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Nicaea et Chalcedone obsidione liberatis, Bithynia in dicionem Procopii redigitur; et mox, Cyzico expugnato, Hellespontus.

[1] Huic perduellium prosperitati alia¹ laetior accessit. Rumitalca enim tribunus, in societatem Procopianorum adscitus, et suscepta cura palatii, digesto mature consilio, permeatoque² cum militibus mari, ad Drepanum ante,³ nunc Helenopolim venit, exindeque Nicaeam spe celerius occupavit.

[2] Ad quam obsidendam, cum huius modi pugnarum peritis, Vadomario misso, ex duce et rege Alamannorum, Valens Nicomediam pergit. Exindeque profectus, oppugnationi Chalcedonis magnis viribus insistebat, cuius e muris probra in eum iaciebantur, et irrisive⁴ compellebatur ut Sabaiarius. Est autem sabaia ex ordeo vel frumento, in liquorem conversis, paupertinus in Illyrico potus.

[3] Fessus denique inopia commeatuum, et obstinatione nimia defensorum, discedere iam parabat, cum inter haec clausi apud Nicaeam, patefactis subito portis, egressi, munitorum magna parte prostrata, ductore fidentissimo Rumitalca, properabant ardenter circumventuri Valentem a tergo, nondum a Chalcedonos suburbano digressum, et patrassent conata, ni rumore quodam praeverso, imminens exitium ille perdoctus, instantem vestigiis hostem per Sunonensem lacum et fluminis Galli sinuosos amfractus propere discedendo, frustra sequentem lusisset. Et hoc casu Bithynia quoque in⁵ Procopii dicionem redacta est.

[4] Unde cum Ancyram Valens citis itineribus revertisset, comperissetque Lupicinum ab Oriente cum catervis adventare, non contemnendis, spe prosperorum erectior, Arintheum lectissimum ducem occursurum hostibus misit.

[5] Qui ubi Dadastanam tetigit, in qua statione perisse diximus Iovianum, Hyperechium,⁶ sibi oppositum, repente vidit cum copiis, antehac cellae⁷ castrensis apparitorem, id est ventris ministrum et gutturis,⁸ cui ut amico Procopius auxilia ductanda commisit. Et dedignatus hominem superare certamine despicabilem, auctoritatis et celsi fiducia corporis, ipsis hostibus iussit, suum vincire rectorem: atque ita turmarum antesignanus umbratilis comprensus suorum est⁹ manibus.

[6] Quae dum hoc modo procedunt, Venustus quidam, largitionum apparitor sub Valente, multo ante Nicomediam missus, ut aurum susceptum stipendii nomine, militibus per Orientem diffusis, viritim tribueret, hac tristitia cognita, alienum pervidens tempus, Cyzicum cum his quae susceperat, se citius contulit.

[7] Ubi forte Serenianus repertus, domesticorum tunc tune comes, missus ad thesauros tuendos, urbem inexsuperabili moenium ambitu, monumentis quoque veteribus cognitam, fretus tumulturio praesidio, custodibat¹⁰ : ad quam expugnandam, Procopius, ut possessa Bithynia, sibi etiam Hellespontum iungeret, validam destinaverat manum.

[8] Morabantur autem effectum sagittis et glandibus, ceterisque iaculis, obsidentium saepe globi confixi, et propugnatorum sollertia, claustrum per catenam ferream valde robustam ori portus insertum,¹¹ quae ne rostratae irruerent naves hostiles, erat altrinsecus colligata.

[9] Hanc post varios militum labores et ducum, fatigatorum acerrimis proeliis, Aliso quidam tribunus abscidit, exsertus¹² bellator et prudens, hoc modo. Coniunctis tribus navigiis, testudinem hac specie superstruxit: densetis cohaerentes supra capita scutis, primi transtris instabant armati, alii post hos semet curvantes humilius, tertiis gradatim inclinatis summisse, ita ut novissimi suffraginibus insidentes, formam aedificii fornicati monstrarent. Quod machinae genus contra murales pugnas ideo figuratur hac specie, ut missilium ictus atque saxorum, per decursus cadentium labiles, instar imbrium evanescant.

[10] Itaque coniectu¹³ telorum Aliso paulisper defensus, ingenti corporis robore, supposito stipite, eandem catenam fortius bipenni concidens, ita confregit, ut disiecta patefaceret aditum latum, hocque exitu civitas hostili impetu patuit improtecta. Qua causa exstincto postea proterviae totius auctore, cum in factionis participes saeviretur, hic idem tribunus, contemplatione facinoris clari, vitam cum militia retinens, diu post in Isauria oppetit, v astatoria manu confossus.

[11] Hoc Marte Cyzico reserata, Procopius ad eam earn propere festinavit, veniaque universis qui repugnavere donatis, Serenianum solum iniectis vinculis, iussit duci duel Nicaeam servandum artissime.

[12] Statimque Ormizdae Ormisdae mature iuveni, Ormizdae Ormisdae regalis illius filio, potestatem proconsulis detulit, et civilia more veterum et bella recturo. Qui agens pro moribus lenius, a militibus quos per devia Phrygiae Pbrygiae, miserat Valens, subito corripiendus incursu, tanto vigore evasit, ut escensa navi quam¹⁴ ad casus pararat ancipites, sequentem ac paene captam uxorem, sagittarum nube diffusa defensam, averteret secum: matronam opulentam et nobilem, cuius verecundia et destinatio gloriosa, abruptis postea discriminibus, maritum exemit.

[13] Ea victoria ultra homines sese Procopius efferens, et ignorans quod quivis beatus, versa rota Fortunae, ante vesperum potest esse miserrimus, Arbitionis domum, cui antea tamquam eadem sibi sentientis parcebat, ut propriae, iussit exinaniri, mobilis census inaestimabilis plenam, ideo indignatus, quod venire ad eum accitus, aliquotiens distulit, causatus incommoda senectutis, et morbos.

[14] Et licet hac ex causa praesumptor momentum pertimesceret grave, tamen, cum obsistente nullo se in orientales provincias effundere libenti cunctorum assensione, iam licentius posset, avidas novitatem quandam visere, taedio asperioris imperii, quo tune tenebantur: erga alliciendas quasdam civitates Asiae legendosque eruendi peritos auri (ut sibi profuturos proeliis, quae magna exspectabat et crebra), segnius commoratus, in modum acuti mucronis obtunsus est.

[15] Ut quondam Pescennius Niger, ad subveniendum spei rerum extremae, a Romano populo saepe accitus, dum diu cunctatur in Syria, a Severo¹⁵ superatus in sinu Issico (qui est in Cilicia, ubi Dareum Alexander fudit) fugatusque in suburbano quodam Antiochiae, gregarii manu militis interiit.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

Res Gestae (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Translations (1)

History Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 26.8 focus

[1] 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,¹ and then with unexpected speed seized Nicaea.

[2] To besiege this city Valens sent, besides others skilled in that kind of fighting, Vadomarius, a former general and king of the Alamanni,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 of the poorer people in Illyricum, a liquor made from barley or some other grain.³

[3] 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 lake⁴ and the many windings of the river Gallus⁵ outwitted the enemy, who were close upon his heels in vain pursuit. And by this mischance Bithynia also fell into the power of Procopius.

[4] When Valens had returned thence by rapid marches to Ancyra and learned that Lupicinus⁶ 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 Arintheus⁷ to attack the enemy.

[5] When Arintheus reached Dadastana, the station where, as we have said,⁸ Jovian died, he suddenly saw Hyperechius and his forces opposed to him; he had before been merely in charge of the commander’s supplies (that is, a servant of his belly and gullet), but Procopius had entrusted him as a friend with the command of a band of auxiliaries. And scorning to overcome in battle so despicable a man, relying on his authority and his imposing stature, Arintheus ordered the enemy themselves to put their leader in irons; and thus this shadow of a commander was taken prisoner by the hands of his own men.

[6] While affairs were proceeding in this way, a certain Venustus, an attendant on the state-treasury under Valens, who had been sent long before to Nicomedia, in order to distribute into the soldiers’ hands the money that had been raised for the pay of those stationed in various parts of the Orient, hearing of this unfortunate occurrence, and seeing that the time was unfavourable for his task, quickly made his way to Cyzicus with the money he had received.

[7] There he chanced to meet Serenianus, at that time commander of the household troops, who had been sent to protect the treasures there; and since the city had an impregnable circuit of walls, and was known because of its old monuments, he tried to hold it, relying on the hastily formed garrison. Procopius had appointed a strong force to storm that city, in order to join Hellespontus to his side now he held Bithynia.

[8] However, the success of the work was delayed because often whole masses of the besiegers were slain by arrows, slingshots, and other missiles, and through the skill of the garrison the entrance to the port had been barred by a very strong iron chain, which was fastened to the land on both sides, so that even the armoured ships of the enemy could not force their way in.

[9] This chain, after various efforts of the soldiers and their leaders, who were exhausted by the hot fighting, was broken through by a tribune called Aliso, a distinguished and skilful warrior, in the following manner. He fastened together three boats and built upon them a protective covering after this fashion: in front stood armed men on the thwarts with their shields held close together over their heads, those behind them stooped down somewhat lower, and those in the third rank gradually lower still, so that, since the hindermost rested on their hams, the whole gave the appearance of an arched building. This kind of device, used in battles against walls, has this form in order that the volleys of missiles and rocks, gliding down the sloping side, may flow off like showers of rain.

[10] Thus Aliso, defended for the time being from the volleys of missiles, being a man of great bodily strength, placed a block underneath and struck the chain heavy blows with an axe, breaking it in such a way that it fell apart and opened a broad entrance; and by this result the city was exposed unprotected to the enemy’s attack. Because of this, when the ring-leader of the whole rebellion was later killed, and the members of his party were cruelly treated, this same tribune, being allowed to keep his life and his position in the army in view of his brilliant exploit, was slain long afterwards in Isauria at the hands of a predatory band.

[11] When Cyzicus had been opened to him by this martial stroke, Procopius quickly hastened to the city; he pardoned all who had opposed him, except Serenianus alone, who was by his order put in irons and taken to Nicaea to be closely guarded.

[12] And immediately afterwards Ormisdas, a mature young man, son of the royal prince of the same name,⁹ was given the rank of proconsul, and therewith according to ancient usage the control of civil and military affairs. This man acted with great mildness, in accordance with his disposition, and when he was on the point of being seized by a sudden onset of the soldiers whom Valens had sent through by-paths of Phrygia, he made his escape with such vigorous courage, that he embarked on board a ship which he had got ready in case of danger, and carried off his wife safely amid volleys of arrows when she followed him and was all but taken prisoner; she was a rich and distinguished matron, whose high reputation and commendable firmness later saved her husband amid extreme dangers.

[13] By this victory Procopius was elated, beyond what is lawful for mortals, and forgetting that any happy man, if Fortune’s wheel turns, may before evening become most wretched, he ordered the house of Arbitio, full of priceless furniture, to be completely stripped. Hitherto he had spared it as if it were his own, believing that the man was on his side; but he had been incensed because he had summoned Arbitio several times to come to him and Arbitio had put him off, pleading the infirmities of age and illness.

[14] And although for this reason the usurper feared serious consequences, nevertheless, since he could now boldly invade the oriental provinces without opposition, in fact even with the free consent of all—as those provinces were eager to see any change, from their dislike of the strict rule under which they were then held—for the purpose of winning over some cities of Asia and surrounding himself with men skilled in raising money (as likely to be helpful to him in the numerous great battles which he expected) he slothfully delayed and became blunt, just as a sharp sword might.

[15] Exactly so formerly Pescennius Niger,¹⁰ when often summoned by the Roman people to aid them in their expectation of extreme need, while he was delaying a long time in Syria, was defeated by Severus at the Issic Gulf (which is in Cilicia, where Alexander routed Darius), and driven from the field lost his life in a suburb of Antioch at the hands of a common soldier.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. altera (after decessit), added by Momm.; alia before laetior, Clark, c.c.; V omits.

2. permeatoque, Gardt.; permixtoque, V.

3. ante, nunc H., Her.; antea nunc H., G; anteum celenopolim, V.

4. inrisive, Novák; iniuriose, WBG; iniuria se, V ( iniuriosa, V 3.

5. in, added by HAG (put after Procopii by Brackman); V omits.

6. Hyperechium, G; Hyperethium, W; yperechium, V.

7. cellae, Her.; rectoris, Gardt.; recte, VEBG.

8. id est gutturis, del. as a gloss by Val., Eyssen., Corn.

9. est, added by Clark, Harmon, c.c.; V omits.

10. custodibat, Harmon, c.c.; costodiebat, V (corr. by V 2.

11. insertum, vulgo; insertam, W 2G; incertam V.

12. exertus, VB; exercitiis, G; expertus, Bent.

13. a coniectu, Momm., Pet. coniectu, V.

14. ascensa navi quam, W 2 escensana usquam, V.

15. Syria a Severo, Val.; syria seruere, V.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 26.8

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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Nicaea et Chalcedone obsidione liberatis, Bithynia in dicionem Procopii redigitur; et mox, Cyzico expugnato, Hellespontus.

Current edition Perseus

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