ttas and
begged him to give them pledges in writing that, if they abandoned their
kinsmen in the battle and came to the Roman army, they should remain
entirely free from harm, retaining their own possessions. Now Sittas was
delighted and wrote to them in tablets, giving them pledges just as they
desired of him; he then sealed the writing and sent it to them. Then,
confident that by their help he would be victorious in the war without
fighting, he went with his whole army to a place called Oenochalakon,
where the Armenians had their camp. But by some chance those who carried
the tablets went by another road and did not succeed at all in meeting
the Aspetiani. Moreover a portion of the Roman army happened upon some
few of them, and not knowing the agreement which had been made, treated
them as enemies. And Sittas himself caught some of their women and
children in a cave and slew them, either because he did not understand
what had happened or because he was angry with the Aspetiani for not
joining him as had been agreed.

But they, being now possessed with anger, arrayed themselves for battle
with all the rest. But since both armies were on exceedingly difficult
ground where precipices abounded, they did not fight in one place, but
scattered about among the ridges and ravines. So it happened that some
few of the Armenians and Sittas with not many of his followers came
close upon each other, with only a ravine lying between them. Both
parties were horsemen. Then Sittas with a few men following him crossed
the ravine and advanced against the enemy; the Armenians, after
withdrawing to the rear, stopped, and Sittas pursued no further but
remained where he was. Suddenly someone from the Roman army, an Erulian
by birth, who had been pursuing the enemy, returning impetuously from
them came up to Sittas and his men. Now as it happened Sittas had
planted his spear in the ground; and the Erulian's horse fell upon this
with a great rush and shattered it. And the general was exceedingly
annoyed by this, and one of the Armenians, seeing him, recognized him
and declared to all the others that it was Sittas. For it happened that
he had no helmet on his head. Thus it did not escape the enemy that he
had come there with only a few men. Sittas, then, upon hearing the
Armenian say this, since his spear, as has been said, lay broken in two
on the ground, drew his sword and attempted immediately to recross the
ravine. But the enemy advanced up