146

relevant to the present narfative, An account, in frct evcn e rummary of

events, is all that the rules of historical composition requirc of me,
11. The tragedy just described did not mark the end of this stormy
period but was followed by others of an equally horrifying and alarming
nature. 7hat these were f shall presently explain, after first making a brief
and passing rderence to eadier history.
z In ancient times the Huns inhabited the region east of lake Maeotis 20
to the north of the river Don, as did the rest of the barbarian peoples
established in Asia on the near side of Mt. Imaeus. All these peoples were
referred to by the general name of Scythians or Huns, whereas individual
tribes had their own particular names, rooted in ancestral tradition, such as
Cotrigurs, Utigurs, Ultizurs,, Brirugundi and so on and so forth. 3 Several
generations later either following the lead of a hind as popular tradition
would have it or as a result o{ some other fortuitous occurrence, they crossed
over into Europe and were somehow conveyed across the point where lake
Maeotis flows into the Euxine,2l which had hitherto been considered impossible. However, they crossed it and wandered far and wide over foreign

territory.
By their sudden and unexpected raids they did incalculable damage to the
local populations, even to the extent of displacing the original inhabitants
and occupying their lands. 4 But their sray was destined to be pief one,
and at tle end of it they vanished without leaving any ace of themselves.
This fact is illustrated by the case of the Ultizurs and the Burugundi who
were well-known right up to the time of the Emperor Leo22 and were considered a force to be reckoned with, but whom we in our day and age neither
know nor, I imagine, are likely to, since they have either perished or migrted to the ends of the earth. 5 However, during the year in question
when the plague readeed the capital all the orher Hunnic tibes were in
existence and indeed rrlere still at the height of their fame though for some
reason best known to themselves they had chosen to move south at this
time and had encamped not far from the banks of the Danube. 6 As usual,
with the approadr of winter, the river froze to a considerable depth and the
ice was aTready hard enough to be crossed on horsebad<. flhereupon Zaber
gan, the leader o{ the Cotrigurs galloped across the trozen w'aters with a
huge force of cavalry and crossed over without difiiculty into the territory
of the Romans. zs Finding the area deserted and advancing unopposed, he
passed through Moesia and Scythia and invaded Thrace. 7 At this point he
split up his army, sending one parr into Greece to raid and plunder the
20 The Sea

of Azov.
presumably the Strait of Kerch
22 i. e. LeoI 457--:74 A.D.

zt

23 March 559

BL,

Agathlar: The Hlrtorler

A.D.

unProteetcd

plrcer therc Bnd

tGcond detrdrment

147

into the

Thracian

Chomoneoe,

12, From North to South as far aa the cenme of its southern tip, the
Giltem coastlifle of the Cheronecc is $rashed by the Hellespont. Only a
naffow piece of land a mere forty stades across prevents the Hellespont
from making an island of it. z Across this isthmus a continuous fortified
wall stretdres from cost to coast. Behind the wall are ranged rhe rovins of
Aphrodisias, Thescos, and Ciberis, and at a very great distance from them
near the strait itself, where the coastline forms a sharp angle, stands the
town of Sestos, renowned in poetry, doubdess because of its associations
with the story of Hero's lamp and of the death of her lover Leander. 3 Not
far from Sestos is another small town whidr despite its e)<treme smallness,
its lad< of beauty and generally unprepossessing appearance is called Callipolis 2a. The surrounding country is graced with fields and roadsteads, dotted
with a gteat vaiety of trees and blessed with streams of good drinking
water and with a ridr, fertile soil that produces a plentiful store of all the
necessaries of life. The wall, then, encloses within is confines so many towns
and such an extensive arca of. ground as to make an enemy attack no easy
mattef,.

4 In an (lrrtravagatly hopeful frame of mndZaberyan began to entertain

the notion rhat, if. he were to knock down the wall and peneffare into the
region behind it, he would soon be in a position to gain control of the sea.
He fondly imagined that once there he would have an ample supply of ships
and that after sailing with ease across the calm and peaceful 'waters of the
nro\ strait he wor.ild cross over into Asia where he would immediately
rayage Abydus and sad< the custom-house there. 5 And so sprlrred on by
these wild designs he despatdred to the Chersonese what in his vieur was a
sufiiciently large force for this task. He himself made straight for Constantinople with seven thousand horse, ravagtrng fields and attad<ing towns on his
way and creating havoc and confusion wherever he went. 6 Tho'ugh his
real motive was the innate violence and rupasity that clnracterizes the behaviour of.barbaians he used his hostility rowards the Utigurs as a sort of
er(cuse for his atta&.. The Utigurs were led by a Hun called Sandildr who
'was on extremely cordial terms of friendship and alliance with the Romans.
He had won the esteem and afiection of the Emperor and was a frequent
recipient of his largesse. Z The Cotrigurs on the other hand far fuom
having any share in sudr favours urefe the obiect of open contempt. Conse.
quently they felt that they ought to make this expedition in order to show
that they too'/ere a force to be reckoned with and feared and that they
would tolerate no disrespect.
24 i.

e. "Fair City"

mod. Gallipoli.