Agathias, IV, 25, 2–5: But after them Shapur (II) enjoyed his kingdom for by far the longest time, and his reign was as long as his life. For, while his mother was still carrying him, the royal succession summoned the unborn child to the throne. It was not known whether the child would be a boy or a girl. 3. So all the political leaders offered prizes and gifts to the Magi if they could foretell what would come to pass. So they brought out a mare in foal that was very near her time, and told them to prophesy first about this, as they thought the result would be. In this way they reflected that they could know in a few days how their prophecies turned out and thus judge that whatever they prophesied about the woman would turn out in the same way. What they foretold about the mare I cannot say for sure, for I was not told all the details, except that everything came to pass exactly as they had predicted. 4. The others, judging from this that the Magi were accurate at their craft, urged them to reveal what they thought would happen in the case of the woman too. And when they said that the child would be a boy, they waited no longer but held the crown over her stomach and proclaimed the embryo king, designating by this name a creature just formed and shaped just enough, I suppose, to move about and kick a little inside. 5. And so they changed what is naturally uncertain and unknown by their expectation into revealed certainty, yet even so, their hopes did not fail them; they actually achieved their aim, and even more than they had expected. For not long afterwards Shapur was born, at the same time as his kingdom, and he grew up with it and grew old with it, his life lasting for seventy years.
(Cameron, pp. 123–5)
al-Tabari, p. 836 (Nöldeke, pp. 52–3): see Appendix 1, pp..
John of Antioch, frag. 178 (FHG IV, p. 605): Adarnases,1 then a child, was asked by his father Narses, the king of the Persians, if the tent which had been procured for him made out of Babylonian skins, was beautiful. But he replied that if he was governing the kingdom, he would make a more beautiful one out of human skins. When he came to power he was duly deprived of his kingship.
(Lieu)
Zonaras XIII, 5, 19–24 (iii, p. 190, 2–17, Dindorf): For Narses had three sons from the foremost of his wives, Adarnases, Hormisdas and a third.2 Upon the death of Narses, the eldest of these three, Adarnases succeeded to the throne. 20. But he happened to be exceedingly cruel arid harsh and for that reason was hated by the Persians and was deprived of his throne.
21. Let me mention a proverbial example of his cruelty. 22. A tent was once brought to his father from Babylon, rather cleverly made from the skins of the native animals. 23. After Narses had seen it stretched out, he asked Adarnases, who happened to be still a child whether he liked the tent. 24. But he answered that if he became king he would make a better one than that from the skins of men. Thus he revealed his cruelty in his childhood.
(Dodgeon)
al-Tabari, pp. 836–7 (Nöldeke, pp. 53–5): see Appendix 1, p. .
al-Tabari pp. 838–40 (Nöldeke, pp. 55–9): see Appendix 1, p. .
Eusebius, hist, eccl IX, 8, 2–4: In addition to this, (i.e. a painful disease), the tyrant (i.e. Maximinus Daia)4 had the further trouble of the war against the Armenians,5 men who from ancient times had been friends and allies of the Romans; but as they were Christians6 and exceedingly earnest in their piety towards the Deity, this hater of God (i.e. Maximinus Daia), by attempting to compel them to sacrifice to idols and demons, made of them foes instead of friends, and enemies instead of allies…. 4. He himself was worn out along with his commanders in the Armenian war;…
(Oulton, pp. 285–6)
Malalas, XII, p. , 2–14: After Diocletian had abdicated from imperial power, Maximianus, also called Herculi(an)us, reigned for nineteen years. On returning to Rome, he celebrated a triumph for the victory over the Persians and Egyptians…. In his reign, the Olympic Festival was celebrated at about the same time when he went to the East to fight the Armenians who had rebelled against the Romans. He triumphed over them and brought them under subjection.
(Dodgeon)
Ibid. pp. , 13–313, 2: At the same time the Persians allied themselves to the Armenians who were under attack and came with them against Roman territory and plundered the land. The same Maxentius7 campaigned against them and made war upon the Persians; and coming against them he destroyed them throughout Armenia, and he detached districts from the Persarmenians and brought them under the Romans. He called that land the Armenia Prima and Secunda of the Romans. While the same Maxentius was in Persarmenia, the Persians broke into Osrhoene and captured a city and burned it and dug up its foundations. And taking great booty they suddenly retired. The city captured by them was called Maximianoupolis. The same emperor Maxentius re-established it and also put up its walls, and lavishing many benefits upon the survivors he relieved them of taxation for three years. And upon his return home he was killed at the age of fifty-three.
(Dodgeon)
al-Tabari, p. 840 (Nöldeke, pp. 58–9): see Appendix 1, pp..
Zosimus II, 34, 1–2: Constantine also adopted another measure which allowed the barbarians to penetrate the territories under Roman domination without encountering any resistance. For, thanks to the forethought of Diocletian, as I have already described, the Roman Empire was protected on all its frontiers by cities, fortresses and signalling towers, in which the entire army was stationed. It was consequently impossible for the barbarians to cross the frontier as there was always sufficient force everywhere to counter and repulse them. 2. Constantine, however, abandoned this security by transferring the greater part of the soldiers from the frontier garrisons and installed them in cities that had no need of defenders,8 thus depriving those who were exposed to the barbarians of every form of defence, and oppressing the tranquil cities with so great a multitude of soldiers that many of them were totally abandoned by their inhabitants. He likewise lowered the morale of the soldiers through regular shows and comfortable living. In plain terms, he was the original sower of the seeds of decline which afflict us all at present.
(Anon., revised Lieu)
Cedrenus, i, pp. 496, 5–497, 2: When he (i.e. Constantine) saw that a plague was beginning, he left this city (i.e. Thessalonica) and went to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Finding that it had been desolated by the Persians, he began to rebuild it. Immediately eagles snatched up the bricks of the workmen and hurled them in the direction of Byzantium. When this had happened many times and everyone was perplexed, one of those serving the emperor and by the name of Euphratas9 explained that it was God’s wish that a city be established there for his mother. And so he immediately crossed over and, when he had looked over the site and given it his approval, he left Euphratas with a mighty power and much money to oversee the work. The emperor himself went off against the Persians. There he met with a defeat and by the foresight of God he escaped from their hands and returned back to Byzantium. Euphratas however built the underground water channels and opened up all the springs of water and made a start upon the walls. Again, the Persians moved against Roman territory. The emperor gave instructions to Euphratas concerning the foundation of the temple, and himself took on the peopling of the city. Having received the rings of each of the leading citizens, he built magnificent houses and led their wives, children and all their households into the royal city. The emperor campaigned against the Persians once more, and when he had put them to flight he returned again.
(Dodgeon)
Malalas XIII, p. , 17–318, 3: And he (i.e. Constantine) campaigned against the Persians and was victorious and made a peace treaty with Sarabarus (i.e. Shapur II), King of the Persians, when the Persian requested to have peace with the Romans. The same emperor, Constantine, made Euphratensis a province (eparchia), separating it from Syria and Osrhoene and giving the rank of metropolis to Hierapolis.
(Dodgeon)
Ammianus Marcellinus XVI, 10, 16: (AD 357) And the royal prince Hormisdas, whose departure from Persia we have already mentioned (i.e. in an earlier book of Ammianus’ history which is now lost), standing by answered (the Emperor Constantius), with the refinement of his nature:…
(Yonge, p. 102)
Zosimus II, 27, 1–4: At this time a Persian named Hormisdas, of the royal family, came over to Constantine for asylum under the following circumstances. Once, when his father, then king of Persia, was celebrating his own birthday after the Persian manner, Hormisdas entered the palace, bringing with him a large quantity of game. But as the guests at the table did not make obeisance to him and did not even stand up as was the normal custom, he became furious, and told them he would punish them with the death of Marsyas. 2. This saying most of them did not understand, because it related to a foreign story; but one of them, who had lived in Phrygia, and had heard the story of Marsyas, explained to them the meaning of Hormisdas’s menace, while they sat at table. It was so fixed in their recollection that when his father died, they remembered his threat, and chose his younger brother king, though according to law the elder should be preferred above the other children. Not contented with that, they put Hormisdas in chains. and confined him on a hill which lies before their city. 3. But after some time had elapsed, his wife effected his escape in this manner. She procured a large fish, and put a file in its belly, and, sewing it up again, delivered it to the most loyal of her eunuchs, charging him to tell Hormisdas that he must eat the fish when no one was present, and use what he should find in its belly for his escape. When she had contrived this, she sent several camels loaded with wine, and an abundance of meat, to entertain her husband’s guards. 4. While they were enjoying the feast she gave them, Hormisdas cut open the fish, and found the file; and with that he filed off the shackles from his legs. He then put on the clothes of the eunuch, and passed through the midst of his keepers, who were by that time completely intoxicated. Taking one of the eunuchs along with him, he fled to the king of Armenia, who was his friend and host. By these means he got safely to Constantine, who showed him all possible kindness and respect.
(Anon., revised Lieu)
John of Antioch, frag. 178, FHG IV, p. 605:…he (sc. Adarnases) had two brothers; one of them, Shapur, he blinded when he came to power and the other, Hormisdas, he had incarcerated. His (i.e. Hormisdas’) mother, however, with his wife as accomplice, prepared by some contrivance iron chains, the inside of which she filled with pearls, and, having procured the favour of the guards, took away his former chains as they were heavy and had them replaced by those (which she had prepared); so that should he be able to flee, he would be carrying riches without the weight. His wife then gave him a file and treated the guards to a meal and caused them to fall asleep. He found a suitable moment and cut the fetters and fled, using a horse at intervals and dressed in the guise of a slave. He was received with honour by Licinius.11 He was such a good javelin-thrower, however, that he alone was reported to have possessed a spear which was unstained which thereafter he was depicted as holding in his statue.
(Lieu)
Suidas, s.v. ‘Marsuas’, ed. Adler, ii, p. : In the days of the Judges of Judaea (i.e. in Old Testament times) there was a clever man called Marsuas, who invented flutes of reeds and brass through his musical skills. In a fit of depression he threw himself into the river and perished. The river was named after him. The myth concerning him says that he ran away and took his own life. This took place at the same time as the happenings of Jason and the Argonauts as told by Apollonius of Rhodes. A (related) story is told of Hormisdas the Persian who deserted to Constantine the Great, that after having been out hunting he was not greeted on his return to the palace by those invited to dinner with the usual respect by standing up. He therefore threatened them with the death of Marsyas. Those of the Persians (i.e. the nobles) who learned the meaning of this from someone who had heard (the story) proclaimed the younger son as king after the death of the father. Hormisdas they put into prison and fastened him with chains. His wife brought him out by means of a fish with a (metal) file concealed in it. He escaped and came as a suppliant to Constantine. The story is well known.
(Lieu)
Zonaras XIII, 5, 25–33 (iii, pp. 190, 17–191, 9, Dindorf): For when this man (i.e. Adarnases) was deprived of his kingship in this fashion, Shapur (i.e. Shapur II) was made king in his place. 26. And he immediately blinded one of his brothers and put Hormisdas in chains and kept him under guard. 27. But his (i.e. Hormisdas’) wife and mother won over the guards with money and were allowed to go in (the prison) for a visit. 28. And when they entered, they provided him with a file so that with it he might cut through his iron chains. They had also made preliminary plans about what he needed to do after this and had prepared horses for him and men to accompany him on his flight. 29. Then his wife provided the guards with a sumptuous dinner. Filled with an excessive amount of meat and an even more excessive quantity of wine, they were overpowered by a heavy slumber. 30. While they were asleep, Hormisdas cut through his chains with the file and once he left the prison he fled to the Romans and was received with great honour. 31. But it is likely that Shapur rejoiced at his flight inasmuch as he had rid himself of fear from that quarter. For not only did he not request that the fugitive be returned to him, but he also sent his wife to him with great honour. 32. Hormisdas was a man of great strength and a skilful javelin-thrower, such that in casting the javelin at someone he would predict where he would strike the enemy. 33. So this man then campaigned with Constantius against his fellow-countrymen, being appointed to the command of a large troop of cavalrymen.
(Dodgeon)
AE 1948, 136 (Latin inscription found about 30 miles east of Mafraq in Transjordan): Vincentius, who was acting as protector at Basia,12 observing that many of the outlying pickets had been ambushed and killed by the Saracens while fetching water for themselves, laid out and constructed a reservoir for the water. He did this in the consulship of Optatus and Paulinus, both distinguished persons (vir clarissimus).
(Iliffe, 1942:62, revised)
Eusebius, vita Constantini IV, 8–13, ed. Winkelmann, GCS: The king of the Persians also made known a desire to form an alliance with Constantine, by sending an embassy and presents as assurances of peace and friendship. The emperor, in negotiating this treaty, far surpassed the monarch who first paid him homage in the magnificence with which he acknowledged his gifts. When he heard, too, that there were many churches of God in Persia,13 and that large numbers there were gathered into the fold of Christ, he rejoiced at this information and resolved to extend his solicitude for the general welfare to that country also, as one whose aim it was to care for all alike in every nation. He demonstrated this in his own words through the letter which he dispatched to the king of the Persians, putting their (i.e. the Christians’) case in the most tactful and sensible manner. This royal missive, which the emperor himself composed, is in circulation among us in the Roman tongue but has been translated into Greek so that it would be more accessible to the readers. The text is as follows:
9 Letter of the Emperor to Shapur, king of the Persians, concerning his care over the people of God.14
‘By protecting the Divine faith, I am made a partaker of the light of truth: guided by the light of truth, I advance in the knowledge of the Divine faith. Hence it is that, as my actions themselves evince, I profess the most holy religion; and this worship I declare to be that which teaches me deeper acquaintance with the most holy God; allied to whose Divine power, beginning from the very borders of the ocean, I have aroused the whole empire in succession to a well-grounded hope of security; so that all those who, groaning in servitude to the most cruel tyrants, and yielding to the pressure of their daily sufferings, and almost extinct, have shared in the general amnesty and regained new life as if through a healing process. This God I confess I hold in unceasing honour and his symbol is borne on the shoulders by my god-fearing army which is guided wheresoever the word of the righteous one urges, and from them I immediately receive his favour through magnificent victories. This God I confess to honour with undying regard and him I discern clearly with a pure and innocent mind to be clearly in the highest.
10 This God I invoke with bended knees, and recoil with horror from the blood of sacrifices, from their foul and detestable odours, and from every earthly lamp,15 for the profane and impious superstitions which are defiled by these rites have cast down the whole race of the Gentiles and consigned it to the lowest regions. 2. For the God of all cannot endure that those gifts which, in his own loving-kindness and consideration of the needs of men, he has revealed for the use of all, should be perverted by the lusts of individuals. His only demand from man is purity of mind and an unblemished soul: and by this standard he weighs their deeds of virtue and piety. 3. For he takes pleasure in works of moderation and gentleness: he loves the meek, and hates those who excite contentions; delighting in faith, he chastises unbelief: by him all presumptuous power is broken down, and he punishes overweening pride. While the arrogant and haughty are utterly overthrown, he requites the humble and forgiving with deserved rewards: 4. even so does he highly honour and strengthen with his special help a kingdom justly governed, and preserves the royal counsel in the tranquillity of peace.
11 ‘I cannot, then, my brother, believe that I err in acknowledging this one God, the ruler and father of all things; whom many of my predecessors in power, led astray by insane madness, have ventured to deny, but who were all visited by such a visible vengeance, that all succeeding generations have held up their calamities as the most effectual warning to any who desire to follow in their steps. 2. Of the number of these I believe him16 to have been, whom the lightning-stroke of Divine anger drove forth from hence, and banished to your dominions, and leaves among you a notorious legacy of the disgrace that fell upon him.
12 ‘And it is surely a happy circumstance that the vengeance on such persons as I have described should have so recently been publicly manifested. For I myself have witnessed the end of those who lately harassed the worshippers of God by their impious edicts. And for this abundant thanksgivings are due to God that through his excellent foresight all men who observe his holy laws are gladdened by the renewed enjoyment of peace. Hence I am fully persuaded that everything is in the best and safest arrangement since God deems it worthy, through the influence of their pure and faithful religious service, and their unity of judgement respecting his Divine character, to gather all men to himself.
13 ‘Imagine, then, with what joy I received information so accordant with my desire, that the finest provinces of Persia are filled with those men on whose behalf alone I am at present speaking, I mean the Christians. For abundant blessing will be to you and to them in equal amounts, for you will find the Lord of the whole world is gentle, merciful and beneficent. And now, because your power is great, I commend these persons to your protection; because your piety is eminent, I commit them to your care. Cherish them with your customary humanity and kindness; for by this proof of faith you will secure an immeasurable benefit both to yourself and us.’
(Richardson, pp. 542–4, revised)
Michael the Syrian, Chron. VII, 3, p. (Syriac): The pagans (in Persia) slandered the Christians to Shapur, their king, (accusing them) of sending an embassy to the Roman emperor. Shapur became angry and began to oppress the Christians and destroy their churches. Constantine the Victorious wrote to him saying: ‘Considering that I keep the divine faith, I dwell in the light of truth; and conduct myself according to the light of the truth, I profess the true faith, etc.’ Shapur not only did not accept his words, but he immediately went up against Nisibis. He withdrew from there covered in confusion, thanks to the prayers of Mar Jacob and Mar Ephrem. In his anger, he took captives from Mesopotamia.17
(Vince, revised Brock)
Kennedy, 1982:90–1 (inscr. 13),18 (Latin building inscription set up in the entrance of Qasr el-Azraq): To Constantine the Great, Devout, Victorious and Ever Triumphant [Augustus] and Constantine and Constantius, noblest Caesars. Fl(avius) Severinus19 had commanded […]20 which had collapsed into ruins through incurable old age [to be rebuilt (or repaired)…]21
Faustus Buzandats’i, Hist. Arm. III, 20–1, FHG V, pp. (Arm.): see below see Appendix 2, pp..
Moses Khorenats’i, Hist. Arm. III, 10 (Thomson, pp. 263–4): see below
see Appendix 2, pp..
Ammianus Marcellinus, XXV, 4, 23: (AD 363) And since his (i.e. Julian’s) detractors have accused him of provoking new wars, to the injury of the commonwealth, let them know the unquestionable truth, that it was not Julian but Constantine who occasioned the hostility of the Parthians (sic) by greedily acquiescing in the falsehoods of Metrodorus, as I have explained a while ago.
(Yonge, p. 387, revised)
Cedrenus, i, pp. 516, 12–517, 15: In the twenty-first year of the emperorship of the great Constantine (326/7) they set Shapur the king of the Persians against the Christians, and there arose a persecution so that more than eighteen thousand were destroyed by him. The reason for the breaking of the peace between the Romans and the Persians was the following. A certain Metrodorus, born in Persia, affecting to love wisdom, went away to the Brahmins in India.23 By exercising great self-control he became venerable among them. He constructed water mills and bathing places, until then unknown among them. He entered into shrines as being a man of piety and stole many precious stones and pearls. He also received (them) from the king of the Indians to take as presents to the emperor. When he returned to Byzantium he gave these to the emperor as though they were his own property. And when the emperor was amazed he said that he had sent others overland, but they had been confiscated by the Persians.24 Therefore Constantine wrote brusquely to Shapur for them to be sent, and when he (sc. Shapur) received (the letter) he did not reply. For this reason the peace was broken.
(Dodgeon)
Julian, Orationes I, 13B (= I, 9.46–52, p. 24, Bidez): Accordingly, after you (i.e. Constantius) had gained much valuable experience among (the Celts), you crossed to the other continent and were given sole command against the Parthians and the Medes. There were already signs that a war was smouldering and would soon burst into flame. You therefore quickly learned how to deal with it and, as though you took as model the hardness of your weapons, steeled yourself to bear the heat of the summer season.
(Wright, i, p. 33, revised)
Festus, breviarium 27, p. , 2–3: Nevertheless at the battle of Narasara25 where Narses was killed, we (i.e. the Romans) were the winners.
Theophanes, Chronographia, A.M. 5815, p. 20, 21–6, ed. de Boor: In this same year (336), Narses, the son (sic) of the Persian king, overran Mesopotamia and captured the city of Amida. The Caesar Constantius, son of Constantine, made war on him; and suffered minor setbacks. Eventually he inflicted such a defeat on him in battle that Narses himself was killed.
(Dodgeon)
Ammianus Marcellinus XVIII, 9, 1: (AD 359) The city (i.e. Amida) was once a very small one, till Constantius, when he was Caesar, surrounded it with strong towers and stout walls, at the same time that he built another town called Antinopolis, so that the people in the neighbourhood might have a safe place of refuge. And he placed there an arsenal of mural artillery, making it a formidable redoubt, as he had wished it to be called by his own name.
(Yonge, p. 183, revised)
History of Jacob the Recluse,26 ed. Nau, 1915–1917:7.1–5 (Syriac): After the Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, had built Amida, he loved it more than all the cities of his empire and submitted to it many lands, from Reshaina (sic) as far as Nisibis and also the land of Maipharqat and of Arzon and as far as the frontiers of Qardou. Because these lands were on the Persian frontier, Persian brigands made continual incursions into these territories and devastated them.
(Vince, revised Brock)
Epitome de Caesaribus 41, 20: They (i.e. sons and relatives of Constantine) individually governed these regions:…Hannibalianus,27 brother of Delmatius Caesar, Armenia and the surrounding peoples.
(Dodgeon)
Anonymus Valesianus28 6, 35: He (Constantine)…created Dalmatius’ brother, Hannibalianus, King of Kings29 and ruler of the Pontic tribes, after giving him his daughter Constantina in marriage.
(Rolfe)
Chronicon Paschale, p. 532, 1–3: And Hannibalianus he (i.e. Constantine) appointed as king and put on him the purple cloak and sent him to Caesarea in Cappadocia.
(Dodgeon)
Eusebius, Vita Constantini IV, 56: It is worthy to record that about the time of which I am at present writing, the emperor (i.e. Constantine), having heard of an insurrection of some barbarians in the East, observed that the conquest of this enemy was still in store for him, and resolved on an expedition against the Persians. 2. Accordingly, he proceeded at once to put his forces in motion, at the same time communicating his intended march to the bishops who happened to be at his court, some of whom he judged it right to take with him as companions, and as needful coadjutors in the service of God. 3. They, on the other hand, cheerfully declared their willingness to follow in his train, disclaiming any desire to leave him, and engaging to battle with and for him by supplication to God on his behalf. Full of joy at this answer to his request, he unfolded to them his projected line of march,…30
(Richardson, pp. 554–5)
Libanius, Orationes LIX, 60–75: However, the Persian nation raised its rebellious arm against him (i.e. Constantine), excellent as he was in all aspects and accustomed to victory and experienced in the art of war. And, should any knowledgeable person examine the dates, he will find the beginning of the war preceding Constantine’s death, so that, although the war was waged against him, the labour of the war fell on his son. 61. So for what purpose do I say this and what did I want when I introduced the subject? Because if they were at peace when he was alive, but when he quit his life, they rushed into arms, they would not have seemed to themselves to be showing confidence rather than despising their life after Constantine; for if they had made his life the limit of their peace, they would have demonstrated this to everyone. But when they learnt that he was entering the risk of that war, it was clear that they began the war in confidence in their circumstances, but not in the thought that their fear had been utterly destroyed.
62. Accordingly, I wish to relate what induced the Persians to stand such a great hazard. And indeed it does not even seem reasonable to anyone who straightway hears it that those who were content in earlier times, if one did not trouble them, should have wished to go to war when it was possible to live in peace. Therefore I wish to say this in a somewhat concise fashion, as to be clear to all, namely, that they did not come to war for a trifling purpose. 63. What was being done by the Persians was not peace but a delay in war, and they did not even desire peace so they should not fight a war, but they loved peace so as to fight a proper war.31 They were not even altogether shunning the running of a risk, but, in preparing for the magnitude of the dangers they mixed after a fashion peace with war. They offered a peaceful appearance, but had the disposition of men at war. For when they were caught unprepared and were heavily defeated in earlier times, they did not blame their own good courage but they cited as the reason their deficiency of preparation. They agreed to peace for a preparation of war, and continued indeed to acquit their obligations towards the treaty from that time onwards through embassies and gifts, but arranged everything towards that purpose. 64. They equipped their own forces and brought their preparation to perfection in every form, cavalry, men-at-arms, archers and slingers. They trained to a consummate degree what methods had been their practice from the beginning, but those of which they did not have the understanding they introduced from others. They did not give up their native customs, but added to their existing methods a more remarkable power. 65. But, hearing that his forefathers Darius and Xerxes had measured out their preparation for ten years against the Greeks, he despised them for an inadequate attempt; he himself resolved to prolong the period to four decades. During the occurrence of this interval there was gathered a mass of money and there was collected a multitude of men, and a stock-pile of arms was forged. But already he had collected a stock of elephants, not just for empty show, but to meet the needs of the future. Everyone was warned to dismiss all other pursuits and practise warfare; and the old were not to depart from arms and the youngest were to be enrolled; they handed the care of the fields to their women and passed their life in arms.
66. It is worthwhile to bring in the open a matter that surpasses many others, which all but escaped my notice. (For) the king of the Persians praised one section of his own land, but found fault with another. For he did not consider it was second to any other as regards the production of manpower, but he found fault with the country because it did not arm the courage of its manpower by revealing a domestic source of iron.32 The sum of the matter was that he understood how to govern men but that his power was defective through the shortage of equipment (implements). 67. When, therefore, he sat and considered this and fretted over it to a very great extent, he came to the decision to enter upon a deceitful and treacherous path and sent an embassy and became flattering, as was his practice; he made obeisance through his envoys and asked for a great supply of iron, under the pretext that it was for use against another nation of neighbouring barbarians, but in truth he had decided to use the gift against the donors. But the emperor was well aware of the real motive, for the nature of the recipient caused suspicion. But knowing exactly in what direction the benefits of the technology were leading, though it was possible to resist, he gave with eagerness and saw through his reasoning all that would happen as if it had already occurred, but he felt shame at leaving his son enemies who were unarmed. He wanted every excuse of the Persians to be refuted first, but he blocked off his opponents to a nicety, so that although they flourished in all aspects they would be brought low. For the splendour of those defeated contributes to the glory of the conquerors. 68. The emperor readily gave with this magnanimity and hope(s) as wishing to make plain that even if they exhausted the mines of the Chalybes, they would not appear superior through this to the men by whom they were rated as inferior. But thereupon the preparation of the Persian king was complete both from native resources and from external supplies. Some supplies existed in abundance and others had been added surplus to requirements. 69. Indeed, darts, sabres (scimitars?), spears, swords and every warlike implement were forged in a wealth of material. When he examined every possibility and left nothing not investigated, he contrived to make his cavalry invulnerable, so to speak. For he did not limit their armour to helmet, breastplate and greaves in the ancient manner nor even to place bronze plates before the brow and breast of the horse; but the result was that the man was covered in chain mail from his head to the end of his feet, and the horse from its crown to the tip of its hooves, but a space was left open only for the eyes to see what was happening and for breathing holes to avoid asphyxiation. 70. You would have said that the name of ‘bronze men’ was more appropriate for these than for the soldiers in Herodotus. These men had to ride a horse which obeyed their voice instead of a bridle, and they carried a lance which needed both hands, and had as their only consideration that they should fall upon their enemies without a thought for their action, and they entrusted their body to the protection of iron mail.33 71. When therefore everything was readied and his power was prepared in everything, he could no longer restrain himself. But he saw the multitude of his army and he saw the unbreakable nature of their armour, and he reckoned up the length of their preparation and the period of training; he imagined the hope of successful fortune and sent an embassy to dispute about the borders so that, should we retire from our territory, he might win it without effort, but if we in no way conceded, he might advance this pretext for war.
72. But after the great emperor heard, he hated the Persian for his arrogance and said that he wished to give him his answer in person. And action followed upon words. When he arose, everything was immediately put into action. Having recently undertaken the journey, he came in this city; the Almighty saw that he was inscribed upon many trophies, but that of his two sons the one who had been appointed against the Persians should gain distinction by victories over the barbarians. Having made such a decision, He called the old emperor to Himself, but brought the task and delivered it to the son.
73. And so it is easy to conjecture how what had happened excited the Persians to an act of daring and how they considered they already possessed the cities, but a guardian had been left for them ‘far greater’, to quote Homer, than any other in reality in anything. However, at that critical time there occurred a need for two very important decisions. For on the one side his father’s burial drew his attention, and on the other the din of the Persian onset. His choice was either to meet the enemy and neglect the funeral rites or to observe the rites and open the empire to the enemy. 74. So what did he do? He did not consider advantage more highly than the rites, but rather both duties were successfully combined and the secondary purpose of the journey was more honourable than any deed. For he himself hastened energetically to the burial, but fear held the Persians back in their own land. Whether they received their fright from heaven and ‘drew in their sails’ or whether it was through not knowing anything of his retreat but thinking they would feel the emperor’s right hand, nevertheless each explanation is sufficient for a eulogy. For the one has proof of God’s favour, and the other holds evidence of the efficiency in his government, if indeed the facts of his absence eluded the enemy. 75. However, he accomplished his other duties and met with his brother who is in every way deserving of our admiration; and, hearing that his adversaries as though smitten by God had quit the river bank, he did not suffer this which had long been common talk nor even did he wait for an accident of relief to occur, as the talk wished, and (so) employ the remainder of his time; but considering that such times of crisis needed action, not hope, he again ran and completed the homeward course as if in all truth he was running up and down continually in a stadium rather than traversing the greater part of the world.
(Dodgeon, revised Lieu)
Aurelius Victor, liber de Caesaribus 41, 16: In the thirty-second year of his reign, and after thirteen years of sole rule and having completed more than sixty-two years of his life, he marched against the Persians, with whom he would have begun open hostilities, when he died in a region near to Nicomedia called Achyrona, since this catastrophe was portended by the star of the realm which was called a comet.
(Dodgeon)
Festus, breviarium, 26, p. , 6–13: Constantine, the Lord of the realm, prepared an expedition against the Persians towards the end of his life. For after he had pacified the peoples throughout the world and while enjoying increased renown from his recent victory over the Goths, he marched upon the Persians with every battalion at his disposal. At the news of his coming, the court at Babylonia went into such a panic that a suppliant legation of Persians went to him with all haste, promising to do what he commanded.34 However they did not even earn a pardon for the incessant incursions which had beset the Orient under Constantius Caesar.
(Dodgeon)
Jerome, Chronicon, s. a. 337, p. , 8–10: Constantine, while he was preparing for war against the Persians, died in Ancyrona, a public villa near to Nicomedia, in the sixty-sixth year of his life.35
(Dodgeon)
Eutropius, breviarium X, 8, 2: As he (i.e. Constantine) was preparing for war against the Parthians (sic), who were then disturbing Mesopotamia, he died in the Villa Publica, at Nicomedia, in the thirty-first year of his reign, and sixty-sixth year of his age. His death was foretold by a star with a tail, which shone for a long time, of extraordinary size, and which the Greeks called a comet. He was deservedly enrolled among the gods.
(Watson, revised Lieu)
Anonymus Valesianus 6, 35: While Constantine was planning to make war on the Persians, he died in an imperial villa in the suburbs of Constantinople, not far from Nicomedia, leaving the state in good order to his sons. He was buried in Constantinople, after a reign of thirty-one years.
(Rolfe, p. 531)
Orosius, adversus paganos VII, 28, 31: And while he was preparing for war against the Persians, he died in his official residence near Nicomedia, leaving the state in very good order for his sons
(Deferrari, p. 331)
Chronicon Paschale, pp. 532, 7–21: (In this year, i.e. 337) the Persians declared war against the Romans and Constantine crossed over (to Asia) in the thirty-second year of his reign, and came to the East to campaign against the Persians. He went as far as Nicomedia and yielded his life gloriously and piously in a suburb of that city on the eleventh day of the month of Artemisia, after having been deemed worthy of salvific baptism by Eusebius, Bishop of Constantinople. He reigned for thirty-one years and ten months. He left behind as Caesars his three sons: Caesar Constantine who held power over the Gallic (parts) for twenty years, Caesar Constantius who reigned after him over the East (ern parts) for eleven years and Caesar Constans who has gone over to the Italian (parts) and is now in the third year of his reign and also Caesar Dalmatius, son of his brother, also in the third year of his reign in Mesopotamia.
(Dodgeon)
Chronicon Paschale p. 533, 5–17:…Constantius, who was in the East and in Mesopotamia while the Persian war was pending, immediately set off for Constantinople upon receiving the news (of his father’s illness). On reaching the city he had (the body of) his famous father carried by the imperial guard in such array and pomp which it is hard to describe properly. The whole garrison turned out fully armed, as during his lifetime, seeing that the whole city was renamed Rome by him and there were just as many splendid (buildings) in her and doles of free corn. Everyone was deep in mourning as no emperor before him had been held in such honour, either living or dead. He was buried in the church of the Apostles, in which lay the relics of the holy apostles Andrew and Luke (the Evangelist) and Timothy, the disciple of Paul the Apostle.
(Dodgeon)
Artemii passio 8 (8.12–19, p. , ed. Kotter, see also GCS Philostorgius, pp. , 6–29): When the great Constantine ended his life, the Roman Empire was divided into three governing parts and portioned out to his sons, Constantine (II), Constantius (II) and Constans…Constantius, the second son of Constantine, who was then in charge of the affairs of the East, fighting against the Persians, received the eastern part (of the Empire). He changed the name of Byzantium into Constantinople and made it a new Rome, a capital. Whatever lands from Illyricum to the Propontis which were subject to Rome, Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia and all the islands were made subject to tribute to his imperial rule and administration.
(Dodgeon)
Theophanes, Chronographia, A.M. 5828, p. , 15–22: In that same year (337) many of the Assyrians among (or subjected to) the Persians were sold as slaves in Mesopotamia by the Saracens. The Persians declared war against the Romans and the pious Constantine crossed over to Nicomedia to meet the Persians in battle. He became ill and passed away in peace. Some Arian-minded persons say that it was then that he received the holy baptism from Eusebius of Nicomedia, then translated to Constantinople. This is a lie as can be demonstrated, for he was baptized in Rome by the bishop Silvester, as we have already shown.
(Dodgeon)
Zonaras, XIII, 4, 25–8 (iii, pp. 186, 28–187, 9, Dindorf): He (Constantine) set out for war against the Persians and sailed by trireme to Soteriopolis which is now called Pythia, and there partook of the waters of the hot-springs and there he drank a poisonous drug, mixed for him, it is said, by his half-brothers and finally he reached Nicomedia. There he died after a long illness. He was then sixty-five years old and just two months short of having been emperor for thirty-two of these years. His son Constantius came to him from Antioch (for he was there to resist the Persians) and found him still alive, (and, after he died) he buried him with great magnificence and placed his body in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in a special vault which he had built over his father’s tomb.
(Dodgeon)
Michael the Syrian, Chronicon VII, 3, pp. (Syriac): Constantine went out to fight the Persians. Having reached Nicomedia, he fell ill and was baptised in this place, for he had not yet been baptized because he wanted to be baptized in the Jordan. He made his will in the hands of a priest who had been recommended to him by his sister, and who was an Arian. In all he lived sixty-five years and reigned for thirty-two of them. He died on Whitsunday the 22nd of Iyar (May), the first year of the 279th Olympiad, in the 654th year of the Greeks. His body was taken to Constantinople and placed in the church of the Apostles.
(Vince, revised Brock)
‘Aphrahat’,36 demonstrate V, 1; 24 and 25, PS 1.184, ff. (Syriac): Prosperity has come to the people of God, and success awaits the man through whom the prosperity came (i.e. Constantius). And disaster threatens the forces which have been marshalled by the efforts of an evil and arrogant man full of boasting (i.e. Shapur II) and misery is reserved for him through whom disaster is stored up. Nevertheless, my beloved, do not complain (in public) of the evil one who has stirred up evil upon many because the times were preordained and the time of their fulfilment has come….
24. My beloved, as for what I have written to you about, namely that the kingdom of the children of Esau is being kept safe for its Giver, have no doubt about it, as that kingdom (i.e. the Roman Empire) will not be conquered. For a hero whose name is Jesus shall come with his power and his armour shall uphold all the forces of the kingdom….
25. For even if the forces (i.e. the Persian army) shall go up and triumph, realize that this is the chastisement of God, and if they win they shall be condemned in a righteous judgement. Yet, be assured of this, that the beast will be killed at its appointed time. But you, my brother, implore earnestly at this time for mercy that there may be peace upon the people of God.
(Gwynn, pp. 352 and 361–2, altered)
Acts of Pusai 2, AMS II, pp. (Syriac): The heroic Pusai, then, was descended from prisoners [of war], whom Shapur, son of Hormizd brought from Bet Romaye (i.e. the Roman Empire) and settled in Veh-Shapur, a city in the province of Pars…. He had lived in this world peacefully as a Christian before his imprisonment.37 He lived on the command of the king in Veh-Shapur and held the office of superintendent (?). He took a Persian wife from the city, converted her, baptized his children, and brought them up in and taught them Christianity. When Shapur (II) had built the city of Karka de Ladan and settled there captives from various places, he also thought of bringing and settling about thirty families apiece from each of the ethnic groups living in the various cities of his empire among them, so that as a result of inter-marriage, the captives would be bound by family ties and affection, and it would therefore not be easy for them to flee gradually back to their homeland. This was Shapur’s clever plan; but God in his mercy used it to the good, so that through this mixing of those deported with the pagans, the latter were caught in the recognition of truth and converted to knowledge of the faith. Like other families from various regions settled in Karka on the order of Shapur, the son of Hormizd, some were brought from Veh-Shapur in Pars. Among these brought from Veh-Shapur and settled in Karka de Ladan were the blessed Pusai, his wife, his children, his brothers and sisters and his whole household. Pusai was an excellent craftsman and was expert in weaving and embroidering gold ornaments. He was also among those craftsmen whom the king gathered from the various ethnic groups, from the deported and from his subjects, and whom he formed into an association with many subdivisions and for whom he fitted out a workshop next to his palace in Karka de Ladan. As the blessed Pusai was skilled in his craft, he was commended before the king, who continually showered him with honours and presents and made him, after a short time, chief craftsman, as he excelled himself daily and increasingly won praise.
(Jordan, revised Brock)