Artavasdes, the king of the Medes, persuaded thereto by the king of Greater Armenia, who had the same name and was an enemy of the aforementioned.  Just as he was he at once advanced toward Armenia, and learning there that the Mede had gone a considerable distance from his own land in the discharge of his duties as an ally of the Parthian king, he left behind the beasts of burden and a portion of the army with Oppius Statianus, giving orders for them to follow, and himself taking the cavalry and the strongest of the infantry hurried on in the confidence of seizing all his opponent’s strongholds at one blow; he assailed Praaspa, the royal residence, heaped up mounds and made constant attacks.  When the Parthian and the Medan kings ascertained this, they left him to continue his idle toil,—­for the walls were strong and many were defending them,—­but assailed Statianus off his guard and wearied on the march and slew the whole detachment except Polemon, king of Pontus, who was then accompanying the expedition.  Him alone they took alive and released in exchange for ransom.  They were able to accomplish this because the Armenian king was not present at the battle; but though he might have helped the Romans, as some say, he neither did this nor joined Antony, but retired to his own country. [-26-] Antony hastened at the first message sent him by Statianus to go to his assistance, but was too late.  For except corpses he found no one.  This outcome caused him fear, but, inasmuch as he fell in with no barbarian, he suspected that they had departed in some direction through terror, and this lent him new courage.  Hence when he met them a little later he routed them, for his slingers were numerous, and as the latter could shoot farther than would the bows they inflicted severe injury upon the men in armor.  However, he did not kill any remarkable number of them, because the barbarians could ride fast.  So he proceeded again against Praaspa and besieged it, though he did no great damage to the enemy; for the men inside the walls repulsed him vigorously, and those outside could not easily be entrapped into a combat.  Thus he lost many of his own men in searching for and bringing provisions, and many by his own discipline.  At first, as long as they could get their food from somewhere in the neighborhood, they had no difficulty about either undertaking:  they could attend to the siege and safely secure supplies both at once.  When, however, all material at hand had been used up, and the soldiers were obliged to go to some distance, it happened to them that if few were sent anywhere, not only did they not bring anything, but they perished as well; if a number were sent, they left the wall destitute of besiegers and meantime lost many men and many engines at the hands of the barbarians, who would make a sortie against them. [-27-] For this reason Antony gave them all barley instead of wheat and destroyed every tenth man in some instances:  indeed, the entire force which was supposed to be