Procopius - History of the Wars, Books I and II (of 8)

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Up to this point, then, everything went in about the same way with all
who had taken the disease. But from then on very marked differences
developed; and I am unable to say whether the cause of this diversity of
symptoms was to be found in the difference in bodies, or in the fact
that it followed the wish of Him who brought the disease into the world.
For there ensued with some a deep coma, with others a violent delirium,
and in either case they suffered the characteristic symptoms of the
disease. For those who were under the spell of the coma forgot all those
who were familiar to them and seemed to be sleeping constantly. And if
anyone cared for them, they would eat without waking, but some also were
neglected, and these would die directly through lack of sustenance. But
those who were seized with delirium suffered from insomnia and were
victims of a distorted imagination; for they suspected that men were
coming upon them to destroy them, and they would become excited and rush
off in flight, crying out at the top of their voices. And those who were
attending them were in a state of constant exhaustion and had a most
difficult time of it throughout. For this reason everybody pitied them
no less than the sufferers, not because they were threatened by the
pestilence in going near it (for neither physicians nor other persons
were found to contract this malady through contact with the sick or with
the dead, for many who were constantly engaged either in burying or in
attending those in no way connected with them held out in the
performance of this service beyond all expectation, while with many
others the disease came on without warning and they died straightway);
but they pitied them because of the great hardships which they were
undergoing. For when the patients fell from their beds and lay rolling
upon the floor, they, kept patting them back in place, and when they
were struggling to rush headlong out of their houses, they would force
them back by shoving and pulling against them. And when water chanced to
be near, they wished to fall into it, not so much because of a desire
for drink (for the most of them rushed into the sea), but the cause was
to be found chiefly in the diseased state of their minds. They had also
great difficulty in the matter of eating, for they could not easily take
food. And many perished through lack of any man to care for them, for
they were either overcome by hunger, or threw themselves down from a
height. And in those cases where neither coma nor delirium came on, the
bubonic swelling became mortified and the sufferer, no longer able to
endure the pain, died. And one would suppose that in all cases the same
thing would have been true, but since they were not at all in their
senses, some were quite unable to feel the pain; for owing to the
troubled condition of their minds they lost all sense of feeling.

Now some of the physicians who were at a loss because the symptoms were
not understood, supposing that the disease centred in the bubonic
swellings, decided to investigate the bodies of the dead. And upon
opening some of the swellings, they found a strange sort of carbuncle
that had grown inside them.

Death came in some cases immediately, in others after many days; and
with some the body broke out with black pustules about as large as a
lentil and these did not survive even one day, but all succumbed
immediately. With many also a vomiting of blood ensued without visible
cause and straightway brought death. Moreover I am able to declare this,
that the most illustrious physicians predicted that many would die, who
unexpectedly escaped entirely from suffering shortly afterwards, and
that they declared that many would be saved, who were destined to be
carried off almost immediately. So it was that in this disease there was
no cause which came within the province of human reasoning; for in all
cases the issue tended to be something unaccountable. For example, while
some were helped by bathing, others were harmed in no less degree. And
of those who received no care many died, but others, contrary to reason,
were saved. And again, methods of treatment shewed different results
with different patients. Indeed the whole matter may be stated thus,
that no device was discovered by man to save himself, so that either by
taking precautions he should not suffer, or that when the malady had
assailed him he should get the better of it; but suffering came without
warning and recovery was due to no external cause.

And in the case of women who were pregnant death could be certainly
foreseen if they were taken with the disease. For some died through
miscarriage, but others perished immediately at the time of birth with
the infants they bore. However, they say that three women in confinement
survived though their children perished, and that one woman died at the
very time of child-birth but that the child was born and survived.

Now in those cases where the swelling rose to an unusual size and a
discharge of pus had set in, it came about that they escaped from the
disease and survived, for clearly the acute condition of the carbuncle
had found relief in this direction, and this proved to be in general an
indication of returning health; but in cases where the swelling
preserved its former appearance there ensued those troubles which I have
just mentioned. And with some of them it came about that the thigh was
withered, in which case, though the swelling was there, it did not
develop the least suppuration. With others who survived the tongue did
not remain unaffected, and they lived on either lisping or speaking
incoherently and with difficulty.

XXIII

Now the disease in Byzantium ran a course of four months, and its
greatest virulence lasted about three. And at first the deaths were a
little more than the normal, then the mortality rose still higher, and
afterwards the tale of dead reached five thousand each day, and again it
even came to ten thousand and still more than that. Now in the beginning
each man attended to the burial of the dead of his own house, and these
they threw even into the tombs of others, either escaping detection or
using violence; but afterwards confusion and disorder everywhere became
complete. For slaves remained destitute of masters, and men who in
former times were very prosperous were deprived of the service of their
domestics who were either sick or dead, and many houses became
completely destitute of human inhabitants. For this reason it came about
that some of the notable men of the city because of the universal
destitution remained unburied for many days.

And it fell to the lot of the emperor, as was natural, to make provision
for the trouble. He therefore detailed soldiers from the palace and
distributed money, commanding Theodorus to take charge of this work;
this man held the position of announcer of imperial messages, always
announcing to the emperor the petitions of his clients, and declaring to
them in turn whatever his wish was. In the Latin tongue the Romans
designate this office by the term "referendarius." So those who had not
as yet fallen into complete destitution in their domestic affairs
attended individually to the burial of those connected with them. But
Theodorus, by giving out the emperor's money and by making further
expenditures from his own purse, kept burying the bodies which were not
cared for. And when it came about that all the tombs which had existed
previously were filled with the dead, then they dug up all the places
about the city one after the other, laid the dead there, each one as he
could, and departed; but later on those who were making these trenches,
no longer able to keep up with the number of the dying, mounted the
towers of the fortifications in Sycae[17], and tearing off the roofs
threw the bodies in there in complete disorder; and they piled them up
just as each one happened to fall, and filled practically all the towers
with corpses, and then covered them again with their roofs. As a result
of this an evil stench pervaded the city and distressed the inhabitants
still more, and especially whenever the wind blew fresh from that
quarter.

At that time all the customary rites of burial were overlooked. For the
dead were not carried out escorted by a procession in the customary
manner, nor were the usual chants sung over them, but it was sufficient
if one carried on his shoulders the body of one of the dead to the parts
of the city which bordered on the sea and flung him down; and there the
corpses would be thrown upon skiffs in a heap, to be conveyed wherever
it might chance. At that time, too, those of the population who had
formerly been members of the factions laid aside their mutual enmity and
in common they attended to the burial rites of the dead, and they
carried with their own hands the bodies of those who were no connections
of theirs and buried them. Nay, more, those who in times past used to
take delight in devoting themselves to pursuits both shameful and base,
shook off the unrighteousness of their daily lives and practised the
duties of religion with diligence, not so much because they had learned
wisdom at last nor because they had become all of a sudden lovers of
virtue, as it were--for when qualities have become fixed in men by
nature or by the training of a long period of time, it is impossible for
them to lay them aside thus lightly, except, indeed, some divine
influence for good has breathed upon them--but then all, so to speak,
being thoroughly terrified by the things which were happening, and
supposing that they would die immediately, did, as was natural, learn
respectability for a season by sheer necessity. Therefore as soon as
they were rid of the disease and were saved, and already supposed that
they were in security, since the curse had moved on to other peoples,
then they turned sharply about and reverted once more to their baseness
of heart, and now, more than before, they make a display of the
inconsistency of their conduct, altogether surpassing themselves in
villainy and in lawlessness of every sort. For one could insist
emphatically without falsehood that this disease, whether by chance or
by some providence, chose out with exactitude the worst men and let them
go free. But these things were displayed to the world in later times.

During that time it seemed no easy thing to see any man in the streets
of Byzantium, but all who had the good fortune to be in health were
sitting in their houses, either attending the sick or mourning the dead.
And if one did succeed in meeting a man going out, he was carrying one
of the dead. And work of every description ceased, and all the trades
were abandoned by the artisans, and all other work as well, such as each
had in hand. Indeed in a city which was simply abounding in all good
things starvation almost absolute was running riot. Certainly it seemed
a difficult and very notable thing to have a sufficiency of bread or of
anything else; so that with some of the sick it appeared that the end of
life came about sooner than it should have come by reason of the lack of
the necessities of life. And, to put all in a word, it was not possible
to see a single man in Byzantium clad in the chlamys[18], and especially
when the emperor became ill (for he too had a swelling of the groin),
but in a city which held dominion over the whole Roman empire every man
was wearing clothes befitting private station and remaining quietly at
home. Such was the course of the pestilence in the Roman empire at large
as well as in Byzantium. And it fell also upon the land of the Persians
and visited all the other barbarians besides.

XXIV

[545 A.D.] Now it happened that Chosroes had come from Assyria to a
place toward the north called Adarbiganon, from which he was planning to
make an invasion into the Roman domain through Persarmenia. In that
place is the great sanctuary of fire, which the Persians reverence above
all other gods. There the fire is guarded unquenched by the Magi, and
they perform carefully a great number of sacred rites, and in particular
they consult an oracle on those matters which are of the greatest
importance. This is the fire which the Romans worshipped under the name
of Hestia[19] in ancient times. There someone who had been sent from
Byzantium to Chosroes announced that Constantianus and Sergius would
come before him directly as envoys to arrange the treaty. Now these two
men were both trained speakers and exceedingly clever; Constantianus was
an Illyrian by birth, and Sergius was from the city of Edessa in
Mesopotamia. And Chosroes remained quiet expecting these men. But in the
course of the journey thither Constantianus became ill and much time was
consumed; in the meantime it came about that the pestilence fell upon
the Persians. For this reason Nabedes, who at that time held the office
of general in Persarmenia, sent the priest of the Christians in Dubios
by direction of the king to Valerianus, the general in Armenia, in order
to reproach the envoys for their tardiness and to urge the Romans with
all zeal toward peace. And he came with his brother to Armenia, and,
meeting Valerianus, declared that he himself, as a Christian, was
favourably disposed toward the Romans, and that the king Chosroes always
followed his advice in every matter; so that if the ambassadors would
come with him to the land of Persia, there would be nothing to prevent
them from arranging the peace as they wished. Thus then spoke the
priest; but the brother of the priest met Valerianus secretly and said
that Chosroes was in great straits: for his son had risen against him in
an attempt to set up a tyranny, and he himself together with the whole
Persian army had been taken with the plague; and this was the reason why
he wished just now to settle the agreement with the Romans. When
Valerianus heard this, he straightway dismissed the bishop, promising
that the envoys would come to Chosroes at no distant time, but he
himself reported the words which he had heard to the Emperor Justinian.
This led the emperor immediately to send word to him and to Martinus and
the other commanders to invade the enemy's territory as quickly as
possible. For he knew well that no one of the enemy would stand in their
way. And he commanded them to gather all in one place and so make their
invasion into Persarmenia. When the commanders received these letters,
all of them together with their followers began to gather into the land
of Armenia.

And already Chosroes had abandoned Adarbiganon a little before through
fear of the plague and was off with his whole army into Assyria, where
the pestilence had not as yet become epidemic. Valerianus accordingly
encamped close by Theodosiopolis with the troops under him; and with him
was arrayed Narses, who had with him Armenians and some of the Eruli.
And Martinus, the General of the East, together with Ildiger and
Theoctistus, reached the fortress of Citharizon, and fixing his camp
there, remained on the spot. This fortress is separated from
Theodosiopolis by a journey of four days. There too Peter came not long
afterwards together with Adolius and some other commanders. Now the
troops in this region were commanded by Isaac, the brother of Narses.
And Philemouth and Beros with the Eruli who were under them came into
the territory of Chorzianene, not far from the camp of Martinus. And
Justus, the emperor's nephew, and Peranius and John, the son of Nicetas,
together with Domentiolus and John, who was called the Glutton, made
camp near the place called Phison, which is close by the boundaries of
Martyropolis. Thus then were encamped the Roman commanders with their
troops; and the whole army amounted to thirty thousand men. Now all
these troops were neither gathered into one place, nor indeed was there
any general meeting for conference. But the generals sent to each other
some of their followers and began to make enquiries concerning the
invasion. Suddenly, however, Peter, without communicating with anyone,
and without any careful consideration, invaded the hostile land with his
troops. And when on the following day this was found out by Philemouth
and Beros, the leaders of the Eruli, they straightway followed. And when
this in turn came to the knowledge of Martinus and Valerianus and their
men, they quickly joined in the invasion. And all of them a little later
united with each other in the enemy's territory, with the exception of
Justus and his men, who, as I have said, had encamped far away from the
rest of the army, and learned later of their invasion; then, indeed,
they also invaded the territory of the enemy as quickly as possible at
the point where they were, but failed altogether to unite with the other
commanders. As for the others, they proceeded in a body straight for
Doubios, neither plundering nor damaging in any other way the land of
the Persians.

XXV

Now Doubios is a land excellent in every respect, and especially blessed
with a healthy climate and abundance of good water; and from
Theodosiopolis it is removed a journey of eight days. In that region
there are plains suitable for riding, and many very populous villages
are situated in very close proximity to one another, and numerous
merchants conduct their business in them. For from India and the
neighbouring regions of Iberia and from practically all the nations of
Persia and some of those under Roman sway they bring in merchandise and
carry on their dealings with each other there. And the priest of the
Christians is called "Catholicos" in the Greek tongue, because he
presides alone over the whole region. Now at a distance of about one
hundred and twenty stades from Doubios on the right as one travels from
the land of the Romans, there is a mountain difficult of ascent and
moreover precipitous, and a village crowded into very narrow space by
the rough country about, Anglon by name. Thither Nabedes withdrew with
his whole army as soon as he learned of the inroad of the enemy, and,
confident in his strength of position, he shut himself in. Now the
village lies at the extremity of the mountain, and there is a strong
fortress bearing the same name as this village on the steep mountain
side. So Nabedes with stones and carts blocked up the entrances into the
village and thus made it still more difficult of access. And in front of
it he dug a sort of trench and stationed the army there, having filled
some old cabins with ambuscades of infantrymen Altogether the Persian
army amounted to four thousand men.

While these things were being done in this way, the Romans reached a
place one day's journey distant from Anglon, and capturing one of the
enemy who was going out as a spy they enquired where in the world
Nabedes was then. And he asserted that the man had retired from Anglon
with the whole Median army. And when Narses heard this, he was
indignant, and he heaped reproaches and abuse upon his fellow-commanders
for their hesitation. And others, too, began to do the very same thing,
casting insults upon one another; and from then on, giving up all
thought of battle and danger, they were eager to plunder the country
thereabout. The troops broke camp, accordingly, and without the guidance
of generals and without observing any definite formation, they moved
forward in complete confusion; for neither had they any countersign
among themselves, as is customary in such perilous situations, nor were
they arranged in their proper divisions. For the soldiers marched
forward, mixed in with the baggage train, as if going to the ready
plunder of great wealth. But when they came near to Anglon, they sent
out spies who returned to them announcing the array of the enemy. And
the generals were thunder-struck by the unexpectedness of it, but they
considered it altogether disgraceful and unmanly to turn back with an
army of such great size, and so they disposed the army in its three
divisions, as well as the circumstances permitted, and advanced straight
toward the enemy. Now Peter held the right wing and Valerianus the left,
while Martinus and his men arrayed themselves in the centre. And when
they came close to their opponents, they halted, preserving their
formation, but not without disorder. The cause for this was to be found
in the difficulty of the ground, which was very badly broken up, and in
the fact that they were entering battle in a formation arranged on the
spur of the moment. And up to this time the barbarians, who had gathered
themselves into a small space, were remaining quiet, considering the
strength of their antagonists, since the order had been given them by
Nabedes not under any circumstances to begin the fighting, but if the
enemy should assail them, to defend themselves with all their might.

And first Narses with the Eruli and those of the Romans who were under
him, engaged with the enemy, and after a hard hand-to-hand struggle, he
routed the Persians who were before him. And the barbarians in flight
ascended on the run to the fortress, and in so doing they inflicted
terrible injury upon one another in the narrow way. And then Narses
urged his men forward and pressed still harder upon the enemy, and the
rest of the Romans joined in the action. But all of a sudden the men who
were in ambush, as has been said[20], came out from the cabins along the
narrow alleys, and killed some of the Eruli, falling unexpectedly upon
them, and they struck Narses himself a blow on the temple. And his
brother Isaac carried him out from among the fighting men, mortally
wounded. And he died shortly afterwards, having proved himself a brave
man in this engagement. Then, as was to be expected, great confusion
fell upon the Roman army, and Nabedes let out the whole Persian force
upon his opponents. And the Persians, shooting into great masses of the
enemy in the narrow alleys, killed a large number without difficulty,
and particularly of the Eruli who had at the first fallen upon the enemy
with Narses and were fighting for the most part without protection. For
the Eruli have neither helmet nor corselet nor any other protective
armour, except a shield and a thick jacket, which they gird about them
before they enter a struggle. And indeed the Erulian slaves go into
battle without even a shield, and when they prove themselves brave men
in war, then their masters permit them to protect themselves in battle
with shields. Such is the custom of the Eruli.

And the Romans did not withstand the enemy and all of them fled as fast
as they could, never once thinking of resistance and heedless of shame
or of any other worthy motive. But the Persians, suspecting that they
had not turned thus to a shameless flight, but that they were making use
of some ambuscades against them, pursued them as far as the rough ground
extended and then turned back, not daring to fight a decisive battle on
level ground, a few against many. The Romans, however, and especially
all the generals, supposing that the enemy were continuing the pursuit
without pause, kept fleeing still faster, wasting not a moment; and they
were urging on their horses as they ran with whip and voice, and
throwing their corselets and other accoutrements in haste and confusion
to the ground. For they had not the courage to array themselves against
the Persians if they overtook them, but they placed all hope of safety
in their horses' feet, and, in short, the flight became such that
scarcely any one of their horses survived, but when they stopped
running, they straightway fell down and expired. And this proved a
disaster for the Romans so great as to exceed anything that had ever
befallen them previously. For great numbers of them perished and still
more fell into the hands of the enemy. And their weapons and draught
animals which were taken by the enemy amounted to such an imposing
number that Persia seemed as a result of this affair to have become
richer. And Adolius, while passing through a fortified place during this
retreat--it was situated in Persarmenia--was struck on the head by a
stone thrown by one of the inhabitants of the town, and died there. As
for the forces of Justus and Peranius, they invaded the country about
Taraunon, and after gathering some little plunder, immediately returned.

XXVI

[544 A.D.] And in the following year, Chosroes, the son of Cabades, for
the fourth time invaded the land of the Romans, leading his army towards
Mesopotamia. Now this invasion was made by this Chosroes not against
Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans, nor indeed against any other man,
but only against the God whom the Christians reverence. For when in the
first invasion he retired, after failing to capture Edessa[21], both he
and the Magi, since they had been worsted by the God of the Christians,
fell into a great dejection. Wherefore Chosroes, seeking to allay it,
uttered a threat in the palace that he would make slaves of all the
inhabitants of Edessa and bring them to the land of Persia, and would
turn the city into a pasture for sheep. Accordingly when he had
approached the city of Edessa with his whole army, he sent some of the
Huns who were following him against that portion of the fortifications
of the city which is above the hippodrome, with the purpose of doing no
further injury than seizing the flocks which the shepherds had stationed
there along the wall in great numbers: for they were confident in the
strength of the place, since it was exceedingly steep, and supposed that
the enemy would never dare to come so very close to the wall. So the
barbarians were already laying hold of the sheep, and the shepherds were
trying most valiantly to prevent them. And when a great number of
Persians had come to the assistance of the Huns, the barbarians
succeeded in detaching something of a flock from there, but Roman
soldiers and some of the populace made a sally upon the enemy and the
battle became a hand-to-hand struggle; meanwhile the flock of its own
accord returned again to the shepherds. Now one of the Huns who was
fighting before the others was making more trouble for the Romans than
all the rest. And some rustic made a good shot and hit him on the right
knee with a sling, and he immediately fell headlong from his horse to
the ground, which thing heartened the Romans still more. And the battle
which had begun early in the morning ended at midday, and both sides
withdrew from the engagement thinking that they had the advantage. So
the Romans went inside the fortifications, while the barbarians pitched
their tents and made camp in a body about seven stades from the city.

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