the ônly srn" policy and every efiort must be made to avoid sufiering some irreparable harm. 8. Now our accusers may cry shame, infamy and murder until they burst. Tl,rey may seize upon such expletives in order to cast the whole afr.att in a lutid and melodramatic light and try to force you to consider only the deed itself. B,ut it is for you in your judicial capacity to take into account the circumstances that led up to it, to weigh up the causes that impelled us to take action and from the rightness of the undertaking to establish the honesty of our intentions. z §7e do in fact often see in the various towns and cities vagfants, thieves and other types of criminal beheaded or with their feet cut ofr.,andwe do not cry shame on the spectacle, inhuman though it may
^ppeert to be, nor do we vent our indignation on the authorities concemed with administering these punishments by calling them savage brutes and cruel fiends. No, when we consider the crimes the felons in question have cornmitted and bear in mind that that is why they are being punished we rejoice in the harshness of the punishment, since it has not been devised without good teason, as witness the unabated persistence of criminal activity' 3 Gabaz,es therefore has been slain by us. And what, might we ask, is about slaying a man who is a traitor and an enemy? Our accusers, dreadful so moreoveï, have defined tlle term enemy. They say that it should be applied not to t-he man who is separated from us by a great distance but to whoevet, even if he is a fellow countryfnan, seeks to curry favour with the enemy, §7e too consider this to be the best, most accurâte and most realistic view of the matter. 4 Given such a measure of agreement on both sides t}en, let us set out to prove by this mutually acceptable criterion that Gubazes was indeed afl enerny, for once this has been demonstrated it will become immediately apparent that his killing was fully justified. 5 Now allbarbarian peoples are by nature so constituted that even when they are subjects of the Romans they are far removed in spirit from them and, drafing at the imposition of the rule of law, they incline instinctively to rurbulent and seditious behaviour. There is nothing they would like better than to continue living as their own masters, subject to no outside jurisdiction and a laur unto themselves. And if it is not possible for them to do
110
Aarthlmr Thr Htrtorlct
Book 4
to attech thcmselver to tholc natlonr wlth whorn they common. 6 But Gubazes, in addltlon to being tarre.l with the same brush since he was himself a barbarian by birth a.[d consequently
rnd defence hrve concEded that thc only wry one crn tell r fricnd from an aâany to by the mÈnner ln whtch he reacto to events. 5 Since, thercfore, it
co then they rtrlvc have most in
tainted with the innate treachery of his race, s,rrpassed himself in his wicledness towards us. He no-longer deemed it necessary to hide his feelings, but hastened to put into efiect what had hitherto been the secret aspirations of a hostile mind. 7 §7hi1e u,e \rrere toiling away and facing every kind of danger in our efiorts ro frrstrare the enemyk plans he ,uw fitt ,taÿ ,t hom. with his fellow counrrymen and absent himsà{ from the struggle. Ért at th. same time he kept a watdrful eÿe on whidr way the fighti"Àg was going. 8 If the Romans adrieved some resounding success over the .r"-y hi, immediate reacrion was a display of hostilitÿ and spite in whidr he would seelc bymockery to destroy the impression cieated by o* adrievements. He would dismiss the whole undertaking as a trifling incident and its ourcome as insignificant and attributable not to ourselves bur to the vagaries of Iortung. 9 But if by c}ance we mer with some reverse (and it is not huma{y possible to escape sudr ups and downs) he would àt himself up as a cntical interpreter of events and immediately exempt fortune from ,n'y b-lame_or any pafi in what had happened. He had already decided in advance that the sole cause fot any ïeverse we experienced wâr a combination of poor morale, physical incapacity and unintelligent planning. ro He would lever, as he did when abusing us, seetr< to explain away the s,rccesses acl-rieved by the _enemy at our expense simply by making some disparaging reference to the fid
111
Gubazcs was disttessed at our successes and datsd at our failures, whet eartlüy rea.Bon can barbarians have for inveighing
hu now been demonotrated that
,rSdnat the laws of the Romans according to whidr \r/e €rre in the habit of punichjng or even orecuting, should the occasion arise, those who engage ln riotous and subversive activities. 6 But let us, if you like, set aside all ptoofe, inferences and deductions and, concentrating out attention exclutlvely on the hard facts of the case, see to what conclusions strdr a considÊfetlon leads us. The fort of Onoguris had been wrested from the temitory of Archaeopolis and was in Persian hands. The presence of an enemy army finnly enmenched within our borders was ân unbearable afiront. The ttfategy which found favour with the generals was to laundr a fu1l-scale rttach on the enemy and destroy or at least drive out what had long constituted a thorn in the flesh and a permanent menace. 7 §fle desperately needed the help of a Colchian force, not only in order that we, with our poor understanding of local geography, might have the benett of their first-hand knowledge of the terrain but also in order that we might enlist their active support and cooperation in the struggle agunst heavily-armed troops drawn up behind fortifications and also in all probability against a relief-force from Mucheirisis. 8 \X/hat then were the generals to do in these circumstances? Surely the proper thing for them to do was to ask the leader of the Colchians for assistance and to draw his attention to the fairness of their request. And that is precisely what they did. 9 He, hovrever, acting in a truly lotdly and tyraonical fashion would not even hear of putting in an appearance let alone'of actively patticipating in the assault on the fortress. He did not even bother to mask his refusal with some semblance of an excuse. Indeed he rejected our request out of hand with an ar of. arrogant self-importance whidr ill became a subject who was paid for his services. Moreovet he persisted in angrily heaping insults on the heads of the generals, as though he imagined such behaviour to be courageous and in keeping with the status of a king. Clearly he no longer
meânt to defer the open and shameless advocacy of his earlier designs. ro §fas there thén any point in waiting for further proof and displaying the Emperor's letter with the idea that the man who ulas not prepared to travel even a short distance in his own country would come to Constantinople? And how would it have been possible, if we had proposed to send him there,
when he had alteady stirred up so mudr hostility against us, to avoid widespread dissension and bloodshed and open defection and the imminent prospect of a Persian invasion, since we would have had to contend with the stubbom and relentless opposition of a public enemy 1 whilst the people as
r i... C"UuÀ.
112
looL4
Agethlarr Tho Hhtorlel
a wholg would,like the barbarians they arc, readlly hrve acccpted thrc oppor. tunity for indulging in revolutionary violencc? A further incintive worfià of gouïe have been provided by the fact that Persian help would have been forthcoming from very near at hand. rr And so, whenïisaster was practic-a1ly staring us in the face, we made away with the ringleader and by doing this suppressed the conspiracy with such ease and promptn.ss that it now seems scarcely credible that any threat ever existed. 10. Our accusers would do well, therefore, to stop bringing up the matter of the letter and abusing us for nor having followed its instructions. Is there anyone to whom it is not perfecdy obvious that what was written about his having to go to constantinople was there merely to test his intentions and to find out whether he was willing to cooperate and do as he was told? - z Now, having easily fonned a clear ideaof his unruly and aggrcssive frame of mind from his rejection of a smaller request, how could we have been expected to bid him comply with a demand of u -or. serious nature instead of having recourse to more direct action whid:, after exposing ourselves to numerous hazatds, we would in the end in any car. har]e haà to take? Thosg who, when the time is ripe for acion, f.ail to make an ap-
propriate and decisive fesponse to the situation cannot at alatet date recover the lost opportunity. 3 But apparendy, to judge from what our accusers !uu_. ," say, we could still in the last resort have brought an action agunst Gubazes, engaged that is to say in a f,.üe battle of words and chosà the niceties of verbal altercation in preference to the realities of security. But the presence of the Persians did not allow such a procedure since they were closing in and ready to rake over the whole of Lazica with the help of this sclreming traitor. 4 Moreover now that the hostility, treadery and rebellious aspirations of Gubazes have been revealed on ali sides what difference do thp co,ldrians suppose it makes to them whether he was killed by us or by somèbody else?
.f The desire to render loyal
service is
not the exclusive privilege of
generals and other similady exalted persorrages. Everyone who feels so inclined has both a right and a duty ro show concern for the state of which he is a subject and to e>rert himself to the utmost to promote the common good. 6 Likewise even if to their mind we are the scum of the earth, yet sre are loyal and devoted subjects of the Emperor, we do have the interests of the Romans atheatt, and we are no:t the sort of men to acquiesce in any âttempt at conspirary. In conclusion, if we must add one further point it is this: you may rest assured that ours was an honourable, a just and a timely intervention and that it was made with the full supporr of Martin". 11. so this speedr roo drew to a close. Athanasius had at the ourcer accorded an equally attentive reception to the words o{ Rusticus. But when
11,
mse loth contêndlng partio hed hed thch lay ho procccded to rubjcct ryüythlry to r rerchlng and rigorgua exa.mination. Hil tndine was rhat thprt wra no cvidence of trcaeonsble or eeditioue activlty on üe part of Gubrzer and that his murder wae unjuet and absolutely illegâl. The refusal to trkÊ part in the cxpedition against Onoguris had been the result not o{ pro-Pereian feelings but of anger at the conduct o{ the generals in losing pomeceion of the stronghold through their indolence, complacency and carelcrnces. AftEr he had come to this conclusion he decided ô refer the maner of Ma.ttin's alleged complicity to theEmperor. z With regard to those who opcnly admitted to the ki[ing he gave a writen verdict to the efiect that thcy were to be executed forthwith and that rhe manner of death was to be by beheading.
3 The condemned rnen \r/ere seated on rnules and paraded tluough the ttieets, thereby providing the Colchians with a sobering and awe-inspiring rpectacle. These latter were further impressed by the herald proclaiming in r loud clear voice a general exhortation to respect the laws and refrain from committing murder. 4 But when their heads had been cut ofi roo, evelyone was moved to pity and {orgot his resenrment. This rheu was the finish of the trial. The Colchians for their par retained and renewed their old affection
for the Romans. 72, Attet these events the Roman legions wintered in the tovrns and forttesses assigned to d:em.2 z Meanwhile some of the most influential men among the Misimians came to NacJroragan in Iberia and gave him a full account of the way they had dared to deal with Soterichus. Bur they kept secret thefu real motives and presented the Persian general with their own vetsion of the facts, according to whidr they had long been deliberately inclined to favour the cause of Persia and had in consequence met with abuse and opprobrium from the Coidrians rhemselves as well as from the Romans. Finally Soteridrus had descended upon them. Ostensibly he was there to distdbute gold to the allies but his real puqrose was the destruction
of the entire nation. 3 "And so" er
though perhaps incurring the censure of some for the hastiness of our action, of living our ourn lives and managing our afiairs to suit our own interests, we chose the better and more natutal, alternative. IX/e put our own survival first and were not particularly worried by the prorp".i of becoming rargers for abuse and recrimination. 4 §7e killed Soteric}us and his associates in order to punish them for their wicJ
114
Allthlatr The Hbtorla
upon ïr q4, if they can, they will orternlnetê ur,, It ir only rtght then that you should receive us in a spirit of friendshlp rnd extcnd you pioiection to us. And, considering our land henceforth as ÿour own and ouipeople as your subjects, ir behoves you equally nor ro disregard the plight ofa people on the brink of desffucrion, a people that is neither sma[ rLrlnsignificani, a people capable o{ making a very subsrantial contribution to the welfare of tlre Persian Empire. 6 You will also find that we have considerable experience of warfare and that we rnalçe powerful allies in battle. our land, üia it situated in a more elevated position than Lazica, will provide you with a base for operations against rhe enemy,,. 7 When Nadroiagan heard '.1qe this he received them mosr cordially, applauded their decision to chinge sides and told them they could leave with the confident expectation of obtaining from Persia all the help they needed. And so the Misimian deputation retumed home with a detailed reporr of what had happened. A urave of optimism spread through the whole people ar the news. -t?. f, the beginning of spring the Roman generals held a meeting at yhidr they decided to marcl against the Misimians. z Buzes and Juitin however, were instructed to stay on at Nesos in order to protect the place ,and generally keep an eye on things. The oipedition consisted of a mixed of cavaky andiniantoy numbering about four thousand. Among its mosr lorce distinguished members were Maxentius and Theodorus the leadlr of the TVaÿan contingent whom I have frequently had occasion to mention, both of them active and wadike commanders. 3 And so they set ofi on their yay. lhe arrangement was that Martin would soon amive ro take charge of them. Howwer, to prevent them from being leaderless for even a short time while mardring through the subject territoiies an Armenian called Barazes and a coldr,ian called Pharsantes received rhe supreme command. Neither 'yas superig.rin military prowess or in rank to the rest of the soldiers, indeed tlrey were iirferior to some. 4Baruzes was only a non-commissioned ofiicer whereas the other was captain of the palace guard of theLazian king, and so lacked the necessary confidence and force of personality to give àrders freely to a Roman army. 5 Nour summer was already advanced when this army readred the territory of the Apsilians. Further progress 'üras prevented by a strong concentration of Persian forces assembled there. The Persians in fact had reaJtzed that the Romans were preparing to mardr against tre Misimians so, leaving Iberia and the forts in the neighbourhood àf Mucheirisis, they too ser out fo,r the country of the Misimians wirh the object of occupyinglt in advance of the Romans and protecting it as efiectively as possibtre-.- 6 Th. Ro-r.r, tl,ereforg gtayed on in the fortresses of the Apsilians and tried to play for time and delay the issue until the end of the summer season, since it seemed a futile and extremely haeardous procedure to take on both the persians and
!e
Book 1
lt,
fu
Mldmtrnr ât thc t.mÊ tlmc. Accordingly both ormlo romatned inactive vlth nelthcr rlde venturing forth any dktance and eoch one waiting for the othcr to make the firgt move. 7 A mercenary force of Sabir Huns was seruing with the Persians. The §rblra arc a huge and populous nation. They are also entremely warlike and nprcious. They are always eager to mid smange lands and the lue of pay lnd the hope of plunder are suflicient incentive for them to ûght now for onc people, now for another, cJr,anging sides with bewildering rapidity. I They have often helped the Romans against the Persians and vice versa, &anging sides and paymasters in a very short space of time. They had in frct fought on our side in the prwious engagement with the Persians and on that occasion killed (in the course of the night-battle whidr I have already dcpcribed in detail) many of the Dilimnites who had corne to atta& them. 9 At the end of that campaign they were disdrarged by the Romans after they had received the amount of pay agreed upon. §flhereupon they ofiered their services to the very people whom they had but recently been fighting. The men who did this may perhaps have been difierent Sabirs, but Sabirs they were all the same and they had been sent by their own people to fight
in the Persian army. 14. Nour about five hundred of these Sabirs were bivouacking in an cnclosure f.ar avtay from the rest o{ the troops. §7hen Maxentius and Theodorus ascertained this and discovered moreover d:rat they were living in an
irregular and completely undisciplined fashion and not even taking the precaution of carrying their weapons around with them, they immediately tode out against them with three hundred horse. z Surrounding the wall (whiü s,as so low that rt aman on horsebadc stood over it from the outside his face would shour over the top) they let fly at the barbarians with javelins, stones, affo\r/s and anything thatcame to hand. 3 The Sabirs, thinking their attad
116
Agathlml The I{htcder
Boolr
his bodyguard lifted him up and bcat o hoaty &rr€Br wlth him beforc the whole enemy'force was upon them. Thcn whcn the psrsians .;rghi6 *d were bearing down on them the resr of the Romans fled in a difiJrent àirection and acted as a decoy t9 dlaw the pursuers away. In this way they provided a breathing-space whidr enabled Maxentius io be camiej witir jess
trpta*nr relæted prominent men from smong the Aplllinnr rnd cent them ll Ènvoyü to ânnounce the§e têrmr, But thc Misimiane, these abandonsd ftltüer lor whom no derogatory eplthet is too srrong, far from relaxing their ;tvrgêry and atoning by their {uture conduct for their past misdeeds, spurned fnd trampled underfoot the mosü basic nrles of ordinary human behaviour. fhsy fdl Llpon the envoys and slew them even though they were Apsilians, jæple, that is to say, with a similar way of life and whose territory bordered 0q theh own and in spite of the fact that they had had no hand in the actions g{,whidr the Misimians accused Soteridrus and the Romans, but had merely l' gftrcd them some friendly and helpful advice and had done so with the ui-
haste inside the fort. a
_15. Meanwlile Justin the son of Germanus senr ore of his commanders, Hun called Elminzur, ftqm Nesos ro Rhodopolis with two thousand horse.
Rhodopolis is a city in Lazica but it w* in persian hands at the time. Mermeroes had in fact captured it much eadier on and placed a persian gamison in it. However, r shall nor go into the details of how this happened
procopius. z At arry rute 1.h1s already been ciearly described by when Elrninzur got there he was aided by a singular itoke of good tuct<. rt so happened rhat the Persian garrison *ur ootiid" of the tow"n and its inhabitants were scattered about in various places, consequently Elminzur 3 mardred into the_city and gained 1.*.tti"r, of it without meeting with any resistance. He also conducted a roruy into the neighbouring ".gi",lo"ul destroyed any Persian deradmenrs he found there. Èeafizirg ihur"rh" qeople had supported the Persians through fear of foe rather tfran through meadrery he allowed them à sray in their homes and resume their normal way o{. ltre after having taken hàstages from them to ensure their allegiance and made all necessary urr*g.-àts for the maintenance stlce
*à
* otàd
of_security. And so Rhodopolis rerurned to iis former starus, keeping its hallowed tradirions and remaining subject to the Emperor of ihe Romans. 4 In the course of this summer no other memorable event occurred. At the first onset o winter the Persiâns withdrew to cotars and Iberia with the idea of wintering there and left the Misimians to fend for themselves. It is in fact not customary for the Persians to engage io strenuous campaigning
abroad at that time of year. 5 The Romans, now. free of enemy s"rveiliance] started once more to headior iheir previous'a.rti"uti*. §rË; r.a.lr.d the fort called ribeleos which marks the boundary berween the 1and of the Misimians and that of the Apsilians Martin arrived to take charge of the whole army. But he was suddenly assailed by a serious illness wirich prevgnted him froq doing so, eager though he wàs. so he stayed on there with
ffi
the intention of rerurning shortly to the rowns and forl of Lazica. The tfoops, however, pressed on regardless, placing themselves once more under the leadership of their previous cornmanders. 6 First of all they decided ro resr the remper of the Misimians ro see ryheth5r they would mend their ways of theii own accord and recognize their lawful masters. They might, it was hoped, so far repenr of the crimes they had committed on that occasion as to give themselves up to the Romans and return the money they had taken from soterichus. 7 Accordingly the
tl
LL7
Eo§t coutesy. 16. And so the Misimians having started ofi by committing an act of. erlminal folly persisted in their evil ways and had even proceeded to add larult to inju"y. Indeed, when they discovered that the Persians had deSmped and were not going to prorect rhem as they had agreed they still felt rrrfiiciently sure of thernselves, relying on the inaccessibility of the terrain vhich they were confident would present an insurmountable obstacle to the Bomans, to commit even more heinous crimes. z Their territory is in fact æreened by a mountain whidr though not particularly high is extremely steep rnd rocly on all sides. A glimpse may be caught here and there of a small pethway scarcely uodden and running through the middle of the hiIl. It is æ cramped and narrow that it does not afiord an easy passage even to a rhgle walarer walking in comparative security, so that, if someone sÿ'ere to otand on the summit and prevent people from approaching, no enemy no Êatter how numerous could get through, not even if he were as lightly-armed as they say the Isaurians are. Relying therefore on this impregnable posirion, they had become utterly red
--3 i. e. "Place of lron"
118
loth
âgrthlnu the Hhrorlor
lvas to close in on the Romans and, outnumberkrg thcm aa thcy dicl, makc short work of them. 6 But the Romans used tr;eh orperience of ürfu*. to consi{erable efiect by quidrly gaining a hillod< from wlrid: they performed
great feats of arms. It was ahard, prolonged and hotly-contesià struggle with the Misimians trying to complete the encirclement'of the Romans âd the Romans at one moment sudàedy swooping down on the enemy and throwing their ranks into complete disarray *Jth. next galloping br.L "p the hill to safety. 7 Meanwhile the barbarians caught sÈhr ;f tf,. of ""rt the army Trking its way over rhe brow of a hill andlhinÈng that they had been lured into an ambush, immediately took to flighi. But thà Romans, who \d ull joined forces by rhis time, puriued them ielentlessly until ttey nua killed the bulk of them. out of so many men a mere eighty r.torned ,a{.ly to the fortress of siderun. 8 If the Romans had attàcked the fort ther! and then while the barbarians were srill stunned by what had happened, they would, I think, almost certainly have swepr e-verything before them and the war would have been over on that same àay. r"t-in the absence 9 of any general of note and of any outstanding and-authoritative personality evefyone was practically on tefms of equality. The result was mutual recrimination and mutual exhortation, with eadr man having ears only for his osrn suggestions, and nothing worthwhile was accomplished. ro The fact th_æ opinion was divided, so that one view found favour with one group whifst some other view appealed to the opposing laction, meant that neither poliry sras put into practice. Resentftrl that his own poinr of view did not yT g.n rul acceptance eadr man went about his businèss in a negligent and half-hearted fashion and_ took pleasure rather in any reverses wIüjr might furnish him later with the opportunity of boasting io the nexr man anJof not mincing his words as he pointed out that the sole cause of the unfortunate event had been their failure to implement his suggestions. 17. Ini'these circumstances, then, they camped urïgr"ur", distance from tfrg enemy than is normal when one is conducting a siege. Furthermore they did not even launch their attack ar dawn as they should have done bui, yielding to cowardice and sloth, they began to attacl a secondary importance to the things that mattered most with the result that they attad
1
11,
t{{ng d6rgo of tho Romrn army, John lmmcdlotely movcd .liiJr fooit ar*rird thi fort and trtcd to loy slege to lt. He also cndcav' Émlrnl rnd
;h;;;
ana uttad, thooe who were living Jutside the
fort' Most of
.& âwe[ings lyers not in fact lnaido the fortified encloeute but were whidr was flanked by {eep gorges and far.tê on fr," top o{ a nearby roc1, great atea and rendering the whole place idd bouia"rs stretching over a
5 Their tàï.*gt inaccessible to sgangeri unfamiliar with the region. to desnecessary, people, when local the ifpc*ü.. of the terrain enabled path
complete§ slowly and painfully, by means of a narrow the rock of. fogt At up again. bacJ< to tËen thl ÈUàln from view and "iimb inhabitants the ffom whidr §rater of drinking proper springs plain are iÀ th" Ot the irill diawtheif vratef. 6 At that time however, the Romans wete irtroline the area and so the barbarians câme dourn at night to draw their irarcr. B-.rt wh.n a certain fsaurian called lllus, who was on sentry dury tlicre caught sight of a large number of Misimians coming dgwl at-a very late
ctid, au.ir
hour of th" nigtt for watàr he concealed himself and waited silently, making 1üZhen they had filled their pitchers and set ofi he no rrt"*p, tJstop them, iLllowed^them seËretly and went up with them as far es the top, where he not Observed the lie of the land as best he could in the dark and noticed thât on kg.p watch gtard and g more than eight men had been posted ro mount gave full and he descended this th" ur..or. 7 As soon as he discovered details to the general, who was delighted at the nen s and on the following nicht carefullv selected a hundred shock-troops and sent them out to recofl' nütr. th" place and, if possible, laundr ür attack. They also had instnrctions ihrt ot.. ih.y *.t",]t trrrty ofl top they-were to g1v9 a-signal with the trumpet and ihe rest of the army would then attad< the fort so that the enemy in both places would be thrown into confusion' ,tS. Since hè naa ayeady had some experience of the ascent 1llus went in front and led the way. Immediately after him came Marcellinus' personal gtxdZiper folloured by Leontius the so1 of Dabrugezasa who was follovred t,oro Ëy Theodorus the commander of the1zani, and so on one after the other in one continuous line. z §ÿhen they had already got more than half \ray up those who were in front saw clearly the watdr-fire burning and the lvine dosrn next to it. Seven of them were fast asleep and were ""rrdr I'norirrg peucefullv. Only one, who had propped himself up on his elbow ,..-.à to have managed to stay awake, and even he was dronrsy and overcome with sleq>, so that he kept dropping off and starting up again and there was no telling how mudr longer he would hold out. 3 Meanwhile Leontius the son of Dabraguas slipped on some mud, lost his footing and 4
"". rh" p"rsonal guard of.Dabragezas" The Greek is at ftst sight ambiguous, but it r."*r *"o" likeli that abarbaian commander should have grven his.son a Gteek name than that someone
vith
a Greek name should have beea acting as his attendant.
1t0
âgrthlur îIrr türtale
fell, breaking his shield in the proceaa. Naturally thh prcduccd R tremendoug clatter at which the guards Jf i,'a ,lî il*"ilil;,üïî oh th.i, couches drew their swords ana tot J u-rout tt orn *.*ig irr"i, necks in everv dirêction. Bur thev courd nor rour." orr-irir,Jïôi"rîJ'rir.e werc dazzled bv the grare of the fire ÀJ tr,"ruro*-*rÀi"'rîaerect they the presence of men standing in the darkness. -f,urth.rÀo*, ,h" ;;;., having assailed them in their-sreep, was neithei.t"r, noiài;rà;;;;r":"crr, as to suggest the sound o{ falling ureâpons. The Romans on the,btlrer hand had a crear and accurate view of everything'. 4. consequ-ently th"y hurt d and-remained immovabre as pot -d to rhe ground. They did not u*er so m.r.l, a, u;ï;;;;;ove though their feet, bur stood stoc[,stin wÀ.; ;h"y were, whethàr they happened "*actry to be.standing on a sharp piece of ro.r. o" r-fu;h;-J ,h"".r* '*hu, 5 rf they had nor acted in tÀis.way and,À.;;ril1;";;r;;ïJf "rrir. *u, goilg o-n thev woutd no doubt have rorled à;*; irJuË iLra., ,na crushed all their assailants, which was *ty ';;; ,:."y ,r.rJ*i,,îüà breath silent and motionless. 6 i must rrv r,,,rïa ,, À"ir ai.Jpull,'rro* ir* as though by-some pr."oo."*"Jsignal they rll.;;tir"i*har was ;1tit;e11a k p, firmly in position, *.rLing out independently *hut :"":t:i:i:i"rl,9 rhe ufgency ot the moment did not permit them to .av aroud. sincà there seemed to be no indication of_danger the barbarians frri.*.à;;r feering, and were only too glad to go back"to ,1".e. 19: %9*ïpon the Romans fel] upon them whire they were stifl sreeping soundlv and slew rh:*.. u[. incruding the o1e whom J". -igÀr-;estingry -rfi."uairrg describe as "half-awake". After r!*-*r* àar*""J u"làir, r,r, throu.g\ the alleys berween the houses. At the ,u,,. ii*"-ïh.* *.p", tqyld"d- the signal for battle. z The Miri.iurr, *.." ,uipuir"a and be_ wildered by the noise, and rlr:sh they diônot grasp its imprications they got up and rushed oul in all direaionr, ,..Lin[ ;" ;;rf"Àt-prrrr. 3 But the Romans met them in the doorways and jâve th; ;;;;;.ception ytt[they sw-ords, slaughtering them in great numbers. No sooner in fact had the first batch crossed ihe thrJrhora unib""" cur down than asecond batch was there and yet a third one rüas arreqdy on th. wây ro invoruntary serfimmolation and there was no.respite in the general *rÉ ,o a.rt*.iilrr. so"n crowds o! rvogen gor up.rn{ .1.-. streamiig out of ,fr. n""r", and sobbing' But the Romans in their fury did n* ,prr" even rhese, so"ùng rhat they too reaped the reward of their menfolk's ,r.""1r."p , ôïàîr"th.., u woman of some refinement, was walking very conspicuorrrty a lighted t".d yl.n. she was pierced through"the"beflv bv , r;;frouirq perished ;;j miserablv. At this Roint.o_ne- of the Romans picked rh";..h].,,r u"u* to set fire to the huts, whidr, being built of *;J ;;;;;.#, "; b;;;; ilto ar.., in a momenr. The flames ror. ,rp1ir.. a beacon ,na nrrrr.J ,rr"ï.*r'"r *r.*
loût
1
tzt
happenlng even to the Aptllinnr rnd tq pcopler-ltlll further eway, Tho iÀuinÀ alauchter wat ltlll morc temlble and thc barbarians were lvhs llke fltes, Thôse who staycd indoora were elther burnt to death or türt«t alive. Those who rushed outslde met with more certain death from thO cwords of the Romans. Many children rürefe seized sobbing and crying Orrt for theit mothers. Some they hurled down and mangled brutally against the rod
wu
I
with the Misimian the envoys. against the outrage æople both on account of Soteridrus and of not have acted and they should Ïrleverth.l.tt their fury was disproportionate who babies neuzborn towards brutality Vlth suc}'ffanton and monstrous deed of sinful pafents' And so this crirnes; their ind no understanding of theirs did not go unPunished. 20. The whole night had been spent in the commission of these and similar atrocities ,rdih" spot had aiready assumed an aspect of _complete forth devastation when about fivà hundred heavily-armed Misimians sallied The Romans. the attad
Understandable that the Romans should have been enraged
ri.g"-works with the idea o{ demolishing them. Butbefore they drevr at the near and tàok.orr.r under it a Slav called Suarunas huded his spear fell the man As the blow. a mortal him ;;;,h* *;r most visible and strucl<
nàÀ*
inside *i*"i"""f toppled over revealing and leaving unprotected_the men fot except
àn. rir1who managed to get away,had almost made it to the fort ui."dy readred the s'mall ,iàe-gate *hen he rras strLrd< dead by an arrow. He i"ti ,o.r*ti"g on the threshold with a small part of his bodv protrudins ;;à. of thË fort but mosr of it inside. 6 §rhen the Misimians saw this I think they interpreted it as abad omen. Apart from that they were beginning to brealc down under the stmin of the fightins and werç anxious to
122
Alrthlmr
llrr Hhortu
EËolt
eflcct a reconciliatlon with the Romans, and above all they wcre inlluenced by the fact that the.relief-force promised Èy the p*rr."r'rrrJ iot afrived. 7 In consideration, rhen, of ar these factors and .rt.irrrrirrg td.Jn ,to.t of the-r1 own'capabilities they were reructandy ur"rgrri rï. berated realization that- they were going to be no matclr ior ,lr" and that no lgnger sustain tÈe fighting. sent .oroyrl-if,àr"lor., ,o Ihely John imploring him wipe ouia peoprg *r, rràa-rrrg d""i ,uu;."i ," lo ""1 rhe same rerigiàus the Romans, that shared leliefs *à ,rrr, riràiài ,"trliut.d until they had been grievousry wronged and had trr.o b.Àu".J with the claracteristic recklessness of bàrbarian-s. Their case w.as after all one which qeritgd some degree of forgiveness and restrainr considering tÀat they had aheady sufiered so much.*d Fd been punished with t".tr r'"rr.tiry. Everything within a considerable radius of the fort had been ,Àa r" ,rr. ground, not less than five thousand of heir y9"rg_ men had p"rirh.d anà of their §/omen while the number of d,idr.r, that had r.ri trràriires-or" s,as eveû greater, so that the entire nation had come close to extinction.
;;j; [..ri,
f:, ":di
**y
s {ohn only po glad ro accepr their petition both to avoid the -was necessity of exposing himself and his tioopr to the hazards of a prolonged stay in a desolate and wintry region and because the Misimian, i"
been sufiicientlv punished hos-tages
with him and
for their misdeeds.
Àt t**, , À;";ri;;;i; he took
ail. the money and everything
had brought with him inclydTu
t.!: Eqqeror's
Éa
.rr" ,Àri totericrru,
;
rwenry_
eight.thousand eight hundred solid gorà pieces. In "i-àr"ri"s,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, addition ,;dn, he set ofi with a large quantitv of booty, tamà the Miri;i;, ," .""àLt trr.i, own afairs once more and to resume oo*àl [f" witho,rt f.ri Jo,ot.rrurion. ro And so he returned to Lanca having brought back À ,r*u *fria nna covered itself with glory andlad done sJwith îtotuttoru rhi.ry *"n. 21. Atter rhese evenrs.theEmperor Justinian relieved"r"Jy Ma#n Jtogerh.r
of his comniamd and put in his piace Justin the son è;*r";J* courrmander-in-chief of rhe forces iiLazica and Armenia."fEu; b.f; this thê Emperor had not liked the idea of Marrin's holding tlr. ,upi.À. .om-*d ilyiew of the prominexr pan he had played in the a"ssassinaiion of Gobrr.r. z Ho'*1ev.el he had_ kept his views r".i"t ior a time because he felt it was not u,.q9od thi"c or tamper with the leadership th" ,"Ày *hil. l,?.&*u. "f was pop,rlar aftairs were still in a sta;te of turmoil, paticularly sincà Martin with the ffoops on account of his miritary .*p.ri.r". and abre gei."arhip. 3 rt was this, I think, that had saved t im rrir rir., àin."rir;h.";;; wourd have been executed along with John and Rusticus. rnstead of whicl the {mperor out of respecr for his vicrories and for his ability in t}re CeH, bent the strict letter of the law and dropped the charge ri. aia however, allow him ro rerain his c-oïmand b"t;d;Jrri.ïo-rl" ^i^a{riri*l "o, rrur* of api'vivqlg individual, judging thar even though t. uai"à"à hîna io u
a
12,
crlme of rudr enormlty tho dhgrrce of hlr dlmhral wm rufilclenr punieh4 §o, ac Eoon ÊB therc was a lull ln hostllltlcr on thc Persian front hc depoced htm and summoned to Conetantinople Justln rvho apart from belng a close relation of the Emperor's enioyed pariicularly high repute at the time. Justinian therefore gave him ftill command and sent iim ti Lazica to deal with whatevet situation might arise there. 5 Now there was in Justin's retinue a Libyan called .Iohn, a man who had been obscure and pcnniless to start with (so much so that in order to live he had had ro work as cnother man's hired lackey and to fetch and carry for some member of Justin's body-guard) but who had subsequently risen in a short time to grear heights of wealth and arrogance. 6 §7irh the help of mudr sdreming and a, gteat deal of low cunning he soon succeeded in making himself known to Justin. Being an utterly vile and unscrupulous wretch who in order to make money would stoop to every conceivable form of wid
!rênt.
22. Thercupon John went the rounds of the various villages of the Empire situated along the roure of their line of march. He would gat}er together the inhabitants of a village where for instance oxen were in shorr supply and would issue a general proclamation to the efiect that the army had need of them. And so he woulâ say, displaying rsrenty ralenrs, "You must sell me oxen to the value of this sum and drere can be no question of selling me less. But first take the money and then see ro it that you bring me all your oxen as quid
124
ÂErthhrr Thç Hhtorla
would arrive somewhere elae, vrhere nobody had evcn heard of camEla or rnules, and would start shouting and insisting that he had come ecpressly for these animals. ft was the same old story all over again. He would begin by showing them his money, end by taking theirs and finally depart. 4 And so wherever he went he followed the same procedure of requiring whatever rü'as not avulable.In this way he kept amassing money, whidr he extracted from people who owed him nothing, without ever buying or selling or otherwise financing anything. and it was no time before he had abeady doubled the principal with his iakings. 5 §7hen they reaclred Lazica he did the same thing and moreover, having somehow got hold of some mercJrant ships, made a forcible collection of the agricultural produce of the region which he bought ditt dreap in huge quantities and shipped away for sale overseas. Not surprisingly the army v/âs in consequence afilicted with such a severe shortage of essential foodstufis that even ablade of grass cost money, and the profits that that swindling hud
Bsolt
Effrêtlvê, ar
1
12,
lt unwindr ln rtrlct chrcnologlcol leguence through thc coume
eventa, re0d1a8 that point ln tlmc, For the prËBênt, hovever, nÈtufn to the earliæ pefiod and resume my account of lt.
of
I
must
21, The situation in Lazica was as has been descibed and Justin had 'been appointed Commander-in-Chief. The Persians made no *ouà to rene'ür hoatillties, nor, for that matter, did the Romans take the ofiensive. Both rldes in fact rilrere on the alert trying their best to divine eadr other's lntentions. Neither side took the initiative in attacling, but both remained lnacdve, keçing of one accord and, as it wete, by common consent, at a fcspectful distance from eadr other.
:
On learning what had happened on the banks of the Phasis and that
tle Persian Emperor Chosroes drmmoned him immediately from Iberia and, following a time-honoured Persian custom, punished him with gteat. savagery. 3 Simply to execute the man vras not, he thought, sufiicient punishment for his cowardice. Accordingly the sldn was torn from his ned<, ripped ofi in one piece right down to his feet, then completely detached from the flesh and turned inside out, so that the contours of the various parts of the body were visible in f,werse. After that it was inflated like a wineskin and suspended from a pole, a pitiful and disgusting spectacle of whidr the infamous Shapur,6 who had been king of the Persians long before Chosroes, was, I think, the originator. 4 There is a well-known story about Marsyas the Phrygian 7 according to whidr there was a flute-playing competition between him and Apollo in whidr Marsyas was roundly beaten and rightly so since he had the temerity (if it does not seem too absurd to put it that way) to play the flute against his own particular god 8. §(/hereupon his vicrorious opponent is supposed to have punished him for this rashness by flaying him and hanging his shin on a tree. The whole tale is, of course, a wildly improbable fabrication of the poets, a mere flight of fancy without a shred of truth or likelihood about it, involving as it does the far-fetched asserrion that Apollo became a flute-player, took part in a musical contest and became so violently enraged after his victory that he inflicted such an altogether wicl
6 i. e.
Shapur
I
(241*272 A.D.)
7 According to the myth Marsyas was a satyr from Phrygia. I i. e. Apollo who in his capacity as god of music is thought of as a soff of patron deity of all Ilute-players.
126
Beokl
Agrthlmr Thr Htltodo
(I cannot say in what precise connectlon becaure I do not recall the preceding \ verses) in a poem of his called the Dionysiaca, goe! on to sây: "Ever since he humbled Marsyas and his flute
e
that in contention
strotrÿe
.
and emulous dispute
against a god. §Thereat his skin upon rhe tallest of the trees he hung to belly like a sail and flumer in rhe breeze".
6 That this abomination was at the time still unknown to man should be sufriciently obvio'r.rs to anyone who is capable of viewing the distant past with the right degree of iritical detadrment and who does nor allow himielf to ibe misled by the tales the poets tell about the gods. 7 However, though Shapur sras a most unjust and bloodthirsty man, quickly and easily roused to anger and cruelty and slo,vrly and reluctantly moved to compassion and restrâint, even so r cannot definitely exclude the possibility that this foul act might have been perperatd at on earlier date on some other victirn or victims. But, that when he defeated the Roman Emperor Valerian in battle, he captured him alive and toolc this cruel revenge upon him is voudeed for by the testimony of several historians. S And from all accounts the very first of those who seized the Persian throne after the cotrlapse of the Parthian empire, namely Ardashir and Shapur were both monsters of wid
L27
rldn rnd lovalled the cloplng .ummlr od ttre hilh md rsde over them, Cü{ttrhg mountain ridgcc ae thoqh they wcru levcl ploine. 4. On his ttturn journey hc was eo elated by hie impious succesa that his insolence
ltEgr*r no bounds, but it was soon drecled by Odenathos of Palmyra,l2 a llun ruhose previous obscurity and insignificance rÿere more than offiset by bh glorioue exploit against Shapur whidr won him a lasting place in the Drges of history.
, , Ori the death of Shapur, his son Hormizd succeeded to the throne. His rdgn was a very short one, 13 lasting one year and ten days, in the course of vhich he adrieved nothing v/orth recording, nor did Vahram I who succeeded ldm and reigned fot tfuee years. la 6 But Vahram's son, who had the same name as his father, reigned for seventeen years.15 Vahram III tasted sovereignty for a mere four months.16 He was given the title Saghanshah which he received not, I think, idly or without good reason but in accordance with 0n ancient ancestral custom. 7 lVhen in fact the Persian kings make war on some neighbouring people of considerable size and importance and reduce them to submission, they do not kill the vanquished inhabitants but impose a tribute on them all md allow them to dwell in and cultivate the conquered teffitory. Howevet, they consign the former leaders of the nation to â most pitiful fate and assign the title of ruler tq their own sons, presurnably in otder to preserve the protrd memory of their victory. 8 Now since the Segestani were subdued by his father Vahram II it was only natural that the son should be given the title Saghanshah, which is Persian for "king of the Segestani". 25, Alter the speedy demise of Vahram III Narsah immediately assumed the crown and ruled for seven years and five months. 17 He was succeeded by his son Hormizd II who was heir not only to his father's throne but also to
a reign of identical duration. Sttange though it may seern the fact is that both of them reigned for exactly the same number of months and years. z They were succeeded by Shaput II who enjoyed an exceedingly long reign the length of which coincided exactly with the length of his life.l8 Indeed when he was still in his mother's womb the future ofispting was called to the throne. Since it was uncertain whether the queen would give 3bitth to a male or a female drild the nobles proposed a special reward for the magi i{ they 1, O" f"r
march Shapur was attacked and defeated by him ând lost part of his booty. ".t,rn 13 272---273 A.D. 14
273-276 A.D.
t5 276-293 L.D. 16 293
A.D.
t7 293-302 A.D. t8 309/t0-379 A.D.
t2â
Âgathlar: The Hhtorler
Bôoh 4
would foretell the future. Accordingly they broughr our a mare in the last of pregnancy and told the magi to predict what they thought rüouH happen içr its case. In this way they would be able to find 6ut in a few days whether in the event the prediction had come true, whiih would .rrubl. them to form an estimare of the drances of fulfilment of whatever would be foretold in the case of the human being. Now I cannot say exactly what was the precise nature of the prediction in the case of the mare, since I have not received accu.râte information on that point, but, whatever it was, it proved goffect. 4 When the nobles rcelized that the magi knew their art to perfection they urged them to expound their knowledge of future events with regard to the woman also. \X/hen the magi said that a mùe drild would be bom they no longer delayed, bur putting the diadem around the mother,s womb, üey proclaimed as Emperor the foetus conferring upon it the distinction of a name and a tide when, I suppose, it had just readred that stage of developement at whidr it was capable of making a few slight jumping and throbbing movements inside the womb. 5 Thus they took for granted what in the natural order of things is uncertain and obscure, thouglr they 'qz'ere not wide of the mark in their expectations, whid: were fulfilled to the letter and beyond it. Soon alter tnfact shapur Ir was born. Possessed of the royal title at birth, he grew up on the rhrone and he grew old on it, living to the ripe old age o[ sevenry. 6 In the rwenty fourth year o[ his reign the city o{ Nisibis 1e fell into the hands of the Persians. It had long been subiect to the Rornans and it was their own Emperor, Jovian, who surrendered and abandoned it. The previous Emperor, Julian, had penetrated into the heart of the Persian Empire when he died suddenly and Jovian was proclaimed Emperor by the generals and the rroops. 7 Hampered by the recentness of his accession and by the prevailing confusion engendered no doubt by the,state of emergenry that had brought him to po'ürer and finding himself, moÈover, in the middtre of enemy territory, he was in nà position to efiect a leis'r.rred and ordedy settlement of afiairs. rn his anxiety, thetefore, to terminate his sojourn in a foreign and a hostile land and to return with all speed to his own country he became party to an ignoble trearty, whidr to this very day is a blot on the Roman stare. By it he confined thereafter the extent o{ his Empire within new fronriers, whittling away its far-flung corners. 8 However, the events of that period have been recorded by a host of earlier historians, and I have no rime to dwell on rhem stages
but must needs stid< to my previous subject. 26. Shapur II was succeeded by his brother Ardashir who reigned for four years and then died. The son of Ardashir was also called Shaprrr2o afld he reigned f.or a tatal of five years. His son Vahram IV reigned for eleven 1, Ag"thtrÿ drronology is wrong. Nisibis was ceded to Persia by Jovian in zo i. e. Shapur
III.
3G3
A.D.
129
yiü'r. He \rss glven the title Kermanùah, I I havo aheady explained the ülfron for thia kind of title. Kerman was pÊrhaps the name of a people or a jlrco rnd no doubt Vahram acqu.ired the title àfter they or ir had been reduecd by his {ather in much the sarrc way as was the Case with the earlier Rorran practice, whereby an individual assumed a special name connecred vlth the name of some othü nation whidr he had conquered as for example nâfticanus" and "Gerrnanicus". 3 The next reign was marked by the tEcêsEion to the throne of Persia oLYazdgard,I 21 the son of Shapur, 22 a marr whose memory has remained something of a legend among the Romans. It lr indeed commonly reputed that when the Emperor Arcadius was on the point of death and was making his last will and restamenr he designated Yazdgard as guardin and custodian of his son Theodosius and of the entire Rorpan state. 4 This story has been handed down from generation ro genetetion and preserved on the Iips of men and is still rqreated at the presenr dme by,both the upper classes and the common people. But
I
have not come across
It in any document or in the works of any historian, not even in those whidr give an account of the death of Arcadius, with the single exception of Procopius.23 And I do not find it at ail. surprising that Procopius, who with his encyclopaedic knowledge had rcad practically every historical work ever written, should have found a written version of this story in t}e works of some carlier historian which has so far eluded me who know next ro norhing, if indeed I know anything at oJ7. 5 What I do find extremely surprising is that Procopius does not confine himself at this point to a straightforward account of events but applauds and eo
barbaian, the ruler of a bitterly hostile nation, a tnal who in matters of honour and justice was an unlmorür'n quantity and who on top of everything else was the adherent o{ a false religion. 7 Tf the infant came to no harm afld i., thanks to the care and protection of his guardian, his throne was never in jeopardy though at the time he had not yet even been weaned, then one ought rather to praise the honesty of Yazdgard than the action of Arcadius. But these are questions whidr the reader must decide for himself according to his own criteria. 8 At any ruteYazdgard reigned rwenty-one years during whicl time he never waged war against the Romans or harmed
2t 399-42t A.D. 22
It
is not altogether clear whether Agathias means Shapur III or Shapur History of the \[ars, T,2,6,sq.
23 Procopius:
II.
1r0
Agrthlmr Tho Hlrterler
Eook
the*. in any other way,. but hig ottitude war conrrstently pcactful and conciüatory either thtough coincidence or our of g*uin. .ËoJJ;;J;i*?;;
the boy and concern for his duty as a guardian. onhis death he was u*...à"ï Cy rris son val*am v who made an incursion into the territory of the Romans but when he met with a friend.ty and courteous reception from the generals stationed at the frontiers he withdrew swiftly and returned to his own imperial domain, t uu"rg rrJrlrer waged a war onlis neighbourq-nor damaged thèir hnd in uny otherïay- z After a reign of t\r/enry ye,ars2a he handed over the throne io his son azdga,d,rr who reigned for sevenreen years and four monrhs. 25 ità 3 that of Peroz26 an exceedingly daring and warlike *urlHi, minà wu, fill.d with grandiose ambitions, but his yudgement was far from sound and he
zi,
l "*-r.ig, *r,
a great deal more valour than discretion. 4 conseluently he lost his life in an expedition againsr the Ephthalites nor ;;;À,i imagine, of his oppo".nt, âs through hi, .;;;.Llessness. #*gl.the-strength Though he should have taken alt the necessâry precautions and reconnaissance measures to safeguard his advance into .n"my territory againstambush he fell straight inro a r,,ap, a series of carefulily ;;flriJ-pits and trendres that stretched over ûhe plain for a very gét distancelHe p"rish.d there together with his army in the t*.nty-fâo"rth y.r. il, iàgn, "r his life. ouran ignominious v/ay of ending Salgegvred by the Huns The Ephthalites are in fact a -Hunnic people. i{is brothei valash who 5 succeeded him to the throne *-rr rot conspiculos for any Àiritu.y achievements not only on account of his mild an-d gentle disposition uid, nutwul aversion to violence but also because his ieign *uJ u very sho* one, alnounting in fact ro a mere_four yeaxs.zT 6 He rras ,ucce.dld by Kavaj tle sol of Peroz, who waged.mrnÿ *r., against the RomÀs unJ*oo.ury victories,o-rer the- neighlorling barbarian peopres. His reign was indeed a pefiod ot 'u1ç.*1r*.turbulence and strife. 7 rn his dealings with his subjects he was harsh and. cruel, showing no respect for the sàcial order, rltroducing revolutionary innovarions inà rhe tày poni" *a *rr*ri"g tfreir rye-old cusroms. He even reputed ro have Ààa, u ru* thut *irr", should be hetd in commonnor, I imaline, with a view to any of the utilitarian ends suggesred by the hidden *.*irg tf so.rut"r' *ord, i, the pratonic rt byt in order to factËtate concubinage ,ra à.* any man per,ell :ülog": who telt so incüned to sleep with any sroman of his àwn choosing, even if she happened to be somebody else,s urife. possessed-
24 427-438/9 A.D. 25 438/9-457 A.D. 26 459-484. 27 484 ,188. 28 cf. Plato: Republic Bk. V 457 c. sq.
,
{
1r1
And, ro, m thlr legelly.oanctloned outrage Srsly rtfc ths nobler could dtryrce no longJr and bcgen to voicc thcir engcr opcnly. It wao in 'Githh hdwhich wrs ihe principal cauge of the consplracy against hi* ,eC U. rubeeguent downfall. In thi eleventh year of his.reigr the nobles all ,iOro tn a body against him and deposed him, casting him into the "Prison 'bû Oblivion»-2e 2 Zamasp was tJren invested with the royal power. He 'ltOO was a son of Petoz and apart from that enjoyed repytatlon for great 1
,0.
.Ëg1r the
*9
justice. In this_way they thought $at they _h-ad 3cntl.o"ss of character and icttled everything to their satisfaction and that henceforth they would be fblc to live in peace and quiet. 3 But it v/as not long beÏore Kavad escaped eithcr aided and abetted by his wife who chose to die for his sake as Pro' 30 ot by some other means. At any COpius tells us lalethe fact remains that niAa escape from prison to the land of the Ephthglitgs- wh9r9 he threw hiàseff on ih" protection of their king. a Mindful of the vicissitudes of fortune the king received him with great kindness and never ceased to comfort him anà alkviate his distress o{ mind, showing him every considefation, addressing him words of encouragement which were calculated to raise lris spirits, fàasting him at his table and frequently making him drink from his o*n.,rp, dressing him in costly garments and in fact omitting none of the niceties ôf hospitrlity. Not long afterwards he gave his daughter's hand in ma13:iage to his g,rert and having entrusted him with a sufiiciently large army to ensufe his return sent him back home to crush all opposition ani regain his former prosperity. 5 There is a natural tendency for things to wor]< out very difierently from what people expect, often upsettittg urrd completely betying theit calculations and what happened on that-occasion *rrï "uré i" poi"t. In a very short space of time the pendulum of Kavad's fortunes had swung 6 from one extfeme to the other and bacl< again: he had ordranged the state of a king for the lot of a convict, escaped ftom prison to bJcome a refugee and a suppliant in a stfange land, and then, after Liruirrg been a suppliant zrnd a guest, had become the close relation of a king. Then-on his retum home he regained his tlrone without ef[ort or danger, findiog iÊ vacant and as it wete waiting to receive him, for all the world as th*gh he had never been deprived of it. 7 Zamasp in fact -voluntarily affiicated, wisely making â virtue of necessity and preferring, after having enjoyed four yeârs on the rhrone, to fenounce the pride of ofiice and the pomp of povrer in exchange fot a safe retirement. 8 Kavad, now more rs in restrained 31 than he had formedy been, ruled for another thirty years E-A;;;rT-ng to Procopius (History of the §fiars I, V, 8) the place was so narned because it was forbidden undet pain of death to make any mention of those imprisoned there'
IVI
30 Procopius: History of the §(ars 1-9. 31 The Greek is ambiguous and could mean "f,nofe
thus by previous ffanslators. However
it
power{ul' and has beeo tendered
is a fact that after his restotation Kavad
eventually broke with the revolutionxy Mozdakite movemeot.
lr2
AgEthlmr The Hhtorylel
addition to theprevious eleven
eo
that hie relgn Embtrccd. tota,l of forty.onc
yeats.32 29. Past generations of historians have written
full and detailed accounts of the events of both parts of Kavad's reign. There is one point, holever, and I think it is worth making, z whid:, they have not dealt with, namely the startling coincidence that x that time muclr the same thing happened in both the Roman and the Persian Empire, that as though by some strange quirk of fate disaster fell almost simultaneously upon the monardrs of both states. Shortly before in fact the Emperor of the Romans, Zer,o the fsaurian, whose original name was Tarasicodissa, .$ras the victim of a plot by lllus, Basüscus and Conon aided and abetted by Verina and was dethroned and driven out, barely escaping to Isauria in time. But he returned later, put down the usurper Basiliscus who had reigned for not more than tv/o years, regained complete control of afiairs and remained on the tfuone unril his
death, which, however, occurred not very long afterwards.33 3 At the with similar or rather even greater misfortunes. As a result of the intrigues of Orestes he was obliged to flee from Italy and lost the Imperial rhrone whidr he never regained. He died a private citizen.35 4 Sudr, then, were the extraordinary vicissitudes to which by some strange coincidence the major pov/ers were at that time subjected, Let those critics whose practice it is to analyse and account for events of a problematic nature seek to orplain these events, and they may as far as f am concerned suggest whatever explanation they wish. However I must return to the subject of my eadier excursus. 5 On the death of Kavad, whidr occurred in the fifth year of the Roman Emperor Justinian, the famous Chosroes, whose reign brings us into our own day aurrd age,36 succeeded his father to the throne. His exploits were many and various. Some of them have been previously recorded by procopius and çf ,those that have not sorne have already been dealt with by me, whereas others will receive a proper treatment in due course. 6 But in order to maintain a strict drronological sequence I shall confine myself for the time being to pointing our thar his reign lasted some forty-eight years in the course of whidr he won many brillianr victories. His reign in fact marks a pinnacle of success and outstâ"ûding adrievement reacààd by no prwious Persian monardr, not at arry rute if one is to make an over-all sâme time the tWestern Emperor Nqros 3a met
)2
488
498/9 A. D. and
498/9-ÿL L.D.
33 Agathias' cJrronology seems to have gone
wildly astray. Zeno
fled,
from Constantinople
in the August of 476.He died oo the 9th April, A.D. 49l.Ir seems that Agathias has confused the revolt of Illus (484--488) with the earlier conspiracy in which Illus was also implicated, 34 28th August 47, A.D. ss In 480 A. D. 36 53L-579 A.D.
t»
BooLl
Èompuilon of individual reigno, Indced lt eould hordly be clafuned. thrt cvcn Cynir the son of Cgmbyseô of l)aflui the aon of Hyotaapea.or for thot mottef thC famoot Xerxes who opened up thc Beas to cavalry and tfie mountains to irhlppttg,3T would stand comparison with him. 7 Yet his.ulhappy -aqd üifirfor end was in the starke§r contrasr to !he_ greatnes§ of h! nast.{fe. BIi *6 sojourning at the time in the village of Thamnon in the Carduchian lülh, (he hâd moved there for rhe summer, since 8 the region was favoured ÿtth; tempefate climate) when Maurice the son of Paul who had been put ln commanâ of the forces in the East by the Roman Emperor Tiberius I COnstantine made asudden irruption into the adjoining district of Atzaaena. And, as though that were not enough, Maurice then proceeded to ravage 1nd plunder the whole area. Soon he had crossed the river Zitma and was rtill ïdvancing, burning and plundering everytling thât lay n his path. rüflhile Mauiice was engaged on this wor! of wholesale destruction and 9 âCVastation Chostoes, who being near enough to get a clear view already of the smoke rising up found the spectacle of enemy fire, whidr he had never leen before, too *...1, for him, and was so stunned and dismayed that he took no action whatsoever either ofiensive or defensive. fnstead he gave himself up to excessive grief at what had happened.and was seized immediately by dcspond.ncy anà despair. ro Acôoldingly he was conveyed with great lpeàd on
r to hii
palaces
in Seleucia and Ctesiphon. It was more of a
a reueat. Not long aftet that he ended his days. IIIght than^iitt
I
seem somehow to have allowed myself to get carried away and have, I think, become so enthralled with these fascinating events as tô skip the whole intervening period and embark gaily on a recitaLof what happ.n.d at a much later date. But now that am ful[y conscious of the naiüre and extent of my digression I had better postpone the discussion of sudr matters for the present. They will be dealt with in the course of my narrative of the period to which they belong. Meanwhile I shall resume the
30. However,
I
thread of my earlier âccount. z I have kept my ptomise and given a complete drronological record o{ the reigns of the kings of Petsia. It is, I think, a true and an accurate one since iiis based on Persian sources. 3 Sergius the interpreter managed in fact during a stay in Persia to prevail upon the keqrers of the royal ardrives to gxant him access to the relevant literature' He did so, as it happens, in rerporr. to frequent requests from me. Fortunately, when he staled that his solà p,rrpore *ui to pt.t.ro. even among our nation the memory of w1rat they, the Periians, kneur and drerished, they immediately obliged, thinking that it would enhance the ptestige of their kings if the Romans too'w'ere to learn 3z i. e. the bridgine of the Hellespont (Dardanelles) and the r{igg:rng the Athos peninsula.
oi a canal through
lr4
Âgethtmr ITre Hhterler
what kind of men thcy w*e rogerher wrth thelr numb"fc and the order and manner in which the succession has been maintaincd. §ühat serlr, diJ 4 then was to take rhe narnes and dates and principal pi, into 'good Greek, a task for whidr he was pàdi.rry well-ttted "u.nt, belng much gnd away the best manslator of his day, so àoch ,o thut his talents hà'd won him the admiration of chosroes himràE and made him the aclnowledged master of his subject in both Empires. After having made what musr have b99p an exqemely accurate translation he was as good as his word and mosr obligingly blgught me all his material, urging mË to fulfil th. purp"r. f", whiclr it had been enrrusred to him. a"a is exactly whar I'have done. 5- consequently even if there are some üscrepancies beiween my account of thereign of Kavad and Procopius' version of it we must follow tle authority of the Persian documents and credit their contents with greater verucity. Now that I have acquitted myself of my task let me i.rrr*. my accounr of events iaLazica.I had intenupted it at the following pointr 6 Because of his cowardice, because of his defeat ,t ili. h*d, of Martin and the Roman forces and of _his disgraceful retreat to lberia, Nachoragan
*J
*"*
ttri
\r/as put to an extremely cruel death the manner of whidr r have alràdy described. 7 Realizing that he was in no position to fight the Romans in Lÿca, sinc_e they had control of the sea and io had no difilculty in procuring
whatever they needed, whilst he was obliged to send , f.* ,é*tÿ soppftà _troops over immense trâcts of desert conveying them with incredible difiiculty on the shoulders of porters and the backs of "pacL-aniÀals,chosroes decided to pur an end to the war on all fronts. Thereieem.a to tâ no point in protractin g a f.aulty and defective peace whicJr was confined only to certain to-his
regions and every reâsot
f9r giving
it
general ând universâl uulrdity.
8 consequently he dispat4.4 u very high-ranking persian ügnitary, a maî Uy.thl Zidt, on a diplomatié rnirrio' to CLstantinopL. ryme 9f ;ô" hi; arrival thefe he mer the Emgeror Justinian and they had a làgthy é*.hange
of views. Finally they agreed that both the Rornans and the pJrsians should retain whatever they had acquired ia Lanca by right of conquest. whether towns or forts, and that both sides should obrerué u g.n."ul'r*istice and refrain from all forms of murual aggression pending ,oL. -or" fur-r.u.lriog an{3r1{odtative agreement betwèèn the sâvereigis of both srares.3s And so zidt having accomplished his mission r.trr*.Jho-". ro §7hen these terms had been announced to the generals the armies refrained from all further hostilities for a considerable length of time, *d , ri;;rion which had already arisen sponraneously was officially endüsed.
38-Â;hrnn;f i57 A.D.
BOOK
..,
'
And so these great rivalpowers laid down their arms in accordance time, with neither üiîirf," reià;;;;;J ;"mainà ar peace{or a very long meanwhile the But z üe;';;Ëtt"c Ày r.i"Jtf ior..,g'1"" the other' they had long that fact the oI li*,Ë""i f"ir, ,h" *"jotity of thJm, in- spitegi"en wavs of settled their ü|fr-rii"r and sublects of ilr" RomÉs had ÿp and its ?ontus of district the fr;;"d;r;;J à brigrrdrg" and kept raiding a Nevertheless wayfarers. moleriing ilühil;ùà rruogtg *i" fi.tdr and in hand hadto and ways former their them still r.mrin.d true ro ;ü -ffi"-"o"rr.s. "f The Tzant,incidentally, live to the south of the Euxine near practicable, T[Uirona. They even .rorr.d or.r inio Armenia wherwer it was enemies' declared of hostility the all sdrh ;üd"rt ; arrâ b.having several mentioned aheady have I think I itA;d;-t" tr,.oa"*r"whom the Roman oj distinguish{ most rh" nation their of ffi;,-;-mË;ber ^4 should ârrmrod"rr, \üâs sent to deal with them. It was 9{r nltqalthlt he he was ùave b."r, the man whom the Emperor selecrcd for the iob -since exactly ffi1lrir.q"il.i *itf, his own.orr-otry than anyone-else -and knew 6|9; *hi"h point he could invade it most successfully, whidr was the best ofi ïf"é f"i"rrpins and how best to tracl< down the enemy' - 4 Setting the he_ crossed men of [Ë;;f"* ir"àür;rrwith a not inconsiderable body on th" opposite side of the river Phasis and penetrated ü-rdJ;;ri tertitory' Fnil;.dt;,"l" int" tt " lr.*i tr what at the time was enemy place called the and Theodorias ;;t";-il the vicinity of the town of those peacehe summoned camp the ifriir",i- and building'a rainpart round and yet disafiected not were population whidr ÊJ;à frt;;iit"1.."i , in tËe and moderation their for the while praising-them ;h.]y}J;ilJ on rhem, and alliance their of g* terms the ,riolat.d had ,o thor"ïho ;*à;;. punishment summary out prepared mete to he iuU.U"a without compunction blour ;;i;r.i;f arms. i Bot the.n"my lort_rro time in striking the trstheights commanding the on forces their Concentrating iv "riir6i"ethe fortl ,i;;;;;; hil they rained dourn spears and a*ows on the Rornans, who ,r67.ere throlün into great confusion by this unexpected piece of daring' 6 Nevertheless many of them eagerly rushed out to the attack. But they ud"Àod in an irregular fashion without waitilq to draw the enemy out to climb ;; ; l","""grorrrrd.irttead they tried in a frt of disorganized fi:ry stooping op th. rril," rrofling their shields tilted over their heads and however, throwing their spears from a great height ,fi*lrri, ) tt
l.
"ti^ni
L'4
Agcthlalr ThE llhtorler
what kind of men they were togcthcr with thclr numbera ûnd the orrlcr atd mmner in which the succession has bcen maintnlned, 4 rü(/hat Sergiul dld then was to take the names and dates and principal evcnts and put theEl into good Greek, a task for whid: he was peculiarly well.fitted bcing tru& and away the best translator of his day, so mudr so that his talents hocl wca him the admiration of Chosroes himself and made him the acJ
had akeady ârisen spontaneously was ofiicially endorsed.
BOOK
1. And so these great rival powets laid down their arms in accordance time' with,1;itlrg [-,Ë;s;;;;;i Âa ,.*ri"à at peace{or avery long meanwhile the z But ;;l"iiü;, i.i"a of fotceaginst the other'
of the fact that they had long J;;; klrt tÉ. majority of thàm, in spitegi""' up their:Itled wavs of ;-àii;';;d ;"Ëi*it'Litr,. Romans hud of ?ontus and its dismict the raiding ;"d ,*";i; Àrigundrg. and kept Nevertheless a
,ü;iJ ,uurglrg th"e fields aid molesting wayfarers. Arh;;.ili tJ-ri*d true to their former wavs and budl" hand in of the Euxine near a*..rr"r. The[zam,incidentally, live to the south
aond. They even crossed over
Autumn of 557 A. D.
inio Armenia wherever it was practicable,
noa"ri"* anâ behaving with all the hostility of declared enemies' F;;'d'Ëctyir,àao*'"whomlthinkl11::',,!::*.y^fl ;;#b* of their nation and the most distinguished:":':ïi;"1::i 9f tlt R9m1n ,J";;.-*;, senr to deal with them. It was only naara) that he should
lob since he was r.* ,lr. man whom the Emperor selected for the and ';;q"il.i with his own counüy than anyone.else knew;x1a! the best ;ilifr point he could invade it most successfully, whidr wasSetting ofi i.i.r-p*g and how best to trad<- dow-n the enemy' .he4 crossed the men of with a not inconsiderable body ; ilfiï;a io" *.r, on the opposite side of the river Phasis and penetrated Endi*h into the h.uri àf what at the time 'üas enemy territory. place called the and Theodorias tr;-il rhe vicinity of the rown of those peacedffi" and building'atampattround the camp he summoned yet disafiected and
fri"narv el.meit, in the population whidr we-re not ;;J;tfr; on them, praising-them the_ w1ile for their moderation and ,orr"1 È", to thoseïho had violated the terms of their alliance and
,ia
lrorrt compunction he prepared to mete out summary punishment blow i*à of ur.r. i f"t the enemy lost no time in striking the firstheights commanding on the forces their Concentrating fortl ;rrr.kirg the , i"rÇm they rained down spears -and arrows on the Romanq who by this unexpected piece_ of daring. i"r" ""nfusion But they ,à N.u.rth.lo, -roy of them eagerly rushed out to the attack'enemy,.olt waiting.to witho-ut fashlon irregular in an :Àdvanced '.h: they tried in a frt of. disorganized fury to climb ,up th. rrn, nouing their shields tilted over their heads and stooping however, throwing their spears from a great height )
.il"d
;;a
*i
-il;;;n
!.ot
&'y
il';^il;-g*ià."f""ead
38
'
,fi*frii, f1.fi*i
tr6
Â:rthlmr
Its
llhtorlcr
Eooh,
and rolllng_ dow_n ctones, had no dlllleulty in dhlodgrng them, after whlch they sallied forth against thern slew about forty men 6nà put the rert to ân ignominious rout. 8 Elated by their uno
to
stand their ground and tace the enemy whilst he secretly dispatched
rear.
ns
Targe aforce as he could muster to take the enemy in the z Àdvancing stealthily they appeared behind the bad
and had only one thought in their minds to take to iheir heels like cowards. And so they fled, almost beside themselves with fear, and the Romans made short wgrlc g! them, killing two rhousand and scatiering the rest. 3- H,aving thus forcibly suMued the entire nation, Theodorus sent n reporl of what had happened to the Emperor and asked what further measures he wished him to take. 'w[rerzupon Justinian bade him impose upon them a fixed annual tri!"J" to be paid in pàrpetrrity. It was his purpose that
in this yây *ey _should become ,.ur. oi their position ,, d.p.ndants and ral,oe that they belonged to a rributary srate a;d were rhe Àembers of a s.ubject race._Accordingly their names were all inscribed in a r.girter, an& they w-ere subfected to the payment of a tdbute whidr to this verÿàay'they are still ç»aying. 4 The Ernperor Justinian was especially pleased at this success and regarded it, I think as one of his majoiadrievements; so much so that in one of his own supplementary decrees, whidr are known ,, ,,Noàr,,,-*h.r. h. is enumerating his other victories he makes speciar mention o{ thi, people. r
l-No".Ï
prâ.f. The relevant passage may be translated as follows: *Busied as we âre with_the-cares of Empire, our mind intent on sucrr weighty *-àrrràing thrt -r,r.., the Persians n9 trouble, that the vandars and thT 1fu;;;; ;;rr" L.i, ,tt"_câu1e giance, that_the Carthaginians continue in the possession of their ancient freedom to whidr they have been restored and that the T),*l, who have rr"* r* the firrt tim. come under the dominion of R_ogary,, may be classed among the subl.ect peoples, (an r:,nprecedented boon whidr$9 God has bàstowed upon the Romir, ii, à* ,.ig"l we are in addition beset by the multitude of individual problems"Jv .É"tin"uuy Joumitted to us _by our subjecrs and for which in eadr and .u..y *"-give the appropriate mling". "*à
l'7
had been firmly put i'n ! So, once aI[ eggrculon ï'il ended and thc Tzanl tha to Bcneroh ln Lazico. .r aËriiiUoa, The«lorur returnod ilh;ü;tr"; "'î ffi;1ong waE once more almost Constantino,ple Uiio* itiro evcnts
2 to thtsiàuni by a tertible earihquake' A convulsion of rià àrrutior, its ho*or was further accentuated by ;;;;lfiiigifr"a. the fatetul ând harrowins events that followed in ;iÏil;;i;#;;à-by to iit *tf.*. , It *r, in fact that time of yeat when autumn was drawingcelewas being ï.fà*lra the paditionrl Ro*r' Festival of the Names3 expected seeing to be v/âs in, whidr set already had **ther Ë;;. iir".ria the ;h;; rh" ,*, ;r, udrrn"irrg towards the winter solstice and approaching of zone-gr "clima ;ig" ;Ï Crp;icorn. rt *rt Ëtti*rtTlv t9ut19 in the eighdr towards j Then it.n ;tî-E;i;, as I believe tËe tpeciatirts in this field call in thlir beds disaster iîarütï *n.i Jl th" citizens were sleeping nea;efr1lly to its foundations' ;"dd;it;;.k, and every srructure wai instantly shaken in intensity as growing kepl t[-ri.-orr, *iri.h were violent to start with,Everÿbod{ yut.awakened and *.wf, rising to , .rtrrtrophi"- 9liqo' . 4 by the usual pious àccornpanied_ heard, ;ilJ;Ë and îurrr.r,trtions càdd be moments of crisis' in lips to the quch ;l;J;,ir* that spring spontaneously like thundql sound grgylincdu"pf a ty followed Each successirr" tr"-or""âs sense of general the dàub1ed whidi earth, the of üü il the bowels ev*.,alavaporous the with grew dim air surrounding alarm.The ;;;*J a du11 gleamed with and source, ,rnkno*n ai from rising haze iü, of , smoky filling of their houses' ,di"""' 5 i']anic-strid<Ën' the people poured out not overtake them could thorrgh^destruction ,r alleywayr, Jnd ifr"-r"*" o ü;;;rr,r1" ort of door, ,r indoois. 6 The fact is that every ofquarter obstnrcfrel ih;d;i; hua"ily built up that wide open spaces -entirely anxiety of mind ;i;;;;" "" .*rr.*Ély irr. ,ight. Neverthàless ih"it f.rtofandsomehow turning ,à*r"a to subside graduall; at the mere possibility
*iot.iAu trri.l
z l4th-21td e
December
L.D.557.
classes of fir. nro,,rtir, n f.rtirrd-of prlrn o.igl" ofletred by the Emp_erot to. certain dav correseach Dec')' 17th t*è,riv-fo".*a'vs l"rtàà *. p"p"f"rü. It ÇaÿNov' guest beine ;;;àds * ;;; oi tf," t*untv*o.rr l.tt.rr oi the Greek alphabet and eadr ,invited"onthedaycorrespondingtotheinitialletterofhisnarne.
;idr.ven climata (or belts of latitude), the positions of n""d *ith respçct to these zones' Though the Byzartines were ciiies being"r;rllt .Àrrt"or simply to trànsmit -or. oi l.r, mechanically the data contained in ancient qlrrh"iirÀ i,ra ,r Ptà1.-y, it did become_nece-ssâryin the course.of time for them the world's ti add to or otherwise moâify th. ancient lists indicating the position_of ertoneously to.be came Byzantium process soch adiustments àf the major citi.s. In insârted into the seventh instead of the flfth zone. There is also evidence however division of the inhabited i.f-ptr.tirr". Capella VIII, 876) of a difierently consructed refering to this or some wàrld into eight Ëelts of latitude. Agathias seems here to be sucih scheme àmployed by the savanti of his day who, he tells us, inserted Byzantium into the eighth zone'
n Àn.i.nt geographÉrs
i;;;*;
1r8
Asrrhtur
Îiu lütor{el
BooL,
their cyes towarda heaven rn rn attempt to pro_prtlrte the Detty, They got
f.,'.* a shower of ereei r"à_;"fi;;J'il;;üf,# the cotct, l:l,ill_*_._,,iP bu-r even so they did not tahe shelter with the o..ptiôn tiàr" who toor. refuge in the crurches,. pos*ating th.mreru.s "r u.i"i.-â.îrr*"' 7 Latge numbers of women and_not just tle members of thorowei;ü;., bur even
roamed ,bout *à ÀlistîJir*fy *rii, _nf:'1'-:f-Pïed1nc tfie men; the ordered structure of society with its d". obi.*unce of deand respect for privirege and the proper distinctionr-of ,rnr, *u, -dir*o thrown into wild confusion anàtrampred.*a.4".r. -s i," the grip and distinction
of the present and more compeiling fâar, showed and, disobeying their instnrciions,Irngr;gat.d i" "orrr".pr]oith"i".urt.r, trr" p1Ë., nr.,
in authority and men oT no con1equ"l..-** pru..à on "i*.rrrrip. * equal footing gwing to the common danger and ihe generar p-rp* ,] iÂ.ii"r, annihiIation. I that night many hJrr", were destroyed, particularly - lur-ing in the distric.t-of Rhegium, which is tË" port rr c"iroi.irJpi.: ffi;, amazing and incredible events occurred too in ihe course of thrt-ffi il;n. rocality the roofs of buildings, and this wâs true of stone and wooden srrucflrres allke, came apart, disclosing. $r9uSh yawning gaps a clear visra o{ ,Ly ,nJ
stars, and then suddenry f:rl backigiin into"piuË.. upper floor were carapulted by the fàrce thË .onuJ.i;;lià, "f the ar o.ver the tops of the hor:ses,
Ei;h;;;";iür", on ,n irît thro,rgh
qaverling u torg *uf-i-.ror. trr.y learbr eventuallv came crashing down and smashed i,,Ë pË;r'î'lrJàu., ,rr.y landed on. rn other plaàes there were oÀer stil ,rrou. lrorrirying things
happening, and, thougtr these follow.a ," oir_i"p;*d;;Ëi'*rria *ru recur time and again.as.rong a.s this impedàr *"aJ"f"*r^r"àuinr, y"t their impact was on rhat occasion .nor. ,ho.Lirrg b;";;h.y
îi o.*rr.d
simultaneously.
ro Large numbers.of ordin_ary peopre perished in the disaster. of the persons of rank and of those who or ,rr.-r"n^àîlrJonty on. to lose his life was Anatolius, a man who had u".n ruir"J-r. ,rr.ii*rri,, consul and was in dlarge of the superintendence and "r frnanctaladministration
*....àb"rr
of the rmperiat househord and Ltates. Th. R;;;;-;;ii;il; "curatores".5 rr Anatorius was sreeping at the tir. i, tJ
beddramber. The,aparrmenr 'was dorneà .,ii1h u atta&tedto the wall, of the kind that arcravishry *a
officiars
J'rï*ià ptuqo", "*r"i, .rtâtrtio"rrîairprrr.a fond of ,".h:"d;;;-;;ï Jn;.".rrr* "-,rrrorrrury
by those who are inordinately bric-à-brac. one of these praques, which wo, frrten.d to the ïrail nexr ro the bed, was shaken loose }rom rts fittings ,ra ,oi.iÀ.a;tr^ü iË rrrot.r". of the tremors. rr came a"*" *itr, Jiiir *.rgr,, ;; Ïü, h;;ii *d" r-urh.d his skull. He had bur.ÿ enough dme ro urter"a deep and ;#îJ groan of pain and then sanlc back on rris bed. Death ' had "àrrr.." rrr-1""5 l- e. h. w* a "curator domus
l19
4, Vhen day had dswned people movcd forward to moet one enother lulng joyfully into the faces of their neatest and dearest, hissing and :mbracing and weeping with dellght and ourprise. : But when the dead body of Anatolius was camied away for burial some of the people in the cmwd began to sptead the rumour that his death had been a just punishment thce he had been an evil and unscrupulous man and had robbed many people of their possessions. This, they said, was the end to whidr his notoiious activities, the placards and the purple'coloured cloths that he had fastened ln sudr profusion to the houses of the wealthy,6 had brought him. Under the false pretext of loyal service to the Emperor he appropriated everything by means of his relentless exactions, violating the dying wishes of parents and showing utter disregard for the larvs, whidr require that drildren should inherit their parents' property. 3 These at any t^te were the sort of whispered rumours being circulated among the common people and they seemed to ptovide a simple o
depart from this life having contrived to escape purification and bearing like runaway slaves the scars of their wrongdoing, s then it would seem aket all that the man who suffers for his misdeeds is the more fortunate among his fellows than the man who gets ofi scot-free. 5 However, there is mudr to be said for not interfering with and indeed for encouraging the notion populady entertained with regard to these matters, since the feot o{ dyng a horrible death may have a deterrent or moderating effect on some wrongdoers. 6 Nevertheless it is quite obvious that a long life of untroubled success is no more proof of virtue than a violent death, however horrible; is evidence of exceptional wicl
' /
140
Boôk,
Agathlar: Tlre Hlrtorlar
entitled to their opinions on thie mâtter however mueh they may difier:, ltrr my pârt I must resume the thread of my earlier naffotive.
5. The tremors continued for several clays and though they had lost mont of their initial fury and were of mudr shorter duration they were still sufliciently violent to disrupt any remaining semblance of «:rder. z Fantastie stories and extraordinary predictions to the efiect that the end of the worlel was at hand began to circulate among the people. Charlatans and sel[" appointed prophets roamed the streets prophesying whatever came iutrt their heads and terrifying still more the majority of the people who wcre particularly impressionable because they had already become demoralizetl, Still more ominous were the prognostications of those who pretended to be seized by a prophetic ftenzy ârid possessed by some supernatural power, claiming that they had learned the future from the spirits that consortecl with them and bragging about their demonic possession. 3 Others, ns might have been expected, pondering over the motions and aspects of the stars, hinted darkly at greater calamities and at v/hat âmounted almost to a cosmic disaster. Society in fact never fails to throw up a bewildering variety of sudr persons in times of misfortune. Luckily both predictions prove«l wrong. In my opinion these dabblers in the occult who sought to encroaclr on the intellectual preserve of the Deity ought to have been prosecuted for impiety. 4 But there was nobody at the time who was not in "a state of abject fear and terror. Consequently prayers and hymns of supplication \v'erÇ heard in every quarter as the entire people gatherecl together for this purpose. The ideals to whidr people constantly pay lipservice but rarely put into practice ril/ere then eageü pursued. Everybody suddenly became just in his dealings towards his neighbour, so mudr so that even the magistrates gave up all thoughts of personal gain and began to administer justice in accordance with the laws ancl those who were influential in some other way lived quietly and peacefully, refraining from the most shame{ul abuses and leading generally virtuous lives. 5; Some even completely c}anged theit mode of life and embraced a solitary existence in the hills, renouncing property and privilege and all that is most pleasing to mankind. Many donations were brought to the drurches and ptominent citizens walked the streets at night distributing free gifts of blankets and food in abundance to the helpless and pitiful wrecks who lay maimed and mutilated in great numbers on the ground, keeping body and soul together by begging for their bread. 6 All these good deeds, however, rvere performed for a limited period of time, as long as the terror was still fresh in people's minds. As soon, in fact, as there were signs that the danger had receded most people revertd to their old ways. This type of response could not properly be called justice or firm and active piety of the sort rvhich stamps itself on the mind tlirough the operation of sound convictions steadfastly and zealously held; no, it might with more
141
truth bË termêd en lmeguler êxpdlênt and a hlghly pmilour form of trafiic almcd at eocaping and avertlng a paoalng criala, It ia in fact only urnder the atimulus of sudden fear and for as long as the emergency lasts that we make a few reluctant and petfunctory concessions to the ideal of drarity. 6. During this period the debate on the subject of exhalations \vâs reopened. The name of the Stagilite e was frequently bandied about. One minute it was asserted that he had given an accurate explanation of the nature of earthquakes and their causes, the ne:
to perpetuate the glory of his memory. 7 But the whole incident whidr caused me to mention this man shall nour be related without further delay: There was in Constantinople a man calledZeno, a professional rhetorician, who besides his other distinctions was a close acquaintance of the Emperor. He was â next-door neighbour of Anthemius, their two houses being. 1'oined to one another and built on the same âreâ of groufld. 8 In the course of time rather strained relations and a cefiain amounr of ill will developed bet'ween them, either because of some possibly unprecedented piece of prying
%f. Artrt"tl",
Meterologica, 2,365b,35 sqq.
L42
Eêeh,
Asrthlur Thr llhtorlcl
or because of the construction of some abnormrlly hlgh rnncxe whldr blodrecl the light or for some other of the many reasons that inevitably bring nort. door neighbours into conflict. 7. Now Anthemius outmanoeuvred in argument by his opponent's legal skill and finüng himself no matdr for him when it came to abattle of wotcls retaliated in the following manner by avaiTrnghimself of his own professional expertise: z Zeno had a fine, spacious and sumptuously decorated upper room, in which he loved to pass the time of day and enteftain his close friends. Thc ground-floor rooms underneath it, however, belonged to Anthemius' part of the house, so that the ceiling of the one rvas the floor of the other. 3 Herc Anthemius filled some huge cauldrons with water and placed them at intervals in various parts of the building. To these he fastened tapering, trumpet-
in leather and sufiiciently wide at their bottom ends to allow them to fit tightly over tlre rims of the cauldrons. He then fixed their upper ends securely and neatly to the beams and joists, so that the air in them should rise up freely along the pipes until it exerted a direct pressure on the ceiling, while the leather held it in and prevented it from escaping. 4 Having secretly set up this apparatus he laid a fire under the shaped pipes encased
base of eacl cauldron and kindled a powerful flame. As the rilrater grew hot and boiled a gteat head of steam began to rise. Unable to escape, it rose up
the pipes, building up pressure as it went and subjecting the roof to a series of shocks, until it shook the whole $tructure with just enough force to make the woodwork creak and wobble tlightly. 5 Zeno and his friends rvere terrified and ran panic-stricl(en into the street with cries of horror and alarm. And when Zeno was in attendance at the palace he began to enquire of dre notables what they thought about the earthquake and whether it had done them any damage. §7hen they exclaimed "what an idea! God forbid that suclr a thing shoultl happen! Perish the thought!", aîd began to expostulate indignantly with him for his lad< of taste in concocting sudr gruesome horrorstories, he was completely nonplussed. Though he was unable to disbelieve the evidence of his sensei in a matter that had occurred so recently, yet-he co'uld not bring himsel{ to go on insisting in the face of the combined autlrority and disapproval of so many distinguished personages. 8. Those rvho explained the origin of earthquakes in terms of exhalations and smoky vapours made mudr of this story. "Anthemius", they would say, "discerning what it is that câuses earthquakes to occur, adrieved a similar efiect by reproducing attifrcially the workings of nature". And there was something in what they said, though not as mudr âs they imagined. z For these theories, however plausible and sophisticated they may appear to be, do not in my view amount to positive proof. One would not, for instance, regard the fact that despite their tteading so lighdy-Maltese dogs walking
14,
ebout on r foof ceuie it to rheke Êa â pffnllcl care, or uEe it aB though it were odcquetc illusration of hia hypotheaio. 3 §uclr things should, indeed be rcgarded as impressive and entcrtaining medranical tridcs, but one must secl( a di"fierent orplanation (if indced any orplanation is necessary) for natural calamities, since this tü/as not the only trick that Anthemius played on Zeno. He also produced the efiect of thunder and lighting in his room, using 4 a slightly concave dis,k with a reflective surface by means of which he trapped the sun's rays and then turned the disk round and suddenly shot a powerful beam of light into the room, so powerful in fact that it dazzled, everyone it came into contact with. At the same time he contrived to produce a deep, booming sound by the percussion of resonant objects and adrieve the efiect of loud and terrifying peals of thunder. §7hen it finally dawned on Zeno where all these events originated, he publicly prostrated himself at the feet of the Emperot, accusing his neighbour of wid
tr
10
cular skill undoubtedy produces some very fine toys, but that does not necessarily mean that natuTe follows the same pattern. Still eacl man is entitled to his own opinion in these mattem, and rcal7y must return to what I was saying eafüer on. 9. During that winter, then, the city was afilicted by these calamities. For several days everyone had the impression that the ground was shaking even though the tremors had ceased and was already quite firm and motionless. People had not yet recovered from the shock of their recent experience and their minds were clouded by nagging doubts and persistent fears. z The Emperor tried to restore the large number of public buildings affeced by the disaster. Some of them were insecure and unsound, others had already tumbled dorvn. He was particularh concerned about the Great Churdr. 11 Previously burnt by the populace, 12 he had built it up anew right from its foundations, creating a drurdr of anazing beauty whid: was further enhanced by its vastly increased dimensions, its majestic proportions ând by a lavish profusiorr of ornamental marble. It was built of baked bricl< and
I
it
lime on a structure of iron girders, the use of wood being avoided in order to prevent it from ever being easily set on fire again. The ardritect'ffas the
in inverted commas are of course Homeric epithets and the functions described by them are those commonly assigned in mythology to these particular
10
The words
11 12
The church of St. Sophia, of course. During the Nika Revolt of 532 A.D.
gods.
144
!
Agathla:r Thc Flhtorler
Book
celebtated Anthemius of Tralles, whom I hove elrcedy had caure to mentlon, 3 On this occasion however the church had lost the top of its dome 1l a8 a result of the earthquake. The Emperor therefore had it repaired, reinforced and raised to a greater height. 4 Anthemius, however, was by then a lgng
perfce bâlonce of atructural and vlauel requlremento ochieved in the building of the porches, the sizes and helghta employed in the construcdon of thà whole edifice, the interpley of rectilinear end circular figures, of ardres and pcndentives, the lavish use of gold and silver in the decoration of the tebernacle, all these features and any others worth noting, whether great ot small, are described in the poem and are presenred as clearly and as vividly to the reader as they would be to the most observant and assiduous of visitors. 9 This second restoration of the churdr, however, took place at a somesrhât later date. 18 10. During that year at the beginning o{ spring 1e a second outbreak of plague ssrept the capital, destroying a vast number of people. From the tfteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian when the plague first spread to our part of the world it had never realiy stopped, but had simply moved on from one z place to another, giving in this way something of a respite to those who had survived its ravages. It now returned to Constantinople almost as though it had been dreated on the first occasion into a needlessly hasty departure. 3 People died in great numbers as though seized by a violent and s,udden attacl< of apoplexy. Those who stood up to the disease longest barely lasted ûve days. The form the epidemic took was not unlike that o[. the earlier outbreak. A swelling in the glands of the groin was accompanied by a high non-intermittenr fever whidr raged night and day with unabated intensity and never left its victim until the momenr of death. 4 Some experienced no pain or fever or any of the initial symptoms but simply dropped dea while about their normal business at home or in the süeet or wherever they happened to be. People of all ages were struck down indiscriminately, but the heaviest toll was among the young and vigoro'r.rs and especially among the men, women being on the whole mudr less affected. 5 According to t-he ancient oracles of the
time dead. Consequently Isidore the Younger la and the other architeéts, after studying the original form of the srructure and observing by a com. parison with what was srill intact the naflre of the part afiected and the extent,to whidt the construcdon had been faulty, left the ardres, on the east and west sides exactly as they were, but exiended the curved superstructure of the interior faces 15 of the arches on the north and south sides, so that they described a slightly broader arc. The resuh was that they ûtted more closely into the other arches, thus forming a regular squaxe. In this way the arcÀitects were ab.e to span the empty space 16 in all its immensity and get rid of the small area left by the underlying oblong figure.1z They then replaced the dome. 5 But despite the fact that it is straighter, despite its balanced cufves and regular oudine it has become narrower, its lines have hardened and it has lost something of its old povr'er to inspire awe and wonder in the beholder. It is, however, much more firmly and secureiy fixed. 6 lMell, as far as the d:urch is concerned I think I have said all that needs to be said in a historical work and as mudr as is consistent with the course of my narcative. To embark upon a detailed eulogy of a1l its wonderfuIfeatures would be superfluous and irrelwant to the purpose of the present work. 7 It anyone who lives far from the capital wishes to get as clear and comprehensive a picture of the drurch as he would if he were there to view it in person, then he could hardly do better than to rcad the poem in hexameters of Paul the son of Cyrus and grandson of Florus. Paul was the foremost of those ofiicialsknown as "Silentiarii" or ushers, who are entrusted with maintaining silence around the emperor's person. Though he came of nohle and'distinguished parents and was heir to an immense family fortune, he was devoted chiefly to the study of literature and eloquence, and it was on these cultured pursuits that he prided himsel{ most. He is jn fact the author of very many poems of considerable merit, among which that written on the subject of the Great Churdr rreadres a higher pitdr of refinement and erudition than the rest, which, indeed, is in keeping with its more exalted theme. 8 In it will be found the ordered plan of the building described in {u11 detail, whilst rhe various types of marble are suweyed and scrutinized with the e"xquisite subtlety of a connoi.sseur. The 13
7th May ,58 A. D. la i. e. Isidore of Miletus. 15 i. e. those facing the central nave over whidr the dome was placed. 16 i. e. that overlooked by the dome, 17 i.e. that part of the ,,empÿ space" not spanned by the eadier ardt.
L4'
Egyptians and to the leading astrologers of present-day Persia there occurs in the course of endless time a succession of lucJ
146
relevant to the present narfative, An account, in frct evcn e rummary of events, is all that the rules of historical composition requirc of me, 11. The tragedy just described did not mark the end of this stormy period but was followed by others of an equally horrifying and alarming nature. §7hat these were f shall presently explain, after first making a brief and passing rderence to eadier history. z In ancient times the Huns inhabited the region east of lake Maeotis 20 to the north of the river Don, as did the rest of the barbarian peoples established in Asia on the near side of Mt. Imaeus. All these peoples were referred to by the general name of Scythians or Huns, whereas individual tribes had their own particular names, rooted in ancestral tradition, such as Cotrigurs, Utigurs, Ultizurs,, Brirugundi and so on and so forth. 3 Several generations later either following the lead of a hind as popular tradition would have it or as a result o{ some other fortuitous occurrence, they crossed over into Europe and were somehow conveyed across the point where lake Maeotis flows into the Euxine,2l which had hitherto been considered impossible. However, they crossed it and wandered far and wide over foreign
territory. By their sudden and unexpected raids they did incalculable damage to the local populations, even to the extent of displacing the original inhabitants and occupying their lands. 4 But their sray was destined to be à pief one, and at tle end of it they vanished without leaving any æace of themselves. This fact is illustrated by the case of the Ultizurs and the Burugundi who were well-known right up to the time of the Emperor Leo22 and were considered a force to be reckoned with, but whom we in our day and age neither know nor, I imagine, are likely to, since they have either perished or migrâted to the ends of the earth. 5 However, during the year in question when the plague readeed the capital all the orher Hunnic tibes were in existence and indeed rrlere still at the height of their fame though for some reason best known to themselves they had chosen to move south at this time and had encamped not far from the banks of the Danube. 6 As usual, with the approadr of winter, the river froze to a considerable depth and the ice was aTready hard enough to be crossed on horsebad<. §flhereupon Zaber gan, the leader o{ the Cotrigurs galloped across the trozen w'aters with a huge force of cavalry and crossed over without difiiculty into the territory of the Romans. zs Finding the area deserted and advancing unopposed, he passed through Moesia and Scythia and invaded Thrace. 7 At this point he split up his army, sending one parr into Greece to raid and plunder the 20 The Sea
of Azov. presumably the Strait of Kerch 22 i. e. LeoI 457--:74 A.D.
zt
23 March 559
BôôL,
Agathlar: The Hlrtorler
A.D.
unProteetcd
plrcer therc Bnd
r
tGcond detrdrment
147
into the
Thracian
Chomoneoe,
12, From North to South as far aa the cenme of its southern tip, the Giltem coastlifle of the Cheronecc is $rashed by the Hellespont. Only a naffow piece of land a mere forty stades across prevents the Hellespont from making an island of it. z Across this isthmus a continuous fortified wall stretdres from coâst to coast. Behind the wall are ranged rhe rovins of Aphrodisias, Thescos, and Ciberis, and at a very great distance from them near the strait itself, where the coastline forms a sharp angle, stands the town of Sestos, renowned in poetry, doubdess because of its associations with the story of Hero's lamp and of the death of her lover Leander. 3 Not far from Sestos is another small town whidr despite its e)
4 In an (lrrtravagaîtly hopeful frame of mndZaberyan began to entertain the notion rhat, if. he were to knock down the wall and peneffare into the region behind it, he would soon be in a position to gain control of the sea. He fondly imagined that once there he would have an ample supply of ships and that after sailing with ease across the calm and peaceful 'waters of the næro\ü strait he wor.ild cross over into Asia where he would immediately rayage Abydus and sad< the custom-house there. 5 And so sprlrred on by these wild designs he despatdred to the Chersonese what in his vieur was a sufiiciently large force for this task. He himself made straight for Constantinople with seven thousand horse, ravagtrng fields and attad
e. "Fair City"
-
mod. Gallipoli.
14E
Dooh,
Âgathlmr Tho Hlrtorler
13. Finding themselvee unoppooed, the Cotrlgum plundered and ravoged the land without mercy. They seized quantities of booty and took a hugc number of prisoners. z Among the captives many ladies of noble birth who had drosen a life of clastity were cuelly dragged away and sufiered the worst of all misfortunes, being forced to serve as the instruments of unbridled lust. Some of them had frorn their youth renounced marriage together with the love of material things and the cares of worldly society and had hidden themselves in the contemplative solitude of the cloister, prizing the celibate and unmarried state above all else and withdrawing themselves entirely from active life. 4 Even these were forcibly abducted from their cells and brutally raped. 3 And many married women who happened to be pregnant at the dme were dragged a'ù7'ay too. Then, when their babies were due, they gave birth to them on the marc}, unable to enjoy the privacy of a normal confinement or even to pick up and wrap the new-born babes. 4 In spite of everything they were hauled along and hardly given time even to feel their pain, while the wretdred infants were abandoned and tom ro pieces by dogs and birds, as though they had been brought into the world expressly for this and had tasted life in vain. 5 Indeed the fortunes of the Roman state had sunk so low that on the very outskirts of the Imperial City such arrociries were being committed by a handful of barbarians. But tllat was not the limit of their audacity: pressing on they passed without difiiculty inside the Long Iil/alls and approached the inner fortifications. Age and neglect had in fact caused rhe srrucrure of the great wall to crumble and collapse in many places. Some parts of it the batbarians themselves knocked down, seting about their task with the nondralant air of men demolishing their own properry. 6 There was nothing to stop them, no sentries, no engines of defence, nobody to man them. There was not even the sound of a dog barking, as would ar least have been the case with a pig-sty or a sheqr-cot.
of ltaly,
7 The Roman armies had not in fact remained at the desired level attained by the earlier Emperors but had dwindled to a fraction of what they had been and were no longer adequate to the requirements of a vast enipire. And whereas there should have been a totd, efiective fighting force of six hundred and forty-five thousand men, the number had dropped during this period to barely one hundred and fifry thousand. 8 Some of rhese, moreover, srere stationed in ltaly, others in Africa, others in Spain, others in Lazica, and others still in Alexandria and Egyptian Thebes. There were also a few near the eastern frontier with Persia, not that any more were needed there owing to tle rigorous observance of the peace treaty. Sudr, then, was the extent of the drastic reductions in the armed forces incurred through the negligence of the authorities. L4. At an earlier date the Emperor had reduced Africa and the whole
generate than
il
149
of thoae cpodr.mcklng c.mpelgnt -almost the 6mt of-thc rulers àf Byzantium to bc Emperor of ths Romans in fact as well ar ln name. He had accomplishcd thcse and sifiilar feats when he was still in the full vigour of his youth, but nour ln his declining years when old age was upon hiÀ he seemed to have tü/earied of vigotous policies and to prefer to play oft his enemies against one another and, if necessary, to coax them awây with gifts rather than rely on his oïürn pov/ers and expose himself to the'hazards of a sustained struggle. z And so he allowed the quality of the legions to deteriorate, as though he thought he would have no further becçmlnE
a rotult
need of them.
Seizing the oppoftunity afiorded by this mood of apathy those ofiicials whose authority is second only to that of. the Crown, and who are concerned with the levying of taxes on the subiects and the appottionment of supplies to the army,2s began openly cheating the soldiers out of part of their pay and not paying the rest until it was long overdue. Then after an eventual belated fuy-.nt of the arrez6s owing to the men these blackguardly and unscrupulous paymastefs immediately took drarge of the Rolls and called bad<
tlie supplies. 3
ft
was infact the prerogative of their rant to bting
a bewildering variety of cJrarges agnnst the soldiers in order to deprive them of their food. And so whatever tribute-money was doled out to the legions martaged somehow to find its way bad< again into the pockets of the same ofiicials as had dismibuted 4 As a result of the neglect into whidr our
it.
fighting men had fallen they were driven by privation to abandon ihe militury profession in whidr they had been brought up and to scatter faf and wide in seardr of a diflerent livelihood. Consequently the soldiers' earnings were squandered on tüomen of the street, on dlarioteers, on men whose fanatical and headslong daring confined itself to stirring up civil strife and to supporting one cotrour against the other,26 but who in real emergencies w.efe covrafdly and efieminate and on others still more degalTant
tlese. 5 ft was fot this feason
that the whole of Thrace inclu-
ding even the towns in the vicinity of the Imperial City were desertec{ and unplotected, so that they were an easy prey for thebatbanans, whose insolence readred sudr a pitch that they act:ually encamped near the village of Melantias not moie than one hundred and forty stades distant from the cæital. Melantias is on the river Athyras which, flows past the village and continues on its course for a short distance winding gently in a north-easterly
d. Averil Cameron, op. cit. p. 77 and fot the exactions of these ofiicialscf.Procopiusr Se6etHistoty24,L-LL andHistory of the§TarsVIIÏ.28-34. 26 The allusion is, of course, to the èolouts associated with the chariots of the two rival teams in the Hippodrome. It should moreover be borne in mind that suppott of either of these teams, together with the adherence to one or the otlier of the tvo rival factions (knorrn as "the Blues and the Greens") that this entailed, was latgely a political phenomenon. , 2s i. e. The Logothetes
lr0
Arthlmr
Ih
HLtodo
dlrcction until lr empdeg itself into thc prcponth: hcnce the roodrtead situated on the shores of the propontis at theïouth of the river takes tts name from the dver and is called Athyras too.
6 §rit! the eneiny encamped ar sudr close quarters the citizens of constantinople were rerror-striclen and were akeidy conjuring up the torÀr, a sjes9, the burnings, the scarciry o{ foodstufis" arrd. frnatlj rrr. *ru, t.ins 9f lreached. 7 And so it frequently happened that *., io the cen*al thoroughfares of the city crowàs p."plË would suddenly ir.ui. o,rt into "f a run, pushing and jostling in an unaccountable fit of terror, as though the barbarians had abeady forced their way in, and a ffemendou, din wu, rar"d in the shops as doors were violently rlÀ-J. s ÀiJ;àii"riri. people but even the authorities had succumbed to the prevailing "o-,,,on mood of anguish andr.ear. Even the Emperor himself was, r imagiïe, impËssed with the gravity of the siruation. Accordingly all the churih"es sirj;;Bide the citp, o1 the European side- aryl_ al_ong the coastal strip which stretches alongside the Bosphorus from the Bladrern ae andthe Golâen Ho* to trr. Euxiné, where both it and the,Bosphorus come to an end, *"t" ,mipp.J of their omaments by order of the Emperor. 9 AII the costly giftr and oth"r fittings were removed by those in drarge of- the operation. some o{ these articlàs were brought in ca*-loads into the city, whirst otûrers were loaded on ro ships, ferried across the. srrair and conveyed ro rhe opposite siàe of the Bosphorus. The bare and unadorned aspect whidr the .lr,r".lr., in that atea now assumed made them loolc as tho,ugh they had been recently b,r.rilt and
were still unconsecrated. . 15._so alarming was the prospect and such was the magnitude of the
impending danger that a number of captains and commanders and men-,ataruns l-rad mounted guard over the fort at sycae and the Golden Gate, with the idea of,offering vigorous resistance in the event of an enenty attaci<. z But they did not consrirute an efiecive fighting force of properlÿ ffained men, being drawn from those regiments known ,r s.holu"ii, who are"specially selectgd to spend all their rime ar court. Though they are called soldàrr- unâ have their names entered on the Rolls, most o? them are merely ciuilirÂ, in splendid uniforms and perform sud-r purely decorative functions as enharicing t\ rcyo of-a rcyaJprogress. I în times part entry ro this corps rrras restricted to those who had seen active serviJe. There was no enrJlment fe. and those who were accepted received this honour openly and without payment, in recognition of their former services on the field of battle. 4 zeno the rsaurian seeems to have been the first to introduce the pnesent practice by enrolling in these regimenfs, after his restoration, mrny of his feJlow côuntrymen who, though they were men who had either not distinguished themselves on the field or had absolutely no military experience whatsoever, were nevertheless known to him in some other capacity and were his close
lfl
EæL,
frlendl,
p Then, once a pr€cedont hrd bcen rct whaeby not only thorc whoae distingulched military record entitled them to thls privilege wcre cnrolled but entry was extended, on a basis not of merit but of preference, to those who knew nothing of fi1ghting, money, that most powerful of allies, entered the contest for admission and the whole business was dragged down to the level of the market place, with the result that ir was no longsrpossible to join these regiments without first paying a fixed sum of money. On payment of this sum people are auto,matically enrolled without having to pass any sort of test and have their names included in the muster-rolls even if they do not know the first thing about war{arc. 6 Once the principle of selection was disregarded the men lü-ere, naturally, under no compulsion to exert themselves since they had paid a high price to smrre the privilege of idleness. These, then, were the sort of men that, in the absence of trained soldiers, appeared to be guarding the walls. 7 After the capital had been in a prolonged state of uproar and the barbarians h,ad continued to rùva1e everything in the immediate vicinity the aged general, Belisarius, was sent out against them by order of the Emperor. 8 And now, after a great lapse of time, as he once more put on his breastplate and helmet and donned the familiar uniform of his younger days the memory of past exploits came flooding into the old man's mind and filled him with youthful ardour. Indeed by this feat of arms, whidr was to be the last in his life, he won as gteat a measure of glory as he had done by his eadier victories over the Vandals and the Goths. 9 The desperate urgency of the situation added importance and lustre to the enterprise and ensured an especially joyous recq>tion for its successful outcome. I shall now proceed to give an accurate account of eacle succepsive event. 16. Displ.aying superb generalship ancl a daring out of all proportion to his age, Belisarius encamped at a short distance from the city in the village of Chettus. Already aged and ailing, his courage was nonetheless undiminishsd and no exertion seemed too great forhim. z He was accompanied by slightly over thrée hundred heavily-armed troops, first-rate soldiers who had fought with him in some of his later campaigns. The rest of his following consisted of unarmed civilians who had no notion of what fighting involved and whose ino
festive air of men who had come to watch a show rather than to frght u by crowds of peasants from the neighbouring fields whose farms had been ravaged by the barbarians. Having
battle. 3 He was also accompanied
took
nowhere to gg they immediately gathered round Belisarius who 4 advantage of the opportunity afforded by their numbers and put them to work diggng a trendr around the camp. Spies were sent out e\rery now and then to form as accurâte an estimate as possible of the strength of the enemy and bring bacJ< whatever additional information they could obtain, and in this
152
Agathlnrr The l{htodel
Bo6k,
way he kept a close watch on events, 5 §ühen nlght ceme hc llt a lnrge number of beacons whidr he had had plantecl at wide interuals over 0 colossal arca of ground, in order that the enemy might be misled by the numbet of fires they saw into believing that he had a huge army. At first this strâtâgem
\,ÿer€ lt not pomlble to plâce aome rcliance on the of dlscretion? Now, lf a cound and steadfast mind sustains the falterlng footsteps of the aged and rouoco them to eflective acrion, making good the deficiences of age by the application of foresight, ho,ur can it fail to
succeeded and they were cowed into temporary inactivity, but it was not long before they heard that the Roman forces were totalTy inadequate ancl hopelessly outnumbered. 6 The soldiers, however, were full of confidence and enthusiasm and were convinced of their own superiority, regardless of the numbers of the enemy. After all they were Romans and had already fought many battles and faced great dangers. 7 But Belisarius, sensing their mood of elation and realizing that excessive pride in their past adrievements \Àras causing them to underesdmate the gravity of the present situation, was afraid that they might get carried auray on a \il-ave of optimism and end up by painting an absurdly rosy picture of their prospects. To prevent this from happening he gathered them all together and, as though the impending struggle was now about to take place, he appeared in their midst and addressed them as follows: 17. "soldiers, I have not come here to address you in the customary terms designed to calm your fears and raise your morale. Indeed I could hardly, without appearing to have forgotten all rhat past experience has taught me, urge Roman soldiers who had been brought up in the profession of arms and had demolished some of the mightiest empires on eiarth, I could hardly, f rqreat, urge such men not to be afraid of facing a gangof barbaian vagabonds, especially when these happen to be Huns and Cotrigurs. z But seeing you fillecl with rash and over-confident daring I thought it not unreasonable to remind you of rzour traditional moderation. 3 Sane'men must always be on their guard against any form of excess, even if it happens to be directBd tonrards a praiseworthy end. There is nothing more inimical to intelligent planning or more conducive to wild and impractical vanity than the assumption that because one has done well in the past one must of necessity continue to do so in the future. Those, moreover, whose pre' sumption leads them to abandon all sense of moderation are apt to find themselves fighting against the Almighty. 4 And there is another point whidr you must bear in mind: your superior courage is counterb'alanced by their superior numbers, with the result that the advantage on one side is
other. 5 It would indeed be shameful if, when our strength is more or less evenly matched by that of our enemy, welilefe to rush wildly into battle without due regard fot timing and position and without making some allowance for the purely random and fortuitous role o{ chance. Brute force without the aic{ of sound iudgement is powedess to defeat ân enemÿ. 6 How, for instance, could I, with cancelled out by the advantage on the
my grey hair and aged frame, long past the time for bearing arms, take part
tfi
in the hczards of warfnre benelits
confer still greater benefits on you who are still in your prime? 7 Those revefses brought about by some fortuitous event ot by a failure of nerve may perhaps be rectified and turned to one's advantage by presence of mind and unerring judgement. But when things have been allowed ro ger out of hand through defective judgement and inadequate planning, where âre we
to turn for inspiration in or.rr efiorts to save the situation if the source of our ideas has already been polluted? 8 Yet people may perhaps marvel at me {or employing sudr a novel style of e"xhortation. \X/hen I ought to be building up your confi.dence and raising your spirits I am in {act undermining your self-assurance and damping youl ardour by introducing objections and casting doubt on your ihances o{ success.
18. And indeed the prospect o{ going into battle in the company of men whose courage and daring are such that it would take the powers of an accomplished orator to persuade them to put even a momentary curb on their enthusiasm does filI me with pleasure and with hope. z But, even so, let eadr one of you bear in mind tJlat unreflecting endeavour is not to be atuibuted to the generous impulses of courage but to foolhardly and wrongheaded audacity. May your bravery and enthusiasm find permanent and ever-increasing expression, but may all excessive daring and any tendency towards arrogance and obstinacy be tempered by the observance of reason and moderation. 3 The practice of considering cardully how one ought to tad
lr1
Eæh,
Agrthlelr ,Ihe Hlrterler
of any elemcnt of i*ational f_uv or instrnctlve urgc to rprct vlolently less.of rhe consequences, while at the same tiÀe ,.t.rni"s
regorel.
,irt h";;;-i
qualities associated with suih feelings
courage, resolution and the
will to fight back. 7 Now, those emotions whose eflect is artogether proper and desirabre are wholly to be cultivated. But those that are cà-pable ,lro of having the re"th.y
verse efiect are not be used unconditionally buionly in so far as ,r" I rhgt you will al agree witrr,o. ilrui, prudence and unalloyed-blessing, ,ng* Àr, its forceful a.*.Ài"ed side, l-r-,r.o,*.. whrch is praiseworthy, but it also has its rash and impetuous side, which is unprofitable and undesirable. Taking rherefore, tn. r"r.., 9 in its entirery and of the latter what is best; ànd temlering hurdihood *itL dir..*m.nt, let us mardr againsr the foe confident tËkrro*r.dg. ,h* rr.".rr.ry course of action has been overlooked. ro only we riust ,rutii. that it is
advantageous. s
;h.; *â
i'
il
with barbarians that we have to contend, ..n *t o uil- r."rrto-"a ,o fighting in the manner of brigands, to rayini u-borl., *J-rr.-g surprise attad
cowards but killed alarge number of persians before th.y w.r" orrerwhelmed. Belisarius and his Romans in addition to displaying ,Là .oorrg. of spartans routed all the enemy, inflicting h.uuy .r*rtti.r'orr-ihu- *d
su-fiering practically no losses thernselves. 3 §7hat happened \rÿ'as as follows. A detachment of about two thousand barbarians on horsebacl< suddenly separated from the rest of their forces and set ofi at a gaTlop, mising a terrifi;din as they wenr, convirced that they youtd svreep everything before them. As thà scouts arrived witir
-
r*, ,,
the news that the enemy were practically upon them (and they were almost close enough to be pointed out) Belisarius immediately led'out his men
t,
egolnat them, contriving ao beat he could to conccal the meagrcneoa of his own numbers. 4, tüühat hc did was to select two hundred cavaltymen armed with ehields and javelins and place them in ambush on either side of the woodland glen from which he thought that the barbarians would be making their attacl<. These troops §/ere instructed to let fly with theit javelins at the massed fotmation of the enemy âs soon as he should give them the signal for action. The purpose of this operation \ÿas to roll up their flanks and crowd them in on themselves, so that in the resultant congestion they would be unable to make use of their superior numbers. 5 He also instructed the peasants and the more able.bodied of the citizens to follow him and to
rhout and make a loud ratding noise. He himself took his stand in tâe with the remaining troops, ready to sustain the first shodc of the enemy atta&.. 6 As they drew nearer and most of them were already inside the area covered by the ambush, Belisarius and his men advanced to meet ttrem and drarged them head on. The peasants and the rest of the crowd cheered on the soldiers by shouting and causing a clatter with pieces of wood yhidr they carried for this purpose. 7 As soon as the signal was given the other troops rushed out from their hiding-places and discharged a volley of missiles obliquely from either side. The shouting and confusion was out of all proportion to the scale of the ûghting and at this point the barbarians, S ûnding themselves assailed by missiles on all sides, did exacdy what Belisarius had anticipated. They closed in their ranks and huddled together so tightly that they could not defend themselves, since there rÀ7'âs no room for them to use their bows and arrows or to manoeuvre with tJreir horses. They seemed to be complete§ encircled and hemmed in by a vast ârmy. 9 They were in fact stunned by the ffemendous din created by the shouts and noises of the milling crowd behind the Roman lines and the cloud of dust that was raised prevented them frorn forming any idea of what the real numbers of t}e combatants were. ro A-fter engaging and destroying many of the enemy facing him, Belisarius broke üeir ranks and drove them into flight. Then as all the others bore down on them the barbarians turned their bacl
.cenffe
116
fu*hhlr
Thc Ï{trtorler
loâ1,
affows at their pursuers, The amowo smike thelr targct not only with theh orrrn momenturn bur also with the added force of thi oncorning pursuit, so that the impact is correspondingly greater.
20. But on that occasion the Huns were compretely demoralized and
made_no attempr to defend themselves. About foor hundred of them lost their lives. on the Roman side there $7.ere no fatal casualtie, ,nJonly a
f**
wounded.
z It was with immense relief that zaberyan, their reader, and the others yho h$ managed ro escâpe reached.^.p. Àrrj ir was, -orâu.", Aie{ly to the exhaustion of their ptrrsuers' horses- that they owed their lives, otlerwile they would certainly havebeen annihilated. Eïen so, their abrupt entry, and th9 panic-sricften manner,in whidr they burst into Âe en.lor.rre of th. camp threw rhe rest of their forces inro con{usion and filled them with the 3la*1ins pJospect of imminent destuction. Loud and savage cries were heard as they slashed their dreeks with daggerg and gave ient to their
traditional form of lamenrarion. 3 Meanwhile the Romans withdrew, after having achieved a rneasure of
success to which, though it was altogether staggering in the circumsrances, the wisdom and foresight of their.ommand.r hâ eititled them. Immediately after this disaster, however, the barbarians broke up câmp ând reüeated in terror from Melantias. 4 Though Belisarius could in a[ îikelihood have harassed their line of marclr and killed still more of rhem,'since it would have been a question of pursuing men whose spirit was abeady broken and who seemed to be fleeing rather than retreatint, he returned ,i o^". to the capital, not of his own accord but because he had been instructed to do so by the Emperor. 5 As soon in fact as the news of his victory had readred the ears of the people they had begr.rn to sing his praises whenever they gathered together and to describe him as the saviotrr of the nation. This popularity §/as extremely irksome to many people in high places who fefl à frey to envy and jealousy passions whose baneful influence never ceases to assail thl noblest adrievements. And so they put about slanderous rumors to the effect that the popularity he was *joy-g had turned his head and that he was aspiring to higher things.27 6 These calumnies brought about his speedy return and prevented him from consolidating his adrievements. Indeed hL l:"gyd no recognition for what he had already accomplished. Instead they did their utmost to erase the memory of his victory and to deny him any credit_ for it. 7 rt has already been amply demonstrated by some of thl most brilliant minds of antiquity that initiative is blunted and all incenrive to action desuoyed when noble spirits are deprived of their rightful share
,
1"..
t **pt"g
the throne.
lr7
of acclokn and that ln conrequenc€ thorc quclltlea that hcve been dhparagod, whcthcr they art associetecl wlth mllltary iucceao, llterary achlwement or with come other matter of vital conccfh, ceaee, tnuch to the detriment of rociery, to be properly cultivatcd, I thlnk, moreovef,, that it requires no great perspicacity to see that the ttuth of this assefiion is continually borne out by our orürn everyday experience. 8 At fust the Huns, under the impression that they were being pursued, fled in consternâtion from the Long lffalls. But when they discovered that Belisarius had been recalled and that no one else had been sent out against them, they slowly began to drift back. 21. Meanwhile the other detadlment of barbarians whide was besieging the Chersonese attad
lr8
Itt
!Ë€L,
Agethlmr Thq Hl:totler
good and retum homc, 7 And co they ret ebout gathering enofmou! {uantities of very long reeds of exceptional thidrnegs and toughness, whlch they fastened and boind togethef with cord and twine, producing in this waÿ a considerable numb.r of bordLs. Across the two ends and the middle they fitted wooden spars and lashed the bundles toggtlrer, sectuing them very tightly with thi& ropes, so that three or more of them went to make â riigl" b.rt sufiiciently wide to hold four men and sufiiciently deep to "p bàar thJir weight without sinking. They consgucted not less than one hundred and.frity craft of this type. 8 To make them more seavrorthy they brought rogerher the front endi, curving them upwards in the shape of_ a
feukld proî and devised improvised rowlocks and outriggers on either side. 22, ihen, when they had secured everything as best they could they launc}ed th a[ ,o..ily into the sea near the western shore of the bay i[ri.*".p, round the town of Aenus. z About six hundred men embarked in them *ith u great quantity o{ shovels which they ttted into the rowlocks and propelling tf,.-r.i.r", alter afashion with this rudimentary fotm of oar, tlro ,* fur [rt to sea, heavily armed and ready {or action' They thought thutby gradually rowing out further and further they would easily get past ,ià ,.*"ol the watl thai stretcfied out to sea as far as the deep 'üratef, and would then be able to step ashore in perfect safety further down_ the coast *h"r" no walls enclosed ii and it, onÇ protection rÀ7as that afiotded by the **r.r, of the HellesPont. rnt that 3 \flhen Germanus received intelligence of these plans and lea their for enemy the at he scofied anirmada of reed boats was on the way had that they kneur he it because at folly but at the same time was delighted with skifis fast twenty dispatctred immediate§ plaÿed into his hands. 4 He iorâ-und-uft ruddem, eqoipping them with a full complement of rowers and
helmsmen und m.n'ar;.à -ilh breasrplares, shields, bows and arrows and hulb"rrr, ,rid hud them moored out of right in the inlet of water behind the ,Ufn.o the barbarians .were already past the end part of the wall ,lr* j"tr o"t from the shore they began to swerve towards the coast and were borne on in a mood of conûdeni elation. It was at this point that the Roman boats put out to sea against them' Sped on by'the tide the Romans 6 rced bore down orr'th.,o, and strucË violently prosr to prow against impact, the of boats of the barbarians, whidr srere spun round by the force throwiog their crews ofi their feet as they rod
*utt i
the
side. Sote were throurn overboard and drowned, others flopped down *àrr.ry, having no idea what ro do nexr. Even those who were still on their 1"", *"t" joltJd by the morion of the waves whose efiect would have been but was tremendous on -od..rt" âr ,h.rt negligible on a boar or a ship lightness. a(tfeme their 7 One moment these reed-bu/1t craft because of plunged down as it they another the \Irave, of they shot up on the crest
moit thq could purlbly brohe, Thry madc no ettêmBr to.âght, rlnco thelgflfulle thc barborlani u'er€ I feet,.. ["e. i";-;;r-,n t."p rteady on thelr they could end by whercver llne ,ir,iriir*ur"unded tr,. iloÀinr broke thelr cost manv of battle land a in done d*ii weight;s;i;rl thern.ac fe had a firm themselves they since into thJrea îirhout difliculty iir" and slew on in closed they ;à;;# foothold in their own boats. Some way some §rere Romans the g But since in many cases
;il;id
.i*îy
with their s'ürords. their halberts ofi and'üere not yet at Jose quarters they reached out with the whole until *,a-.or through ,fr" .àJr thrt bo,rnd the reeds together about, floated reeds àirinîegrated. Severed from one another the themselves {ound "ÀÀ* irr"u1 arotions, while the Huns suddenly ;;lfdrg;; ,h. ;trkd u, bor,o*, f"tl o"t of their boats' They perished to a man and not one of them lived to see dry land again' 23.Collectingallthe§/eaponsoftheenemythatwerestillfloatingabout, army iloÀ*, ,AËa tJ ,o ,ira, earüer position and tlled the whole the all of assembly general. ;rh;;,.t i"c ut th" *, of the happv Ëvent' A it was imperative for them ;Ëi naa ,i *nÀ it was àécided that ;;;;;; z A few davs later' therefo':l ii"i* -und ^aîÀiæ. mude a sudden sortie from the wall against the beslegefs, themselves rilas at its lowest ebb whore numbers -".. rriti u."y great but whose morale recent shattering their from yet #if;;;hJ;; À; ,f* nrâ iot _recoveredyolmg reâlly mature not âi;^tr. 3 Germanus, *ho b"io9-still-very instead lasmore easilv swaved Ças but imf,'kt' ;;;*h toi.rtruir lrit irri"irr prudence C, uiothful ardou*J t.u" of glory than by considerations.of daontlerrly into baitle against the enemy on-that occasion, ;i#ôÏJJ encouraging- his men like a ;;; dtJ# coofine l,i*r"if tÉ giving ord"rt anda common soldier. As a result Uore rhe il;; .i tÏr. nilrting like ".".rJC", h";;' strud< ü tt'"l'igt' bv an a*ow.'d y""v n9a1lv ïïïü;;;;ü and the ;t*;^;;';thJ# f-* tL" fight. But the urgency of thesituation not p'i'î{}'did ilË;;;;" "f the underiaking proved stronseithan li', coninflicted had he ;;;,; exert himseli or ,o iË.t on the oihers until numbers,of them' siderable. damage on the enemy and destroyed-large
th"
;;f;1il6
tï fÏ-d
i\ffi#;;;ifi*hd;.uÀ",â ilôir-iâU.l,i"aif,. iall,
an end and ihe Romans returned and toolc
iudging
it
neither safe nor prudent to
in protacted combat against superior forces'
engage
so thoroughly deggraliled as a result of 5 The barbarians, however; were disintegràtiàn of their boats and in the dit6trous ,lr.iorr., ,,rstained i" ih" made-against- them.that tley left the had tn" ;;.p;J;r;;"k *frid, and thÀn and set ofi to jornZaberyan there Chersonese ,fr" ;;Ëh-b;"ri;;oà of men. 6 The and his forces. It was destined to be a reunion o{ defeated ôàirig"* .frat had been sent to Greece adrieved nothing worthy of mendon,
no**,
l
160
Agrthlmr Thr Hlrtorler
having neither attacked the Isthmus 28 nor even paaeed Thermopylae on account of the presence there of a Roman garison, And so this band too began to withdraw, mardring in the direction of rhrace, doubtless with the idea of joining up wigh their fellow countrymen and returning home in their company. 7 But Zabergan and his forces said that they would not leave
until they also acquired a vâst sum of money from the Romans, just as the Utigurs had done. They threatened, moreover, to massacre the captives
unless they were speedily ransomed by their relatives. s Accordingiy the Emperor sent what he considered was a large enough quantity of goid to ransom the captives and secure the peaceful withdrawal of the cotrigurs,
Among the many captives returned was the general Sergius the son of Bacchus who by an unlucky chance'had been captured a short time before and was reduced to the same unhappy plight as. the resr. And so the cotrigurs
put a stop to their depredations and began to make their way 9ve_nqrally bad< home. They were soon joined by their comrades who had arrived from Greece. 24. To the inhabitants of Constantinople the terms agreed upon seemed cowardly, dishonorable and base, since they appeared to involve the passive acceptance of an intolerable state of afiairs. For instead o{ meeting with instant destruction when their insotrenr mod
of Corinth.
EooL
t
161
prwê by thelr rctlonr thrt ln proforrlng to plrcÊ oui truÉt in you we had been deceived into overlooklng the clelm of a mucl oup€rior pæple, They congider lt lntoleroblc in fact that ony onc should call them the equalr of tho Utigurs or even suggest that they are somewhat superior to them, indeed they are barely content with being accordod an overrhelming superiorlty, 5 Consequently they have overnrn the whole of Thrace, not desisting until they had carried ofi all the gold that we are accustomed to pay to you caclr year in return for your services. Though we could easily have wiped them out, or at least sent them
arürây
empty-handed, we did neither of these things
in order to test your sentiments. 6 For if you are really possessed of superior courage and wisdom and are not disposed to tolerate the appro' priation by others of what belongs to you, you will not now sufier any loss, since yotr have an e>
insults at their hands you still choose to be so timoro'r.rs and so uttedy spine' less as to take no action whatsoever, then you m,ay rest assured that you will be struck off our pay-roll and that we shall be ready to bestow our largesse upon them. In that case you will have to learn humility and make way for your h'tters, since we shall mo§t certainly have to transfer to them the t ruty 3t riliur.. which we made with you and your nation. Indeed even in difierent circumstances it would be senseless for us to share in the humilitations of the vanquished when we arc in a position to win the friendship
of the victors". 25. §fhen Sandilch learnt from an interpeter the contents of this letter it immediately produced the desired efiect. He fell at once lnto a ruge and uras eager to punish the Cotrigurs there and then for their insolence, a predictable reaction in a man with the arrogant and mercenary mentality of a barbarian. e Consequently he set ofi straight away with the army and made a surprise âttad< on the home territory of the enemy. Those who had remained behind were caught ofi their guard and he took many women and dril&en into captivity. §7hen the Cotrigurs returning from Thrace had just crossed thôDanube he confronted them suddenly, killing many of them and robbing them ofi the money which they had received from the Emperor and of all their booty. 3 Then no sooner had the survivors retumed home than they joined with the rest of their compatiots in preparing for war against the Utigurs. And so from that time onwards both peoples continued to malce war against eadr other for a very long period of time and they became increasingly hostile as a result. 4 On sorne occasions they wotild confine themselves to predatory incursions, on others they would lesort to open warfare until they have so weakened themselves and their numbers have become so seriously depleted that they have lost their natisnal identity' I
162
Âgathlrr Tho $llrtorlor
5 The scattered remnanr of these l{unnic tribee haa in fact been reduced to servitude in the lands of other peoples whose nêmcg they have assumed; so severe has been the penalty
whidr they have paid for their earlier misdeeds.
But the complete annihilation of these two peoples occurred at a later date, sothat I shall do my'best ro preserve â stric drronological order and provide a detailed account o{ this evenr in its proper place. 6 §fhen the dissension between the cotrigurs and the utigurs u/as srill at its height the news of what had happened readred constantinople and the wisdom and foresight of the Emperor was clearly and amply demonstrated to all. The barbarians $,ere destroying one another whilst he without resorting to arms was, thanks to his brilliant diplomacy, the ultimate victor and was bound to profiit wharever the outcome of the fighting. And so since they were continually embroiled in internal troubles they no longer had any idea of attacking the domain of the Romans, indeed they sank into an almost total obscurity.
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES The following Index is based on Keydell's Index Nominum. Reference is to the book, paragraph and section numbers of the Greek te:
Adriatic:
Il,t,5.
Aeetes: 1.
2.
Mythical king of Colchis III, 5, 4. Prominent Lazian lII,8,7; III, 11;
III, 11,7; IlI,t2, Aegean: II,L6.
Aemilia: (Emilia) I,1L,3; l,'1"4; 1,15, 7; I1,3,2. Aeneas: I, t0,2; II,27,7, Aenus: Y,22,
Aeoliails: Preface Afnca
(Libya):
1,4;
II,L7,9.
Preface L4,25; Y,13,8i
Y,L4.
TY,26,3-4; IV,
Agathias: Preface, 14.
Ahuramazda: II,24,9,
Ahtiman: I,7, 5; II,24,9-lO. Alamanni: I,4; I,6,2;
6,6; I,7,9;
I,ll,2;
IT,Ç9; 1I,9,12. Alamannicus: I,4,3. Alans: III,1r,9; IV,9.
I,6,); I,6,4; l, II,L,73 II,6,7;
Alexander: 1. Alexânder T'he Great:
II,22,3; III,5,9; \TI,L7,5; III,
1I,27; II,27,4;
II,25,8; IY,
24. 2.
Alexandet the son
of
Mamaea =
Alexzrnder: lI,26i IY,24. 3. AlexaÀder of Tralles: V,6,5. Alexandet Polyhistor: II,25, 5; II, 25,9. Severus
Il, 15, 5i II,16, 4; V, 1r, 8. Aligem: I,8,6; I, 9,2; I,9,4; I,20; l, 20,9; II,9,t3.
1I,29; Y,6.
II,L8,3; IY,2l;
TT,26.
Alexandria:
Amalasuntha: Prcface 30; I,5,
Amida:
8.
Pref.ace23,
Anahita: II,24,8. Anastasius: Preface 23; II, 27,7.
*
i. e, as reproduced in the present üanslation.
I,15,8; Iï,2,5;
II,
L62
Agatlrlll Thc l.lhtorler
5 The scattered rernnanr of these l:Iunnic tribes han in foct bccn rcducecl to servitude in the lands of other peoples whose nnmes thcy have assumedl so severe has been the penalty which they have paid for their earlier misdceeh. But the complete annihilation of these two peoples occurred at a later dore, so that I shall do my best to preserve a sffict drronological order and prcvitle a detailed account of this evenr in its proper place. 6 §7hen the dissension between the cotrigurs and the utigurs wâs still at its height the news of what had happened reached constantinople and thc wisdom and foresight of the Emperor was clearly and ampiy demonstratccl to all. The barbarians ui"ere destroying one another whilst he withotrr resorting to ârms was, thanks to his brilliant diplomacy, the ultimate victor and was bound to protit wharever rhe outcome of the fighting. And s«r since they were continually embroiled in internal troubles they no longcl had any idea of attacking the domain of the Romans, indeed they sank into an almost total obscurity.
ÏNDEX OF PROPER NAMES The following Index is based on Keydell's Index Nominum. Reference is to the book, paragraph and section numbers of the Greek text * and. though only approximate at times, is never more t-han a few words out. Abasgi: I1I,2,7. Abydus: Y,12,4.
Adriatic:
II,l,5.
Aeetes: 1.
Mythical king of Colchis
2. Prominent Lazian
III,5,
III,8,7; III,
4.
11;
III,11,7; l\I,1.2. Aegean: II,16. Aemilia: (Emilia) ï,LL,3; I,1"4; I,75, 7; II,3,2. Aeneas:'[., I0,2; II,27,7. Aenus: V,22, Aeolians: Preface L4; I1,L7,9. Aûrica
(Libya):
Y,1),8;
Preface 14,25;
v,14.
TY,26,34; IV,
Agatrhias: Preface, 14.
Ahuramazda: II,24,9.
Ahriman: I,7, 5; II,24,9-lO. Alamanni: I,4; I,6,2;1,6,3; I,6,4; I, '6,6; I,7,9; l,Ll,2; IT-,1,7; II,6,7;
, II,6,9;
II,9,L2.
Alamannicus: I,4,3.
Alans: III,
15,
)A 2, Als
II,25,8; IY,
of
Mamaea
=
Alexander: II,26; LY,24. 3. Alexander of Tralles: V,6,5, Severus
II, 25, 5; lI, 25, 9. Il, 15, 5i II, 16, 4; V, 1r, 8. Aligem: I,8,6; I, 9,2; I,9,4; I,20; l, Alexander Polyhistor:
Alexandria:
20,9;1I,9,t3.
Amalasuntha: Preface 30; I,5,
8.
Amida: Prcface23. Anahita: II,24,8.
*
II,27,4;
9; IY,9.
Alexander: L. Alexander T'he Great:
Anastasius:
II,27;
Pref.ace
23; IT,
27
,7
.
i. e. as reproduced in the present translation.
II,29; Y,6. TI,L8,3; IY,21;
Ittrlcx ol ltto[]§f nntucrl
170
'l'urks: I,3, 4. Tuscany: I,1,(r; I,8; I,1l; L7,2.
Tyrrhenian:
II,
Lo, g.
I,tl,1;
l,
I,8,3; II, 1,3-4; II,4,l;
Tzadtar: IV,16,4.
Tzani: IY,
II,20,7; III,20,9; III,22,4; "L,
L3,
)-5 Tzathes:
2; IV, 18; V,
III,
-J"4,
3;
III,
2; Y, 1,7 ; Y, 2,
)À. 4
Y,ll,2;
3,); il,4;
1I,4,9;
Verina: IV,29,2, Vitalian: I,ll,3; I, 1r,8. Volaterae: I,
L1,,6.
rlflilgang: IïT,6,5.
§(itigis: 15,
Pteface 10.
2-5.
Uldach: II,2,5;11,3. Ultizurs: Y,L1,2; V, 11,4. Uranius: II,29; II,29,6; II,29,8; 30i II,32. Usigardus: III, 6, 9; III,7,2.
Utigurs:
Vnrncs: I,21,2. Vcnetia: I, 1,6; II, II,11.
Xenophon: II,2L,7. Xerxes: II,l0,4; IY,29,6; Y,19.
Il,
Y,-1.2,6; Y,23,7; Y,
Vaccarus: I,21,2. Vahram:
I: IV,24,5. 3. Vahram III: IV,24,6. 4. Vahram IV: IY,26; LY,26,2. 5. Vahram V: IV,27. 1. Vahram
2.Vahtamll: IY,24, 6; IV, 24, 8.
Yahiz: III,28,L0. Valash: IV ,27, 5.
Valerian:
1.The Emperor Valerian: IY,23,7. 2. Roman General Serving underNarses
in ltaly: I,[L,3; II,8, r.
3. Roman General serving under Martin
Lazica: III,20,10; III,21, Vandals: Preface 24-25; Y,15,8.
5.
Yazdgard (Yezdegerd): l.Yazdgatdl: Prclace
,-8. 2.Y azdgardll: IY;
23; IV, 26,
27, 2.
Zabergat: Y,LL, 6; Y,12, 4-6; Y, 20,2; Y,23,5-7; Y,24,2. Zarnasp: IV,28, 2; IV, 28,7. Zamolxis: Preface J, Zandalas: T,19,5; II,8,2. Zotades; II,24,6. Zeno:
Zeno: I,5,7; IY,29, 2; Y,1.5,4. 2. Rhetor and advocate practising in L. The Emperor
Constantinople; 8,3,
Y ,7
Zeus: II,24,B; Y,8,5.
Zidt:
IV,30,8-9.
Ziper: IV, 18. Zrma: IV,29,8.
Zoroaster: II,24,5-6.
,2;
Y,7
,5; Y,
Inden o{ prcpet nêËêr
164
4,7i III,6,4*8i III'
Aruth: I, 20,8. Arzanene: IV,29,8, Asia: Pteface L4; Prelace26; I,2,2; Il, LO,2; lI,L7; II,17,9; II,18,5; II, 25,4; Y,tl,2; Y,12,4. Asinius Quadratus: I,6,3. Assyrians: II, 1"8,5; I1,23,9; TI'24,2;
lI,
24,
8; II,25, 4; II,
25, 5.
Astyages: II,25,6,
Ate: I,7,5.
Athanasius: lll,14,
4; III,t4, 5;
Augustus: Tl,t7
Cadusia:
11,27 ,2, Caesarea: Ptef.ace 22.
Caesena: I,20,9.
Calabria: II,L,5. Callipolis: Y,12,).
II,
25,6;LY,29,6'. 2. Cambyses
the son of CYrus: II,
26,4,
; Il,l7,).
24,8; 11,25,5.
Stoa: TI,29,2; III,
1,4.
Basi-liscus: IY,29,2.
Bederiana: Y,2L,2. Beirut: II, 15,2; II, Bel: 1I,24,8.
15, 4.
Beleus: II,25,Ç5. Belesys: 1I,25,5. Belisarius: Preface )0; Y,t5,7; Y,16,); Y,16,7; V, 19; V, 19,2-1;Y,19,6-10; Y,20,1-4; V,20,8,
l,),3;
Chorianes: Preface29.
III,2,)-7.
Bitgors: 1I,11,3. Bladrernae: V, 14,8, Boniface: Preface,24,
Bonus: I,19. Bosporus: V, 14,8.
Bruttium: II,
1,4.
Chosroes: Preiace24,27;
Conon: LY,29,2,
Burugundi: Y,17,34.
Butilinus: I,6,2; I,7,8; T,Ll,2; I, L4,5; lI,t,4; Tl,L,7l; 1I,2,2; lï, 4; II,5,2; II,8,7; I1,9,11; II,10,8.
Buzes: II, 18,8;
III,2,8; III,3,8; III,
III,6,9; III,7,2; III,
of Hystaspes: I, 2,2; II,L0,2; II,24,6; II,26,4;
Darius the son
)art
-
ï, ),5;1,3,6.
II,
d,t'
Darius the son
of
Arsames:
II,
25,8,
Datis: II,70,2. '1. Athenian General: 2. Athenian
II, 18,6; II,26;
Constantinople: Pteface, 26; ïbid.30;
Attâxerxes:
Demosttrenes:
II,
10,5.
Orator and Statesman:
II,29,2. Dercetades: II,25,4.
Dlimnites: III,17,Ç7; IïI,18; III, 18, 5-11; III, 22,5; III,26,24; III,28, 6-:7; IY, t3,8. Diodorus Siculus: II, 18,5; 11,25,5. Dogenes of Phoenicia: II,30,3. Dionysiaca: IV,23,5,
Cilicia: LY,24,3.
Burgundians: I,3,3-5.
4; IY, 29, 6.
II,
Datius:
J.
Ciberis: \1,12,2.
Classis: 1,20,5.
Cambyses:
IV,29,6.
II,27,9; II,28: II,29,9; lI,3L,4; II, )2; 1I, 32, 2; lI, )2' 5; lïï, L; III' 2; IY,6,2; lY,2),3; IY,29,5; IY, 29,9; lY, )0, 4; Iÿ, 30,7. Chytropolia: lI, 20, 5 ; II, 2L, 2; ll, 22.
Budrlous: III,15,9.
26,
2. Darius the father of
Chlodwig (Clovis): I,3,2. Chlota.t: 1,3,2; 1,5; II, 14,8-11.
Berossus: II,24,8. Bessas: II, 18,8; II,20,5;
6; II,
Dioscorus of
l,
4; II,L4,7; II,15; ll,16'4; III,3; III,14,3; I[,L5,2; III,15,7; III' 2),5; IY,l,2i IY,1,8; IV,5,7-8; IV, 9, 10; IY,2l,4; IV, 30, 8; V, 3;
Bgypthnl II, Eloee,
Gulf
Tralles: Y,6,5.
Doconos: II,2L,LO. Don: V,11,2. Dorotheus: Y,21,2.
Enyo: I,7,5.
Ephtlralites: lY,
Egypt: II,t5,9; II,15,11; II,25,L0; IY,23,5,
27,
4; lY,
Epidamnus: I,77,). Eris: I,'1,5. Ethiopians: Prelace2T.
28, 3.
Eulamius of Phrygia: II,30,3. Eutope: Prcface1,4; Ibid.26; II,
IIï,
10,2;
1,5,7.
Eutydrianus: Preface
1.1.
Euxine: II,2A,7; III,
19,
9;
III,21,,2;
Y,L,2; Y,3,2; V, 11,3; V, 14,8.
Fanum: II,2,4; II,3. Faventia: I, 15,8; I,17; I,L7,5. Filimuth: I,7L,3. Florentia (Elorence): I, 11; I, 11,6. Florus: Y,9,7, Franks: I,1,,7; I,2; I,2,3; I,3; I,3,
Ç5; ï,5; I,6,4; I,7; I,7,2; I,7,9; I, lL,2; I, 1,2,2; I,L4, 4-4; I, L5, 6; I,17,4; I,18,5; I,19,2; 1,20; I, 20,2; I,20,9-ll; I,21,4; I,22,2;
II,l,6; II,3; II,5,3-6i 1T,5,8-9;
II,6,3; I1,6,5--7; II,7; II, 9,4 II,9, 9-12; 1I,10; II,10,8; II,11,4; II, 72,5-7; II,13; II, L4,8; II,14,1l.
Fritigern: Preface3L; I,20. Fulcaris: I, 1L, 3; I,14, 3; ï,74,6; T,L5; \15,5; I, 15, 10; I,t6,6. Gaiseric:
Ptef.ace, 24.
Ganges: II,25,4.
Gaul: I,2.
Geümer: Ptef.ace,24. Gepids: I,4,2. Gerrnans: T,2;
I,5,5; I,6,3,
Germanus: 1.
Germanus the father of Justin (3):
II, 18,8; III,17,4; III,20,9; III, 24,7; I1I,25,8; IY,L51' IY,21.
2. Germanus the son of Dorotheus: Y, 2L, 2; Y, 22, 3; Y,23, 3. Getae: Preface,
Gibrus: III,20, Edessa: Pref.ace,27.
li
lE, V,10,r, Preface, 14.
of:
Elmlngclr: IlI,2l,6, Elminzur: IV, 15; IV, 15,2.
Eustratius:
of
Preface 26; I,79; \Y,22,7; Y, 11,5; Y,25,2. Daphniaca: Prctace7. L.
Chaerernon: II, 17, 2; lI, 17,7-8, Chaldaeans: TI,8,9; II,25,2. Chanaranges: II,6,4. Chettus: V, 16. Childebert: I,),2; 1,5; II, 14,8-11.
Chobus: III,3,9.
Cyrus the son
t6,
ptopÊr nünêr
v,11,L
,5.
Danube:
Chadus: III,16.
Chlodomer: I, ),2;
L7
5; I,20; I,20,6-9.
Damascius: II,30, 3.
Centumcellae: I, 11; I, 11,6.
Beroea: Prcface27.
Bion: ïI,25,5.
Cutilzis: III,
LL,
2L,6-8; IV, 18; IV, 18,3. 10,8.
Caucasus:
Balmach: III, 17, r. Barazes: IV,13,34.
Cumae: L,8,2; I,
Dabragezas:
II,L8,4; II,21, 10, III,8,5; III, 15,9; IV, 1, 8; IY,6,2; IY,9. Ceneta; II,3,3.
Bacchus: V,23,8.
Basileios
II,
Ctesiphon: I1{,29,L0.
2.Cytus the son of Florus and lather of Paul the Silentiary: Y,9,7.
Capua: 1I,4,4; II,10,8. Hills: IY'29,7.
Carthage: Pteface 24.. Casulinus: II,4,4-5; Catharus: III,7,8.
14,6i \,25,6, Coet II,16, Cotalsr II, 19; II, 22,3i IlI,6,)i llI,7i III,28,6; IV, 15,4. Cotrigurs: V, 11,2; V, 11,6; Y,72,7; V, 17; V,24,)i ÿ,25. Cronosr I1,24,8; Ctesias of Cnidos: 1I,25,5.
25,
Carduchian
Babas: III,18,10.
V,6,6-7t V, 10,2i V, 12, !; V, 14i V,
1,
Cappadocia: IV,24,).
Babylon, Babylonians: 1I,23,70; II,
d
Cyrus:
II,4; II,4,4. Campsae: II, b; Il, 14, 6. Cantabri-Cantabria: II, 17, 3; II, 17,7. Campania: II, 1,4;
Athyras: V,t4,5.
Avars: 1,3,4.
20,8;
l.Cambyses the father of CYrus:
IV,
Athenocles: 1I,24,8. 10,2.
l0; III,
7,
IV, T',2.
Cambyses:
7,2; IY,tl. Athenians: II, 10,3; II, 10,5.
Attica: II,
Iadrr
Golden
Horn:
l.
10.
V, 14,8. Goths: Preface J0; Ibid. 31; I,l;1, L, Ç7 ; I,3; I,),3; T.,5; \5,2-4; I,6,4-6;
:
Indqx'd proper nrmcl
Ihdrx s, tËpÉ! ârm6r
I,7,8; I,8; I,8, 4-6; I,9,5; \10,4t, I, 10,9; I,15,7-9; I,20; I, 20,2-4i l, 10,9; I,75,7-9, I,20; I,2A,24;1., 20,1.0; II,2,2; Il,9,13; II,12,2; lï, 73; II, L3,2-4; II, 14, 6-7; V, 15, 8. Gteece: 11,L0,2; Y,Ll,l; V,»,6-7, Greek Language: II,2O,5; IV,2; IV, 30,4, Greek Literature:
Greeks: 24,9.
Kclrnanrhehl IV,26,
Mrxentlur: IV, 13,2; IV, 14; IV, Mclrntlar: V, 14,5; V,20,r, 5-9.
Mesdritha: II,22,5.
Mestrianus: III, L4, 5. Metrodorus: V,6,4-5,
IIl,2,3; III,2,8-11;
Miliades: II, 10,3. Misimians: III, 15,8;
IIT,4,2:
IlI,4,5-6; III,9,3; III, 10,8; III, 11,8; III,12,6; III,L3,5; III,L4,
III,
16;
IlI,L6,5;
III,Ll,3; IY,12,2; IV, IJ;
IV,
LJ,
5-6; IY,15,4-7; Iÿ,L6,4-5; IY,L7, 4-6; IY,t9,2; IY,20,6. Mithridates: lI, 25, I0.
2-3; IY,1; IV, 1, 4; IY,2,3-5; TY,5, 7-9; lY,6,3; IY,8,3-4; IV,8,6; IV, 9,5; IY,10,34; IV, 11; IV,21.
Moesia: I, 19; V, L1,6.
Guntarith:
Preface,25. Gylippus: II, 10,5.
!.
Memnonius: Pteface 14. Mermeroes: Pref.ace29; II, 19; II, 19,5; II,20; 11,20,3; Iï,,2L,4; II,22; II, 22, 6; II, 21, 9 ; III, 2; IIT, 2, 6i IY, L5.
II,28.
III,3; III,3,8-9; III.4;
14,
Medesr ïI,21,9-L0; 11,24,8i II,25,
I,7,4; II,10,4; II,23,10; II,
Gubazes: II, 18,6;
167
25; III, 20, 9. II, 19; I1,22,3; III,6, l; III,6,9; III,7; III 15; IlI,L9,5; III,28,6; II1,28,9; IY,9,7; IV,
Moors: rI,
Pref.ace
Muchetuisis:
18,5.
I,11,
L3,5.
TI,30,3.
IIl,2i III,6,2; III,15; 4; III, 77, 6; III,18, 11; III, 19; III,19,8; III,20l' III,20,3-5; IIl,22; III,23,4; I1I,24,24; IIï, 24,7; TII,27,8; III,28; III,28,6i Ill,28, L0; IV, 12,2; TY,l2,7; IY,
Nad:oragan:
III,
IV, TY,2L,5; IY,22.
I,77;
ï,17,6;
23,2t [Y,30,6. Natsah: IY,25. Natses: Prüace3l; I, 1; I, 4; I,7,8;
'
Iliger: TII,L7,5,
Illus:
III,24; III,28,8,
Nepos: LY,29,1. Nesos: II,2l,7-10; Il,22t
Kavad: Preface23,24; IV,27,6-7; IY, 28; TY, 28, 3-8; lY , 29, 5; IV , 30, 5. Kerman: [V,26,2.
l,
9,4; I,10; I,10,3; I,10,9; I,ll,6; L,12; I,12,3; I,L2,9; I,L,13; I,L3, 4-5; T.,L4; I,75,2; I,L5,1.0; I, 16; I, 'L6,3; l,L7; L,L7,2; I,L7,2; T,L7, 6-7; T,18; I, 18, 34; I,18,8; I, 19; I,L9,4i 1,20,1; I,20,5; I,20,8; I, 2li I,2L,24; ï, 22; 1,,22, 1; I,22,8i II, 1; II, 4,2-3; II,6; I1,6,34i lI,7i II,7,3-:7; II,8; II,9; TI,9,2; \I,9, 13; II,LL,3; II,L2,10; II, 11,4; II,
14; II,14,2-7. Neocnos: TII,23,9;
Iberia: II,22,\ III,2,6; \1I,6,2; IJI, 12,L3; III,19,5; l[,28, 10; IV,9; TY,12,2; IY,13,5; IY,L5,4; LY,23, 2;[Y,30,6. Iberians: TI,21.,7.
17,
ll\ llf IIII
17,4; IT1,79; III,lg,7-lt IIl,r0, 3-8; IY,73,2; lY,ll, ,. ,, I j Nicias: II, 10,r, ,']I :I NiIe: IT,lr,5, Ninus:
ïnrlex rrf proper nanlei
168 1. Assyrirn King, perh.
= l:iblicrrl NinrII,l8,5; II,
rod cf. Gen.10,11; 25,4; II,25,5.
2.Capital of Assyria = Nineveh: 23,L0.
II,
Ninyas: II,24,2-3. Nisibis: IY,25,6.
III,7; IY,9,6; IY,
Orestes: IY,29,3, Palladius: T,9,4. Palmyra: [Y,24,4. Panopolis: IV,23,5, Papak: II,27; II,27,2-5. Parma: I,L4,4; I,15,9; I,t7,2;I,
I, t8,2.
19, 3; Y,7,2. II, 15, 10; V,8,5.
Procopius:
Preface 22,
17,7;
Propontis: Y,L4,5.
Pyrrho: II,29,7. Pythicus:
29,9.
Pelasgians: II, L7 ; II, L7, 5. Peroz (Firuz) : Pref.ace23; Preface
IY,27,34; 24, I,2,2;
I,7,5; 1I,10,3; I1,18; II, L9; Il, 21,7; I1,22,); II,23; II,24,5; U,
25,8i II,26; II,26,24; II,27,5;
III, 7 ; III,
7, 5 ;
TII,
II,
8, 2;
III,9,L4; III,12; III,1.2,8; III, 17, 2; III, L7, -9 ; III, 27, ; III, 22, 2; III, 24, 24; lil, 25, 5-7 ; III, 27, 3 ; TII,28. III,28,5; III,28,8-9; IV, 6,2; IY,L2,2; IY,1.3,5-7; IY,15; 7
Sobirs: lII,17,5-6; III, 18; III, 18,2-7; III, 18, 8-11; IV, L3,7 -9. Saghanshah: IY,24, 6; IY,24, 8. $nmnium: Il, 1,4. Sondes: II,24,8. Sandilch: Y,L2,6; Y,24,2; Y,25.
7
IY,L5,24; IY,2L,4; IY,23; IY,30, 2; IY,30,5; IV,30,8; V, 10,5. Petra: Prcface29; III,2,6. Phanitheus: I,11.,3. Phatsantes; IY,73,3. Phattazes: III, 11, 2; III,14,2.
Spoln: V, 11, li, §pnrtnnr; V, 19, Stephanun: 1,,17,1-6; I, 18,2. Stephcn
(St.): III, r,7.
Stotzas; Pteface25. Suanians: IV,9. Suarunas: IY,20,4.
Sura:
Pref.ace 27.
Sycae: V,1r. Syracuse:
Syria:
II,
10,5.
Preface, 24, 27
Teïas: Prüacell;
;
\Y,24,
\l;1,5;
1,
I,8,4-6;
Scythia: V, 11,6.
Y,ll,2.
Segestani: TY,24,8.
Theodahad: Preface3O; I,5,8.
Seleucia: IV,29,L0. Semitamis: II, 18,5;
Theodebald:
II,24,2; II,25,
1. Theodebald
1.
Setgius
the son of Bacdrus:
21,8.
the
Sergius
34.
14,8-10.
V,
Interpreter: IV,10,
Theoderic:
2. Theoderic
Shapur: IY,23,3; IY,23,7; TY, . 1. Shapur 23, 8; IY, 24, 2; [Y, 24, 4; lÿ, 24, 5. IY,25,2; IV, 25, 5; IV, 2. Shapur
I: II: 26.. 3. Shapur III:
Theoderic
the Osrogoth:
Preface
30; I,5,6-7; I,6,4.
l^8,5.
Sextus: II,29,7.
the son of Chlodwig: I,
3,2-4. Theodorias: V,L,4. Theodorus: I1,20,7-8;
TI,2l,4; III,
20,9; III, 22,4; III,26,3; IY,l3,2; IV, 14; IV, 18; V, 1,3;
Y,2; Y,2,
3-5.
IY,26.
Sibyl: I,10,2.
Siderun: IV, 16, 4; LV,16,7. Siderus: II,L7,7.
Pteface )0; I,7,8; II,1, 4; II,4; II, 10,5. Sidon: I1,15,4. Simacus: II,24,8. Simplicius: II,30,). Sindual: I,20,8; II,7,6; II,8,6; II,9,
Sicily:
7-8;11,9,L3.
Slav: IY,20,4. Smerdis: TI,26,4. Soterichus: III,15,2;
IlI,15,6; III,
15,8; III, 16,34; III, 16, 6*8; IV, 12,24; IY,15,6-:1; IV, 19,6; IV,
20,9.
the Varne: I,21,2. Theodebert: I,3,6; I,4; I,4,54; I,6,6. 2. Theodebald
1,
II,
the son of Theodebert:
I,4,7; T,5; T,5,2; I,6; I,6,6; IT,
4-5. Sergius:
l,
Telephis: II,19; TI,L9,2; I1,20,5-8; TI,2L,7; II,22,2. Thamanon: IV,29,7. Thebes (in Egypt): V,13,8.
Satdanapalus: II,25, 5.
Sasan: II,27,2; 1I,27, 4-5.
2. 1,4.
169
20; IT,12,2.
Sestos: Y,12,2.
Paul the father of Maurice: IV,
6;
Preface,
J; IV,7,); IY,1l; IV, 17,3; IV,
Scythians:
prop€r nÂmer
ol' Sotct'lelrurt lII,
llurtlcun lII,2,4; Ill,2,9; ltl, !t Ill, ),7i LI'1,4; Il[,4,6; ,[tl, 6,6i III, 12,6; III, 14,2--1; IV, 1,6; lV,2i IV,
Sesostris:
Paul the Silentiary: Y, g,7 .
5,
32; II, 19; TY, 15;
IY,26,4; IY,28,3; IV,29,5; IV,
30,5.
Paul:
Phasis:
Pontus: III,
Priscian: II,30,3.
Parysatis: II,24,4.
III,
27,7; Y,4,4.
Prima Iustiniana: Y,27,2.
TI, 25, 9-L0,
IY,29,2. Persia - Persian(s):
9; III,22,3.
Pisa: I, 11,6. Pisaurum: II,2,5. Plato: Preface 9; II,28,2; II,30,3; IY,
Poseidon:
ltrurttrhrx, rotr lJ,7 ,
21,).
Picenum: II,2,4.
III,
.1,
6, 1.5,7.
Phocaeans: I,2,2. Phoenicia: II, 1,5,2; II,30, 3.
11.
28;
lII,
Philip: II,25,8.
Ognaris: IlI,27. Ollaria: II,20,5. Olympius: Y,6,5. Onoguri: 1II,5,6. Onoguris: II,22,3; III,3, 8; III,4;
2.
A town situated at the mouth of the river Phasis: III, 19,8; III,22;
Philomathius: III,20,
Odoacer (Odovacar): 1,5,7.
1..
2.
IIT,22,8,
Odenathus: IY,24,4,
Parthians:
l. A rlvcr ln Luzierr: II, I8,4; II, l9l II,2l, 1.0; 11,22,2; III,21,3; IV, 29,2; Y,1,4.
Philagrius:
Nonnus: IY,23,5.
5,6-8; III,6,3;
Ide* d
Theodosius: Prelace 23; IY, 26, 3. Thermopylae: Y, L9; Y,23, 6. Thersites: TI,29,6. Thescos: Y,L2,2. Thessaly: Prelace26. Thrace: I,4; I,4,4; V, 11,6; Y,14,5; Y, 23,6; Y, 24, 5; Y, 25, 2. Thracian Chersonese: Y,LL,7; Y,L2; Y, 12,2; Y,12,5; Y,2L; Y,21,4-5; Y,
23,5.
Thyanes: III,16. Tiberius Constantine: IV, Tigris: TII,L7,7.
Totila:
Preface
29, 8,
3l; I,7; I,4; I,8,4; II,
12,2.
Tralles: II, 17; II, L7,8-9; Y,6,1,
Trebizond (Trapezus):
III, 19,)i V, 1,2,
