CHAPTER XII

CABADES AND CHOSROES, KINGS OF PERSIA

THE history of Belisarius has been written by Procopius the Rhetorician. He says that Cabades, king of the Persians, wishing to invest his youngest son Chosroes with the sovereignty, was desirous to have him adopted by the Roman emperor, so that by that means his succession might be secured. But when this was refused, at the suggestion of Proclus, who advised Justinian as his quæstor, they conceived a still greater hatred against the Romans. This same Procopius has, with diligence, elegance, and ability, set forth the events of the war between the Romans and Persians while Belisarius was commander of the forces of the East. The first victory on the side of the Romans which he records, was in the neighbourhood of Daras and Nisibis, under the command of Belisarius and Hermogenes. He subjoins an account of the occurrences in Armenia, and the mischief inflicted on the Romans by Alamundarus, the chieftain of the Scenite barbarians, who captured Timostratus, the brother of Rufinus, together with his troops, and afterwards liberated him for a considerable ransom.