elf and his brother; for he would capture
Petra after no great time. So the Romans and the Tzani made a most
vigorous assault upon the wall, but the Persians unexpectedly withstood
them, although only a very few were left. And since the Romans were
accomplishing nothing by assaulting the wall, they again turned to
digging. And they went so far in this work that the foundations of the
circuit-wall were no longer on solid ground, but stood for the most part
over empty space, and, in the nature of things, would fall almost
immediately. And if Dagisthaeus had been willing immediately to apply
fire to the foundations, I think that the city would have been captured
by them straightway; but, as it was, he was awaiting encouragement from
the emperor, and so, always hesitating and wasting time, he remained
inactive. Such, then, was the course of events in the Roman camp.

XXX

But Mermeroes, after passing the Iberian frontier with the whole Median
army, was moving forward with the River Phasis on his right. For he was
quite unwilling to go through the country of Lazica, lest any obstacle
should confront him there. For he was eager to save the city of Petra
and the Persians in it, even though a portion of the circuit-wall had
fallen down suddenly. For it had been hanging in the air, as I have
said; and volunteers from the Roman army to the number of fifty got
inside the city, and raised the shout proclaiming the Emperor Justinian
triumphant. These men were led by a young man of Armenian birth, John by
name, the son of Thomas whom they used to call by the surname Gouzes.
This Thomas had built many of the strongholds about Lazica at the
direction of the emperor, and he commanded the soldiers there, seeming
to the emperor an intelligent person. Now John, when the Persians joined
battle with his men, was wounded and straightway withdrew to the camp
with his followers, since no one else of the Roman army came to support
him. Meanwhile the Persian Mirranes who commanded the garrison in Petra,
fearing for the city, directed all the Persians to keep guard with the
greatest diligence, and he himself went to Dagisthaeus, and addressed
him with fawning speeches and deceptive words, agreeing readily to
surrender the city not long afterwards. In this way he succeeded in
deceiving him so that the Roman army did not immediately enter the city.

Now when the army of Mermeroes came to the pass, the Roman garrison,
numbering one hundred men, c