65
This Sauromates transgressed, as if wishing to avenge and recover the land taken from him by force. And indeed in those times, when Pharnakes, son of Pharnakes, was stephanephoros and held the first rank of the Chersonites, the Chersonites also drew up in battle against Sauromates, and meeting one another in the aforementioned places of Kaphas, both sides took their positions in the mountains. But Sauromates, being great in age, was confident in himself, and boasted insolently against the Chersonites, trusting at the same time in the countless multitude that was with him. But Pharnakes was young in age compared to Sauromates, and seeing the multitude of Sauromates, he considered with his own army that he should fight in single combat with Sauromates and that a countless multitude should not perish. And indeed, such a consideration having been made, Pharnakes declared to the multitude of Sauromates, saying: "What need is there for the destruction of so great a crowd? For you did not turn to war of your own choice, but Sauromates urged you on. Wish, therefore, to compel him to fight in single combat with me, and if through God I am able to defeat him, you may depart to your own homes unharmed, and both he and his city will have fallen under my power; but if he is able to defeat me, so too may you depart to your own homes, and he will have taken possession of my things." And the crowd of the Sauromatians, gladly accepting this, urged Sauromates to fight in single combat with Pharnakes. Sauromates, therefore, learning that Pharnakes was very young in age, and himself exceedingly large, rejoiced at this, trusting in his own strength and being fully armed with the weapons he used. And when these things were so decided, Pharnakes said to his own army: "When I go down through God to the single combat, and you see that Sauromates has his back to you and his face to his own men, while I have my face to you and my back to the enemy, all of you give one shout and only say 'Ah, ah,' and do not repeat the shout." And indeed, when both of them had gone down into the plain for the single combat and were maneuvering themselves, and Pharnakes came to be in Sauromates' position and Sauromates in Pharnakes', the army of Pharnakes gave one shout, 'Ah, ah.' And Sauromates, hearing such a shout, turned around in distress to see what the shout was that had occurred in Pharnakes' army. And as Sauromates turned his face backwards, the flap of his helmet opened a little, and immediately Pharnakes, rushing upon him, struck Sauromates with his spear and killed him. And when Sauromates had fallen, Pharnakes dismounted from his horse, beheaded him, and becoming master of the war, he released the multitude of Maeotis, but taking the Bosporans captive and taking away their land, he established it at Kybernikos above the boundary of the Chersonites, leaving them land of only forty miles, which boundaries remain to this day, but the aforementioned first boundaries are situated in Kaphas. Pharnakes, keeping a few of the Bosporans with him for the sake of farming, deemed all the others worthy of pity and released them to go to the Bosporans; who, being released by Pharnakes, on account of such a good deed and his philanthropy shown to them, erected a stele to him in the Bosporus. From that time, therefore, the kingdom of the Sauromatians in the Bosporus was dissolved. And when these things had happened, while Lamachos was stephanephoros and held the first rank of the Chersonites, and Asandros was king of the Bosporans, the Bosporans, being filled with much malice against the Chersonites and in no way able to rest in their wickedness, were always eager in some way to repay the Chersonites for the captivities. And indeed, having learned that he had an only-begotten daughter, Gykia, and Asandros also having sons, they contrived to make a marriage alliance, so that through this, fearlessly advancing
65
οὗτος ὁ Σαυρόματος ὑπερέβη, ὡς οἷα βουλόμενος τὴν μετὰ βίας αὐτῷ ἀφαιρεθεῖσαν γῆν ἐκδικῆσαι καὶ ἀπολαβεῖν. Καὶ δὴ ἐν τοῖς τότε καιροῖς στεφανηφοροῦντος καὶ πρωτεύοντος τῆς Χερσωνιτῶν Φαρνάκου, τοῦ Φαρνάκου, ἀντεπαρατάξαντο καὶ οἱ Χερσωνῖται τῷ Σαυρομάτῳ, καὶ ἀπαντήσαντες ἀλλήλους ἐν τοῖς τοῦ προειρημένου Καφᾶ τόποις, ἔστησαν ἑκάτερα τὰ μέρη ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν. Ὁ δὲ Σαυρόματος ὢν μέγας τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐθάρρησεν ἑαυτῷ, καὶ ἐμεγαλαύχει κατὰ τῶν Χερσωνιτῶν φρυαττόμενος, θαρρῶν ἅμα καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀπείρῳ πλήθει, τῷ μετ' αὐτοῦ ὄντι. Ὁ δὲ Φαρνάκος μικρὸς ἦν τῇ ἡλικίᾳ κατὰ τὸν Σαυρόματον, καὶ ἰδὼν τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ Σαυρομάτου, ἐσκέψατο μετὰ τοῦ ἰδίου στρατοῦ, ἐφ' ᾧ τε μονομαχῆσαι αὐτὸν μετὰ τοῦ Σαυρομάτου καὶ μὴ ἄπειρον πλῆθος ἀπολέσθαι. Καὶ δὴ σκέψεως τοιαύτης γενομένης, δηλοῖ ὁ Φαρνάκος τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ Σαυρομάτου λέγων, ὅτι· "Τίς χρεία ἐστὶν τοσούτου ὄχλου γενέσθαι ἀπώλειαν; Οὐ γὰρ ὑμεῖς οἰκείᾳ προαιρέσει πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐτράπητε, ἀλλὰ Σαυρόματος ὑμᾶς προετρέψατο. Θελήσατε οὖν τοῦτον ἀναγκάσαι τοῦ μονομαχῆσαι μετ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἐὰν διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνηθῶ αὐτόν, ὑμεῖς ἀναχωρεῖτε εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἀβλαβῶς, καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ πόλις αὐτοῦ ὑπέπεσάν μοι, εἰ δὲ καὶ δυνηθῇ με αὐτός, καὶ οὕτως ὑμεῖς ἀναχωρεῖτε εἰς τὰ ἴδια, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπέβη ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς." Ὁ δὲ ὄχλος τῶν Σαυρομάτων ἡδέως τοῦτο ἀποδεξάμενος προετρέψατο τὸν Σαυρόματον μονομαχῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ Φαρνάκου. Ὁ οὖν Σαυρόματος μαθὼν μικρὸν πάνυ ὄντα τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τὸν Φαρνάκον, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ὑπερμεγέθη, ἐχάρη ἐπὶ τούτῳ, πεποιθὼς τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει καὶ οἷς ἐκέχρητο ὅπλοις κατατεθωρακισμένος. Καὶ τούτων οὕτως δοξάντων, λέγει ὁ Φαρνάκος τῷ ἰδίῳ στρατῷ, ὅτι· "Ὅταν κατέλθω διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸ μονομαχῆσαι, καὶ ἴδητε, ὅτι ὁ Σαυρόματος τὰ νῶτα αὐτοῦ ἔχει πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ τὴν ὄψιν πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους, ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν ὄψιν μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ τὰ νῶτά μου πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους, ἅπαντες ὑμεῖς βάλετε μίαν κραυγὴν καὶ μόνον λέγοντες τὸ ἆ, ἆ, καὶ μὴ δευτερώσητε ἐπὶ τῇ κραυγῇ." Καὶ δὴ κατελθόντων αὐτῶν ἀμφοτέρων ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ πρὸς τὴν μονομαχίαν καὶ τρακτευόντων ἑαυτούς, καὶ τοῦ Φαρνάκου γενομένου εἰς τὸ τοῦ Σαυρομάτου μέρος καὶ τοῦ Σαυρομάτου εἰς τὸ τοῦ Φαρνάκου, ἔδωκεν ὁ τοῦ Φαρνάκου στρατὸς μίαν φωνήν, τὸ ἆ, ἆ. Ὁ δὲ Σαυρόματος τῆς τοιαύτης φωνῆς ἀκούσας περιεστράφη ἰδεῖν ἐναγώνιος, τίς ἡ γενομένη κραυγὴ ἐν τῷ τοῦ Φαρνάκου στρατῷ. Ἐν δὲ τῷ περιστρέψαι τὸν Σαυρόματον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ὄψιν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω διηνοίχθη μικρὸν τὸ τοῦ κασσιδίου αὐτοῦ πέταλον, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπιδραμὼν ὁ Φαρνάκος ἔδωκεν τῷ κοντῷ τὸν Σαυρόματον καὶ ἀνεῖλεν αὐτόν. Πεσόντος δὲ τοῦ Σαυρομάτου, κατελθὼν ὁ Φαρνάκος τοῦ ἵππου, ἀπεκεφάλισεν αὐτόν, καὶ γενόμενος ἐγκρατὴς τοῦ πολέμου, τὸ μὲν πλῆθος τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἀπέλυσεν, τοὺς δὲ τῆς Βοσπόρου αἰχμαλώτους λαβὼν καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν ἀφελόμενος, ἐν Κυβερνικῷ ἄνω τῆς τῶν Χερσωνιτῶν ὁροθεσίας ἔστησεν, ἄχρι τεσσαράκοντα καὶ μόνον μιλίων γῆν αὐτοῖς ἐάσας, αἵτινες ὁροθεσίαι ἕως τοῦ νῦν διαμένουσιν, αἱ δὲ εἰρημέναι πρῶται ὁροθεσίαι ἐν Καφᾷ εἰσιν ἀποκείμεναι. Ὀλίγους δέ τινας κατασχὼν παρ' ἑαυτῷ τῶν Βοσποριανῶν ὁ Φαρνάκος γεωργῶν ἕνεκα, τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας οἴκτου ἀξιώσας ἀπέλυσεν κατὰ τῶν Βοσποριανῶν ἀπελθεῖν, οἵτινες ἀπολυθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ Φαρνάκου, ὑπὲρ τῆς τοιαύτης εὐεργεσίας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας αὐτοῦ τῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς γενομένης στήλην αὐτῷ ἤγειραν ἐν τῇ Βοσπόρῳ. Ἔκτοτε οὖν λοιπὸν ἡ τῶν Σαυρομάτων ἐν τῇ Βοσπόρῳ βασιλεία κατελύθη. Τούτων δὲ οὕτως γενομένων, Λαμάχου στεφανηφοροῦντος καὶ πρωτεύοντος τῆς τῶν Χερσωνιτῶν, Ἀσάνδρου δὲ τῆς Βοσποριανῶν βασιλεύοντος, κακίᾳ πολλῇ μεμεστωμένοι οἱ Βοσποριανοὶ κατὰ τῶν Χερσωνιτῶν καὶ μηδαμῶς δυνάμενοι τῇ πονηρίᾳ ἠρεμεῖν, ἔσπευδον ἀεὶ τρόπῳ τινὶ τὴν ἀνταμοιβὴν τῶν αἰχμαλωσιῶν τοῖς Χερσωνίταις ἀποδοῦναι. Καὶ δὴ μεμαθηκότες ἔχειν θυγατέρα μονογενῆ τὴν Γυκίαν, ἔχοντος δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἀσάνδρου υἱούς, ἐμηχανῶντο ἐπιγαμβρείαν ποιήσασθαι, ὅπως διὰ τούτου ἀδεῶς ἐπιβαίνοντες