59. Ammianus has marked the chronology of this year by three
signs, which do not perfectly coincide with each other, or
with the series of the history. 1. The corn was ripe when
Sapor invaded Mesopotamia: "Cum jam stipula flavente
turgerent;" a circumstance which, in the latitude of Aleppo,
would naturally refer us to the month of April or May. See
Harmer's Observations on Scripture, vol. i. p. 41. Shaw's
Travels, p. 335, edit. 4to. 2. The progress of Sapor was
checked by the overflowing of the Euphrates, which generally
happens in July and August. Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 21. Viaggi
di Pietro della Va1le, tom. i. p. 696. 3. When Sapor had
taken Amida, after a siege of seventy-three days, the autumn
was far advanced: "Autumno praecipiti haedorumque improbo
sidere exorto." To reconcile these apparent contradictions,
we must allow for some delay in the Persian king, some
inaccuracy in the historian, and some disorder in the
seasons.