Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  III

  At this same time another event also occurred; it was as follows. That Symeon who had given Pharangium into the hands of the Romans persuaded the Emperor Justinian, while the war was still at its height, to present him with certain villages of Armenia. And becoming master of these places, he was plotted against and murdered by those who had formerly possessed them. After this crime had been committed, the perpetrators of the murder fled into the land of Persia. They were two brothers, sons of Perozes. And when the Emperor heard this, he gave over the villages to Amazaspes, the nephew of Symeon, and appointed him ruler over the Armenians. This Amazaspes, as time went on, was denounced to the Emperor Justinian by one of his friends, Acacius by name, on the ground that he was abusing the Armenians and wished to give over to the Persians Theodosiopolis and certain other fortresses. After telling this, Acacius, by the emperor’s will, slew Amazaspes treacherously, and himself secured the command over the Armenians by the gift of the emperor. And being base by nature, he gained the opportunity of displaying his inward character, and he proved to be the most cruel of all men toward his subjects. For he plundered their property without excuse and ordained that they should pay an unheard-of tax of four centenaria. But the Armenians, unable to bear him any longer, conspired together and slew Acacius and fled for refuge to Pharangium.

  Therefore the emperor sent Sittas against them from Byzantium. For Sittas had been delaying there since the time when the treaty was made with the Persians. So he came to Armenia, but at first he entered upon the war reluctantly and exerted himself to calm the people and to restore the population to their former habitations, promising to persuade the emperor to remit to them the payment of the new tax. But since the emperor kept assailing him with frequent reproaches for his hesitation, led on by the slanders of Adolius, the son of Acacius, Sittas at last made his preparations for the conflict. First of all he attempted by means of promises of many good things to win over some of the Armenians by persuasion and to attach them to his cause, in order that the task of overpowering the others might be attended with less difficulty and toil. And the tribe called the Aspetiani, great in power and in numbers, was willing to join him. And they went to Sittas and begged him to give them pledges in writing that, if they abandoned their kinsmen in the battle and came to the Roman army, they should remain entirely free from harm, retaining their own possessions. Now Sittas was delighted and wrote to them in tablets, giving them pledges just as they desired of him; he then sealed the writing and sent it to them. Then, confident that by their help he would be victorious in the war without fighting, he went with his whole army to a place called Oenochalakon, where the Armenians had their camp. But by some chance those who carried the tablets went by another road and did not succeed at all in meeting the Aspetiani. Moreover a portion of the Roman army happened upon some few of them, and not knowing the agreement which had been made, treated them as enemies. And Sittas himself caught some of their women and children in a cave and slew them, either because he did not understand what had happened or because he was angry with the Aspetiani for not joining him as had been agreed.

  But they, being now possessed with anger, arrayed themselves for battle with all the rest. But since both armies were on exceedingly difficult ground where precipices abounded, they did not fight in one place, but scattered about among the ridges and ravines. So it happened that some few of the Armenians and Sittas with not many of his followers came close upon each other, with only a ravine lying between them. Both parties were horsemen. Then Sittas with a few men following him crossed the ravine and advanced against the enemy; the Armenians, after withdrawing to the rear, stopped, and Sittas pursued no further but remained where he was. Suddenly someone from the Roman army, an Erulian by birth, who had been pursuing the enemy, returning impetuously from them came up to Sittas and his men. Now as it happened Sittas had planted his spear in the ground; and the Erulian’s horse fell upon this with a great rush and shattered it. And the general was exceedingly annoyed by this, and one of the Armenians, seeing him, recognized him and declared to all the others that it was Sittas. For it happened that he had no helmet on his head. Thus it did not escape the enemy that he had come there with only a few men. Sittas, then, upon hearing the Armenian say this, since his spear, as has been said, lay broken in two on the ground, drew his sword and attempted immediately to recross the ravine. But the enemy advanced upon him with great eagerness, and a soldier overtaking him in the ravine struck him a glancing blow with his sword on the top of his head; and he took off the whole scalp, but the steel did not injure the bone at all. And Sittas continued to press forward still more than before, but Artabanes, son of John of the Arsacidae, fell upon him from behind and with a thrust of his spear killed him. Thus Sittas was removed from the world after no notable fashion, in a manner unworthy of his valour and his continual achievements against the enemy, a man who was extremely handsome in appearance and a capable warrior, and a general second to none of his contemporaries. But some say that Sittas did not die at the hand of Artabanes, but that Solomon, a very insignificant man among the Armenians, destroyed him.

  After the death of Sittas the emperor commanded Bouzes to go against the Armenians; and he, upon drawing near, sent to them promising to effect a reconciliation between the emperor and all the Armenians, and asking that some of their notables should come to confer with him on these matters. Now the Armenians as a whole were unable to trust Bouzes nor were they willing to receive his proposals. But there was a certain man of the Arsacidae who was especially friendly with him, John by name, the father of Artabanes, and this man, trusting in Bouzes as his friend came to him with his son-in-law, Bassaces, and a few others; but when these men had reached the spot where they were to meet Bouzes on the following day, and had made their bivouac there, they perceived that they had come into a place surrounded by the Roman army. Bassaces, the son-in-law, therefore earnestly entreated John to fly. And since he was not able to persuade him, he left him there alone, and in company with all the others eluded the Romans, and went back again by the same road. And Bouzes found John alone and slew him; and since after this the Armenians had no hope of ever reaching an agreement with the Romans, and since they were unable to prevail over the emperor in war, they came before the Persian king led by Bassaces, an energetic man. And the leading men among them came at that time into the presence of Chosroes and spoke as follows: “Many of us, O Master, are Arsacidae, descendants of that Arsaces who was not unrelated to the Parthian kings when the Persian realm lay under the hand of the Parthians, and who proved himself an illustrious king, inferior to none of his time. Now we have come to thee, and all of us have become slaves and fugitives, not, however, of our own will, but under most hard constraint, as it might seem by reason of the Roman power, but in truth, O King, by reason of thy decision, — if, indeed, he who gives the strength to those who wish to do injustice should himself justly bear also the blame of their misdeeds. Now we shall begin our account from a little distance back in order that you may be able to follow the whole course of events. Arsaces, the last king of our ancestors, abdicated his throne willingly in favour of Theodosius, the Roman Emperor, on condition that all who should belong to his family through all time should live unhampered in every respect, and in particular should in no case be subject to taxation. And we have preserved the agreement, until you, the Persians, made this much-vaunted treaty, which, as we think, one would not err in calling a sort of common destruction. For from that time, disregarding friend and foe, he who is in name thy friend, O King, but in fact thy enemy, has turned everything in the world upside down and wrought complete confusion. And this thou thyself shalt know at no distant time, as soon as he is able to subdue completely the people of the West. For what thing which was before forbidden has he not done? or what thing which was well established has he not disturbed? Did he not ordain for us the payment of a tax which did not exist before, and has he not enslaved our neighbours, the Tzani, who were autonomous, and has he
not set over the king of the wretched Lazi a Roman magistrate? — an act neither in keeping with the natural order of things nor very easy to explain in words. Has he not sent generals to the men of Bosporus, the subjects of the Huns, and attached to himself the city which in no way belongs to him, and has he not made a defensive alliance with the Aethiopian kingdoms, of which the Romans had never even heard? More than this he has made the Homeritae his possession and the Red Sea, and he is adding the Palm Groves to the Roman dominion. We omit to speak of the fate of the Libyans and of the Italians. The whole earth is not large enough for the man; it is too small a thing for him to conquer all the world together. But he is even looking about the heavens and is searching the retreats beyond the ocean, wishing to gain for himself some other world. Why, therefore, O King, dost thou still delay? Why dost thou respect that most accursed peace, in order forsooth that he may make thee the last morsel of all? If it is thy wish to learn what kind of a man Justinian would shew himself toward those who yield to him, the example is to be sought near at hand from ourselves and from the wretched Lazi; and if thou wishest to see how he is accustomed to treat those who are unknown to him and who have done him not the least wrong, consider the Vandals and the Goths and the Moors. But the chief thing has not yet been spoken. Has he not made efforts in time of peace to win over by deception thy slave, Alamoundaras, O most mighty King, and to detach him from thy kingdom, and has he not striven recently to attach to himself the Huns who are utterly unknown to him, in order to make trouble for thee? And yet an act more strange than this has not been performed in all time. For since he perceived, as I think, that the overthrow of the western world would speedily be accomplished, he has already taken in hand to assail you of the East, since the Persian power alone has been left for him to grapple with. The peace, therefore, as far as concerns him, has already been broken for thee, and he himself has set an end to the endless peace. For they break the peace, not who may be first in arms, but they who may be caught plotting against their neighbours in time of peace. For the crime has been committed by him who attempts it, even though success be lacking. Now as for the course which the war will follow, this is surely clear to everyone. For it is not those who furnish causes for war, but those who defend themselves against those who furnish them, who are accustomed always to conquer their enemies. Nay more, the contest will not be evenly matched for us even in point of strength. For, as it happens, the majority of the Roman soldiers are at the end of the world, and as for the two generals who were the best they had, we come here having slain the one, Sittas, and Belisarius will never again be seen by Justinian. For disregarding his master, he has remained in the West, holding the power of Italy himself. So that when thou goest against the enemy, no one at all will confront thee, and thou wilt have us leading the army with good will, as is natural, and with a thorough knowledge of the country.” When Chosroes heard this he was pleased, and calling together all who were of noble blood among the Persians, he disclosed to all of them what Vittigis had written and what the Armenians had said, and laid before them the question as to what should be done. Then many opinions were expressed inclining to either side, but finally it was decided that they must open hostilities against the Romans at the beginning of spring. [539 A.D.] For it was the late autumn season, in the thirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian. The Romans, however, did not suspect this, nor did they think that the Persians would ever break the so-called endless peace, although they heard that Chosroes blamed their emperor for his successes in the West, and that he preferred against him the charges which I have lately mentioned.

  Τότε καὶ ὁ κομήτης ἀστὴρ ἐφάνη, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ὅσον εὐμήκης ἀνὴρ μάλιστα, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ πολλῷ μείζων. καὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ μὲν πέρας πρὸς δύοντα ἥλιον, ἡ δὲ ἀρχὴ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἦν, [2] αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ἡλίῳ ὄπισθεν εἵπετο. ὁ μὲν. γὰρ ἐν αἰγοκέρῳ ἦν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐν τοξότῃ. καὶ αὐτὸν οἱ μέν τινες ἐκάλουν ξιφίαν, ὅτι δὴ ἐπιμήκης τε ἦν καὶ λίαν ὀξεῖαν τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶχεν, οἱ δὲ πωγωνίαν, ἡμέρας τε πλείους ἢ τεσσαράκοντα ἐφάνη. [3] οἱ μὲν οὖν ταῦτα σοφοὶ ἀλλήλοις ὡς ἥκιστα ὁμολογοῦντες ἄλλος ἄλλα προὔλεγον πρὸς τούτου δὴ τοῦ ἀστέρος σημαίνεσθαι: ἐγὼ δὲ ὅσα γενέσθαι ξυνηνέχθη γράφων δίδωμι ἑκάστῳ τοῖς ἀποβεβηκόσι τεκμηριοῦσθαι ᾗ βούλοιτο. [4] μέγα μὲν εὐθὺς στράτευμα Οὐννικόν, διαβάντες ποταμὸν Ἴστρον, ξυμπάσῃ Εὐρώπῃ ἐπέσκηψαν, γεγονὸς μὲν πολλάκις ἤδη, τοσαῦτα δὲ τὸ πλῆθος κακὰ ἢ τοιαῦτα τὸ μέγεθος οὐκ ἐνεγκὸν πώποτε τοῖς ταύτῃ ἀνθρώποις. ἐκ κόλπου γὰρ τοῦ Ἰονίου οἱ βάρβαροι οὗτοι ἅπαντα ἐφεξῆς ἐληίσαντο μέχρι ἐς τὰ Βυζαντίων προάστεια. [5] καὶ φρούρια μὲν δύο καὶ τριάκοντα ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς εἷλον, πόλιν δὲ τὴν Κασσάνδρειαν κατεστρέψαντο βίᾳ ῾ἣν οἱ παλαιοὶ Ποτίδαιαν ἐκάλουν, ὅσα γε ἡμᾶς εἰδέναἰ οὐ τειχομαχήσαντες πρότερον. [6] καὶ τά τε χρήματα ἔχοντες αἰχμαλώτων τε μυριάδας δυοκαίδεκα ἀπαγόμενοι ἐπ̓ οἴκου ἅπαντες ἀνεχώρησαν, οὐδενὸς σφίσιν ἐναντιώματος ἀπαντήσαντος. [7] χρόνῳ τε τῷ ὑστέρῳ πολλάκις ἐνταῦθα γενόμενοι ἀνήκεστα ἐς Ῥωμαίους δεινὰ ἔδρασαν. [8] οἳ δὴ καὶ ἐν Χερρονήσῳ τειχομαχήσαντες, βιασάμενοί τε τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τείχους ἀμυνομένους καὶ διὰ τοῦ τῆς θαλάσσης ῥοθίου τὸν περίβολον ὑπερβάντες ὃς πρὸς κόλπῳ τῷ μέλανι καλουμένῳ ἐστίν, οὕτω τε ἐντὸς τῶν μακρῶν τειχῶν γεγενημένοι καὶ τοῖς ἐν Χερρονήσῳ Ῥωμαίοις ἀπροσδόκητοι ἐπιπεσόντες, ἔκτεινάν τε πολλοὺς καὶ ἠνδραπόδισαν σχεδὸν ἅπαντας. [9] ὀλίγοι δέ τινες καὶ διαβάντες τὸν μεταξὺ Σηστοῦ τε καὶ Ἀβύδου πορθμόν, ληισάμενοί τε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀσίας χωρία καὶ αὖθις ἐς Χερρόνησον ἀναστρέψαντες, ξὺν τῷ ἄλλῳ στρατῷ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ λείᾳ ἐπ̓ οἴκου ἀπεκομίσθησαν. [10] ἐν ἑτέρᾳ τε εἰσβολῇ τούς τε Ἰλλυριοὺς καὶ Θεσσαλοὺς ληισάμενοι, τειχομαχεῖν μὲν ἐνεχείρησαν ἐν Θερμοπύλαις, τῶν δὲ ἐν τοῖς τείχεσι φρουρῶν καρτερώτατα ἀμυνομένων διερευνώμενοι τὰς περιόδους παρὰ δόξαν τὴν ἀτραπὸν εὗρον ἣ φέρει εἰς τὸ ὄρος ὃ ταύτῃ ἀνέχει. [11] οὕτω τε σχεδὸν ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας πλὴν Πελοποννησίων διεργασάμενοι ἀπεχώρησαν. [12] Πέρσαι δὲ οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον τὰς σπονδὰς λύσαντες ἔργα Ῥωμαίους τοὺς ἑῴους εἰργάσαντο ἅπερ ἐγὼ αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα δηλώσω. [13] Βελισάριος ἐπεὶ τῶν Γότθων τε καὶ Ἰταλιωτῶν βασιλέα Οὐίττιγιν καθελὼν ζῶντα ἐς Βυζάντιον ἤνεγκεν. ὅπως δὲ ὁ Περσῶν στρατὸς ἐς γῆν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐσέβαλεν ἐρῶν ἔρχομαι. [14] ἡνίκα Χοσρό
ου πολεμησείοντος Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς ᾔσθετο, παραίνεσίν τε ποιεῖσθαί τινα καὶ τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως αὐτὸν ἀπαγαγεῖν ἤθελεν. [15] ἐτύγχανε δέ τις ἐς Βυζάντιον ἥκων ἐκ Δάρας πόλεως, Ἀναστάσιος ὄνομα, δόξαν ἐπὶ ξυνέσει ἔχων, ὃς καὶ τὴν ἐν Δάρας ἔναγχος γενομένην τυραννίδα καταλελύκει. [16] τοῦτον οὖν τὸν Ἀναστάσιον παρὰ Χοσρόην Ἰουστινιανὸς ἔπεμψε γράμματα γράψας: [17] ἐδήλου δὲ ἡ γραφὴ τάδε ‘Ξυνετῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ καὶ οἷς τὰ ἐς τὸ θεῖον ἱκανῶς ἤσκηται πολέμου φυομένας αἰτίας, ἄλλως τε καὶ πρὸς ἄνδρας τὰ μάλιστα φίλους, σθένει παντὶ ἀποτέμνεσθαι: ἀξυνέτων δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ῥᾷστα ποιουμένων πολέμια μάχης τε καὶ ταραχῆς ἀφορμὰς οὐδαμῆ οὔσας ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι. [18] εἰρήνην μὲν γὰρ καταλύσασιν ἐς πόλεμον ἰέναι οὐδὲν πρᾶγμά ἐστιν, ἐπεὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τὰ πονηρότατα καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀτιμοτάτοις εὔκολα τίθεσθαι ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων νενόμικε φύσις. [19] πόλεμον δὲ κατὰ γνώμην διαθεμένοις αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν εἰρήνην χωρεῖν ἀνθρώποις οἶμαι οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἶναι. [20] καίτοι σὺ μὲν ἡμῖν γράμματα οὐκ ἐπίτηδες γεγραμμένα ἐπικαλεῖς, ταῦτά τε γνώμῃ αὐτονόμῳ τανῦν ἑρμηνεύειν ἐσπούδακας, οὐχ ᾗπερ ἡμεῖς διανοηθέντες γεγράφαμεν, ἀλλ̓ ᾗ σοι τὰ βεβουλευμένα ἐπιτελεῖν οὐκ ἄνευ τινὸς παραπετάσματος ἐφιεμένῳ ξυνοίσειν δοκεῖ. [21] ἡμῖν δὲ πάρεστιν Ἀλαμούνδαρον δεικνύναι τὸν σὸν γῆν ἔναγχος καταδραμόντα τὴν ἡμετέραν ἔργα ἐν σπονδαῖς διαπεπρᾶχθαι ἀνήκεστα, χωρίων ἁλώσεις, χρημάτων ἁρπαγάς, ἀνθρώπων φόνους τε καὶ ἀνδραποδισμοὺς τοσούτων τὸ πλῆθος, ὑπὲρ ὧν σε οὐκ αἰτιᾶσθαι ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ̓ ἀπολογεῖσθαι δεήσει. [22] τὰ γὰρ τῶν ἠδικηκότων ἐγκλήματα αἱ πράξεις, οὐχ αἱ διάνοιαι, δηλοῦσι τοῖς πέλας. ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων τοιούτων ὄντων ἡμεῖς μὲν ἔχεσθαι καὶ ὣς τῆς εἰρήνης ἐγνώκαμεν, σὲ δὲ πολεμησείοντα ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους ἀκούομεν ἀναπλάττειν αἰτίας οὐδαμόθεν ἡμῖν προσηκούσας. [23] εἰκότως: οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὰ παρόντα περιστέλλειν ἐν σπουδῇ ἔχοντες καὶ σφόδρα ἐγκειμένας ἀποσείονται τὰς ἐπὶ τοὺς φίλους αἰτίας, οὓς δὲ ὁ τῆς φιλίας οὐκ ἀρέσκει θεσμός, καὶ τὰς οὐκ. οὔσας ἐφίενται πορίζεσθαι σκήψεις. [24] ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐδὲ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν ἀνθρώποις, μή τί γε δὴ βασιλεῦσι, πρέπειν ἂν δόξειε. [25] σὺ δὲ τούτων ἀφέμενος σκόπει μὲν τὸ μέτρον τῶν ἑκατέρωθεν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἀπολουμένων καὶ τίς ἂν εἴη τῶν ξυμπεσουμένων τὴν αἰτίαν φέρεσθαι δίκαιος, λογίζου δὲ τοὺς ὅρκους, οὓς δὴ ὀμοσάμενός τε καὶ τὰ χρήματα κομισάμενος, εἶτα ἀτιμάσας οὐ δέον τέχναις τισὶν ἢ σοφίσμασι παραγαγεῖν οὐκ ἂν δύναιο: τὸ γὰρ θεῖον κρεῖσσον ἢ ἐξαπατᾶσθαι πέφυκε πρὸς [26] πάντων ἀνθρώπων.’ ταῦτα ἐπεὶ ὁ Χοσρόης ἀπενεχθέντα εἶδεν, ἐν μὲν τῷ αὐτίκα οὔτε τι ἀπεκρίνατο οὔτε τὸν Ἀναστάσιον ἀπεπέμψατο, ἀλλ̓ αὐτοῦ μένειν ἠνάγκαζεν.