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Of obscure parents, and some say he was the freedman of Anulinus, a senator, from being a common soldier, he became Duke of Mysia. But others say he became Count of the Domestics; and some consider the Domestics to be the cavalry. And speaking to the soldiers, he assured them that he had no part in the murder of Numerian; and while saying these things, turning to Aper, who was the prefect of the army, "this," he said, "is his murderer," and immediately killed him with the sword in his hands. And having come to Rome, he laid claim to the affairs of the empire and took up their administration. And considering the immense burden of the imperial power, he takes a partner in it in the fourth year of his reign, or according to others, in the second, Maximian Herculius, having reckoned that he alone was not sufficient for the administration of so great an empire. Both, therefore, having conspired together, stir up a persecution against the Christians, both more vehement and more savage than all that had been before. For eagerly, or rather, frantically, they hastened to wipe out from all the earth the saving name of our God Jesus Christ. When in every city and country so many acted bravely for the confession of Christ, that it was not easy even to subject them to a number; for they considered this work more important than all others. And when the Egyptian cities of Busiris and Coptos, situated near Thebes there, revolted, Diocletian marched against them, and he both captured and razed them. Then again 3.160 Alexandria and Egypt raised a hand against the Romans, a certain Achilleus having led the Egyptians to this; but when the Romans with Diocletian came against them, they did not hold out for long, and many of those responsible for the sedition were killed, including Achilleus himself. And Diocletian and Maximian appointed as Caesars their own relatives by marriage: Diocletian appointed Maximinus Galerius, having joined his own daughter Valeria to him in marriage; and Maximian Herculius appointed Constans, who was surnamed Chlorus on account of his paleness, being the grandson of Claudius who had reigned a short time before, as has already been said by me, and he himself betrothed his own daughter Theodora to him. And both these Caesars had wives, but on account of the marriage-alliance with the emperors, they repudiated the former, and cohabited with the daughters of the emperors. And when a certain Amandus raised a revolt in the Gallic provinces, Maximian went there and suppressed the revolt. And Crassus, who had held Britain for three years, the prefect Asclepiodotus killed; and when five certain Gentians had seized Africa, Herculius defeated them. But the Caesar Constans, fighting against the Alamanni in the Gallic provinces, was defeated and was victorious on the same day. For at first, when the Alamanni charged his army with a strong rush, they were all turned to flight. With whom Constans himself was also fleeing, he was almost captured. For coming behind, he found the gates of the city closed. And his pursuers, already drawing near, were ready 3.161 to seize him, and he would have been led away as a prisoner, if they had not let down ropes from the wall from above, and hauled him up with them. And having thus been saved and gotten inside the city, and immediately having gathered his army and having stirred it to courage with exhorting words and having inspired it with boldness, as it were, he goes out at once and, having engaged with the enemy, wins a glorious victory, so that about sixty thousand of them fell. And when Narses was king of the Persians, who is recorded as the seventh to rule the Persians since Artaxerxes, whom the history previously mentioned as having restored the kingdom to the Persians again; for after this Artaxerxes or Artaxares, who had two names, Sapor ruled the Persians, and after him Hormisdas, then Vararanes, and after him Vararakes, and again another Vararanes, and after these Narses; when this Narses, therefore, was at that time plundering Syria, his own son-in-law Galerius Maximinus, the

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πατέρων δ' ἀσήμων, τινὲς δὲ καὶ ἀπελεύθερον αὐτόν φασιν ̓Ανουλίνου συγκλητικοῦ, ἐξ εὐτελῶν στρατιωτῶν δοὺξ Μυσίας ἐγένετο. αλλοι δὲ κόμητα δομεστίκων αὐτὸν γενέσθαι φασί· δομεστίκους δέ τινες τοὺς ἱππέας νομίζουσι. διαλεγόμενος δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις διεβεβαίου μὴ κοινωνῆσαι τῷ φόνῳ τοῦ Νουμεριανοῦ· καὶ ἐν τῷ ταῦτα λέγειν στραφεὶς πρὸς τὸν Απρον επαρχον οντα τοῦ στρατεύματος "ουτος" εφη "ὁ ἐκείνου φονεύς," καὶ αὐτίκα τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας ξίφει αὐτὸν ἀνεῖλεν. ἐν δὲ τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ γενόμενος τῶν τῆς ἀρχῆς πραγμάτων ἀντεποιεῖτο καὶ τῆς τούτων ηψατο διοικήσεως. ἀπιδὼν δὲ πρὸς τὸ τῆς βασιλείας ὑπέρογκον, κοινωνὸν αὐτῆς προσλαμβάνεται κατὰ τὸ τέταρτον ετος τῆς ἡγεμονίας αὐτοῦ, η καθ' ἑτέρους κατὰ τὸ δεύτερον, Μαξιμιανὸν τὸν ̔Ερκούλιον, μὴ ἑαυτὸν μόνον ἀρκοῦντα πρὸς τοσαύτης ἀρχῆς διοίκησιν λογισάμενος. Αμφω τοίνυν συμπνεύσαντες διωγμὸν ἐγείρουσι κατὰ χριστιανῶν, τῶν πρὶν γεγονότων ἁπάντων σφοδρότερόν τε καὶ ἀγριώτερον. ἐκθύμως γὰρ η μᾶλλον περιμανῶς τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ εσπευδον ἐκ πάσης γῆς ἐξαλεῖψαι σωτήριον ονομα. οτε κατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν καὶ χώραν τοσοῦτοι ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν ὁμολογίας ἠνδρίσαντο, ὡς μηδ' ἀριθμῷ σχεδὸν αὐτοὺς ὑπαχθῆναι ῥᾴδιον ειναι· εργον γὰρ τοῦτο τῶν αλλων ἁπάντων ἐτίθεντο σπουδαιότερον. Βουσίρεως δὲ καὶ Κοπτοῦ πόλεων Αἰγυπτιακῶν περὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ Θήβας οἰκουμένων εἰς ἀποστασίαν ἐκκλινασῶν, ὁ ∆ιοκλητιανὸς ἐκστρατεύσας κατ' αὐτῶν ειλέ τε αὐτὰς καὶ κατέσκαψεν. ειτ' αυθις 3.160 ̓Αλεξάνδρεια καὶ ἡ Αιγυπτος ἀντῆραν χεῖρα ̔Ρωμαίοις, ̓Αχιλλέως τινὸς εἰς τοῦτο τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὑπαγαγόντος· ἀλλὰ ̔Ρωμαίων αὐτοῖς ἐπελθόντων σὺν ∆ιοκλητιανῷ, οὐκ ἀντέσχον ἐπὶ πολύ, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν αἰτίων τῆς στάσεως ἀνῃρέθησαν, καὶ αὐτὸς ̓Αχιλλεύς. ∆ιοκλητιανὸς δὲ καὶ Μαξιμιανὸς Καίσαρας ἐχειροτόνησαν τοὺς ἑαυτῶν κηδεστάς, ὁ μὲν ∆ιοκλητιανὸς Μαξιμῖνον τὸν Γαλέριον, τὴν οἰκείαν θυγατέρα συζεύξας αὐτῷ Βαλερίαν· ὁ δ' ̔Ερκούλιος Μαξιμιανὸς Κώνσταντα, ος ἐπεκλήθη Χλωρὸς διὰ τὴν ὠχρότητα, θυγατριδοῦν οντα Κλαυδίου τοῦ πρὸ μικροῦ βασιλεύσαντος, ὡς ηδη μοι ειρηται, καὶ αὐτὸς τούτῳ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρα Θεοδώραν κατεγγυήσας. καὶ αμφω δὲ τὼ Καίσαρε τούτω γαμετὰς εἰχέτην, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς βασιλεῖς κῆδος τὰς μὲν ἀπώσαντο, ταῖς δὲ τῶν βασιλέων θυγατράσι συνῴκησαν. ̓Αμάνδου δέ τινος νεωτερίσαντος ἐν Γαλλίαις, Μαξιμιανὸς ἐκεῖσε γενόμενος τὸν νεωτερισμὸν κατέστειλε. Κράσσον δὲ Βρεττανίαν κατεσχηκότα ἐπὶ ἐνιαυτοὺς τρεῖς ὁ επαρχος ἀνεῖλεν ̓Ασκληπιόδοτος· καὶ πέντε τινῶν Γεντιανῶν τὴν ̓Αφρικὴν κατασχόντων ὁ ̔Ερκούλιος τούτους κατηγωνίσατο. ̔Ο δέ γε Καῖσαρ Κώνστας ἐν ταῖς Γαλλίαις πρὸς ̓Αλαμαννοὺς μαχόμενος τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας ηττητο καὶ νενίκηκε. πρότερον μὲν γὰρ τῶν ̓Αλαμαννῶν τῇ αὐτοῦ στρατιᾷ μετὰ ῥύμης ἐφορμησάντων σφοδρᾶς, εἰς φυγὴν ἐτράπησαν απαντες. οις καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Κώνστας συναποδιδράσκων ἑάλω αν παρὰ βραχύ. ὀπίσω γὰρ ἐρχόμενος κεκλεισμένας ευρε τὰς πύλας τῆς πόλεως. οἱ δὲ διώκοντες ἐγγίζοντες ηδη ετοιμοι ησαν ἐκεῖνον 3.161 συλλήψεσθαι, καὶ καν ἀπήχθη δέσμιος, εἰ μὴ σχοίνους ἐκ τοῦ τείχους ανωθεν καθιμήσαντες ταύταις αὐτὸν ἀνιμήσαντο. ουτω δὲ περισωθεὶς καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐντὸς γεγονώς, καὶ τὴν στρατιὰν ἀθροίσας αὐτίκα καὶ λόγοις αὐτὴν παρακλητικοῖς εἰς ἀλκὴν διεγείρας καὶ θάρσος οιον ἐμπνεύσας αὐτῇ, εξεισιν εὐθὺς καὶ συμμίξας τοῖς πολεμίοις νικᾷ νίκην περιφανῆ, ωστε περὶ ἑξήκοντα χιλιάδας ἐκείνων πεσεῖν. Περσῶν δὲ Ναρσοῦ βασιλεύοντος, ος εβδομος ἀναγράφεται βασιλεῦσαι Περσῶν ἀπὸ ̓Αρταξέρξου, ου πρόσθεν ἡ ἱστορία ἐμνημόνευσεν ὡς αυθις Πέρσαις ἀνανεωσαμένου τὴν βασιλείαν· μετὰ γὰρ τὸν ̓Αρταξέρξην τοῦτον η ̓Αρταξάρην, διώνυμον οντα, Σαπώρης ηρξε Περσῶν, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ̔Ορμίσδας, ειτα Οὐαραράνης, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Οὐαραράκης, καὶ αυθις αλλος Οὐαραράνης, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις Ναρσῆς· τοῦ Ναρσοῦ τοίνυν τούτου τότε τὴν Συρίαν ληιζομένου, τὸν ιδιον γαμβρὸν τὸν Γαλέριον Μαξιμῖνον ὁ