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both the Persian borders happen to be very long. 2.4.3 And as I at first marveled at this and inquired of the natives in what manner a road and a country belonging to the Romans had been allotted the enemy's land on either side, some reported that the place had once been Persian, but when the Persian king was in need, one of the Roman emperors had given him a certain village near Martyropolis, abounding in vines, having taken this 2.4.4 very place in exchange for it. Rhabdios, then, is situated on precipitous and altogether wild rocks, 2.4.5 which rise up here to a marvelous height. And below it is a place which they call the Field of the Romans, marveling, I think, from the beginning, that lying in the midst of 2.4.6 Persian places it belongs to the Romans. This Field of the Romans lies on level ground, and is exceedingly rich 2.4.7 in crops. One might infer from the following as well, that the Persian borders surround the place on all sides. 2.4.8 There is a very famous fortress among the Persians, Sisauranon by name, which the Emperor Justinian once captured and razed to the ground, having made captive a great multitude of the Persian cavalry along with Bleschames their commander, made 2.4.9 so by him. This is distant from the city of Dara a two days' journey for an unencumbered man; and it is about three stades distant from this Rhabdios. 2.4.10 Formerly, therefore, this place was both unguarded and entirely insignificant to the Romans. Accordingly, it never received from them either a garrison or a fortification or any other good 2.4.11 thing. Indeed, those who cultivated the field, which I just mentioned, as if performing some other forced service, used to bring fifty gold pieces annually to the Persians, on the condition that they might possess their own property more securely and be able to enjoy the crops growing there. 2.4.12 But the Emperor Justinian arranged for everything to be transformed for them. For by surrounding Rhabdios with a wall along the summit of the rocks which rise up there, he has made the 2.4.13 place inaccessible to the enemy, with nature obviously assisting. And since the inhabitants there were in want of water, as there was no spring at all on the summit of the crags, he both constructed two reservoirs for water and, by quarrying through the rocks there in many places, he managed to create very large stores of water, so that when rain water collected there, the people there might use it more securely, so that they would not be easily captured when pressed by a lack of water. 2.4.14 And all the other forts situated in the mountains, which happen to extend from here and from the city of Dara as far as Amida, both Ciphus and Sauras and Margdis and Lournes and Idrphthon and Atachas and Siphrios and Rhipalthas and Banasymeon, and furthermore Sinas and Rasios, and Dabanas, and as many others as are there from of old, which were formerly crowned with a truly ridiculous form, he rebuilt with security and transformed them into the beauty and strength they now display, making them impregnable and established as the surest defenses of Roman 2.4.15 territory. Here hangs a mountain high as heaven, 2.4.16 precipitous and altogether impossible to approach. And in the plain below lies a country both earthy and very soft, good for ploughing, and simply excellent for pasturing cattle. For it is suit2.4.17ably green with grass. And very many villages are at the foot of the mountain. And men inhabit them who are prosperous in the acquisition of necessities, 2.4.18 but easily captured, if anyone should approach. This the Emperor Justinian corrected for them, by building a fort on the summit of the mountain, so that, having deposited their most precious things in it, whenever the enemy should approach, running up they might be 2.4.19 saved; And the fort has been named "Of the Emperors." And indeed also the forts around the city of Amida, which were built of mud and completely accessible to the enemy, he rebuilt with precision and transformed them all to the highest degree of secu2.4.20rity. Among which are the small town of Apadnas and that of Birthon.

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ἑκάτερα τὰ Περσῶν ὅρια ἐπὶ μακρότατον 2.4.3 ξυμβαίνει εἶναι. ὅπερ μοι κατ' ἀρχὰς ἀγαμένῳ καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἀναπυνθανομένῳ ὅντινα τρόπον Ῥωμαίοις προσήκουσα ὁδός τε καὶ χώρα γῆν ἑκατέρωθι τὴν πολεμίαν διακεκλήρωται, ἀπήγγελλόν τινες ὡς εἴη μὲν Περσῶν τὸ χωρίον ποτέ, δεομένῳ δὲ τῷ Περσῶν βασιλεῖ τῶν τις Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκρατόρων ἀμπέλοις τινὰ κατακορῆ κώμην ἐπὶ Μαρτυροπόλεως οὖσαν δώσειε, τοῦτο 2.4.4 δὴ αὐτῆς τὸ χωρίον ἀνταλλαξάμενος. τὸ μὲν οὖν Ῥάβδιος ἐπὶ πετρῶν οἰκεῖται ἀποτόμων τε καὶ ὅλως ἀγρίων, 2.4.5 αἵπερ ἐνταῦθα ἐπανεστήκασι θαυμάσιον ὅσον. ἔνερθεν δὲ αὐτοῦ χωρίον ἐστίν, ὅπερ καλοῦσι Ῥωμαίων ἀγρόν, ἀγασθέντες, οἶμαι, τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ὅτι δὴ ἐν μέσῳ χωρίων 2.4.6 Περσικῶν κείμενον Ῥωμαίοις προσήκει. οὗτος δὲ ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἀγρὸς κεῖται μὲν τῆς γῆς ἐν ὑπτίῳ, ἀγαθῶν 2.4.7 δέ ἐστι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ληίοις κομιδῇ εὔπορος. τεκμηριώσειε δ' ἄν τις καὶ τοῖσδε, ὅτι δὴ πανταχόθεν τὸν χῶρον περιβάλλουσι τὰ Περσῶν ὅρια. 2.4.8 Πόλισμά ἐστιν ἐν Πέρσαις ἐπιφανὲς ἄγαν, ὄνομα Σισαυράνων, ὅπερ ποτὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς ἐξελὼν ἐς ἔδαφος καθεῖλεν, ὅμιλον πολὺν τῶν ἐν Πέρσαις ἱππέων ξὺν Βλησχάμῃ τῷ σφῶν ἡγεμόνι δορυαλώτους πεποιη2.4.9 μένος. τοῦτο πόλεως μὲν ∆άρας ὁδῷ ἡμέραιν διέχει δυοῖν εὐζώνῳ ἀνδρί· τούτου δὲ τοῦ Ῥάβδιος σημείοις 2.4.10 διέστηκε τρισὶ μάλιστα. πρότερον μὲν οὖν ἀφύλακτός τε ἦν ὁ χῶρος ὅδε καὶ Ῥωμαίοις παντελῶς ἄσημος. οὐκοῦν οὔτε φρουρᾶς οὔτε ὀχυρώματος οὔτε ἄλλου ὅτουοῦν ἀγα2.4.11 θοῦ πρὸς αὐτῶν ἔλαχε πώποτε. Πέρσαις ἀμέλει οἱ τὸν ἀγρὸν γεωργοῦντες, οὗπερ ἐπεμνήσθην ἀρτίως, ὥσπερ ἄλλο τι ἀγγαροφοροῦντες, πεντήκοντα ἐπετείους χρυσοῦς ἔφερον Πέρσαις, ἐφ' ᾧ ἀδεέστερον κεκτήσονται τὰ αὑτῶν ἴδια καὶ καρπῶν δύνωνται τῶν τῇδε φυομένων 2.4.12 ὀνίνασθαι. βασιλεὺς δὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς ἅπαντα αὐτοῖς μεταπεφυκέναι διεσκευάσατο. τειχίσματι γὰρ τὸ Ῥάβδιος περιβαλὼν κατὰ τῶν πετρῶν τὴν ὑπερβολήν, αἵπερ ἐκείνῃ ἀνέχουσιν, ἀπρόσοδον αὐτὸ τοῖς πολεμίοις πεποίηται τὸ 2.4.13 χωρίον, δηλονότι ξυλλαμβανούσης τῆς φύσεως. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὕδατος οἱ τῇδε ᾠκημένοι ἐσπάνιζον, ἐν τῇ τῶν σκοπέλων ἀκρωρείᾳ πηγῆς ὡς ἥκιστα οὔσης, ταμιεῖά τε ὑδάτων εἰργάσατο δύο καὶ τὰς ἐκείνῃ πέτρας πολλαχῇ διορύξας παμπληθεῖς ὑδάτων θησαυροὺς διεπράξατο εἶναι, ὅπως δὴ ξυρρεόντων ὑετίων ἐνταῦθα ὑδάτων ἀδεέστερον αὐτοῖς οἱ τῇδε ἄνθρωποι δύνωνται χρῆσθαι, ὡς μὴ τοῦ ὕδατος πιεζόμενοι τῇ ἀπορίᾳ εὐάλωτοι εἶεν. 2.4.14 Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ φρούρια πάντα ἐν ὄρει κείμενα, ἅπερ ἐνθένδε τε καὶ ἐκ ∆άρας πόλεως ἄχρι ἐς Ἄμιδαν διήκειν ξυμβαίνει, τό τε Κιφὰς καὶ Σαυρὰς καὶ Μάργδις τε καὶ Λούρνης τό τε Ἰδριφθὸν καὶ Ἀταχὰς καὶ Σίφριός τε καὶῬιπαλθὰς καὶ Βανασυμέων, ἔτι μέντοι καὶ Σινὰς καὶ Ῥάσιος, καὶ ∆αβανάς, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐνταῦθα ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἐστι, γελοιότατα δῆθεν τῷ σχήματι ἀποτεθριγκωμένα τὸ πρότερον ἀνοικοδομησάμενος σὺν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ ἔς τε τὸ νῦν φαινόμενον κάλλος τε καὶ ὀχύρωμα μεταθέμενος ἀνάλωτα εἶναι καὶ προβεβλῆσθαι Ῥωμαίων τῆς γῆς βεβαιότατα 2.4.15 κατεστήσατο. ἐνταῦθα ὄρος οὐρανόμηκες ἀποκρέμαται, 2.4.16 ἀπόκρημνόν τε καὶ προσελθεῖν ἀμήχανον ὅλως. ἐν πεδίῳ δὲ ὑπόκειται χώρα γεώδης τε καὶ μαλθακὴ λίαν, ἀγαθὴ μὲν ἀρόσαι, θρέμμασι δὲ ἀτεχνῶς εὔνομος. ἐπι2.4.17 εικῶς γὰρ τῇ πόᾳ χλοάζει. παμπληθεῖς δὲ κῶμαι παρὰ τοὺς πρόποδας τοῦ ὄρους εἰσίν. οἰκοῦσί τε αὐτὰς ἄνθρωποι τὰ μὲν ἐς κτῆσιν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων εὐδαίμονες, 2.4.18 εὐάλωτοι δέ, εἴ τις προσίοι. ὅπερ αὐτοῖς ἐπηνώρθωσεν Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεύς, φρούριον ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους τῇ ἀκρωνυχίᾳ δειμάμενος, ἵνα δὴ τὰ σφίσιν ἐναποθέμενοι τιμιώτατα, ἐπειδὰν προσίοιεν οἱ πολέμιοι, ἀνατρέχοντες δια2.4.19 σώζωνται· Βασιλέων δὲ τὸ φρούριον ἐπωνόμασται. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὰ ἀμφὶ πόλιν Ἄμιδαν φρούρια, πηλῷ τε περιβεβλημένα καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις βάσιμα παντάπασιν ὄντα, ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἀνοικοδομησάμενος ἅπαντα ἐς τῆς ἀσφα2.4.20 λείας τὸ ἀκριβέστατον μετεστήσατο. ἐν οἷς τό τε Ἀπάδνας καὶ τὸ Βιρθὸν πολίχνιόν ἐστιν.