The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

46
EVAGRIUS
19 In the same times of Theodosius there were frequent uprisings in
Europe when Valentinian was emperor of Rome; these indeed Theodosius
overcame by sending great forces both by land and sea with an
infantry and naval armament. 166 Thus too he dominated the Persians
when they committed outrages while Yazdgard, the father of Varam,
was their king, or as Socrates thinks when Varam himself was king, with
the result that when they sent an embassy he granted them peace, which
endured until the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius. 167 Although
these matters are narrated by others, they have been abbreviated with
exceptional elegance by Eustathius the Syrian from Ephiphania, who
also narrated the capture of Amida. 168
funded by Theodosius under Anatolius’ supervision; an inscription in gold mosaic gave
credit for the building to the emperor.
The digression concludes in characteristic fashion. Although the extant text of Malalas
only preserves the information about Anatolius, all the material in this chapter on local
buildings was probably derived from his account.
166 There were numerous problems in the West during the reign of Valentinan III (425^
55), which saw the loss of Africa to the Vandals and the consolidation of Visigothic control
in Aquitania, as well as Attila’s invasion. Three major expeditions were organized by the
East, the ¢rst in 424/5 to remove the usurper John from Ravenna, when Ardabur sailed
from Salona to Italy while Aspar and the cavalry proceeded by land via Sirmium, and the
other two against the Vandals in 431 and 441; both the Vandal expeditions were naval enterprises,
and both failed. Cf. Theodoret, EH v.37.4^10, for praise of Theodosius’ military
successes over Huns and Persians, and see Croke, ‘Evidence’ 365^6, for Theodosius II’s
victory monument (a statue atop a column with an inscribed base) at the Hebdomon.
167 This refers to the Persian war of 421/2, which broke out during the reign of Vahram
V (420/21^38), although the origins of the war lay in the reign of his father Yazdgard I (399^
420/21), when Christian enthusiasts stirred up trouble in Persia by attacking Zoroastrian
buildings; this triggered retaliation and some Christians sought refuge with the Romans,
who refused to return them when the Persians demanded; the Romans achieved some victories
(Theodoret, EH v.39; Socrates vii.8, 18, 20; Theophanes 82:18^83:2; 85:24^86:9), but
a Hunnic incursion into Thrace prompted a return to peace (Croke, ‘Evidence’ 348^9). Evagrius
seems unaware of the war of 440^2, which brie£y interrupted the peace that otherwise
lasted until Kavadh’s invasion in 502, the twelfth year of Anastasius.
Festugie' re (227 n. 76) identi¢ed these events with the war of 440^2, with the king as Yazdgard
II (438^57), and suggested that Vahram was an error for Kavadh; but Evagrius’ reference
to Socrates makes this most unlikely, and Kavadh was in any case the son of Peroz.
Evagrius’ chronology in this section is confused, and his omission of the later war is in
keeping with the muddle.
168 The eastern campaign of 502/3, which included the Persian capture of Amida, was
the last major event reported by Eustathius, who appears to have died in 502/3: cf. iii.37,
with notes; also the section on Evagrius’ sources in the Introduction (xxvi above). The war