XVI.
§ 1. After the battle, the soldiers devoted the whole night (which, as it was summer, was not long) to tending the wounded with all the remedies known to their nations, and when daylight returned they began to discuss various plans, doubting what to do. And after many plans had been proposed and objected to, they at last decided to occupy Perinthus, and then, every place where they could hear that any treasures were stored up, the deserters and fugitives having given them all the information they required, so that they learnt what was in every house, to say nothing of what was in every city. Adopting this resolution unanimously, which they thought the best, they advanced by slow marches, ravaging and burning everything as they passed.
2. But those who had been besieged in Hadrianople, after the barbarians had departed, as soon as scouts of approved fidelity had reported that the whole place was free from enemies, issued forth at midnight, and avoiding the public causeways, took out-of-way roads through the woods, and withdrew, some to Philippopolis, and from thence to Serdica, others to Macedonia; with all the wealth which they had saved undiminished, and pressing on with the greatest exertion and celerity, as if they were likely to find Valens in those regions, since they were wholly ignorant that he had perished in battle, or else certainly (as is rather believed) burnt to death in the cottage.
3. Meanwhile the Goths, combining with the Huns and Alani, both brave and warlike tribes, and inured to toil and hardship, whom Fritigern had with great ability won over to his side by the temptation of great rewards--fixed their camp near Perinthus; but recollecting their previous losses, they did not venture to come close to the city, or make any attempt to take it; they, however, devastated and entirely stripped the fertile territory surrounding it, slaying or making prisoners of the inhabitants.
4. From hence they marched with speed to Constantinople in battle array, from fear of ambuscades; being eager to make themselves masters of its ample riches, and resolved to try every means to take that illustrious city. But while giving way to extravagant pride, and beating almost against the barriers of the gates, they were repulsed in this instance by the Deity.
5. A body of Saracens (a nation of whose origin and manners we have already given a full account in several places), being more suited for sallies and skirmishes than for pitched battles, had been lately introduced into the city; and, as soon as they saw the barbarian host, they sallied out boldly from the city to attack it. There was a stubborn fight for some time; and at last both armies parted on equal terms.
6. But a strange and unprecedented incident gave the final advantage to the eastern warriors; for one of them with long hair, naked--with the exception of a covering round his waist--shouting a hoarse and melancholy cry, drew his dagger and plunged into the middle of the Gothic host, and after he had slain an enemy, put his lips to his throat, and sucked his blood. The barbarians were terrified at this marvellous prodigy, and from that time forth, when they proceeded on any enterprise, displayed none of their former and usual ferocity, but advanced with hesitating steps.
7. As time went on their ardour damped, and they began to take into consideration the vast circuit of the walls (which was the greater on account of the large space occupied by mansions with gardens within it), the inaccessible beauties of the city, and the immensity of its population; also the vicinity of the strait which divides the Black Sea from the Ægean. Then after destroying the works which they had constructed, having sustained greater losses than they had inflicted, they raised the siege, and roamed at random over the northern provinces, which they traversed without restraint as far as the Julian Alps, which the ancients used to call the Venetian Alps.
8. At this time the energy and promptitude of Julius, the commander of the forces on the other side of Mount Taurus, was particularly distinguished; for when he learnt what had happened in Thrace, he sent secret letters to all the governors of the different cities and forts, who were all Romans (which at this time is not very common), requesting them, on one and the same day, as at a concerted signal, to put to death all the Goths who had previously been admitted into the places under their charge; first luring them into the suburbs, in expectation of receiving the pay which had been promised to them. This wise plan was carried out without any disturbance or any delay; and thus the Eastern provinces were delivered from great dangers.
9. Thus have I, a Greek by birth, and formerly a soldier, related all the events from the accession of Nerva to the death of Valens, to the best of my abilities; professing above all things to tell the truth, which, as I believe, I have never knowingly perverted, either by silence or by falsehood. Let better men in the flower of their age, and of eminent accomplishments, relate the subsequent events. But if it should please them to undertake the task, I warn them to sharpen their tongues to a loftier style.
[189] The text is unusually mutilated here. It has been proposed to insert: "A little goat with its throat cut was found dead in the street."
[190] Virg. Georg., II. 106.
[191] Ammianus here alludes to the canal out through Mount Athos.
[192] See Gibbon, vol. ii., p. 215 (Bohn's edition).
[193] See Gibbon, vol. iii., p. 229 (Bohn).
[194] Barritus is the word used for the trumpeting of an elephant.
[195] See Gibbon, vol. iii., p. 181 (Bohn).
INDEX.
A.
Abanni, a people of Africa, 533
Abarne, a town in Mesopotamia, noted for its hot springs, 182
Abdera, the birthplace of Protagoras and Democritus, 286
Abdigidus, a tribune, 173
Abienus, a senator, 477, 478
Abii, a people of Persia, 339
Abladius, prefect of the prætorium, 236
Abora, or Chaboras, a river in Mesopotamia, 111
Abydos, 287
Abydum, a town in Thebais, 208
Achæi, a Caspian tribe, 290
Achaiacala, a fort on an island in the Euphrates, 350
Acheron, the river, 289
Acherusian, the cave, 289
Acilius Glabrio, the first Roman to whom a statue was erected, 16
Acimincum, a town in Hungary, 205
Acone, a port on the Euxine Sea, 289
Acontiæ, a species of serpent in Egypt, 311
Acontisma, a narrow defile between Thrace and Macedonia, 443
Acrapatena, a province of Media, 335
Adaces, a Persian Satrap, killed, 374
Addense, 531
Adelphius, prefect of Rome, 92
Adiabas, a river in Assyria, 334
Adiabene, a province of Assyria, 176, 320, 333
Adonis, 186
Adrastea, the goddess of retribution, called also Nemesis, 42, 281
Adrastus, king of the Argives, 41
Ædesius, keeper of the records, 56, 58
Ægean Sea, 286
Ælian, Count, 182, 183; crucified by the Persians, 200
Ænus, a city of Thrace, 286, 444
Africanus, Governor of the second Pannonia, 50, 95
Agabana, a fortress in Persia, 463
Agathocles, king of Sicily, 44
Agathyrsi, a tribe near the Palus Mæotis, 291
Agazaca, a city of the Paropanisatæ, 342
Agenarichus, king of the Allemanni, 113
Agilimundus, a chieftain of the Quadi, 151
Agilo, an equerry, 34, 266; promoted to the prefecture by Julian, 279; recalled to military service by Procopius, 422; intercedes for his father-in-law Araxius, 432
Aginatius put to death by Maximin, 474
Aiadalthes, a tribune, 181
Alani, a Scythian tribe, 291, 328, 580, 581, 599, 611
Alatheus, 583, 587, 611
Alavivus, a general of the Goths, 585, 587
Albani, allies of the Persians, 176, 187, 332
Albinus of Etruria, 56
Alexander the Great, 41, 46, 89
Alexander of Heliopolis, 319
Alexandria, a village near Rome, 131
---- in Egypt, 300; described, 313; its temples and library, 314; its schools, 315
---- a city in Arachosia, 343
---- in Ariana, 342
---- in Carmania, 339
---- an island in Persia, 338
---- a town in Sogdiana, 340
Alfenus, a distinguished lawyer, 556
Alicodra, a city in Bactria, 340
Aligildus, a count, 271, 277
Aliso, a tribune, 427
Alitrophagi, a Scythian tribe, 341
Allemanni, or Germans--these names are used promiscuously by Ammianus--defeated at the battle of Strasburg, 118, 247; lay waste Gaul and Rhætia, 413, 414; defeated by Jovinus, 438, 567; make incursions into the Roman territory, 602; are defeated, 604
Allobroges, a nation of Gaul, 81
Alpheus, a river rising in Arcadia, 53
Alps, the Cottian, 75; the Julian, 259; the Grecian, 76; the Penine, 76; Hannibal's passage of the, 77
Alypius of Antioch, 317, 514
---- a Roman noble, 471
Amantius, a soothsayer, 472
Amanus, a mountain range in Cilicia, 27
Amardus, a river in Media, 337
Amastris, a city in Paphlagonia, 289
Amazons, one of the Caspian tribes, 291; defeated by the Athenians, 289
Amida, a city of Mesopotamia, 174; besieged by Sapor, 185; betrayed by a deserter, 192; courage of the garrison, 195; a sortie of the Gallic troops, from, 195, 236
Amiens (Ambians), a city in Belgium, 79, 453
Aminias, a Persian general, 369
Amisus, a city in Pontus, 289
Ammianus, his noble birth, 199; placed under Ursicinus, governor of Nisibis, by the Emperor Constantius, 30; returns to Italy, 37; his industry, 45; sent into Gaul, 60; sent back to the East, 103; visits Thebes, 130; recalled, 171; escapes from Nisibis, 173; sent to Jovinianus, satrap of Corduena, 175; narrow escape of, 181; arrives at Antioch, 200; accompanies Julian in his expedition against the Persians, 326; returns with Jovian, 402; his advice to future historians, 623
Ampelius, prefect of Otricoli, 472
Amphiaraus, an ancient seer, 4
Amphilochius, a Paphlagonian, 252
Amphisbæna, a serpent, 311
Amphitheatre at Rome, 102, 411
Amphitus, a Spartan, the charioteer of Castor and Pollux, 290
Amudis, a fort in Mesopotamia, 173
Amycus, king of the Bebrycii, 288
Anaphe, an island in the Ægean Sea, 139
Anatha, a fortress in Mesopotamia, 347
Anatolius, prefect of Illyricum, 204; master of the offices, 234; his death, 253; an officer of the palace, 504
Anaxagoras the philosopher, 287; predicted the fall of stones and earthquakes, 315
Anaximander, a Milesian philosopher, 139
Anazarbus, a city of Cilicia, 27
Anchialos, a city of Thrace, 293, 444
Ancorarius, a mountain of Mauritania, 531
Ancyra, a city of Galatia, 296, 403, 426
Andernach (Antumacum), 161
Andocides, a Grecian orator, 554
Andriscus of Adramyttium, 44, 421
Andronicus, a poet, 209
Anepsia, wife of Victorinus, 475, 478
Anicenses, a Sarmatian tribe, 154
Anicii, the, a noble family at Rome, 98
Annib, a mountain in Scythia, 341
Anthemusia, a province of Mesopotamia, 10
Anthropophagi, a Scythian tribe, 580
Antibes (Antipolis), a town in Gaul, 79
Antinopolis, a town in Mesopotamia, built by Constantius, 182
Antinous, a city in Egypt, 312
Antioch in Syria, 28; visited by the Emperor Julian, 297; by Jovian, 401
Antiochia, in Persia, 339
Antiphon, a Greek orator, 554
Antoninus, a wealthy merchant, afterwards one of the protectors, 168; his treachery, 169
Antonius, a tribune, 415
Anzaba, a river in Mesopotamia, 175
Apamia, a city in Assyria, 334, 338
---- a city in Thrace, 287
Apamia, a city in Syria, 28
Apis, the sacred Egyptian bull, 306
Apodemius, the secretary for the provinces, 41, 46; sentenced to be burnt alive, 280
Apollinarii, father and son, the former governor of Phoenicia, the latter steward of the palace, 26
Apollo, the Cumæan, 334; of Daphne, 303; the Palatine, 320; the Sminthius, 286
Apollonia, a city of Thrace, 293
---- in Assyria, 334
Apollonius of Tyana, 270
Apronianus, prefect of Rome, 317; suppresses the magicians, 411
Aprunculus Gallus, an orator and soothsayer, afterwards governor of Narbonne, 277
Aquileia, the capital of Venetia, 261; besieged by Julian, 261; surrenders, 264
Aquitani, a nation of Gaul, 78
Arabia reduced to a Roman province by the Emperor Trajan, 29; Arabia Felix, 338
Arabis, a river in the country of the Drangiani, 342
Aracha, a town in Susiana, 335, 337
Arachosia, a Persian province, 342
Arachotoscrene, a marsh in Arachosia, 343
Aradius, count of the east, 317
Araharius, a Sarmatian chief, 149
Arar, a river in Gaul (the Saône), 80
Arator, duke, 481
Aratus the poet, 299, 386
Araxates, a river in Sogdiana, 340
Araxius, prefect of the prætorium, 422
Arbaca, a city in Arachosia, 343
Arbela, a city in Adiabene, 334
Arbetio, 36, 47, 92; made consul, 71, 213
Arboreus, high chamberlain, 49
Arbor Felix, fortress of, 605
Arcadius, a river of the Euxine, 289
Archelaus, a general of King Mithridates, 116
Archimedes the mathematician, 407
Ardea, a town in Persia, 338
Areans, a sect, 485
Areopagus, 518
Arethusa, a town in Thrace, the burial-place of Euripides, 443
Argæus, a mountain in Cappadocia, 233
Argonauts, the, 27
Ariana, a province of Persia, 342
Arias, a river in Arcana, 342
Ariaspe, a town in the province of Drangiana, 342
Arimaspi, a fierce one-eyed nation bordering on Persia, 332
Arimphæi, a nation bordering on the Euxine, 292
Arinchi, a savage tribe near the Euxine, 291
Arintheus, a tribune, 54; commands the left wing of the army under Julian, 347; ambassador to the Persians, 393, 446
Aristænetus, prefect of Bithynia, lost his life in an earthquake, 138
Aristarchus the grammarian, 314
Aristides, 558
Aristobulus consul with Diocletian, 317
Arles (Arelate), a town on the Rhone, 79
Armenia conquered by Galerius, 134; its restoration to the Persians demanded by Sapor, 135; abandoned by Jovian in the treaty of Dura, 394, 549
Armonius, a mountain in Asia Minor, 289
Arsaces, the first king of the Parthians, 330
---- king of Armenia, an ally of Constantius, 235; of Julian, 318; taken prisoner by the Persians, 394; put to death, 463
Arsacia, a city of Media, 337
Arsiana, a city of Susiana, 335
Arsinoë, a city of Cyrene, anciently called Tauchira, and now Tochira, 312
Artabannes, a Persian satrap, 463
Artabius, a river in Gedrosia, a district of Persia, 343
Artacana, a city of Parthia, 338
Artemis, a river in Bactria, 340
Artemisia, queen of Caria, 487
Artemius, deputy-governor of Rome, 146
---- duke of Egypt, 300
Artogerassa, a city of Armenia, 464
Arzanena, a province of Mesopotamia, 393
Ascalon, a city of Palestine, 29
Ascanimia, a mountain in Scythia, 340
Asclepiades the philosopher, 304
Asclepiodotus, count, 65
Asia Minor, description of, 289
Asmira, a mountain in Serica, 341
Asp, the largest species of serpent in Egypt, 311
Aspabota, a city of Scythia, 341
Aspacaræ, a tribe of the Seres, 341
Aspacuras, a Persian satrap, 466
Asparata, a city of the Betæ, 341
Assanite Saracens, 350
Assyria, the wife of Barbatio, 165
---- a province of Persia, in the time of Ammianus called Adiabene, 333
Astacea, a city of Bactria, 340
Astacus, a city in Bithynia, also called Nicomedia, 287
Atacotti harass the Britons, 413
Athagoræ, a Scythian tribe, 341
Athanaric, a Gothic chief, 447, 583
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, his character, 67
Athos, a mountain in Macedonia, 286
Athribis, a city of Egypt, 313
Athyras, a port in the Propontis, 287
Ati, a people near the cataracts of the Nile, 308
Atlas, a mountain in Africa, 50
Attuarii, a tribe of Franks, 235
Auch (Ausci), a town in Aquitania, 79
Augury, modes of, 245
Augusta (Londinium), the capital of Roman Britain, 483
Augustamnica, a province of Egypt, 312
Augustus, Emperor, his correction of the calendar, 408
Aulon, a cave near the Euxine, 290
Aurelian, the Emperor, 570
Aureolus, a conspirator against Constantius, 274
Austoriani, a people of Mauritania, 413
Autun (Augustodunum), the chief town of the Ædui, 79
Auxerre (Autosidorum), a city in Gaul, 85
Avenche (Aventicum), the capital of the Helvetii, 79
Avernus, a lake in Campania, 489
Avitianus, deputy-governor of Africa, 451
Axius, a river of Macedonia, 258
Azmorna, a city of Hyrcania, 339
Azov, sea of (Palus Mæotis), 288, 577, 582
B.
Babylon, 334
Bacchus, 290
Bacchylides, the lyric poet, 383
Bactra, a river in Bactria, 340
Bactrians, 339
Bætica, a consular province of Spain, 473
Bagrada, a river in Persia, 337
Bainobaudes, a tribune of the Scutarii, 39, 105; (2) a tribune of the Cornuti, 106; killed in the battle of Strasburg, 121
Balista, a military engine for discharging stones, described, 322
Bappo, a tribune, commander of the Promoti, 54
Baraba, a town in Arabia Felix, 338
Barbatio, count of the domestics, 40; promoted to the command of the infantry, 104, 136; a swarm of bees on his house regarded as a bad omen, 165; an arrogant and treacherous man, 166; beheaded, 166
Barbitani, mountains in Persia lying towards India, 343
Barchalbas, a tribune, 430
Bards, the poets of Gaul, 74
Barzala, a fort in Mesopotamia, 179
Barzimeres, tribune of the Scutarii, 546
Basilica of Sicininus in Rome, probably the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, 441
Basilina, mother of the Emperor Julian, 383
Basilisk, a kind of Egyptian serpent, 311
Bassianus, a Roman of noble family, 515
Bassus, prefect of Rome, 146
Batne, a town near the Euphrates, where an annual fair was held, 10
Battus, a Spartan, the founder of Cyrene, 312
Bautis, a river in Serica, 341
Bazas (Vasatæ), a town in Gaul, 79
Bebase, a town in Mesopotamia, 178
Bebrycia, a district in Bithynia, 288
Belgæ, the most warlike people of Gaul, 78
Belias, a river of Mesopotamia which falls into the Euphrates, 321
Bellovædius, a tribune given as a hostage to the Persians, 394
Beræa, a city of Thrace, 444
Berenice, also called Hesperides, a town in Libya, 312
Berytus, a city of Phoenicia (the modern Beirut), 28
Besa, the name of an Egyptian deity, 208
Besançon, a city of the Sequani, 79, 253
Besbicus, an island in the Propontis, 287
Bessi, a Thracian tribe, 444
Betæ, a people in Serica, 341
Bezabde, a town on the Tigris formerly called Phoenice, 225, 266; captured by Sapor, 227; unsuccessfully besieged by Constantius, 237-239
Bineses, a Persian satrap, 394
Bingen (Bingium), a town in Germany, 161
Bisula, a river (the Weichsel), 292
Bitaxa, a town of the Ariani, 342
Bitheridus, a German noble, 525
Bithynia, 288
Bizes, a river of the Euxine, 288
Blemmyæ, a people near the cataracts of the Nile, 11
Boæ, an island on the coast of Dalmatia, 279
Bonitus, a Frank, the father of Silvanus, 63
Bonmunster (Bononia), a town in Pannonia, 257
Bonn (Bonna), a town in Germany, 161
Bordeaux (Burdegala), a city in Aquitania, 79
Borion, a promontory in Egypt, 307
Bosporus, the Thracian (the Straits of Constantinople), 288
---- the Cimmerian (Straits of Yene-Kali), 70
Bostra, a city of Arabia, 29
Boulogne (Bononia), a town in Gaul, 212
Brahmans, 336, 470
Branchidæ, an oracle in the Milesian territory, 511
Briançon (Virgantia), 76
Brigantia (the lake of Constance), 52
Brisoana, a Persian river, 337
Britain, corn exported to Rome, 161; pearls found in the British sea, 345; suffers from the incursions of the Picts and Sects, 212, 453; invaded by the Saxons, 413; distress of, 453; Theodosius goes to assist, 483
Bruchion, a quarter in Alexandria, inhabited by opulent persons, 314
Brumat (Brocomagus), a city of Germany, 86
Bucenobantes, a tribe of the Allemanni, 524
Buffaloes in Egypt, 309
Bura, a town destroyed by an earthquake, 140
Burgundians, 495; their kings called Hendinos, 495; their chief priest called the Sinistus, 496
Busan, a fort in Mesopotamia, 183
Byzantium (Constantinople), 287
Byzares, a people near the Euxine, 290