113

he made his delays at Viminacium. And his excuse for not wishing to engage was in no way unconvincing; for having had the veins on his hand cut by a surgeon's knife, with a flow of blood he was euphemistically, 8.2.6 in a way, unfit for battle because of his cowardice. So when the Romans had crossed the Ister and constructed the palisade, <οὐ> Priscus left the island; for he did not want to draw up the battle line without Comentiolus. But the barbarians, with the Roman force being without a general, 8.2.7 charge against their palisade. The Romans send messengers to the generals at Viminacium and made known the danger; and with Priscus being reluctant to undertake the task without Comentiolus, and the barbarians pressing on very strongly, Priscus is persuaded to leave Comentiolus and to take upon 8.2.8 himself the concerns of the dangers. And so he leaves Viminacium and goes to the Roman palisade. On the second day, he orders the ships of the Ister to leave the banks and to move anchor near Vimi8.2.nacium; for Priscus feared that somehow the Romans, with the scouting boats lying near the banks of the river for them, would make continuous crossings to the island, and that as a result, with the Roman force being broken into small pieces, 8.2.10 the trench might receive a weaker guard. So, with the barbarians pressing for war, on the fourth day, Priscus ordered the Romans to arm themselves from dawn, and having formed the battle lines as well as he could in three phalanxes, he began the 8.2.11 military enterprises. The Romans, therefore, refraining from bows, fought the barbarian force at close quarters with spears. And with the Avars having armed their battle line in fifteen divisions, and the Romans having arranged their line in a single formation both out of fear for the palisade and for a four-sided battle, thereby providing security for the palisade, the war progressed for many hours. 8.2.12 But as the sun set, the war also drew to a close, and this turn of the war was favorable for the Romans; for while three hundred Romans were killed, four thousand of the Avars perished. When night fell, therefore, the Romans withdrew to the palisade. 8.3.1 On the third day, the barbarian joined another battle. Priscus, therefore, having drawn up the 8.3.2 army as was possible, marched out at dawn for the battle line. So having drawn up three forces for the Romans in the best way, he then instructed them strongly to split the wings immediately and thus to receive the Avars, so that the barbarians, with the force becoming hollow in the center, and being caught in 8.3.3 the middle, might fall into unexpected disasters. In such a manner, therefore, the barbarians are outmaneuvered, and nine thousand from the enemy and opposing force are killed. At sunset 8.3.4 the victorious army returned to the trench. On the tenth day, the general heard that the barbarian had come again for battle. When the day dawned, having armed the Roman force 8.3.5 and having formed up in an orderly fashion, he marched out to war. Priscus, therefore, again deployed the forces in three phalanxes, but the barbarian, forming a single phalanx, advanced against Priscus. Priscus, therefore, occupying the favorable ground of the place and having the force of the wind as an ally, charged down from a height upon the Avars and with his two wings fought 8.3.6 the enemy. Since a lake lay beneath those places, he pushed the barbarian towards the waters. For this reason, being driven back towards the surging water, the barbarians, and having the misfortune of the lake confront8.3.7ing them, were drowned in very great numbers. Therefore, with a great multitude having been destroyed in this lake, and the sons of the Chagan having been drowned there, Priscus won a most conspicuous victory. Therefore, in this war, fifteen thousand bar8.3.8

113

τὸ Βιμινάκιον τὰς διατριβὰς ἐποιεῖτο. ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ ἡ ἀναβολὴ τοῦ μὴ ἐθέλειν συμπλέκεσθαι ἀπίθανος οὐδαμῶς· μαχαίρᾳ γὰρ ἰατρῶν τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς φλέβας ἀποτμηθεὶς ἐπὶ αἵματος ἐκροῇ εὐφήμως 8.2.6 πως διὰ τὴν δειλίαν ἀπόμαχος ἦν. διαπορθμευθέντων τοίνυν τῶν ῾Ρωμαίων τὸν ῎Ιστρον καὶ συστησαμένων τὸν χάρακα, <οὐ> κατελίμπανε τὴν νῆσον ὁ Πρίσκος· οὐκ ἤθελε γὰρ τοῦ Κομεντιόλου ἐκτὸς ποιήσασθαι τὴν παράταξιν. οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι, ἀστρατήγου τῆς ῾Ρωμαίων ὑπαρχούσης δυνάμεως, 8.2.7 πρὸς τὸν χάρακα τούτων ἐκτρέχουσιν. οἱ δὲ ῾Ρωμαῖοι ἀγγέλους εἰς τὸ Βιμινάκιον τοῖς στρατηγοῖς ἐπιπέμπουσι τόν τε κίνδυνον παρεδήλουν· δυσανασχετοῦντός τε τοῦ Πρίσκου τοῦ Κομεντιόλου ἐκτὸς τοῦ ἔργου ἐφάψασθαι, καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων λίαν ἐγκρατῶς ἐπικειμένων, πείθεται ὁ Πρίσκος τὸν Κομεντίολον καταλιπεῖν καὶ τὰς φροντίδας τῶν κινδύνων αὐτὸς ἀναδέ8.2.8 ξασθαι. καὶ οὖν καταλιμπάνει τὸ Βιμινάκιον καὶ πρὸς τὸν ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν γίνεται χάρακα. δευτέρα δὲ ἡμέρα, καὶ προστάττει τὰς ναῦς τοῦ ῎Ιστρου καταλιπούσας τὰς ὄχθας περὶ τὸ Βιμι8.2. νάκιον μεθορμίσασθαι· ἐδεδίει γὰρ ὁ Πρίσκος μή πως οἱ ῾Ρωμαῖοι, τῶν ἐπακτρίδων διακειμένων αὐτοῖς περὶ τὰς ὄχθας τοῦ ποταμοῦ, συνεχεῖς τὰς μεταβάσεις ἐπὶ τὴν νῆσον ποιήσονται, κἀντεῦθεν κατακερματιζομένης τῆς τῶν ῾Ρωμαίων δυνάμεως 8.2.10 ἀσθενεστέραν ἡ τάφρος τὴν φρουρὰν ἀπολάβοι. τοίνυν τῶν βαρβάρων κατεπειγομένων πρὸς πόλεμον, τετάρτη ἡμέρα, καὶ ὁ Πρίσκος ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ σιδηροφορεῖν τοῖς ῾Ρωμαίοις προσέταξεν, καὶ ὡς ἐνῆν τὰς ἐκτάξεις τρισὶ συστησάμενος φάλαγξι τῶν 8.2.11 πολεμικῶν ἐγχειρημάτων ἀπήρχετο. οἱ μὲν οὖν ῾Ρωμαῖοι ἀποσχόμενοι τῶν τόξων ἀγχιμάχως τοῖς δόρασι κατεπολέμουν τὸ βάρβαρον. τῶν δὲ ᾿Αβάρων δέκα καὶ πέντε συστήμασιν ἐξοπλισάντων τὴν ἔκταξιν, καὶ τῶν ῾Ρωμαίων εἰς μίαν σύννευσιν καὶ φόβῳ τοῦ χάρακος καὶ τετραπλεύρῳ μάχῃ διακεκοσμηκότων τὴν ἔκταξιν, ἀσυλίαν ἐντεῦθεν παρεχομένων τῷ χάρακι, ἐπὶ ὥρας πολλὰς ὁ πόλεμος εἶχε τὴν πρόοδον. 8.2.12 ἡλίου δὲ κλίναντος συναπέκλινε καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ ἦν ἐπιδέξιος αὕτη ἡ τοῦ πολέμου τοῖς ῾Ρωμαίοις ῥοπή, τριακοσίων τε ἀναιρεθέντων ῾Ρωμαίων, χιλιάδες τέτταρες ἐκ τῶν ᾿Αβάρων διώλοντο. ἐπιγενομένης οὖν νυκτὸς εἰς τὸν χάρακα οἱ ῾Ρωμαῖοι ἀνέζευξαν. 8.3.1 Τρίτη δὲ ἡμέρα, καὶ ὁ βάρβαρος ἕτερον συνεστήσατο πόλεμον. ὁ μὲν οὖν Πρίσκος ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν συντάξας τὸ 8.3.2 στράτευμα ἑωθινὸς ἐχώρει πρὸς τὴν παράταξιν. τρεῖς τοίνυν συντάξας δυνάμεις ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τοῖς ῾Ρωμαίοις, εἶτα ἐνεγύησεν ἐς τὸ καρτερὸν τὰ κέρατα περισχίσαι αὐτίκα οὕτω τε τοὺς ᾿Αβάρους εἰσδέξασθαι, ὅπως οἱ βάρβαροι, περὶ τὰ κοιλότερα γινομένης τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ κατειλημμένοι ἐν 8.3.3 μέσῳ, περιπέσωσι συμφοραῖς ἀδοκήτοις. τῷ τοιούτῳ τοίνυν τρόπῳ καταστρατηγοῦνται οἱ βάρβαροι, καὶ ἀναιροῦνται ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας καὶ ἀντιθέτου δυνάμεως χιλιάδες ἐννέα. ἡλίου 8.3.4 δὲ δύοντος ἐπὶ τὴν τάφρον τὸ νενικηκὸς ἐπανῆκεν. δεκάτη δὲ ἡμέρα, καὶ ὁ στρατηγὸς ἠκηκόει ἥκειν αὖθις τὸν βάρβαρον πρὸς παράταξιν. ἡμέρας δὲ λαμπούσης τὸ ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν καθοπλίσας 8.3.5 κοσμίως τε συμφραξάμενος ἐχώρει πρὸς πόλεμον. ὁ μὲν οὖν Πρίσκος τρισσαῖς αὖθις φάλαγξι τὰς δυνάμεις κατεστρατεύσατο, ὁ δὲ βάρβαρος μίαν συστησάμενος φάλαγγα κατὰ τοῦ Πρίσκου ἐχώρησεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Πρίσκος τὴν εὔθετον τῶν τόπων χώραν καταλαβὼν τήν τε ῥύμην τοῦ πνεύματος ἔχων συνέριθον, ἀφ' ὕψους τοῖς ᾿Αβάροις ἐνήραξε τοῖς τε δύο κέρασι κατε8.3.6 πολέμησε τὸ πολέμιον. ἐπεὶ δὲ λίμνη ὑπεστόρητο τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις, ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα ἐξωθεῖ τὸν βάρβαρον. διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τὸ ῥόθιον ἀποκρουσθέντες οἱ βάρβαροι καὶ τὴν λίμνην ἀντι8.3.7 μέτωπον δυστυχήσαντες λίαν σφοδρῶς ἀπεπνίγοντο. πλήθους τοίνυν πολλοῦ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν λίμνην ἀνῃρημένου, τῶν τε παίδων τοῦ Χαγάνου ἀποπνιγέντων αὐτόθι, περιφανεστάτην ὁ Πρίσκος τὴν νίκην ἐνεπορεύσατο. καταφθείρονται τοίνυν περὶ τοῦτον τὸν πόλεμον πεντεκαίδεκα χιλιάδες βαρ8.3.8