,

being driven mad for some conflict; 5.5.2 for the strength of words also knows how to despise death. Therefore, setting out from there, they proceeded forward. And the guard for Chosroes had been drawn up by the Roman force; for the 5.5.3 local security did not inspire his trust. So Domentianus returned to the Roman state, having appointed Narses general of the army; and the army pitched a fortified camp near 5.5.4 the Mygdonius river. And Sarames led the army, both collecting provisions and preparing a table for the allied force, as much as was sufficient. And on the third day the Roman force itself arrived at the Tigris, and for the time being was checked from the forward movement, awaiting the 5.5.5 Roman forces in Armenia. And Chosroes, having drawn up a thousand men from his personal guard in an orderly fashion, commanded them to cross the river, and to discover what 5.5.6 strength the opposing force possessed. So having swum across the river, they came to the Zabas river; and having heard that Bryzacius was encamped not far off, whom Baram had sent with a large force to reconnoiter the Roman invasion, they advanced against him, and falling upon him suddenly around the first watch of the night, they won the battle and took Bryzacius prisoner, and cutting off his ears and nose with the 5.5.7 dagger they sent him to king Chosroes. And Chosroes, since the enterprise had turned out successfully for him, was lifted to great joy; and having ascertained the enemy's intention, he urged the commander of the Roman force not to waste the 5.5.8 opportunity, which offered them an irresistible success. For this very reason the forces crossed the stream and fortified themselves with a trench at Dinabadon, a place so called, where Chosroes feasted the leaders of both the Romans and the Medes. And when the dinner was already half over, Bryzacius the prisoner into the midst 5.5. is brought forth, mutilated in his nose and ears. And when he had become an object of sport for the guests, the king, as if bestowing a noteworthy after-dinner spectacle on the feasters, by an unspoken command through a gesture of his hand, ordered the shield-bearers around him to give him over to death; for it is not customary for Persians to speak while feasting. So having stabbed 5.5.10 Bryzacius they killed him, as they had been ordered. Therefore, with the dinner also mingled with blood, Chosroes provided a final pleasure for his distinguished guests; for having drenched them with perfumes and bound their heads with floral wreaths, he ordered them to drink to victory. 5.5.11 So at that time, made cheerful by the grand feast, they departed to their 5.5.11 own tents, relating these things that had happened to them while feasting; and Bryzacius was the most notable part of their conversation. 5.6.1 On the next day, king Chosroes had the allied force cross the Zabas river. And Mebodes the Persian, who had been sent to the region of Singara, invaded Babylonia, and having come very near the royal cities, he sent a messenger to the one in charge of the royal treasury, ordering him to make great preparation of provisions, and to lay aside sufficient contributions of money, since great multitudes of allied forces had flocked to him, and that death would be the penalty for negligence 5.6.2. So the one who had been entrusted with the care of the treasury showed the letters of Mebodes to the man who had been left behind in the palace by Baram 5.6.3 to be in charge of the royal treasures. And he, struck with terror in his soul, in the middle of the night gathered the soldiers around him and proceeded to 5.6.4 Ctesiphon, abandoning Seleucia. And it is said that Seleucus, surnamed Nicator, built Seleucia between the two rivers, of which the Tigris flows out into the Persian sea with its whole stream, while the Euphrates, on reaching this region, is cut into three parts, and both loses its own name and is called by different 5.6.5 names. Of this, one branch by canals

τινὶ ἐς συμπλοκὴν ἐξοιστρούμενοι· 5.5.2 οἶδε γὰρ καὶ λόγων ἀλκὴ θανάτου καταφρονεῖν. τοίνυν ἀπάραντες ἐντεῦθεν εἰς τὸ πρόσω ἐχώρουν. ἡ δὲ φρουρὰ τῷ Χοσρόῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ ῾Ρωμαϊκοῦ συνετέτακτο· οὐ γὰρ ἡ ἐπι5.5.3 χώριος τούτῳ ἀσφάλεια τὸ πιστὸν ἀνελάμβανεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν ∆ομετιανὸς ἐς τὴν ῾Ρωμαίων πολιτείαν ἐπάνεισι κυρώσας Ναρ-σῆν στρατηγὸν τοῦ πολεμικοῦ· τὸ δὲ στρατόπεδον πλησίον 5.5.4 Μύγδονος ποταμοῦ χάρακα διεγράψατο. ὁ δὲ Σαράμης προηγεῖτο τῆς στρατείας τούς τε ἐπισιτισμοὺς ἐρανιζόμενος εἰς ὅσον ἀποχρῆν τράπεζαν τῷ συμμαχικῷ παρεσκεύαζεν. τρίτῃ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ἐς τὸν Τίγριν αὐτὸν τὸ ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν παραγίγνεται, καὶ τέως <τῆς> ἐς τὸ πρόσω φορᾶς ἀνεκόπτετο τὰς 5.5.5 ἐπὶ τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας ῾Ρωμαϊκὰς δυνάμεις ἀπεκδεχόμενον. ὁ δὲ Χοσρόης χιλίους ἐκ τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν φρουρᾶς κοσμίως ἐκτάξας διαπεραιοῦσθαι αὐτοῖς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐγκελεύεται, καὶ ὅπως 5.5.6 ἔχει δυνάμεως ἡ ἀντικαθεστῶσα ἀνιχνεύεσθαι δύναμις. οἱ μὲν οὖν τὸν ποταμὸν διανηξάμενοι πρὸς τῷ Ζαβᾷ γίνονται ποταμῷ· ἀκηκοότες τε Βρυζάκιον οὐ πόρρω στρατοπεδεύεσθαι, ὃν ἐπὶ διασκοπῇ ὁ Βαρὰμ ἀπεστέλλετο τῆς ῾Ρωμαϊκῆς ἐπιφοιτήσεως σὺν δυνάμει πολλῇ, χωροῦσιν ἐς αὐτόν, καὶ ἀθρόως περὶ πρώτην φυλακὴν τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπιστάντες, τοῦ πολέμου κρατήσαντες ἐζώγρησαν τὸν Βρυζάκιον, ὦτα τε καὶ ῥῖνα τῇ 5.5.7 κοπίδι κατατεμόμενοι ἐς βασιλέα Χοσρόην ἐξέπεμπον. ὁ δὲ Χοσρόης ἐπιδεξίου τῆς ἐπιβολῆς αὐτῷ γενομένης εἰς μέγα ἤρθη χαρᾶς· διεγνωκώς τε τὴν τῶν ἐναντίων διάνοιαν παραθήγει τὸν τῆς ῾Ρωμαϊκῆς δυνάμεως ἔξαρχον μὴ διαχεῖν τὸν 5.5.8 καιρὸν παρεχόμενον αὐτοῖς δυσμαχωτάτην ἐπίτευξιν. διά τοι τοῦτο διαπορθμεύονται τὸν ῥοῦν αἱ δυνάμεις καὶ τῷ ∆ιναβαδών, οὕτω καλουμένῳ χώρῳ, τάφρῳ περιστοιχίζονται, ἔνθα δὴ Χοσρόης ῾Ρωμαίων τε καὶ Μήδων τοὺς ἡγεμόνας εἱστία. ἤδη δὲ τοῦ δείπνου μεσοῦντος, ὁ Βρυζάκιος δέσμιος ἐς μέσον 5.5. παράγεται, ῥῖνα καὶ ὦτα ἀνάπηρος. ὅτε δὲ παιγνίων τοῖς δαιτυμόσι παρανάλωμα γέγονεν, ἐπιδείπνιον ὁ βασιλεὺς θέαν τοῖς δαιταλεῦσιν ὥσπερ ἀξιόλογον χαριζόμενος, τοῖς ὑπασπισταῖς τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν ἀσήμῳ προστάξας θεσπίσματι τῷ σχήματι τῆς χειρὸς θανάτῳ τοῦτον ἐκδίδωσιν· οὐ γὰρ εὐωχουμένοις θέμις τοῖς Πέρσαις διαλαλεῖν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐκκεντήσαντες 5.5.10 τὸν Βρυζάκιον ἀνεῖλον, ὡς προσετάχθησαν. ἀναμεμιγμένου τοίνυν τοῦ δείπνου καὶ αἵμασιν, ἀκροτελεύτιον ἡδονὴν τοῖς ἐγκλίτοις ὁ Χοσρόης παρείχετο· μύροις γὰρ αὐτοὺς κατομβρίσας ἀναδήσας τε στεφάνοις τοῖς ἄνθεσιν ἐπινίκιον πίνειν ἐκέλευεν. 5.5.11 οἱ μὲν οὖν τότε ἱλαρυνθέντες ἐπὶ τῇ πανδαισίᾳ εἰς τὰς ἑαυ5.5.11 τῶν σκηνὰς ἀπῄεσαν ταῦτα δὴ διηγούμενοι ὅσαπερ αὐτοῖς ἑστιωμένοις ἀπήντησεν· καὶ ἦν Βρυζάκιος τῶν τοῦ λόγου μελῶν τὸ ἐπίσημον. 5.6.1 Τῇ δὲ ἐσαύριον βασιλεὺς Χοσρόης τό τε συμμαχικὸν τὸν Ζαβᾶν ποταμὸν διεπεραιώσατο. Μεβόδης δὲ ὁ Πέρσης ὁ ἐς τὸ Σιγγάρων σταλεὶς τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ προσέβαλλεν, καὶ ἄγχιστα τῶν βασιλείων γενόμενος πόλεων τῷ ἐφεστηκότι τοῦ βασιλικοῦ πρυτανείου ἐξέπεμπεν ἄγγελον, μεγάλην ἐπισιτισμοῦ παρασκευὴν αὐτὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι, χρημάτων τε ἐπιδόσεις ἱκανὰς καταθεῖναι, πλήθη πολλὰ συμμαχικῶν αὐτῷ συρρευσάντων δυνάμεων, εἶναί τε θάνατον τῆς ῥαθυμίας 5.6.2 ζημίαν. ὁ μὲν οὖν τοῦ πρυτανείου τὴν φροντίδα περιβαλόμενος ἐπιδεικνύει τοῦ Μεβόδου τὰ γράμματα τῷ ἐπιστατεῖν τῶν βασιλικῶν θησαυρῶν ἐς τὰ βασίλεια ὑπὸ τοῦ Βαρὰμ 5.6.3 καταλειφθέντι. ὁ δὲ καταπλαγεὶς τὴν ψυχήν, μεσούσης νυκτὸς τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν στρατιωτικὸν συναγείρας εἰς τὴν 5.6.4 Κτησιφῶντα χωρεῖ, καταλιπὼν τὴν Σελεύκειαν. λέγεται δὲ τὴν Σελεύκειαν τὸν ἐπίκλην Νικάτορα Σέλευκον μέσον τοῖν δυοῖν ποταμοῖν οἰκοδομήσασθαι, ὧν ὁ μὲν Τίγρις ἐπὶ τὴν Περσικὴν θάλατταν ἔκχυτός ἐστιν ὅλῳ τῷ ῥεύματι, ὁ δὲ Εὐφράτης περὶ τουτονὶ τὸν χῶρον γινόμενος διατέμνεται τρίχα τό τε οἰκεῖον ὄνομα ἀποβάλλει καὶ διαφόροις προση5.6.5 γορίαις ὀνομάζεται. τούτου ἡ μὲν μία ἀπόρροια διώρυξι