Note 002
Yet I must not refuse him the merit of
painting, in lively colors, the murder of Gontharis. One of
the assassins uttered a sentiment not unworthy of a Roman
patriot: "If I fail," said Artasires, "in the first stroke,
kill me on the spot, lest the rack should extort a discovery
of my accomplices."]
The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire
—Fall In The East
—Chapter 43