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they shared their opinion with the soldiers. And since it seemed to them also that they must fight, and they were even more eager than the emperor, dismounting from their horses and calling upon God, to punish for their injustice those who had unjustly campaigned against them, and to aid them who were justly defending themselves, and arming themselves with the cross, they mounted their horses and advanced against the barbarians with an undaunted and reckless spirit. And the Scythians, seeing them, also advanced to meet them; and those who were encamped nearby came to their aid. And when a fierce battle took place, with God fighting alongside the Romans, they routed the barbarians and won a decisive victory; and they killed some of them, and drowned the rest by throwing them into the Hebrus. And no more than twenty-eight of them were saved, who were able to swim across the river. And the Romans, having despoiled the enemy's dead, and having plundered the rest of the baggage, and having taken the booty and the prisoners, came to Didymoteichon with the emperor. And when the 1.191 surviving barbarians came to the main camp, when what had happened was reported to the generals, having selected a not inconsiderable force from among the best, they sent them to the place where the battle had taken place, so that if they should encounter the victorious Romans, they might fight again to reverse the defeat; but if not, they might at least bury their own dead, and if any wounded were found among them still breathing, they might pick them up and deem them worthy of care. And having come and having deemed the dead worthy of burial, for they found no one alive, they no longer returned towards the camp, but made their way on the road leading to their own homes. And when it was reported to the emperor that a Scythian army was near Morra, leaving Didymoteichon, he rode against them with all possible speed. And when they had crossed the Hebrus near the city called Tzernomianon, since the emperor also brought the army he was leading across the same ford, the army left behind by the emperor at Adrianople, along with their commanders, met the emperor there, congratulating him on the victory over the barbarians, but grieving that they themselves had not been present, but had missed the battle, and they pursued, having been united. And having come to the river called the Tuntzan, they found the Scythian army having just crossed. And just as before, the terrain providing, the entire Scythian army was visible to them, but they themselves were unseen, except for slightly less than a hundred of the vanguard, among whom was the emperor himself. 1.192 Seeing them, the Scythians also halted their march, but they did not advance to battle, on the one hand, because the river was already flooding at the beginning of spring; on the other, because with the enemy being unseen, they feared the engagement, lest they might not come off well, with the enemy being more numerous than themselves. And likewise to the Romans it seemed unprofitable to advance against the Scythians, who outnumbered them not ten times but even more. Nevertheless, the emperor with the visible Romans and Taspugas, one of the Scythian commanders, himself with as many barbarians, being on opposite sides of the river, held a brief conversation. For when the barbarian asked them who they were, the emperor answered through one of the interpreters, that they were also men seeking to hunt something, just as they themselves were doing. And the emperor said that they were not acting honorably, nor was it the work of brave men, but of robbers, coming without a declaration of war and enslaving farmers, men who did not know how to fight. For they ought rather to have announced their attack beforehand and to encounter soldiers accustomed to fighting; and if you were superior to them, it would be no wonder if you also enslaved these unwarlike men as a prize for your valor. But Taspugas said that none of these things were up to them; for being under authority, they were ordered to advance and to retreat or to remain. And he asked if they were the ones who the day before yesterday had defeated the Scythian army in battle 1.193 and destroyed it. But the emperor [said] that they were not, nor

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στρατιώταις τὴν γνώμην ἐκοινοῦντο. ὡς δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει μαχητέα εἶναι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἦσαν προθυμότεροι τοῦ βασιλέως, τῶν ἵππων ἀποβάντες καὶ θεὸν ἐπικαλεσάμενοι, τοὺς μὲν ἀδίκως ἐπιστρατεύσαντας κολάσασθαι τῆς ἀδικίας, αὐτοῖς δὲ τιμωρῆσαι δικαίως ἀμυνομένοις, σταυρῷ τε καθοπλίσαντες ἑαυτοὺς, ἔφιπποι γενόμενοι, ἐπῄεσαν τοῖς βαρβάροις ἀτρέπτῳ καὶ παραβόλῳ φρονήματι. καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι ἰδόντες ἀντεπῄεσαν καὶ αὐτοί· προσεβοήθουν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐγγὺς ἐστρατοπεδευμένοι. καὶ γενομένης μάχης καρτερᾶς, θεοῦ συμμαχοῦντος τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις, ἐτρέψαντό τε τοὺς βαρβάρους καὶ ἐνίκησαν κατὰ κράτος· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτειναν αὐτῶν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἀπέπνιξαν εἰς τὸν Ἕβρον ἐμβαλόντες. διεσώθησαν δὲ οὐ πλείους ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσιν αὐτῶν, οἵτινες ἴσχυσαν διανήξασθαι τὸν ποταμόν. οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τούς τε νεκροὺς σκυλεύσαντες τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην διαρπάσαντες ἀποσκευὴν, καὶ τὴν λείαν καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους λαβόντες, ἧκον εἰς ∆ιδυμότειχον ἅμα τῷ βασιλεῖ. τῶν δὲ διασωθέντων 1.191 βαρβάρων εἰς τὸ μέγα στρατόπεδον ἐλθόντων, ὡς τοῖς στρατηγοῖς ἠγγέλθη τὸ συμβὰν, στρατιὰν ἐκ τῶν ἀρίστων οὐκ ὀλίγην ἐπιλεξάμενοι, ἀπέστειλαν καθ' ὃν ἡ μάχη τόπον ἐγεγόνει, ὡς ἂν εἰ μὲν ἐντύχοιεν τοῖς νικήσασι Ῥωμαίων, ἀναμαχέσωνται τὴν ἧτταν· εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλὰ τούς τε σφετέρους θάψωσι νεκροὺς, καὶ εἴ τινες ἐν αὐτοῖς εὑρεθῶσιν ἐμπνέοντες τραυματίαι, ἀνελόμενοι ἀξιώσωσιν ἐπιμελείας. ἐλθόντες δὲ καὶ ταφῆς ἠξιωκότες τοὺς νεκροὺς, ζῶντα γὰρ οὐδένα εὗρον, πρὸς μὲν τὸ στρατόπεδον ὑπέστρεψαν οὐκέτι, τὴν δὲ πρὸς τὰ οἰκεῖα φέρουσαν ἤνυον ὁδόν. ὡς δὲ ἠγγέλθη βασιλεῖ περὶ Μόῤῥαν εἶναι Σκυθικὴν στρατιὰν, ∆ιδυμοτείχου ἐξελθὼν, ἤλαυνεν ὡς εἶχε τάχους ἐπ' αὐτούς. διαβάντων δὲ αὐτῶν τὸν Ἕβρον κατὰ τὴν Τζερνομιάνου λεγομένην πόλιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν διεβίβασε πόρον ἣν ἦγε στρατιὰν, ἡ κατὰ τὴν Ἀδριανούπολιν καταλειφθεῖσα παρὰ βασιλέως στρατιὰ ἅμα τοῖς σφετέροις ἄρχουσιν ἐνταῦθα προσέμιξαν τῷ βασιλεῖ, συγχαίροντες μὲν αὐτῷ τῆς κατὰ τῶν βαρβάρων νίκης, ἀνιώμενοι δ', ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ μὴ παρῆσαν, ἀλλ' ὑστέρησαν τῆς μάχης, καὶ ἐπεδίωκον ἑνωθέντες. γενόμενοι δὲ κατὰ τὸν Τοῦντζαν λεγόμενον ποταμὸν, τὴν μὲν Σκυθικὴν ἄρτι διαβᾶσαν εὗρον στρατιάν. ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ πρότερον, τοῦ τόπου παρασχόντος, αὐτοῖς μὲν ἡ τῶν Σκυθῶν ἑωρᾶτο πᾶσα στρατιὰ, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀθέατοι ἦσαν, πλὴν ὀλίγῳ ἐλασσόνων τῶν προτάκτων ἑκατὸν, ἐν οἷς καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν βασιλεύς. 1.192 οὓς ἰδόντες οἱ Σκύθαι, τῆς πορείας μὲν ἔστησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ, οὐ μέντοι καὶ ἐχώρησαν πρὸς μάχην, τοῦτο μὲν, ὅτι καὶ ὁ ποταμὸς πλημμυρῶν ἦν ἤδη ἔαρος ἀρχομένου· τοῦτο δ', ὅτι καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἀφανῶν ὄντων ἐδεδοίκεσαν τὴν συμπλοκὴν, μὴ οὐκ ἀπαλλάξουσι καλῶς πλειόνων ἢ κατὰ σφᾶς ὄντων. τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις τε ὁμοίως ἀλυσιτελὲς τὸ κατὰ τῶν Σκυθῶν ἐφαίνετο χωρεῖν, οὐ δεκάκις ἀλλὰ περαιτέρω ὑπερέχοντας αὐτῶν τῷ ἀριθμῷ. ὅμως δὲ βασιλεὺς ἅμα τοῖς φαινομένοις Ῥωμαίων καὶ Τασπουγᾶς, εἷς τῶν παρὰ Σκύθαις στρατηγούντων, καὶ αὐτὸς ἅμα τοσούτοις βαρβάροις, ἐν ἑκατέροις μέρεσι γενόμενοι τοῦ ποταμοῦ, διάλογόν τινα ἐποιήσαντο βραχύν. ἐρομένου γὰρ αὐτοὺς οἵτινες εἶεν τοῦ βαρβάρου, διά τινος ἀπεκρίνατο τῶν διγλώσσων ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἄνθρωποι εἶναι καὶ αὐτοὶ θηρεῦσαί τι ζητοῦντες, ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτοὶ ποιοῦσιν. οὐ καλῶς δὲ ἔφασκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὐδὲ ἀνδρείων, ἀλλὰ λῃστῶν ἔργον ποιεῖν, ἀκήρυκτοί τε ἐπερχόμενοι καὶ γεωργοὺς ἐξανδραποδιζόμενοι, ἀνθρώπους οὐκ εἰδότας πολεμεῖν. ἔδει γὰρ αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν προκαταγγέλλοντας, στρατιώταις ἐντυγχάνειν εἰθισμένοις πολεμεῖν· κἂν αὐτῶν ἦτε κρείττους, οὐδὲν ἦν θαυμαστὸν, εἰ καὶ τούτους τοὺς ἀπολέμους ἐξηνδραποδίζεσθε ἆθλον τῆς ἀρετῆς. Τασπουγᾶς δὲ οὐδὲν ἔφασκε τούτων εἶναι πρὸς αὐτούς· ὑπ' ἐξουσίαν γὰρ ὄντες, προσταττόμενοι ἐπέρχεσθαι καὶ ἀπιέναι ἢ μένειν. ἠρώτα δὲ, εἰ αὐτοὶ εἶεν οἱ χθὲς καὶ πρώην τῆς Σκυθικῆς στρατιᾶς μάχῃ κρατή 1.193 σαντες καὶ ἀνελόντες. ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ μήτ' αὐτοὶ εἶναι, μήτ'