Res Gestae

Having held council with his most distinguished generals about the siege of Ctesiphon, the opinion of some was adopted, who felt sure that the undertaking was rash and untimely, since the city, impregnable by its situation alone, was well defended; and, besides, it was believed that the king would soon appear with a formidable force.

So the better opinion prevailed, and the most careful of emperors, recognizing its advantage, sent Arintheus with a band of light-armed infantry, to lay waste the surrounding country, which was rich in herds and crops; Arintheus was also bidden, with equal energy to pursue the enemy, who had been lately scattered and concealed by impenetrable by-paths and their familiar hiding-places.[*](Here there seems to be an extensive lacuna, since the sending of envoys to Julian by Sapor (Socrat. iii. 19) and other important events are missing; see crit. note.)

But Julian, ever driven on by his eager ambitions, made light of words of warning, and upbraiding his generals for urging him through cowardice and love of ease to loose his hold on the Persian kingdom, which he had already all but won;

And it seemed as if Bellona herself lighted the fire with fatal torch, when he gave orders that all the ships should be burned, with the exception of twelve of the smaller ones, which he decided to transport on wagons as helpful for making bridges. And he thought that this plan had the advantage that the fleet, if abandoned, could not be used by the enemy, or at any rate, that nearly 20,000 soldiers would not be employed in transporting and guiding the ships, as had been the case since the beginning of the campaign.[*](Gregory Nazianzen says that a Persian, who played the part of Zopyrus (see xviii. 5, 3, note), advised Julian to take this step; cf. Aug. De Civ. Dei, iv. 29; v. 21.)

Then, as every man murmured, in fear for his life, and manifest truth made clear, that if the dryness of the country or high mountains made it necessary to retreat, they could not return to the waters; and as the deserters, on being put to the torture, openly confessed that they had used deceit, orders were given to use the greatest efforts of the army to put out the flames. But the frightful spread of the fire had already consumed the greater number of the ships, and only the twelve could be saved unharmed which had been set aside to be kept.[*](See § 4, above.)

By this disaster the fleet was needlessly lost, but Julian, trusting to his united army, since none of the soldiers was distracted by other duties, and now stronger in numbers, advanced into the interior, where the fruitful country furnished an abundance of supplies.

On learning this the enemy, in order to torment us with hunger, set fire to the plants and the ripe grain; and we, being prevented from advancing by the conflagration, were forced to stay in a permanent

Yet the emperor and the soldiers were troubled for this reason—that since the ships had been rashly destroyed, there was no means of making a bridge; and the movements of the advancing enemy could not be halted, whose approach was shown by the bright gleam of their armour, which skilfully fitted every limb. And there was also another great evil, in that the reinforcements that were awaited under Arsaces and our other generals did not appear, being hindered by the reasons already mentioned.[*](In the lacuna at the end of § 2; cf. xxiii. 2 and 3. The Roman troops that had remained behind on the other bank of the Tigris made no move, partly from fear and partly because of discord among their generals.)

Under these conditions, in order to reassure the anxious soldiers, the emperor gave orders that some of the prisoners, who were naturally slender, as almost all the Persians are, besides being now thin from exhaustion, should be placed before them; then, looking towards our men, he said: Behold those whom your heroic hearts think to be men, mere ugly she-goats disfigured with filth, who, as abundant experience has shown, throw away their arms and

After these words the prisoners were led away, and a council was held to discuss the situation. And after much interchange of opinion, the inexperienced mob crying that we must return by the way we had come, and the emperor steadfastly opposing them, while he and many others pointed out that it was out of the question to go back through a flat country of wide extent where all the fodder and crops had been destroyed, and where what remained of the burnt villages was hideous from the utmost destitution; moreover, since the frosts of winter were now melting the whole soil was soaked, and the streams had passed the bounds of their banks and become raging torrents.

Still another difficulty faced the undertaking, in that in those lands heated by the sun’s rays, every place is filled with such swarms of flies and gnats that their flight hides the light of day and the sight of the stars that twinkle at night.

And since human wisdom availed nothing, after long wavering and hesitation we built altars and slew victims, in order to learn the purpose of the gods, whether they advised us to return through Assyria, or to march slowly along the foot of the mountains and unexpectedly lay waste Chiliocomum, situated near Corduena; but on inspection of the organs it was announced that neither course would suit the signs.

Nevertheless it was decided, since all hope of anything better was cut off, to seize upon Corduena. Accordingly, on the sixteenth day of June, camp was

Some believed that Arsaces and our generals were coming at last, aroused by the reports that the emperor was besieging Ctesiphon with great forces; and some declared that the Persians had waylaid us.

Under such uncertain conditions, in order that no disaster might befall, the trumpets called the ranks together and we encamped in a grassy valley near a stream; and after measuring off a camp we rested in safety behind a multiple row of shields arranged in a circle. For, not until evening, because of the thick dust, could we make out what it was that we saw so dimly.[*](For this meaning of squalidius, cf. xxv. 2, 3, below.)

Now this night, which was lighted by the gleam of no stars, we passed as is usual in difficult and doubtful circumstances, as fear prevented anyone from daring to sit down or to close his eyes in sleep. But no sooner had the first light of day appeared, than the glittering coats of mail, girt with bands of

Our soldiers, inflamed by this sight, since only a small stream separated them from the enemy, were in haste to attack them, but the emperor restrained them; however, a fierce fight took place not far from our very rampart between our outposts and those of the Persians, in which Machameus, general of one of our battalions, fell. His brother Maurus, later a general in Phoenicia, tried to protect him, and after cutting down the man who had killed his brother, he terrified all who came in his way, and although he was himself partly disabled by an arrow through his shoulder, by main strength he succeeded in bringing off Machameus, already pale with approaching death, from the fray.