The Iranian messenger returned from his embassy to the West, presenting himself before Shah Khosrow Anushirvan to yield a comprehensive account of everything he had witnessed, heard, and observed of Caesar's posture. As the words unfolded, the King's heart grew heavy with indignation, and the fierce pride of the Sasanian crown blazed forth. Though Khosrow graciously acknowledged the envoy for enduring the hardships of the long journey, his mind was forged in iron resolve to shatter the insolence of Rome.
Khosrow marvelled at the folly of Caesar, who proved incapable of distinguishing a loyal friend from a deadly foe. Lacking genuine substance or equal might, the Roman ruler yet presumed to strut upon the world stage as a peer to Iran's monarch. In his fury, Khosrow declared that no soul of Roman blood would henceforth rest contentedly upon that western throne. He swore to darken the very name of Rome with ill omen and rain fire upon its most prosperous provinces.
Bound by royal wrath, the King swore a terrible, sacred oath: by Holy Yazdan, by the radiant sun and shining moon, by the sacred warrior-fire of Adar Gushnasp, and by his own throne and crown, he pledged that his sword would never touch its scabbard, nor would the pleasures of the world be lawful to him, until he had stripped Caesar's kingdom of its ancient wealth and packed ox-hides with Roman tribute.