At about the same time Narses and Aratius who at the beginning of this
war, as I have stated above,[20] had an encounter with Sittas and
Belisarius in the land of the Persarmenians, came together with their
mother as deserters to the Romans; and the emperor's steward, Narses,
received them (for he too happened to be a Persarmenian by birth), and
he presented them with a large sum of money. When this came to the
knowledge of Isaac, their youngest brother, he secretly opened
negotiations with the Romans, and delivered over to them the fortress of
Bolum, which lies very near the limits of Theodosiopolis. For he
directed that soldiers should be concealed somewhere in the vicinity,
and he received them into the fort by night, opening stealthily one
small gate for them. Thus he too came to Byzantium.


XVI

Thus matters stood with the Romans. But the Persians, though defeated by
Belisarius in the battle at Daras, refused even so to retire from there,
until Rufinus, coming into the presence of Cabades, spoke as follows: "O
King, I have been sent by thy brother, who reproaches thee with a just
reproach, because the Persians for no righteous cause have come in arms
into his land. But it would be more seemly for a king who is not only
mighty, but also wise as thou art, to secure a peaceful conclusion of
war, rather than, when affairs have been satisfactorily settled, to
inflict upon himself and his people unnecessary confusion. Wherefore
also I myself have come here with good hopes, in order that from now on
both peoples may enjoy the blessings which come from peace." So spoke
Rufinus. And Cabades replied as follows: "O son of Silvanus, by no means
try to reverse the causes, understanding as you do best of all men that
you Romans have been the chief cause of the whole confusion. For we have