9. But, as already said, such was his determination----and he was full of eagerness, bringing into one every jugglery of divination, of imposture, of mentionable and unmentionable sacrifices, in order that it might be all at once destroyed in a brief space. And his vow, how great and monstrous a thing, (O thou Christ, thou Word, thou Passion of the impassive, thou Mystery of all creation!) It was to subjugate the whole Christian family to obedience to his own demons, so soon as he had accomplished the business in hand! Now, the first steps in his enterprise, excessively audacious and much celebrated by those of his own party, were as follows. All the land of the Assyrians that the Euphrates flows through, and skirting Persia there unites itself with the Tigris; all this he took and ravaged, and captured some of the fortified towns, in the total absence of anyone to hinder him, whether that he had taken the Persians unaware by the rapidity of his advance, or whether he was out-generalled by them and drawn on by degrees further and further into the snare (for both stories are told); at any rate, advancing in this way, with his army marching along the river's bank and his flotilla upon the river supplying provisions and carrying the baggage, after a considerable interval he touches Ctesiphon, a place which, even to be near, was thought by him half the victory, by reason of his longing for it.  

Θʹ. Ἀλλ' οὖν ἔδοξε ταῦτα, καὶ τῆς ὁρμῆς ἦν πᾶσαν μαντείας καὶ γοητείας, ῥητῆς τε καὶ ἀῤῥήτου θυσίας τερατείαν εἰς ἓν ἀγαγὼν, ἵν' ἐν βραχεῖ πᾶσα καταλυθῇ. Καὶ τὸ καλλιέρημα ὡς μέγα καὶ ὑπερφυὲς, ὦ Χριστὲ, καὶ Λόγε, καὶ πάθη τοῦ ἀπαθοῦς, καὶ κόσμου παντὸς μυστήριον! ὅλον τὸ Χριστιανῶν γένος παραστῆναι τοῖς δαίμοσιν, εἰ τοῦ προκειμένου κρατήσειε. Τὰ μὲν οὖν πρῶτα τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως αὐτῷ, καὶ λίαν νεανικὰ, καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν τὰ ἐκείνου φρονούντων περιβοώμενα ταῦτα. Τὴν γὰρ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ὅσην διαῤῥέων ὁ Εὐφράτης, καὶ τὴν Περσίδα παραμειβόμενος, ἐκεῖσε τῷ Τίγριδι μίγνυται, ταύτην ἑλὼν καὶ τεμὼν, καί τινα τῶν φρουρίων ἐξελὼν κατὰ πολλὴν τοῦ κωλύσοντος ἐρημίαν, εἴτ' οὖν λαθὼν διὰ τὸ τῆς ἐφόδου τάχος, εἴτε ὑπὸ Περσῶν οὕτω στρατηγούμενος, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ὑπαγόμενος εἰς τοὔμπροσθεν (λέγεται γὰρ ἀμφότερα), οὕτω γοῦν προϊὼν, καὶ τῷ στρατῷ παραπορευομένῳ, καὶ ταῖς ναυσὶ διὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ σιτηγούσαις τε καὶ σκευαγωγούσαις, οὐ μικρὸν, τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ Κτησιφῶντι προσβάλλει: ἧς καὶ τὸ πλησίον γενέσθαι νίκης μέρος αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν πόθον ἐνομίζετο.