almost the entire
number.

In the ensuing year, A.D. 550, the Persians took the field under a fresh
general, Chorianes, who brought with him a considerable army, composed
of Persians and Alans. The allied Romans and Lazi, under Dagisthseus
and Gubazes, gave battle to this new foe on the banks of the Hippis (the
Tschenikal?); and though the Lazi, who had insisted on taking the lead
and fighting separately, were at the first encounter routed by the
Persian horse, yet in the end Roman discipline and stubbornness
triumphed. Their solid line of footmen, bristling with spears, offered
an impervious barrier to the cavalry of the enemy, which did not dare
to charge, but had recourse to volleys of missiles. The Romans responded
with the same; and the battle raged for a while on something like even
terms, the superior rapidity of the Asiatics being counterbalanced by
the better protection which their shields gave to the Europeans, until
at last, by a stroke of fortune, Rome obtained the victory. A chance
arrow killed Chorianes, and his army instantly fled. There was a short
struggle at the Persian camp; but the Romans and Lazi captured it. Most
of the Persians were here put to the sword; the few who escaped quitted
Lazica and returned to their own country.

Soon afterwards Dagisthseus was superseded by Bessas, and the siege of
Petra was recommenced. The strength of the place had been considerably
increased since the former attack upon it. A new wall of great height
and solidity had been built upon a framework of wood in the place which
Dagisthaeus had so nearly breached; the Roman mines had been filled
up with gravel; arms, offensive and defensive, had been collected in
extraordinary abundance; a stock of flour and of salted meat had been
laid in sufficient to support the garrison of 3000 men for five years;
and a store of vinegar, and of the pulse from which it was made, had
likewise been accumulated. The Roman general began by attempting to
repeat the device of his predecessor, attacking the defences in the same
place and by the same means; but, just as his mine was completed, the
new wall with its framework of wood sank quietly into the excavation,
without suffering any disturbance of its parts, while enough of it still
remained above the surface to offer an effectual bar to the assailants.
It seemed hopeless to recommence the mine in this place, and elsewhere
the nature of the ground made mining impossible; some other mode