ἐπεὶ δὲ Φραάτου κτείναντος Ὑρώδην τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν κατασχόντος ἄλλοι τε Πάρθων ἀπεδίδρασκον οὐκ ὀλίγοι, καὶ Μοναίσης, ἀνὴρ ἐπιφανὴς καὶ δυνατός, ἧκε φεύγων πρὸς Ἀντώνιον, τὰς μὲν ἐκείνου τύχας ταῖς Θεμιστοκλέους εἰκάσας, περιουσίαν δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ μεγαλοφροσύνην τοῖς Περσῶν βασιλεῦσι παραβαλών, ἐδωρήσατο τρεῖς πόλεις αὐτῷ, Λάρισσαν καὶ Ἀρέθουσαν καὶ Ἱερὰν πόλιν, ἣν Βαμβύκην πρότερον ἐκάλουν.
And now Phraates put Hyrodes his father to death and took possession of his kingdom, other Parthians ran away in great numbers, and particularly Monaeses, a man of distinction and power, who came in flight to Antony. Antony likened the fortunes of the fugitive to those of Themistocles, compared his own abundant resources and magnanimity to those of the Persian kings, and gave him three cities, Larissa, Arethusa, and Hierapolis, which used to be called Bambycé.
τοῦ δὲ Πάρθων βασιλέως τῷ Μοναίσῃ δεξιὰν καταπέμψαντος, ἄσμενος αὐτὸν ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Ἀντώνιος, ἐξαπατᾶν μὲν ἐγνωκὼς τὸν Φραάτην, ὡς εἰρήνης ἐσομένης, ἀξιῶν δὲ τὰς ἁλούσας ἐπὶ Κράσσου σημαίας καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀπολαβεῖν τοὺς περιόντας. αὐτὸς δὲ Κλεοπάτραν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀποπέμψας ἐχώρει δι’ Ἀραβίας καὶ Ἀρμενίας,
But when the Parthian king made an offer of friendship to Monaeses, Antony gladly sent Monaeses back to him, determined to deceive Phraates with a prospect of peace, and demanding back the standards captured in the campaign of Crassus, together with such of his men as still survived. Antony himself, however, after sending Cleopatra back to Egypt, proceeded through
ὅπου συνελθούσης αὐτῷ τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῶν συμμάχων βασιλέων ʽπάμπολλοι δὲ ἦσαν οὗτοι, μέγιστος δὲ πάντων ὁ τῆς Ἀρμενίας Ἀρταουάσδης, ἑξακισχιλίους ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς ἑπτακισχιλίους παρέχωνʼ ἐξήτασε τὸν στρατόν. ἦσαν δὲ Ῥωμαίων μὲν αὐτῶν ἑξακισμύριοι πεζοὶ καὶ τὸ Ῥωμαίοις συντεταγμένον ἱππικόν, Ἰβήρων καὶ Κελτῶν μύριοι, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ἐγένοντο τρεῖς μυριάδες σὺν ἱππεῦσιν ὁμοῦ καὶ ψιλοῖς.
Arabia and Armenia to the place where his forces were assembled, together with those of the allied kings. These kings were very many in number, but the greatest of them all was Artavasdes, king of Armenia, who furnished six thousand horse and seven thousand foot. Here Antony reviewed his army. There were, of the Romans themselves, sixty thousand foot-soldiers, together with the cavalry classed as Roman, namely, ten thousand Iberians and Celts; of the other nations there were thirty thousand, counting alike horsemen and light-armed troops.
τοσαύτην μέντοι παρασκευὴν καὶ δύναμιν, ἣ καὶ τοὺς πέραν Βάκτρων Ἰνδοὺς ἐφόβησε καὶ πᾶσαν ἐκράδανε τὴν Ἀσίαν, ἀνόνητον αὐτῷ διὰ Κλεοπάτραν γενέσθαι λέγουσι. σπεύδοντα γὰρ ἐκείνῃ συνδιαχειμάσαι, τὸν πόλεμον ἐξενεγκεῖν πρὸ καιροῦ καὶ πᾶσι χρήσασθαι τεταραγμένως, οὐκ ὄντα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λογισμῶν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὑπὸ φαρμάκων τινῶν ἢ γοητείας παπταίνοντα πρὸς ἐκείνην ἀεί, καὶ πρὸς τὸ τάχιον ἐπανελθεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς τὸ κρατῆσαι τῶν πολεμίων γενόμενον.
And yet we are told that all this preparation and power, which terrified even the Indians beyond Bactria and made all Asia quiver, was made of no avail to Antony by reason of Cleopatra. For so eager was he to spend the winter with her that he began the war before the proper time, and managed everything confusedly. He was not master of his own faculties, but, as if he were under the influence of certain drugs or of magic rites, was ever looking eagerly towards her, and thinking more of his speedy return than of conquering the enemy.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν αὐτοῦ δεον ἐν Ἀρμενίᾳ διαχειμάσαι καὶ διαναπαῦσαι τὸν στρατόν, ὀκτακισχιλίων σταδίων ἀποτετρυμένον πορείᾳ, καὶ πρὶν ἢ κινεῖν ἐκ τῶν χειμαδίων Πάρθους ἔαρος ἀρχῇ Μηδίαν καταλαβεῖν, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο τὸν χρόνον, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς ἦγεν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ λαβὼν Ἀρμενίαν, καὶ τῆς Ἀτροπατηνῆς ἁψάμενος ἐπόρθει τὴν χώραν.
In the first place, then, though he ought to have spent the winter in Armenia and to have given his army rest, worn out as it was by a march of eight thousand furlongs, and to have occupied Media at the opening of spring, before the Parthians had left their winter quarters, he could not hold out that length of time, but led his army on, taking Armenia on his left, and skirting Atropatené, which country he ravaged.
ἔπειτα μηχανημάτων αὐτῷ πρὸς πολιορκίαν ἀναγκαίων τριακοσίαις ἁμάξαις παραπεμπομένων, ἐν οἷς καὶ κριὸς ἦν ὀγδοήκοντα ποδῶν μῆκος, ὧν οὐδὲν ἐνεχώρει διαφθαρὲν ἐπὶ καιροῦ πάλιν γενέσθαι διὰ τὸ τὴν ἄνω χώραν πᾶν ξύλον ἀγεννὲς εἰς μῆκος καὶ μαλθακὸν ἐκφέρειν, ἐπειγόμενος ὡς ἐμπόδια τοῦ ταχύνειν ἀπέλιπε, φυλακήν τινα καὶ Στατιανὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν ἁμαξῶν ἐπιστήσας, αὐτὸς δὲ Φραάτα μεγάλην πόλιν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκες ἦσαν τοῦ τῆς Μηδίας βασιλέως, ἐπολιόρκει.
Secondly, his engines necessary for siege operations were carried along on three hundred waggons, and among them was a battering ram eighty feet long. Not one of these, if destroyed, could be replaced in time to be of use, because the upper country produced only wood of insufficient length and hardness. Nevertheless, in his haste, he left these behind him, on the ground that they retarded his speed, setting a considerable guard under the command of Statianus over the waggons, while he himself laid siege to Phraata, a large city, in which were the wives and children of the king of Media.
τῆς δὲ χρείας εὐθὺς ὅσον ἥμαρτε τὰς μηχανὰς ἀπολιπὼν ἐξελεγχούσης, ὁμόσε χωρῶν ἔχου πρὸς τὴν πόλιν χῶμα σχολῇ καὶ πολυπόνως ἀνιστάμενον. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καταβαίνων στρατιᾷ μεγάλῃ Φραάτης, ὡς ἤκουσε τὴν ἀπόλειψιν τῶν μηχανοφόρων ἁμαξῶν, ἔπεμψε τῶν ἱππέων πολλοὺς ἐπʼ αὐτάς, ὑφʼ ὧν περιληφθεὶς ὁ Στατιανὸς ἀποθνήσκει μὲν αὐτός, ἀποθνήσκουσι δὲ μύριοι τῶν μετʼ αὐτοῦ. τὰς δὲ μηχανὰς ἑλόντες οἱ βάρβαροι διέφθειραν. εἷλον δὲ παμπόλλους, ἐν οἷς καὶ Πολέμων ἦν ὁ βασιλεύς.
But the exigencies of the case at once proved what a mistake he had made in leaving behind him his engines, and coming to close quarters he began to build a mound against the city, which rose slowly and with much labour. In the meantime, however, Phraates came down with a great army, and when he heard that the waggons carrying the engines had been left behind, he sent a large number of his horsemen against them. By these Statianus was surrounded and slain himself, and ten thousand of his men were slain with him. Moreover, the Barbarians captured the engines and destroyed them. They also took a great number of prisoners, among whom was Polemon the king.
τοῦτο πάντας μέν, ὡς εἰκός, ἠνίασε τοὺς περὶ Ἀντώνιον ἀνελπίστως ἐν ἀρχῇ πληγέντας· ὁ δὲ Ἀρμένιος Ἀρταουάσδης ἀπογνοὺς τὰ Ῥωμαίων ᾤχετο τὴν αὑτοῦ στρατιὰν ἀναλαβών, καίπερ αἰτιώτατος τοῦ πολέμου γενόμενος.
This calamity naturally distressed all the followers of Antony, for they had received an unexpected blow at the outset; besides, Artavasdes, the king of Armenia, despairing of the Roman cause, took his own forces and went off, although he had been the chief cause of the war.
ἐπιφανέντων δὲ λαμπρῶς τοῖς πολιορκοῦσι τῶν Πάρθων καὶ χρωμένων ἀπειλαῖς πρὸς ὕβριν, οὐ βουλόμενος Ἀντώνιος ἡσυχάζοντι τῷ στρατῷ τὸ δυσθυμοῦν καὶ καταπεπληγμένον ἐμμένειν καὶ αὔξεσθαι, δέκα τάγματα λαβὼν καὶ τρεῖς στρατηγίδας σπείρας ὁπλιτῶν, τοὺς δʼ ἱππεῖς ἅπαντας, ἐξήγαγε πρὸς σιτολογίαν, οἰόμενος οὕτως ἂν ἐπισπασθέντων μάλιστα τῶν πολεμίων ἐκ παρατάξεως μάχην γενέσθαι.
And now the Parthians presented themselves to the besiegers in brilliant array, and threatened them insultingly. Antony, therefore, not wishing that the inactivity of his army should confirm and increase among them consternation and dejection, took ten legions and three praetorian cohorts of men-at-arms, together with all his cavalry, and led them out to forage, thinking that in this way the enemy would best be drawn into a pitched battle.
προελθὼν δὲ μιᾶς ὁδὸν ἡμέρας, ὡς ἑώρα τοὺς Πάρθους κύκλῳ περιχεομένους καὶ προσπεσεῖν καθʼ ὁδὸν αὐτῷ ζητοῦντας, ἐξέθηκε μὲν τὸ τῆς μάχης σύμβολον ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ, καθελὼν δὲ τὰς σκηνὰς ὡς οὐ μαχησόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἀπάξων, παρημείβετο τῶν βαρβάρων τὴν τάξιν οὖσαν μηνοειδῆ, κελεύσας ὅταν οἱ πρῶτοι τοῖς ὁπλίταις ἐν ἐφικτῷ δοκῶσιν εἶναι, τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἐναντίους εἰσελαύνειν.
After advancing a single day’s march, he saw that the Parthians were enveloping him and seeking to attack him on the march. He therefore displayed the signal for battle in his camp, and after taking down his tents, as though his purpose was not to fight but to withdraw, he marched along past the line of the Barbarians, which was crescent-shaped. But he had given orders that when the first ranks of the enemy should appear to be within reach of his legionaries, the cavalry should charge upon them.
τοῖς δὲ Πάρθοις παρακεκριμένοις λόγου κρείττων ἡ τάξις ἐφαίνετο τῶν Ῥωμαίων, καὶ κατεθεῶντο παρεξιόντας ἐν διαστήμασιν ἴσοις ἀθορύβως καὶ σιωπῇ τοὺς ὑσσοὺς κραδαίνοντας. ὡς δὲ τὸ σημεῖον ἤρθη καὶ προσεφέροντο μετὰ κραυγῆς ἐπιστρέψαντες οἱ ἱππεῖς, τούτους μὲν ἠμύνοντο δεξάμενοι, καίπερ εὐθὺς ἐντὸς τοξεύματος γενομένους, τῶν δὲ ὁπλιτῶν συναπτόντων ἅμα βοῇ καὶ πατάγῳ τῶν ὅπλων, οἵ τε ἵπποι τοῖς Πάρθοις ἐξίσταντο ταρβοῦντες καὶ αὐτοὶ πρὶν εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθεῖν ἔφευγον.
To the Parthians in their parallel array, the discipline of the Romans seemed to beggar description, and they watched them marching past at equal distances from one another, without confusion, and in silence, brandishing their javelins. But when the signal was given, and the Roman horsemen wheeled about and rode down upon them with loud shouts, they did indeed receive their onset and repel them, although their foes were at once too close for them to use their arrows; when, however, the legionaries joined in the charge, with shouts and clashing of weapons, the horses of the Parthians took fright and gave way, and the Parthians fled without coming to close quarters.
sὁ δὲ Ἀντώνιος ἐνέκειτο τῇ διώξει, καὶ μεγάλας εἶχεν ἐλπίδας ὡς τοῦ πολέμου τὸ σύμπαν ἢ τὸ πλεῖστον ἐκείνῃ τῇ μάχῃ διαπεπραγμένος. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς διώξεως γενομένης τοῖς μὲν πεζοῖς ἐπὶ πεντήκοντα στάδια, τοῖς δὲ ἱππεῦσιν ἐπὶ τρὶς τοσαῦτα, τοὺς πεπτωκότας τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τοὺς ἡλωκότας ἐπισκοποῦντες εὗρον αἰχμαλώτους μὲν τριάκοντα, νεκροὺς δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα μόνους, ἀπορία καὶ δυσθυμία πᾶσι παρέστη, δεινὸν εἶναι λογιζομένοις εἰ νικῶντες μὲν οὕτως ὀλίγους κτείνουσιν, ἡττώμενοι δὲ στερήσονται τοσούτων ὅσους ἀπέβαλον περὶ ταῖς ἁμάξαις.
Antony pressed hard upon them in pursuit, and had great hopes that he had finished the whole war, or the greater part of it, in that one battle. His infantry kept up the pursuit for fifty furlongs, and his cavalry for thrice that distance; and yet when he took count of those of the enemy who had fallen or had been captured, he found only thirty prisoners and eighty dead bodies. Despondency and despair therefore fell upon all; they thought it a terrible thing that when victorious they had killed so few, and when vanquished they were to be robbed of so many men as they had lost at the waggons.
τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ συσκευασάμενοι τὴν ἐπὶ Φραάτων καὶ τοῦ στρατοπέδου προῆγον. ἐντυχόντες δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν πρῶτον μὲν ὀλίγοις τῶν πολεμίων, ἔπειτα πλείοσι, τέλος δὲ πᾶσιν ὥσπερ ἀηττήτοις καὶ νεαλέσι προκαλουμένοις καὶ προσβάλλουσι πανταχόθεν, μοχθηρῶς καὶ πολυπόνως ἀπεσώθησαν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον.
On the following day they packed up and started on the road to Phraata and their camp. As they marched they met, first a few of the enemy, then more of them, and finally the whole body, which, as though unconquered and fresh, challenged and attacked them from every side; but at last, with difficulty and much labour, they got safely to their camp.
τῶν δὲ Μήδων ἐκδρομήν τινα ποιησαμένων ἐπὶ τὸ χῶμα καὶ τοὺς προμαχομένους φοβησάντων, ὀργισθεὶς ὁ Ἀντώνιος ἐχρήσατο τῇ λεγομένῃ δεκατείᾳ πρὸς τοὺς ἀποδειλιάσαντας. διελὼν γὰρ εἰς δεκάδας τὸ πλῆθος ἀφʼ ἑκάστης ἕνα τὸν λαχόντα κλήρῳ διέφθειρε, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἀντὶ πυρῶν ἐκέλευε κριθὰς μετρεῖσθαι.
Then the Medes made a sally against their mound and put its defenders to flight. At this Antony was enraged, and visited those who had played the coward with what is called decimation. That is, he divided the whole number of them into tens, and put to death that one from each ten upon whom the lot fell. For the rest he ordered rations of barley instead of wheat.
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