Res Gestae

At the post-house there we got a little rest, and when we were making ready to go farther and I was already unequal to the excessive walking, to which as a gentleman I was unused, I met a terrible sight, which however furnished me a most timely relief, worn out as I was by extreme weariness.

A groom, mounted on a runaway horse without saddle or bit, in order not to fall off had tied the rein by which, in the usual manner, the horse was guided, tightly to his left hand; and afterwards, being thrown off and unable to loose the knot, he was torn limb from limb as he was dragged through desert places and woods, while the animal, exhausted by running, was held back by the weight of the dead body; so I caught it and making timely use of the service of its back, with those same companions I with difficulty reached some springs of sulphurous water, naturally hot.

And since the heat had caused us parching thirst, for a long time we went slowly about looking for water. And we fortunately found a deep well,

From there we quickly made our way to the Euphrates river, planning to cross to the farther bank by a boat which long continued custom had kept in that vicinity for the transport of men and animals.

But lo! we saw afar off a scattered band of Romans with cavalry standards, pursued by a great force of Persians; and we could not understand how they appeared so suddenly behind us as we went along.

Judging from this instance, we believe that the famous sons of earth did not come forth from the bosom of the land, but were born with extraordinary swiftness —those so-called sparti,[*](σπαρτοί (from σπείρω, sow) was a name applied to the Thebans, because of the fable of the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus. The Athenians, who claimed to be earthborn, were called αὐτόχθονες. ) who, because they were seen unexpectedly in sundry places, were thought to have sprung from the earth, since antiquity gave the matter a fabulous origin.

Alarmed by this danger, since now all hope of life depended upon speed, through thickets and woods we made for the higher mountains, and came from there to the town of Melitina in lesser Armenia, where we

But the Persians, since the rapidly approaching end of autumn and the rising of the unfavourable constellation of the Kids[*](Three stars in the constellation Auriga; they rise at the beginning of October and bring stormy weather; cf. Horace, Odes, iii. 1, 28.) prevented them from marching farther inland, were thinking of returning to their own country with their prisoners and their booty.

But in the midst of the slaughter and pillage of the destroyed city Count Aelianus and the tribunes, by whose efficient service the walls had been so long defended and the losses of the Persians increased, were shamefully gibbeted; Jacobus and Caesius, paymasters of the commander of the cavalry, and other officers of the bodyguard, were led off with their hands bound behind their backs; and those who had come from across the Tigris[*](I.e. Persian deserters.) were hunted down with extreme care and butchered to a man, highest and lowest without distinction.

But the wife of Craugasius, who retained her chastity inviolate and was honoured as a woman of rank, grieved that she was likely to see another part of the world without her husband, although from present indications she had reason to hope for a loftier fortune.

Therefore, looking out for her own interests and foreseeing long beforehand what would happen, she was tormented by

When this had been arranged, the messenger, being lightly equipped, made his way with quick pace through forest paths and thickets and entered Nisibis. There giving out that he had seen his mistress nowhere, that she was perhaps slain, and that he himself, taking advantage of an opportunity to escape, had fled from the enemy’s camp, he was accordingly disregarded as of no consequence. Thereupon he told Craugasius what had happened and then, after receiving assurance that if it could safely be done he would gladly follow his wife, the messenger departed, bearing to the woman the desired news. She on hearing it begged the king through his general Tamsapor that, if the opportunity offered before he left the Roman territory, he would graciously give orders that her husband be received under his protection.

The sudden departure, contrary to every one’s expectation, of the stranger, who had returned by the right of postliminium[*](Postliminium is literally a return behind the threshold; i.e. a complete return home with restoration of one’s former rank, privileges, and condition. The slave seems to have been captured by the Persians with his mistress, and pretended to have escaped from the enemy. On his return to Nisibis, he again became the slave of Craugasius.) and immediately vanished without anyone’s knowledge, aroused the suspicions of the general Cassianus and the other important officials in Nisibis, who assailed Craugasius with dire threats, loudly insisting that the man had