It was there in Barca that Gregory received the news that his troops had taken Siwa, two days after his victory; with this news, he sent messages to his capital Carthage to bring a part of his navy he was ready to take Egypt, later in Constantinople, Constans was furious. He received the news a week ago and knew that Valentinus had lost, and he received the news that he had just arrived, and he waited for some 30 minutes.
A servant said that general Valentinus has arrived basileus; Valentinus pleaded that the emperor should listen, but he got interrupted, and Constans replied:
I told you if you needed reinforcements and for me to talk to the Berbers, but due to your pride, so many died even though you outnumbered them.
When Valentinus heard his emperor rambling against him, he felt down, believing he would be executed until he said he would not do what he was thinking and told him to prepare for another battle, The emperor asked, What was Gregory doing?
Valentinus said, "They took the desert route to flank us; it worked since it surprised me and the navy; we had to return in haste and were not prepared while Barca suffered a siege, and with my defeat, they surrendered."
Constans said to prepare; Valentinus agreed that we needed conscriptions, but that would take time. He sent letters to the cities, telling them to hold on, prepare for sieges, and wait. Constans agreed, and he also sent letters to the Ghassanid king and the king of Altava as well as to Vahan and Nikitas, reporting themselves to come as well, Soon, the preparations began. By the 18th of July, the Carthaginian navy arrived; with this, they defeated the Byzantine navy near Barca; with this, the surviving Byzantine navy fled to the capital.
And with this, they moved to the east. Within six days, they arrived and began the siege of Paraitonion, In Constantinople, Emperor constans had already begun his preparations, and a messenger arrived, saying, Sir, general Vahan and general Niketas have arrived. The emperor told them to enter. Began to tell them the situation they knew, and soon
The 3 men discussed while constans watched. Vahan said: If Gregory’s troops won’t stop, and it's clear that he wants to take Egypt, then he will most likely attack or try to convince the Ghassanids to join him for an invasion of Syria.
Nikitas said: But if he were aiming for the throne, why not sail to the capital as the great Heraclius did against Phocas?
Valentinus replied, It’s too big of a risk for him; he is taking cities per city and trying to draw smaller armies, After talking for about 25 minutes, a messenger came in and said that Gregory’s troops are besieging Paraitonion. Silence fell on the conference, and the argument got more heated."
We must relive them. Vahan said they should wait because more troops were needed; if they went, there would be a slaughter. Vahan said we have no time to waste because you failed because of your ignorant pride. Valentinus responded that he was too hasty and failed and that if he wanted to commit the same mistake, he should wait, Nikitas was still thinking.
ENOUGH! Yelled the young emperor, who despite his age managed to show his authority to his generals. The emperor soon demanded what they should do. Vahan said: Paraitonion is an important port city and is only 240 km west of Alexandria, Gregory will continue to invade, and if he takes Egypt, all the empire is in danger. I suggest we move now.
Valentinius replied: The city can hold. We have to wait to get more troops, supplies, and weapons and wait for the Ghassanids and the Berbers to respond.Constans then proposed a compromise, and Niketas agreed that his idea was to send supplies but not all the forces if the city held until winter or, in the worst case, if it fell close to winter, Gregory would have to wait until February to move. All three men and the young emperor agreed, and they continued to prepare. By late July, the city of Paraitonion had held for a month, and Gregory, not wanting to lose troops, simply surrounded the city.
The city now had no reinforcements, but by that time, 3000 troops and many supplies had come to the city; even so, the siege continued. Gregory was tired of waiting; he had planned for the city to fall this very night. He told his navy and the men on the ships to assault the walls late in the night, and the assault on the sea walls began. The city garrison moved there since it was the weakest part of the defense and rushed to save the city.
An hour later, some warriors led by the man who took Siwa, Stotzas, managed to use this distraction to climb the walls. They were still hiding, and one warrior managed to kill one of the guards. Soon, they kept moving and reached a place near the gates, where they proceeded to kill the guards and quickly open the gates for the army to enter.
The rest of the soldiers noticed this and proceeded, and they began to enter; the defenders noticed but it was too late; fighting ensued, but the outnumbered defenders stood no change yet; they fought, some burning houses and other buildings, to stop the advance of Gregory’s troops and to kill as many as they could. But by sunrise, the city belonged to Gregory. He lost about 1500 soldiers and executed all the ones who did not join him willingly or by force. With the fall of Paraitonion, Gregory's conquest of Egypt was almost complete.