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A HISTORY OF THE TIME OF AFFLICTION AT EDESSA AND AMIDA AND THROUGHOUT ALL MESOPOTAMIA.
[Translated by William Wright]
I. I have received the letter of your God-loving holiness, O most excellent of men, Sergius, priest and abbot, in which you have bidden me write for you, by way of record, (concerning the time) when the locusts came, and when the sun was darkened, and when there was earthquake and famine and pestilence, and (about) the war between the Romans and the Persians. But |2 besides these things, there were found in it great encomiums of myself, which made me much ashamed even when alone with my own soul, because not one of them pertains to me in reality. Now I would like to write the things that are in you, but the eye of my understanding is unable to examine and see, such as it actually is, the marvellous robe which your energetic will has woven for you and clothed you therewith; for it is clearly manifest that you burn with the love that fulfils the law, since you care not only for the brethren that are under your authority at this time, but also for all the lovers of learning that may hereafter enter your blessed monastery; and in your diligence you wish to leave in writing memorials of the chastisements which have been wrought in our times because of our sins, so that, when they read and see the things that have happened to us, they may take warning by our sins and be delivered from our punishments. One must wonder at the fulness of your love, which is poured out upon all men, that it is not exhausted nor fails. Indeed I am unable to speak of it as it is, because I have not been nigh unto its working; nor do I know how to tell about it from a single interview which I have had with you.
II. Like Jonathan, the true friend, you have bound yourself to me in love. But that the soul of Jonathan was drawn to the soul of David, after he saw that the giant was slain by his hands and the camp delivered, is not so marvellous as this, because he loved him for his good deeds; whereas you have loved me more than yourself, without having seen anything that was good in me. Nor is Jonathan's delivering of David from death at the hands of Saul deserving of wonder in comparison with this (doing) of yours, because he still requited unto him something that was due to him; for he first delivered him from death, and gave life unto him and all his father's house, that they should not die by the hands of the Philistine. And though nothing like this has been done by me unto you, you are at all times praying unto God for me, that I may be delivered from Satan, and that he may not slay me through sins. But this I must say, that you love me as David did Saul; for you are intoxicated by the greatness of your affection to such a degree that, because of the fervency of your love, you know not what my limit is, but imagine regarding me |3 things which are far beyond me. For in the time preceding this, you supplied my deficiencies by the teaching contained in your letters; and you took such care for me as parents do, who, though they have not profited aught by their children, yet care for everything that they need. And today in your discretion you have humbled yourself, and have begged me to write for you things that are too hard for me, that hereby you might be especially exalted; and though you know them better than I do, you wish to learn them from me. So neither do I grudge you this, nor do I decline to do what you have commanded.
III. Know then that I too, when I saw these signs that were wrought and the chastisements that came after them, was thinking that they were worthy of being written down and preserved in some record, and not let fall into oblivion. But whereas I considered the weakness of my mind and my own utter ignorance, I declined to do this. Now however that you have bidden me do this very thing, I am in such fear as a man who, not knowing how to swim well, is ordered to go down into deep waters. But because I rely on your prayers to draw me out, which are constantly sent up by you unto God on my behalf, I believe that I shall be providentially saved from drowning and drawn forth from the sea into which you have cast me; since I shall swim as best I can in its shallows, because its depths cannot be explored. For who is able to tell fittingly concerning those things which God has wrought in His wisdom to wipe out sins and to chastise offences? For the exact nature of God's government is hidden even from the angels, as you may learn from the parable of the tares in the Gospel. For when his servants said unto the master of the house, "Do you want us to go and gather them up?" he that knew the things as they were said unto them, "No, in case while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them." This then we say according to our knowledge, that because of the multitude of our sins our chastisements were abundant; and had not the protection of God embraced the whole world so that it should not be dissolved, the lives of all mankind would probably have perished. For at |4 what times did afflictions like these happen with such violence, save in these (times) in which we live? And because the cause of them has not been removed, they have not even yet ceased. In addition to that which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, and amid which we lived, there terrified us also rumours from far and near, and calamities that happened in various places; terrible earthquakes, overturnings of cities, famines and pestilences, wars and tumults, captivity and deportation of whole districts, razings and burning of churches. And whereas these things have amazed you by their frequency, you have sent unto me to write them down with words of grief and sorrow, which shall astonish both readers and hearers; and I know that you have said this through your zeal for good things, that there may be contrition also in those who hear them, and that they may draw nigh unto repentance.
IV. But know that it is one thing for a man to write sadly, and another (to write) truly; for any man who is endowed with natural eloquence can, if he chooses, write sad and melancholy tales. But I am a plain man in speech, and I record in this book those things which all men that are in our country can testify to be true; and it is for them who read and hear, when they have examined them, if they please, to draw nigh unto repentance. But perchance one may say, "What profit have those who read from these things, if admonition be not mingled with the recital?" I for my part, as one who is not able to do this, say that these chastisements which have come upon us are sufficient to rebuke us and our posterity, and to teach us by the memory and reading of them that they were sent upon us for our sins. If they did not teach us this, they would be quite useless to us. But this cannot be said, because chastisements supply to us the place of teaching; and that they are sent upon us for our sins all believers under heaven testify, in accordance with the words of S. Paul, who says, "When we are chastened, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." For the whole object of men being chastened in this world is that they may be restrained from their sins, and that the judgement of the world to come may be made light for |5 them. As for those who are chastised because of sinners, whilst they themselves have not sinned, a double reward shall be added unto them. But there is mercy at all times even for those who are unworthy, because of the kindness and grace and longsuffering of God, who wills that this world should last until the time that is decreed in His knowledge, and doesn't forget. And that these things are so is clear both from the evidences of holy Scripture and from the things that have taken place among us, which we purpose to write down.
V. For behold, there leaned heavily upon us the calamities of hunger and of pestilence in the time of the locusts, so that we were well nigh going to destruction; but God had mercy upon us, though we were unworthy, and gave us a little respite from the calamities that pressed upon us. And this, as I have said, was because of His goodness. But He changed our torments, after we had had some respite, and smote us by the hands of the Assyrian, who is called the rod of anger. Now I do not wish to deny the free will of the Persians, when I say that God smote us by their hands; nor do I, after God, bring forward any blame of their wickedness; but reflecting that, because of our sins, He has not inflicted any punishment on them, I have set it down that He smote us by their hands. Now the pleasure of this wicked people is abundantly made evident by this, that they have not shown mercy unto those who were delivered up unto them; for they have been accustomed to show their pleasure and to rejoice in evil done to the children of men, wherewith the Prophet too taunts them and says, prophesying regarding the desolation of Babylon as it were by the mouth of the Lord: "I was wroth with my people, who defiled mine inheritance; and I delivered them into your hands, and you showed them no mercy." Unto us too, therefore, they have similarly wrought harm in their pitiless pleasure, according to their wont. For though the rod of their chastisement did not reach our bodies, and they were unable to make themselves masters of our city, (because it is not possible for the promise of Christ to be made void, who promised the believing king Abgar, saying, "Thy city shall be blessed, and no enemy |6 shall ever make himself master of it1";) yet, because of the believers who were spoiled and led away captive and slain and destroyed in the other cities which were captured, and who were like mud in the streets, all those have tasted no small degree of suffering who have learned to sympathise with them that suffer. And those too who were far away from this (sight) have been tortured with fear for their own lives by their lack of faith, for they thought that the enemy would make himself master of Edessa too, as he had done of other cities. About which things we are going to write unto you.
VI. Since then, according to the saying of the wise Solomon, "War is brought about by provocation"; and you wish to learn this very thing, namely by what causes it was provoked; it is my intention to inform you whence these causes took their rise, even at the risk of its being thought that I speak of things the time of which is long past. And then, after a little, I will make known to you too how these causes acquired strength. For although this war was stirred up against us because of our sins, yet it took its origin in certain obvious facts, which I am going to relate to you, that you may be clearly acquainted with the whole subject, and not be led, along with some foolish persons, to blame the all-ruling and believing emperor Anastasius. For he was not the exciting cause of the war, but it was provoked from a much earlier time, as you may understand from the things that I am going to write unto you.
VII. In the year 609 (A.D. 297-8) 2 the Romans got possession of the city of Nisibis, and it remained under their |7 sway for sixty-five years. After the death of Julian in Persia, which took place in the year 674 (A.D. 362-3), Jovinian 3, who reigned over the Romans after him, preferred peace above everything; and for the sake of this he allowed the Persians to take possession of Nisibis for one hundred and twenty years, after which they were to restore it to its (former) masters. These years came to an end in the time of the Roman emperor Zeno; but the Persians were unwilling to restore the city, and this thing stirred up strife.
VIII. Further, there was a treaty between the Romans and the Persians, that, if they had need of one another when carrying on war with any nation, they should help one another, by giving three hundred able-bodied men, with their arms and horses, or three hundred staters in lieu of each man, according to the wish of the party that had need. Now the Romans, by the help of God, the Lord of all, had never any need of assistance from the Persians; for believing emperors have always reigned from that time until the present day, and by the help of Heaven their power has been strengthened. But the kings of the Persians have been sending ambassadors and receiving money for their needs; but it was not in the way of tribute that they took it, as many thought.
IX. Even in our days Peroz, the king of the Persians, because of the wars that he had with the Kushanaye or Huns, very often received money from the Romans, not however demanding it as tribute, but exciting their religious zeal, as if he was carrying on his contests on their behalf, "that," said he, "they may not pass over into your territory." What made these words of his find credence was the devastation and depopulation which the Huns wrought in the Roman territory |8 in the year 707 (A.D. 395-6), in the days of the emperors Honorius and Arcadius, the sons of Theodosius the Great, when all Syria was delivered into their hands by the treachery of the prefect Rufinus and the supineness of the general Addai.
X. By the help of the money which he received from the Romans, Peroz subdued the Huns, and took many places from their land and added them to his own kingdom; but at last he was taken prisoner by them. When Zeno, the emperor of the Romans, heard this, he sent money of his own and freed him, and reconciled him with them. Peroz made a treaty with the Huns that he would not again cross the boundary of their territory to make war with them; but he went back from and broke his covenant, like Zedekiah, and went to war, and like him he was delivered into the hands of his enemies, and all his army was destroyed and dispersed, and he himself was taken alive. He promised in his pride that he would give for the safety of his life thirty mules laden with silver coin; and he sent to his country over which he ruled, but he could hardly collect twenty loads, for by his former wars he had completely emptied the treasury of the king who preceded him. Instead therefore of the other ten loads, he placed with them as a pledge and hostage his son Kawad, until he should send them, and he made an agreement with them for the second time that he would not again go to war.
XI. When he returned to his kingdom, he imposed a poll-tax on his whole country, and sent the ten loads of silver coin, and delivered his son. But he again collected an army and went to war; and the word of the Prophet was in very reality fulfilled regarding him, who says, " I saw the wicked uplifted like the trees of the forest, but when I passed by he was not, and I sought him but did not find him." For when a battle |9 took place, and the two hosts were mingled together in confusion, his whole force was destroyed, and he himself was sought but not found; nor to the present day is it known what became of him, whether he was buried under the bodies of the slain, or threw himself into the sea, or hid himself in a cave under ground and perished of hunger, or concealed himself in a wood and was devoured by wild beasts.
XII. In the days of Peroz the Roman empire too was in disorder; for the officials of the palace hated the emperor Zeno because he was an Isaurian by race, and Basiliscus rebelled against him and became emperor in his stead. Afterwards, however, Zeno strengthened himself and was reestablished on the throne. And because he had had experience of the hatred of many towards him, he prepared for himself an impregnable fortress in his own country; so that, if any harm should happen to him, it might be a place of refuge for him. His confidant in this was the military governor of Antioch, by name Illus, who was likewise an Isaurian; for he bestowed posts of honour and authority upon all his countrymen, and for this reason he was much hated by the Romans.
XIII. When the fortress was fully equipped with everything necessary for it, and a countless sum of money had been deposited there by Illus, he came to the capital (Constantinople) to inform Zeno that he had executed his will. But Zeno, because he knew that he was a traitor and was aiming at the throne, ordered one of the soldiers to kill him. After the person to whom this commission had been given was for many days seeking an opportunity of executing it secretly, but found none, he accidentally met Illus inside the palace, and drew his sword and raised it to smite him. Instantly, however, one of the soldiers who formed the retinue of Illus struck him |10 with a knife on the arm, and the sword fell from his hand and merely cut off Illus's ear. Zeno, in order that his treachery towards Illus might not be disclosed, at once gave orders that that soldier's head should be cut off, without any inquiry. But this very circumstance only made Illus think the more that Zeno had ordered him; and he arose and departed thence and went down to Antioch, having made up his mind that, whenever an opportunity offered, he would take measures to requite him.
XIV. Zeno, being afraid of Illus, because he knew his evil design, despatched to him at Antioch certain men of standing, and sent him word to come up to him (to Constantinople), as if he wished to make excuses to him, pretending that that treachery was not committed at his instigation, but that he did not wish to kill him. However he could not soften the hard heart of Illus; for he despised him, and did not choose to obey his command and go to him. At last Zeno sent to him another general, whose name was Leontius, with the troops under his orders, and bade him bring Illus up to him by force, and if he offered any resistance even to kill him. When this man arrived at Antioch, he was corrupted by the gold of Illus, and disclosed to him the order which had been given to him to put him to death. And when Illus saw that he had hidden nothing from him, he too showed him a large quantity of gold that he had in his hands, for the sake of which Zeno was wishing to kill him; and he persuaded Leontius to conspire with him and to rebel along with him, pointing out to him also the hatred of the Romans towards Zeno. After he had consented, Illus was able to disclose his design, for alone he could not rebel nor make himself emperor, because the Romans hated him too on account of his race and of his hardness of heart.
XV. Leontius then became emperor at Antioch in name, whilst Illus was in fact the administrator of affairs. As some say, he was even scheming to kill Leontius, in case they should overcome Zeno. But there was in their following a certain rascally conjuror, by name Pamprepius, who confounded and upset all their plans by his perfidy. In order that their throne |11 might be firmly established, they sent ambassadors to Persia, with a large sum of money, to conclude a treaty of friendship, .........4 or, if they required an army to help them, they should send it to them. When Zeno heard of what had happened at Antioch, he sent thither one of his generals, whose name was John 5, with a large army.
XVI. When Illus and Leontius heard of the great force that was coming against them, their hearts trembled; and the people of Antioch too were afraid that they might not be able to stand a siege, and called on them tumultuously to quit the city, and, if they were able, to meet [John in] battle. This caused Illus and Leontius much anxiety, and they formed plans for quitting Antioch, and crossing the river Euphrates eastwards. And they sent one of their partisans, whose name was Matronianus, with five hundred horsemen, to establish their authority in Edessa as a seat of government. The Edessenes, however, rose up against him, and closed the gates of the city, and guarded the wall after the fashion of war, and did not let him enter.
XVII. When Illus and Leontius heard this, they were forced to meet John in battle; but they were not strong enough for this, because John fell upon them manfully, and destroyed the greater part of the troops that were with them, while the rest were scattered every man to his city. They themselves, being unable to bear his onslaught, took those that were left with them, and made their escape to the fortress of which I have said above that it was impregnable and well provided with stores of every kind (ch. xii). John pursued after them, but did not overtake them, and encamped around the fortress and kept watching it. They, because they relied upon the impregnability of the fortress, let the troops that were with them go |12 down, retaining with them only chosen men and valiant. John appeased his fury upon those who came down from the fortress, but was unable to harm Illus and Leontius in any way. Now because of the difficulty of the natural position of the fortress, it was also rendered wonderfully impregnable by the work of men's hands, and there was no path leading up to it save one, by which, because of its narrowness, not even two persons could ascend at once. However, after a considerable time, when all John's stratagems were exhausted, Illus and Leontius were betrayed by those who were with them, and were taken captive in their sleep. By the order of Zeno both of them were put to death, as well as those who betrayed them, and the hands of all who were with them were cut off. Such were the troubles of the Roman empire in the days of Peroz.
XVIII. After the sudden disappearance of Peroz, which I have mentioned above (ch. xi), his brother Balash reigned over the Persians in his place. This was a humble man and fond of peace. He found nothing in the Persian treasury, and his land was laid waste and depopulated by the Huns, (for you in your wisdom dost not forget what expense and outlay kings incur in wars, even when they are victorious, and how much more when they are defeated,) and from the Romans he had no help of any kind such as his brother had. For he sent ambassadors to Zeno, asking him to send him money; but because he was occupied with the war against Illus and Leontius, and because he also remembered the money that had been sent by them at the commencement of their rebellion, which still remained there in Persia, he did not choose to send him anything, save this verbal message: "The taxes of Nisibis which you receive are enough for you, which for many years past have been due to the Romans."
XIX. Balash then, because he had no money to maintain his troops, was despised in their eyes. The priesthood too hated him, because he was trying to abolish their laws, and wishing to build baths in the cities for bathing; |13 and when they saw that he was not counted aught in the eyes of his troops, they took him and blinded him, and set up in his stead Kawad, the son of his brother Peroz, whose name we have mentioned above (ch. x), who was left as a hostage among the Huns, and who it was that stirred up the war with the Romans, because they did not give him money. For he sent ambassadors, and a large elephant as a present to the emperor, that he might send him money. But before the ambassadors reached Antioch in Syria, Zen6n died, and Anastasius became emperor after him. When the Persian ambassador informed his master Kawad of this change in the Roman government, he sent him word to go up with diligence and to demand the customary money, or else to say to the emperor, "Take war."
XX. And so, instead of speaking words of peace and salutation, as he ought to have done, and of rejoicing with him on the commencement of the soverainty which had been newly granted him by God, he irritated the mind of the believing emperor Anastasius with threatening words. But when he heard his boastful language, and learned about his evil conduct, and that he had reestablished the abominable sect of the magi which is called that of the Zaradushtakan 6, (which teaches that women should be in common, and that every one could sleep with whom he pleases,) and that he had wrought harm to the Armenians who were under his sway, because they would not worship fire, he despised him, and did not send him the money, but sent him word, saying, "As Zeno, who reigned before me, did not send it, so neither will I send it, until you restore Nisibis to me; for the wars are not trifling which I have to carry on with the barbarians who are called the Germans, and with those who are called the Blemyes 7, and with |14 many others: and I will not neglect the Roman troops and feed yours."
XXI. When the Armenians who were under the rule of Kawad heard that he had not received a peaceful answer from the Romans, they took courage and strengthened themselves, and destroyed the fire-temples that had been built by the Persians in their land, and massacred the magi who were among them. Kawad sent against them a general 8 with an army to chastise them and make them return to the worship of fire; but they fought with him, and destroyed both him and his army, and sent ambassadors to our emperor, offering to become his subjects. He however was unwilling to receive them, that he might not be thought to be stirring up war with the Persians. Let those therefore who blame him because he did not give the money, rather blame him who demanded what was not his as if by force; for had he asked for it peaceably and by persuasion, it would have been sent to him; but he hardened his heart like Pharaoh, and used threats of war. But we place our trust in the justice of God, that He will bring upon him a greater punishment than that of the other because of his filthy laws, for be wished to violate the law of nature and to destroy the path of the fear of God.
XXII. Next the whole of the Kadishaye 9 who were under his sway rebelled against him, and wanted to enter Nisibis, and to set up in it a king of their own; and they fought against it for a considerable time. The Tamuraye too, who dwell in the land of the Persians, when they saw that nothing was given to them by him, rebelled against him. These placed their trust in the lofty mountains amid which they dwelt, and used to come down and spoil and plunder the villages around them, and (rob) the merchants, both foreigners and natives of the place, and then go up again. The nobles too of his kingdom hated him, because he had allowed their wives to commit adultery. The |15 Arabs 10 also who were under his sway, when they saw the confusion of his kingdom, likewise made predatory raids, as far as their strength permitted, throughout the whole Persian territory.
XXIII. There arose at this time another trouble in the Roman territory also; for the Isaurians, after the death of Zeno, rebelled against the emperor Anastasius, and were wishing to set up an emperor who was pleasing to themselves. When Kawad heard this, he thought that he had found his opportunity, and sent ambassadors to the Roman territory, thinking that they would be afraid and would send him money, since the Isaurians had rebelled against them. But the emperor Anastasius sent him word, saying, "If you ask it as a loan, I will send it to you; but if as a matter of custom, I will not neglect the Roman armies, which are sore put to it in the war with the Isaurians, and become a helper of the Persians." By these words the spirit of Kawad was humbled, because his plan had not succeeded. The Isaurians were overcome and destroyed and slaughtered, and all their cities were razed and burned. The Persian grandees plotted in secret to slay Kawad, on account of his impure morals and perverse laws; and when this became known to him, he abandoned his kingdom, and fled to the territory of the Huns, to the king at whose court he had been brought up when he was a hostage.
XXIV. His brother Zamashp reigned in his stead over the Persians. Kawad himself took to wife among the Huns his sister's daughter. His sister had been led captive thither in the war in which his father was slain; and because she was a king's daughter, she became the wife of the king of the Huns, and he had a daughter by her. When Kawad fled thither, she gave him this daughter to wife. Being emboldened by having become the king's son-in-law, he used to weep before him every |16 day, imploring him to give him the aid of an army, that he might go and kill the grandees and establish himself on his throne. His father-in-law gave him a by no means small army, according to his request. When he reached the land of the Persians, his brother heard of it, and fled before him, and he accomplished his wish and slew the grandees. He also sent a message to the Tamuraye, threatening them that, if they did not submit to him of their own accord, they would be conquered in war; but, if they would join his army, that they should enter with him the Roman territory, and out of the spoil of that country he would distribute to them all that had been wrongly withheld from them (see ch. xxii). They were afraid of the Hunnish army, and yielded to him. The Kadishaye, who were encamped against Nisibis (ch. xxii), when they heard this, submitted likewise. And the Arabs, when they learned that he was going to make war with the Romans, crowded to him with great alacrity. The Armenians, on the other hand, who were afraid lest he should take vengeance on them because of those fire-temples which they had razed in time past, were unwilling to obey him. But he collected an army and went to war with them; and though he was too strong for them, he did not destroy them, but promised them that he would not even compel them to worship fire, if they would be his auxiliaries in the war with the Romans. They consented most unwillingly, because they were afraid. What things Kawad did after he entered the Roman borders, I will tell you hereafter in their proper time; but just now, as you have bidden me to write unto you also about the signs and chastisements which took place, in their due order, and about the locusts and the pestilence and the dearth, and these are antecedent in point of time, I will turn my discourse unto them. And that the narrative may not be confused, I will set down the years separately, one by one, and under each of them, by and for itself, I will state what happened in it, God being my helper by the aid of the prayers of you His elect. |17
XXV. The year of Alexander 806 (A.D. 494-5). Concerning then the cause of the war, and how it was provoked, I have, as I think, sufficiently informed you, O our father, though I have written down these narratives in brief terms, because I was anxious to avoid prolixity. Some of them I found in old books; others I learned from meeting with men who had acted as ambassadors to both monarchs; and others from those who were present at these occurrences. But now I am going to inform you of the things that happened with us, because with this year commenced the violent chastisements and the signs that have taken place in our own days.
XXVI. At this time our bodies were perfectly sound all over, but the pains and diseases of our souls were many. But God, who finds pleasure in sinners when they repent of their sins and live, made our bodies as it were a mirror for us, and filled our whole bodies with sores, that by means of our exterior He might show us what our interior was like unto, and that, by means of the scars of our bodies, we might learn how hideous were the scars of our souls. And as all the people had sinned, all of them were smitten with this plague. For there were swellings and tumours upon all the people of our city, and the faces of many gathered and became full of matter, and they presented a horrid sight. There were some whose whole bodies were full of boils or pustules, down even to the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet; whilst others had large holes in their several limbs. However, by the goodness of God which protected them, the pain did not last long with any one, nor did any defect or injury result in the body; but, though the scars of the sores were quite plain after healing, the limbs were preserved in such a state as to fulfil their functions in the body. At this time thirty modii of wheat were sold at Edessa for a dinar, and fifty of barley 11.
XXVII. The year 807 (A.D. 495-6). On the 17th of Iyar (May) in this year, when blessings were sent down |18 abundantly from heaven upon all men, and the crops by the blessing (of God) were abundant, and, rain was falling, and the fruits of the earth were growing in their season, the greater part of the citizens (of Edessa) cut off all hope of safety for their lives by sinning openly. Being plunged in all sorts of luxurious pleasures, they did not even send up thanks for the gifts of God, but were neglectful of [this duty], and corrupted by the diseases of sins. And as if the secret and open sins in which they were indulging were not enough for them, they were present on the day above specified, that is to say, on the night between the Friday and Saturday, [at the place] where the dancer who was named Trimerius was dancing. They kindled lamps without number in honour of this festival, a custom which was previously unknown in this city. These were arranged by them on the ground along the river 12 from the gate of the Theatre 13 as far as the gate of the Arches 14. They placed on its bank lighted lamps, and hung them in the porticoes, in the town-hall, in the upper streets 15, |19 and in many (other) places. Because of this wickedness a marvellous sign was wrought by God to reprove them. For the symbol of the Cross, which the statue of the blessed emperor Constantine held in its hand, receded from the hand of the statue about one cubit, and remained thus during the Friday and Saturday until evening. On the Sunday the symbol came of its own accord and drew nigh to its place, and the statue took it in its hand, as it had held it before. By means of this sign the discreet understood that the thing that had been done was very far removed from what was pleasing unto God.
XXVIII. The year 808 (A.D. 496-7). This sign from above was not sufficient for us to restrain us from our sins; on the contrary, we became more audacious, and gave ourselves up easily to sins. The small slandered their neighbours, and the great were full of respect of persons. Envy and treachery prevailed among all of us; and adultery and fornication abounded. The plague of boils became more prevalent among the people, and the eyes of many were destroyed both in the city and the (surrounding) villages. Mar Cyrus 16 the bishop displayed a seemly zeal, and exhorted the citizens to make a small litter of silver in honour of the eucharistic vessels, that they might be placed in it when they were going to minister with them at the commemoration of one of the martyrs. Every one gave according to his means, but Eutychianus, the husband of Aurelia, was the first to show right good will, giving a hundred dinars of his own property.
XXIX. Anastasius the governor was dismissed, and Alexander came in his place at the end of this year. He cleared the streets of the city of filth, and swept away the |20 booths which had been built by the artisans in the porticoes and streets. He also placed a box in front of his palace, and made a hole in the lid of it, and wrote thereon, that, if any one wished to make known anything, and it was not easy for him to do so openly, he should write it down and throw it into it without fear. By reason of this he learned many things which many people wrote down and threw into it. He used to sit regularly every Friday in the church of S. John the Baptist and S. Addai the Apostle, and to settle legal causes without any expense. And the wronged took courage against their wrongers, and the plundered against their plunderers, and brought their causes before him, and he decided them. Some causes which were more than fifty years old, and had never been inquired into, were brought before him and settled. He constructed the covered walk, which was beside the gate of the Arches. He began also to build the public bath, which had been planned years before to be built beside the granary of corn. He gave orders that the artisans should hang over their shops on the eve of Sunday crosses with five lighted lamps attached to them.
XXX. The year 809 (a. d. 497-8). Whilst these things were taking place, there came round again the time of that festival at which the heathen tales were sung; and the citizens (of Edessa) took even more pains about it than usual. For seven days previously they were going up in crowds to the |21 theatre at eventide, clad in linen garments, and wearing turbans, with their loins ungirt. Lamps were lighted before them, and they were burning incense, and holding vigils the whole night, walking about the city and praising the dancer until morning, with singing and shouting and lewd behaviour. For these reasons they neglected also to go to prayer, and not one of them gave a thought to his duty, but in their pride they mocked at the modesty of their fathers, who, they said, "did not know how to do these things as we do"; and they kept saying that the inhabitants of the city in the olden times were simpletons and fools. In this way they became daring in their impiety, and there was none to warn or rebuke or admonish. For although Xenaias, the bishop of Mabbog 17, was at the time in Edessa,----of whom beyond all others it was thought that he had taken upon him to labour in teaching,----yet he did not speak with them on this subject more than one day. But God in His mercy showed them clearly the care which He had for them, that they might be restrained from their iniquity. For the two colonnades and the tepidarium (or lukewarm-bathroom) of the summer bathhouse fell down; but by God's goodness nobody was hurt there, although many people were at work in it both inside and outside, and no one perished of them except two men, who were crushed, as they were fleeing from the noise of the fall, at the door of the coldwater-bathroom. |22 Whilst they were laying hold of it from opposite sides, to make it revolve, they were delayed by this struggle as to which of them should get out first, and the stones fell upon them and they died. All sensible men gave thanks to God that He had preserved the city from having to mourn for many; for this bath was to have been opened in a few days. So complete was its downfall that even the lowest ranges of stone, which were laid on the surface of the ground, were uprooted from their places.
XXXI. In this same year was issued an edict of the emperor Anastasius that the money should be remitted which the artisans used to pay once in four years, and that they should be freed from the impost. This edict was issued, not only in Edessa, but in all the cities of the Roman empire. The Edessenes used to pay once in four years one hundred and forty pounds of gold. The whole city rejoiced, and they all put on white garments, both small and great, and carried lighted tapers and censers full of burning incense, and went forth with psalms and hymns, giving thanks to God and praising the emperor, to the church of S. Sergius and S. Simeon, where they celebrated the eucharist. They then reentered the city, and kept a glad and merry festival during the whole week, and enacted that they should celebrate this festival every year. All the artisans were reclining and enjoying themselves, bathing, and feasting in the court of the (great) Church 18 and in all the porticoes of the city. |23
XXXII. In this year, on the 5th of the month of Khaziran (June), Mar Cyrus the bishop departed this life, and Peter succeeded him. He added to the festivals of the year that of Palm Sunday. He also established the custom of consecrating the water on the night immediately preceding the feast of the Epiphany; and he prayed over the oil of unction on the Thursday (in Passion Week) before the whole people; besides regulating the other feasts. Alexander the governor was dismissed, and Demosthenes succeeded him. By his order all the porticoes of the city were whitewashed, whereat persons of experience were much annoyed, for they said that it was a warning sign of approaching evils that were to happen to their home.
XXXIII. The year 810 (A.D. 498-9). A proof of God's justice was manifested towards us at this time, for the correction of our evil conduct; for in the month of Iyar (May) of this year, when the day arrived for the celebration of that wicked heathen festival, there came a vast quantity of locusts into our country from the south. They did not, however, destroy or harm anything in this year, but merely laid their eggs in our country in no small quantity. After their eggs were deposited in the ground, there were terrible earthquakes in the land; and it is clear that they took place to awaken the people out of the sin in which they were plunged, that they might not be (further) chastised by famine and pestilence.
XXXIV. In the month of Ab (August) of this year there came an edict from the emperor Anastasius that the fights of wild beasts in the amphitheatre should be suppressed in all the cities of the Roman empire. In the month of Ilul (September) there was a violent earthquake, and a great sound was heard from heaven over the land, so that the earth trembled from its foundations at the sound; and all the villages and towns heard that sound and felt the earthquake. |24 Alarming rumours and evil reports came to us from all quarters; and, as some said, a marvellous sign was seen in the river Euphrates and at the hot-spring of Abarne, in that the water which flowed from their fountains was dried up this day. It does not appear to me that this is false, because, whenever the earth is rent by earthquakes, it happens that the running waters in those places that are cleft are restrained from flowing, and are at times even turned into another direction; as the blessed David too, when telling in the eighteenth psalm of the punishments that came from God upon His enemies, by means of the shaking of the earth and the cleaving of the mountains, and the like, lets us know that this also took place. For he says: "The fountains of the waters were laid bare, and the foundations of the world were seen, at Thy rebuke, O Lord. " There came too in the course of this month a letter, which was read in church before the whole congregation, stating that Nicopolis 19 had fallen to the ground of a sudden at midnight and overwhelmed all its inhabitants. Some strangers too who were there, and certain brethren from our schools who were travelling there and happened to be on the spot, were buried (in the ruins). Their companions who came (back from thence) told us (this). The whole wall of the city all round, and everything that was within it, was overturned in that night, and not one person of them remained alive, save the bishop of the town and two other men, who were sleeping behind the apse of the altar of the church. When the ceiling of the room in which they were sleeping fell, one end of its beams was propped up by the wall of the altar, and so it did |25 not bury them. A certain brother, whose veracity can be depended upon, has told me as follows. "At nightfall on the night when Nicopolis fell, we were lying down inside the town, I and a companion of mine. He was very restless, and said to me, 'Get up, and let us go and pass the night outside of the town in yonder cave, as is our custom, for I cannot get rest here, because the air is so sultry and sleep will not come to me. ' So we got up, I and he, and went out of the town, and passed the night in the cave, as was our custom. When the time of dawn drew nigh, I awakened the brother who was with me, and said to him, 'Get up, for it is daybreak, and let us go into the town, and attend to our business. ' So we got up, I and he, and came into the town, and found all its houses overturned, and the people and the cattle, the oxen and the camels, buried therein; and the sound of their groaning was coming up from under the ground.
Those who came together to the spot took out the bishop from beneath the beams (of the roof) by which he was sheltered. He asked for bread and wine, wherewith to celebrate the eucharist, [but could get none,] because the whole town was overturned and nothing in it left standing. Presently, however, there arrived a wayfarer, a good man, who gave him some small pieces of bread and a little wine, and he celebrated the eucharist and prayed, and made those who were there participate in the mystery of life. He resembled at this time, as it seems to me, the just Lot when he made his escape from Sodom. " Thus much is sufficient to tell.
XXXV. Again, in the north there was a church called that of Arsamosata, which was very strongly built and beautifully decorated. On a fixed day in each year, namely on the day of the commemoration of the martyrs who were deposited in it, many used to gather together thither from all quarters, partly for prayer and partly for traffic; for great provision was made for the people who were assembled on that occasion. When there was a great crowd collected of men and women and children, of |26 every age and class, there were terrible flashes of lightning and violent peals of thunder and frightful noises; and all the people fled to the church, to seek refuge with the bones of the saints. And while they were in great fear, and were engaged in prayer and service at midnight, the church fell in and crushed beneath it the greater part of the people who were in it. This happened on the same day on which Nicopolis fell.
XXXVI. The year 811 (A.D. 499-500). By all these earthquakes and calamities, however, not a man of us was restrained from his evil ways, so that our country and our city remained without excuse. Because we had been preserved from the chastisement inflicted on others, and rumours from afar had not alarmed us, we were (presently) smitten with a stroke for which there was no healing. Let us recognise therefore the justice of God and say, "Righteous is the Lord, and very upright are His judgments;" for lo, in His longsuffering He was yet willing by means of signs and wonders to restrain us from our evil doings. In the month of the first Teshrin (October) of this year, on the 23d, which was a Saturday, at the rising of the sun, his brightness was taken away from him, and his sphere of light appeared like silver. He had no perceptible rays, and our eyes could easily gaze upon him without hindrance, for he had neither rays nor beams to hinder them from looking upon him. Just as it is easy for us to look upon the moon, so we could look upon him. He continued thus till towards the eighth hour. The ground over which shone the little light that there was, seemed as if ashes or sulphur had been sprinkled upon it. On this day another dreadful and terrible sign took place on the wall of the city. This city, which, because of the faith of its king and the righteousness of its inhabitants in days of old, was deemed worthy to receive a blessing from our Lord (see ch. v), was well nigh overwhelming its inhabitants at the present day, because of the multitude of their sins. For there was a breach in the wall from the south to the Great Gate 20; and some of the |27 stones at this spot were scattered to no inconsiderable distance from it. By the order of our father the bishop Mar Peter, public prayers were offered, and every one besought mercy from God. He took all his clergy and all the members of religious orders, both men and women, and all the lay members of the holy Church, both rich and poor, men women and children, and they traversed all the streets of the city, carrying crosses, with psalms and hymns, clad in black garments of humiliation. All the convents too in our district kept up continual services with great diligence; and so, by the prayers of all the holy ones, the light of the sun was restored to its place, and we were a little cheered.
XXXVII. In the latter Teshri (November) we saw three signs in the sky at midday. One of them was in the midst of the heavens in the south. It resembled in its colour the bow that is in the clouds, and with its concave surface it looked upwards; that is to say, its convex surface was downwards and its extremities were upwards. And there was one on the east, and another also on the west. Again, in the latter Kanun (January), we saw another sign in the exact southwest corner (of the heavens), which resembled a spear. Some people said of it that it was the besom of destruction, and others said that it was the spear of war.
XXXVIII. Till now we were chastised (only) with rumours and signs; but for the future who is able to tell of the affliction that surrounded our land on all sides? In the month of Adar (March) of this year the locusts came upon us out of the ground, so that, because of their number, we imagined that not only had the eggs that were in the ground been hatched to our harm, but that the very air was vomiting them against us, and that they were descending from the sky upon us. When they were only able to crawl, they devoured and consumed all the Arab territory and all that of Ras-'ain and Tella and Edessa. |28 But after they were able to fly, the stretch of their radii was from the border of Assyria to the Western Sea (the Mediterranean), and they went northwards as far as the boundary of the Ortaye. They ate up and desolated these districts and utterly consumed everything that was in them, so that, even before the war broke out, we could see with our own eyes what was said of the Babylonian, "The land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness." Had not the providence of God restrained them, they would have devoured human beings and cattle, as we have heard that they actually did in a certain village, where some people had put down a little baby in a field, while they were working; and before they got from one end of the field to the other, the locusts leaped upon it and deprived it of life. Presently after, in the month of Nisan (April), there began to be a dearth of corn and of everything else, and four modii of wheat were sold for a dinar. In the months of Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July) the inhabitants of these districts were reduced to all sorts of shifts to live. They sowed millet for their own use, but it was not enough for them, because it did not thrive. Before the year came to an end, misery from hunger had reduced the people to beggary, so that they sold their property for half its worth, horses and oxen and sheep and pigs. And because the locusts had devoured all the crop, and left neither pasture nor food for man or beast, many forsook their native places and removed to other districts of the north and west. And the sick who were in the villages, as well as the old men and boys and women and infants, and those who were tortured by hunger, being unable to walk far and go to distant places, entered into the cities to get a livelihood by begging; and thus many villages and hamlets were left destitute of inhabitants. They did not, however, escape punishment, not |29 even those who went to far off places; but, as it is written concerning the Children of Israel, "Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil," so also it fared with them; for the pestilence came upon them in the places to which they went, and even overtook those who entered into Edessa; about which I shall tell (you) presently to the best of my ability, though no one, as I think, is able to describe it as it really was.
XXXIX. Now, however, I am going to write to you about the dearth, as you asked me. I did not, it is true, wish to set down anything regarding this, but I have constrained myself to do so, so that you don't think that I treated your order slightingly. Wheat was sold at this time at the rate of four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. Chickpeas were five hundred numia a kab; beans, four hundred numia a kab; and lentils, three hundred and sixty numia a kab; but meat was not as yet dear. As time went on, however, the dearth became greater, and the pain of hunger afflicted the people more and more. Everything that was not edible was cheap, such as clothes and household utensils and furniture, for these things were sold for a half or a third of their value, and did not suffice for the maintenance of their owners, because of the great dearth of bread. At this time our father Mar Peter set out to visit the emperor (at Constantinople), in order to beg him to remit the tax. The governor, however, laid hold of the landed proprietors, and |30 used great violence to them and extorted it from them, so that, before the bishop could persuade the emperor, the governor had sent the money to the capital. When the emperor saw that the money had arrived, he did not like to remit it; but, in order not to send our father away empty, he remitted two folles to the villagers, and the price which they were paying 21, whilst he freed the citizens from the obligation of drawing water for the Roman soldiery.
XL. The governor himself too set out to visit the emperor, girt with his sword 22, and left Eusebius to hold his post and govern the city. When this Eusebius saw that the bakers were not sufficient to make bread for the market, because of the multitude of country people, of whom the city was full, and because of the poor who had no bread in their houses, he gave an order that every one who chose might make bread and sell it in the market. And there came Jewish women, to whom he gave wheat from the public granary, and they made bread for the market. But even so the poor were in straits, because they had not money wherewith to buy bread; and they wandered about the streets and porticoes and courtyards to beg a morsel of bread, but there was no one in whose house bread was in superfluity. And when one of them had begged (a few) pence, but was unable to buy bread therewith, he used to purchase therewith a turnip or a cabbage or a mallow, and eat it raw. And for this reason there was a scarcity of vegetables, and a lack of everything in the city and villages, so that people actually dared to enter the holy places and for sheer hunger to eat the consecrated bread as if it had been common bread. Others cut pieces off dead carcases, that ought not to be eaten, and cooked and ate them; to which things you in your truthfulness canst bear testimony. |31
XLI. The year 812 (a. d. 500-1). In this year, after the vintage, wine was sold at the rate of six measures for a dinar, and a kab of raisins for three hundred numia. The famine was sore in the villages and in the city; for those who were left in the villages were eating bitter-vetches, and others Were frying the withered fallen grapes and eating them, though even of them there was not enough to satisfy them. And those who were in the city were wandering about the streets, picking up the stalks and leaves of vegetables, all filthy with mud, and eating them. They were sleeping in the porticoes and streets, and wailing by night and day from the pangs of hunger; and their bodies wasted away, and they were in a sad plight, and became like jackals because of the leanness of their bodies. The whole city was full of them, and they began to die in the porticoes and in the streets.
XLII. After the governor Demosthenes had gone up to the emperor, he informed him of this calamity; and the emperor gave him no small sum of money to distribute among the poor. And when he came back from his presence to Edessa, he sealed many of them on their necks with leaden seals, and gave each of them a pound of bread a day. Still, however, they were not able to live, because they were tortured by the pangs of hunger, which wasted them away. The pestilence became worse about this time, namely the month of the latter Teshri (November); and still more in the month of the first Kanun (December), when there began to be frost and ice, because they were passing the nights in the porticoes and streets, and the sleep of death came upon them during their natural sleep. Children and babes were crying in every street. |32 Of some the mothers were dead; others their mothers had left, and had run away from them, when they asked for something to eat, because they had nothing to give them. Dead bodies were lying exposed in every street, and the citizens were not able to bury them, because, whilst they were carrying out the first that had died, the moment that they returned, they found others. By the care of Mar Nonnus, the ξενοδόχος, the brethren used afterwards to go about the city, and to collect these dead bodies. And all the people of the city used to assemble at the gate of the ξενοδοχεῖον and go forth and bury them, from morning to morning. The stewards of the (Great) Church, the priest Mar Tewath-il and Mar Stratonicus (who some time afterwards was deemed worthy of the office of bishop in the city of Harran), established an infirmary among the buildings attached to the (Great) Church of Edessa. Those who were very ill used to go in and lie down there; and many dead bodies were found in the infirmary, which they buried along with those at the ξενοδοχεῖον.
XLIII. The governor blocked up the gates of the colonnades attached to the winter bath, and laid down in it straw and mats, and they used to sleep there, but it was not sufficient for them. When the grandees of the city saw this, they too established infirmaries, and many went in and found shelter in them. The Roman soldiers too set up places in which the sick slept, and charged themselves with their expenses. They died by a painful and melancholy death; and though many of them were buried every day, the number still went on increasing. For a report had gone forth |33 throughout the province of Edessa, that the Edessenes took good care of those who were in want; and for this reason a countless multitude of people entered the city. The bath too that was under the Church of the Apostles, beside the Great Gate, was full of sick, and many dead bodies were carried forth from it every day. All the inhabitants of the city were careful to attend in a body the funeral of those who were carried forth from the ξενοδοχεῖον with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that were full of the hope of the resurrection. The women too (were there) with bitter weeping and loud cries. And at their head went the diligent shepherd Mar Peter; and with them too was the governor, and all the nobles. When these were buried, then every one came back, and accompanied the funeral of those who had died in his own neighbourhood. And when the graves of the ξενοδοχεῖον and the Church were full, the governor went forth and opened the old graves that were beside the church of Mar Kona, which had been constructed by the ancients with great pains, and they filled them. Then they opened others, and they were not sufficient for them; and at last they opened any old grave, no matter what, and filled it. For more than a hundred bodies were carried out every day from the ξενοδοχεῖον, and many a day a hundred and twenty, and up to a hundred and thirty, from the beginning of the latter Teshri (November) till the end of Adar (March). During that time nothing could be heard in all the streets of the city but either weeping over the dead or the lamentable cries of those in pain. Many too were dying in the courts of the (Great) Church, and in the courts of the city and in the inns: and they were dying also on the roads, as they were coming to enter the city. In the month of Shebat (February) too the dearth was very great, and the pestilence |34 increased. Wheat was sold at the rate of thirteen kabs for a dinar, and barley eighteen kabs. A pound of meat was a hundred numia, and a pound of fowl three hundred numia, and an egg forty numia. In short there was a dearth of everything edible.
XLIV. There were public prayers in the month of Adar (March) on account of the pestilence, that it might be restrained from the strangers; and the people of the city, while interceding on their behalf, resembled the blessed David when he was saying to the Angel who destroyed his people, "If I have sinned and have done perversely, wherein have these innocent sheep sinned? Let your hand be against me and against my father's house." In the month of Msan (April) the pestilence began among the people of the city, and many biers were carried out in one day, but no one could tell their number. And not only in Edessa was this sword of the pestilence, but also from Antioch as far as Nisibis the people were destroyed and tortured in the same way by famine and pestilence. Many of the rich died, who were not starved; and many of the grandees too died in this year. In the months of Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July), after the harvest, we thought that we might now be relieved from dearth. However our expectations were not fulfilled as we thought, but the wheat of the new harvest was sold so dear as five modii for a dinar.