sending of envoys declaration of peace/truce siege
Original Text :
Primo igitur impetu, cum agmine cataphractorum fulgentium, rex ipse sublimior ceteris castrorum ambitum circumcursans, prope labra ipsa fossarum venit audentius, petitusque ballistarum ictibus crebris et sagittarum, densitate opertus armorum in modum testudinis contextorum, abscessit innoxius.
Translation :
On his first attack the king himself, with a troop of horsemen gleaming in full armour and himself towering above the rest, rode about the circuit of the camp, and with over-boldness advanced to the very edge of the trenches. But becoming the target of repeated missiles from the ballistae and of arrows, he was protected by a close array of shields placed side by side as in a tortoise-mantlet, and got away unhurt.
Edition :
Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.
Remark :
long-term consequence: The king afterwards sent envoys in hopes of getting the defenders to surrender, though he had been attacked. This was unsuccessful and a one day truce was made, after which the siege began. (20.7.3-5)
