Julian, epistula ad Athenienses 270C (3.5–8, p. 215, Bidez): Six of my (i.e. Julian’s) cousins and his, and my father who was his own uncle and also another uncle of both of us on the father’s side (i.e. Dalmatius Caesar) he put to death without a trial1…
(Wright, ii, p. 249)
Zosimus II, 40, 3: Then, in order to proceed against his relatives, he (Constantius) killed Hannibalianus and commanded his soldiers to cry aloud that they had no other commanders than the sons of Constantine.
(Anon., revised Lieu)
Julian, or. I, 18D–19A (14.16–22, pp., Bidez): The Armenians, our ancient allies, revolted, and no small part of them went over to the Persians and overran and raided the country on their borders.2 In this crisis there seemed to be but one hope of safety, that you (i.e. Constantius) should take charge of affairs and plan the campaign, but at the moment this was impossible, because you were in Paeonia (i.e. Pannonia) making treaties with your brothers…3
(Wright, i, pp. 47–9)
Jerome, Chronicon, s. a. 338, p. , 17–18: Shapur, king of the Persians, besieged Nisibis for two months after laying waste to Mesopotamia.4
Jerome Chronicon, p. , 24–5: Bishop Jacob of Nisibis came to be recognized. The city was frequently delivered from danger through his prayers. Theodoret, Historia religiosa I, 11–12, edd. Canivet and Leroy-Molinghen, pp.: After the passage of time that great and admirable emperor yielded up his life, with its crowns of piety, and his sons inherited his authority. At this moment the king of the Persians, whose name was Shapur and who despised the sons of Constantine as being less capable than their father, marched against Nisibis at the head of a vast army comprising both cavalry and infantry, and also as many elephants as he could muster. He divided his army as for a siege and completely surrounded the city, setting up machines of war, commissioning towers, erecting palisades, the areas between strewn with branches placed crosswise, then he ordered his troops to raise embankments and build towers against the city towers. Then, while dispatching his archers to ascend the towers and direct their arrows at those defending the walls, at the same time he charged others with undermining the walls from below. Yet all these plans came to nothing, rendered useless by the prayers of Jacob,5 that inspired man, until finally, by prodigious effort, Shapur stopped up the course of the river which flowed past the city and when as vast an amount as possible of the accumulating water had piled up behind the dam, he released it all at once against the walls, using it like a tremendously powerful battering-ram. The wall could not withstand the force of the water, and indeed, badly shaken by the flood, the whole stretch of that side of the city collapsed.6 Then there arose a great shout, as though the city were now ready for the taking; for they had overlooked the great wall formed by the city’s inhabitants. However, the Persians postponed their assault, since they could see that the water flooding into the city made access impossible. Retreating, then, some distance, as though relaxing their efforts, they rested themselves and tended their horses. The citizens, on the other hand, redoubled their prayers, with the noble Jacob as their intercessor. All those old enough to be of use set to in earnest to rebuild their defences, without regard to appearance or neatness of construction: indeed they threw everything together, pell-mell, stones and bricks, whatever they could carry, and in one night the work progressed and attained a sufficient height to prevent either a cavalry charge or an assault by troops with scaling-ladders. Then everyone begged the man of God to show himself on the ramparts and hurl imprecations down over the enemy. He agreed and mounted the wall, and looking out over the vast multitude of the enemy he prayed to God to send upon them a cloud of gnats and mosquitoes.7 He spoke, and the Lord, persuaded as he was by Moses, delivered. The men were mortally wounded by the heaven-sent darts, the horses and elephants broke their tethers and escaped, plunging this way and that, unable to bear the stings.
12. The impious king saw now that all his machines had brought him no advantage, that the flooding of the river had been in vain-for the breach in the wall had been repaired—, and that his entire army was exhausted from its labours, suffering badly from exposure and lack of shelter and harassed by this blow from the heavens. When, on top of this, he saw the holy man walking upon the ramparts, he supposed it was the emperor in person who presided over the operations—for he seemed to be wearing the purple robe and the diadem—, and then he turned in anger on those who had deceived him and advised him to undertake this campaign, guaranteeing that the emperor was not present. He condemned them to death, disbanded his army and returned to his royal palace as quickly as possible.
(Dodgeon)
Theodoret, Historia Ecclesiastica II, 30, 1–14, GCS: As soon as Shapur, the king of the Persians, had declared war against the Romans, Constantius mustered his forces and marched to Antioch. But the enemy were driven forth, not by the Roman army, but by Him whom the pious in the Roman host worshipped as their God. How the victory was won I shall now proceed to relate. 2. Nisibis, sometimes called Antiochia Mygdonia, lies on the confines of the realms of Persia and of Rome. In Nisibis, Jacob whom I named just now was at once bishop, guardian, and commander in chief. 3. He was a man who shone with the grace of a truly apostolic character. His extraordinary and memorable miracles, which I have fully related in my Religious History,8 I think it superfluous and irrelevant to enumerate again. One, however, I will record because of the subject before us. The city which Jacob ruled was now in the possession of the Romans, and besieged by the Persian army. 4. The blockade was prolonged for seventy days. ‘Helepoleis’ and many other engines were advanced to the walls. The town was begirt with a palisade and entrenchment, but still held out. 5. The river Mygdonius flowing through the middle of the town, at last the Persians dammed its flow a considerable distance upriver, and increased the height of its bank on both sides so as to shut the waters in. When they saw that a great mass of water was collected and already beginning to overflow the dam, they suddenly launched it like an engine against the wall. 6. The impact was tremendous; the bulwarks could not sustain it, but gave way and fell down. Just the same fate befell the other side of the circuit, through which the Mygdonius made its exit; it could not withstand the shock, and was carried away. 7. No sooner did Shapur see this than he expected to capture the rest of the city, and for all that day he rested for the mud to dry and the river to become passable. Next day he attacked in full force, and looked to enter the city through the breaches that had been made. But he found the wall built up on both sides, and all his labour vain. 8. For that holy man, through prayer, filled with valour both the troops and the rest of the townsfolk, and both built the walls, withstood the engines, and beat off the advancing foe. And all this he did without approaching the walls, but by beseeching the Lord of all within the church. Shapur, moreover, was not only astounded at the speed of the building of the walls but awed by another spectacle. 9. For he saw standing on the battlements one of kingly mien and all ablaze with purple robe and crown. He supposed that this was the Roman emperor, and threatened his attendants with death for not having announced the imperial presence; 10. but, on their stoutly maintaining that their report had been a true one and that Constantius was at Antioch, he perceived the meaning of the vision and exclaimed ‘their God is fighting for the Romans’. Then the wretched man in a rage flung a javelin into the air, though he knew that he could not hit a bodiless being, but unable to curb his passion. 11. Therefore the excellent Ephrem (he is the best writer among the Syrians) besought the divine Jacob to mount the wall to see the barbarians and to let fly at them the darts of his curse. 12. So the divine man consented and climbed up into a tower; but when he saw the innumerable host, he discharged no other curse than to ask that mosquitoes and gnats might be sent forth upon them, so that by means of these tiny animals they might learn the might of the Protector of the Romans. 13. On his prayer followed clouds of mosquitoes and gnats; they filled the hollow trunks of the elephants, and the ears and nostrils of the horses and other animals. 14. Finding the attack of these little creatures past endurance they broke their bridles, unseated their riders and threw the ranks into confusion. The Persians abandoned their camp and fled headlong. So the wretched prince learned by a slight and kindly chastisement the power of the God who protects the pious, and marched his army home again, reaping for all the harvest of the siege not triumph but disgrace.
(Jackson, pp. 91–2, altered)
Philostorgius, Historia ecclesiastica III, 23, GCS: Philostorgius says that Shapur, the king of the Persians, waged war against the Romans, and laid siege to the city of Nisibis; but that, contrary to the general expectation, he was obliged to withdraw his forces and to return covered with shame, because Jacob, bishop of that city, had shown the citizens what to do on their own behalf, and had fought wonderfully with a firm hope and confidence in God on behalf of the safety of the city.
(Walford, p. 459, modified)
Historia S.Ephraemi 6–7, ed. Lamy, II, cols 15–19 (Syriac): A little later the great and famous Constantine, the victorious emperor, died; after him his sons took up the dominion. However when a few days had passed, Shapur, king of Persia, despising the youth of Constantine’s sons, set forth against Nisibis with a huge army and countless horses and elephants. After dividing up his army, they got ready to prosecute the siege. When the siege had been dragged out for seventy days, some distance away he dammed the flow of the river which entered and divided in the middle of the city; and the wall was unable to withstand the force of the great quantity of water so that it tottered and collapsed. Shapur thought that he could then capture the city without trouble. But the bishop Jacob and the Blessed Ephrem with all the church through the whole time of the siege were interceding with God. Finally the holy bishop raised the strength and morale of the cavalry and of all the inhabitants of the city: he rebuilt the wall and he set up a structure and ballista on it, by means of which he checked and drove back the besiegers. He accomplished these things although in person he was far removed from the wall, being in God’s temple and interceding with the Lord of all. However, Shapur was astounded not so much by the ease with which the wall had been raised as by the vision which was afforded to his eyes and had a great effect upon him. For he saw a man standing on the wall who was in an emperor’s attire and whose robe reflected the rays of the light. Since he thought that he was the Roman emperor, he poured forth threats against those who had asserted that the Roman emperor was then present in Antioch.9 Afterwards he understood that the signs were of a vision of the God of the Romans who was fighting on their behalf. Unaware indeed that he was striking the disembodied, the wretched Shapur poured out his threats and hurled his arrows, but soon he was obliged to calm the frenzy of his madness. Then the admirable Ephrem, whom we mentioned earlier, requested of the holy Jacob that he be allowed to climb up on the wall, to look upon the barbarians and to hurl at them his curses’ darts. When the glorious (Jacob) heard him, relying on the grace which had accompanied (Ephrem) in the miracle that had once been performed at his hands, he allowed him to climb up. Ephrem climbed up on one of the towers of the wall and, after beholding the great number of their myriads, he raised his gaze to heaven, and requested God to send upon the enemy gnats and midges that by the help of those tiny animals he could so fight the enemy that they should be forced to recognize the power of God. The blessed man had scarcely finished praying when a cloud of gnats and midges went out, which overwhelmed the elephants especially—they have smooth and hairless skin—and filled the noses and ears of the horses and other animals. But those animals, since they could not withstand the might of this punishment, broke their reins, threw their riders, broke rank and quitting the camp hurriedly took flight. But the wretched man (i.e. Shapur), apprised of the power of God the Strengthener of the Christians by (this) small chastisement, departed from there, gathering disgrace instead of victory from his toil. Thus the city was saved by the prayers of the blessed Ephrem.
(Dodgeon, revised Brock)
Jacob of Edessa, Chronological Canons, CSCO 9, p. (Syriac): Shapur goes up to make war against Nisibis, and he returns from it in shame through the prayers of Jacob the bishop; and immediately he goes in wrath and carries off captives from the whole of the land of Meso[potamia], and devastates it in the year [649 (=AD 337)].
(Brooks, p. 310)
Chronicon Paschale (s. a. 337), p. 533, 18–20: Shapur, the king of the Persians, came against Mesopotamia intending to pillage Nisibis and he encamped around it for sixty-three days, and, not being able to prevail over it, he withdrew.
(Dodgeon)
Theophanes, Chronographia, A.M. 5829, pp. , 33–5, 10: In the same year (337), Shapur, the king of the Persians, came up to Mesopotamia to attack Nisibis and besieged it for sixty-three days, but, not having the power to capture it, he departed. Jacob, the bishop of the Nisibenes, who persevered in the practice of piety, easily accomplished with his prayers the purposes of his resolve. It was he who foiled the hope of the Persians in capturing Nisibis. As soon as they retired from the city, pursued by the blast of his prayer, and returned to their own land, they received famine and plague as wages in payment for the impiety they had committed.
(Dodgeon)
Michael the Syrian, Chronicon VII, 3, ed. Chabot, pp. (Syriac): When Shapur, king of the Persians, learned that Constantine was dead, he again mounted an attack against Nisibis, which is on the frontiers of the Romans and the Persians. It was called Antioch of the Mygdonia. When Shapur reassembled his army and went up against it (i.e. Nisibis), Constantine’s son also gathered an army and came to Antioch. Shapur besieged Nisibis for 70 days: he built ramps against it, he dug ditches and dammed the course of the river which entered and divided itself in the middle of the city. This river was called Mygdonius. Shapur had dykes built on both banks, and had the dam strengthened so that it would resist the raging torrent. The waters flowed over the wall which, unable to withstand the pressure, tottered and fell; he also made a breach in the opposite part, through which the waters escaped. Shapur was confident he could subdue the town without trouble following the collapse of the wall. Having done nothing that day, the next day he saw the wall rebuilt on both sides. The bishop Jacob filled the cavalry and the people with strength by prayer; they built the wall, set up a structure and ballistae above it. He did that while persevering in prayer inside the church. Shapur was astonished, not only at the rebuilding, but also at the vision which appeared to him. He saw a man wrapped in a cloak, who was standing on the wall; his garment and his crown were shedding rays of light. He thought that it was the Roman emperor, and he cursed those who had said to him: ‘He is not here.’ When he had ascertained that Constantius was at Antioch, he understood and said: ‘It is the God of the Romans who is fighting for them.’ It is why this wretched man shot an arrow into the air, knowing that he could do no harm. The blessed Ephrem asked the bishop if he could climb up on the wall to curse the barbarians. Seeing their hordes, he prayed to God to send clouds of insects and mosquitoes upon them: they came upon them (immediately); the elephants were particularly bothered by them, because their skin is smooth and hairless. They also entered the nostrils and ears of the horses which, unable to stand the pain, broke their halters, threw off their riders and ran away. And Shapur returned, covered in shame. Ignatius of Melitene says: ‘God also sent torrential rain upon the Persians; the plague descended on them and they fled.’
(Vince, revised Brock)
Gennadius, liber de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis 1, PL 58.1059: Jacob, surnamed the Wise, was bishop of Nisibis, the famous city of the Persians, and one of the confessors under Maximinus the persecutor. …This man died in the time of Constantius and according to the direction of his father Constantine was buried within the walls of Nisibis, and it turned out as Constantine had expected. For many years after, Julian, having entered Nisibis10 and grudging either the glory of him who was buried there or the faith of Constantine, whose family he persecuted on account of this envy, ordered the remains of the saint to be carried out of the city, and a few months later (July, 363), as a matter of policy, the Emperor Jovian who succeeded Julian, gave over to the barbarians the city which, with the adjoining territory, is subject unto the Persian rule until this day.
(Richardson, p. 386)
Historia Sancti Ephraemi 7, ed. Lamy, II, col. 21 (Syriac): Not long afterwards (sc. the first siege of Nisibis), the holy man of God Jacob, the bishop of Nisibis, ended his life and departed to God, having accomplished famous deeds and replete with every virtue. The Blessed Ephrem, though afflicted with much sorrow, conducted his funeral with great dignity.
(Dodgeon, revised Brock)
Chronicon Edessenum 17, CSCO 1, p. , 13–15 (Syriac): In the year 649 (Sel.=AD 338) died Mar Jacob, the bishop of Nisibis.
Jacob of Edessa, Chronological Canons, CSCO 5, p. : When Jacob, bishop of Nisibis, died, Vologeses succeeded him.
Chronicon Ps. Dionysianum, CSCO 91, p. , 1–2 (Syriac): And in the same year (650 Sel.=AD 339), the saintly man Jacob, bishop of Nisibis, departed from this world.
Zonaras XIII, 5, 5–6 (iii, p. 188, 24–9, Dindorf): As soon as the position of the empire was secure, he (i.e. Constantius) returned to the East and campaigned against the Persians. 6. Shapur, their king, having heard about the death of Constantine, attacked and plundered Roman territory without respite.
(Dodgeon)
Julian, or. I, 20A–21A (15.1–32, pp., Bidez): On that subject, however, I shall have a chance later to speak in more detail. This is perhaps the right moment to describe how you controlled the situation, encompassed as you were, after your father’s death, by so many perils and difficulties of all sorts— confusion, an unavoidable war, numerous hostile raids, allies in revolt, lack of discipline in the garrisons, and all the other harassing conditions of the hour. You concluded in perfect harmony the negotiations with your brothers, and when the time had arrived that demanded your aid for the dangerous crisis of affairs, you made forced marches, and immediately after leaving Paeonia appeared in Syria. But to relate how you did this would tax my powers of description, and indeed for those who know the facts their own experience is enough. But who in the world could describe adequately how, at the prospect of your arrival, everything was changed and improved all at once, so that we were set free from the fears that hung over us and could entertain brighter hopes than ever for the future? Even before you were actually on the spot the mutiny among the garrisons ceased and order was restored. The Armenians who had gone over to the enemy at once changed sides again, for you ejected from the country and sent to Rome those who were responsible for the governor’s exile, and you secured for the exiles a safe return to their own country. You were so merciful to those who now came to Rome as exiles, and so kind in your dealings with those who returned from exile with the governor, that the former did, indeed, bewail their misfortune in having revolted, but still were better pleased with their present condition than with their previous power; while the latter, who were formerly in exile, declared that the experience had been a lesson in prudence, but that now they were receiving a worthy reward for their loyalty. On the returned exiles you lavished such magnificent presents and rewards that they could not even resent the good fortune of their bitterest enemies, nor begrudge their being duly honoured.11
(Wright, i, pp. 51–3)
Julian, or. I, 21B (15.32–5, p. 34, Bidez): All these difficulties (i.e. the Armenian revolt) you quickly settled, and then by means of embassies you turned the marauding Arabs against our enemies.13
(Wright, i, p. 53)
Julian, or. I, 21B–22A (16, pp. 34–5, Bidez): The previous period of peace had relaxed the labours of the troops, and lightened the burden of those who had to perform public services. But the war called for money, provisions, and supplies on a vast scale, and even more it demanded endurance, energy, and military experience on the part of the troops. In the almost entire absence of all these, you personally provided and organised everything, drilled those who had reached the age for military service, got together a force of cavalry to match the enemy’s, and issued orders for the infantry to persevere in their training. Nor did you confine yourself to speeches and giving orders, but yourself trained and drilled with the troops, showed them their duty by actual example, and straightway made them experts in the art of war. Then you discovered ways and means, not by increasing the tribute of the extraordinary contributions, as the Athenians did in their day, when they raised these to double or even more. You were content, I understand, with their original revenues, except in cases where, for a short time, and to meet an emergency, it was necessary that the people should find their services to the state more expensive. The troops under your leadership were abundantly supplied, yet not so as to cause the satiety that leads to insolence, nor, on the other hand, were they driven to insubordination from lack of necessaries.
(Wright, i, p. 55)
Julian, or. I, 37C–38A (30.15–28, pp. 54–5, Bidez): Your cavalry was almost unlimited in numbers and they all sat on their horses like statues, while their limbs were fitted with armour that followed closely the outline of the human form. It covers the arms from wrist to elbow and thence to the shoulder, while a coat of mail protects the shoulders, back and breast. The head and face are covered by a metal mask which makes its wearer look like a glittering statue, for not even the thighs and legs and the very ends of the feet lack this armour. It is attached to the cuirass by fine chain-armour like a web, so that no part of the body is visible and uncovered, for this woven covering protects the hands as well, and is so flexible that the wearers can bend even their fingers.14
(Wright, i, p. 97)
Libanius, or. LIX, 76–82: Another journey under arms succeeded the journey of speed and he stood upon the borders of Persia and wished to stain his right hand with blood. But there was no one to feel his anger. For those who had promoted the war deferred the war in flight, and not as men who succumbed to fear after encountering the enemy but as men who did not await the encounter because of their fear. Their turning tail was not the result of hand-to-hand fighting but because rumour alone sufficed to cause the rout. 77. What took place deserves special admiration. For the emperor had resolved to undertake neither prolonged sieges nor retreats but, taking advantage of the winter weather, (he resided in) the greatest of the cities in that region; and when the good weather began, he himself was also radiant in arms. He attacked as much Persian territory as his reasoning permitted. While he considered it irksome solely to keep an eye on what was happening there, he nevertheless considered it an act of passivity not to go for an all-out offensive. 78. For that reason he divided his time between campaigning and planning. The sum of his planning was not how to defeat them (i.e. the Persians) when they appeared but how to persuade them to put in an appearance. He had so completely altered their expectations that what they hoped to inflict on others when they started the war was what they were suffering when enveloped by our counter-attacks. 79. Previously it was such a usual practice for them to launch an invasion and a necessity for us to abandon our own territory when they advanced, that you would have found that the cities bordering them were the oldest in date but the most recent in the permanence of their foundation. For these were the cities which the inhabitants had to restore after those who had laid waste to them with fire had departed. But now the situation has been so much reversed that the majority of the Syrians think fit to live in unwalled cities. On the other hand, it seems a sign of victory for the Persians if their concealment can escape our detection.
Let no one think either that I am ignorant of the surprise raids which even now they employed, or that they were able to push forward some force in secrecy, or that they invented a treaty for the cessation of hostilities and employed the period in which our defence had become lax on account of the oaths to further their advantage; or even again that they had clear understanding of this and willingly transgressed (the terms). Far from being embarrassed at these goings on, I think I would have reasonable cause for embarrassment if none of these things had happened. For he who has nothing worth remembering to say of the defeated also takes away the praise due to the victors. Similarly in the games, whenever the crowd despoils the man who is greatly inferior and favours the best, victory may be inevitable for the latter but applause from the spectators would not accompany the victory-crown. So also in warfare the inferiority of the defeated detracts from the value of the victors’ glory. 81. I agree that the Persians are experts in robbery and deceit, and they do not lose heart very quickly and would very easily rob us of many things through perjuring their oath. Nevertheless, those who have discovered such paths to war did not bear to gaze steadily upon the emperor’s helmet. The surest proof of both of these statements is that if they heard he was approaching, they vanished into thin air; but when they received notice of his absence, they would attack those arrayed against them. In the first instance they admitted their fear, but in the second they demonstrated their stealth. It was in this way that they acquired their military experience, but when the emperor made his appearance they were so frightened that they lost all memory of their experience. That they did not unreasonably squander their opportunities but used them in a sensible manner is demonstrated by experience. When they were not able to hide their true nature, no sooner had they made their swift appearance before the emperor than, being caught in the net, they transferred their allegiance to us. There were not some who surrendered and others who were taken captive in the course of battle, but simply all of them in the same manner of crouching down and extending their hands in supplication.
(Dodgeon, revised Lieu)
Athanasius, apologia contra Arianos 25, ed. Bright, p. : (Letter of Julius) But perhaps they (i.e. the Arians) did not come on account of the aspect of the times, for again you (the bishop Eusebius) declare in your letter, that we ought to have considered the present circumstances of the East, and not to have urged you to come.
Idem, Historia Arianorum 11, ed. Bright, p. : Athanasius, however, before these things happened, at the first report of their proceedings, sailed to Rome, knowing the rage of the heretics, and for the purpose of having the Council held as had been determined. And Julius wrote letters to them, and sent the Presbyters Elpidius and Philoxenus, appointing a day, that they might either come, or consider themselves as altogether suspected persons. But as soon as Eusebius and his fellows heard that the trial was to be an Ecclesiastical one,…they were so alarmed that they detained the Presbyters till after the appointed time, and pretended an unseemly excuse, that they were not able to come now on account of the war which was begun by the Persians. But this was not the true cause of their delay, but the fears of their own consciences.
(Atkinson ap. Robertson, p. 273)
Anon.15, Itinerarium Alexandri 1–11, ed. Volkmann, pp.: Lord Constantius, Emperor better than good, knowing full well that it would be an auspicious omen both for you and your command, if, now that you have begun successfully and have undertaken your Persian campaign, I were to compose (by you) an itinerary of those emperors who won fame in the same task, namely Alexander the Great and Trajan, I have applied myself to it gladly indeed and with pleasure in the work both because my own wish to do it requires it and is a matter for concern and because the successes of rulers summon their subjects to take part (as well). And if by this I afford some help or lead the way, I shall know that some reward will fall to me also since every mortal man by the law of nature values himself more in that activity by which he himself is protected.
2. But although my inadequate tongue is an unworthy witness of remarkable deeds, nevertheless I boldly undertake the task, relying not on my own powers but on those of a foreign intellect, and not using inferior sources from the number of worthy ones that exist, but those whom opinion of old declares most supportive of good faith and those whom I collected for you here wherever I could with some curtailment of my own research interests, and allowing indeed some refinement of language in a rather constrained way, since service to our shared desire was looked for, not the glory of personal ostentation.
3. Finally, I wrote over the top ‘itinerary’, in place of ‘summary’ seeking even by the name of that work to set aright the opportunity, that is to say a kind of central point for your virtues (to revolve around). Indeed, for a mind thirsty for glory it acts as an incentive to know that in a once similar cause fortune submitted to reason; especially since you enter upon the campaigns from that position where each leader of greater fearlessness has been raised higher by his deserved emperorship. Then you are imbued with your services of triumph, where every leader enjoying superior fortune has set the summit to his exploits. Of course, while you bring your youthful undertakings to match the mature deeds of your father, you surpass the merits of the most renowned emperors. From the outset in all this equality may you feel no dissatisfaction for them nor for your judgment, nor indeed be embarrassed over your fortune.
4. And yet I am aware of the far greater and more successful precedents which you in fact possess from the great Constantines, your father and your brother. Certainly (although by your services you made successful the earlier times) I think that, if perception remains in the dead, they will through prayer themselves attend upon them.
5. You have a hereditary duty towards the Persians, inasmuch as they have trembled for so long at Roman arms; through you at length they have been admitted to our name, and among your provinces they have been granted Roman citizenship. Through the kindness of the conquerors may all those who are counted as soldiers there in times of war on the imperial registers and as slaves in peacetime learn to be free.
6. Therefore if Terentius Varro once worked upon that book, under the name of a ‘Diary’, for Pompey who was***(text corrupt) ***to campaign in Spain, so that the same man, when he was going to enter upon his proper tasks, might know with ease the change in level of the ocean and with the assurance of foreknowledge might seek all the remaining heavenly movements, so that he might avoid (them); why should I not bear before you, when you have set out upon the task of our salvation, this torch from the noble flame of virtues? Since through this prayer I am as much superior to Varro as I am inferior to him in talent: so that even from that viewpoint, though physically unimpeded, I may nevertheless campaign for you in strength of intellect.
7. Only may I indicate what path to bravery they have laid, which you must now take up for everyone’s wellbeing. For I am not here aiming at elegance of expression upon which toil is expended for the reward of its very exercise: since for the man who engages upon such a task it is a greater source of good fortune to have been the first to dictate what is advantageous than to have written what pleases (the reader); the result is that the less fluid the simple style of the diction is, the more credibility and clearness the account has, since indeed in such matters truth has snatched up the palm of eloquence; when it is covered with artistry, the author rather than the performer of the deeds receives the praise.
8. But here I enjoy an agreeable similarity of subject-matter and a like kind of hope when I am about to write in your regard accounts of greater significance than the glories of Alexander and those of Trajan, with whom you share, of course, the task of encroaching on this fateful barrier of war; whereas you now also are of the (same) age as one of them, but you have the wisdom of the other with which you overcome (the shortcomings of) your age.
9. In truth you will in the meantime equal the famous Alexander: he was great by name, but you are the son of the greatest (Constantine), you were born in almost the same part of the earth, and you are leading in the same direction as he an army equal in number of soldiers but better in the balance. You intend to avenge the same injury, but for a different insult.
10. In consequence of this binding duty you must of course anticipate that campaigning under a similar omen you win a like success. To this extent you are his associate by precedent, but more fortunate in terms of merit; if indeed prayers conceived by right and sobriety are more acceptable to God our Protector than those which inconsiderate arrogance seizes upon in its savage style.
11. Alexander boasted of his victory to himself only and became quite merciless to his friends, and as his success grew with the advantage of victory, he became hardened for that reason against those who caused disturbance. But you are campaigning for the salvation of Rome, soon striving for that empire at an age whose immortal glory will go with you. And here indeed I shall begin lest I any longer interrupt you, engaged as you are upon such important tasks.
(Dodgeon)
Julian, or. I, 22 A–B (16.20–17.8, p. 35, Bidez): I shall say nothing about your great array of arms, horses and river-boats, engines of war and the like. But when all was ready and the time had come to make appropriate use of all that I have mentioned, the Tigris was bridged by rafts at many points and forts were built to guard the river.17 Meanwhile the enemy never once ventured to defend their country from plunder, and every useful thing that they possessed was brought in to us. This was partly because they were afraid to offer battle, partly because those who were rash enough to do so were punished on the spot. This is a mere summary of your invasions of the enemy’s country.
(Wright, i, pp. 55–7)
Libanius, or. LIX, 83–7: By a shouted command (i.e. of Constantius), the complement of a not unimportant city among the Persians18 was transferred with all its households as if caught in a net. They cursed those who had sown the seed of war, and lamented the desolation of their native land, but had not altogether despaired of better hopes from the mild disposition of their conqueror. And they were not deceived. I mean now that in my judgement his policy after the capture was even more admirable than the capture. For when he captured them, he did not kill them as the Corcyreans slew the Corinthian settlers from Epidamnus, nor even did he sell the prizes of war, as Philip did with the prisoners of the Olynthians; but he had the notion to make use of the captives in the place of a victory monument and trophy. He transported them to Thrace and settled them (as colonists) to act as reminders to later generations of their misfortune. 84. And these facts should not be disbelieved. For we are not recounting an action which has been blotted out by time, as antiquity fights on the side of falsehood, but I think that everyone bears before his eyes the procession of prisoners that took place yesterday and the day before. 85. This is what I mean is finer and more statesmanlike than the winning of a victory. Many men, indeed, on many occasions, have brought cities to terms, but it has not been the act of many to arrange the results of the capture to fit in with necessary policy. For let us consider how much he combined in this one deed. Firstly, he civilized a very considerable wild region of Thrace by providing colonists to bring it under cultivation. Then he transmitted the memory of his virtuous successes to accompany for all time the succession of their generations, and did not allow forgetfulness to thrive at the expense of his accomplishments. Thirdly, he exhibited the same mark of kindliness and generosity by being moved to pity by their tears and shedding his anger at their change of fortune. 86. Furthermore, he did not overlook us who were settled further away on the enemy’s land and feasted on the hearsay alone of what had happened, for he made us eye-witnesses of the whole and filled us with much joy and good hope. We rejoiced at his successes and perceived the future from his achievements. 87. But if I must say a word of what gratified me, at long last justice had been done for the Greeks carried off from Euboea by his taking these prisoners away from their native land in return for the Eretrian generations.19
(Dodgeon, revised Lieu)
Athanasius, Historia Arianorum 16, pp., ed. Bright: When they (i.e. the Arian bishops at the Council of Serdica) heard this, being still more alarmed, they had recourse to an excuse even more unseemly than that they pretended at Antioch, namely, that they betook themselves to flight because the Emperor (i.e. Constantius II) had written to them the news of his victory over the Persians.
(Atkinson ap. Robertson, p. 275)
Julian, or. I, 22B–D (17.7–21, pp., Bidez): Who, indeed, in a short speech could do justice to every event, or reckon up the enemy’s disasters and our successes? But this at least I have space to tell. You often crossed the Tigris with your army and spent a long time in the enemy’s country, but you always returned crowned with the laurels of victory. Then you visited the cities you had freed, and bestowed on them peace and plenty, all possible blessings and all at once. Thus at your hands they received what they had so long desired, the defeat of the barbarians and the erection of trophies of victory over the treachery and cowardice of the Parthians. Treachery they had displayed when they violated the treaties and broke the peace, cowardice when they lacked the courage to fight for their country and all that they held dear.
(Wright, i, p. 57)
Libanius, or. LIX, 99–120: Come, let us also mention the last battle. We can call the same both the last and great (battle) and much more deserving of the title of great than the celebrated battle at Corinth. I promise to demonstrate here that the emperor defeated the Persians together with their allied forces. And let no one distrust the hyperbole before he hears anything, but let him await the arguments and then express his judgement. For in this way his observation of the whole would be more accurate.
100. When the Persians grew tired of the emperor’s inroads and were distressed by the length of the war, they assumed the necessity of their fortune as an inspiration for their risk-taking; for death is not irksome to men who do not spend life in pleasure. Indeed, being willing even to endure a degree of suffering through their actions, they raised their levies amongst the men from youth upwards and did not even grant an exemption without penalty to those who were very young. They conscripted their womenfolk to act as sutlers in the army. There were various nations of barbarians on their borders and some they persuaded by entreaty to share their dangers, others they compelled by force to enter military service. To these they offered a quantity of gold, a hoard preserved since ancient times and then for the first time expended in payment to mercenary soldiers. 101. When they had scrutinized all the land in this way, they left their cities empty and herded the whole populace together in a crowd on foot. They practised their training on the march and set off for the river. The emperor had got wind of what was afoot. How could so massive a cloud of dust have gone unnoticed, rising up as it did to fill the centre of the sky? Not to mention that the confused din of horses, men and arms, made it impossible even for those very far away to snatch any sleep, and that our scouts who personally watched the manoeuvre brought back news which was based on observation and not on guesswork using other sources.21 102. When an accurate report of this had reached the emperor, his expression did not change like a man whose heart is struck with terror, but he sought a strategy that was advantageous to meet the needs of the present emergency. His orders to those established on guard duty along the frontiers were to retreat with utmost speed and neither to harass them when they bridged the river, nor to prevent their landing nor to hinder their fortification (of a camp); but even to allow them to dig trenches, if they wished, to put up a palisade, to fence themselves in, to lay in a supply of water and to seize beforehand the advantages of the terrain. For if they crossed over and encamped, this did not cause him to panic; but if they were beaten off from the start, they would take it as an excuse for flight. The strategy required that the enemy be beguiled by ease of the landing.
103. When these apparent concessions had been made and no one from our side opposed them, they bridged the river at three points and crossed over in closed ranks everywhere. At first, running day into night, they continually poured across the river. Afterwards, when the necessity arose to fortify their position, they raised a circuit wall on the same day more quickly than the Greeks at Troy. Already the entire position was full of those who had crossed over the river bank, the breadth of the plain and the mountain peaks. But there was no type of military equipment which did not complement their army, archers, mounted archers, slingers, heavy infantry, cavalry and armed men from every part. While they were still deliberating as to where they should muster, their king made his appearance in truly Homeric image; outstanding in brilliance and fitly armed, he supervised the whole operation.22 104. Then the Persians developed a strategy somewhat along the following lines. They drew up their archers and javelin men on the peaks and on the wall, and they pushed forward their heavily armoured troops in front of the wall. The remainder took up arms and advanced against their enemies to rouse them to action. When they saw the Romans go into action, they immediately broke off the engagement and fled and led them to within missile range so that they might be shot at from above. 105. And so the pursuit continued for some time and indeed for the greater part of the day, until those who had fled had retreated within the wall. Thereafter the archers and those before the wall who had not been engaged were called up to take advantage of the situation. Then the emperor won a victory, not in the style of the usual conquests nor even such as have occurred frequently both in the present age and in the past, nor even one whose result lay in skill at arms and military equipment, nor even a victory for which there was need of association with others, without which it might not otherwise have been accomplished. But it was a victory which we are permitted to class as rightly belonging to the victor. 106. What is the nature of this? He alone discovered the intention behind what was happening, and not only was he not deceived by the battle array but he alone shouted out and ordered our troops not to pursue nor to be forced into obvious danger. Now indeed I admire all the more the concept of the poet who says that a reflection that has a share of wisdom is more effective than the work of many hands. By following this maxim, the emperor immediately grasped the entire situation and saw that the future outcome would be no worse than the present circumstances as they unfolded. 107. This was indeed a most natural assumption. For between the camps there was an interval of one hundred and fifty stades, and they began the pursuit in the forenoon and were already drawing near the wall by late afternoon. In fact, in considering the entire position, the burden of their arms, the length of the pursuit, the burning heat of the sun, their critical state of thirst, the onset of night and the archers on the hilltops, he thought it right to disregard the Persians and to rely on the opportunity. 108. If they (i.e. the Roman troops) had been more receptive to reasoning and their temper had not overborne his advice, nothing would have prevented both the enemy from being laid low, as at the present time and the victors from being kept safe. However, the more one finds fault with them, the more one increases the emperor’s reputation. For as they blundered by not obeying orders they have enhanced the counsel of their adviser. 109. Indeed, I invoke the victories of the emperors which they achieve in partnership, but I understand that much more honourable are those where it is not possible to name more than one participant. As a result, if one should strive the hardest not to yield everything to the soldiers in what one judges to be right, nothing would have prevented them from completely restoring the position, and the emperor from winning total victory, first and foremost, over the very men amongst whom his judgment had proved to be superior to their own.
110. It is appropriate to examine the merits of those who fought and make obvious to all from what small beginnings they started out to fulfil such a role. First of all, when they clashed with the cavalry (cataphracts) before the wall, they discovered a tactic superior to their armour. For the infantry soldier stepped aside from the charging horseman and rendered the attack useless, while he himself struck the rider on the temple with his club as he passed by and knocked him off, and the rest of the business was finished off quite easily. Whereupon, since those who arrived at the wall did not restrain their hands, everything from the battlements was pulled down to the lowest foundation and there was no one to stop them. 111. I would have considered it valuable also to tell who was the first to break through the encircling wall and to spend my time on their act of courage —for perhaps this would be no less pleasing to hear than the fire which spread over the ship of the Thessalians (Iliad, XV.704ff.). But since time does not allow this, I think one should not be side-tracked anywhere. 112. The encircling wall therefore lay flattened to a nicety, while they poured in, thinking that what was accomplished was all too insignificant. They plundered the tents and carried off the produce of those who had been labouring in the neighbourhood and they slew all they caught. Only those who took to flight were spared. When the rout had become manifest, their action only required a brighter day, if somehow it were possible, for the completion of their achievements; but when it drifted on into a night battle, they were shot at from the hills and showered by darts from all sides, and already arrows were broken off and clung to their bodies. They were prevented by the night from using their weapons in the manner they knew; nonetheless the heavy infantry advanced in the darkness against the lighter-armed troops whose effectiveness lay in fighting at a distance. Thoroughly exhausted, they lost some good soldiers against fresh men but they drove their enemies off the field. 113. Who would have withstood their courage, aided and abetted by reasoning? Faced with such great obstacles they were prevented by nothing from settling the issue with a nobler bearing. For who would not believe that the Persians who crossed over to conquer others were clearly worsted and, though enjoying such great advantages, abandoned their hopes and departed? 114. Whether, therefore, his superiority in good counselling is acknowledged by someone and the emperor has been demonstrated to be superior to friends and opponents alike in what he determined, or whether it is more pleasurable for one to approve by scrutiny the bare facts; at all events, the Persians quit the camp and started for the pontoon-bridge, whereas there were those of our men who conquered with their spirits but renounced their bodies. Our men who returned did not make the homeward march before they cleaned our land of the enemy. Nor do I need to add the point that the nature of the terrain caused more damage than the prowess of the enemy, nor even that the Persians enlisted the help of their women in the danger, whereas the flower of our army did not participate in the battle.
115. So let us define three phases of the battle and so consider our judgement: firstly, the period before the battle, secondly, the engagement itself and thirdly, the period of the rout. 116. So, then, the enemy accomplished their landing and bridged the river, not by forcing back those who were pressing against them, but borrowing their freedom of action from those who did not wish to hinder them. When they had landed (on our side) and scouted around, they seized what in their judgement were the strongpoints, but as though suffering a dearth of arms they did not launch an offensive against those who appeared. 117. Up to now they had enjoyed good fortune, but when the armies clashed, instead of standing up to the attackers and fighting it out hand to hand, they began to flee. When they had barricaded themselves within their defensive perimeter, they did not maintain outer defences but they gave up their fortification, and in addition they lost the treasure stored in their tents. Those who were left behind there fell in no order and looked on as the king’s son, the successor to the throne, was taken prisoner, flogged, pierced and, a little later, executed.23 Indeed if they managed any effective fighting anywhere, what happened was a trick of war, not an act of courage.
118. These were the events in the battle and the others took place in that country. They did not recover their slain but rushed into flight, broke down the bridges and did not even hope in their dreams to counteract the (stunning) blow. But their king of brilliant potential, and of noble reputation (until his threats), tore out and rent that head of hair which he would earlier adorn; he struck his head frequently and lamented the slaughter of his son, lamented the destruction of his conscripts and wept over this land bereft of its farmers. He resolved to cut off the heads of those who failed to win for him the success of the Romans. 119. It is not my speech, composed to gratify, which proves this, but their deserters who surrendered themselves and clearly announced the news. We must accept their word: for they do not delight in the false tales of their difficulties. It is not, therefore, a matter of dispute that he won a victory like the one at Tanagra and, by Heaven, the victory at Oresthis by the Tegeans and Mantineans. (Cf. Thuc. IV, 134)
120. However, I can say much more than this, which I think not even the king of the Persians himself would contradict. For it has been admitted by both sides that in the night battle those who were the survivors returned home again. In the circumstances, one of two possibilities must have occurred, either that they were defeated and fled or that they won, but nevertheless were wary over the next development. If therefore we suppose the first possibility, the victory lay clearly with us. But if in the night battle, although they held the advantage, their confidence did not allow them to follow up the attack thereafter, the emperor’s victory becomes much greater. For they defeated their opponents, but did not stand against his right hand and, presumably, made it clear to all that the emperor’s strength lies not in the outcome but in his nature.
(Dodgeon, revised Lieu)
Julian, or. I, 22D–25B (18–20.17, pp. 36–9, Bidez): But lest anyone should suppose that, while I delight in recalling exploits like these, I avoid mentioning occasions when luck gave the enemy the advantage—or rather it was the nature of the ground combined with opportunity that turned the scale—and that I do so because they brought us no honour or glory but only disgrace, I will try to give a brief account of those incidents also, not adapting my narrative with an eye to my own interests, but preferring the truth in every case. For when a man deliberately sins against the truth he cannot escape the reproach of flattery, and moreover he inflicts on the object of his panegyric the appearance of not deserving the praise that he receives on other accounts. This is a mistake of which I shall beware. Indeed my speech will make it clear that in no case has fiction been preferred to the truth. Now I am well aware that all would say that the battle we fought before Singara was a most important victory for the barbarians. But I should answer, and with justice, that this battle inflicted equal loss on both armies, but proved also that your valour could accomplish more than their luck; and that although the legions under you were violent and reckless men, and were not accustomed, like the enemy, to the climate and the stifling heat. I will relate exactly what took place.
(19) It was still the height of summer, and the legions mustered long before noon. Since the enemy were awestruck by the discipline, accoutrements and calm bearing of our troops, while to us they seemed amazing in numbers, neither side began the battle; for they shrank from coming to close quarters with forces so well equipped, while we waited for them to begin, so that in all respects we might seem to be acting rather in self-defence, and not to be responsible for beginning hostilities after the peace. But at last the leader of the barbarian army, raised high on their shields, perceived the magnitude of our forces drawn up in line. What a change came over him! What exclamations he uttered! He cried out that he had been betrayed, that it was the fault of those who had persuaded him to go to war, and decided that the only thing to be done was to flee with all speed and that one course alone would secure his safety, namely, to cross, before we could reach it, the river, which is the ancient boundary-line between that country and ours. With this purpose, he first gave the signal for a retreat in good order, then gradually increasing his pace he finally took to headlong flight, with only a small following of cavalry, and left his whole army to the leadership of his son and the friend in whom he had most confidence. When our men saw this, they were enraged that the barbarians should escape all punishment for their audacious conduct, and clamoured to be led in pursuit, chafed at your order to halt and ran after the enemy in full armour with their utmost energy and speed. For of your generalship they had had no experience so far, and they could not believe that you were a better judge than they of what was expedient. Moreover, under your father they had fought many battles and had always been victorious, a fact that tended to make them think themselves invincible. But they were most of all elated by the terror that the Parthians now showed, when they thought how they had fought, not only against the enemy, but against the very nature of the ground, and if any greater obstacle met them from some fresh quarter, they felt that they would overcome it as well. Accordingly they ran at full speed for about one hundred stades,24 and only halted when they came up with the Parthians, who had fled for shelter into a fort that they had lately built to serve as a camp. It was, by this time, evening, and they engaged battle forthwith. Our men at once took the fort and slew its defenders. Once inside the fortifications they displayed great bravery for a long time, but they were by this time fainting with thirst, and when they found cisterns of water inside, they spoiled a glorious victory and gave the enemy a chance to retrieve their defeat.
(20) This then was the issue of that battle, which caused us the loss of only three or four of our men, whilst the Parthians lost the heir to the throne who had previously been taken prisoner, together with all his escort. While all this was going on, of the leader of the barbarians not even the ghost was to be seen, nor did he stay his flight till he had put the river behind him. You, on the other hand, did not take off your armour for a whole day and all the night, now sharing the struggles of those who were getting the upper hand, now giving prompt and efficient aid to those who were hard-pressed. And by your bravery and fortitude you so changed the face of the battle that at break of day the enemy were glad to beat a safe retreat to their own territory, and even the wounded, escorted by you, could retire from the battle. Thus did you relieve them all from the risks of flight. Now what fort was taken by the enemy? What city did they besiege? What military supplies did they capture that should give them something to boast about after the war?
(Wright, i, pp. 59–65)
Julian, or. 26B (21.6–13, pp. 40–1, Bidez): About six years had passed since the war I have just described, and the winter was nearly over (Jan. 350) when a messenger arrived with the news that Galatia (i.e. Gaul) had gone over to the usurper (i.e. Magnentius), that a plot had been made to assassinate your brother and had been carried out, also that Italy and Sicily had been occupied, lastly that the Illyrian garrisons were in revolt and had proclaimed their general (i.e. Vetranio) emperor, though for a time he had been inclined to resist what seemed to be the irresistible onset of the usurpers.
(Wright, i, p. 67)
Libanius, or. XVIII, 208 (written in 365): See below, Ch. 8, p. 227
Festus, brev. 27, pp. , 14–67, 13: Constantius fought against the Persians with varying and more indifferent outcome. In addition to the skirmishes of those on guard duty along the ‘limes’, there were nine pitched battles; on seven occasions these were conducted by his generals, and he was personally present twice. However, in the battles at Sisara, at Singara and at Singara a second time25 (in which Constantius was present), and at Sicgara (sic), also at Constantia (sic=Constantina?) and when Amida was captured, the state suffered a severe loss under that emperor. Nisibis was besieged three times, but the enemy suffered the greater loss while maintaining the siege. However at the battle of Narasara, where Narses was killed,26 we were the winners. But in the night battle at Eleia27 near Singara, the outcome of all the expeditions would have been counterbalanced if, though terrain and night were adverse, the emperor himself by addressing them had been able to recall his soldiers, excited with their aggression, away from an inopportune time for a battle. They however with undefeated strength, an unexpected help against thirst when evening was now pressing on, attacked the Persian camp. They smashed down the defences and seized it and put the king to flight. When they recovered their breath from the battle and gazed in amazement at the water which was discovered with the lights held high, they were overwhelmed by a cloud of arrows since they provided illumination in the darkness to direct the arrow hits with more effect upon themselves.
(Dodgeon)
Eutropius, breviarium, X, 10, 1: The fortune of Constantius was different; for he suffered many grievous calamities at the hands of the Persians, his towns being often taken, his walled cities besieged, and his troops cut off. Nor had he a single successful engagement with Shapur, except that, at Singara, when victory might certainly have been his, he lost it, through the irrepressible eagerness of his men, who, contrary to the practice of war, mutinously and foolishly called for battle when the day was declining.
(Watson, pp. 531–2)
Jerome, chronicon, s. a. 348, p. , 3–237, 2: Nocturnal battle against the Persians near Singara in which we lost a highly dubious victory through the stolidity of our forces. Indeed, of the nine very heavy battles against the Persians, none was more severe. To pass over the others, Nisibis was besieged (346 and 350) and Bezabde and Amida were captured (AD 359).
(Dodgeon)
Ammianus Marcellinus XVIII, 5, 7: (AD 359)…while he (i.e. the traitor Antoninus) recounted the events of the forty years; urging that, after all these continual wars, and especially the battles of Hileia and Singara, where that fierce combat by night took place, in which we lost a vast number of our men, as if some herald had interposed to stop them, the Persians, though victorious, had never advanced as far as Edessa on the bridges over the Euphrates.
(Yonge, p. 170)
Socrates, Historia ecclesiastica II, 25, 5, ed. Hussey, i, pp.: After his (sc. Constantine’s) death, the Persian war was raised against the Romans, in which Constantius did nothing prosperously: for in a battle fought by night on the frontiers of both parties, the Persians had to some slight extent the advantage.
(Zenos, p. 53)
Consularia Constantinopolitana (Fasti Hydatiani),28 p. , MGH (Auct. Ant. IX): (AD 348) (Flavius) Philippus and (Flavius) Salia. Under these consuls, a nocturnal battle was fought against the Persians.
(Lieu)
Jacob of Edessa, Chronological Canons, CSCO 5, p. (Syriac): The year 660 of the Greeks (=AD 348). This year Constantius built the city of Amida between the rivers; and the same year the Romans fought a battle with the Persians by night
(Brooks, p. 311)
Zonaras XIII, 5, 33 (iii, pp. 191, 10–13, Dindorf): The emperor Constantius often clashed with the Persians and had the worse of it and lost many of his own men. And very many of the Persians fell and Shapur himself was wounded.
(Dodgeon)
Ammianus Marcellinus XXV, 9, 3: (AD 363): Then a man by the name of Sabinianus, eminent among his fellow citizens (i.e. of Nisibis) both for his fortune and birth, replied with great fluency that Constantius too was at one time defeated by the Persians in the terrible strife of fierce war, that afterwards he fled with a small body of companions to the unguarded frontier post of Hibiuta, where he lived on a scanty and uncertain supply of bread which was brought him by an old woman from the country; and yet that to the end of his life he lost no territory;…
(Yonge, p. 399, revised)
Ammianus Marcellinus XIX, 2, 8: (Siege of Amida, 359) Nor was there less grief or less slaughter in the city where the cloud of arrows obscured the air, and the vast engines, of which the Persians had got possession when they took Singara, scattered wounds everywhere.
(Yonge, p. 188)
Ammianus Marcellinus XX, 6, 5: (Siege of Singara, 360)…one day on the approach of evening a very heavy battering-ram was brought forward among other engines, which battered a round tower with repeated blows, at a point where we mentioned that the city had been laid open in a former siege.
(Yonge, p. 224)
Ephrem Syrus, Carmina Nisibena XIII, 4–6, CSCO 218, p. , 7–15 (Syriac):
4. In the first (i.e. Jacob), He opened the door,* for the chastisement which came over us;
in the second (i.e. Babu), He opened the door,* for the imperial majesty30 that came down on us;
in the last (i.e. Vologeses), He opened the door,* for the good tidings that came up for us.
in the second, He opened the door,* for the kings from both (directions of) wind;
in the last, He opened the door,* for the envoys from both sides.
6. In the first, He opened the door,* for battle because of sins;
in the second, He opened the door,* for the kings because of strife;
in the last, He opened the door,* for envoys because of mercy.
(Stopford, p. 180, revised)
Jacob of Edessa, Chronological Canons, CSCO 5, p. (Syriac): [The city of] Tella in Mesopotamia was built and was called [Cons]tant[ia], which was formerly called [Antipolis]
(trans. Brooks, p. 311)
History of Jacob the Recluse, ed. Nau, p. 7.5–13 (Syriac): The Tur Abdin was in the midst of these lands (i. e. Mesopotamia) and (Constantius) built two great castles there to protect these countries against Persian bandits: he built one of them at the frontier of Bet Arabaie, on the top of the mountain, and the other on the Tigris, and he named it the Castle of the Stone (Hesn-Kef) and he made it the chief city of the land of Arzon.
(Vince, revised Brock)
Firmicus Maternus, de errore profanarum religionum 3, p. , 18–20, Heuten: The battalions of your adversaries had been turned back, and the rebellious armies had fallen down before your gaze. The most arrogant people had been yoked and the Persian hopes had foundered.
(Lieu)
Jerome, chronicon, s. a. 346, p. , 19: Shapur again besieged Nisibis for three months.
Theophanes, chronographia, A.M. 5837, p. , 9–11: (346) But Shapur, the king of the Persians, returned to Mesopotamia and besieged Nisibis for seventy-eight days. Again frustrated, he withdrew.
(Dodgeon)
Ephrem Syrus, Carmina Nisibena XIV, 4 and 23 and XIX, 16, CSCO 218, p. , 22–4, p. , 1–3 and 53, 11–15 (Syriac):
XIV, 4. The first priest (i.e. Mar Jacob) by means of a fast* closed up the doors (of men’s) mouths.
The second priest (i.e. Babu) for the captives* opened the mouths of the purse.
But the last (i.e. Vologeses) pierced through the ears* and fastened in them the ornaments of life.
23. When she (i.e. the church at Nisibis) comes before the Rich One* she will show the treasures of the first;
When she comes before the Saviour* she will show the liberated ones of the second;
when she goes forth to meet the Bridegroom* she will show the oil of her lamps.
XIX, 16. Along with the priest Jacob the resplendent,* with him she (i.e. the church) was made victorious as he was.
Because he joined his love to zeal,* with fear and love he was clothed.
With Babu, a lover of alms-giving,* she (i.e. the church) redeemed the captives with silver.
With Vologeses, a scribe of the law,* her heart she opened to the Scriptures.
With Thee then may her benefits be manifold!* Blessed be He who has magnified His merchantmen.
(Stopford, pp. 182ff., revised)
Athanasius, apologia contra Arianos 51, ed. Bright, p. : (From a letter of Constantius to Athanasius) Our pleasure was, while we abided at Edessa, and your Presbyters were there, that, on one of them being sent to you, you should make haste to come to our Court, in order that you might see our face, and straightway proceed to Alexandria.
(Atkinson ap. Robertson, p. 128)
Ammianus Marcellinus XVIII, 9, 3: (AD 359) In the garrison of this town (i.e. Amida) the fifth or Parthian legion was already located with a considerable squadron of native cavalry. But at that time six legions, by forced marches, had outstripped the Persian host in its advance and greatly strengthened the garrison: they were the Magnentian and Decentian legions…and two legions of light infantry called praeventores and superventores, under the command of Aelianus, a count. With these latter, when only recruits, we have already spoken as sallying out from Singara at the instigation of this same Aelianus, then only one of the guard, and slaying a great number of Persians whom they surprised in their sleep.
(Yonge, pp. 182–3, revised)
Littmann—Magie—Stuart, III. A., no. 225, (Greek inscription found at ’Inak, originally from Der il-Khaf, Syria): Under my lord Silvinianus,32 most eminent dux, the tower was built, by provision and effort of Priscus, prefect. In the year 243 (of the era of Bostra =AD 348).
(Littmann—Magie—Stuart, III. A.: 125)
Ephrem Syrus, Carmina Nisibena I, 3 and 8, II, 9 and 17–19, III, 6, XI, 15–17, XIII, 17–18, CSCO 218, p. 1 ff. (Syriac):
I, 3. Lo! all kinds of billows trouble me;
and I have called the Ark blessed:
for only waves encompassed it, whereas mounds and arrows as well as waves encompass me.
It was unto thee a storehouse of treasures, but I have been a store house of debts (or sins):
It in Thy love subdued the waves;
I in Thy wrath am left blinded among the arrows;
the flood bore it, the river threatens me.
To it Thou gavest rest in the haven of a mountain;
To me give Thou rest also in the haven of my walls.
8. The flood assails, and dashes against our walls:
May the all-sustaining might uphold them!
Let them not fall as the building of the sand, for I have not built my doctrine upon the sand:
a rock shall be for me the foundation, for on Thy rock have I built my faith;
the secret foundation of my trust shall support my walls.
For the walls of Jericho fell, because on the sand she had built her trust.
Moses built a wall in the sea, for on a rock his understanding built it.
The foundation of Noah was on a rock;
the dwelling place of wood it bore up in the sea.
II, 9. He afflicted us by the breaches* that He might punish our crimes:
He raised the mounds that thereby,* He might humble our boasting.
He made a breach for the seas that thereby,* He might wash away our pollution.
He shut us in that we might gather together* in His Temple.
He shut us in and we were quenched;* He set us free and we went astray.
We are like unto wool,* which passes into every colour.
17. Who has ever seen, that a breach became as a mirror?
Two parties looked thereinto;* it served for those without and those within.
They saw therein as with eyes,* the Power that breaks down and builds up:
they saw Him who made the breach* and again repaired it.
Those without saw His might;* they departed and tarried not till evening:
those within saw His help;* they gave thanks yet sufficed not.
18. Let the day of thy deliverance,* arouse thee from sloth!
When the wall was broken through,* when the elephants pressed in,
when the arrows showered,* when men did valiantly, then was there a sight for the heavenly ones.
Iniquity fought there;* mercy triumphed there;
loving kindness prevailed below;* the watchers shouted on high.
19. And thine enemy wearied himself,* striving to smite by his
He wearied himself and availed not;* and in order that he might not hope,
that if He broke through He should also enter* and take us
captive,
he broke it through and not once only;* and was put to shame,
nor was that enough,
even unto three times,* that he might be shamed thrice in the three.
III, 6. The day of thy deliverance* is king of all days.
A Sabbath overthrew thy walls,* overthrew the ungrateful; the day of the Resurrection of the Son,* raised again thy ruins; the day of Resurrection raised thee* according to its name, it glorified its title.* The Sabbath relaxed its watch;
for the making of the breaches,* it took blame to itself.
XI, 15. A sea has broken through,* and cast down, the watch tower wherein I had triumphed.
Iniquity has dared to set up,* a temple wherein I am shamed: its drink offering chokes me.
16. My prayers on my walls,* my persecutors have heard the sun and his worshippers,* are ashamed of their Magis, for I have triumphed by Thy cross.
17. All creatures cried out,* when they saw the struggle, while Truth with falsehood,* on my battered walls, fought and was crowned conqueror.
XIII, 17. For the first siege was opposed* by the first and illustrious priest (i.e. Mar Jacob).
The second siege was opposed* by the second and merciful priest (i.e. Babu).
But the prayers of the last (i.e. Vologeses)* repaired our breaches secretly.
18. Nisibis is planted by the waters,34* waters secret and open.
Living streams are within her,* a noble river without her.
The river without deceived her;* the fountain [i.e. Baptism] within has preserved her.
(Stopford, pp. 167ff., revised)
Ephrem Syrus, Sermones de Nicomedia XV, 97–120 and 145–70, ed. Renoux, PO 37 (1975), pp. (Armenian):
The sack-cloth of Zion could insult the Assyrian.
The Persians’ contempt could not offend our city. It put on worthy sack-cloth;
If you honour such things, who will not take refuge in you?
The captors did not insult chaste women, because of (their) sack-cloth.
105 Oh! more than any other, our city knows what sack-cloth is.
Thanks to it our ramparts were honoured which the outsiders had offended.
The impure insulted (them) and were insulted, 110 while this city was honoured through sack-cloth.
The seas invaded and were conquered by the sack-cloths; hills were raised and they humbled them.
Elephants arrived and were defeated by sack-cloth, ashes and prayer.
115 Archers came and were wounded, for those who were clothed in sack-cloth defeated them.
Cuirass-clad warriors came without, and were defeated by sack-cloth within.
The bow which was outside the ramp 120 was defeated by prayer from within.
[***]
145 Yesterday you (sc. Vologeses) went out on the plain and, against them, you waged war.
The square in this city was cramped for marshalling your troops in battle.
You emerged on to a spacious battlefield, 150 and there you won a magnificent crown.
At the head of your battle-lines marched a priest who was the general.
The old age of our pastor marches to these combats (better) than his youth.
155 For in this secret combat, youth is vanquished.
For its struggle is against concupiscence;
because of the latter, its dissipation increases.
That is why old age is necessary, 160 its weakness can conquer.
O wonderful combat, for weakness is necessary to it.
In all battles strength is appropriate;
but in this one the weakness of strength.
165 However, O aged man, your youth gains the crown through (its) modesty.
Both rejoiced at each other, your youth and your old age.
(Vince, revised Russell)
Idem, Hymni contra Julianum, II, 23–6: (see below after Julian) Themistius, orationes I, ed. Schenkl and Downey, p. , 12–13 (I, 12a Harduin and I,13, Dindorf): What destroyed him (sc. the Persian King) then was not Mesopotamia35 but the emperor’s virtue shining near him.
(Dodgeon)
Julian, or. I, 27A–29A (22.1–60, pp. 41–4, Bidez): But the Persians ever since the last campaign had been watching for just such an opportunity, and had planned to conquer Syria by a single invasion. So they mustered all forces, every age, sex, and condition, and marched against us, men and mere boys, old men and crowds of women and slaves, who followed not merely to assist in the war, but in vast numbers beyond what was needed. For it was their intention to reduce the cities and, once masters of the country, to bring in colonists in spite of us. But the magnitude of your preparations made it manifest that their expectations were but vanity. They began the siege and completely surrounded the city with dykes, and then the river Mygdonius flowed in and flooded the ground about the walls, as they say the Nile floods Egypt. The siege-engines were brought up against the ramparts on boats, and their plan was that one force should sail to attack the walls while the other kept shooting on the city’s defenders from the mounds. But the garrison made a stout defence of the city from the walls. The whole place was filled with corpses, wreckage, armour, and missiles, of which some were just sinking, while others, after sinking from the violence of the first shock, floated on the waters. A vast number of barbarian shields and also ship’s benches, as a result of the collisions of the siege-engines on the ships, drifted on the surface. The mass of floating weapons almost covered the whole surface between the wall and the mounds. The lake was turned to gore, and all about the walls echoed the groans of the barbarians, slaying not, but being slain in manifold ways and by all manner of wounds.
Who could find suitable words to describe all that was done there? They hurled fire down on to the shields, and many of the hoplites fell half-burned, while others who fled from the flames could not escape the danger from the missiles. But some while still swimming were wounded in the back and sank to the bottom, while others who jumped from the siege-engines were hit before they touched the water, and so found not safety indeed but an easier death. As for those who knew not how to swim, and perished more obscurely than those just mentioned, who would attempt to name or number them? Time would fail me did I desire to recount all this in detail. It is enough that you should hear the sum of the matter. On that day the sun beheld a battle the like of which no man had
ever known before…(28D) So after spending four months, he (i.e. Shapur) with an army that had lost many thousands, and he who had always seemed to be irresistible was glad to keep the peace, and to use as a bulwark for his own safety the fact that you (i.e. Constantius) had no time to spare and that our own affairs were in confusion.
(Wright, i, p. 73)
Julian, or. II, 62B–67A (III, 11–13.30, pp. 132–8, Bidez): And now, with regard to the battle, if there be anyone who declines to heed either the opinion expressed in my narrative or those admirably written verses, but prefers to consider the actual facts, let him judge from those. Accordingly, we will next, if you please, compare the fighting of Ajax in defence of the ships and of the Achaeans at the wall with the Emperor’s achievements at that famous city. I mean the city to which the Mygdonius, fairest of rivers, gives its name, though it has also been named after King Antiochus. Then, too, it has another, a barbarian, name which is familiar to many of you from your intercourse with the barbarians of those parts. This city was besieged by an overwhelming number of Parthians with their Indian allies, at the very time when the Emperor was prepared to march against the usurper. And like the sea crab which they say engaged Heracles in battle when he sallied forth to attack the Lernean monster, the king of the Parthians, crossing the Tigris from the mainland, encircled the city with dykes. Then he let the Mygdonius flow into these, and transformed all the space about the city into a lake, and completely hemmed it in as though it were an island, so that only the ramparts stood out and showed a little above the water.36 Then he besieged it by bringing up ships with siege-engines on board. This was not the work of a day, but I believe of almost four months. But the defenders within the wall continually repulsed the barbarians by burning the siege-engines with their fire-darts. And from the wall they hauled up many of the ships, while others were shattered by the force of the engines when discharged and the weight of the missiles. For some of the stones that were hurled on to them weighed as much as seven Attic talents. When this had been going on for many days in succession, part of the dyke gave way and the water flowed in in full tide, carrying with it a portion of the wall as much as a hundred cubits long.
Thereupon he arrayed the besieging army in the Persian fashion. For they keep up and imitate Persian customs, I suppose, because they do not wish to be considered Parthians, and so pretend to be Persians. That is surely the reason why they prefer the Persian manner of dress. And when they march to battle they look like them, and take pride in wearing the same armour, and raiment adorned with gold and purple. By this means they try to evade the truth and to make it appear that they have not revolted from Macedon, but are merely resuming the empire that was theirs of old. Their king, therefore, imitating Xerxes, sat on a sort of hill that had been artificially made, and his army advanced accompanied by their beasts. These came from India and carried iron towers full of archers. First came the cavalry who wore cuirasses, and the archers, and then the rest of the cavalry in huge numbers. For infantry they find useless for their sort of fighting and it is not highly regarded by them. Nor, in fact, is it necessary to them, since the whole of the country that they inhabit is flat and bare. For a military force is naturally valued or slighted in proportion to its actual usefulness in war. Accordingly, since infantry is, from the nature of the country, of little use to them, it is granted no great consideration in their laws. This happened in the case of Crete and Caria as well and countless nations have a military equipment like theirs. For instance, the plains of Thessaly have proved suitable for cavalry engagements and drill. Our state, on the other hand, since it has had to encounter adversaries of all sorts, and has won its pre-eminence by good judgment combined with good luck, has naturally adapted itself to every kind of armour, and to a varying equipment.
But perhaps those who watch over the rules for writing a panegyric as though they were laws, may say that all this is irrelevant to my speech. Now whether what I have been saying partly concerns you I shall consider at the proper time. But, at any rate, I can easily clear myself from the accusation of such persons. For I declare that I make no claim to be an expert in their art, and one who has not agreed to abide by certain rules has the right to neglect them. And it may be that I shall prove to have other convincing excuses besides. But it is not worthwhile to interrupt my speech and digress from my theme any longer when there is no need. Let me, then, retrace my steps to the point at which I digressed.
(12) Now when the Parthians advanced to attack the wall in their splendid accoutrements, men and horses, supported by the Indian elephants, it was with the utmost confidence that they would at once take it by assault. And at the signal to charge they all pressed forward, since every man of them was eager to be the first to scale the wall and win the glory of that exploit. They did not imagine that there was anything to fear, nor did they believe that the besieged would resist their assault. Such was the exaggerated confidence of the Parthians. The besieged, however, kept their phalanx unbroken at the gap in the wall, and on the portion of the wall that was still intact they posted all the non-combatants in the city and distributed among them an equal number of soldiers. But when the enemy rode up and not a single missile was hurled at them from the wall, their confidence that they would completely reduce the city was strengthened, and they whipped and spurred on their horses, so that their flanks were covered with blood, until they had left the dykes behind them. These dykes they had made earlier to dam the mouth of the Mygdonius, and the mud thereabouts was very deep. In fact, there was hardly any ground at all because of the wood, and because the soil was so rich, and of the sort that conceals springs under its surface. Moreover, there was in that place a wide moat that had been made long ago to protect the town, and had become filled up with a bog of considerable depth. Now when the enemy had already reached this moat and were trying to cross it, a large force of the besieged made a sally, while many others hurled stones from the walls. Then many of the besiegers were slain, and all with one accord turned their horses in flight, though only from their gestures could it be seen that flight was what they desired and intended. For, as they were in the act of wheeling them about, their horses fell and bore down the riders with them. Weighed down as they were by their armour, they floundered still deeper in the bog, and the carnage that ensued has never yet been paralleled in any siege of the same kind.
Since this fate had overtaken the cavalry, they tried the elephants, thinking that they would be more likely to overawe us by that novel sort of fighting. For surely they had not been stricken so blind as not to see that an elephant is heavier than a horse, since it carries the load, not of two horses or several, but what would, I suppose, require many wagons, I mean archers and javelin-men and the iron tower besides. All this was a serious hindrance, considering that the ground was artificially made and had been converted into a bog. And this the event made plain. Hence it is probable that they were not advancing to give battle, but rather were arrayed to overawe the besieged. They came on in battle line at equal distances from one another. In fact, the phalanx of the Parthians resembled a wall, with the elephants carrying the towers, and hoplites filling up the spaces between. But drawn up as these were, they were of no great use to the barbarian. It was, however, a spectacle which gave the defenders on the wall great pleasure and entertainment, and when they gazed their fill at what resembled a splendid and costly pageant in procession, they hurled stones from their engines, and, shooting their arrows, challenged the barbarians to fight for the wall. Now the Parthians are naturally quick-tempered, and they could not endure to incur ridicule and lead back this imposing force without striking a blow; so by the king’s express command they charged at the wall and received a continuous fire of stones and arrows, while some of the elephants were wounded and perished by sinking into the mud. Thereupon, in fear for the others also, they led them back to the camp.
(13) Having failed in this second attempt as well, the Parthian king divided his archers into companies and ordered them to relieve one another and to keep shooting at the breach in the wall, so that the besieged could not rebuild it and thus ensure the safety of the town. For he hoped by this means either to take it by surprise, or by mere numbers to overwhelm the garrison. But the preparations that had been made by the Emperor made it clear that the barbarian’s plan was futile. For in the rear of the hoplites a second wall was being built, and while he thought they were using the old line of the wall for the foundations and that the work was not yet in hand, they had laboured continuously for a whole day and night till the wall had risen to a height of four cubits. And at daybreak it became visible, a new and conspicuous piece of work. Moreover the besieged did not for a moment yield their ground, but kept relieving one another and shooting their javelins at those who were attacking the fallen wall, and all this terribly dismayed the barbarian. Nevertheless he did not at once lead off his army but employed the same efforts over again. But when he had done as before, and as before suffered repulse, he did lead his army back, having lost many whole tribes through famine, and squandered many lives over the dykes and in the siege. He had also put to death many satraps one after another, on various charges, blaming one of them because the dykes had not been made strong enough, but gave way and were flooded by the waters of the river, another because when fighting under the walls he had not distinguished himself; and others he executed for one offence or another. This is, in fact, the regular custom among the barbarians in Asia, to shift the blame of their ill-success on their subjects. Thus, then, the king acted on that occasion, and afterwards took himself off. And from that time he has kept the peace with us and has never asked for any covenant or treaty, but he stays at home and is thankful if only the Emperor does not march against him and exact vengeance for his audacity and folly.
(Wright, i, pp. 165–79)
Ephrem Syrus, Hymni contra Julianum II, 23–6, CSCO 175, pp. , 15–83, 10 (Syriac, written after 363):
23. How much has truth shown its face in our city!
In our breaches it revealed itself to all regions, until even the blind saw it in our preservation.
The (Persian) king discerned it in our deliverance and because he had seen it outside our city in the victory, when he entered the city he honoured it with gifts.
24. The battle was the refining fire and the king saw within it How beautiful was truth, how shameful deceit;
he came to know through experience the Lord of that house, that he is good and also just in all things, for (when) he wearied him, he [God] did not give him the city because it believed in him, but when the sacrifices provoked him to anger he delivered it without trouble.
25. That city which was the head of the area between the rivers was preserved by the sack-cloth of the blessed one and was exalted.
The tyrant by his blasphemy had abased it and it was humbled.
Who has weighed its shame, how great it was!
For the city which was head of all that West they have made the last heels of all that East.
26. Let not the city be thought of like (i.e. other) cities, for so many times has the Good One delivered it from Sheol,— the battle under the earth and the battle above it, and because it rejected its Saviour, he deserted it.
The Just One, whose wrath is powerful, mixed with anger his compassion in that he did not send us into captivity or expel us, he made us to dwell in our land.
(J.M.Lieu, ap. Lieu, 1986a: 128)
Libanius, or. XVIII, 208 (written in 365): (See below, Ch. 8, p. 227)
Ammianus Marcellinus, XXV, 1, 15: (AD 363, the Roman withdrawal after the death of Julian): Their (i.e. the elephants’) drivers (i.e. mahouts) rode on them, and bore knives with handles fastened to their right hands, remembering the disaster which befell them at Nisibis: in case the animal ran berserk and could not be controlled by its driver, he would sever with all his strength the vertebra where the head is joined to the neck so that the beast might not turn upon their own side, as had happened on that occasion.
(Yonge, p. 376, revised)
Zosimus, III, 8, 2: While Constantius was thus engaged, the Persians, with Shapur as their king, ravaged the regions between the two rivers (i.e. Mesopotamia). Overrunning the territory round Nisibis, they besieged the city with all their might. However, Lucillianus the commander (strategos) was a worthwhile opponent of the siege, making the fullest use of good fortune and sometimes resorting to stratagems. As a result, the city survived the pressing situation, though it was in very great peril.
(Anon., revised Lieu)
Chronicon Paschale, pp. 536, 18–539, 3: Shapur, the king of the Persians, came against Mesopotamia and besieged Nisibis for one hundred days; he prosecuted the war against the city in various ways and made use of many engines, and brought also a mass of elephants adapted to his service and mercenary kings and all kinds of equipment with which, if they did not wish to cede the city, the Persians threatened to destroy it down to its foundations.
When the Nisibenes held out against surrender, then Shapur determined to flood the city with the river next to it.
The Nisibenes through their prayer prevailed over their enemies, and God was well-disposed to them. For when the waters were about to bring down the lie of the walls in a collapse, a section of the wall was damaged (in conformity to God’s assent) to suit their advantage, as will be revealed in what comes next. For it happened both that the city was kept safe and that the enemy were fended off by the waters in such manner that many of them were destroyed.
The Persians having suffered even this threatened to enter through the collapsed section of the wall, and disposed their armoured elephants, and urged on their host to prosecute the war more violently and made use of all kinds of engines.
The soldiers who were garrisoning the city obtained their victory from the foresight of God. For they packed the whole place with every kind of armament and slew large numbers of elephants with catapults; but the remainder fell into the muddy water of the ditches while others were hit and turned back; and they slew above ten thousand of their troops. And a lightning bolt from heaven fell on the rest, and with the onset of dark clouds and violent rain and the crashing of thunder they filled them all with panic so that the majority of them perished through fear.
Shapur, the new Pharaoh, being encompassed on every side, was defeated and floundered fearfully in the waves of terror.
When he was on the point of destroying the city, and the wall had undergone a very great breach and the city was finally on the verge of being surrendered, a vision was revealed during the day to Shapur around the time when he was pressing his attack: a certain man running onto the walls of Nisibis. And the man who appeared was in image Constantius Augustus; as a result Shapur was more enraged at the inhabitants of Nisibis, saying that ‘Your king has no strength. Let him come out and make war; or hand over the city.’
When they said: ‘It is not right for us to hand over the city when our emperor Constantius Augustus is absent,’ as a result of this Shapur was more enraged. They were lying according to the vision he had seen and he said, ‘Why are you lying? With my own eyes I behold your emperor Constantius running onto the walls of your city.’ In the meantime, Shapur, being engaged in war by God in various ways, failed in his purpose and retreated, having threatened his Magi with death. When the Magi learnt of the reason they discerned the power of the angel who had appeared with Constantius, and they gave Shapur their interpretation. And when Shapur discovered the source of the danger, in a panic he ordered the siege machines to be burnt and all the things which he had prepared in readiness for war to be broken up. He himself with his own followers fled and reached his native country at high speed. But first large numbers were destroyed by a plague. This is recorded in a letter of Vologeses, bishop of Nisibis, which reveals the story stage by stage.
(Dodgeon)
Theophanes, chronographia, A.M. 5841, pp. , 13–40, 13: In this year once more Shapur, king of the Persians, encamped by Nisibis and caused quite enough damage to it, inasmuch as he brought a troop of elephants adapted for helping in the war and kings hired in his service and all kinds of ballistas; so that they threatened to destroy the city utterly if they would not give way. But the Nisibenes held out against surrender; then finally he determined to flood it with the river nearby. But the citizens defeated the enemy with their prayers, having God well-disposed to them. For when the waters were about to level the site of the walls through a collapse, a section of the wall gave way, and this was with the assent of God, as will be revealed in the subsequent passage. For it immediately happened that the city was protected and the enemy swamped by the waters, and many were destroyed by the water. But, although they suffered this loss, they threatened to enter via the collapsed wall. They placed armoured elephants at the ready and prepared the mass of men and more vehemently turned every kind of engine to their war effort. But the soldiers guarding the city thenceforth gained the victory through the forethought of God, and they filled the spot with every kind of armament. They slew the majority of the elephants with catapults, while others fell in the muddy water of the ditches. And others were hit and turned to flight. More than ten thousand of their infantry perished. And on the rest a thunderbolt fell from heaven, and the rattlings of storm-clouds, violent rainstorms and thunder frightened the remainder, so that the majority died of fright. Shapur the New Pharaoh was beset on all sides and defeated by the waves of fear; gazing at the fallen wall, he saw an angel standing on the summit splendidly clad, and by his hand the victorious emperor Constantius. He was immediately thrown into confusion and threatened his Magi with death. When they learnt the reason they decided to interpret to the king the power of the phenomenon, namely, that it was greater than they possessed. Then when he learnt the reason for the danger he became fearful and ordered the engines to be burnt and that all he had prepared for the prosecution of the war be broken up. He himself with his own retinue sought his native land in flight—but first [many] were destroyed by plague.
In this year Constantius Augustus became sole emperor;37 he proclaimed his own cousin Gallus as associate Caesar of his own throne. Giving him the name Constantius,38 he sent him to Antioch in the Orient since the Persians were still pressing their attack.
(Dodgeon)
Zonaras, XIII, 7, 1–14 (iii, pp. 193, 24–195, 7, Dindorf): While Constantius was considering this and delaying, Shapur, who had come to know of the events concerning Constans, took advantage of the opportunity and with a powerful army came against the lands and cities subject to the Romans. 2. He plundered much of the territory and took some fortresses and finally besieged Nisibis which once belonged to the kingdom of Armenia; but in the time of Mithridates, who was the son-in-law of the then ruler of Armenia, Tigranes, and had taken the city from him, it was captured by the Romans in a siege. 3. When Shapur arrived there, he moved up every kind of engine so that the city might be taken by him; for he brought rams against the walls and had underground passages dug, but the besieged nobly resisted every form of attack. 4. He diverted the river which flowed through the middle of the city so that the people in the city would be oppressed by thirst and hand the city over to him. 5. But they had an ample supply of water both from wells and from springs. 6. When his designs produced nothing effective, he devised something else. Moving upstream of the river which, as was said, flowed through the city, he came to a chasm where the area through which the river flowed was reduced in width. He blocked the place up and checked the flow of the river. 8. When the water backed up in flood, all at once he took away the barrier blocking the exit of the water and let the flood down on the city. The mass of flood water struck the wall with excessive force and brought down part of it. 9. However, the barbarian (king) did not immediately enter the city, thinking that it was already captured. Since dusk was approaching, he deferred capturing the city till the following day as there was no sign of resistance. 10. The people in the city were thrown into confusion by the breach in the wall, but when they saw the Persians delaying their entry, they passed the night without sleep and, with many hands helping, they fortified their position with a second wall on the inside. 11. When Shapur saw this in the early morning, he ascribed his ill-fortune to his own negligence. 12. However, after he devised many other stratagems towards the city and lost very many of his own men (for during the siege of Nisibis he is said to have lost more than twenty thousand men from the Persian army), he retired in ignominy. 13. For already the Massagetae had invaded Persia and were causing damage there. 14. The emperor Constantius strengthened Nisibis and recovered its citizens. Since there was now a truce in the Orient with the Persians, he set off for the West.
(Dodgeon)
Philostorgius, historia ecclesiastica III, 22, p. , 2–6: He (i.e. Philostorgius) says that Constans was put to death by the tyrant Magnentius, on account of his zeal for Athanasius. After his death, Constantius stayed for some time at Edessa on account of the Persian war.
(Walford, p. 458)
Julian, or. I, 26D–27A (21.20–5, p. 41, Bidez): On learning these facts you thought you (i.e. Constantius) ought not to waste your time in idleness to no purpose. The cities of Syria you stocked with engines of war, garrisons, food supplies, and equipment of other kinds, considering that, by these measures, you would, though absent, sufficiently protect the inhabitants, while you were planning to set out in person against the usurpers.
(Wright, i, p. 69)
Littmann—Magie—Stuart, III. A, Pt. 2, p. , no. 177 (Greek inscription found built into the eastern wall of the town of El-Meshkuk): Good Fortune! The tower was successfully built. Bassus, veteran in the rank of ordinarius,39 having served in Mesopotamia (erected it). Uranius (was) the builder. There were expended 15, 000(7) denarii. In the year 245 (of the era of Bostra= AD 350).40
IGLS 9062 (=Sartre, Syria 50 (1973), p. , Latin inscription found in the court of citadel at Bostra): [To our Lord, Flavius, Claudius Constantius] (i.e. Gallus), most brave and most victorious Caesar, Aurelius Valerianus, v(ir) p (erfectissimus), dux,41 devoted to his divine quality and his majesty. (352–3)
Libanius, or. XI, 177–9: When this last Persian war was unchained, for which the Persian government had been preparing for a long time, and when the emergency called for adequate counter preparation to match the threat, and, even more than for preparations, called for a place capable of receiving all those things that such a war requires, this land of ours is the one that rose above the emergency with its abundance and collected the forces to its bosom and sent forth the entire army, when the time called. 178. For there flowed to it, like rivers to the sea, all the soldiers, all the bowmen and horsemen and the horses, both those of the fighting men and those carrying burdens, and every camel and every band of soldiers, so that the ground was covered with men standing and men sitting; the walls were covered with shields hung up and spears and helmets were to be seen everywhere; everything resounded with hammering and noise and whinnying, and there were so many units stationed here that their officers alone would have added no small population to the city, or rather such a great army was gathered that in other places the drinking water would have been exhausted; but everyone received the soldiers as pleasantly as though they were caring for a kinsman who came for a visit after a long interval; and each one fared as well from the land as though behind each dwelling the area had been transformed automatically into the semblance of a cavern filled with provisions; and it was possible in this way for men to be nourished to satiety, so that it seemed that it was not human intention or labour which provided the foresight or the service, but as though the gods, as the power of gods is, prepared everything in unseen fashion. 179. Wherefore the Persians blame us especially among their enemies because we provide this city as a base of operations which rivals the warlike prowess of the emperor, and we have nowhere diminished his eager courage by any deficiency of the help which we supply.’
(Downey, 1959:671)
Heliodorus,42 Aethiopica, IX, 14, 3–15, ed. Rattenbury and Lumb, iii, pp.: For in fact it is this brigade of Persians (i.e. the cataphracts) which is always the most formidable in action; placed in the front line of battle, it serves as an unbreakable bulwark.
15 Their fighting equipment is furnished in this way: a picked man, chosen for his bodily strength, is capped with a helmet which has been compacted and forged in one piece and skilfully fashioned like a mask into the exact shape of a man’s face; this protects him entirely from the top of the head to the neck, except where eye-holes allow him to see through it. His right hand is armed with a pike of greater length than the spear, while his left is at liberty to hold the reins. He has a sabre slung at his side, and his corselet extends, not merely over his breast, but also over the rest of his body. 2. This corselet is constructed thus: plates of bronze and of iron are forged into a square shape measuring a span each way, and are fitted one to another at the edges on each side, so that the plate above overlaps the next one to it, all forming a continuous surface; and they are held together by means of hooks and loops under the flaps. Thus is produced a kind of scaly tunic which sits close to the body without causing discomfort, and clings all round each limb with its individual casing and allows unhindered movement to each by its contraction and extension. 3. It has sleeves, and descends from neck to knee, with an opening only for the thighs so far as is required for mounting a horse’s back. Such a corselet is proof against any missiles, and is a sure defence against all wounds. The greaves reach from above the flat of the foot to the knee, and are joined on to the corselet. 4. The horse is protected by a similar equipment: round his feet greaves are fastened, and his head is tightly bound all about with frontlets. From his back to his belly hangs on either side a housing of plaited strips of iron, serving as armour, but at the same time so pliable as not to impede his more rapid paces. 5. The horse being thus equipped and, as it were, encased, the rider bestrides him, not vaulting of himself into the saddle, but lifted up by others because of his weight. When the moment comes to engage in battle, he gives his horse the rein, applies his spurs, and in full career charges the enemy, to all appearance some man made of iron, or a mobile statue wrought with the hammer. 6. His pike projects with its point thrust far ahead: it is supported by a loop attached to the horse’s neck, and has its butt-end suspended by a strap alongside the horse’s haunches; so that it does not recede in the clashes of conflict, but lightens the task of the rider’s hand, which only directs the blow. He braces himself and, firmly set so as to increase the gravity of the wound, by his mere impetus transfixes anyone who comes in his way, and may often impale two persons at a single stroke.
(Lamb, pp. 231–2)