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Pacurius asked him to request whatever he wished, asserting that he would fail in nothing he asked of him. 1.5.32 But he asked for nothing else to be done for him than to entertain Arsa1.5.33 ces on a single day that he might choose. This annoyed the king exceedingly, that he should be compelled to break a law so ancient, yet so that he might be altogether true to his word, he granted that the request be ful1.5.34 filled. And when, at the king's command, he arrived at the fortress of Oblivion, he greeted Arsaces, and both, embracing each other, uttered a sweet lament, and bewailing their present fortune, each with difficulty managed to unclasp his hands from the other. 1.5.35 When they had come to a surfeit of wailing and ceased, the Armenian bathed Arsaces and attended to him in other ways not neglectfully, and putting the royal garb upon him 1.5.36 he had him recline on a couch. And there Arsaces feasted those present in a royal manner just as 1.5.37 he had been accustomed to do before. At this feast many speeches were made over the cup, which pleased Arsaces greatly, and many other things were brought forward, which were a pleasure to him; and as the drinking was prolonged until night, they took extraordinary pleasure in their conversation with each other, and separating from each other with difficulty, they departed, drenched with good 1.5.38 feeling. Then they say that Arsaces said that having passed a most pleasant day and on it having been with the most longed for of all men, he would no longer willingly endure the evils of 1.5.39 life, and having said these things he dispatched himself with a knife, which he had happened to steal on purpose during the feast, and thus 1.5.40 he vanished from the world of men. The events, therefore, concerning this Arsaces the Armenian history says happened in this way, just as has been told, and that the law concerning the fortress of Oblivion was then broken. But I must return to the point whence I digressed. 1.6.1 And while Cabades was imprisoned, his wife attended him, coming in to him and bringing in provisions. The commander of the prison began to make advances to her; for she was 1.6.2 exceedingly comely in appearance. When Cabades learned this from his wife, he bade her give herself to the man to use as he wished. So indeed the commander of the fortress, having gone to bed with the woman, fell in love with her with a most extraordinary passion. 1.6.3 And from then on he allowed her to make her entrances to her husband whenever she wished, and again to depart from there, with no one standing in her way. There was a certain notable man among the Persians, Seoses by name, 1.6.4 a very great friend to Cabades, who was spending time around this fortress, watching for an opportunity if he might be able to get him out 1.6.5 from within. And through the wife he signaled to Cabades that both horses and men happened to be in readiness for him not far from the fortress, 1.6.6 having indicated a certain place to him. And once when night had fallen, Cabades persuaded his wife to give him her own clothing, and putting on his garments herself to sit in the prison in his place, 1.6.7 where he had been sitting. So in this way Cabades departed from the prison. And those to whom this guard duty was assigned, seeing him, suspected it was the wife; for this reason they decided neither to hinder him nor otherwise to bother him. 1.6.8 And at daybreak, seeing the wife in the room in her husband's clothes, and being far removed from the truth, they thought Cabades was there. And this opinion prevailed for many days, 1.6.9 until Cabades had got somewhere far along on his journey. The things, therefore, that happened concerning the wife, when the plot came to light, and in what manner they punished her, I am not able to say precisely. For the Persians do not agree with one another; therefore I refrain from telling it. 1.6.10 But Cabades, having escaped everyone's notice, arrived with Seoses among the Ephthalite Huns, and the king gives him his daughter as a wife, and so sent with him against the Persians an army of great account, as to a kinsman by marriage. 1.6.11 The Persians were in no way willing to meet this army, but one after another rushed to flight. 1.6.12 And when Cabades in the country

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αὐτὸν ὁ Πακούριος ὅ τι ἂν βούλοιτο αἰτεῖσθαι ἠξίου, ἰσχυρισάμενος ὅτι δὴ οὐδενὸς πρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀτυχήσει. 1.5.32 ὁ δὲ ἄλλο οἱ οὐδὲν γενέσθαι ἠξίου ἢ ὥστε τὸν Ἀρσά1.5.33 κην ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ θεραπεῦσαι ᾗ βούλοιτο. τοῦτο τὸν βασιλέα ἠνίασε μὲν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα, εἰ λύειν νόμον οὕτω δὴ παλαιὸν ἀναγκάζοιτο, ὅπως μέντοι παντάπασιν ἀληθίζηται, ξυνεχώρει τὴν δέησιν ἐπιτελῆ γενέ1.5.34 σθαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ βασιλέως ἐπαγγείλαντος γέγονεν ἐν τῷ τῆς Λήθης φρουρίῳ, ἠσπάσατο μὲν τὸν Ἀρσάκην, ἄμφω δὲ ἀλλήλοιν περιβαλόντε ἐθρηνησάτην τε ἡδύν τινα θρῆνον καὶ ἀπολοφυραμένω τὴν παροῦσαν τύχην μόλις ἀπ' ἀλλήλοιν διαλύειν τὰς αὑτοῦ χεῖρας ἑκάτερος 1.5.35 ἔσχεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν ὀδυρμῶν ἐς κόρον ἐλθόντες ἐπαύσαντο, ἔλουσε μὲν ὁ Ἀρμένιος τὸν Ἀρσάκην καὶ τἄλλα οὐκ ἀπημελημένως ἐκόσμησε, σχῆμα δὲ αὐτῷ περιθέ1.5.36 μενος τὸ βασίλειον ἐπὶ στιβάδος ἀνέκλινεν. ἐνταῦθά τε τοὺς παρόντας Ἀρσάκης βασιλικῶς εἱστία ᾗπερ 1.5.37 εἰώθει τὰ πρότερα. ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ θοίνῃ πολλοὶ μὲν ἐπὶ κύλικι λόγοι ἐλέχθησαν, οἵπερ τὸν Ἀρσάκην ἱκανῶς ἤρεσκον, πολλὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἐς μέσον ἦλθεν, ἅπερ αὐτῷ ἐν ἡδονῇ ἦν· μηκυνομένου τε τοῦ πότου ἄχρι ἐς νύκτα τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμιλίᾳ ὑπερφυῶς ἥσθησαν, μόλις δὲ ἀλλήλων ἀπαλλαγέντες διελύθησαν, καταβε1.5.38 βρεγμένοι τῇ εὐπαθείᾳ. τότε δὴ λέγουσι τὸν Ἀρσάκην εἰπεῖν ὡς ἡμέραν τὴν ἡδίστην διατελέσας ἐν ταύτῃ τε ξυγγενόμενος τῷ ποθεινοτάτῳ ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι ἑκών γε εἶναι ὑποσταίη τὰ φλαῦρα τοῦ 1.5.39 βίου, καὶ ταῦτα εἰπόντα μαχαίρᾳ ἑαυτὸν διαχειρίσασθαι, ἥνπερ ἐν τῇ θοίνῃ ἐξεπίτηδες κεκλοφὼς ἔτυχεν, οὕτω 1.5.40 τε αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθῆναι. τὰ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Ἀρσάκην ἡ τῶν Ἀρμενίων συγγραφὴ λέγει ταύτῃ, ᾗπερ ἐρρήθη, κεχωρηκέναι, καὶ τὸν νόμον τότε ἀμφὶ τῷ τῆς Λήθης φρουρίῳ λελύσθαι. ἐμοὶ δὲ ὅθενπερ ἐξέβην ἰτέον. 1.6.1 Καθειρχθέντα δὲ τὸν Καβάδην ἐθεράπευεν ἡ γυνὴ ἐσιοῦσά τε παρ' αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἐσκομίζουσα· ἣν δὴ ὁ τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἄρχων πειρᾶν ἤρξατο· ἦν 1.6.2 γὰρ τὴν ὄψιν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα εὐπρεπής. ὅπερ ἐπεὶ ὁ Καβάδης παρὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἔμαθεν, ἐκέλευσεν ἐνδιδόναι αὑτὴν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ὅ τι βούλοιτο χρῆσθαι. οὕτω δὴ τῇ γυναικὶ ἐς εὐνὴν ξυνελθὼν ὁ τοῦ φρουρίου ἄρχων ἠράσθη τε αὐτῆς ἔρωτα ἐξαίσιον οἷον. 1.6.3 καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ξυνεχώρει παρὰ τὸν ἄνδρα τὰς εἰσόδους ποιεῖσθαι, ὅπη ἂν αὐτῇ βουλομένῃ εἴη, καὶ αὖθις ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι, οὐδενὸς ἐμποδὼν ἱσταμένου. ἦν δέ τις τῶν ἐν Πέρσαις λογίμων Σεόσης ὄνομα, 1.6.4 Καβάδῃ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα φίλος, ὃς ἀμφὶ τὸ φρούριον τοῦτο διατριβὴν εἶχε, καιροφυλακῶν εἴ πως αὐτὸν ἔν1.6.5 δοθεν ἐξελέσθαι δυνήσεται. διά τε τῆς γυναικὸς τῷ Καβάδῃ ἐσήμαινεν ὡς ἵπποι τέ οἱ καὶ ἄνδρες ἐν παρασκευῇ τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες τοῦ φρουρίου οὐ μακρὰν 1.6.6 ἄποθεν, δηλώσας τι χωρίον αὐτῷ. καί ποτε νυκτὸς ἐπιλαβούσης ἀνέπεισε τὴν γυναῖκα Καβάδης ἐσθῆτα μὲν αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκείαν δοῦναι, τὰ δὲ αὑτοῦ ἀμπεχομένην ἱμάτια ἐπὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἀντ' αὐτοῦ καθῆσθαι, 1.6.7 οὗπερ ἐκεῖνος ἐκάθητο. οὕτω μὲν οὖν Καβάδης ἀπηλλάσσετο ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου. κατιδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἷς ἡ φυλακὴ αὕτη ἐπέκειτο τὴν γυναῖκα ὑπετόπαζον εἶναι· ταῦτά τοι οὔτε κωλύειν οὔτε ἄλλως αὐτὸν ἐνοχλεῖν 1.6.8 ἔγνωσαν. ἅμα τε ἡμέρᾳ τὴν γυναῖκα ἐς τὸ δωμάτιον ἐν τοῖς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἱματίοις ἰδόντες καὶ μακρὰν ἀπολελειμμένοι τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ᾤοντο Καβάδην ἐνταῦθα εἶναι. ἥ τε δόκησις αὕτη ἐν ἡμέραις συχναῖς ἤκμαζεν, 1.6.9 ἕως Καβάδης πόρρω που τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐγεγόνει. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῇ γυναικὶ ξυνενεχθέντα, ἐπεὶ ἐς φῶς ἡ ἐπιβουλὴ ἦλθε, καὶ ὅντινα αὐτὴν τρόπον ἐκόλασαν, ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν. οὐ γὰρ ὁμολογοῦσι Πέρσαι ἀλλήλοις· διὸ δὴ αὐτὰ λέγειν ἀφίημι. 1.6.10 Καβάδης δὲ λαθὼν ἅπαντας ξὺν τῷ Σεόσῃ ἐς Οὔννους τοὺς Ἐφθαλίτας ἀφίκετο καὶ αὐτῷ τὴν παῖδα γυναῖκα ὁ βασιλεὺς γαμετὴν δίδωσιν, οὕτω τε στράτευμα λόγου πολλοῦ ἄξιον ἅτε κηδεστῇ ἐπὶ Πέρσας 1.6.11 ξυνέπεμψε. τούτῳ τῷ στρατῷ Πέρσαι ὑπαντιάζειν οὐδαμῆ ἤθελον, ἀλλὰ ἄλλος ἄλλῃ ἐς φυγὴν ὥρμηντο. 1.6.12 ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ Καβάδης ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ