ng to a great height, and
spreading out their branches remarkably, so that they made the country
absolutely impassable for the army; and these they threw into the rough
places, and thus rendered the road altogether easy. And when they
arrived in the centre of Colchis (the place where the tales of the poets
say that the adventure of Medea and Jason took place), Goubazes, the
king of the Lazi, came and did obeisance to Chosroes, the son of
Cabades, as Lord, putting himself together with his palace and all
Lazica into his hand.

Now there is a coast city named Petra in Colchis, on the sea which is
called the Euxine, which in former times had been a place of no
importance, but which the Emperor Justinian had rendered strong and
otherwise conspicuous by means of the circuit-wall and other buildings
which he erected. When Chosroes ascertained that the Roman army was in
that place with John, he sent an army and a general, Aniabedes, against
them in order to capture the place at the first onset. But John, upon
learning of their approach, gave orders that no one should go outside
the fortifications nor allow himself to be seen from the parapet by the
enemy, and he armed the whole army and stationed them in the vicinity of
the gates, commanding them to keep silence and not allow the least sound
of any kind to escape from them. So the Persians came close to the
fortifications, and since nothing of the enemy was either seen or heard
by them they thought that the Romans had abandoned the city and left it
destitute of men. For this reason they closed in still more around the
fortifications, so as to set up ladders immediately, since no one was
defending the wall. And neither seeing nor hearing anything of the
enemy, they sent to Chosroes and explained the situation. And he sent
the greater part of the army, commanding them to make an attempt upon
the fortifications from all sides, and he directed one of the officers
to make use of the engine known as a ram around the gate, while he
himself, seated on the hill which lies very close to the city, became a
spectator of the operations. And straightway the Romans opened the gates
all of a sudden, and unexpectedly fell upon and slew great numbers of
the enemy, and especially those stationed about the ram; the rest with
difficulty made their escape together with the general and were saved.
And Chosroes, filled with rage, impaled Aniabedes, since he had been
outgeneralled by John, a tradesman