which is close by the boundaries of Martyropolis.  Thus then were encamped the Roman commanders with their troops; and the whole army amounted to thirty thousand men.  Now all these troops were neither gathered into one place, nor indeed was there any general meeting for conference.  But the generals sent to each other some of their followers and began to make enquiries concerning the invasion.  Suddenly, however, Peter, without communicating with anyone, and without any careful consideration, invaded the hostile land with his troops.  And when on the following day this was found out by Philemouth and Beros, the leaders of the Eruli, they straightway followed.  And when this in turn came to the knowledge of Martinus and Valerianus and their men, they quickly joined in the invasion.  And all of them a little later united with each other in the enemy’s territory, with the exception of Justus and his men, who, as I have said, had encamped far away from the rest of the army, and learned later of their invasion; then, indeed, they also invaded the territory of the enemy as quickly as possible at the point where they were, but failed altogether to unite with the other commanders.  As for the others, they proceeded in a body straight for Doubios, neither plundering nor damaging in any other way the land of the Persians.

XXV

Now Doubios is a land excellent in every respect, and especially blessed with a healthy climate and abundance of good water; and from Theodosiopolis it is removed a journey of eight days.  In that region there are plains suitable for riding, and many very populous villages are situated in very close proximity to one another, and numerous merchants conduct their business in them.  For from India and the neighbouring regions of Iberia and from practically all the nations of Persia and some of those under Roman sway they bring in merchandise and carry on their dealings with each other there.  And the priest of the Christians is called “Catholicos” in the Greek tongue, because he presides alone over the whole region.  Now at a distance of about one hundred and twenty stades from Doubios on the right as one travels from the land of the Romans, there is a mountain difficult of ascent and moreover precipitous, and a village crowded into very narrow space by the rough country about, Anglon by name.  Thither Nabedes withdrew with his whole army as soon as he learned of the inroad of the enemy, and, confident in his strength of position, he shut himself in.  Now the village lies at the extremity of the mountain, and there is a strong fortress bearing the same name as this village on the steep mountain side.  So Nabedes with stones and carts blocked up the entrances into the village and thus made it still more difficult of access.  And in front of it he dug a sort of trench and stationed the army there, having filled some old cabins with ambuscades of infantrymen Altogether the Persian army amounted to four thousand men.