ily because his size was against him, while Andreas,
anticipating him (for his practice in the wrestling school gave him this
advantage), smote him as he was rising on his knee, and as he fell again
to the ground dispatched him. Then a roar went up from the wall and from
the Roman army as great, if not greater, than before; and the Persians
broke their phalanx and withdrew to Ammodios, while the Romans, raising
the paean, went inside the fortifications; for already it was growing
dark. Thus both armies passed that night.

XIV

On the following day ten thousand soldiers arrived who had been summoned
by the Persians from the city of Nisibis, and Belisarius and Hermogenes
wrote to the mirranes as follows: "The first blessing is peace, as is
agreed by all men who have even a small share of reason. It follows that
if any one should be a destroyer of it, he would be most responsible not
only to those near him but also to his whole nation for the troubles
which come. The best general, therefore, is that one who is able to
bring about peace from war. But you, when affairs were well settled
between the Romans and the Persians, have seen fit to bring upon us a
war without cause, although the counsels of each king are looking toward
peace, and although our envoys are already present in the neighbourhood,
who will at no distant time settle all the points of dispute in talking
over the situation together, unless some irreparable harm coming from
your invasion proves sufficient to frustrate for us this hope. But lead
away as soon as possible your army to the land of the Persians, and do
not stand in the way of the greatest blessings, lest at some time you be
held responsible by the Persians, as is probable, for the disasters
which will come to pass." When the mirranes saw this letter brought to
him, he replied as follows: "I should have been persuaded by what you
write, and should have done what you demand, were the letter not, as it
happens, from Romans, for whom the making of promises is easy, but the
fulfilment of the promises in deed most difficult and beyond hope,
especially if you sanction the agreement by any oaths. We, therefore,
despairing in view of your deception, have been compelled to come before
you in arms, and as for you, my dear Romans, consider that from now on
you will be obliged to do nothing else than make war against the
Persians. For here we shall be compelled either to die or grow old until
you accord to us