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he had promised to wait for them. But Comentiolus, seized by cowardice, returned to Marcianopolis. And they, not finding him, gathered their own troops and encamped at the narrow passes of the Aemus. And Martinus, seeing the Chagan crossing the river, returned to the general. But Castus, 258 having crossed the river and approached the vanguard of the Avars, wins the battle. But by the suggestions of some evil demon, he did not return to the general. On the next day, the Chagan, having seized the crossings, cut him off. The army was accordingly split up, and each man fled through the wood as best he could. Some were then hunted down by the barbarians and revealed where Castus was hidden, and having captured him alive, they leaped about and exulted. The Chagan, marching through the south, proceeds against Thrace and seized the Long Walls. But Comentiolus, hiding in the woods of the Aemus, came out with Martinus. And finding the Chagan quite unprepared because the multitude of the barbarians was spread all over Thrace, he proceeds against him during the first watch. And the success of his attempt would have been great for him, if he had not by some chance failed in the undertaking. For when one of the baggage animals shed its load, another man calls out to the animal's master to right the load in his native tongue: "torna, torna, frater." And the master of the mule did not hear the shout, but the soldiers, hearing it and suspecting that the enemy was upon them, turned to flight, shouting "torna, torna" with the loudest cries. The Chagan, seized by great cowardice, fled uncontrollably. And it was a sight to see both Avars and Romans fleeing from one another, with no one pursuing. The Chagan, recovering his forces, laid siege to the city of Aperian. And finding Busas, the city's engineer, he tried to kill him. But Busas begged him to give him a sufficient sum of money, if he would honor him with his life; but they bound him and brought him before the city. He for his part asked the inhabitants of the city to ransom him, recounting how much he had struggled on behalf of the city. But a certain citizen was persuading the populace not to do this, and there was a story that he was sleeping with Busas' wife. 259 Since Busas was accordingly scorned, he promised to hand the city over to the Chagan, and having constructed a siege engine, which they call a ram, he took the city. And the barbarians, having learned the device, enslaved very many other cities and returned with many captives. And the Byzantines, hearing that Castus had been taken captive by the barbarians, used great insults against Maurice and openly blasphemed him. At this time Heraclius, the father of Heraclius, attacks a Persian fort, and took it; likewise also Theodorus the fort of Mazaron. And both arrive at Beïoudes. And since the fort was strong, a certain soldier, named Sappheres, fashioning spikes and fixing them in the joints of the stones, made the ascent. But when he mounted the battlement of the wall, a Persian man pushed him off. Sappheres therefore falls down, and the Romans catch him on their shields; and again he dares the deed, and again he is pushed from the fortification; again the Romans catch him on their shields, and again he attempted the attack. And getting on top of the wall he cut down the Persian; then holding up the head he filled the Romans with courage. And with many imitating the champion and mounting the wall by means of the stakes, the fort is handed over to the Romans and they killed some of the Persians, and taking others captive with the baggage they handed over the fort ... But Philippicus again made his way to Byzantium, leaving Heraclius as commander of the Romans. And coming to Tarsus and learning that the emperor

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ἐπηγγείλατο ἀναμένειν αὐτούς. ὁ δὲ Κομεντίολος δειλίᾳ κατασχεθεὶς εἰς Μαρκιανούπολιν ὑπέστρεψεν. οἱ δὲ μὴ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν ἐπεσύναξαν τὰ ἴδια στρατεύματα καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς στενωποὺς τοῦ Αἵμου στρατοπεδεύονται. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Μαρτῖνος τὸν Χαγάνον διαπερῶντα τὸν ποταμὸν πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐπανῆλθεν. ὁ δὲ Κάστος 258 τὸν ποταμὸν διαπεράσας καὶ πλησιάσας τοὺς προτρέχοντας τῶν Ἀβάρων τῆς μάχης κρατεῖ. σκαιοῦ δέ τινος δαίμονος ὑποθήκαις οὐκ ἀνέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν στρατηγόν. τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ κρατήσας τὰς διαβάσεις ὁ Χαγάνος ἀπέκλεισεν αὐτόν. περισχίζεται τοίνυν ὁ λαός, καὶ ἕκαστος ὡς εἶχε δυνάμεως διὰ τοῦ ἄλσους ἔφυγον. θηρεύονται τοίνυν τινὲς παρὰ τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ καταμηνύουσιν, ποῦ ἐκέκρυπτο Κάστος, καὶ τοῦτον ζωγρήσαντες περιεσκίρτων καὶ ἠγάλλοντο. ὁ δὲ Χαγάνος διὰ τῆς μεσημβρίας ὁδεύσας κατὰ τῆς Θρᾴκης χωρεῖ καὶ τὰ Μακρὰ τείχη κατέλαβεν. ὁ δὲ Κομεντίολος ἐν ταῖς ὕλαις τοῦ Αἵμου κρυπτόμενος ἐξῆλθε σὺν τῷ Μαρτίνῳ. καὶ καταλαβὼν τὸν Χαγάνον ἀνετοιμότατον διὰ τὸ τὴν πληθὺν τῶν βαρβάρων περικεχῦσθαι τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, πρώτῃ φυλακῇ κατ' αὐτοῦ χωρεῖ. καὶ ἦν αὐτῷ μέγα τῶν ἐπιχείρων τὸ κατόρθωμα, εἰ μὴ τύχῃ τινὶ παρεσφάλη τοῦ ἐγχειρήματος. ἑνὸς γὰρ ζώου τὸν φόρτον διαστρέψαντος, ἕτερος τὸν δεσπότην τοῦ ζώου προσφωνεῖ τὸν φόρτον ἀνορθῶσαι τῇ πατρῴᾳ φωνῇ· "τόρνα, τόρνα, φράτερ." καὶ ὁ μὲν κύριος τῆς ἡμιόνου τὴν φωνὴν οὐκ ᾐσθάνετο, οἱ δὲ λαοὶ ἀκούσαντες καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπιστῆναι αὐτοῖς ὑπονοήσαντες εἰς φυγὴν ἐτράπησαν, "τόρνα, τόρνα" μεγίσταις φωναῖς ἀνακράζοντες. ὁ δὲ Χαγάνος μεγάλην δειλίαν περιβαλόμενος ἀκρατῶς ἔφυγεν. καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν Ἀβάρους τε καὶ Ῥωμαίους ἀλλήλους διαδιδράσκοντας, μηδενὸς διώκοντος. ὁ δὲ Χαγάνος ἀναλαβὼν τὰς δυνάμεις τὴν Ἀπειρίαν πόλιν παρεκάθισεν. εὑρὼν δὲ Βουσᾶν, τὸν τῆς πόλεως μαγγανάριν, ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπειρᾶτο. ὁ δὲ Βουσᾶς παρεκάλει χρήματα ἱκανὰ αὐτῷ παρέχειν, εἴπερ τὸ ζῇν αὐτῷ φιλοτιμήσοιτο· οἱ δὲ τοῦτον δεσμήσαντες τῇ πόλει παρέστησαν. αὐτὸς δὲ ἐζήτει τοὺς τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντας ὠνήσασθαι αὐτόν, διηγούμενος ὅσα ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἠγωνίσατο. πολίτης δέ τις τὰ πλήθη ἀνέπειθε μὴ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, λόγος δὲ τοῦτον τῇ Βουσᾶ γυναικὶ παρευνάζεσθαι. 259 ἐπεὶ τοίνυν κατεφρονήθη ὁ Βουσᾶς, ὑπισχνεῖτο τῷ Χαγάνῳ παραδιδόναι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ πολιορκητικὸν ὄργανον συμπηξάμενος, ὃν κριὸν ὀνομάζουσιν, τὴν πόλιν παρέλαβεν. μαθόντες δὲ οἱ βάρβαροι τὸ τεχνούργημα πλείστας καὶ ἄλλας πόλεις ἐδουλώσαντο καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ὑπέστρεψαν. ἀκούσαντες δὲ οἱ Βυζάντιοι, ὅτι Κάστος ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων αἰχμάλωτος γέγονεν, μεγάλαις λοιδορίαις κατὰ Μαυρικίου ἐχρῶντο καὶ εἰς φανερὸν τοῦτον ἐβλασφήμουν. κατὰ τοῦτον δὲ τὸν χρόνον Ἡράκλειος, ὁ τοῦ Ἡρακλείου πατήρ, Περσικῷ φρουρίῳ προσβάλλει, καὶ τοῦτο εἷλεν· ὁμοίως καὶ Θεόδωρος τὸ Μα ζαρῶν φρούριον. ἀμφότεροι δὲ εἰς τὸ Βεϊουδὲς παραγίνονται. καὶ τοῦ φρουρίου ὀχυροῦ ὄντος, στρατιώτης τις, Σαπφήρης ὀνόματι, σκόλοπας τεχνουργήσας καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἁρμογὰς τῶν λίθων τούτους πηγνύων τὴν ἄνοδον ἐποιήσατο. ὡς δὲ ἐπέβη ἐκεῖνος τῇ στεφάνῃ τοῦ τείχους, Πέρσης ἀνὴρ τοῦτον ἐξώθησεν. πίπτει οὖν ὁ Σαπφήρης κάτω, καὶ ὑποδέχονται αὐτὸν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι ταῖς ἀσπίσιν· καὶ αὖθις τοῦ ἔργου κατατολμᾷ, καὶ πάλιν ἐξωθεῖται τοῦ ὀχυρώματος· πάλιν δὲ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι ταῖς ἀσπίσιν αὐτὸν ὑποδέχονται, καὶ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἐνεχείρησεν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ τείχους γενόμενος τὸν Πέρσην ἀπέτεμεν· εἶτα τὴν κεφαλὴν ὑπατεύσας Ῥωμαίους θάρσους ἐνέπλησεν. καὶ πολλῶν μιμησαμένων τὸν ἀριστέα καὶ διὰ τῶν πασσάλων ἐπιβάντων τοῦ τείχους, παραδίδοται Ῥωμαίοις τὸ φρούριον καὶ τοὺς μὲν τῶν Περσῶν ἀνεῖλον, τοὺς δὲ αἰχμαλώτους λαβόντες σὺν τῇ ἀποσκευῇ τὸ φρούριον ... παρέδωκαν. ὁ δὲ Φιλιππικὸς αὖθις εἰς Βυζάντιον τὴν ὁδὸν ἐποιήσατο Ἡράκλειον καταλιπὼν ἡγεμόνα Ῥωμαίων. ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς Ταρσὸν καὶ μαθών, ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς