BOOK 11 The Time of the EmperorTrajan and the Third Calamityat Antioch 1. (269) After the reign of Nerva, the most sacred Trajan reigned for 19 years and six months. He was tall , withered in body, dark skinned, with delicate features, short grey hair and deep set eyes. 2. Vntil the second year of his reign St John the apostle and theologian was seen teaching in Ephesos as bishop and patriarch. Then he withdrew himself from view and was no longer seen by anyone and no one knows to the present day what happened to him, as the most learned Africanus and Eirenaios have written, During the reign of Trajan, there was a great persecution of the Christians and many were punished with death. 3. In that year (270) Heerdotes, emperor of the Persians who was of Parthian descent and the brother of Osdroes, emperor of the Armenians, began a campaign and came with a large force to make war on the Roman state. Accompanied by his son Sanatroukios, he captured cities and plundered many districts, While he was plundering the district of Euphratesia, he was thrown off his horse as he was riding. He was badly injured and died a natural death. Whenon the point of death, he made his son Sanatroukios "Arsakes", that is, emperor, in his place; for in Persian "Torkim" is the translation for emperor. Sanatroukios, emperor of the Persians, continued to ravage Roman territory. When Osdroes, emperor of the Armenians and Meerdotes' brother, heard of his brother's death, he also immediately sent his son Parthemaspates out from Armenia with a large army to help his cousin Sanatroukios, emperor of the Persians, against the Romans. Whenthe most sacred emperor Trajan heard this, he inunediately began a campaign in the 12th year of his reign and set out from Romeagainst them in the month October-Hyperberetaios. Whenthey first arrived, he set out with a large force of soldiers and senators and sailed for the East, Among the senators was Hadrian, his relative by marriage through his sister. He reached Seleukeia in Syria in the month Apellaios-December in a fast boat from the base known as Bytillion, which was a natural harbour near Seleukeia (271) in Syria, The Persians had captured Antioch the Great and occupied it, not indeed by force of arms but through an amicable agreement and treaty by which they controlled and guarded it for the Persian emperor Sanatroukios. For the Antiochene dignitaries had of 1. Bo 269.1-4: LN 435,34; Slav: Soph 101, 2. Bo 269.5-11: CP 470,16-19 (AD104). 3. Bo 269.11-271.18. Heerdotes (270,1; corr Dind): om Ba. "Torki•" is the translation for emperor (270.9): unconvincing attempts to avoid this illogicality are listed by von s 267, note 20, 12th (270.16): von S 278-9 proposes '17th', perhaps correctly, Apellaios (270.22; corr Chil): 'Aprillaios' Ba, 144 Book 11 their own accord set terms for peace and submission through an embassy to the Persian emperor. The emperor of the Persians agreed and sent two bdrz11/llt!JMt11.i, whose names were Fortunus and Gargaris, with a large Persian force of 3,000 men. As soon as the emperor Trajan reached the city of the Seleukeians in Syria by fast boat, he wrote in secret to the Antiochene dignitaries and to all the citizens, announcing his arrival and saying, "Weknow that your city contains a large number of its own men apart from the nuner.i of soldiers stationed there. The Persian enemies who are in your city are few in comparison with your number. So let each man kill the Persians he has in his own house, taking heart from our arrival, for we have come to avenge the Romancause", 4. On hearing this the Antiochenes made an attack at night on the Persians in their city. They kept themselves awake and killed them all. Seizing Fortunus and Gargaris, the two Persian generals known as .h!JrzlJ!llt!JMt11~~they killed them too and they dragged their corpses throughout the entire city chanting this slogan about them, (272) "Look! Fortunus and Gargaris are being dragged along in honour of the victory of the lord Trajan. Comeon! Comeon! Gargaris, Fortunus!" Those Persians who were able to escape while these men were being dragged . about by the mob slipped out and fled. That night they started a fire and burnt a small section of the city by the district knownas Skepine. Whenhe heard this, the emperor Trajan praised the bravery of the citizens of Antioch, The expedition's fleet having arrived from Seleukeia, they went up to holy Daphne to pray and to sacrifice at the temple of Apollo. And from Daphne he sent orders to the Antiochenes that the corpses of the Persians who had been killed were to be removed from the city; they were to be piled up some distance from the city and burnt. The whole city was to be purified, and there were to be pyres made of laurel trees in each quarter and at each gateway of the city, and much frankincense was to be thrown into the fire of laurel leaves and they were to beat drums through the whole city to chase out the evil spirits of the slaughtered Persians; and this was done. The emperor Trajan arrived from Daphne and entered Antioch in Syria through what is known as the Golden Gate, that is, the Dai;imetic Gate; he wore a crown of olive twigs on his head. This happened on Thursday 7th Audynaios - January, at the fourth hour of the day. (273) He ordered the drums to be beaten every night for a period of 30 days, and he also ordered that this should be done each year at the same time as a memorial of the destruction of the Persians. Domninosthe chronicler has written this. 5. While the emperor Trajan was spending time in Antioch in Syria making plans in connection with the war, Tiberianus, the governor of the people of First Palestine sent him the following message, "To the victorious Imperator, Caesar, the most sacred Trajan. I have grown weary punishing and killing the Galileans who belong to the belief of those known as Christians, in accordance with your decrees. And they will not stop incriminating themselves in order to be put to death. So .htirzlJJfl(UJ{lUJ.f(271.7; corr von S 43, cf 271.22; see Bury, 1897, 227): 'barzamaratai' Ba. 4. Bo 271.19-273.4. Seizing Fort1.100S8nd Gargaris (271.23): von S 44 proposed to delete the two names. 5. Bo 273.5-19. .