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having arranged the battle lines, and having filled the armed force with many good instructions, prepared for the war with a triple phalanx. And the Romans were giving a password also to their barbarian allies, having taught them the name of the Mother of God and Virgin, so that, because of the distinction of race, they might not destroy their allies as an enemy, since in the confusion of the engagement the identification of their own men was rendered indistinct to them. 5.10.5 and a strange thing happened; for the name of Mary became saving also for the Chaldaeans. Bahram, on his part, also arranged his own force in three divisions; the tyrant held the very center of the formation, and the leaders of 5.10.6 the allied force the power on either side. Indeed, he also arranged for elephants, the Indian beasts, to lead the cavalry like some kind of bulwarks, and having mounted the braver men of the fighting force on the beasts, he prepared them to fight. And each of these two allied forces was not without beasts. Chosroes, then, having fenced himself in with five hundred men as a guard 5.10.7, was moving around the ranks. But when the two forces both saw and were seen by each other, and the standards were raised high and were gently stiffened by the wind, and the trumpets sounded all around and roused a frenzy for the engagement, buzzing around these very mysteries of war, then the no-man's-land was broken into and was emptied of its own 5.10.8 boundaries. When, then, a close-quarters engagement began, Bahram leaves the center of the force around him and moved to the left wing. Having imparted, then, the greatest valor to those who had received him, he naturally ravages the opposing phalanx, suddenly pressing upon the array of their number 5.10.9. The Romans, therefore, on this flank, having been broken, turned to flight, being unable to bear the overwhelming force. And so Narses, seeing this, having ordered a number of troops to move up gradually to support those who were failing, halted from flight the force that was being overpowered 5.10.10. Bahram, then, having advanced against the center of the Roman force, tried to turn Narses to flight. Narses, therefore, with no concern to him about the elephants, stoutly resisted Bahram and falls upon the center and opposing force, and he 5.10.11 breaks the ordered Medes, completely dissolving their coordination in some way. When this had happened, the remaining forces of Bahram were also discomfited, and Narses, having prevailed by might, threw the horsemen from their mounts, and struck down the foot soldiers with his spear. 5.10.12 When the pursuit, then, became vigorous, and the slaughter flourished throughout the area, six thousand Babylonians who had escaped, having reached a certain hill, were striving for safety. But the Roman force, having surrounded the hill, overcame the fugitive force. Having taken many alive, then, they brought them as captives to 5.10.13 Chosroes. The king of the Persians, therefore, gave some to the mouth of the sword, and offered others as a plaything to the feet of the beasts. And when he had recognized that some of the captives were from the nation of the Turks, he sends them to the emperor Maurice, to publicize the Roman valor and offering the first-fruits 5.10.14 of the victory to the emperor. And on their foreheads had been marked the sign of the Lord's <passion>; and this is called a cross by those who profess the religion of the Christians. The emperor, at any rate, inquired what 5.10.15 this mark on the barbarians might be. They, then, said that they had received this from their mothers; for when a severe plague had broken out among the Scythians in the east, some of the Christians had proposed to prick the foreheads of the youths with this very mark. And since the barbarians had by no means rejected the proposal, they received salvation from this counsel. 5.11.1 But the Roman force (for I would bring the account back to its starting-point) plunders the

διακεκοσμηκότες τὰ μάχιμα, πολλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν εἰσηγήσεων τὸ ὁπλιτικὸν ἐμφορήσαντες τῇ τριπλῇ φάλαγγι τὸν πόλεμον διεσκεύασαν. σύμβολον δὲ οἱ ῾Ρωμαῖοι καὶ τοῖς συμμαχοῦσι βαρβάροις παρείχοντο τὴν τῆς θεομήτορος καὶ παρθένου προσηγορίαν διδάξαντες, ἵνα μὴ τῷ διακεκριμένῳ τοῦ γένους ὡς ἀντίπαλον τὸ συμμαχικὸν διαφθαρῶσιν, τῷ συγκεχυμένῳ τῆς συμπλοκῆς ἀδιάρθρωτον αὐτοῖς τῶν οἰκειοτάτων παρεχομένων τὴν δήλωσιν. 5.10.5 καὶ παράδοξόν τι χρῆμα συνέβαινεν· ἐγίνετο γὰρ καὶ Χαλδαίοις τὸ τῆς Μαρίας σωτήριον ὄνομα. κατεκόσμει μὲν καὶ ὁ Βαρὰμ τρισὶ λόχοις τὴν οἰκείαν ἀλκήν, καὶ τὸ μὲν μεσαίτατον τῆς ἐκτάξεως ἐπεῖχεν ὁ τύραννος, οἱ δὲ ἡγεμόνες τοῦ 5.10.6 συμμαχικοῦ τὴν ἐφ' ἑκάτερα δύναμιν. ναὶ μὴν καὶ ἐλέφασι τοῖς ᾿Ινδικοῖς θηρίοις καθάπερ προβόλους τινὰς τῶν ἱππέων ἡγεῖσθαι κατέταττεν, τούς τε ἀνδρειοτέρους τῆς μαχίμου δυνάμεως ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων ἀναβιβάσας παρεσκεύαζε μάχεσθαι. οὐκ ἠμοίρει δὲ καὶ τὸ ἑκάτερον τούτων δὴ τῶν συμμάχων θηρίων. ὁ μὲν οὖν Χοσρόης πεντακοσίοις ἐς φρουρὰν 5.10.7 ἀνδράσι περιφραξάμενος περιεπόλει τὰς τάξεις. ἀλλ' ὁπότε ἔβλεψάν τε καὶ ἀντεβλέφθησαν ἑκάτεραι δυνάμεις ἀλλήλας, τά τε σημεῖα μετεωρίζετο ἠρέμα τε ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐκρατύνετο, αἵ τε σάλπιγγες περιεδόνουν καὶ τὴν συμπλοκὴν ἐξεβάκχευον ταῦτα δὴ περιβομβοῦσαι τὰ τοῦ πολέμου μυστήρια, ἐκαινοτομεῖτο λοιπὸν τὸ μεταίχμιον καὶ τῶν οἰκείων 5.10.8 ὅρων ἐχήρευεν. ἀγχιμάχου τοίνυν συμπλοκῆς γενομένης, ὁ Βαρὰμ τὸ μεσαίτατον τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν καταλιμπάνει δυνάμεως καὶ πρὸς τὸ εὐώνυμον μετεχώρησεν. πλείστης τοίνυν μεταδοὺς τῆς ἀλκῆς τοῖς ἀναδεδεγμένοις αὐτὸν εἰκότως τὴν ἀντιμέτωπον κεραΐζεται φάλαγγα, τῇ συντάξει τοῦ πλήθους 5.10. ἐξαπιναίως ἐγκείμενος. οἱ μὲν οὖν ῾Ρωμαῖοι κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ κλίτος διαιρεθέντες ἐτράποντο πρὸς φυγήν, φέρειν οὐκ ἔχοντες τὴν ἀντιβρίθουσαν δύναμιν. καὶ οὖν ὁ Ναρσῆς τοῦτο δὴ θεασάμενος, ἠρέμα πλῆθος συρρεῖν τοῖς ἀδυνατοῦσιν ἐγκελευσάμενος ἔστησε τῆς φυγῆς τὴν κατασθένουσαν 5.10.10 δύναμιν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Βαρὰμ κατὰ τῆς μέσης τῶν ῾Ρωμαίων χωρήσας ἀλκῆς ἐπειρᾶτο τρέψαι τὸν Ναρσῆν εἰς ἀπόδρασιν. ὁ τοίνυν Ναρσῆς οὐδὲν μέλον αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν ἐλεφάντων καρτερῶς τῷ Βαρὰμ ἀντετίθετο καὶ ἐπιπίπτει τῇ μέσῃ καὶ ἀντιθέτῳ δυνάμει, καὶ συντεταγμένους τοὺς Μήδους παρα5.10.11 λύει γέ πως αὐτοὺς λίαν κομιδῇ τῆς συννεύσεως. τούτου δὴ γεγονότος καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ τοῦ Βαρὰμ δυνάμεις ἐσφάλησαν, καὶ ῥώμῃ κεκρατηκὼς ὁ Ναρσῆς τοὺς μὲν ἱππέας τῶν ἐποχούντων ἀπέβαλλεν, τοὺς δὲ πεζοὺς τῷ δόρατι κατεβάλλετο. 5.10.12 τῆς τοίνυν διώξεως κραταιᾶς γενομένης, καὶ τοῦ φόνου τεθηλότος ἀνὰ τὸν χῶρον, ἓξ Βαβυλωνίων ἀποδράσασαι χιλιάδες ἐπί τινα λόφον γενόμεναι τῆς σωτηρίας ὠρέγοντο. τὸ δὲ ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν περιστοιχίσαν τὸν λόφον τῆς δραπετίδος κρατοῦσι δυνάμεως. πολλοὺς τοίνυν ζωγρήσαντες ἦγον ἐς 5.10.13 Χοσρόην δεσμίους. ὁ μὲν οὖν τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς τοὺς μὲν μαχαίρας ἀπέδοτο στόματι, ἐνίους τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν θηρίων παρείχετο παίγνιον. ἐπεὶ δὲ διεγνώκει εἶναί τινας τῶν ἑαλωκότων ἐκ τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν Τούρκων, ἐς βασιλέα ἐκπέμπει Μαυρίκιον, τὴν ῾Ρωμαϊκὴν στηλιτεύων ἀλκὴν ἀπαρχάς τε 5.10.14 τῆς νίκης προσφέρων τῷ αὐτοκράτορι. ἐκεχάρακτο δὲ τοῖς μετώποις ἐκείνων τὸ τοῦ κυριακοῦ <πάθους> ἐπίσημον· σταυρὸς δὲ τοῦτο τοῖς πρεσβεύουσι τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν θρησκείαν κατονομάζεται. ἐπύθετο γοῦν ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ τί 5.10.15 ἂν εἴη τοῦτο τοῖς βαρβάροις τὸ σήμαντρον. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν μητέρων τοῦτο ἀποκληρώσασθαι ἔφασκον· λοιμοῦ γὰρ τοῖς πρὸς τῇ ἕῳ Σκύθαις καρτεροῦ ἐνδημήσαντός τινας ἐδέησε τῶν Χριστιανῶν εἰσηγήσασθαι τούτῳ δῆτα τῷ τύπῳ τῶν μειρακίων ἐγκεντῆσαι τὰ μέτωπα. τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων μηδαμῶς τὴν εἰσήγησιν παρωσαμένων, σωτηρίαν ἐκ τῆς συμβουλίας ἀντελάμβανον. 5.11.1 τὸ δὲ ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν (πρὸς γὰρ τὴν νύσσαν τὸν λόγον ἀντεπενέγκοιμι) λαφυραγωγεῖ τοῦ