The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

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EVAGRIUS
back on itself when his soldiers allowed themselves to be defeated. And in
this way Vitalian took Cyril captive from Odessus and pushed his
advance as far as the place called Sycae, ravaging everything, burning
everything, having nothing else in his thoughts than to capture the city
itself and to control the empire. 169
When this man had encamped at Sycae, Marinus the Syrian, whom we
mentioned before, was sent by the emperor with a naval force to do battle
with Vitalian. And so the two forces met, the one with Sycae astern, the
other with Constantinople. And at ¢rst they remained stationary, but
then, after sallies and exchanges of missiles between the two contingents,
a ¢erce naval battle was joined near the place called Bytharia; after
backing water, Vitalian £ed precipitately, losing the majority of his force,
while his associates £ed so quickly that on the morrow not a single enemy
was found in the vicinity of Anaplus or the city. They say that Vitalian
then remained for some time at Anchialus, keeping quiet. 170
Another Hunnic race also made an incursion, after crossing the
Cappadocian Gates. 171
169 For Vitalian’s career, see PLRE II. 1171^6, s.v. Vitalianus 2. Vitalian launched three
revolts, of which Evagrius presents a rather confused account derived from the long narrative
in Malalas 402:3^406:8. In 513 Vitalian was in command of federate troops in Thrace,
possibly as comes foederatorum, and revolted because of Anastasius’ failure to provide the
supplies due to his troops, although his support for Chalcedon and opposition to Anastasius’
increasingly Monophysite preferences were also major factors. Vitalian advanced as
far as the Hebdomon, but was persuaded to retire when the emperor made certain promises,
which were promptly broken. Anastasius sent out Cyril to punish Vitalian, and after a
closely fought engagement Cyril was able to enter Odessus (modern Varna on the Black
Sea) while Vitalian retreated. But Vitalian then bribed Cyril’s troops to admit him to
Odessus where he killed Cyril. Anastasius sent another army commanded by Hypatius
and Alathar, but they were defeated and taken prisoner; Hypatius was held to ransom,
which was only paid in full after Vitalian had in 514 marched on Constantinople for a
second time. Anastasius again broke promises about holding a church council, and Vitalian
again attacked the capital in 515, this time with a £eet as well as an army, and based himself
on the Bosporus between Anaplus and Sycae (see further below).
170 Evagrius has omitted the key ingredient in Marinus’ success (described at length by
Malalas), which was the gift of an in£ammable ingredient, referred to as elemental
sulphur, which would ignite whatever it was thrown upon once it was touched by the
sun’s rays. John of Antioch, who also omits the Greek ¢re, ascribes a signi¢cant role in
the victory to the future emperor Justin (fr. 214e). After this crushing defeat, Vitalian
remained at Anchialus until Anastasius’ death in 518. For Marinus, see iii.42 and n. 168
above.
171 Like his account of Vitalian, Evagrius derived this information from Malalas
(406:9^18); in 515 the Sabir Huns crossed the Caspian Gates, and ravaged extensively as