ted the message from Chosroes, and the whole city was filled with
tumult and lamentation.

Now the artificial hill was rising to a great height and was being
pushed forward with much haste. And the Romans, being at a loss what to
do, again sent off the envoys to Chosroes. And when they had arrived in
the enemy's camp, and said that they had come to make entreaty
concerning the same things, they did not even gain a hearing of any kind
from the Persians, but they were insulted and driven out from there with
a great tumult, and so returned to the city. At first, then, the Romans
tried to over-top the wall opposite the hill by means of another
structure. But since the Persian work was already rising far above even
this, they stopped their building and persuaded Martinus to make the
arrangements for a settlement in whatever way he wished. He then came up
close to the enemy's camp and began to converse with some of the Persian
commanders. But they, completely deceiving Martinus, said that their
king was desirous of peace, but that he was utterly unable to persuade
the Roman Emperor to have done with his strife with Chosroes and to
establish peace with him at last. And they mentioned as evidence of this
the fact that Belisarius, who in power and dignity was far superior to
Martinus, as even he himself would not deny, had recently persuaded the
king of the Persians, when he was in the midst of Roman territory, to
withdraw from there into Persia, promising that envoys from Byzantium
would come to him at no distant time and establish peace securely, but
that he had done none of the things agreed upon, since he had found
himself unable to overcome the determination of the Emperor Justinian.

XXVII

In the meantime the Romans were busying themselves as follows: They made
a tunnel from the city underneath the enemy's embankment, commanding the
diggers not to leave this work until they should get under the middle of
the hill. By this means they were planning to burn the embankment. But
as the tunnel advanced to about the middle of the hill, a sound of
blows, as it were, came to the ears of those Persians who were standing
above. And perceiving what was being done, they too began from above and
dug on both sides of the middle, so that they might catch the Romans who
were doing the damage there. But the Romans found it out and abandoned
this attempt, throwing earth into the place which had been hollowed out,
and then began to work