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such was the end, but Antony, through Ventidius, defeated the Parthians. For their king, Pacorus, fell in the war, and of the barbarians, some were slain in the 2.416 battle, while others fled, and Ventidius brought the cities of Syria under his control. Then he marched against Antiochus, the ruler of Commagene. But Antony, arriving there suddenly, was not only not pleased at the successes, but was also jealous and removed him from his command. He himself attacked Antiochus and shut him up in Samosata. And when he accomplished nothing by besieging him, he made a treaty of truce and set out for Italy. Orodes, however, the king of the Parthians, having become very old, and having grown weary of his kingdom from grief for Pacorus, handed over the rule to Phraates, the eldest of his remaining sons. But he, proving most unholy, murdered his brothers, and killed his own father, who was grieving for them, and destroyed the best of the others. Antony, on the one hand, had sent ambassadors to the Parthians concerning peace, but on the other, was preparing for war, so that he might fall upon them unprepared because of their hope for a treaty. And learning that the Mede had gone to the aid of the Parthian, he left behind the baggage train and much of the army with Statianus to follow, but he himself hurried on with the cavalry and the light-armed infantry, as if he would immediately subdue the affairs of the Medes. The Parthian and the Mede, however, unexpectedly falling upon Statianus and the army with him, killed them all, although Antony hastened to help them, yet he arrived too late and found only the dead. He, not much later, engaging with the barbarians, routed them, but did not inflict any great harm. And while besieging 2.417 the Median royal palace, he himself was rather besieged, as provisions were failing his army, and those going out to gather them were severely harassed by the barbarians, who lay in ambush for them. While Antony was in these straits, Phraates, suborning certain men, persuaded him through them to send heralds for the sake of a treaty; and the Parthian, after greatly reproaching those who were sent, said he would make a truce on no other condition, than that they should immediately break camp. And Antony withdrew. But while he was expecting the truce, the Medes both burned the siege engines and scattered the earthworks. And the Parthians, suddenly attacking, wrought many and terrible things. When, therefore, he knew that he had been deceived, he attempted to depart for Armenia. And going through unknown places, he encountered many difficulties. And all those with him would have perished, having fallen into an ambush and being struck by dense volleys of arrows, if they had not formed the tortoise by locking their shields together. The tortoise is formed thus. The baggage animals and the light-armed troops are placed in the middle of the army, and of the hoplites, those using the oblong, hollow shields are arranged on the outside and, arrayed in their armor and facing outwards, they enclose the others, while those carrying the flat shields are massed in the center, and they hold them up over themselves and the rest, so that nothing other than shields is seen throughout the entire phalanx, and they are all under cover from missiles due to the denseness of the formation. For it is so densely packed that some are even able to walk upon it. Such, then, is the shape of this formation, 2.418 and for this reason it received the name of "tortoise," both because of its strength and its excellent cover; they use it in two ways: for either they approach some fortress and assault the walls, or, being sometimes surrounded by archers, they all stoop down in such a way as to seem to be exhausted, and when the enemy draws near they suddenly rise up, and from there they strike them with terror and throw them into confusion. This is what happened on that occasion also. For, being struck by many arrows, as has been said, they both formed the locked shields of the tortoise and rested their left knees on the ground. The barbarians therefore, thinking them to be on account of the

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μὲν τοιοῦτον τὸ τέλος ἐγένετο, ̓Αντώνιος δὲ διὰ τοῦ Βεντιδίου τοὺς Πάρθους ἐνίκησεν. ο τε γὰρ βασιλεὺς ἐκείνων ὁ Πάκορος ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ επεσε καὶ οἱ βάρβαροι οἱ μὲν ἐκτάνθησαν ἐν τῇ 2.416 μάχῃ, οἱ δὲ εφυγον, καὶ τὰς τῆς Συρίας πόλεις ὁ Βεντίδιος ὑπηγάγετο. ειτα κατὰ τοῦ ̓Αντιόχου τοῦ τῆς Κομαγηνῆς βασιλεύοντος ἐπεστράτευσεν. ἐνταῦθα δὲ οντι ἀθρόον ὁ ̓Αντώνιος ἐπιστὰς οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῖς κατορθώμασιν οὐχ ησθη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφθόνησε καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτὸν επαυσεν, αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ ̓Αντιόχῳ προσέβαλε καὶ κατέκλεισεν αὐτὸν εἰς Σαμόσατα. ὡς δ' οὐδὲν ηνυε πολιορκῶν αὐτόν, συνθήκας σπονδῶν ἐποιήσατο καὶ εἰς τὴν ̓Ιταλίαν ἀφώρμησεν. ̓Ορώδης μέντοι ὁ τῶν Πάρθων βασιλεὺς ὑπέργηρως γεγονώς, καὶ τῷ τοῦ Πακόρου πένθει τὴν βασιλείαν ἀπαγορεύσας, Φραάτῃ τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῶν λοιπῶν αὐτοῦ παίδων τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνεχείρισεν. ὁ δὲ ἀνοσιώτατος γεγονὼς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐδολοφόνησε, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν πατέρα δυσανασχετοῦντα δι' ἐκείνους ἀπέκτεινε, καὶ τῶν αλλων τοὺς ἀρίστους διέφθειρεν. ̓Αντώνιος δὲ πρέσβεις μὲν πρὸς τοὺς Πάρθους περὶ εἰρήνης ἐκπέπομφε, πρὸς δὲ πόλεμον ἡτοιμάζετο, ινα ἀπαρασκεύοις αὐτοῖς ἐντύχῃ διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς συμβάσεως. καὶ μαθὼν τὸν Μῆδον ἐπὶ συμμαχίαν τοῦ Πάρθου χωρήσαντα, τὰ μὲν σκευοφόρα καὶ πολὺ τῆς στρατιᾶς ὑπελίπετο μετὰ τοῦ Στατιανοῦ ιν' εποιντο, αὐτὸς δὲ σὺν τοῖς ἱππεῦσι καὶ τῶν πεζῶν τοῖς εὐζώνοις ἠπείγετο, ὡς αὐτίκα τὰ τῶν Μήδων καταστρεψόμενος. ὁ μέντοι Πάρθος καὶ ὁ Μῆδος τῷ Στατιανῷ ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐπιπεσόντες καὶ τῇ μετ' αὐτοῦ στρατιᾷ, πάντας ἐφόνευσαν, τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου σπεύσαντος μὲν βοηθῆσαι αὐτοῖς, πλὴν ὑστερίσαντος καὶ μόνους τοὺς νεκροὺς εὑρηκότος. ος οὐ πολλῷ υστερον συμβαλὼν τοῖς βαρβάροις ἐτρέψατο μὲν αὐτούς, οὐ μέντοι μέγα τι εβλαψε. πολιορκῶν 2.417 δὲ τὰ τοῦ Μήδου βασίλεια ἐπολιορκεῖτο μᾶλλον αὐτὸς ἐπιλιπόντων τῇ αὐτοῦ στρατιᾷ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ ἐπὶ συναγωγὴν αὐτῶν ἐξιόντων σφόδρα παρὰ τῶν βαρβάρων κακουμένων, ἐνεδρευόντων αὐτοῖς. ̓Εν τούτοις οντος τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου ὁ Φραάτης ὑποβαλών τινας επεισε δι' ἐκείνων αὐτὸν ἐπικηρυκεύσασθαι συμβάσεων ενεκεν· καὶ ὁ Πάρθος τοὺς πεμφθέντας ἐξονειδίσας πολλὰ μὴ αλλως σπείσασθαι ειπεν, εἰ μὴ αὐτίκα ἀποστρατοπεδεύσονται. καὶ ὁ ̓Αντώνιος ἀπανέστη. προσδεχομένου δ' αὐτοῦ τὰς σπονδὰς οἱ Μῆδοι τάς τε πολιορκητικὰς κατέκαυσαν μηχανὰς καὶ τὰ χώματα διεσκέδασαν. οἱ δέ γε Πάρθοι πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ αἰφνίδιον προσπεσόντες εἰργάσαντο. ὡς ουν εγνω οτι ἠπάτηται, ἐς τὴν ̓Αρμενίαν ἀπελθεῖν ἐπεχείρησε. καὶ διὰ χωρίων ἀπιὼν ἀγνώστων, πολλαῖς δυσχερείαις ἐνέτυχε. καὶ καν ἀπώλοντο οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ ξύμπαντες εἰς ἐνέδραν ἐμπεσόντες καὶ πυκνοῖς βαλλόμενοι τοῖς τοξεύμασιν, εἰ μὴ τὴν χελώνην ἐποίησαν συνασπίσαντες. ̔Η δὲ χελώνη γίνεται ουτως. τὰ μὲν σκευοφόρα καὶ οἱ ψιλοὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ στρατεύματος τέτακται, τῶν δ' ὁπλιτῶν οἱ μὲν ταῖς προμήκεσιν ἀσπίσι ταῖς κοίλαις χρώμενοι περὶ τὰ εσχατα τάσσονται καὶ τοὺς αλλους τὰ οπλα περιβεβλημένοι εξω τε βλέποντες περιέχουσιν, οἱ δὲ τὰς πλατείας ἀσπίδας φέροντες ἐν τῷ μέσῳ συσπειρῶνται, κἀκείνας ανω ἑαυτῶν τε καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ὑπεραίρουσιν, ωστε μηδὲν ετερον η ἀσπίδας ὁρᾶσθαι διὰ πάσης τῆς φάλαγγος, καὶ ἐν σκέπῃ ἐκ τῶν βελῶν πάντας ειναι αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πυκνότητος τῆς συντάξεως. ουτω γάρ τοι πεπύκνωται ὡς καὶ βαδίζειν τινὰς ἐπάνω αὐτῆς δύνασθαι. τὸ μὲν ουν σχῆμα τῆς τάξεως ταύτης τοιοῦτόν ἐστι, 2.418 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν χελώνης ελαχε κλῆσιν, διά τε τὸ ἰσχυρὸν αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ εὐσκεπές· χρῶνται δὲ αὐτῇ διχῇ· η γὰρ πρὸς φρούριόν τι προσμίσγοντες προσπορεύονται καὶ τειχομαχοῦσιν, η ὑπὸ τοξοτῶν περιστοιχισθέντες ποτὲ κυπτάζουσιν ουτω πάντες ὡς δοκεῖν οτι κεκμήκασι, πελασάντων δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐξαίφνης ἐγείρονται, κἀντεῦθεν σφᾶς ἐκπλήττουσι καὶ ταράττουσιν. ο καὶ τότε συμβέβηκε. πολλοῖς γάρ, ὡς ειρηται, βαλλόμενοι βέλεσι, τόν τε συνασπισμὸν τῆς χελώνης ἐποίησαν καὶ τὰ γόνατα πρὸς τὴν γῆν ηρεισαν τὰ εὐώνυμα. νομίσαντες ουν αὐτοὺς οἱ βάρβαροι ὑπὸ τῶν