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he subjected tribes to the Roman empire, so that he was the first to bring under the yoke the races of the Scythians and Sarmatians, who had not yet previously learned to be enslaved, compelling them, even unwillingly, to regard the Romans as masters. For previous rulers even used to pay tribute to the Scythians, and the Romans were enslaved to barbarians 4.5.2 by annual contributions. But this report was not tolerable to the emperor, nor was it considered honorable for the victor to offer the same things as his predecessors; but trusting in his Savior, he raised the trophy of victory against these also, and in a short time subdued them all, now chastening the rebellious with a military hand, now taming the rest with reasonable embassies, having changed them from a lawless and beastly life to a rational and lawful one. Thus then the Scythians learned at last to be subject to the Romans. 4.6.1 And God himself drove the Sarmatians under Constantine's feet, having subdued in some such way the men who exulted in their barbarian spirit. For when the Scythians rose up against them, the masters armed their servants for defense against the enemy. But when the slaves were victorious, they took up their shields against their masters and drove them all from their own country. But they found no other haven of safety than Constantine alone; and he, knowing how to save them, received all of them into the Roman territory, and enlisted the suitable ones in his own armies, and to the others he distributed land for cultivation for their livelihood, so that they confessed that their misfortune had turned out for their good, as they enjoyed Roman liberty instead of barbarian savagery. Thus indeed God granted him victories over all nations, so that all sorts of tribes of barbarians were willing to submit to him voluntarily. At any rate, continuous embassies from all sides brought the most precious gifts from among them, so that we ourselves, being present on one occasion, saw remarkable figures of barbarians standing in ordered ranks before the entrance gate of the palace, whose dress was strange, and the style of their appearance different, the hair of their head and beard being very diverse, and the look of their grim faces was barbarian and somehow terrifying, and their bodies were of immense size; some had ruddy faces, some were whiter than snow, some were blacker than ebony and pitch, and others partook of a middle complexion, since indeed the tribes of the Blemmyes and of the Indians and Ethiopians, who are divided in two, the furthest 4.7.2 of men, were seen in the aforementioned scene. Each of these in turn, as in a painting, brought to the emperor the precious things from their lands: some, golden crowns; others, diadems of precious stones; others, fair-haired boys; others, barbarian robes embroidered with gold and flowers; others, horses; others, shields and long spears and arrows and bows, indicating by these 4.7.3 their readiness to provide service and alliance to the emperor if he so wished. Receiving and accepting these from those who brought them, the emperor gave so much in return that at one time he made the bringers very rich; and he also honored the most distinguished among them with Roman dignities, so that many now came to love their stay there, having forgotten their return to their own lands. 4.8.1 And when the king of the Persians too thought it right to become acquainted with Constantine through an embassy 4.8.1 and he too sent gifts as tokens of friendly treaties, the emperor also made treaties with this one, surpassing with excessive generosity in his return-gifts the one who had begun the honor. For having learned that among the Persian race the churches of God were numerous and that peoples of countless men were gathered in the flocks of Christ, rejoicing at this news, as a common guardian of those everywhere, again here also he exercised his providence on behalf of them all. And he himself will indeed show this in his own words, through the letter which he sent to the king of the Persians, with all care and attention entrusting the men to him. Now this personal letter of the emperor is preserved by us in the Roman tongue, but having been translated into the Greek language, it might be more intelligible to those who read it, somewhat as follows

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φῦλα τῇ Ῥωμαίων καθυπέταττεν ἀρχῇ, ὡς τὰ Σκυθῶν καὶ Σαυροματῶν γένη μήπω πρότερον δουλεύειν μεμαθηκότα πρῶτος αὐτὸς ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἤγαγε, δεσπότας ἡγεῖσθαι Ῥωμαίους καὶ μὴ θέλοντας ἐπαναγκάσας. Σκύθαις μὲν γὰρ καὶ δασμοὺς οἱ πρόσθεν ἐτέλουν ἄρχοντες, Ῥωμαῖοί τε βαρβάροις ἐδούλευον 4.5.2 εἰσφοραῖς ἐτησίοις. οὐκ ἦν δ' ἄρα οὗτος βασιλεῖ φορητὸς ὁ λόγος, οὐδὲ τῷ νικητῇ καλὸν ἐνομίζετο τὰ ἴσα τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν προσφέρειν, τῷ δ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιθαρρῶν σωτῆρι τὸ νικητικὸν τρόπαιον καὶ τούτοις ἐπανατείνας, ἐν ὀλίγῳ καιρῷ πάντας παρεστήσατο, ἄρτι μὲν τοὺς ἀφηνιῶντας στρατιωτικῇ σωφρονίσας χειρί, ἄρτι δὲ λογικαῖς πρεσβείαις τοὺς λοιποὺς ἡμερώσας, ἐξ ἀνόμου τε καὶ θηριώδους βίου ἐπὶ τὸ λογικὸν καὶ νόμιμον μεθαρμοσάμενος. οὕτω δ' οὖν Σκύθαι Ῥωμαίοις ἔγνωσάν ποτε δουλεύειν. 4.6.1 Σαυρομάτας δ' αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ὑπὸ τοῖς Κωνσταντίνου ποσὶν ἤλαυνεν, ὧδέ πη τοὺς ἄνδρας βαρβαρικῷ φρονήματι γαυρουμένους χειρωσάμενος. Σκυθῶν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐπαναστάντων τοὺς οἰκέτας ὥπλιζον οἱ δεσπόται πρὸς ἄμυναν τῶν πολεμίων. ἐπεὶ δ' ἐκράτουν οἱ δοῦλοι, κατὰ τῶν δεσποτῶν ἤραντο τὰς ἀσπίδας πάντας τ' ἤλαυνον τῆς οἰκείας. οἱ δὲ λιμένα σωτηρίας οὐκ ἄλλον ἢ μόνον Κωνσταντῖνον εὕραντο, ὁ δ' οἷα σῴζειν εἰδὼς τούτους πάντας ὑπὸ τῇ Ῥωμαίων εἰσεδέχετο χώρᾳ, ἐν οἰκείοις τε κατέλεγε στρατοῖς τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους, τοῖς δ' ἄλλοις τῶν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν εἵνεκα χώρας εἰς γεωργίαν διένεμεν, ὡς ἐπὶ καλῷ τὴν συμφορὰν αὐτοῖς ὁμολογεῖν γεγενῆσθαι Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἐλευθερίας ἀντὶ βαρβάρου θηριωδίας ἀπολαύουσιν. οὕτω δὴ θεὸς αὐτῷ τὰς κατὰ πάντων ἐθνῶν ἐδωρεῖτο νίκας, ὡς καὶ ἑκοντὶ ἐθέλειν ὑποτάττεσθαι αὐτῷ παντοῖα φῦλα βαρβάρων. Συνεχεῖς γοῦν ἁπανταχόθεν οἱ διαπρεσβευόμενοι δῶρα τὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς πολυτελῆ διεκόμιζον, ὡς καὶ αὐτούς ποτε παρατυχόντας ἡμᾶς πρὸ τῆς αὐλείου τῶν βασιλείων πυλῶν στοιχηδὸν ἐν τάξει περίβλεπτα σχήματα βαρβάρων ἑστῶτα θεάσασθαι, οἷς ἔξαλλος μὲν ἡ στολή, διαλλάττων δ' ὁ τῶν σχημάτων τρόπος, κόμη τε κεφαλῆς καὶ γενείου πάμπολυ διεστῶσα, βλοσυρῶν τε ἦν προσώπων βάρβαρος καὶ καταπληκτική τις ὄψις, σωμάτων θ' ἡλικίας ὑπερβάλλοντα μεγέθη· καὶ οἷς μὲν ἐρυθραίνετο τὰ πρόσωπα, οἷς δὲ λευκότερα χιόνος ἦν, οἷς δ' ἐβένου καὶ πίττης μελάντερα, οἱ δὲ μέσης μετεῖχον κράσεως, ἐπεὶ καὶ Βλεμμύων γένη Ἰνδῶν τε καὶ Αἰθιόπων, οἳ διχθὰ δεδαίαται ἔσχατοι 4.7.2 ἀνδρῶν, τῇ τῶν εἰρημένων ἐθεωρεῖτο ἱστορίᾳ. ἐν μέρει δὲ τούτων ἕκαστοι, ὥσπερ ἐν πίνακος γραφῇ, τὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς τίμια βασιλεῖ προσεκόμιζον, οἱ μὲν στεφάνους χρυσοῦς, οἱ δ' ἐκ λίθων διαδήματα τιμίων, ἄλλοι ξανθοκόμους παῖδας, οἱ δὲ χρυσῷ καὶ ἄνθεσι καθυφασμένας βαρβαρικὰς στολάς, οἱ δ' ἵππους, οἱ δ' ἀσπίδας καὶ δόρατα μακρὰ καὶ βέλη καὶ τόξα, τὴν διὰ τούτων 4.7.3 ὑπηρεσίαν τε καὶ συμμαχίαν βουλομένῳ βασιλεῖ παρέχειν ἐνδεικνύμενοι. ἃ δὴ παρὰ τῶν κομιζόντων ὑποδεχόμενος καὶ ἐντάττων, ἀντεδίδου τοσαῦτα βασιλεύς, ὡς ὑφ' ἕνα καιρὸν πλουσιωτάτους ἀποφῆναι τοὺς κομιζομένους, ἐτίμα δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαϊκοῖς ἀξιώμασι τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς διαφανεστέρους, ὥστ' ἤδη πλείους τὴν ἐνταῦθα στέργειν διατριβήν, ἐπανόδου τῆς εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα λήθην πεποιημένους. 4.8.1 Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ὁ Περσῶν βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντίνῳ γνωρίζεσθαι διὰ πρεσβεί4.8.1 ας ἠξίου δῶρά τε καὶ οὗτος σπονδῶν φιλικῶν διεπέμπετο σύμβολα, ἔπραττε δὲ τὰς συνθήκας κἀπὶ τούτῳ βασιλεύς, ὑπερβολῇ φιλοτίμῳ τὸν τῆς τιμῆς προαρξάμενον νικῶν ταῖς ἀντιδόσεσι. πυθόμενος γέ τοι παρὰ τῷ Περσῶν γένει πληθύειν τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας λαούς τε μυριάνδρους ταῖς Χριστοῦ ποίμναις ἐναγελάζεσθαι, χαίρων ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων ἀκοῇ οἷά τις κοινὸς τῶν ἁπανταχοῦ κηδεμὼν πάλιν κἀνταῦθα τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁπάντων ἐποιεῖτο πρόνοιαν. οἰκείαις δ' οὖν αὐτὸς καὶ τοῦτο παραστήσει φωναῖς δι' ὧν πρὸς τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα διεπέμψατο γραμμάτων, σὺν ἐμμελείᾳ τῇ πάσῃ καὶ ἐπιστρεφείᾳ τοὺς ἄνδρας αὐτῷ παρατιθέμενος. φέρεται μὲν οὖν Ῥωμαίᾳ γλώττῃ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ βασιλέως ἰδιόγραφον γράμμα, μεταβληθὲν δ' ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλήνων φωνὴν γνωριμώτερον γένοιτ' ἂν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν, ὧδέ πη