l out that they lost their way and wandered about,
and on the following night bivouacked in the same place; and they say
that this happened to them a second time also. When with difficulty
Chosroes reached the neighbourhood of Edessa, they say that suppuration
set in in his face and his jaw became swollen. For this reason he was
quite unwilling to make an attempt on the city, but he sent Paulus and
demanded money from the citizens. And they said that they had absolutely
no fear concerning the city, but in order that he might not damage the
country they agreed to give two centenaria of gold. And Chosroes took
the money and kept the agreement.

XIII

At that time also the Emperor Justinian wrote a letter to Chosroes,
promising to carry out the agreement which had been made by him and the
ambassadors regarding the peace[12]. When this message was received by
Chosroes, he released the hostages and made preparations for his
departure, and he wished to sell off all the captives from Antioch. And
when the citizens of Edessa learned of this, they displayed an
unheard-of zeal. For there was not a person who did not bring ransom for
the captives and deposit it in the sanctuary according to the measure of
his possessions. And there were some who even exceeded their
proportionate amount in so doing. For the harlots took off all the
adornment which they wore on their persons, and threw it down there, and
any farmer who was in want of plate or of money, but who had an ass or a
sheep, brought this to the sanctuary with great zeal. So there was
collected an exceedingly great amount of gold and silver and money in
other forms, but not a bit of it was given for ransom. For Bouzes
happened to be present there, and he took in hand to prevent the
transaction, expecting that this would bring him some great gain.
Therefore Chosroes moved forward, taking with him all the captives. And
the citizens of Carrhae met him holding out to him great sums of money;
but he said that it did not belong to him because the most of them are
not Christians but are of the old faith.

But when, likewise, the citizens of Constantina offered money, he
accepted it, although he asserted that the city belonged to him from his
fathers. [503 A.D.] For at the time when Cabades took Amida, he wished
also to capture Edessa and Constantina. But when he came near to Edessa
he enquired of the Magi whether it would be possible for him to capture
the city, pointing out th