Res Gestae

Also he added another stroke which was to be hastened with swift energy; for certain men chosen for their foolhardy daring were sent to take possession of Illyricum; these set out relying on no other aid than their impudence, using for their purpose goldpieces bearing the image of the new emperor and trying other devices for enticement; but Aequitius, the military commander in those regions, seized them and put them to death in various ways.

Then, through fear of similar attempts, Aequitius blockaded the three narrow passes leading to the northern provinces, one through Dacia Ripensis,[*](Dacia was divided by the Danube into Dacia Ripensis on the south and Dacia Mediterranea on the north.) a second, the best known, through Succi,[*](Cf. xxi. 10, 2.) the third through Macedonia, and called Acontisma.[*](Cf. xxvii. 4, 8.) And in consequence of these prudent measures, the usurper of illegitimate power was disappointed in his vain hope of seizing Illyricum and lost a great source of material for the war.

While these things were thus going on, Valens, shocked by the terrible news and already returning through Galatia, on hearing what had happened at Constantinople advanced with distrust and fear. His sudden terror made him unfit for all ways of precaution, and his spirit had sunk so low that he even thought of casting aside his imperial robes as a heavy burden; and he would actually have done so, had he not been kept by the remonstrances of his intimates from the shameful intention and given courage by the advice of better men; accordingly, he

When these were already approaching, Procopius himself, having returned from Nicaea, to which place he had gone shortly before, with the Divitenses and a promiscuous rabble of deserters which he had got together in a brief space of time, hastened to Mygdus, a place laved by the river Sangarius.

There the legions were already advancing upon each other, ready for battle, when Procopius rushed alone between them, while they were exchanging volleys, as if he wished to challenge the enemy. And by a stroke of good fortune as if he recognised in the enemy’s lines a certain Vitalianus—whether he actually knew him is a matter of doubt—he saluted him courteously in Latin, and called him forward in a friendly fashion. Then he held out his hand to him and kissed him, to the amazement of all on both sides, and cried out:

So this is the old loyalty of Roman armies and their oaths bound by firm religious rites! Is this your pleasure, my brave men? All this mass of Roman swords uplifted for strangers! That a base Pannonian should shake and trample upon the world, to gain a throne which he never so much as dared to pray for, we groan over your wounds and ours! No, no—follow rather the house of your own royal line, one who has taken up arms with the greatest justice, not in order to seize what is another’s, but to restore himself to the possession of his ancestral majesty.

Through these calm words, all the men who had come to fight hotly against him were pacified, and willingly went over to his side with the eagles

To this success of the rebels was added another still happier event. For a tribune called Rumitalca, who had been won over to the party of Procopius and given the charge of the palace, upon a carefully devised plan crossed the sea with his soldiers and came to the place formerly called Drepanum, now Helenopolis,[*](Named from the mother of Constantine the Great.) and then with unexpected speed seized Nicaea.

To besiege this city Valens sent, besides others skilled in that kind of fighting, Vadomarius, a former general and king of the Alamanni,[*](Mentioned in xxi. 3, 5, as general in Phoenicia; cf. xxix. 1, 2.) and went on himself to Nicomedia. Leaving that place, he carried on the siege of Chalcedon with great vigour, from the walls of which city insults were hurled at him and he was derisively addressed as Sabaiarius. Now sabaia is a drink

Finally, worn out by scarcity of supplies and the very obstinate resistance of the defenders, he was already pre- paring to depart, when those who had meanwhile been blockaded at Nicaea suddenly opened the gates and rushed out, and after slaying a great part of the besiegers, headed by their bold leader, Rumitalca, hastened eagerly on with the purpose of surrounding Valens from the rear; for he had not left the suburb of Chalcedon. And they would have been successful, if the emperor had not from an earlier rumour learned of the danger that threatened him, and by a hasty retreat by way of the Sunonian lake[*](Near Nicomedia, mentioned by the geographer Ascanius.) and the many windings of the river Gallus[*](The Gallus is in Phrygia, but nothing is known of its windings. There was, however, a river Drako at Helen- opolis in Bithynia, which in a journey to Bithynia one had to cross twenty times.) outwitted the enemy, who were close upon his heels in vain pursuit. And by this mischance Bithynia also fell into the power of Procopius.

When Valens had returned thence by rapid marches to Ancyra and learned that Lupicinus[*](Appointed commander of the infantry (magister militum) by Jovian in the Orient, probably the man mentioned in xx. 1, 2; 4, 3, 9; 9, 9. He did good service against Procopius and was made consul in the following year.) with a force not to be despised was drawing near from the Orient, his hopes for better success were aroused, and he sent his best general Arintheus[*](Cf. xxv. 5, 2; 7,) to attack the enemy.