Book 17
5.8
This assuredly I declare, that if this embassy of mine returns unsuccessful, after the time of the winter reat is past I shall gird myself with all my strength and with fortune and the justice of my terms upholding my hope of a successful issue, I shall hasten to come on, so far as reason permits.
5.9
After this letter had long been pondered, answer was made with upright heart, as they say, and circumspectly, as follows:—
5.10
I, Constantius, victor by land and sea, perpetual Augustus, to my brother King Sapor, offer most ample greeting. I rejoice in your health, and if you will, I shall be your friend hereafter; but this covetousness of yours, always unbending and more widely encroaching, I vehemently reprobate.
5.11
You demand Mesopotamia as your own and likewise Armenia, and you recommend lopping off some members of a sound body, so that its health may afterwards be put upon a firm footing—advice which is rather to be refuted than to be confirmed by any agreement. Therefore listen to the truth, not obscured by any juggling, but transparent and not to be intimidated by any empty threats.
5.12
My praetorian prefect, thinking to undertake an enterprise conducing to the public weal, entered into conversations with a general of yours, through the agency of some individuals of little worth and without consulting me, on the subject of peace. This we neither reject nor refuse, if only it take place with dignity and honour, without at all prejudicing our self-respect or our majesty.
