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Syrian invasion. Then rather abruptly Syncellus starts with his account on Shapuhr's expedition of 259/60. He narrates the story of Valerian's capture and describes in few words the sequel of it - the invasion by Shapuhr of Syria and Asia Minor. In speaking of this invasion he mentions both Cilicia with Tarsus and Cappadocia with Caesarea, here also in general agreement with the report of Shapuhr. It is probable therefore that Syncellus found in his source the description of two campaigns of Shapuhr and endeavoured to give a short description of them both. His account is somewhat confused because he aimed to be as brief as possible. He certainly ascribed the two campaigns to the time of the reign of Valerian. The account of the first campaign is preceded by a brief mention of the famous attack by the Goths on Thessalonice, which led to the restoration of the walls of Athens. This event is assigned by Zosimus (1, 29) to the first years of Valerian's reign (some modern historians assign this event to A.D. 254).

On sources similar to those of Malalas depends Ammianus Marcellinus (XXIII, 5, 3), who gives incidentally an interesting description of the capture of Antioch.55 The role which Mareades played in this event in the report of Ammianus makes it probable that the capture of Antioch which he described was the first and not the second one. Note also what he says about the character of Shapuhr's expedition in general and the fate of Mareades: ita civitate incensa, et obtruncatis pluribus qui pacis modo palabantur effusius, incensisque locis finitimis et vastatis, onusti praeda hostes ad sua remearunt innoxii, Mareade vivo exusto, qui eos ad suorum interitum civium duxerat inconsulte. Similar to the presentation of Ammianus is the remark of Libanius on the capture of Antioch (Lib. or. 24, 38; 2, p. 531 f. Foerster). A somewhat different, more realistic account of the circumstances in which Antioch fell, an account not irreconcilable with Ammianus and Libanius, and which may refer to the first capture of the city, will be found in Petrus Patricius fr. I (FHG, IV, p. 192; Cass. Dio, ed. Boissevain III, p. 74 f., no. 157). It is to be noted that the name of Mareades appears in this account.

Finally though confused and not dated, and thus subject to various interpretations, the brief remarks of the author of Cyriades' "biography" (in SHA, Tyr. trig. 2) show

campaign (above, p. 24), apparently as cities of Syria, and a second time (above, p. 30) in that of the third in a context which suggests that the compiler of this report regarded them as belonging to Cilicia. The reader must be reminded of the fact that our literary, epigraphical and numismatic tradition is unanimous in assigning Alexandria to Syria, while Nicopolis though certainly a city of Syria (attested by coins and inscriptions) is listed by Strabo, XVII, 676, and Ptolemy, V, 7,7, p. 901 (Mu"ller) among the cities of Cilicia (E. Honigmann, PWK, XVII, 1936, 535 ff., no. 7, cf. H. Seyrig, Mél. Univ. Saint Joseph, XXIII, 1940, pp. 85 ff.) . I have said above (p. 30) that Shapuhr avoided to name the cities of Syria captured by him in his second campaign in his report of the third expedition. If an exception was made for Alexandria and Nicopolis it

   

was because the compiler of the third report found them listed in his sources (which may have been similar to the sources of Philostratus) as cities of Cilicia. However, the source of Philostratus was not identical with that of Shapuhr's report of the third campaign. Rhossus and Anazarbus mentioned by Philostratus are absent in the list of Shapuhr.
55. Ammianus speaks of the capture of Antioch in connection with the fortification of Circesium by Diocletian with the aim: ne vagarentur per Syriam Persae ita ut paucis ante annis cum multis provinciarum contigerat damnis. His statement is general and cannot be interpreted to mean that he knew of only one expedition of Shapuhr and of only one capture of Antioch. The date he assigns to this capture is vague (reign of Gallienus).

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