,

he has laid it aside. But the Persians will not be persuaded; for facts are not arranged by words. Or are they not, in their sport, bringing the war to our very doors and, staining themselves with the love of widespread slaughter, do they not surge around the Persian phalanx? and there is nothing to prevent it 4.5.11 because of your love of war. Your treasuries are full of gold; but the cities and chambers, fields and farmsteads and estates are full of lamentations, and every fortune has partaken of a single calamity, so that you yourself might be sated with a most unhappy happiness, 4.5.12 irrigated by your wealth. Go away, then, out of the way, having paid the penalty for your wrongdoings. Let the destruction of one man be a teacher of moderation, and let this be a very gentle law, bringing salvation to those who come after; for the proclamation of kingship promises not the luxury of arrogance, but the irreproachable excellence of stewardship." 4.6.1 The assembly, therefore, was roaring against Hormisdas, insulting him, and they made light of the frankness of his words, and they were turned exceedingly to anger; glaring at him fiercely, they were provoked, marveling at the arrogance of his audacity. 4.6.2 And with a great outpouring of provocation, they bring into their midst the son of Hormisdas, that wretched young man, then they slaughter him as Hormisdas watches, gratifying their anger in all things. 4.6.3 But not providing a basis for their evils only up to this point, and having brought the wife of Hormisdas into their midst, they cut her in pieces from the womb, the sword making a cruel division of her limbs. 4.6.4 The wife, therefore, together with her afflicted child, having thus ended her life in a public theater, became the subject of a tragedy; and since Hormisdas had become an undeniable witness of this unfortunate story, blindness is bequeathed to him, and this was in a way a consolation for his 4.6.5 misfortunes. For having heated iron pins to a glow, and having brought them very strongly into contact with the fire, they applied them to the pupils of his eyes, and thus tormenting Hormisdas with tortures by the red-hot metal, they decreed night against him for all time henceforth, suspecting that he might somehow escape and cause trouble for the Persian state, holding a vivid memory of the things accomplished by Kavadh, 4.6.6 when he laid down the Persian scepters. For this Kavadh had been the father of Chosroes, who had formerly ruled the Persians, but since he was a murderer and had seized power by force and turned the kingship into a tyranny, the Persians deposed him from power and, having put him away in a prison, handed him over to be nursed in the bosoms of misery. 4.6.7 His wife made visits to him frequently and often, daily she tended to him, serving him, and with her suggestions she encouraged him to bear the dramas of his ill-omened fortune wisely. 4.6.8 The man in charge of the fortress, therefore, who was a commander and held command of a military company, falls in love with the wife. Kavadh, therefore, having heard this, urged his wife to go to bed with the fortress-commander and to bear every reef of fortune that came upon her. 4.6. When this had happened, the guard was lax, and the tension of the watch had slackened, and vigilance was enslaved by carelessness. Thence Kavadh, having engineered a change of his troubles and having put on his wife's clothes, departed from the prison, leaving his wife behind wearing his own garments. 4.6.10 Taking with him, then, his most trusted friend Seoses, he approaches the nations of the Huns, whom history has in many places made known as Turks. Then, having been most kindly entertained by the king of the Ephthalites and having acquired very considerable forces, having prevailed in battle over his adversaries, he recovers his 4.6.11 power, having returned to the palace. Kavadh, therefore, repaying Seoses in accordance with the law of friendship, made him illustrious with the highest offices, having most cruelly exacted penalties from those who had wronged him. These things, then, these things the satraps of the Persians, considering

ἀπεδύσατο· ἀλλ' οὐ πεισθήσονται Πέρσαι· οὐ γὰρ τὰ πράγματα τοῖς λόγοις συνδιατίθενται. ἢ οὐχὶ θυραυλοῦσιν ἡμῖν τὸν πόλεμον παίζοντες καὶ φιλεπίδημον φόνον κατασπιλάζοντες περὶ τὴν Περσικὴν ἀναχέονται φάλαγγα; καὶ τὸ κωλῦσον οὐκ ἔστι 4.5.11 διὰ τὸ σὸν φιλοπόλεμον. πλήρεις οἱ σοὶ θησαυροὶ τοῦ χρυσοῦ· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὀδυρμῶν αἱ πόλεις τε καὶ οἱ θάλαμοι ἀγροί τε καὶ αὐλῶνες καὶ γήδια, καὶ μιᾶς συμφορᾶς πᾶσα κεκοινώνηκε τύχη, ἵνα δυστυχεστάτης αὐτὸς εὐδαιμονίας 4.5.12 ἐμφορηθείης ὑπὸ τῶν χρημάτων καταρδευόμενος. ἄπιθι λοιπὸν ἐκποδὼν τῶν σῶν ἀδικημάτων παρασχόμενος δίκην. ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου φθορὰ σωφροσύνης ἔστω διδάσκαλος, καὶ τοῦτο νόμος ἔστω λίαν ἐπιεικὴς τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα σωτήριος· οὐ γὰρ ἀλαζονείας τρυφήν, ἀλλ' ἀνεπονείδιστον οἰκονομίας ὑπεροχὴν ἡ τῆς βασιλείας ἀναγόρευσις ἐπαγγέλλεται." 4.6.1 ῾Ο μὲν οὖν ξύλλογος κατεκελάδει ῾Ορμίσδου, ὑβρί- ζοντες ἐς αὐτόν, καὶ τῶν λόγων τὴν παρρησίαν ἀπεφαυλίζοντο, ἐτράποντο δ' ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἐς θυμόν, κυνοφθαλμιζόμενοί τε παρεδριμύττοντο, τοῦ θράσους ἀγάμενοι τὰ φυσή4.6.2 ματα. καὶ πολλῇ τῇ ἐκχύσει τοῦ ἐρεθίσματος ἄγουσιν εἰς μέσον τὸν παῖδα ῾Ορμίσδου, τὸ μειράκιον ἐκεῖνο τὸ δύστηνον, εἶτα ἀποσφάττουσί τε ὁρῶντος ῾Ορμίσδου πάντα τῇ ὀργῇ 4.6.3 χαριζόμενοι. ἀτὰρ μὴ μέχρι τούτου τοῖς κακοῖς ὑπόθεσιν παρεχόμενοι καὶ τοῦ ῾Ορμίσδου τὸ γύναιον ἐς μέσον παραστησάμενοι ἀπὸ τῆς κύστεως τεμαχίζουσιν, κακῶς δικαζούσης 4.6.4 τῆς μαχαίρας τοῖς μέλεσιν. τὸ μὲν οὖν γύναιον ἅμα τῷ κατηθλιωμένῳ παιδὶ οὕτω τὸν βίον ἐν ἐπισήμῳ θεάτρῳ καταστρεψάμενον τραγῳδίας ὑπῆρχεν ὑπόθεσις· ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς δυστυχοῦς ἱστορίας γέγονεν ῾Ορμίσδας ἀπαράγραφος μάρτυς, κληροδοτεῖται τὴν τύφλωσιν, καὶ τοῦτό πως ἦν αὐτῷ τῶν 4.6.5 συμφορῶν ἐπιμύθιον. περόνας γὰρ σιδηρᾶς ἀνθρακεύσαντες καὶ μάλα καρτερῶς ταύτας συνουσιάσαντες τῷ πυρὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κόρας τῶν ὀμμάτων ἐπέβαλλον, οὕτω τε τῷ μύδρῳ τὸν ῾Ορμίσδαν μετὰ βασάνων τιβίζοντες νύκτα κατ' αὐτοῦ τὸ λοιπὸν διὰ παντὸς ἐψηφίζοντο, ὑποτοπήσαντες μή πως διαδράσειε καὶ πράγματα παράσχοιτο τῇ Περσῶν πολιτείᾳ, ἔναυλον τὴν μνήμην κατέχοντες τῶν ὑπὸ Καβάδου τελεσιουργηθέν4.6.6 των, ὁπηνίκα τὰ Περσικὰ σκῆπτρα κατέθετο. ὁ Καβάδης γὰρ οὗτος πατὴρ μὲν ἐγεγόνει Χοσρόου, τοῦ πάλαι Περσῶν βασιλεύσαντος, ἐπεὶ δὲ παλαμναῖός τις ἦν τήν τε ἐξουσίαν πρὸς βίαν περιεβάλετο καὶ ἐς τυραννίδα τὰ τῆς βασιλείας μετέβαλεν, τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτὸν παραλύουσι Πέρσαι ἐν εἱρκτῇ τε ἐναποθέμενοι τοῖς τῆς ταλαιπωρίας τιθηνεῖσθαι κόλποις 4.6.7 παρέδοσαν. τούτου τὸ γύναιον τὰς εἰσόδους παρ' αὐτὸν θαμά τε καὶ συχνῶς ἐπεποίητο ὁσημέραι ἐθεράπευέ τε διακονούμενον καὶ ταῖς εἰσηγήσεσιν ἐψυχαγώγει ἐμφρόνως φέρειν 4.6.8 τῆς ἀπαισίου τύχης τὰ δράματα. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐφεστηκὼς τοῦ φρουρίου, ὃς ταγματάρχης τε ἦν καὶ στίφους στρατιωτικοῦ ἐπιστασίαν ἐκέκτητο, τοῦ γυναίου καταπίπτει ἐς ἔρωτα. ὁ οὖν Καβάδης τοῦτο ἀκηκοὼς παρενεγύα τῇ γυναικὶ ἐς ταὐτὸν εὐνῆς τῷ φρουράρχῃ γενέσθαι καὶ φέρειν τῆς τύχης 4.6. ἅπασαν σπιλάδα προσπίπτουσαν. οὗ δὴ γεγονότος ἔκλυτος ἦν ἡ φρουρά, τό τε σύντονον τῆς διαφυλακῆς ἐκεχαύνωτο, καὶ δουλαγωγεῖται τῇ ῥαθυμίᾳ τὸ ἄγρυπνον. ἐντεῦθεν ὁ Καβάδης μεταβολὴν τῶν ἐνοχλούντων ἐμπορευσάμενος καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τοῦ γυναίου ἀμφιασάμενος τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἐξεχώρησε καταλείψας τὸ γύναιον τὴν αὐτοῦ στολὴν ἀμπεχόμενον. 4.6.10 Σεώσην τοίνυν δοκιμώτατον φίλον παραλαβὼν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τῶν Οὔννων προσομιλεῖ, οὓς Τούρκους πολλαχοῦ που ἡ ἱστορία ἐγνώρισεν. εἶτα ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν ᾿Εφθαλιτῶν φιλοφρονώτατα ξενισθεὶς δυνάμεις τε ἀξιολογωτάτας περιβαλόμενος, μάχῃ τῶν ἀντιπάλων κεκρατηκὼς ἀπολαμβάνει τὸ 4.6.11 κράτος ἀναζεύξας πρὸς τὰ βασίλεια. ὁ μὲν οὖν Καβάδης ἀντιταλαντεύων Σεώσῃ τῷ τῆς φιλίας θεσμῷ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν ταῖς ὑπεροχαῖς τῶν ἀρχῶν τοῦτον ἐλάμπρυνε δίκας ὑπὸ τῶν ἠδικηκότων ὠμότατα εἰσπραξάμενος. ταῦτα γοῦν ταῦτα οἱ τῶν Περσῶν σατράπαι διανοούμενοι