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For in the 28th year from the creation of the world, in the 15th indiction, on the 23rd of the month of February, at the first hour of the day, Justinian began to carry out the rebuilding of the great church. In the 12th year the Bulgars went out into Mysia and devastated the lands, and killed their soldiers. And having heard this, the king of Illyricum, Acum the Hun, went out against them, and having joined with the Romans he slaughtered the Bulgars in great number. Then, as they were off their guard after the victory, other Bulgars find them, and slaughter many people, and captured the leaders and Acum, and returned to their own country. 1.652 And in the same year Chosroes took Antioch the great and Apamea and other cities. In the thirteenth year Mundus of the race of the Gepids, son of Giesmus, king of Sirmium, defected to the Romans; and the emperor, having shown him and his son great honor, and having made him magister militum of Illyricum, sent him away. And when he had arrived in Illyricum a multitude of Bulgars came out against him. And having completely defeated these, he sends the better part of the captives to Constantinople; whom the emperor scattered in Armenia and in Lazica and among other nations. From that time a deep peace came to be in Thrace, the Huns no longer daring to cross the Danube.

In the 14th year Chosroes the king of the Persians made a fourth invasion into the land of the Romans. And having come into the land of Commagene he was intending to proceed against Palestine and Jerusalem. And Justinian, having learned this, sent against him Belisarius, who had again come from the western regions. And he, having mounted public horses, arrived in Euphratesia with great speed. And having heard that the guardians of the east and the generals had taken refuge in the cities, and that they were summoning him for the defense of Hierapolis, Belisarius greatly censured them, and writes that it is not right to guard one city and to allow the enemies to advance unjustly upon the land of the Romans and to ravage the cities of the empire. "For know well that 1.653 to perish with valor is better than to be saved without a fight in disgrace; for this would not be called salvation, but rightly, betrayal. Come therefore most quickly to the place Europos, where indeed having gathered the whole army, as God may wish, I have hope of dealing with the enemy." And when this was done, Chosroes, having heard of the sudden arrival of Belisarius, was astonished, and decided not to advance further, but sent Abandazes the secretary, a prudent man, to Belisarius, both to observe the general and the army, and ostensibly to complain in word that Justinian the emperor had not sent envoys to Persia to arrange the peace. And Belisarius, learning that the envoys had come, himself having selected six thousand men, both tall and handsome in body, went out to hunt far from the camp, and he ordered Diogenes the spear-bearer and Adulius, an Armenian man, to cross the river with a thousand horsemen, as if to scout the river crossing. And Belisarius, when he knew the ambassador was approaching, pitched his tent in a deserted place, making it clear that he had come there with no preparation; and he ordered the soldiers—both Thracians and Illyrians, Goths and Heruls, after whom were Vandals and Moors—to be on either side of the tent, not to stand in the plain for a very long time as if on duty nor in one spot, but to walk about, winding around as if hunting, and to appear to look at Chosroes' ambassador 1.654 incidentally. And they walked about girt and bright of face, carrying both axes and single-barbed spears. And Abandazes, having come into the presence of Belisarius, said that Chosroes was grieved because, indeed, as he had agreed, Justinian did not send envoys for peace, and forced Chosroes against the Romans

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γὰρ τῷ #22ηʹ ἔτει ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου, ἰνδικτίωνος ιεʹ, τῇ κγʹ τοῦ Φεβρουαρίου μηνός, ὥρᾳ πρώτῃ τῆς ἡμέρας, τὴν τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας ἀνοικοδομὴν ἤρξατο ποιεῖν Ἰουστινιανός. Τῷ ιβʹ ἔτει ἐξῆλθον οἱ Βούλγαροι εἰς τὴν Μυσίαν καὶ ἠφά νισαν τὰς χώρας, καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας αὐτῶν ἀπέκτειναν. ἀκού σας δὲ ὁ τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ βασιλεὺς Ἀκοὺμ ὁ Οὗννος ἐξῆλθε κατ' αὐτῶν, καὶ μιγεὶς τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἔκοψε τοὺς Βουλγάρους εἰς πλῆ θος. εἶτα ὡς ἀπὸ νίκης ἀμεριμνήσαντας αὐτοὺς εὑρίσκουσιν ἄλλοι Βούλγαροι, καὶ σφάζουσι λαὸν πολύν, καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ τὸν Ἀκοὺμ ἐκράτησαν, καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν. 1.652 τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ ἔτει παρέλαβεν ὁ Χοσρόης Ἀντιόχειαν τὴν μεγάλην καὶ Ἀπάμειαν καὶ ἑτέρας πόλεις. Τῷ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει προσερρύη Ῥωμαίοις Μοῦνδος ἐκ γένους τῶν Γηπέδων, υἱὸς Γιεσμοῦ, ῥὴξ τοῦ Σιρμίου· καὶ πολλὰ αὐτὸν φιλοτιμησάμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, ποιήσας τε αὐτὸν στρατηλάτην τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν. καὶ ἐν τῷ παραγενέσθαι αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ Ἰλλυρικὸν ἐξῆλθε κατ' αὐτοῦ πλῆθος Βουλγάρων. καὶ τούτους παντελῶς ἐκνικήσας τὴν κρείτ τονα αἰχμαλωσίαν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀποστέλλει· οὓς ὁ βα σιλεὺς εἰς Ἀρμενίαν καὶ εἰς Λαζικὴν καὶ ἐν λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι κατέ σπειρεν. ἔκτοτε βαθεῖα εἰρήνη ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ γέγονε, μηκέτι τολ μώντων τῶν Οὕννων περᾶσαι τὸν ∆άνουβιν.

Τῷ ιδʹ ἔτει Χοσρόης ὁ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς τετάρτην εἰσ βολὴν εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων γῆν ἐποιήσατο. ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς τὴν Κομα γηνῶν χώραν κατὰ Παλαιστίνης καὶ Ἱεροσολύμων διενοεῖτο χω ρεῖν. Ἰουστινιανὸς δὲ τοῦτο μαθὼν Βελισάριον αὖθις ἐκ τῶν ἑσπερίων ἐληλυθότα κατ' αὐτοῦ ἔπεμψεν. ὁ δὲ ἵπποις δημοσίοις ἐπιβὰς τάχει πολλῷ εἰς τὴν Εὐφρατησίαν ἀφίκετο. ἀκούσας δὲ τοὺς τῆς ἀνατολῆς φύλακας καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καταφυγόντας εἶναι, καὶ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ παραφυλακὴν προσκαλουμένων Ἱεραπόλεως, λίαν τούτους ὁ Βελισάριος κατεμέμψατο, καὶ γρά φει οὐ δίκαιον εἶναι μίαν πόλιν φυλάττειν καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀφιέ ναι ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων χώραν μετὰ ἀδικίας βαδίζειν καὶ τὰς τῆς βασιλείας πόλεις λυμαίνεσθαι. "εὖ γὰρ ἴστε ὅτι τὸ μετ' ἀρε 1.653 τῆς ἀπολωλέναι τοῦ σεσῶσθαι ἀμαχητὶ δυσκλεῶς ἄμεινον· οὐ γὰρ ἂν σωτηρία τοῦτο κληθείη, ἀλλὰ προδοσία δικαίως. ἥκετε οὖν τάχιστα εἰς Εὔρωπον τὸ χωρίον, οὗ δὴ συλλέξας τὸ στράτευμα ὅλον, ὡς ἂν ὁ θεὸς θέλῃ, ἐλπίδα ἔχω τοὺς πολεμίους ἐργάζε σθαι." καὶ τούτου γενομένου ὁ Χοσρόης τὸ ἐξαίφνης τῆς τοῦ Βελισαρίου παρουσίας ἀκούσας ἐξέστη, καὶ πρόσω μὲν ἐλαύνειν οὐκ ἔγνω, Ἀβανδάζην δὲ τὸν γραμματέα, ἄνδρα συνετόν, πρὸς Βελισάριον ἔπεμψε, τόν τε στρατηγὸν κατασκεψόμενον καὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ δῆθεν μεμψόμενον ὅτι Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς πρέσβεις ἐν Περσίδι οὐκ ἔπεμψε τὴν εἰρήνην πρυ τανεύσοντας. ὁ δὲ Βελισάριος μαθὼν τοὺς πρέσβεις ἥκειν, αὐτὸς μὲν ἑξακισχιλίους ἐπιλεξάμενος ἄνδρας εὐμήκεις τε καὶ τῷ σώματι καλοὺς ἄποθεν τοῦ στρατοπέδου κυνηγήσων ἐξῄει, ∆ιογένην δὲ τὸν δορυφόρον καὶ Ἀδούλιον ἄνδρα Ἀρμένιον τὸν ποταμὸν διαβῆναι σὺν ἱππεῦσι χιλίοις ἐκέλευσεν ὡς ψηλαφήσοντας τὴν τοῦ ποταμοῦ διάβασιν. Βελισάριος δὲ ἐπεὶ τὸν πρεσβευτὴν ἐγγὺς ἐρχόμενον ἔγνω, τὸν παπυλεῶνα ἐπήξατο ἐν χωρίῳ ἐρήμῳ, παρα δηλῶν ὅτι οὐδεμιᾷ παρασκευῇ ἐνταῦθα ἥκει· τοῖς τε στρατιώταις ἐπέταξε τῆς μὲν καλύβης ἐφ' ἑκάτερα εἶναι, Θρᾷκάς τε καὶ Ἰλ λυριοὺς Γότθους τε καὶ Ἑλούρους, μεθ' οὓς Οὐανδήλους τε καὶ Μαυρουσίους, μὴ εἰς τὸ πεδίον ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὡς διακονοῦντας ἵστασθαι οὐδ' εἰς ἕνα τόπον, ἀλλὰ βαδίζειν εἱλισσομένους ὡς κυνηγετοῦντας, καὶ παρέργως τῷ δοκεῖν τὸν Χοσρόου πρεσβευτὴν 1.654 βλέπειν. διεζωσμένοι τε ἐβάδιζον καὶ φαιδροὶ τὰ πρόσωπα, πε λέκεις τε καὶ μοναύλους βαστάζοντες. ὁ δὲ Ἀβανδάζης εἰς ὄψιν Βελισαρίῳ ἐλθὼν λυπεῖσθαι τὸν Χοσρόην ἔφασκεν, ὅτι δὴ καθὰ συνέθετο οὐκ ἔπεμψε Ἰουστινιανὸς πρέσβεις πρὸς εἰρήνην, καὶ ἠνάγκασε Χοσρόην κατὰ Ῥωμαίων