,

at the time of the Persian kingdom, certain unexpected sufferings possessing also a not ungraceful exposition of narratives. 3.8.10 For when Bahram had not resolved with Hormisdas the enmity that had just then suddenly sprung up, the monarch of Media, whom history has recorded as Hormisdas, commands a certain Median commander to go to Bahram, and to relieve him of his command at once, and to put him in fetters and bring him dishonored to the palace at once. 3.8.11 Sarames, therefore (for that was the name of the one sent by the king), having been overpowered by Bahram and given over to be devoured by one of the largest elephants, ended his life by a most bitter death; 3.8.12 and Hormisdas having been defeated in war by Bahram and deposed from his kingdom, and Chosroes the younger, the son of Hormisdas, having been overthrown by a faction at the time of his accession and having thence gone over to the Romans, that old Persian war, which had extended for two decades of years, was brought to an end. 3..1 But before we go through in greater detail both the things done by Bahram and the events concerning the defection of Chosroes the younger, let us lead the narrative back to the reign of Justin the younger, turning the account back a little; 3..2 for from this point we shall state the causes of this old Persian war. For thus the pages of history will be adorned by the unbroken sequence of the narratives. 3..3 When the emperor Justinian departed to his pure demise, having directed the Roman scepter for thirty-nine years, Justin the younger became the successor to the leadership of affairs; and he happened to be the nephew of the emperor Justinian. 3..4 Therefore, in the seventh year of the reign of Justin the younger, the Romans having broken the treaty through the levity of the emperor, the blessings of peaceful felicity were torn apart and shattered, and war was introduced to the Romans and the Medes, the receptacle of evils, the lodging-place, so to speak, of all misfortunes, the archetypal destruction of life, which one would not err from what is fitting in calling the gangrene of human affairs. 3..5 The fifty-year treaty had been agreed to by the Romans and Persians, this was corrupted and cut short by the great folly of the emperor. And from this came the beginning-of-evils advance of the Roman misfortunes. 3..6 But the Romans blamed the Parthians and proclaimed them the authors of the war, saying that the Homerites (a people of India and subject to the Romans) were being persuaded by them to revolt, and then that those people, not having been won over by their suggestions, were suffering irreparably from the Persians through raids, while peace was established between the Persians and the Roman state. 3..7 Furthermore, being vexed, they said that when the Turks had sent an embassy to the Romans then for the first time, the Persians attempted to bribe the Alans with money, so that the ambassadors passing through their territory would be killed and their passage would be allotted hindrance, 3..8 the Romans, being fond of making accusations, eagerly welcoming war and devising for themselves great advances of evils from certain small and insignificant pretexts; for their love of war brought them no benefit. 3.. But the Medes, proclaiming the Romans fathers of the war, put forward these causes: that the Romans were receiving the Armenians, who were in the position of subjects to the Persians and had advanced to rebellion and had killed Surenas, a satrap appointed over the state of the Armenians by the king of the Persians; 3..10 in addition to these things, that the Romans were not willing to pay five hundred pounds of gold each year as was customary, which the emperor Justinian had agreed to in the treaties, as if they disdained to be taxed by the king of the Persians. 3..11 But it was not this, but was given for the guarding of the fortifications of those into

καιροῦ τῇ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλείᾳ παράλογά πως παθήματα ἔκθεσίν τε ἀφηγημάτων κεκτημένα 3.8.10 οὐκ ἄκομψον. τοῦ γὰρ Βαρὰμ μὴ διαλυσαμένου πρὸς τὸν ῾Ορμίσδαν τὴν ἄρτι που ἐξαπιναίως ἔχθραν πηγάσασαν, ἐγκελεύεται ὁ τῆς Μηδικῆς μοναρχῶν, ὃν ῾Ορμίσδαν ἡ ἱστορία διέγραψεν, ἄρχοντί τινι τοῦ Μηδικοῦ πρὸς τὸν Βαρὰμ παραγενέσθαι, καὶ τῆς μὲν ἀρχῆς θᾶττον αὐτὸν παραλύσασθαι, χειροπέδαις δὲ τοῦτον ἐνεῖραι καὶ ἠτιμωμένως τοῖς ἀνα3.8.11 κτόροις θᾶττον αὐτὸν παραστήσασθαι. ὁ μὲν οὖν Σαράμης (τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπεσταλμένῳ) χειρωθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Βαρὰμ καί τινι τῶν μεγίστων ἐλεφάντων παραδοθεὶς παρανάλωμα κατεστρέψατο τὸν βίον πικροτάτῳ 3.8.12 θανάτῳ· ῾Ορμίσδου δὲ καταπολεμηθέντος ὑπὸ Βαρὰμ τῆς τε βασιλείας καθαιρεθέντος, Χοσρόου τε τοῦ νεωτέρου τοῦ τοῦ ῾Ορμίσδα παιδὸς καταστασιασθέντος κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀναρρήσεως κἀντεῦθεν προσκεχωρηκότος ῾Ρωμαίοις, ὁ γέρων ἐκεῖνος καὶ Περσικὸς διαλύεται πόλεμος εἰς δύο δεκάδας διατείνας ἐνιαυτῶν. 3..1 ᾿Αλλὰ πρὶν τά τε τῷ Βαρὰμ διαπραχθέντα τά τε συμβεβηκότα κατὰ τὴν Χοσρόου τοῦ νεωτέρου προσχώρησιν διεξοδικώτερον ἐπεξέλθωμεν, ἐπαναζεύξωμεν τὴν ἀφήγησιν ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Ιουστίνου τοῦ νεωτέρου βασιλείαν, τὸν λόγον που 3..2 πρὸς τοὐπίσω μικρὸν ἀνακλίναντες· τὰς αἰτίας γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν λέξομεν τῆς Περσικῆς ταύτης καὶ πρεσβύτιδος μάχης. οὕτω γὰρ τῷ ἀπαραλείπτῳ τῶν ἀφηγημάτων οἱ τῆς ἱστορίας ὡραϊσθήσονται πίνακες. 3..3 ᾿Ιουστινιανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος πρὸς τὴν ἀκήρατον λῆξιν μεταχωρήσαντος, ἐννέα καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτεσι τὰ ῾Ρωμαίων διιθύναντος σκῆπτρα, γίνεται τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἡγεμονίας διάδοχος ᾿Ιουστῖνος ὁ νέος· ἀδελφιδοῦς δ' οὗτος ἐτύγχανεν 3..4 ὢν ᾿Ιουστινιανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος. ἑβδόμῳ τοιγαροῦν ἐνιαυτῷ τῆς βασιλείας ᾿Ιουστίνου τοῦ νέου παρασπονδησάντων ῾Ρωμαίων τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως κουφότητι, τὰ τῆς εἰρηναίας εὐδαιμονίας διασπᾶταί τε καὶ περιρρήγνυται, ἐπεισάγεται δὲ ῾Ρωμαίοις καὶ Μήδοις ὁ πόλεμος, ἡ δεξαμενὴ τῶν κακῶν, τὸ πάντων τῶν δυστυχημάτων ὡς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν καταγώγιον, τὸ ἀρχέτυπον τοῦ βίου λυτήριον, ὃ σηπεδόνα τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων ἀποκαλῶν τις οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τοῦ πρέποντος. 3..5 αἳ δὲ συνθῆκαι πεντηκοντούτιδες ῾Ρωμαίοις καὶ Πέρσαις διωμολόγηντο, αὗται τῇ μεγάλῃ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀνοίᾳ διαφθείρονταί τε καὶ παρατέμνονται. κἀντεῦθεν ἡ ἀρχέκακος πρόοδος 3..6 τῶν ῾Ρωμαϊκῶν ἀτυχημάτων ἐγίνετο. καταιτιῶνται δὲ ῾Ρωμαῖοι τοὺς Πάρθους καὶ τοῦ πολέμου δημιουργοὺς ἀνεκήρυττον, φάσκοντες τοὺς ῾Ομηρίτας (᾿Ινδικὸν δὲ τὸ γένος καὶ ῾Ρωμαίοιςὑπήκοον) πρὸς ἀπόστασιν ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὑποπείθεσθαι, εἶτα μὴ νενικημένους ἐκείνους ταῖς εἰσηγήσεσι πάσχειν ὑπὸ Περσῶν δι' ἐφόδων ἀνήκεστα, τῆς εἰρήνης διακεχυμένης Πέρσαις 3..7 τε καὶ τῷ ῾Ρωμαϊκῷ πολιτεύματι. προσέτι γε χαλεπαίνοντες ἔφασκον ὅτι γε πρὸς ῾Ρωμαίους Τούρκων πρεσβευσαμένων τότε νῦν πρῶτον ὑποφθείρειν τοὺς ᾿Αλανοὺς χρήμασιν ἐπειράθησαν Πέρσαι, ἐφ' ᾧ δι' αὐτῶν ἰόντας ἀναιρεθῆναι τοὺς 3..8 πρέσβεις καὶ κωλύμην ἀποκληρώσασθαι τὴν διάβασιν, φιλαιτίως ῾Ρωμαῖοι τὸ πολεμεῖν ἀσμενίζοντες καὶ μικραῖς καὶ ἐξιτήλοις τισὶν ἀφορμαῖς μεγάλας προόδους κακῶν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς σοφιστεύοντες· οὐ γὰρ ὄνησιν αὐτοῖς τὸ φιλοπόλεμον 3.. προσεπόρισεν. Μῆδοι δὲ πατέρας τοῦ πολέμου ῾Ρωμαίους κηρύττοντες αἰτίας ταύτας προυτίθεσαν, τὸ ὑποδέχεσθαι τοὺς ᾿Αρμενίους ῾Ρωμαίους, ἐν ὑπηκόων μοίρᾳ Πέρσαις τυγχάνοντας καὶ ἐς τυραννίδα ἐληλακότας ἀνελόντας τε Σουρήνην κλιματάρχην ὑπὸ τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως τῆς 3..10 ᾿Αρμενίων πολιτείας γενόμενον· πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ μὴ ἐθέλειν ῾Ρωμαίους ἀν' ἔτος ἕκαστον πεντακοσίας λίτρας χρυσίου κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς κατατίθεσθαι, ἃς ᾿Ιουστινιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ταῖς συνθήκαις διωμολόγησεν, οἷά περ ἀπαξιοῦντας 3..11 φορολογεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως. ὃ δ' ἦν οὐ τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ φρουρᾷ τῶν ὀχυρωμάτων ἐδίδοντο τῶν εἰς