Ursicinus, commander of the army in the Orient, being summoned from there and having already reached Thrace, is sent back to Mesopotamia; on his return he tries to learn through Marcellinus of the coming of Sapor.
At about that same time Sabinianus, puffed up by his suddenly acquired power, entered the confines of Cilicia and handed his predecessor the emperor's letter, which directed him to make all haste to the court, to be invested with a higher rank; and that too at a crisis when, even if Ursicinus were living in Thule, 1 the weight of affairs with good reason demanded that he be sent for, 2 well acquainted as he was with the old-time discipline and with the Persian methods of warfare from long experience. [2] The rumour of this action greatly disquieted the provinces, and the senates and peoples of the various cities, while decrees and acclamations came thick and fast, laid hands on him and all but held fast their public defender, recalling that though he had been left to protect them with weak and ease loving soldiers, he had for ten years suffered no loss; and at the same time they feared for their safety on learning that at a critical time he had been deposed and a most inefficient man had come to take his place. [3] We believe (and in fact there is no doubt of it) that Rumour flies swiftly through the paths of air, since it was through her circulation of the news of these events that the Persians held council as to their course of action. And after long [p. 437] debate to and fro it was decided, on the advice of Antoninus, that since Ursicinus was far away and the new commander was lightly regarded, they should give up the dangerous sieges of cities, pass the barrier of the Euphrates, and push on with the design of outstripping by speed the news of their coming and seizing upon the provinces, which in all previous wars (except in the time of Gallienus) 3 had been untouched and had grown rich through long-continued peace; and Antoninus promised that with God's favour he would be a most helpful leader in this enterprise. [4] When this plan had been commended and approved by unanimous consent, all turned their attention to such things as must be amassed with speed; and so the preparation of supplies, soldiers, weapons, and other equipment which the coming campaign required, went on all winter long. [5] We 4 meanwhile lingered for a time on this side the Taurus, and then in accordance with our orders were hastening to the regions of Italy and had come to the vicinity of the river Hebrus, 5 which flows down from the mountains of the Odrysae; there we received the emperor's dispatch, which without offering any excuse ordered us to reb to Mesopotamia without any attendants and take charge of a perilous campaign, after all power had been transferred to another. [6] This was devised by the mischievous moulders of the empire with the idea that, if the Persians were baffled and returned to their own country, the glorious deed [p. 439] would be attributed to the ability of the new leader; but if Fortune proved unfavourable, Ursicinus would be accused as a traitor to his country. [7] Accordingly, after careful consideration, and long hesitation, we returned, to find Sabinianus a man full of haughtiness, but of insignificant stature and small and narrow mind, barely able to endure the slight noise of a banquet without shameful apprehension, to say nothing of the din of battle. [8] Nevertheless, since scouts, and deserters agreeing with them, most persistently declared that the enemy were pushing all their preparations with hot haste, while the manikin 6 yawned, we hastily marched to Nisibis, 7 to prepare what was useful, lest the Persians, masking their design of a siege, might surprise the city when off its guard. [9] And while within the walls the things that required haste were being pushed vigorously, smoke and gleaming fires constantly shone from the Tigris on past Castra Maurorum 8 and Sisara and all the neighbouring country as far as the city, in greater number than usual and in a continuous line, clearly showing that the enemy's bands of plunderers had burst forth and crossed the river. [10] Therefore, for fear that the roads might be blocked, we hastened on at full speed, and when we were within two miles, we saw a fine-looking boy, wearing a neck-chain, a child eight years old (as we guessed) and the son of a man of position (as he said), crying in the [p. 441] middle of the highway; his mother, while she was fleeing, wild with fear of the pursuing enemy, being hampered and agitated had left him alone. While I, at the command of my general, who was filled with pity, set the boy before me on my horse and took him back to the city, the pillagers, after building a rampart around the entire wall, were ranging more widely. [11] And because the calamities of a siege alarmed me, I set the boy down within a half-open postern gate and with winged speed hastened breathless to our troop; and I was all but taken prisoner. [12] For a tribune called Abdigildus was fleeing with his camp-servant, pursued by a troop of the enemy's cavalry. And while the master made his escape, they caught the slave and asked him (just as I passed by at full gallop) who had been appointed governor. And when they heard that Ursicinus had entered the city a short time before and was now on his way to Mount Izala, they killed their informant and a great number, got together into one body, followed me with tireless speed. [13] When through the fleetness of my mount I had outstripped them and come to Amudis, a weak fortress, I found our men lying about at their ease, while their horses had been turned out to graze. Extending my arm far forward and gathering up my cloak and waving it on high, I showed by the usual sign that the enemy were near, and joining with them I was hurried along at their pace, although my horse was now growing tired. [14] We were alarmed, moreover, by the fact that it was full moon at night and by the level stretch of plain, which (in case any pressing emergency surprised us) could offer no hiding-places, [p. 443] since neither trees nor shrubs were to be seen, but nothing except short grass. [15] Therefore we devised the plan of placing a lighted lantern on a single pack-animal, binding it fast, so that it should not fall off, and then turning loose the animal that carried the light and letting him go towards the left without a driver, while we made our way to the mountain heights lying on the right, in order that the Persians, supposing that a tallow torch 9 was carried before the general as he went slowly on his way, should take that course rather than any other; and had it not been for this stratagem, we should have been surrounded and captured and come into the power of the enemy. [16] Saved from this danger, we came to a wooded tract planted with vineyards and fruitbearing orchards, called Meiacarire, 10 so named from its cold springs. There all the inhabitants had decamped, but we found one soldier hiding in a remote spot. He, on being brought before the general, because of fear gave contradictory answers and so fell under suspicion. But influenced by threats made against him, he told the whole truth, saying that he was born at Paris in Gaul and served in a cavalry troop; but in fear of punishment for a fault that he had once committed he had deserted to the Persians. Then, being found to be of upright character, and to have married and reared children, he was sent as a spy to our territories and often brought back trustworthy news. But now [p. 445] he had been sent out by the grandees Tamsapor and Nohodares, who had led the bands of pillagers, and was returning to them, to report what he had learned. After this, having added what he knew about what the enemy were doing, he was put to death. [17] Then with our anxious cares increasing we went from there as quickly as circumstances allowed to Amida, 11 a city afterwards notorious for the calamities which it suffered. 12 And when our scouts had returned there, we found in the scabbard of a sword a parchment written in cipher, which had been brought to us by order of Procopius, who, as I said before, had previously been sent as an envoy to the Persians with Count Lucillianus. In this, with intentional obscurity, for fear that, if the bearers were taken and the meaning of the message known, most disastrous consequences would follow, he gave the following message:— [18] “Now that the envoys of the Greeks have been sent far away and perhaps are to be killed, that aged king, not content with Hellespontus, will bridge the Granicus and the Rhyndacus 13 and come to invade Asia with many nations. He is naturally passionate and very cruel, and he has as an instigator and abetter the successor of the former Roman emperor Hadrian; 14 unless Greece takes heed, it is all over with her and her dirge chanted.” [19] This writing meant that the king of the Persians had crossed the rivers Anzaba and Tigris, and, urged on by Antoninus, aspired to the rule of the [p. 447] entire Orient. When it had been read, with the greatest difficulty because of its excessive ambiguity, a sagacious plan was formed. [20] There was at that time in Corduene, 15 which was subject to the Persian power, a satrap called Jovinianus on Roman soil, a youth who had secret sympathy with us for the reason that, having been detained in Syria as a hostage and allured by the charm of liberal studies, he felt a burning desire to return to our country. [21] To him I was sent with a centurion of tried loyalty, for the purpose of getting better informed of what was going on; and I reached him over pathless mountains and through steep defiles. After he had seen and recognized me, and received me cordially, I confided to him alone the reason for my presence. Thereupon with one silent attendant who knew the country he sent me to some lofty cliffs a long distance from there, from which, unless one's eyesight was impaired, even the smallest object was visible at a distance of fifty miles. [22] There we stayed for two full days, and at dawn of the third day we saw below us the whole circuit of the lands (which we 16 call ὁρίζοντες 17 ) filled with innumerable troops with the king leading the way, glittering in splendid attire. Close by him on the left went Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, 18 a man of moderate strength, it is true, and with shrivelled limbs, but of a certain [p. 449] greatness of mind and distinguished by the glory of many victories. On the right was the king of the Albani, 19 of equal rank, high in honour. After them came various leaders, prominent in reputation and rank, followed by a multitude of every degree, chosen from the flower of the neighbouring nations and taught to endure hardship by long continued training. [23] How long, storied Greece, will you continue to tell us of Doriscus, the city of Thrace, and of the armies drawn up in troops within enclosures and numbered? 20 For I am too cautious, or (to speak more truly) too timid, to exaggerate anything beyond what is proven by trustworthy and sure evidence.
1 Looked on by the Romans as a land north of Britain, perhaps Norway confused with Iceland, but of which they had no definite conception. It is a proverbial expression for “the ends of the earth.”
2 That is, to go to the seat of war against Sapor, instead of to the emperor's court.
3 Rufius Festus, ch. xxiii., says that in the time of Gallienus the Persians invaded Mesopotamia and thought themselves masters of Syria, when Odenatus (decurio in Palmyra and husband of Zenobia) gathered a band of Syrian farmers, defeated the Persians several times, and pressed on as far as Ctesiphon.
4 Ammianus accompanied Ursicinus to the emperor's court.
5 A river of Thrace, the modern Maritza.
6 Sabinianus: see xviii. 5, 5; 7, 7; and for his small size, 6, 7, above. His inaction is vividly expressed by oscitante.
7 A city of Mesopotamia, in Mygdonia, surrendered to the Persians in the time of Jovian; modern Nisibin.
8 See also xxv. 7, 9. It lay north of Nisibis and was called by the Arabic geographers by a name meaning pagus mororum, or “the place of mulberries,” of which Maurorum seems to be a corruption. Sisara is a neighbouring fortress.
9 Sebalis fax, which seems to occur only here, is the same as sebacea, a torch or candle made of tallow (sebum) instead of wax.
10 According to Valesius, from Syrian maia or maio, “water,” and carire, “cold”; the former word appears also in Emmaus.
11 Modern Diarbekir, see Gibbon, ii. p. 269, Bury.
12 Ch. ix. below, and xix, 1–8.
13 Two rivers of Mysia, in north-western Asia Minor, the former celebrated for the victory of Alexander the Great over the Persians, the latter for the defeat of Mithradates by Lucullus.
14 Referring of course to the deserter Antoninus.
15 A mountainous region in Armenia, taken by Caesar Maximnianus from the Persians in the time of Galerius, but not yet wholly freed from their rule. Later it was separated from the Persian dominion by Jovian: cf. xxv. 2.
16 That is, the Greeks.
17 The horizon.
18 Sapor had recently made peace with them; see xvi. 9, 4.
19 Dwelling in what is now Georgia.
20 Cf. Herodotus, vii. 59. Xerxes, in order to reckon the size of his army, assembled ten thousand men and drew a circle around them; then he filled the space again and again with men, until the whole army was thus counted.
Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.
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