| Keywords |
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| ID |
5460 |
| Text |
Historia (continuatio Agathiae) (557 - 582) Menander, the Guardsman |
| Quotation |
ὁ δὲ καθ᾽ ὐμᾶς βασιλεὺς ἐκτίσει μοι δίκας ἐν δέοντι, ἐμοὶ μὲν φιλίας ἐχόμενα διαλεγόμενος, τοῖς δὲ δὴ Οὐαρχωνίταις τοῖς ἡμετέροις δούλοις (ἐδήλου δὲ τοὺς Ἀβάρους) ἀποδράσασι τοὺς δεσπότας γενόμενος ἔνσπονδος. οἱ μὲν Οὐαρχωνῖται, ἅτε κατήκοοι Τούρκων, ἡνίκα Βούλομαι, ὡς ἐμὲ ἥξουσι καί, εἴ γε τὴν κατ᾿ ἐμὲ ἱππείαν ἐσαθρήσουσι μάστιγα ὡς αὐτοὺς ἐκπεμφθεῖσαν, ἐς τὰ κατώτατα φεύξονται τῆς γῆς· ἀντιβλέποντες δὲ ἡμῖν, ὡς εἰκὀς, οὐ φονευθήσονται ξίφεσι, μὰλλον μὲν οὖν ταῖς ὁπλαῖς καταπατηθήσονται τῶν ἡμετέρων ἵππων καὶ δίκην ἀπολοῦνται μυρμήκων. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν Οὐαρχωνιτῶν ταῦτα ὑμῖν ἐν βεβαίῳ.
Ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ Ῥωμαῖοι, τί δῆτα ἄρα τοὺς κατ᾿ἐμὲ πρέσβεις διὰ τοῦ Καυκάσου ὁδοιποροῦντας ἐπὶ τὸ Βυζάντιον ἄγετε, ὡς ἐμὲ φάσκοντες μὴ εἶναι ἑτέραν ἀτραπόν, δι’ ἧς αὐτοῖς ἔσται ἡ πορεία; ταῦτα δὲ ἐπιτελεῖτε, ὡς ἀπείποιμι διὰ τὰς δυσχωρίας ἐπιθέσθαι τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπικρατείᾳ. πλὴν ἔγωγε ἐξεπίσταμαι μάλα ἀκριβῶς ὅποι τε ὁ Δάναπρις ποταμός, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Ἴστρος ἔνθα καταρρεῖ καὶ ἵνα ὁ Ἕβρος, ὁπόθεν τε ἐπεραιώθησαν ἐς τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν τὸ ἡμέτερον δουλικὸν οἱ Οὐαρχωνῖται. οὐκ ἀγνοῶ τὴν καθ᾿ ὑμᾶς δύναμιν. ἐμοὶ γὰρ ὑποκέκλιται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, ἀρχομένη μὲν ἐκ τῶν τοῦ ἡλίου πρώτων ἀκτίνων, καταλήγουσα δὲ ἐς τὰ πέρατα τῆς ἑσπέρας. ἐσαθρήσατε, ὧ δείλαιοι, τὰ Ἀλανικὰ ἔθνη, ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ τὰ φῦλα τῶν Οὐνιγούρων, οἵ γε ἐπὶ πολὺ θαρραλέοι τέ τινες ὄντες καὶ τῇ οἰκείᾳ πίσυνοι δυνάμει ἀντετάξαντο μὲν τῷ ἀκαταμαχήτῳ τῳν Τούρκων, οὐκ ἀπώναντο δὲ τῶν ἐλπίδων. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐν μοίρᾳ καθεστήκασι δούλου. |
| Translation |
And your Emperor shall pay me due penalty, for he has spoken words of friendship to me while making a treaty with the Uarkhonitai, our slaves (he meant the Avars) who have fled their masters. When I wish it, the Uarkhonitai shall come to me as subjects of the Turks. If they as much as see my horsewhip sent to them, they will flee to the lowest reaches of the earth. If they face me, they hall perish, as is proper, not by the sword but trampled under the hooves of our horses, like ants. For the Uarkhonitai, this you can be sure of.
“As for you, Romans, why do you take my envoys through the Caucasus to Byzantium, alleging that there is no other route for them to travel? You do this so that I might be deterred from attacking the Roman Empire by the difficult terrain. But I know very well where the river Danapris flows, and the Danube and the Hebrus, and from where our slaves the Uarkhonitai, crossed into Roman territory. I know your strength. For the whole world is open to me from the farthest East to the very western edge. Consider, wretches, the Alan nation and also the tribe of the Unigurs. Full of confidence and trusting in their own strength they faced the invincible might of the Turks. But their hopes were dashed, and so they are our subjects and are numbered amongst our slaves.” … |
| Quotation source |
Fr. 19.1.64-90 (pp. 174-177) |
| Temporal Coverage |
576 - 577 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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| Spatial Coverage Objects |
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| Comment |
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