Part 21 (1/2)

[97] ”Ammia.n.u.s has marked the chronology of this year by three signs which do not perfectly coincide with each other, or with the series of the history:--1. The corn was ripe when Sapor invaded Mesopotamia, 'c.u.m jura stipula flavente turgerent'--a circ.u.mstance which, in the lat.i.tude of Aleppo, would naturally refer us to the month of April or May. 2. The progress of Sapor was checked by the overflowing of the Euphrates, which generally happens in July and August. 3. When Sapor had taken Amida, after a siege of seventy-three days, the autumn was far advanced.

'Autumno praecipiti haedorumque improbo sidere exorto.' To reconcile these apparent contradictions, we must allow for some delay in the Persian king, some inaccuracy in the historian, and some disorder in the seasons.”--Gibbon, cap. xix.; ed. Bohn, vol. ii. 320. ”Clinton, F.R., i.

442, sees no such difficulty as Gibbon has here supposed; he makes Sapor to have pa.s.sed the Tigris in May, reached the Euphrates July 8th, arrived before Amida July 27th, and stormed the place October 7th.”--Editor of Bohn's ed.

[98] That is, in the suburbs of Edessa, as cemeteries in ancient times were usually outside the walls of cities.

[99] It is not known what this name is derived from: some read Fortensis, instead of Fretensis, and those who prefer this reading derive it either from Fortis, brave; or from Fortia, a small town of Asiatic Sarmatia.

[100] Praeventores, or ”going before;” superventores, ”coming after,” as a reserve.

[101] In one of the earlier books which has been lost.

BOOK XIX.

ARGUMENT.

I. Sapor, while exhorting the citizens of Amida to surrender, is a.s.sailed with arrows and javelins by the garrison--And when king Grumbates makes a similar attempt, his son is slain.--II. Amida is blockaded, and within two days is twice a.s.saulted by the Persians.--III. Ursicinus makes a vain proposal to sally out by night, and surprise the besiegers, being resisted by Sabinia.n.u.s, the commander of the forces.--IV. A pestilence, which breaks out in Amida, is checked within ten days by a little rain--A discussion of the causes, and different kinds of pestilences.--V. Amida, betrayed by a deserter, is a.s.sailed both by a.s.saults on the walls and by underground mines.--VI. A sally of the Gallic legions does great harm to the Persians.--VII. Towers and other engines are brought close to the walls of the city, but they are burnt by the Romans.--VIII. Attempts are made to raise lofty mounds close to the walls of Amida, and by these means it is entered--After the fall of the city, Marcellinus escapes by night, and flees to Antioch.--IX.

Of the Roman generals at Amida, some are put to death, and others are kept as prisoners--Craugasius of Nisibis deserts to the Persians from love of his wife, who is their prisoner.--X. The people of Rome, fearing a scarcity, become seditious.--XI. The Limigantes of Sarmatia, under pretence of suing for peace, attack Constantius, who is deceived by their trick; but are driven back with heavy loss.--XII. Many are prosecuted for treason, and condemned.--XIII. Lauricius, of the Isaurians checks the hordes of banditti.

I.

-- 1. The king, rejoicing at this our disaster and captivity, and expecting other successes, advanced from this castle, and marching slowly, on the third day came to Amida.

2. And at daybreak, everything, as far as we could see, glittered with s.h.i.+ning arms; and an iron cavalry filled the plains and the hills.

3. And he himself, mounted on his charger, and being taller than the rest, led his whole army, wearing instead of a crown a golden figure of a ram's head inlaid with jewels; being also splendid from the retinue of men of high rank and of different nations which followed him. And it was evident that his purpose was merely to try the garrison of the walls with a parley, as, in following out the counsel of Antoninus, he was hastening to another quarter.

4. But the deity of heaven, mercifully limiting the disasters of the empire within the compa.s.s of one region, led on this king to such an extravagant degree of elation, that he seemed to believe that the moment he made his appearance the besieged would be suddenly panic-stricken, and have recourse to supplication and entreaty.

5. He rode up to the gates, escorted by the cohort of his royal guard; and while pus.h.i.+ng on more boldly, so that his very features might be plainly recognized, his ornaments made him such a mark for arrows and other missiles, that he would have been slain, if the dust had not hindered the sight of those who were shooting at him; so that after a part of his robe had been cut off by a blow of a javelin, he escaped to cause vast slaughter at a future time.

6. After this, raging as if against sacrilegious men who had violated a temple, he cried out that the lord of so many monarchs and nations had been insulted, and resolved to use all his efforts to destroy the city.

But at the entreaty of his choicest generals not to break the example of mercy which he had so gloriously set, by indulging in anger, he was pacified, and the next day ordered the garrison to be summoned to surrender.

7. Therefore, at daybreak, Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, went boldly up to the walls to effect that object, with a brave body of guards; and when a skilful reconnoitrer had noticed him coming within shot, he let fly his balista, and struck down his son in the flower of his youth, who was at his father's side, piercing through his breastplate, breast and all; and he was a prince who in stature and beauty was superior to all his comrades.

8. At his death all his countrymen took to flight, but presently returning in order to prevent his body from being carried off, and having roused with their dissonant clamours various tribes to their aid, a stern conflict arose, the arrows flying on both sides like hail.

9. The deadly struggle having been continued till the close of day, it was nightfall before the corpse of the young prince, which had been so stubbornly defended, was extricated from the heap of dead and streams of blood, amid the thick darkness; as formerly at Troy, the armies fought in furious combat for the comrade of the Thessalian chieftain.[102]

10. At his death the count was sad, and all the n.o.bles as well as his father were distressed at his sudden loss; and a cessation of arms having been ordered, the youth, so n.o.ble and beloved, was mourned after the fas.h.i.+on of his nation. He was carried out in the arms he was wont to wear, and placed on a s.p.a.cious and lofty pile; around him ten couches were dressed, bearing effigies of dead men, so carefully laid out, that they resembled corpses already buried; and for seven days all the men in the companies and battalions celebrated a funeral feast, dancing, and singing melancholy kinds of dirges in lamentation for the royal youth.

11. And the women, with pitiable wailing, deplored with their customary weepings the hope of their nation thus cut off in the early bloom of youth; as the wors.h.i.+ppers of Venus are often seen to do in the solemn festival of Adonis, which the mystical doctrines of religion show to be some sort of image of the ripened fruits of the earth.

II.