XLV. The year 813 (A.D. 501-2). After these afflictions of locusts and famine and pestilence, about which I have written to you, a little respite was granted us by the mercy of God, that we might be able to endure what was to come, as we learned from the actual facts. There was an abundant vintage, and wine from the press was sold at the rate of twenty-five measures for a dinar; and the poor were amply supplied from the vineyards by means of the crop of dried grapes. For the husbandmen and farmers said that the crop of dried grapes was more abundant than that of wheat, because there was a hot wind when the grapes began to ripen, and the greater part of them dried up. By the discreet it was said that this took place by the good providence of God, the Lord of all, and that this thing was a mingling of mercy with chastisement, that the |35 villagers might be supported by this supply of dried grapes, and not die of hunger as in the past year; because at this time wheat was sold at the rate of only four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. During the two Teshris (October and November) there was the following sign of mercy. The whole winter of this year was excessively rainy; and the seed that was sown shot up here and there to more than the height of a man, before the month of Nisan (April) was come. Even barren spots of land produced nearly as much as those that were sown. The very roofs of the houses produced much grass, which some people reaped and sold like the dog's grass of the fields; and because it had spikes and was of the full height, the buyers did not perceive (the difference). We were expecting and hoping this year too that corn would be very cheap, as in the years of old; but our hopes came to nothing, for in the month of Iyar (May) there blew a hot wind for three days, and all the corn of our land was dried up save in a few places.
XLVI. In this month, when the day came on which the wicked festival of the tales of the (ancient) Romans was held, of which we have spoken above, there came an edict from the emperor Anastasius that the dancers should not dance any more, not even in a single city throughout his empire. Any one, therefore, who looks to the issue of things, will not blame us because of our having said that, by reason of the wickedness which the people of the city perpetrated at this festival, the chastisements of hunger and pestilence came upon us in succession. For, behold, within thirty days after it was abolished, wheat, which had been sold at the rate of four modii for a dinar, was sold at the rate of twelve; and barley, which had been sold at the rate of six, was sold at the rate of twenty-two. And it was clearly made known to every one, that the will of God is able to bless a small crop, and to give abundance to those who repent of their sins; for although the whole crop of grain was dried up, as I have said, yet from the little remnant that was left came all this relief within thirty days. Perhaps, |36 however, even now some one may say that I have not reasoned well, for this repentance was in no way a voluntary one, that mercy should be shown for it, seeing that it was the emperor who abolished the festival by force, in that he ordered that the dancers should not dance at all. We, on the contrary, say that God, because of the multitude of His goodness, was seeking an occasion to show mercy even unto those who were not worthy. Of this we have a proof from the fact that He had mercy upon Ahab, when he was put to shame by the rebuke of Elijah, and did not bring in his days the evil which had been before decreed against his house. I do not, however, by any means assert that this was the only sin which was perpetrated in our city, for many were the sins that were wrought secretly and openly; but because the rulers too participated in them, I do not choose to specify these sins distinctly, that I may not give occasion to those who like it of finding fault and of saying of me that I speak against the chiefs. That I may not, however, leave the matter in complete obscurity,----because I promised above to make known to you how this war was stirred up against us,----and that I may not moreover say anything against the offenders, I will (merely) set down the words of the Prophet, from which you may understand (my meaning), who, when he saw his fellow-citizens committing acts like these which are this day committed in our city, especially where you live, and throughout the whole province, said to them as if from the mouth of the Lord: "Woe to him that says to a father, What are you fathering? and to the woman, What are you giving birth to?" About other matters it is better to be silent, for it is fitting to hearken to the passage of Scripture which says: "Let him that is prudent keep silence in that time, because it is a time of evil." But if our Lord grants that we see you in health, we will speak with you of these things according as we are able.
" About other matters it is better to be silent, for it is fitting to hearken to the passage of Scripture which says: "Let him that is prudent keep silence in that time, because it is a time of evil. " But if our Lord grants that we see you in health, we will speak with you of these things according as we are able.
XLVII. Now then listen to the calamities that happened in this year, and to the sign that appeared on the day when they happened, for this too you have required at my hands. On the 22d of Ab (August) in this year, on the night preceding |37 Friday 23, a great fire appeared to us blazing in the northern quarter the whole night, and we thought that the whole earth was going to be destroyed that night by a deluge of fire; but the mercy of our Lord preserved us without harm. We received, however, a letter from some acquaintances of ours, who were travelling to Jerusalem, in which it was stated that, on the same night in which that great blazing fire appeared, the city of Ptolemais or 'Akko was overturned, and nothing in it left standing. Again, a few days after, there came unto us some Tyrians and Sidonians, and told us that, on the very same day on which the fire appeared and Ptolemais was overturned, the half of their cities fell, namely of Tyre and Sidon. In Berytus (Beirut) only the synagogue of the Jews fell down on the day when 'Akko was overturned. The people of Nicomedia (in Bithynia) were delivered over to Satan to be chastised, and many of them were tormented by demons, until they remembered the words of our Lord, and persevered in fasting and prayer, and received healing.
XLVIII. On the very same day on which that fire was seen, Kawad, the son of Peroz, the king of the Persians, collected the whole Persian army, and went up against the north. He entered the Roman territory with the force of Huns that he had with him, and encamped against Theodosiupolis of Armenia, and took it in a few days; for the governor of the place, whose name was Constantine, rebelled against the Romans, and surrendered it, because of some enmity that he had against the emperor. Kawad consequently plundered the city, and destroyed and burned it; and he laid waste all the villages in the region of the north, and the fugitives that were left he carried off captive. Constantine he made one of his generals, and left a garrison in Theodosiupolis, and marched thence. |38
XLIX. The year 814 (A.D. 502-3). On the region of Mesopotamia also, in which we dwell, great calamities weighed heavily in this year, so that the things which Christ our Lord decreed in His Gospel against Jerusalem, and actually brought to pass, and the things too which have been spoken regarding the end of this world, would be well fitting to those which happened us at this time. For after there had been earthquakes in various places, as I have written unto you, and famines and pestilences, and alarms and terrors, and after great signs had been shown from heaven, nation arose against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and we fell by the edge of the sword, and were led away captive into every region, and our land was trampled under foot by strange nations; so that, had it not been for the words of our Lord, who has said, "When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be afraid, for these things must needs first come to pass, but the end is not yet come," we would have dared to say that the end of the world was come, because many thought and said thus. But we ourselves reflected that this war did not extend over the whole world; and besides we remembered too the words of S. Paul, wherewith he warned the Thessalonians concerning the coming of our Lord, saying that they should not be astonished either by word, or by spirit, or by beguiling epistle, as if it were from him, declaring the day of the Lord to be now come; and (how) he showed that it is not possible that the end should be until the false Christ is revealed. From these words then of our Lord and of His Apostle we understood that these things did not happen to us because it was the latter time, but that they took place for our chastisement, because our sins were great.
L. Kawad, the king of the Persians, came from the north on the fifth of the first Teshrt (October), on a Saturday, and encamped against the city of Amid, which is beside us in Mesopotamia, he and his whole army. When Anastasius, the Roman emperor, heard that Kawad had collected his forces, he was unwilling to meet him in battle, that blood might not be shed on both sides; but he sent him money by the hand of Rufinus, to whom he gave orders that, if Kawad was on the frontier and had not yet crossed over into the Roman territory, |39 he should give him the money and send him away. But when Rufinus came to Caesarea of Cappadocia, and heard that Kawad had laid waste Agel and Suph and Armenia and the Arabs, he left the money at Caesarea, and went to him, and told him that he should recross the border and take the money. He however would not, but seized Rufinus and ordered him to be kept under guard. He fought against Amid, he and his whole army, with every manner of warfare, by night and by day, and built against it (the mound called) a mule; but the people of Amid built and added to the height of the wall. When the mule was raised high, the Persians applied the battering-ram; and after they had struck the wall violently, the part newly built became loosened, because it had not yet settled, and fell. But the Amidenes dug a hole in the wall under the mule, and secretly drew away inside the city the earth which was heaped up to form it, propping it up with beams as they worked; and so the mule collapsed and fell.
LI. When Kawad found that he was not a match for the city, he sent Na'man, the king of the Arabs (of al-Hirah), with his whole force, to go southwards to the district of Harran 24. Some of the Persian troops advanced as far as the city of |40 Constantina or Tella, and were plundering and harrying and laying waste the whole country. On the 19th of the latter Teshri (November) Olympius, the dux of Tella, and Eugenius, the dux of Melitene (who had come down at that time), went forth, they and their troops, and destroyed the Persians whom they found in the villages around Tella. And when they had turned to go back to the city, some one told them that there were five hundred men in a ravine not very far from them. They were ready to go against them, but the Roman troops that were with them had dispersed themselves to strip the slain; and because it was night, Olympius gave orders to light a fire on the top of an eminence and to blow trumpets, that those who were scattered might rejoin them. But the Persian generals, who were encamped at the village of Tell Beshmai, when they saw the light of the fire and heard the sound of the trumpets, armed all their force and came against them. When the Roman cavalry saw that the Persians were too many for them, they turned (their backs); but the infantry were unable to escape and were constrained to fight. So they came together and drew up in battle array, forming what is called the χελώνη or tortoise, and fought for a long time. But as the army of the Persians was too many for them, and there were added to these the Huns and Arabs, their ranks were broken, and they were thrown into disorder, and mixed up among the cavalry, and trampled and crushed under the hoofs of the horses of the Arabs. So many of the Romans were killed, and the rest were made prisoners.
LII. On the 26th of this month Na'man came from the south and entered the territory of the Harranites, and laid waste and plundered and took captive the people and cattle |41 and property of the whole territory of Harran. He came also as far as Edessa, harrying and plundering and taking captive all the villages. The number of persons whom he led away into captivity was 18,500, besides those who were killed, and besides the cattle and property and spoil of all kinds. The reason that all these people were found in the villages was its being the time of the vintage, for not only did the villagers go out to the vintage, but also many of the Harranites and Edessenes went out, and were taken prisoners. Because of these things Edessa was closed and guarded, and ditches were dug, and the wall was repaired; and the gates of the city were stopped up with blocks of stone, because they were decayed. They were going to put new ones, and to make bars for the sluices of the river, lest any one should enter thereby 25; but they could not find iron enough for the work, and an order was issued that every house in Edessa should furnish ten pounds of iron. When this was done, the work was finished. When Eugenius saw that he could not meet all the Persians (in battle), he took what troops were left him, and went against the garrison which they had at Theodosiupolis, and destroyed those who were in it, and retook the town.
LIII. Kawad was still fighting against Amid, and striving and labouring to set up again the mule that had fallen in. He ordered the Persians to fill it up with stones and beams, and to bring cloths of hair and wool and linen, and make them into bags or sacks, and fill them with earth, and pile them up on the mule which they had made, so that it might be raised quickly against the wall. Then the Amidenes constructed |42 a machine which the Persians named "the Crusher", because it thwarted all their labour and destroyed themselves. For the Amidenes cast with this engine huge stones, each of which weighed more than three hundred pounds; and so the cotton awning under which the Persians concealed themselves was rent in pieces, and those who were standing beneath it were crushed. The battering ram too was broken by the constant shower of stones which were cast without cessation; for the Amidenes were not able to damage the Persians so much in any other way as by means of large stones, because of the cotton awning which was folded many times over (the mule). Upon this the Persians used to pour water, and it could neither be damaged by arrows on account of its thickness, nor by fire because it was damp. But these large stones that were hurled from "the Crusher" destroyed both awning and men and weapons. In this way the Persians were discomfited, and gave up working at the mule, and took counsel to return to their own country, because, during the three months that they had sat before it, 50,000 of them had perished in the battles that were fought daily both by night and day. But the Amidenes became overconfident in their victory, and fell into careless ways, and did not guard the wall with the same diligence as before. On the 10th of the month of the latter Kanun (January) the guardians of the wall drank a great deal of wine because of the cold, and when it was night, they fell asleep and were sunk in a heavy slumber; and some of them quitted their posts, because it was raining, and went down to seek shelter in their houses. Whether then through this remissness, as we think, or by an act of treachery, as people said, or as a chastisement from God, the Persians got possession of the walls of Amid by means of a ladder, without the gates being opened or the wall breached. They laid waste the city, and sacked all the property in it, and trampled the eucharist under foot, and mocked at its service, and stripped bare its churches, and led its inhabitants into |43 captivity, except the old and the maimed and those who hid themselves. They left there a garrison of three thousand men, and all (the rest) of them went down to the mountains of Shigar. That the Persians who remained might not be annoyed by the smell of the dead bodies of the Amidenes, they carried them out and piled them up in two heaps outside of the north gate. The number of those who were carried out by the north gate was more than 80,000; besides those whom they led forth alive and stoned outside of the city, and those whom they stabbed on the top of the mule that they had constructed, and those who were thrown into the Tigris (Deklath), and those who died by all sorts of deaths, regarding which we are unable to speak.
LIV. Then Kawad let Rufinus go, that he might go and tell the emperor what had been done; and he was speaking of these atrocities everywhere, and by these reports the cities to the east of the Euphrates were alarmed, and (their inhabitants) made ready to flee to the west. The honoured Jacob 26, the periodeutes, who has composed many homilies on passages of the Scriptures, and written various poems and hymns regarding the time of the locusts, was not neglectful at this time too of his duty, but wrote letters of admonition to all the cities, bidding them trust in the Divine deliverance, and exhorting them not to flee. The emperor Anastasius too, when he heard this, sent a large army of Roman soldiers to winter in the cities and garrison them. All the booty that he had taken, and the captives that he had carried off, were" not, however, enough for Kawad, nor was he sated with the great quantity of blood that he had shed; but he (again) sent ambassadors to the emperor, saying, |44 "Send me the money or accept war." This was in the month of Nisan (April). The emperor, however, did not send the money, but made preparations to avenge himself and to exact satisfaction for those who had perished. In the month of Iyar (May) he sent against him three generals, Areobindus, Patricius, and Hypatius, and many officers with them. Areobindus went down and encamped on the border by Dara and 'Ammudin, towards the city of Nisibis; he had with him 12,000 men. Patricius and Hypatius beseiged Amid, to drive out the Persian garrison there; they had with them 40,000 men. There came down too at this time the hyparch Appion, and dwelt at Edessa, to look after the provisioning of the Roman troops that were with them. As the bakers were not able to make bread enough, he ordered that wheat should be supplied to all the houses of Edessa and that they should make soldiers' bread at their own cost. The Edessenes turned out at the first baking 630,000 modii.
LV. When Kawad saw that those who were with Areobindus were few in number, he sent against them the troops that he had with him in Shigar, (namely) 20,000 Persians; but Areobindus routed them once and again, until they were driven to the gate of Nisibis, and many of the fugitives were suffocated at the gate as they were pressing to get in. In the month of Tammuz (July) the Huns and Arabs joined the Persians to come against him, with Constantine (see ch. xlviii) at their head. When he learned this from spies, he sent Calliopius the Aleppine to Patricius and Hypatius, saying, "Come to me and help me, because a large army is about to come against me." They, however, did not listen to him, but stayed where they were beside Amid. When the Persians came against the army of Areobindus, he could not contend with them, but left his camp, and made his escape to Tella and Edessa; and all their baggage was plundered and carried off. |45
LVI. The troops of Patricius and Hypatius were (meanwhile) constructing three towers of wood, wherewith to scale the walls of Amid. But when they had finished building the towers at a great expense, and they were girded with iron so as not to be harmed by anything, then they found out what had happened on the frontier, and they burned the towers, and departed thence, and went after the Persians but did not overtake them. One of the officers, whose name was Pharazman, and another named Theodore, sent by stratagem a flock of sheep to pass by Amid, while they and their troops lay in ambush. When the Persians saw the sheep from within Amid, about four hundred chosen men of them sallied forth to carry them off; but the Romans who were lying in ambush arose and destroyed them, and took their leader alive. He promised them that he would give up Amid to them, and for this reason Patricius and Hypatius returned thither; but when that general was unable to fulfil his promise, because those in the city would not be persuaded by him, the generals ordered him to be impaled.
LVII. The Arabs of the Persian territory advanced as far as the Khabur, and Timostratus the dux of Callinicus, went out against them and routed them. The Arabs of the Roman territory also, who are called the Tha'labites 27, went to Hirta 28 |46 (the capital) of Na'man, and found a caravan which was going up to him, and camels that were carrying up to him......29 They fell upon them and destroyed them and took the camels, but they did not make any stay at al-Hirah, because its inhabitants had withdrawn into the inner desert. Again, in the month of Ab (August), the whole Persian army assembled, along with the Huns and the Kadishaye and the Armenians, and came against Opadna. Patricius and his troops heard of this, and arose to go against them; but while the Romans were yet on the march, and not drawn up for battle, the Persians met the vanguard and smote them. When these who were beaten fell back, the rest of the Roman army saw that the vanguard was smitten, and fear fell upon them, and they did not wait to fight, but Patricius himself was the first to turn, and all his army after him. They crossed the Euphrates, and made their escape to the city of Shemishat. In this battle Na'man too, the king of the Persian Arabs, was wounded. One of the Roman officers, whose name was Peter, fled to the castle of Ashparin; and when the Persians surrounded the castle, the inhabitants were afraid of them, and gave him up to them, and the Persians took him away prisoner. They slew the Roman soldiers who were with him, but the people of the castle they did not harm in any way.
LVIII. Kawad, the king of the Persians, was thinking of going against Areobindus to Edessa; for Na'man, the king of |47 the Arabs, kept urging him on because of what had happened to his caravan (see ch. lvii). But a shaikh from Hirta of Na'man, who was a Christian, answered and said: "Let not your majesty take the trouble of going to war against Edessa, because there is the infallible word of Christ, whom we worship, regarding it, that no enemy shall ever make himself master of it" (see ch. v). When Na'man heard this, he threatened that he would do at Edessa worse things than had been done at Amid, and uttered blasphemous words. And Christ showed a manifest sign in him, for at the very time when he blasphemed, the wound which he had received on his head swelled, and his whole head became swollen, and he arose and went to his tent, and lingered in this pain for two days and died 30. Not even this sign, however, restrained the wicked mind of Kawad from his evil purpose; but he set up a king in place of Na'man, and arose and went to battle. When he came to Tella, he encamped against it; and the Jews who were there plotted to surrender the city to him. They dug a hole in the tower of their synagogue, which had been committed to them to guard, and sent word to the Persians regarding it that they might dig into it (from the outside) and enter by it. This was found out by the count Peter, who was in captivity (see ch. lvii), and he persuaded those who were guarding him to let him come near the wall, saying that there were clothes and articles of his of different kinds which he had left in the city, and he wished to ask the Tellenes to give them to him. The guards granted his request and let him go near. He said to the soldiers who were standing on the wall to call the count Leontius, who at that time had charge of the city, and they called him and the officers. Peter spoke with them in Roman, and disclosed to them the treachery of the Jews. In order that the matter might not become known to the Persians, he asked them to give him a pair of trousers. They at first made a pretence of being angry with him; but afterwards they threw |48 down to him from the wall a pair of trousers, because in reality he had need of clothes to wear. Then they went down from the wall, and as if they had learned nothing about the treachery of the Jews and did not know which was the place, they went round and examined the foundations of the whole wall, as if they wished to see whether it required strengthening. This they did for the sake of Peter, lest the Persians might become aware that he had disclosed the thing and might treat him much worse. At last they came to the place which the Jews were guarding, and found that it was mined, and that they had made ready in the centre of the tower a great hole, as they had been told. When the Romans saw what was there, they sallied out against them with great fury, and went round the whole city, and killed all the Jews whom they could find, men and women, old men and children.
This they did for (several) days, and they would scarcely cease from killing them at the order of the count Leontius and the entreaty of the blessed Bar-hadad the bishop. They guarded the city carefully by night and by day, and the holy Bar-hadad himself used to go round and visit them and pray for them and bless them, commending their care and encouraging them, and sprinkling holy water on them and on the wall of the city. He also carried with him on his rounds the eucharist, in order to let them receive the mystery at their stations, lest for this reason any one of them should quit his post and come down from the wall. He also went out boldly to the king of the Persians and spoke with him and appeased him. When Kawad saw the dignified bearing of the man, and perceived too the vigilance of the Romans, it seemed to him of no use to remain idle before Tella, with all that host which he had with him; firstly, because sustenance could not be found for it in a district that had already been ravaged; and secondly, because he was afraid lest the Roman generals might join one another and come against him in a body. For these reasons he moved off quickly towards Edessa, and encamped by the river |49 Gallab, otherwise called (the river) of the Medes, for about twenty days.
LIX. Some of the more daring men in his army traversed the district and laid it waste. On the 6th of Ilul (September) the Edessenes pulled down all the convents and inns that were close to the wall, and burned the village of Kephar Selem, also called Negbath. They cut down all the hedges of the gardens and parks that were around, and felled the trees which were in them. They brought in the bones of all the martyrs (from the churches) which were around the city; and set up engines on the wall, and tied coverings of haircloth over the battlements. On the 9th of this month Kawad sent a message to Areobindus, that he should either receive into the city his general, or come out to him into the plain, as he wished to conclude a treaty of peace with him. He gave secret orders however to his troops that, if Areobindus allowed them to enter the city, they should turn and seize the gate and entrance, until he could come and enter after them; and that, if he came forth to them, they should lie in ambush for him and carry him off alive and bring him to him. But Areobindus, because he was afraid to allow them to enter the city, went forth to them outside, without going very far from the city, but (only) as far as the |50 church of S. Sergius. There came to him Bawi, who was the astabid, which is, being interpreted, the magister (militum) of the Persians, and said to Areobindus, "If you wishest to make peace, give us 10,000 pounds of gold, and make an agreement with us that we shall receive every year the customary sum of money." Areobindus promised to give as much as 7,000 pounds, but they would not accept it, and kept wrangling with him from morning until the ninth hour. And since they found no opportunity for their treachery, on account of the Roman soldiers who were guarding him, and because they were afraid to make war again with Edessa in consequence of what had happened to Na'man, they left Areobindus at Edessa, and went to fight against Harran, whilst they sent all the Arabs to Serug. But the Rifite who was in (command of) Harran sallied forth secretly from the city, and fell upon them, and slew of them sixty men, and took alive the chief of the Huns. As this was a man of mark, and in great honour with the king of the Persians, he promised the Harranites that he would not make war upon them, if they would give him up alive; and they were afraid to fight and gave up that Hun, sending along with him as a present to him fifteen hundred rams and other things. |51
LX. The Persian Arabs, who had been sent to Serug, went as far as the Euphrates, laying waste and taking captive and plundering all that they could. Patriciolus 31, one of the Roman officers, with his son Vitalianus, came at this time from the west to go down to the war; and he was confident and fearless, because he had not as yet been in the neighbourhood of the things that had previously happened. When he crossed the River 32, he met one of the Persian officers and fought with him and destroyed all the Persians that were with him. Then he set his face to go to Edessa; but he heard from the fugitives that Kawad had surrounded the city, so he recrossed the river and stopped at Shemishat (Samosata). On the 17th of this month, which was Wednesday, we saw the words of Christ and His promises to Abgar (see ch. v) really fulfilled. For Kawad collected his whole force, and marched from the river Euphrates, and came and encamped against Edessa. His camp extended from the church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus, past all the gardens and the church of S. Sergius and the village of Bekin|, as far as the church of the Confessors; and its breadth was as far as the steep descent of Serrin. This whole host |52 without number surrounded Edessa in one day, besides the pickets which it had left on the hills and rising grounds (to the west of the city). In fact the whole plain (to the E. and S.) was full of them. The gates of the city were all standing open, but the Persians were unable to enter it because of the blessing of Christ. On the contrary, fear fell upon them, and they remained at their posts, no one fighting with them, from morning till towards the ninth hour. Then some went forth from the city and fought with them; and they slew many Persians, but of them there fell but one man. Women too were bearing water, and carrying it outside of the wall, that those who were fighting might drink; and little boys were throwing stones with slings. So then a few people who had gone out of the city drove them away and repulsed them far from the wall, for they were not farther off from it than about a bowshot; and they went and encamped beside the village of Kubbe.
LXI. Next day Areobindus too went forth outside of the Great Gate; and while he was standing opposite the Persian army, he sent word to Kawad, saying, "Now you see by experience that the city is not yours, nor Anastasius', but it is the city of Christ, who blessed it, and has withstood your hosts, so that they cannot become masters of it." Kawad sent word to him, saying, "Give me hostages so that you will not come out after me when I have struck my camp to depart; and send me those men whom you took yesterday, and the gold which you promised, and I will go far away from the city." Areobindus gave him the count Basil, and the men whom they had taken from him, who were fourteen in number, and made an agreement with him to give him 2000 pounds of gold at [the end] of twelve days. Kawad struck his camp, and went and pitched at |53 Dahbana. He did not, however, wait till the appointed time, but sent the very next day one of his men, named Hormizd, and ordered him to fetch three hundred pounds of gold. Areobindus summoned to him the grandees of the city, that they might consider how this money could be collected. When they saw that Hormizd had come in haste, they strengthened themselves in reliance on Christ, and took heart and said to Areobindus: "We will not send the money to this false man, because, just as he has gone back from his word, and has not waited till the day came which you appointed for him, so will he go back and deceive when he has got the money. We believe that, if he fights with us, he will be again put to shame, because Christ stands in front of our city." Then Areobindus too took courage and sent to Kawad, saying: "Now we know that you are no king; for he is not a king who says a word and goes back (from it) and deceives. And if he deceives, he is no king. Therefore, as falsehood is manifest in you, send me back the count Basil, and do your worst."
" Then Areobindus too took courage and sent to Kawad, saying: "Now we know that you are no king; for he is not a king who says a word and goes back (from it) and deceives. And if he deceives, he is no king. Therefore, as falsehood is manifest in you, send me back the count Basil, and do your worst. "
LXII. Then Kawad became furious, and armed the elephants which were with him, and set out, he and all his host, and came again to fight with Edessa, on the 24th of the month of Ilul (September), a Wednesday. He surrounded the city on all sides, more than on the former occasion, all its gates being open. Areobindus ordered the Roman soldiers not to fight with him, that no falsehood might appear on his part; but some few of the villagers who were in the city went out against him with slings, and smote many of his mail-clad warriors, whilst of themselves not one fell. His legions were daring enough to try to enter the city; but when they came near its gates, like an upraised mound of earth 33, they were humbled and repressed and turned back. Because, however, of the |54 swiftness of the charge of their cavalry, the slingers became mixed up among them; and though the Persians were shooting arrows, and the Huns were brandishing maces, and the Arabs were levelling spears at them, they were unable to harm a single one of them; but like those Philistines who went up against Samson, 'who, though they were many and armed, were unable to slay him, whilst he, though destitute of weapons, slew a thousand of them with the jaw-bone of an ass, so also the Persians and Huns and Arabs, though they and their horses were falling by the stones which the slingers were throwing, were unable to slay even a single one of them. After they saw that they were able neither to enter the city nor to harm the unarmed men who were mixed up with them, they set fire to the church of S. Sergius and the church of the Confessors and to all the convents that had been left (standing), and to the church of (the village of) Negbath, which the people of the city had spared.
LXIII. When the general Areobindus saw the zeal of the villagers, and that they were not put to shame, but that (the Divine) help went with them, he summoned all the villagers that were in Edessa next day to the (Great) Church, and gave them three hundred dinars as a present. Kawad departed from Edessa, and went and pitched on the river Euphrates; and thence he sent ambassadors to the emperor to inform him of his coming. The Arabs that were with him crossed the river westwards, and plundered and laid waste and took captive and burned everything in their way. Some few of the Persian cavalry went to Batnan (Batnae), and because its wall was broken down, they could not resist them, but admitted them without fighting and surrendered the town to them.
LXIV. The year 815 (A.D. 503-4). When the Roman emperor learned what had happened, he sent his magister Celer with a large army. When Kawad heard this, he |55 directed his marches along the river Euphrates that he might go and stay in that province of his which is called Beth Armaye. When he came nigh Callinicus (ar-Rakkah), he sent thither a general to fight with them. The dux Timostratus came out against him, and destroyed his whole army and took him alive. When Kawad arrived at the city, he drew up his whole force against it, threatening to rase it and to put all its inhabitants to the sword or carry them off as captives, if they did not give him up to him. The dux was afraid of the vast host of the Persians, and gave him up.
LXV. When the magister Celerius arrived at Mabbog, which is on the river Euphrates 34, and saw that Kawad had moved away his camp before him, and moreover that the winter season was come, and that he could not go after him, he called the Roman generals, and rebuked them because they had not hearkened one to another, and assigned them cities in which to winter till the time for campaigning came again.
LXVI. On the 25th of the first Kanun (December) there came an edict from the emperor that the tax should be remitted to all Mesopotamia. The Persians who were in Amid, when they saw that the Roman army had gone far away from them, opened the gates of the city of Amid, and went forth and entered where they pleased, and sold to the merchants copper and iron and lead and old clothes and whatever was to be had in it, and established in it a public magazine. When Patricius heard this, he set out from Melitene (Malatia), where he was wintering, and came and pitched against Amid. All the merchants whom he found carrying down thither grain and oil, and those too who were buying things from thence, he slew. He found also the Persians who were sent by Kawad to convey thither arms and grain and cattle, and destroyed them, and took all that was with them. When Kawad learned this, he sent against him a |56 general to take vengeance on him. When they came near one another to fight, the Romans, because of the fear inspired by their former defeat, counselled Patricius to flee, and he hearkened to this. In their haste, not knowing whither they were going, they came upon the river Kallath; and because it was winter and there was a great flood in it, they were not able to cross it, but every one of them who hastened to cross was drowned in the river with his horse. When Patricius saw this, he exhorted the Romans, saying: "O men of Rome, let us not put to shame our race and our profession, and flee from our enemies, but let us turn against them, and perhaps we may be a match for them. And if they be too strong for us, it is better to die by the edge of the sword with a good name for valour than to perish like cowards by drowning." Then the Romans listened to his advice, being constrained by the river; and they turned against the Persians with fury and destroyed them, and took their generals alive. Thereafter they again encamped against Amid, and Patricius sent and collected unto him artisans from other cities and many of the villagers, and bade them dig in the ground and make a mine beneath the wall, that it might be weakened and fall.
LXVII. In the month of Adar (March), when the rest of the Romans were assembling to go down with the magister, a certain sign was given them from God, that they might be encouraged and be confident of victory. We were informed of this in writing by the people of the church of Zeugma. That it may not be thought that I say anything on my own authority, or that I have hearkened to and believed a false rumour, I quote the very words of the letter that came to us, which are as follows. |57
LXVIII. "Listen now to a marvel and a glorious sight, such as has never been, because this concerns us and you and all the Romans. For it is a wondrous thing, which it is hard for the understanding of men to believe. But we have seen it with our eyes, and touched it (with our hands), and read it with our lips. You should therefore believe it without any scruple. On the 19th of Adar (March), a Friday, which is the day that our Saviour was slain, a goose laid an egg in the village of 'Agar in the district of Zeugma, and thereon were written Roman letters, fair and legible, which formed as it were the body of the egg and were raised to the sight and touch, like the letters which monks trace on the eucharistic cups, so that even the blind could feel their shape. They were thus. A cross was traced on the side of the egg, and going completely round the egg, from it until it came to it again, was written THE ROMANS. And again there was traced another cross, and [going round the egg,] from it until it came to it again, was written SHALL CONQUER. The crosses were traced one above the other, and the words were written one above the other. There was none that saw this marvel, Christian or Jew, who restrained his mouth from uttering praise. But as for the letters which the right hand of God traced in the ovary (of the bird), we do not dare to imitate them, for they are very beautiful. Whosoever therefore hears it, let him believe it without hesitation." These are the words of the letter of the Zeugmatites. As for the egg, those in whose village it was laid gave it to Areobindus.
But as for the letters which the right hand of God traced in the ovary (of the bird), we do not dare to imitate them, for they are very beautiful. Whosoever therefore hears it, let him believe it without hesitation. " These are the words of the letter of the Zeugmatites. As for the egg, those in whose village it was laid gave it to Areobindus.
LXIX. The Romans collected a large army, and went down and encamped beside the city of Ras-'ain. By Kawad too |58 about 10,000 men were sent to go against Patricius. They took up their quarters in Nislbis, that they might rest there, and they sent their cattle to pasture in the hills of Shigar. When the Magister heard this, he sent Timostratus, the dux of Callinicus, with 6000 cavalry, and he went and fell upon those who were tending the horses and destroyed them, and carried off the horses and sheep and much booty, and returned to the Roman army at Ras-'ain. Then they all set out in a body, and went and encamped against the city of Amid beside Patricius.
LXX. In the month of Iyar (May) Calliopius the Aleppine became hyparch. He came and settled at Edessa, and gave the Edessenes wheat to make bread for the soldiers at their own expense. They baked at this time 850,000 modii of wheat. Appion went to Alexandria, that he might make soldiers' bread there also and send a supply.
LXXI. As soon as Patricius had got under the wall of Amid by means of the mine which he had dug, he propped it up with beams and set fire to them, whereby the outer face of the wall was loosened and fell down, but the inner part remained standing. He then thought of digging on by that mine and entering the city. When they had carried the excavation through, and the Romans had begun to ascend, a woman of Amid saw them and cried out suddenly for joy, "The Romans are entering the city!" The Persians heard her, and ran at the first who came up and stabbed him. After him there came up a Goth, whose name was Ald 35, who had been made tribune at Harran, and he stabbed three of those Persians. Not another one of the Romans came up after him, because the Persians had perceived them. When Ald saw that no one was coming up, he became afraid and turned back; but he thought that he would take down with him the dead body of the Roman |59 who had fallen, that the Persians might not insult it. As he was dragging away the dead body and going down into the mouth of the mine, the Persians smote him too and wounded him; and they directed thither the water from a large well that was near to it, and drowned four of the mail-clad Romans who were about to come up. The rest fled and escaped thence. The Persians collected stones from within the city and blocked up the mine, and piled up a great quantity of earth over it, and all of them kept watch carefully round it, lest it should be excavated at some other spot. They dug ditches within along the whole wall all round, and filled them with water, so that, if the Romans should make another mine, the water might trickle into it, and it so become known. When Patricius heard this from a deserter who had come down to him, he gave up constructing mines.
LXXII. One day, when the whole Roman army was still and quiet, fighting was stirred up in this way. A boy was feeding the camels and asses; and an ass, as it grazed, walked gradually close up to the wall. The boy was afraid to go in and fetch it; and one of the Persians, when he saw it, descended by a rope from the wall, and was going to cut it in pieces and carry it up to be food for them, for there was no meat at all inside the city. But one of the Roman soldiers, a Galilaean by race, drew his sword, and took his shield in his left hand, and ran at the Persian to kill him. As he had come close up to the wall, those who were standing on the wall threw down a large stone and crushed the Galilaean; and the Persian began to ascend to his place by the rope. When he had got halfway up the wall, one of the Roman officers drew nigh, with two shield-bearers walking before him, and shot an arrow from between them, and struck the Persian, and laid him beside the Galilaean. A shout went up from both sides, and because of this they became excited and rose up to fight, All the Roman troops surrounded the city in a dense mass, and there fell of them forty men, while one hundred and fifty were wounded. Of the Persians who were on the wall only nine were seen to be killed, and a few were wounded; for it was difficult to fight with them, the more so as they were on the top of the wall, because they had made for |60 themselves small houses all along the wall, and they were standing within them and fighting, and could not be seen by those who were without.
LXXIII. The Magister and the generals then thought that it was not fitting for them to fight with them, because victory did not depend for the Romans upon the slaying of these, seeing that they had to carry on war against the whole of the Persians; and if Kawad were to be defeated, these would have to surrender or to perish in their prison. Therefore they gave orders that no one should fight with them, lest by reason of those who were slain or wounded among the Romans, a great part of the army should disperse out of fear.
LXXIV. In the month of Khaziran (June), Constantine, who had gone over to the Persians (see ch. xlviii), after he saw that their cause did not prosper, fled from them, he and two women of rank from Amid, who had been given to him (as wives) by the Persian king. For fourteen days he travelled night and day through the uninhabited desert with a few followers; and when he reached an inhabited spot, he made himself known to the Roman Arabs, and they took him and brought him to the fort 36 which is called Shura 37, and thence they sent him to Edessa. When the emperor heard of his arrival (there), he sent for him (to Constantinople); and when he had come up to him, he ordered one of the bishops to ordain him priest, and bade him go and dwell in the city of Nicaea, and not come into his presence nor meddle with affairs (of state).
LXXV. As Kawad, when he took Amid, had gone into its public bath and experienced the benefit of bathing, |61 he gave orders, as soon as he went down to his own country, that baths should be built in all the towns of the Persian territory. 'Adid the Arab, who was under the rule of the Persians, surrendered with all his troops and became subject to the Romans. Again, in the month of Tammuz (July), the Romans fought with the Persians who were in Amid, and Gainas, the dux of Arabia 38, smote many of them with arrows. When the day became hot, his armour got too warm for him, and he loosened the belt of his mail a little; whereupon they shot from Amid arrows from the ballistae, and smote him, and he died. When the Magister saw that he suffered harm by sitting before Amid, he took his army and went down to the Persian territory, leaving Patricius at Amid. Areobindus too took his army and entered Persian Armenia; and they destroyed of the Armenians and Persians 10,000 men, and took captive 30,000 women and children, and plundered and burned many villages. When they came back to return to Amid, they brought 120,000 sheep and oxen and horses. As they were passing by Nisibis, the Romans lay in ambush, and the few whose charge it was drove them past the city. When a certain general who was there saw that they were few in number, he armed his troops and sallied forth to take them from them. They pretended to flee, and the Persians took courage and pursued them. When they had gone a long way from their supports, the Romans arose from the ambush and destroyed them, and not one of them escaped. They were about 7000 men. Mushlek (Mushegh) the Armenian, who was under the Persians, surrendered with his whole force and became subject to the Romans.
LXXVI. The year 816 (A.D. 504-5). The fugitives and those who had escaped the sword, that were left in Amid of its inhabitants, were in sore trouble and distress from famine. The Persians were afraid of them lest they should give up the |62 city to the Romans; and they bound all the men that were there, and threw them into the amphitheatre, and there they perished of hunger and of endless bonds. But to the women they gave part of their food, because they used them to satisfy their lust, and because they had need of them to grind and bake for them. When, however, food became scarce, they neglected them, and left them without sustenance. For none of them received more than one handful of barley daily during this year; whilst of meat, or wine, or any other article of food, they had absolutely none at all. And because they were very much afraid of the Romans, they never stirred from their posts, but made for themselves small furnaces upon the wall, and brought up hand-mills, and ground that handful of barley where they were, and baked and ate it. They also brought up large kneading-troughs, and placed them between the battlements, and filled them with earth, and sowed in them vegetables, and whatever grew in them they ate.
LXXVII. In narrating what the women of the place did, I may perhaps not be believed by those who come after us, (but) at the present day there is no one of those who care to learn things that has not heard all that was done, even though he be at a great distance from us. Many women then met and conspired together, and used to go forth by stealth into the streets of the city in the evening or morning; and whomsoever they met, woman or child or man, for whom they were a match, they used to carry him by force into a house and kill and eat him, either boiled or roasted. When this was betrayed by the smell of the roasting, and the thing became known to the general who was there (in command), he made an example of many of them and put them to death, and told the rest with threats that they should not do this again nor kill any one. He gave them leave however to eat those that were dead, and this they did openly, eating the flesh of dead men; and the rest of them were picking up shoes and old soles and other nasty things from the streets and courtyards, and eating them. To the Roman troops however nothing was lacking, but everything was supplied to them in its season, and came down with great care by the order of the emperor. Indeed the things that were sold in their camps were more abundant than in the cities, |63 whether meat or drink or shoes or clothing. All the cities were baking soldiers' bread by their bakers, and sending it to them, especially the Edessenes; for the citizens baked in their houses this year too. by order of Calliopius the hyparch, 630,000 modii, besides what the villagers baked throughout the whole district, and the bakers, both strangers and natives.
LXXVIII. This year Mar Peter the bishop went up again to the emperor to ask him to remit the tax. The emperor answered him harshly, and rebuked him for having neglected the charge of the poor at a time like this and having come up to him (at Constantinople); for he said that God himself would have put it into his heart, if it had been right, without any one persuading him, to do a favour to the blessed city (of Edessa). Whilst the bishop was still there, however, the emperor sent the remission for all Mesopotamia by the hands of another, without his being aware of it. To the district of Mabbog also he remitted one-third of the tax.
LXXIX. The Roman generals who were encamped by Amid were going down on forays into the Persian territory, plundering and taking captive and destroying, and the Persians migrated before them, and crossed the Tigris. They found there the Persian cavalry, who were gathered together to come against the Romans, and so they took heart against them, and halted on the farther bank of the Tigris. The Romans crossed after them, and destroyed all the Persian cavalry, who were about 10,000 men, and plundered the property of all the fugitives. They burned many villages, and killed every male that was in them from twelve years old and upwards, but the women and children they took prisoners. For the Magister had thus commanded all the generals, that if any one of the Romans was found saving a male from twelve years old and upwards, he should be put to death in his stead; and whatsoever village they entered, that they should not leave a single house standing in it. For this reason he set apart some stalwart men of the Romans, and many villagers that accompanied them as they went down; and after the roofs were burned and the fire was gone out, they used to pull down the walls too. They also cut down and destroyed the vines and olives and all the trees. |64 The Roman Arabs too crossed the Tigris in front of them, and plundered and took captive and destroyed all that they found in the Persian territory. As I know you study everything with great care, your holiness must be well aware of this, that to the Arabs on both sides this war was a source of much profit, and they wrought their will upon both kingdoms.
LXXX. When Kawad saw that the Romans were ravaging the country, and that there was no one to oppose them, he wished to go and meet them. For this reason he sent an Astabid to the Magister to speak of peace, having with him an army of about 20,000 men. He sent all the men of note whom he had led captive from Amid, and Peter, whom he had brought from Ashparin (see ch. lvii), and Basil, whom he had taken from Edessa as a hostage (see ch. lxi). He sent also the dead body of the dux Olympius (see ch. li), who had gone down to him on an embassy and died, sealed up in a coffin, to show that he had not died by any other than a natural death, whereof his servants and those who came down with him were witnesses. The Magister received them, and sent them to Edessa, with the exception of the governor of Amid and the count Peter; for he was very angry and provoked, and wanted to put them to death, saying that by their remissness the places which they guarded had been betrayed, and the Persians themselves testified that the wall of Amid was impregnable. The Astabid was begging and imploring of him to give him the Persians who were shut up in Amid in place of those whom he had brought to him; because, though they were holding out from fear, yet they were in great distress through hunger. But the Magister said, "Do not mention the subject of these to me, because they are shut up in our city, and they are our slaves." The Astabid says to him, "Well then, allow me to send them food, for it is unseemly for you that your slaves should die of hunger; for whenever you pleasest, it is easy for you to kill them." He says to him, "Send it." The Astabid says, "Do you swear unto me, and all your generals and officers that are with you, that no one shall kill those whom I send." They all |65 took the oath, save the dux Nonnosus, who was not with them by preconcerted arrangement, for the Magister had left him behind on purpose, so that, if there should be any oath taken, he might not be bound by it. The Astabid therefore sent three hundred camels laden with sacks of bread, in the middle of which were placed arrows. Nonnosus fell upon them and took them from them, and slew those who were with them. When the Astabid complained of this, and asked the Magister to punish the man who had done it, the Magister said to him, "I cannot find out who has done this, because of the great size of the army that is with me; but if you know who it is, and have strength to take vengeance on him, I will not hinder you." The Astabid however was afraid to do this, and kept asking for peace.
LXXXI. When many days had passed after his asking (for peace), great cold set in, with much snow and ice, and the Romans left their camps, one by one. Each man carried off what booty he had got, and set out to convey it to his own place. Those who remained and did not go to their homes, went into Tella and Ras-'ain and Edessa, to shelter themselves from the cold. When the Astabid saw that the Romans had become remiss and could not withstand the cold, he sent word to the Magister, saying, "Either make peace, and let the Persians go forth from Amid, or accept war." The Magister commanded the count Justin to reassemble the army, but he was unable. When he saw that the greater part of the Romans were dispersed and had left him, he made peace and let the Persians come out from Amid on these terms, that, if the peace which they had concluded pleased the two soverains (Anastasius and Kawad), and they set their seal to what they had done, (it should stand); but if not, the war should go on between them. When the Roman emperor learned these things, he gave orders that a public magazine should be established in every city, but especially at Amid, with the view of putting an |66 end to hostility and drawing closer the bonds of peace, he also sent gifts and presents to Kawad by the hand of a man named Leon, and a service for his table, all the pieces of which were of gold.
LXXXII. How much the Edessenes suffered, who conveyed corn down to Amid, no man knows but those who were actually engaged in the work; for the greater part of them died by the way, themselves and their cattle.
LXXXIII. The excellent John, bishop of Amid, went to his rest before the Persians laid siege to it; and its clergy went up to the holy and God-loving, the adorned with all divine beauties, the strenuous and illustrious Mar Flavian 39, patriarch of Antioch, to ask him to appoint a bishop for them. He treated them with great honour during the whole time that they stayed there. Afterwards, when the excellent Nonnus, priest and steward of the church of Amid, escaped from captivity, the clergy asked the patriarch and he made him their bishop. When the excellent Nonnus had been ordained bishop, he sent his suffragan Thomas to Constantinople, to fetch the Amidenes who were there and to ask a donation from the emperor. Those who were there conspired with him, and asked the emperor that Thomas himself might be their bishop. The emperor granted their prayer, and sent word to the patriarch not to constrain them. The emperor also gave them the governor whom they asked for. The emperor and the patriarch gave presents to the church of Amid, and a large sum of money to be distributed among the poor. For this reason there flocked thither all those who were wandering about in other places, and they were carrying forth the corpses of the dead every day out of Amid, and were then receiving what was appointed for them.
LXXXIV. Urbicius, the emperor's minister, who had bestowed large gifts in the district of Jerusalem and in other places, went down thither also, and gave there a dinar a piece (to the inhabitants). He returned thence to Edessa, where he gave to every woman who chose to take it a |67 trimesion 40, and to every child a dirham. Nearly all the women took it, both those that were needy and those that were not.