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8.11.8 Bradoucius, however, no longer came with him to Byzantium, since they say that Chosroes made him disappear from the world, having brought no other charge against the man, except indeed 8.11.9 that he had become a table-companion to the Roman emperor. "For," he said, "being a mere interpreter, he would not have arrived at this high honour from the emperor, unless he had happened to betray the interests of the Persians." But some say that Isdigousnas slandered him, alleging that he had secretly entered into negotiations with the Romans. 8.11.10 At first this ambassador, on meeting with the emperor, said nothing of little or great importance about the peace, but accused the Romans of having violated the truce, asserting that Arethas and the Saracens allied with the Romans had done injury to Alamoundaras during the truce, and bringing forward other charges not worthy of mention, which it has seemed to me not at all necessary to record. 8.11.11 So, then, these things were being done in Byzantium. But Bessas 8.11.11 with the whole Roman army was setting about the siege of Petra. The Romans, then, were digging a tunnel around the wall, at the very spot where Dagisthaeus also had previously made his tunnel and brought down the circuit-wall. And for what reason 8.11.12 indeed they were digging in the same place, I shall make clear. Those who had built this city from the beginning had laid the foundations of the circuit-wall for the most part upon rock, but in some places it happened that they lay also on top of earth. 8.11.13 There was a certain portion of the wall towards the west of the city, not very wide, on either side of which they had built the foundations of the circuit-wall 8.11.14 upon some hard and unworkable rock. This portion, therefore, both Dagisthaeus previously and now Bessas were tunneling in the same way, since the nature of the place did not permit them to go further, but reasonably determined and decreed for them the length of the tunnel. 8.11.15 So when the Persians, after the withdrawal of Dagisthaeus, wished to rebuild this fallen part of the wall, they did not carry out the construction in the former manner, 8.11.16 but in the following way. Having filled the emptied space with pebbles, they placed thick beams over it, which, after planing them most carefully and making them altogether smooth, they joined to one another to a great width, and making them a platform instead of foundations, they skilfully built the structure of the circuit-wall on top of them. Not understanding this, the Romans thought they were making their tunnel 8.11.17 beneath the foundations. And having cleared the entire space of the earth from under the beams, which I just mentioned, they were strong enough to shake the circuit-wall considerably, and a portion of it suddenly fell, yet this fallen part neither inclined to one side nor was any of the arrangement of its stones disturbed, but wholly intact, with a kind of straight descent, as if from a machine, it came down into the empty space and stood, and it kept its own position, not to the same height as before, 8.11.18 but to a somewhat lesser one. So when the whole space beneath the beams had been emptied, it happened that they settled down there along with 8.11.19 the whole structure above them. But not even so had the wall become scalable for the Romans. For the host of the Persians, when they came there in great numbers with Mermeroes, had added a great amount to the previous structure and had built the circuit-wall exceedingly high. 8.11.20 The Romans, therefore, when they saw that the shaken part of the circuit-wall was standing again, were at a loss and were seized by great helplessness. 8.11.21 For they were no longer able to tunnel, since their mine was now cut off at this point, nor could they use a ram at all, since they were fighting against the wall on a steep slope, and this machine cannot be dragged up except on level and very flat ground. 8.11.22 But by some chance it happened that in this Roman army there were a few barbarians of the Sabiri 8.11.23 for the following reason. The Sabiri are a Hunnic nation, and they dwell around the Caucasus Mountains, being an exceedingly numerous people, but divided into many governments 8.11.24 for the most part. Of these rulers, some are known to the Roman emperor from of old, and others to the Persian king. And each of the two kings was accustomed to

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8.11.8 Βραδούκιος μέντοι ξὺν αὐτῷ ἐς Βυζάντιον οὐκέτι ἦλθεν, ἐπεὶ Χοσρόην φασὶν αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανίσαι, ἄλλο οὐδὲν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπενεγκόντα, πλήν γε 8.11.9 δὴ ὅτι ὁμοτράπεζος τῷ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεῖ γέγονεν. «οὐ «γὰρ ἂν», ἔφη, «ἑρμηνεύς γε ὢν ἐς τοῦτο ἀξιώματος «πρὸς βασιλέως ἀφίκετο, εἰ μὴ καταπροδοὺς ἔτυχε τὰ «Περσῶν πράγματα.» τινὲς δὲ τὸν Ἰσδιγούσναν αὐτὸν διαβαλεῖν φασιν, ὡς λάθρα Ῥωμαίοις ἐς λόγους ἔλθοι. 8.11.10 τὰ δὲ πρῶτα ὁ πρεσβευτὴς οὗτος βασιλεῖ ἐντυχὼν οὐ μικρὸν ἀμφὶ τῇ εἰρήνῃ, οὐ μέγα εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ᾐτιᾶτο Ῥωμαίους ἐς τὴν ἐκεχειρίαν ἠδικηκέναι, Ἀρέθαν τε καὶ Σαρακηνοὺς τοὺς Ῥωμαίων ἐνσπόνδους Ἀλαμουνδάρῳἐν σπονδαῖς λυμήνασθαι φάσκων, ἄλλα τε οὐκ ἀξιόλογα ἐπιφέρων ἐγκλήματα, ὧνπέρ μοι ἐπιμνησθῆναι οὔτι ἀναγκαῖον ἔδοξεν εἶναι. 8.11.11 Ἐν μὲν οὖν Βυζαντίῳ ταῦτα ἐπράσσετο. Βέσσας 8.11.11 δὲ παντὶ τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατῷ Πέτρας ἐς πολιορκίαν καθίστατο. Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τὸ τεῖχος διώρυσσον, ἵνα δὴ καὶ ∆αγισθαῖος τὰ πρότερα τὴν διώρυχα πεποιημένος τὸν περίβολον ταύτῃ καθεῖλεν. ὅτου δὲ δὴ 8.11.12 ἕνεκα ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον ὤρυσσον, ἐγὼ δηλώσω. οἱ τὴν πόλιν τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ταύτην δειμάμενοι, ἐπὶ πέτρας μὲν ἔθεντο ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τὰ τοῦ περιβόλου θεμέλια, ἐνιαχῆ δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ χώματος αὐτὰ ξυνέβαινε 8.11.13 κεῖσθαι. ἦν δέ τις τοῦ τείχους μοῖρα ἐς τῆς πόλεως τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέραν οὐ λίαν εὐρεῖα, ἧς δὴ ἑκατέρωθεν ἐπὶ πέτρας τινὸς σκληρᾶς τε καὶ ἀμηχάνου τοῦ περι8.11.14 βόλου τὰ θεμέλια ἐτεκτήναντο. ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν μοῖραν ∆αγισθαῖός τε τὰ πρότερα καὶ τανῦν Βέσσας διώρυσσον ὁμοίως, οὐκ ἐφιείσης τῆς τοῦ χωρίου φύσεως σφίσι περαιτέρω ἰέναι, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς διώρυχος μῆκος συμμετρούσης τε αὐτοῖς καὶ πρυτανευούσης εἰκότως. 8.11.15 ἡνίκα οὖν Πέρσαι μετὰ τὴν ∆αγισθαίου ὑπαγωγὴν τὸ καταπεπτωκὸς τοῦτο τοῦ τείχους ἀνοικοδομήσασθαι ἤθελον, οὐ κατὰ τὰ πρότερα τὴν οἰκοδομίαν πεποίην8.11.16 ται, ἀλλὰ τρόπῳ τοιῷδε. κάχληκος τὸν κενωθέντα ἐμπλησάμενοι χῶρον δοκοὺς παχείας αὐτοῦ ὕπερθεν ἔθεντο, ἅσπερ ἐνδελεχέστατα ξύσαντες ὁμαλάς τε παντάπασι καταστησάμενοι ἔζευξαν μὲν ἐς ἀλλήλας ἐς μέγα τι εὖρος, κρηπῖδα δὲ αὐτὰς ἀντὶ θεμελίων ποιησάμενοι τοῦ περιβόλου καθύπερθεν αὐτῶν ἐτεκτήναντο τὴν οἰκοδομίαν ἐμπείρως. ὅπερ οὐ ξυνέντες Ῥωμαῖοι ἔνερθεν τῶν θεμελίων ποιεῖσθαι τὴν διώ8.11.17 ρυχα ᾤοντο. καὶ τὸν χῶρον κενώσαντες ὅλον ἐκ τῶν δοκῶν, ὧνπερ ἐπεμνήσθην ἀρτίως, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῆς γῆς τὸν μὲν περίβολον κατασεῖσαι κατὰ πολὺ ἴσχυσαν, μοῖρά τε αὐτοῦ ἐξαπιναίως κατεπεπτώκει, οὐ μέντοι οὔτε πη ἐπὶ θάτερα τὸ πεπτωκὸς τοῦτο ἐκλίθη οὔτε τις αὐτῷ τῶν λίθων ἐπιβολὴ ξυνεταράχθη, ἀλλ' ἀκραιφνὲς ὅλον εὐθείᾳ τινὶ καταβάσει, ὥσπερ ἐκ μηχανῆς, ἐς τὸν κενωθέντα χῶρον καταβὰν ἔστη, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐφύλασσε χώραν, οὐκ ἐς ὕψος ὅσον τὰ πρότερα, 8.11.18 ἀλλ' ἔς τι ἧσσον. κενωθέντος οὖν παντὸς τοῦ τῶν δοκῶν ἔνερθεν χώρου ὑφιζάνειν αὐτὰς ἐνταῦθα ξὺν 8.11.19 τῇ ὑπὲρ αὐτὰς οἰκοδομίᾳ πάσῃ ξυνέβη. τοῖς δὲ Ῥωμαίοις οὐδ' ὣς ἐσβατὸν ἐγεγόνει τὸ τεῖχος. ὁ γὰρ τῶν Περσῶν ὅμιλος, ἡνίκα πολὺς ξὺν τῷ Μερμερόῃ ἐνταῦθα ἦλθε, μέγα τι χρῆμα τῇ πρόσθεν οἰκοδομίᾳ ἐνθέμενοι ὑψηλὸν ἐσάγαν τὸν περίβολον ἐτεκτήναντο. 8.11.20 Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν οὖν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ περιβόλου τὸ κατασεισθὲν αὖθις ἑστηκὸς εἶδον, διηποροῦντό τε καὶ ἀμη8.11.21 χανίᾳ πολλῇ εἴχοντο. οὔτε γὰρ διορύσσειν ἔτι ἠδύναντο, ἐς τοῦτο ἀποκεκριμένης τῆς κατώρυχος σφίσι, κριῷ τε χρῆσθαι οὐδαμῆ εἶχον, ἐπεὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ ἀνάντει ἐτειχομάχουν, ἡ δὲ μηχανὴ αὕτη ἐφέλκεσθαι οὐχ οἵα τέ ἐστιν ὅτι μὴ ἐν χωρίῳ ὁμαλῷ τε καὶ λίαν ὑπτίῳ. 8.11.22 Τύχῃ δέ τινι ξυνεκύρησεν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατῷ εἶναι βαρβάρων τῶν Σαβείρων ὀλίγους τινὰς 8.11.23 ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε. οἱ Σάβειροι ἔθνος μέν ἐστιν Οὐννικὸν, ᾤκηνται δὲ ἀμφὶ τὰ Καυκάσια ὄρη, πάμπολυ πλῆθος μὲν ἐσάγαν ὄντες, ἐς ἀρχὰς δὲ πολλὰς 8.11.24 ἐπιεικῶς διῃρημένοι. τούτων δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων οἱ μέν τινές εἰσι τῷ Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορι, οἱ δὲ τῷ Περσῶν βασιλεῖ ἐκ παλαιοῦ γνώριμοι. τοῖν τε βασιλέοιν ἑκάτερος χρυσίον εἰώθει