As they approached the plains, wearied with the snows and mountains, they
were joined by the forces of Carenes, and having crossed the river
Tigris they traversed the country of the Adiabeni, whose
king Izates had avowedly em-
braced the alliance of Meherdates,
though secretly and in better faith he inclined to Gotarzes. In their march
they captured the city of
Ninos, the most ancient
capital of
Assyria, and a fortress, historically
famous, as the spot where in the last battle between Darius and Alexander
the power of
Persia fell. Gotarzes meantime was
offering vows to the local divinities on a mountain called
Sambulos, with special worship of Hercules, who at a
stated time bids the priests in a dream equip horses for the chase and place
them near his temple. When the horses have been laden with quivers full of
arrows, they scour the forest and at length return at night with empty
quivers, panting violently. Again the god in a vision of the night reveals
to them the track along which he roamed through the woods, and everywhere
slaughtered beasts are found.