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he arrived, where Gousanastades held the command, he said to some of his intimates that he would appoint as chrananges that man, who, being the first of the Persians on that day to come into his sight 1.6.13 and wish to serve him. And having said this he immediately regretted his words, since a law occurred to him, which indeed does not allow offices among the Persians to be given to those of another family, but 1.6.14 to those to whom each honour belongs by birth. For he feared that someone might come to him first who was not a kinsman of the chrananges, and that he would be forced to break the law, so that he himself 1.6.15 might be true to his word. But while he had these things in mind, a certain chance occurred such that he could be true to his word without dishonouring the law. For it happened that Adergoudounbades was the first to come to him, a young man, both a kinsman of Gousanastades and exceptionally 1.6.16 good in matters of war. He indeed addressed Kavadh as master and was the first to do obeisance to him as king, and he begged him 1.6.17 to use him as a slave for whatever he wished. Kavadh, therefore, having entered the palace with no trouble, and having seized Blases, who was deserted by his defenders, blinded him, by the method, indeed, by which the Persians are accustomed to blind malefactors, boiling oil and pouring it while at its most scalding into the eyes, which are not closed, or heating a certain iron pin red-hot and with this touching the inner parts of the eyes, and for the rest of the time kept in prison 1.6.18 the one who had ruled the Persians for two years. And having killed Gousanastades, he appointed Adergoudounbades in his place to the office of chrananges, and he immediately proclaimed Seoses adrastadaran salanes. And this means the one set over all the magistrates and 1.6.19 soldiers together. Seoses was the first and only man among the Persians to hold this office; for it had belonged to no one either before or after; and Kavadh strengthened his kingship and guarded it with security. For he was shrewd and energetic second to none. 1.7.1 A little later Kavadh owed money to the king of the Ephthalites, which, since he was not able to pay it back, he asked Anastasius, the emperor of the Romans, to lend him this money; but he, after conferring with some of his intimates, inquired whether he 1.7.2 should do this. They did not allow him to make the contract. For they declared it to be disadvantageous for their enemies to make their friendship with the Ephthalites more secure with their own money, whom, indeed, it was better for them to set at variance with one another as much as possible. 1.7.3 For this reason, indeed, Kavadh decided to march against the Romans for no reason. And first, being his own messenger, he entered the land of the Armenians, and having plundered most of it in a raid, he arrived suddenly at the city of Amida, situated in Mesopotamia, which he proceeded to besiege in the winter season. 1.7.4 But the people of Amida, though they had no soldiers present, since it was a time of peace and prosperity, and being otherwise completely unprepared, nevertheless were by no means willing to yield to the enemy, but held out against the dangers and the hardship beyond expectation. 1.7.5 There was a certain righteous man among the Syrians, Jacobus by name, who had practiced matters of divinity with precision. This man, in the place of Endielon, which is a day's journey from Amida, had confined himself many years before, so that indeed he might be able 1.7.6 to meditate on matters of piety more fearlessly. And the people there, serving his will, surrounded him with a certain railing, not joined together, however, but fixed apart from each other, so that it was possible both to see those who 1.7.7 approached and to converse with them. And they built a small roof for him above, enough to keep off the rains and snows. There this man had been sitting from of old, yielding not at all to heat or cold, living on certain seeds, on which he was accustomed to eat not 1.7.8 daily, but after a long time. This Jacobus, then, some of the Ephthalites who were overrunning the places there saw, and having drawn their bows with great haste, they wished to shoot. But the hands of all of them had become motionless 1.7.9 and were in no way able to work the bows. When this, being noised about in the camp, came to Kavadh, Kavadh wished to be an eyewitness of the deed, and having seen it, he was in great astonishment along with the Persians who were present, and the

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ἐγένετο, ἔνθα ὁ Γουσαναστάδης τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶχεν, εἶπε τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τισὶν ὡς χαναράγγην καταστήσεται ἄνδρα ἐκεῖνον, ὃς ἂν αὐτῷ Περσῶν πρῶτος ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐς ὄψιν 1.6.13 ἥκων ὑπουργεῖν βούλοιτο. εἰπόντι τέ οἱ μετέμελεν ἤδη τοῦ λόγου, ἐπεὶ νόμος αὐτὸν ἐσῄει, ὃς δὴ οὐκ ἐᾷ Πέρσαις ἐς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τὰς ἀρχὰς φέρεσθαι, ἀλλ' 1.6.14 οἷς ἡ τιμὴ ἑκάστη κατὰ γένος προσήκει. ἔδεισε γὰρ μή τις ἵκοιτο ἐς αὐτὸν πρῶτος τῷ χαναράγγῃ οὐ ξυγγενὴς ὢν, τόν τε νόμον ἀναγκάζηται λύειν, ὅπως αὐτὸς 1.6.15 ἀληθίζηται. ταῦτα δέ οἱ ἐν νῷ ἔχοντι ξυνέβη τις τύχη ὥστε μὴ τὸν νόμον ἀτιμάζοντι ἀληθεῖ εἶναι. ἔτυχε γὰρ πρῶτος Ἀδεργουδουνβάδης ἐς αὐτὸν ἥκων, νεανίας ἀνὴρ, ξυγγενής τε ὢν τῷ Γουσαναστάδῃ καὶ διαφερόν1.6.16 τως ἀγαθὸς τὰ πολέμια. ὃς δὴ δεσπότην τε προσεῖπε Καβάδην καὶ βασιλέα προσεκύνησε πρῶτος, ἐδεῖτό τέ 1.6.17 οἱ ἅτε δούλῳ ὅ τι βούλοιτο χρῆσθαι. Καβάδης οὖν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις οὐδενὶ πόνῳ γενόμενος, ἔρημόν τε Βλάσην τῶν ἀμυνομένων λαβὼν ἐξετύφλωσε, τρόπῳ δὴ ὅτῳ τυφλοὺς οἱ Πέρσαι ποιεῖν τοὺς κακούργους εἰώθασιν, ἔλαιον ἕψοντες καὶ αὐτὸ ὡς μάλιστα ζέον ἐς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς οὔτι μύοντας ἐπιχέοντες, ἢ περόνην τινὰ σιδηρᾶν πυρακτοῦντες ταύτῃ τε τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὰ ἐντὸς χρίοντες, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἐν φυλακῇ 1.6.18 εἶχεν ἄρξαντα Περσῶν ἐνιαυτοὺς δύο. καὶ τὸν μὲν Γουσαναστάδην κτείνας τὸν Ἀδεργουδουνβάδην ἀντ' αὐτοῦ κατεστήσατο ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ χαναράγγου ἀρχῆς, τὸν δὲ Σεόσην ἀδρασταδάραν σαλάνην εὐθὺς ἀνεῖπε. δύναται δὲ τοῦτο τὸν ἐπὶ ἀρχαῖς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ στρα1.6.19 τιώταις ἅπασιν ἐφεστῶτα. ταύτην ὁ Σεόσης τὴν ἀρχὴν πρῶτός τε καὶ μόνος ἐν Πέρσαις ἔσχεν· οὔτε γὰρ πρότερον οὔτε ὕστερόν τινι γέγονε· τήν τε βασιλείαν ὁ Καβάδης ἐκρατύνατο καὶ ξὺν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ διεφύλαξεν. ἦν γὰρ ἀγχίνους τε καὶ δραστήριος οὐδενὸς ἧσσον. 1.7.1 Ὀλίγῳ δὲ ὕστερον χρήματα Καβάδης τῷ Ἐφθαλιτῶν βασιλεῖ ὤφειλεν, ἅπερ ἐπεὶ ἀποτιννύναι οἱ οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν, Ἀναστάσιον τὸν Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορα ᾔτει ταῦτά οἱ δανεῖσαι τὰ χρήματα· ὁ δὲ κοινολογησάμενος τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τισὶν ἐπυνθάνετο εἴ γέ οἱ 1.7.2 ταῦτα ποιητέα εἴη. οἵπερ αὐτὸν τὸ συμβόλαιον ποιεῖσθαι οὐκ εἴων. ἀξύμφορον γὰρ ἀπέφαινον εἶναι βεβαιοτέραν τοῖς πολεμίοις χρήμασιν οἰκείοις ἐς τοὺς Ἐφθαλίτας τὴν φιλίαν ποιήσασθαι, οὓς δὴ ἐς ἀλλήλους ξυγκρούειν ὅτι μάλιστα σφίσιν ἄμεινον εἶναι. 1.7.3 διὸ δὴ Καβάδης ἐξ αἰτίας οὐδεμιᾶς ἔγνω ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους στρατεύεσθαι. καὶ πρῶτα μὲν αὐτάγγελος Ἀρμενίων τῇ χώρᾳ ἐπῆλθε, καὶ αὐτῆς τὰ πολλὰ ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ληισάμενος ἐς Ἄμιδαν πόλιν ἐν Μεσοποταμίᾳ κειμένην ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου ἀφίκετο, ἧς δὴ χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ ἐς 1.7.4 πολιορκίαν καθίστατο. Ἀμιδηνοὶ δὲ στρατιωτῶν μὲν, ἅτε ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ ἀγαθοῖς πράγμασιν, οὐ παρόντων σφίσι, καὶ ἄλλως δὲ ἀπαράσκευοι παντάπασιν ὄντες ὅμως τοῖς πολεμίοις ὡς ἥκιστα προσχωρεῖν ἤθελον, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τε κινδύνοις καὶ τῇ ταλαιπωρίᾳ παρὰ δόξαν ἀντεῖχον. 1.7.5 Ἦν δέ τις ἐν Σύροις ἀνὴρ δίκαιος, Ἰάκωβος ὄνομα, ᾧ τὰ ἐς τὸ θεῖον ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἤσκητο. οὗτος ἐν χωρίῳ Ἐνδιήλων, διέχοντι Ἀμίδης ἡμέρας ὁδῷ, πολλοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις αὑτὸν καθεῖρξεν, ὅπως δὴ 1.7.6 ἀδεέστερον τὰ ἐς τὴν εὐσέβειαν μελετᾶν δύνηται. καὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ ταύτῃ ἄνθρωποι ὑπουργοῦντες τῇ γνώμῃ δρυφάκτοις τισὶ περιέβαλον, οὐ ξυνημμένοις μέντοι, ἀλλὰ χωρὶς πεπηγόσιν ἀλλήλων, ὥστε ὁρᾶν τε τοὺς 1.7.7 προσιόντας καὶ ξυγγίνεσθαι οἷόν τε εἶναι. καὶ στέγος τι αὐτῷ ἐτεκτήναντο βραχὺ ὕπερθεν, ὅσον ὄμβρους τε καὶ νιφετοὺς ἀποκρούεσθαι. ἐνταῦθα οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκ παλαιοῦ καθῆστο, πνίγει μὲν ἢ ψύχει ὡς ἥκιστα εἴκων, σπέρμασι δέ τισιν ἀποζῶν, οἷσπερ οὐ καθ' 1.7.8 ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ χρόνου πολλοῦ σιτίζεσθαι εἰώθει. τοῦτον οὖν τὸν Ἰάκωβον τῶν τινες Ἐφθαλιτῶν καταθέοντες τὰ ἐκείνῃ χωρία εἶδον, καὶ τὰ τόξα σπουδῇ πολλῇ ἐντεινάμενοι βάλλειν ἤθελον. πᾶσι δὲ ἀκίνητοι αἱ 1.7.9 χεῖρες γεγονυῖαι τὰ τόξα ἐνεργεῖν οὐδαμῆ εἶχον. ὅπερ ἐπεὶ ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ περιφερόμενον ἐς Καβάδην ἦλθεν, αὐτόπτης γενέσθαι τοῦ ἔργου ὁ Καβάδης ἐβούλετο, ἰδών τε ἐν θάμβει μεγάλῳ ξὺν Περσῶν τοῖς παροῦσιν ἐγίνετο, καὶ τὸν