LXXI. As soon as Patricius had got under the wall of Amid by means of the mine which he had dug, he propped it up with beams and set fire to them, whereby the outer face of the wall was loosened and fell down, but the inner part remained standing. He then thought of digging on by that mine and entering the city. When they had carried the excavation through, and the Romans had begun to ascend, a woman of Amid saw them and cried out suddenly for joy, "The Romans are entering the city!" The Persians heard her, and ran at the first who came up and stabbed him. After him there came up a Goth, whose name was Ald , who had been made tribune at Harran, and he stabbed three of those Persians. Not another one of the Romans came up after him, because the Persians had perceived them. When Ald saw that no one was coming up, he became afraid and turned back; but he thought that he would take down with him the dead body of the Roman who had fallen, that the Persians might not insult it. As he was dragging away the dead body and going down into the mouth of the mine, the Persians smote him too and wounded him; and they directed thither the water from a large well that was near to it, and drowned four of the mail-clad Romans who were about to come up. The rest fled and escaped thence. The Persians collected stones from within the city and blocked up the mine, and piled up a great quantity of earth over it, and all of them kept watch carefully round it, lest it should be excavated at some other spot. They dug ditches within along the whole wall all round, and filled them with water, so that, if the Romans should make another mine, the water might trickle into it, and it so become known. When Patricius heard this from a deserter who had come down to him, he gave up constructing mines.