Res Gestae

Already the mantlets and all the other equipment required for a siege were being made ready, when, as the night chanced to be clear and the bright moonlight clearly revealed everything to those who stood upon the battlements, near the end of the second watch a throng quickly gathered and burst from the suddenly opened gates, and falling unawares on one of our cohorts, killed a great number, including also a tribune who tried to avert the danger.

While this was going on, the Persians, in the same way as before, attacked a part of our men from the opposite side of the river, killed some, and took a few alive. And from fear, and at the same time because they thought that the enemy had gained greater numbers, our men for a time were held irresolute; but when they had recovered their courage, had armed themselves as well as they could in the confusion, and our army, aroused by the trumpets’ blast, was

The emperor, roused to bitter anger, reduced the surviving members of the cohort, who had shown no spirit[*](Cf. egere segnius, § 9, above.) in resisting the marauders’ attack, to the infantry service[*](cohors is commonly used of the infantry, but Ammi- anus probably refers to the horsemen mingled with the foot-soldiers, who may have been most to blame. Vegetius tells us that each cohort had its horsemen.) (which is more burdensome) with loss of rank.

This set him afire to destroy the fortress before which he had been so endangered,[*](Cf. § 6, above.) and he devoted his energies and thoughts to that end, never himself leaving the van, in order that by fighting among the foremost he might by his personal example rouse the soldiers to deeds of valour, as the witness and judge of their conduct. And so when he had exposed himself valiantly and long to extreme peril, after using every kind of attack[*](An unusual meaning of munitio, which commonly implies defence, but cf. xxi. 12, 12, where munitores, besiegers, is contrasted with prohibitores, besieged. ) and weapons, through the unanimous valour of the besiegers that same fortress was at last taken and destroyed by fire.

After this, in consideration of the difficult tasks already performed and those which impended, the army, exhausted by excessive toil, was given a rest and many kinds of provisions were distributed in abundance. However, after that time the palisade of the camp was more carefully constructed with a close array of stakes and a deep moat, since there was fear of sudden sallies and other secret attempts from Ctesiphon, which was now not far distant.

Then we came to an artificial river, by name Naarmalcha, meaning the kings’ river,[*](Cf. xxiii. 6, 25; xxiv. 2, 7; 6, 1.) which at that time was dried up. Here in days gone by Trajan, and after him Severus, had with immense effort caused the accumulated earth to be dug out, and had made a great canal, in order to let in the water from the Euphrates and give boats and ships access to the Tigris.[*](A canal from the Euphrates to the Tigris was made by the earliest Assyrian kings (Hdt. i. 193), and a branch of it was carried to Seleucia by Seleucus Nikator, the founder of that city. According to Cassius Dio., lxviii. 28, Trajan’s attempt was not successful because the bed of the Euphrates was then much higher.)

It seemed to Julian in all respects safest to clean out that same canal, which formerly the Persians, when in fear of a similar invasion, had blocked with a huge dam of stones. As soon as the canal was cleared, the dams were swept away by the great flow of water, and the fleet in safety covered thirty stadia and was carried into the channel of the Tigris. Thereupon bridges were at once made, and the army crossed and pushed on towards Coche.

Then, so that a timely rest might follow the wearisome toil, we encamped in a rich territory, abounding in orchards, vineyards, and green cypress groves. In its midst is a pleasant and shady dwelling, displaying in every part of the house, after the custom of that nation, paintings representing the king killing wild beasts in various kinds of hunting; for nothing in their country is painted or sculptured except slaughter in divers forms and scenes of war.