Res Gestae

And not wishing to leave anything undone that must be done before the heat of battle, he sent men of judgement and offered alternative conditions, urging the defenders of the walls either to give up the possessions of others without bloodshed and return to their own people, or to submit to the sway of Rome and receive increase of honours and rewards. And when with their native resolution they rejected these offers, being men of good birth and inured to perils and hardships, all the preparations for a siege were made.

Then in close array and urged on by the trumpets the soldiers most vigorously attacked the town on every side, and with the legions gathered together into various tortoise-formations[*](See illustration, pp. 328-9.) and so advancing slowly and safely, they tried to undermine the fortifications; but since every sort of weapon was showered upon them as they came up, the connection of the shields was broken and they gave way, while the trumpets sounded the recall.

Then, after a single day’s truce, on the third day, with the soldiers more carefully protected and amid loud outcries everywhere, they attempted from every quarter to scale the walls; but although the defenders were hidden within behind hair-cloth stretched before them, in order that the enemy might not see them, yet whenever necessity required they would fearlessly thrust out their right arms and attack the besiegers with stones and weapons.

But when the wicker mantlets[*](By which the besiegers were protected.) went confidently on and were already close to the walls, great jars fell from above along with millstones and pieces of columns, by the excessive weight of which the assailants were overwhelmed; and since their devices for protection were rent asunder with great gaps, they made their escape with the greatest peril.

Therefore on the tenth day after the beginning of the siege, when the waning hope of our men was causing general dejection, it was decided to bring into action a ram of great size, which the Persians, after formerly using it to raze Antioch, had brought back and left at Carrae. The unlooked-for sight of this and the skilful manner in which it was put together would

And after this they lacked neither rash courage nor good judgement. For although the ram, which was old and had been taken apart for ready transportation, was being set up with all skill and with every exertion of power, and was protected by the besiegers with a mantlet of great strength, yet the artillery and the showers of stones and sling-shots continued none the less to destroy great numbers on both sides. The massive mounds too were rising with rapid additions, the siege grew hotter every day, and many of our men fell for the reason that, fighting as they were under the emperor’s eye, through the hope of rewards and wishing to be easily recognised they put off their helmets from their heads and so fell victims to the skill of the enemy’s archers.

After this, days and nights spent in wakefulness made both sides more cautious. The Persians, too, when the height of the mounds had already become great, stricken with horror of the huge ram, which other smaller ones followed, all strove with might and main to set fire to them, constantly hurling firebrands and blazing darts. But their efforts were vain, for the reason that the greater part of the timbers were covered with wetted hides and rags, while in other places they had been carefully coated with alum,[*](Gellius, xv. 1. 6 f., quoting Quadrigarius, tells how Archelaus made a wooden tower fireproof by smearing it with alum.) so that the fire fell on them without effect.

But these rams the Romans pushed forward with great courage, and although they had difficulty in protecting them, yet through their eagerness to take the town,

And on the other hand the defenders, when the huge ram was already drawing near to shake down a tower which stood in its way, by a subtle device entangled its projecting iron end (which in fact has the shape of a ram’s head) on both sides with very long ropes, and held it so that it might not move back and gather new strength, nor be able with good aim to batter the walls with repeated lunges; and in the meantime they poured down scalding-hot pitch. And the engines which had been brought up stood for a long time exposed to the huge stones and to the missiles.

And now, when the mounds were raised still higher, the garrison, fearing that destruction would soon be upon them unless they should rouse themselves, resorted to utter recklessness. Making a sudden rush through the gates, they attacked the foremost of our men, with all their strength hurling upon the rams firebrands and baskets made of iron and filled with flames.

But after fighting with shifting fortune the greater number were driven back within the walls without effecting anything. Then those same Persians, when they had taken their place on the bulwarks were assailed from the mounds, which the Romans had raised, with arrows, sling-shots, and fiery darts, which, however, though they flew through the coverings of the towers, for the most part fell without effect, since there were men at hand to put out the fires.

And when the fighting men on both sides became fewer, and the Persians were driven to the last extremity unless some better plan should suggest

And because the pitch-black clouds of smoke made it impossible to see, the legions were roused to the fight by the clarion and in battle array advanced at rapid pace. Then, as their ardour for fighting gradually increased and they had come to hand-to-hand conflict, on a sudden all the siege-engines were destroyed by the spreading flames, except the greater ram; this, after the ropes which had been thrown from the walls and entangled it had been broken, the valiant efforts of some brave men barely rescued in a half-burned condition.

But when the darkness of night put an end to the fighting, the rest which was allowed the soldiers was not for long. For after being refreshed with a little food and sleep, they were aroused at the call of their officers and moved the siege-engines to a distance from the wall, preparing to fight with greater ease[*](I.e. than would be possible with the siege-engines.) on the lofty earthworks, which were now finished and overtopped the walls. And in order that those who would defend the ramparts might the more readily be kept back, on the very highest part of each mound two ballistae were placed, through fear of which it was believed that no one of the enemy would be able even to put out his head.

When these preparations had been sufficiently made, just before dawn our men were drawn up in three divisions and tried an assault upon the walls,

The Persians, however, were more sorely troubled by the various missiles sent from the ballistae, which as if along a tight rope[*](Transenna has various meanings, one of which is extentus funis (Serv. on Aen. v. 488). Per transennam in this sense occurs only here. In xxv. 6, 14 Ammianus by e transenna emissi, refers probably to runners starting in a race when the rope is dropped, and meaning all together. Some take per transennam in the same sense, but it seems to refer rather to the accuracy of the marksmen, as if their missiles slid down a rope stretched from their ballistae to the mark at which they aimed.) rushed down the artificial slopes of the earthworks. Therefore, thinking that their fortunes were now at their lowest ebb, they rushed to meet certain death, and distributing the duties of their soldiers in the midst of their desperate crisis, they left some behind to hold the walls, while a strong force secretly opened a postern gate and rushed out, drawn sword in hand, followed by others who carried concealed fires.

And while the Romans now pressed hard on those who gave way, and now met those who ventured to charge, the men who carried the fire-pans, stooping low and creeping along, pushed live coals into the joints of one of the mounds, which was built of the boughs of various kinds of trees, of rushes, and of bundles of cane. These, as soon as the dry fuel caught fire, at once

But when the coming of evening put an end to the fighting, and both sides withdrew for a brief rest, the emperor, divided between various plans and pondering them—since pressing reasons urged a longer attempt to destroy Phaenicha, a fortress opposed as an almost unsurmountable barrier to the enemy’s inroads; but the lateness of the season dissuaded him—finally decided to stay there, and to carry on light skirmishes, thinking that perhaps the Persians would yield through lack of supplies. But the result was not what he looked for.

For when the fighting slackened, wet weather followed, dripping clouds with menacing darkness appeared, and the ground was so drenched with continual rains, that soft and sticky mud caused general trouble in that region of rich turf. And, besides all this, thunder and lightning with repeated crashes terrified the timorous minds of men.

More than this, rainbows were constantly seen; and how that phenomenon is wont to occur, a brief explanation will show. The warmer exhalations of the earth and its moist vapours are condensed into clouds; these are then dissipated into a fine spray, which, made brilliant by the sun’s rays that fall upon it, rises swiftly and, coming opposite the fiery orb itself, forms the rainbow. And the bow is rounded into a great curve, because it extends over our world, which the science of natural philosophy tells us rests upon a hemisphere.[*](The meaning seems to be that the vault of the heavens is therefore a hemisphere.)