第6巻 第1章

Greek Μετὰ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι παντὶ τῷ στρατῷ διακινδυνεύειν οὐκέτι ἐτόλμων· ἱππομαχίας δὲ ποιούμενοι ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς τρόπῳ τῷ προτέρῳ τὰ πολλὰ τοὺς βαρβάρους ἐνίκων.

Dewing After this the Romans no longer dared risk a battle with their whole army; but they engaged in cavalry battles, making sudden sallies in the same manner as before, and were generally victorious over the barbarians.

Greek ᾔεσαν δὲ καὶ πεζοὶ ἑκατέρωθεν, οὐκ ἐς φάλαγγα ξυντεταγμένοι,

Dewing Foot-soldiers also went out from both sides, not, however, arrayed in a phalanx, but accompanying the horsemen.

Greek ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν ἑπόμενοι. καί ποτε Βέσσας ἐν πρώτῃ ὁρμῇ ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους ξὺν τῷ δόρατι ἐσπηδήσας τρεῖς τε τῶν ἀρίστων ἱππέων ἔκτεινε καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐς φυγὴν ἔτρεψεν.

Dewing And once Bessas in the first rush dashed in among the enemy carrying his spear and killed three of their best horsemen and turned the rest to flight.

Greek αὖθις δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος τοὺς Οὔννους ἐπαγόμενος ἐν Νέρωνος πεδίῳ ἀμφὶ δείλην ὀψίαν, ἐπειδὴ τῷ πλήθει ὑπερβιαζομένους τοὺς ἐναντίους εἶδεν,

Dewing And another time, when Constantinus had led out the Huns in the Plain of Nero in the late afternoon, and saw that they were being over­powered by the superior numbers of their opponents, he took the following measures.

Greek ἐποίει τοιάδε. στάδιον μέγα ἐνταῦθα ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἐστιν, οὗ δὴ οἱ τῆς πόλεως μονομάχοι τὰ πρότερα ἠγωνίζοντο, πολλά τε ἄλλα οἱ πάλαι ἄνθρωποι ἀμφὶ τὸ στάδιον τοῦτο ἐδείμαντο, καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ στενωπούς, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, πανταχόθι τοῦ χωρίου ξυμβαίνει εἶναι.

Dewing There has been in that place from of old a great stadium⁠ where the gladiators of the city used to fight in former times, and the men of old built many other buildings round about this stadium; consequently there are, as one would expect, narrow passages all about this place.

Greek τότε οὖν Κωνσταντῖνος, ἐπεὶ οὔτε περιέσεσθαι τοῦ τῶν Γότθων ὁμίλου εἶχεν οὔτε κινδύνου μεγάλου ἐκτὸς φεύγειν οἷός τε ἦν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων ἅπαντας τοὺς Οὔννους ἀποβιβάσας πεζὸς ξὺν αὐτοῖς ἔς τινα τῶν ἐκείνῃ στενωπῶν ἔστη.

Dewing Now on the occasion in question, since Constantinus could neither overcome the throng of the Goths nor flee without great danger, he caused all the Huns to dismount from their horses, and on foot, in company with them, took his stand in one of the narrow passages there.

Greek ὅθεν δὴ βάλλοντες ἐκ τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς τοὺς πολεμίους συχνοὺς ἔκτεινον. καὶ χρόνον μέν τινα οἱ Γότθοι βαλλόμενοι ἀντεῖχον.

Dewing Then by shooting from that safe position they slew large numbers of the enemy. And for some time the Goths withstood their missiles.

Greek ἤλπιζον γάρ, ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα τῶν Οὔννων τὰς φαρέτρας ἐπιλείπῃ τὰ βέλη, κύκλωσίν τε αὐτῶν οὐδενὶ πόνῳ ποιήσασθαι καὶ δήσαντες ἐς στρατόπεδον αὐτοὺς τὸ σφέτερον ἄξειν.

Dewing For they hoped, as soon as the supply of missiles in the quivers of the Huns should be exhausted, to be able to surround them without any trouble, take them prisoners, and lead them back to their camp.

Greek ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ Μασσαγέται, τοξόται μὲν ἀγαθοὶ ὄντες, ἐς πολὺν δὲ ὅμιλον βάλλοντες, τοξεύματι σχεδόν τι ἑκάστῳ πολεμίου ἀνδρὸς ἐπετύγχανον, ᾔσθοντο μὲν ὑπὲρ ἥμισυ ἀπολωλότες, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἐς δυσμὰς ἰόντος ἡλίου οὐκ ἔχοντες ὅ τι γένωνται ἐς φυγὴν ὥρμηντο.

Dewing But since the Massagetae, who were not only good bowmen but also had a dense throng to shoot into, hit an enemy with practically every shot, the Goths perceived that above half their number had perished, and since the sun was about to set, they knew not what to do and so rushed off in flight.

Greek ἔνθα δὴ αὐτῶν πολλοὶ ἔπεσον· ἐπισπόμενοι γὰρ οἱ Μασσαγέται, ἐπεὶ τοξεύειν ὡς ἄριστα καὶ πολλῷ χρώμενοι δρόμῳ ἐπίστανται, οὐδέν τι ἧσσον ἐς νῶτα βάλλοντες ἔκτεινον. οὕτω τε ἐς Ῥώμην Κωνσταντῖνος ξὺν τοῖς Οὔννοις ἐς νύκτα ἧκε.

Dewing Then indeed many of them fell; for the Massagetae followed them up, and since they know how to shoot the bow with the greatest accuracy even when running at great speed, they continued to discharge their arrows no less than before, shooting at their backs, and kept up the slaughter. And thus Constantinus with his Huns came back to Rome at night.

Greek Περανίου δὲ ἡμέραις οὐ πολλαῖς ὕστερον Ῥωμαίων τισὶ διὰ πύλης Σαλαρίας ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἡγησαμένου ἔφευγον μὲν κατὰ κράτος οἱ Γότθοι, παλινδιώξεως δὲ περὶ ἡλίου δυσμὰς ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου γεγενημένης, τῶν τις Ῥωμαίων πεζὸς ἐς μέγαν καταστὰς θόρυβον ἐς βαθεῖάν τινα κατώρυχα ἐμπίπτει, οἷαι πολλαὶ τοῖς πάλαι ἀνθρώποις πρὸς σίτου παρακαταθήκην ἐνταῦθα,

Dewing And when Peranius, not many days later, led some of the Romans through the Salarian Gate against the enemy, the Goths, indeed, fled as hard as they could, but about sunset a counter-pursuit was made suddenly, and a Roman foot-soldier, becoming greatly confused, fell into a deep hole, many of which were made there by the men of old, for the storage of grain, I suppose.

Greek οἶμαι, πεποίηνται. οὔτε δὲ κραυγῇ χρῆσθαι τολμήσας, ἅτε που ἐγγὺς στρατοπεδευομένων τῶν πολεμίων, οὔτε τοῦ βόθρου τρόπῳ ὁτῳοῦν ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι οἷός τε ὤν, ἐπεὶ ἀνάβασιν οὐδαμῆ εἶχεν, αὐτοῦ διανυκτερεύειν ἠνάγκαστο.

Dewing And he did not dare to cry out, supposing that the enemy were encamped near by, and was not able in any way whatever to get out of the pit, for it afforded no means of climbing up; he was therefore compelled to pass the night there.

Greek τῇ δὲ ἐπιγενομένῃ ἡμέρᾳ, τροπῆς αὖθις τῶν βαρβάρων γεγενημένης, τῶν τις Γότθων ἐς τὴν αὐτὴν κατώρυχα ἐμπίπτει.

Dewing Now on the next day, when the barbarians had again been put to flight, one of the Goths fell into the same hole.

Greek ἔνθα δὴ ἄμφω ἔς τε φιλοφροσύνην καὶ εὔνοιαν ξυνηλθέτην ἀλλήλοιν, ξυναγούσης αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀνάγκης, τά τε πιστὰ ἐδοσαν, ἦ μὴν κατεσπουδασμένην ἑκατέρῳ τὴν θατέρου σωτηρίαν εἶναι, καὶ τότε δὴ μέγα καὶ ἐξαίσιον ἄμφω ἐβόων.

Dewing And there the two men were reconciled to mutual friendship and good-will, brought together as they were by their necessity, and they exchanged solemn pledges, each that he would work earnestly for the salvation of the other; and then both of them began shouting with loud and frantic cries.

Greek Γότθοι μὲν οὖν τῇ τε φωνῇ ἐπισπόμενοι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς κατώρυχος διακύψαντες ἐπυνθάνοντο ὅστις ποτὲ ὁ βοῶν εἴη.

Dewing Now the Goths, following the sound, came and peered over the edge of the hole, and enquired who it was who shouted.

Greek οὕτω δὲ τοῖν ἀνδροῖν δεδογμένον, σιωπὴν μὲν ὁ Ῥωμαῖος εἶχεν, ἅτερος δὲ τῇ πατρίῳ γλώσσῃ ἔναγχος ἔφασκεν ἐν τῇ γενομένῃ τροπῇ ἐμπεπτωκέναι, βρόχον τε αὐτούς, ὅπως ἀναβαίνοι, ἠξίου καθεῖναι.

Dewing At this, the Roman, in accordance with the plan decided upon by the two men, kept silence, and the Goth in his native tongue said that he had just recently fallen in there during the rout which had taken place, and asked them to let down a rope that he might come up.

Greek καὶ οἱ μὲν ὡς τάχιστα τῶν κάλων τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀπορρίψαντες τοῦ Γότθου ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀνολκὴν ᾤοντο, λαβόμενος δὲ ὁ Ῥωμαῖος τῶν βρόχων εἵλκετο ἄνω, τοιοῦτον εἰπών, ὡς, ἢν μὲν αὐτὸς ἀναβαίνοι πρῶτος, οὔποτε τοῦ ἑταίρου ἀμελήσειν τοὺς Γότθους, ἢν δέ γε τὸν πολέμιον πύθωνται μόνον ἐνταῦθα εἶναι, οὐδένα ἂν αὐτοῦ ποιοῖντο λόγον.

Dewing And they as quickly as possible threw down the ends of ropes, and, as they thought, were pulling up the Goth, but the Roman laid hold of the ropes and was pulled up, saying only that if he should go up first the Goths would never abandon their comrade, but if they should learn that merely one of the enemy was there they would take no account of him. So saying, he went up.

Greek ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀνέβη. καὶ αὐτὸν ἐπεὶ οἱ Γότθοι εἶδον, ἐθαύμαζόν τε καὶ ἀμηχανίᾳ πολλῇ εἴχοντο, πάντα τε παρ’ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον ἀκούσαντες ἐν δευτέρῳ τὸν ἑταῖρον ἀνεῖλκον, ὃς δὴ αὐτοῖς τά τε ξυγκείμενα σφίσι καὶ τὰ δεδομένα πρὸς ἀμφοτέρων πιστὰ ἔφρασε.

Dewing And when the Goths saw him, they wondered and were in great perplexity, but upon hearing the whole story from him they drew up his comrade next, and he told them of the agreement they had made and of the pledges both had given.

Greek καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν ξὺν τοῖς ἑταίροις ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο, τὸν δὲ Ῥωμαῖον κακῶν ἀπαθῆ ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἀφῆκαν ἰέναι.

Dewing So he went off with his companions, and the Roman was released unharmed and permitted to return to the city.

Greek ἔπειτα δὲ ἱππεῖς μὲν πολλάκις ἑκατέρωθεν οὐ πολλοὶ ὡς ἐς μάχην ὡπλίζοντο, ἐς μονομαχίαν δὲ ἀεὶ τὰ τῆς ἀγωνίας αὐτοῖς ἐτελεύτα καὶ πάσαις Ῥωμαῖοι ἐνίκων. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ὧδέ πη ἔσχεν.

Dewing After this horsemen in no great numbers armed themselves many times for battle, but the struggles always ended in single combats, and the Romans were victorious in all of them. Such, then, was the course of these events.

Greek Ὀλίγῳ δὲ ὕστερον χρόνῳ ξυμβολῆς ἐν Νέρωνος γινομένης πεδίῳ, διώξεις τε ἄλλων ἄλλῃ κατ’ ὀλίγους ἱππεῖς ποιουμένων, Χορσάμαντις, ἐν τοῖς Βελισαρίου δορυφόροις εὐδόκιμος, Μασσαγέτης γένος, ξὺν ἑτέροις τισὶν ἄνδρας ἑβδομήκοντα τῶν πολεμίων ἐδίωκεν.

Dewing A little after this an engagement took place in the Plain of Nero, wherein various small groups of horsemen were engaged in pursuing their opponents in various directions; in one group was Chorsamantis, a man of note among the guards of Belisarius, by birth a Massagete, who with some others was pursuing seventy of the enemy.

Greek ἐπειδή τε τοῦ πεδίου πόρρω ἐγένετο, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι Ῥωμαῖοι ὀπίσω ἀπήλαυνον, Χορσάμαντις δὲ μόνος ἔτι ἐδίωκεν. ὅπερ κατιδόντες οἱ Γότθοι στρέψαντες τοὺς ἵππους ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ᾔεσαν.

Dewing And when he had got well out in the plain the other Romans rode back, but Chorsamantis went on with the pursuit alone. As soon as the Goths perceived this, they turned their horses about and came against him.

Greek καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐς μέσους χωρήσας, ἕνα τε τῶν ἀρίστων δόρατι κτείνας, ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ᾔει, οἱ δὲ αὖθις τραπόμενοι ἐς φυγὴν ὥρμηντο.

Dewing And he advanced into their midst, killed one of the best of them with his spear, and then went after the others, but they again turned and rushed off in flight.

Greek αἰσχυνόμενοι δὲ τοὺς ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ʽἤδη γὰρ καὶ πρὸς αὐτῶν καθορᾶσθαι ὑπώπτευον’ πάλιν ἰέναι ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἤθελον.

Dewing But they were ashamed before their comrades in the camp, who, they suspected, could already see them, and wished to attack him again.

Greek ταὐτὸ δὲ παθόντες, ὅπερ καὶ πρότερον, ἕνα τε τῶν ἀρίστων ἀποβαλόντες, ἐς φυγὴν οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἐτράποντο, μέχρι τε τοῦ χαρακώματος τὴν δίωξιν ὁ Χορσάμαντις ποιησάμενος ἀνέστρεψε μόνος.

Dewing They had, however, precisely the same experience as before and lost one of their best men, and so turned to flight in spite of their shame, and after Chorsamantis had pursued them as far as their stockade he returned alone.

Greek ὀλίγῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἐν μάχῃ ἑτέρᾳ κνήμην τὴν ἀριστερὰν βληθέντι τούτῳ ἐνομίσθη εἶναι ἄκρου ὀστέου τὸ βέλος ἁψάμενον.

Dewing And a little later, in another battle, this man was wounded in the left shin, and it was his opinion that the weapon had merely grazed the bone.

Greek ἀπόμαχος μέντοι ἡμέρας ὅσας δὴ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ γεγονὼς τῇ πληγῇ ἅτε ἀνὴρ βάρβαρος οὐκ ἤνεγκε πρᾴως, ἀλλ’ ἠπείλησε τῆς ἐς τὸ σκέλος ὕβρεως τοὺς Γότθους ὅτι τάχιστα τίσασθαι.

Dewing However, he was rendered unfit for fighting for a certain number of days by reason of this wound, and since he was a barbarian he did not endure this patiently, but threatened that he would right speedily have vengeance upon the Goths for this insult to his leg.

Greek ῥαΐσας οὖν οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἔν τε ἀρίστῳ οἰνωμένος, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, μόνος ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐβούλευσεν ἰέναι καὶ τῆς ἐς τὸν πόδα ὕβρεως τίσασθαι, ἔν τε Πιγκιανῇ γενόμενος πυλίδι, στέλλεσθαι πρὸς Βελισαρίου ἔφασκεν ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν ἐναντίων στρατόπεδον.

Dewing So when not long afterwards he had recovered and was drunk at lunch time, as was his custom, he purposed to go alone against the enemy and avenge the insult to his leg; and when he had come to the small Pincian Gate he stated that he was sent by Belisarius to the enemy's camp.

Greek οἱ δὲ ταύτῃ φρουροὶ ʽοὐ γὰρ ἀπιστεῖν ἀνδρὶ τῶν Βελισαρίου δορυφόρων ἀρίστῳ εἶχον’ τάς τε πύλας ἀνέῳξαν καὶ ὅπη βούλοιτο ἀφῆκαν ἰέναι.

Dewing And the guards at the gate, who could not doubt the word of a man who was the best of the guards of Belisarius, opened the gates and allowed him to go wherever he would.

Greek κατιδόντες τε αὐτὸν οἱ πολέμιοι, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα αὐτόμολον σφίσι τινὰ προσχωρεῖν ᾤοντο, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀγχοῦ γενόμενος τοῦ τόξου εἴχετο, οὐκ εἰδότες ὅστις ποτὲ εἴη, χωροῦσιν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν εἴκοσιν.

Dewing And when the enemy spied him, they thought at first that some deserter was coming over to them, but when he came near and put his hand to his bow, twenty men, not knowing who he might be, went out against him.

Greek οὓς δὴ εὐπετῶς ἀπωσάμενος ἀπήλαυνε βάδην, πλειόνων τε Γότθων ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἰόντων οὐκ ἔφυγεν.

Dewing These he easily drove off, and then began to ride back at a walk, and when more Goths came against him he did not flee.

Greek ὡς δὲ πλήθους πολλοῦ ἐπιρρέοντος ἀμύνεσθαι ἠξίου, Ῥωμαῖοι ἐκ τῶν πύργων θεώμενοι μαίνεσθαι μὲν τὸν ἄνδρα ὑπώπτευον, ὡς δὲ Χορσάμαντις εἴη οὔπω ἠπίσταντο.

Dewing But when a great throng gathered about him and he still insisted upon fighting them, the Romans, watching the sight from the towers, suspected that the man was crazy, but they did not yet know that it was Chorsamantis.

Greek ἔργα μὲν ἐπιδειξάμενος μεγάλα τε καὶ λόγου πολλοῦ ἄξια, ἔς τε κύκλωσιν ἐμπεπτωκὼς τοῦ τῶν πολεμίων στρατεύματος,

Dewing At length, after making a display of great and very noteworthy deeds, he found himself surrounded by the army of the enemy, and paid the penalty for his unreasonable daring.

Greek ποινὰς ἀλόγου θράσους ἐξέτισεν. ἅπερ ἐπειδὴ Βελισάριός τε καὶ ὁ Ῥωμαίων στρατὸς ἔμαθον, ἐν πένθει μεγάλῳ γενόμενοι, ἅτε τῆς πάντων ἐλπίδος ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ διαφθαρείσης, ὠδύροντο.

Dewing And when Belisarius and the Roman army learned this, they mourned greatly, lamenting that the hope which all placed in the man had come to naught.