Book 4

1.1. When Gelimer saw that all the Vandals had gathered into one place, he led his army against Carthage. 1.2. And when they had come close to it, they broke apart the aqueduct, a thing well worth seeing, which conducted the water into the city; and after encamping there for some time they withdrew, since none of the enemy came out against them. 1.3. Then, going about the country thereabouts, they kept watch over the roads and supposed that by this they were besieging Carthage; yet they neither plundered anything nor laid waste the land, but laid claim to it as their own. 1.4. At the same time they cherished a hope that some treachery would come to their aid, both from the Carthaginians themselves and from those Roman soldiers who held to the Arian faith. 1.5. They sent also to the leaders of the Huns, and, promising that many good things would come to them from the Vandals, begged them to become their friends and allies. 1.6. But these men, who even before were not well disposed toward the affairs of the Romans, inasmuch as they had not come as their allies of their own free will (for they said that the Roman general Peter, after swearing oaths and then disregarding what he had sworn, had thus carried them off to Byzantium), received the proposals of the Vandals and agreed that, as soon as they came to actual battle, they would join with them against the Roman army. 1.7. Now Belisarius, holding all this in suspicion (for he had heard of it from deserters, and at the same time the whole circuit-wall had not yet been completed), thought that for the present he ought not to go out against the enemy, and he set in order the situation within as well as possible. 1.8. And a certain Carthaginian, Laurus by name, who had been convicted of treachery and proved guilty by his own secretary, he impaled upon a hill before the city; and from this the rest, falling into an irresistible fear, abstained from the attempt at treachery. 1.9. As for the Massagetae, he won them over with gifts and a share at his table and with all other manner of flattery, and persuaded them to disclose to him each day all that Gelimer had promised them, 1.10. on condition that they should prove cowardly in the encounter. And these barbarians said that they had no eagerness for the fight; for they feared lest, when the Vandals had been defeated, the Romans would not send them back to their native haunts, but they would be compelled to grow old and die there in Libya; and moreover they were anxious about the booty, lest it should be taken from them. 1.11. Then indeed Belisarius gave them pledges that, if the Vandals were defeated by force of arms, they should be sent at once with all their plunder to their own homes; and thus he bound them by oaths, that they would in very truth carry through the war with all eagerness in his support. 1.12. And when everything had been prepared by him as well as possible and the circuit-wall was now finished, he called together the whole army and spoke as follows: 1.13. "An exhortation, Romans, I do not know that I need make to you, who have lately so conquered the enemy that this Carthage and the whole of Libya are a possession won by your valour, and for this reason you will have need of no counsel to spur you on to courage. For the spirits of victors are by no means wont to be diminished. 1.14. But this one thing only I think it not out of season to remind you of: that, if in the present struggle you play the man as you yourselves have done before, the hopes of the Vandals will straightway come to an end, and so too your fighting. 1.15. Wherefore it is reasonable that you should enter upon this encounter with the greatest eagerness. For toil that is coming to an end and moving toward its conclusion is always sweet to men. Let none of you reckon up the host of the Vandals. 1.16. For war is wont to be decided not by the multitude of men nor by the measure of bodies, but by valour of soul. And let there enter into you the strongest of all things among men, the shame felt over one's deeds. 1.17. For to men of sense it is a disgrace to be worsted by themselves and to be seen falling short of their own valour. As for the enemy, I know well that dread and the memory of their misfortunes encompass them and compel them to become worse: the one dismaying them with what has already befallen, the other driving away the hope of success. 1.18. For fortune, the moment she is seen to be malignant, enslaves the spirit of those who have fallen under her power. And that the struggle now is for us over greater stakes than before, I shall make clear. 1.19. For in the former battle, when our affairs were not going well, the danger lay in our not taking the land of another; but now, if we do not prevail in the struggle, we shall lose our own. 1.20. By as much, then, as to possess nothing is lighter than to be deprived of what one has, by so much greater now than before is the fear in matters of the utmost necessity. 1.21. And yet, though formerly we were left without our infantry, we still chanced to win the victory; whereas now, entering the encounter with God propitious and with the whole army, I have hope that we shall master the camp of the enemy, men and all. 1.22. Having, then, the conclusion of the war ready at hand, do not by any heedlessness put it off to another time, lest, when the opportunity has slipped past, you be compelled to seek it. 1.23. For the fortune of war, when it is put off, is not wont to proceed as it stood before, especially if it is prolonged by the will of those concerned in it. 1.24. For the divine power is ever wont to be jealous of those who throw away the prosperity at hand. And if anyone supposes that the enemy, seeing their children and wives and most precious possessions in our hands, will dare beyond their judgment and will run risks beyond the strength they have, he does not think rightly. 1.25. For excessive passion, growing in the soul on behalf of one's dearest, is wont to break down even the strength one has and does not permit a man to use the means at his disposal. All this, then, you ought to reckon, and to go against the enemy with great contempt for them." 2.1. After Belisarius had thus exhorted them, he sent forth that same day all his horsemen except five hundred, entrusting to John the Armenian both the guardsmen and the standard, which the Romans call a 'bandum,' and bidding him skirmish, should occasion arise. 2.2. And he himself on the following day followed with the infantry and the five hundred horsemen. 2.3. Now the Massagetae, taking counsel among themselves, decided, in order that they might seem to be keeping faith with both Gelimer and Belisarius, neither to begin battle on behalf of the Romans nor to go over to the Vandals before the action, but, whenever the affairs of either army should be in a bad way, then to join the victors in the pursuit of the vanquished. This, then, had been decided by the barbarians in this manner. 2.4. And the Roman army came upon the Vandals encamped at Tricamarum, distant one hundred and forty stades from Carthage. 2.5. There each side bivouacked at a considerable distance from the other. But when the night was far advanced, a portent of the following kind occurred in the Roman camp. 2.6. The tips of their spears were lit up with a bright fire, and the points of them seemed to most of them to be burning. This was not visible to many, but it astonished the few who beheld it, since they did not know how it would turn out. 2.7. This same thing befell the Romans again in Italy a long time afterward; and then indeed, knowing it by experience, they believed it to be a symbol of victory. But at this time, as has been said, since it had happened for the first time, they were dismayed and passed the night in great fear. 2.8. On the following day Gelimer commanded the Vandals to place their children and wives and all their goods in the middle of the encampment, although it had no fortification whatever, and, calling them all together, he spoke as follows: 2.9. "Not for glory, Vandals, nor for the loss of empire only is our struggle, so that even by playing the coward and giving these up it would be possible for us to live, sitting at home and keeping what is our own; 2.10. but you see surely to what fortune our affairs have come round, so that, if we do not master the enemy, we shall, in dying, leave them masters of these our children and wives and our land and all our possessions, while to us, if we survive, there will be added the lot of being slaves and of looking upon all this; 2.11. but if we come safely through the war against the foe, both while we live we shall pass our days amid all good things, and after the seemly close of life happiness will have been left to our children and wives, and to the name of the Vandals the survival of their race and the preservation of their empire. 2.12. For if it has ever fallen to any other men to contend for their all, we ourselves now most of all men know that, bearing upon ourselves the hopes of all, we are entering into the line of battle. 2.13. The fear, then, is not for our bodies, nor is the danger in dying, but in being worsted by the enemy. For to those who have been left without victory, death will be a gain. 2.14. Since, then, these things are so, let no one of the Vandals be soft, but let each give up his body to his spirit, and out of shame at the evils that follow defeat let him be eager for the close of life. 2.15. For to the man who is ashamed of base things it is always possible not to fear danger. And let no memory of the battle that took place before come upon you. 2.16. For it was not by our own cowardice that we were defeated, but, dashing against the obstacles of fortune, we were tripped up. But the current of fortune is not wont always to be borne in the same direction, but, for the most part, is apt to shift each day. 2.17. And in courage we boast that we surpass the enemy, and in numbers we far exceed them; 2.18. for in measure we think to be superior to them by not less than tenfold. And why should I add that there are many great things which now most of all urge us on to valour, both the glory of our forefathers and the empire handed down to us by them? 2.19. For the one, on our part, is veiled by our being unlike our kin, and the other declares that it will flee from us as unworthy. 2.20. And I pass over in silence the lamentations of these women and the tears of our children, for whom now, as you see, being overcome with grief, I am unable to prolong my speech. 2.21. But this one thing only I shall say and then cease: that there will be no return for us to these our dearest unless we master the enemy. 2.22. Bearing these things in mind, be good men and do not disgrace the glory of Gizeric." 2.23. When Gelimer had said this, he commanded his brother Tzazon to make an exhortation in private to the Vandals who had come with him from Sardinia. 2.24. And he, gathering them a little apart from the camp, spoke as follows: "For all the Vandals, fellow-soldiers, the struggle is over those things which you have just now heard the king describe; but for you it happens that, besides all the rest, you must vie with your own selves. 2.25. For you lately conquered while contending for the leadership, and you won back the island for the empire of the Vandals; it is reasonable, therefore, that you should make a greater display of your valour. 2.26. For those whose danger is for the greatest stakes must of necessity have also the greatest eagerness for the fight. For those who contend for the leadership, if they should chance to be defeated, have not stumbled in matters of the utmost necessity; 2.27. but those whose battle is for their all have their whole life shaped by the conclusion of the war. Besides, if you prove good men in the present, you confirm for yourselves that the overthrow of the tyrant Goda was a deed of valour; but if you now play the coward, you will be deprived even of the good repute won by those deeds, as though it in no way belonged to you. 2.28. And yet on other grounds also it is reasonable that you above the rest of the Vandals should have the advantage in this battle. 2.29. For those who have been tripped up the fortune that has gone before strikes with dismay, but those who have stumbled in nothing enter the struggle with their courage unimpaired. 2.30. And this too, I think, will not be said amiss: that if we master the enemy, you will bind on yourselves the greatest part of the victory, and all will call you the saviours of the Vandal nation. 2.31. For those who win glory along with men who have previously been unfortunate reasonably appropriate to themselves the better fortune. 2.32. Reckoning, then, all these things, I say that you must bid your children and wives, who are lamenting, to take courage now, and must call upon God for alliance, and go against the enemy with spirit, and lead the way for your kinsmen into this battle." 3.1. When Gelimer and Tzazon had thus exhorted them, they led out the Vandals, and about the time of the midday meal, when the Romans were not expecting them but were preparing their meal, they were at hand and arrayed themselves for battle along the banks of the river. 3.2. Now the river that flows there is perennial, but so scanty in its stream that it does not even receive a special name from the people of the country, but is reckoned as a brook. 3.3. To the other bank of this river the Romans came, after making such preparation as the circumstances allowed, and arrayed themselves thus. 3.4. The left wing was held by Martinus and Valerianus and John and Cyprian and Althias and Marcellus and the other commanders of the foederati; the right by Pappus and Barbatus and Aïgan and all who commanded the cavalry detachments. 3.5. And in the centre John was stationed, leading the guardsmen and spearmen of Belisarius and the general's standard. 3.6. There too Belisarius arrived in good time with his five hundred horsemen, leaving the infantry behind to come up at a walking pace. 3.7. For the Huns had all arrayed themselves in another place, it being their custom even before not to mingle much with the Roman army, and at this time too, since they had in mind what has been disclosed, they were unwilling to be ranged with the rest of the army. Thus, then, stood the array of the Romans. 3.8. As for the Vandals, the chiliarchs held each wing, and each one led the company about himself, while in the centre was Tzazon the brother of Gelimer, and behind were arrayed the Moors. 3.9. Gelimer himself, going about everywhere, kept urging them on and rousing them to courage. And word had been passed to all the Vandals to use neither spear nor any other weapon in this engagement except their swords. 3.10. When a long time had passed and no one began the battle, John, picking out a few of those about him, with the consent of Belisarius crossed the river and dashed against the centre, where Tzazon, using a thrust, drove them back. 3.11. And they fled to their own camp, while the Vandals, pursuing, came as far as the river, but did not cross it. 3.12. Again John, taking with him a larger number of the guardsmen of Belisarius, leaped against the forces of Tzazon, and again, beaten off from there, withdrew to the Roman camp. 3.13. And the third time, taking with him almost all the spearmen and guardsmen of Belisarius and the general's standard, he made the attack with much shouting and din. 3.14. And as the barbarians manfully withstood them and used only their swords, the battle became fierce, and many of the Vandals fell, the best of them, and Tzazon himself the brother of Gelimer. 3.15. Then indeed the whole Roman army was set in motion, and crossing the river they advanced against the enemy, and the rout, beginning from the centre, became brilliant; for each contingent turned to flight those opposed to them with no trouble. 3.16. And seeing this, the Massagetae, according to their agreement, joined the Roman army in the pursuit; not for long, however, did this pursuit continue. 3.17. For the Vandals, entering their own camp in haste, kept quiet, and the Romans, not supposing that they would be able to fight against them within the rampart, stripped those of the dead who wore gold and withdrew to their own camp. 3.18. And there perished in this battle of the Romans fewer than fifty, but of the Vandals about eight hundred. 3.19. But Belisarius, when his infantry arrived about late afternoon, setting out with all the army as fast as he could, went against the camp of the Vandals. 3.20. And Gelimer, learning that Belisarius with the infantry and the rest of the army was coming straight against him, without saying or commanding anything, leaped upon his horse and fled along the road leading to Numidia. 3.21. And there followed him his kinsmen and a few of his servants, panic-stricken and keeping silence about the present situation. 3.22. And for some time Gelimer escaped the notice of the Vandals as he stole away; but when all perceived that he had fled and the enemy were already in sight, then indeed the men raised a tumult, and the children cried out, and the women wailed. 3.23. And they neither laid hold of the goods that were at hand nor cared for their dearest ones who were lamenting, but each one fled in no order wherever he could. 3.24. And the Romans, coming up, took the camp, empty of men, with all its goods, and pursuing through the whole night, killed all the men they met, and made the children and women slaves. 3.25. And they found in this camp such an abundance of money as has never before chanced to be in one place. 3.26. For the Vandals, having plundered the Roman empire of old, had carried off much money to Libya; and since their land was exceedingly good and abounded most plentifully in the most necessary crops, it came about that the revenues of money, which were gathered from the good things produced there, were not spent upon any other country in the importing of provisions, but those who possessed the lands always added to their store for ninety-five years, during which the Vandals ruled Libya. 3.27. And from this their wealth, having grown to a very great sum, on that day passed back again into the hands of the Romans. 3.28. This battle and pursuit, then, and the capture of the camp of the Vandals took place three months after the Roman army came to Carthage, about the middle of the last month, which the Romans call December. 4.1. At that time Belisarius, seeing the Roman army borne along in disorder and with much confusion, was distressed, fearing throughout the whole night lest the enemy, coming to an understanding and uniting against them, should work irreparable harm upon them. 4.2. And if this had in any way then come to pass, I think that not one of the Romans would have escaped to enjoy this booty. 4.3. For the soldiers, being men utterly poor, and having become of a sudden masters of exceedingly great wealth and of women young and surpassingly fair, were no longer able to restrain their minds nor to find any satiety in the things at hand, but were so intoxicated, drenched as they were in their good fortune, that each one wished to bring everything off to Carthage with him. 4.4. And they went about not in companies, but singly or two together, wherever hope might lead them, searching out everything round about, in glens and rugged places and wherever a cave chanced to be, or anything else that led to danger or ambush. 4.5. For neither did fear of the enemy enter them, nor respect for Belisarius, nor anything else at all except the desire for plunder; and this, overmastering them, turned them to disregard of all else. 4.6. Considering all this in his mind, Belisarius was at a loss how to deal with the present situation. 4.7. And at daybreak he stationed himself upon a certain hill near the road, recalling the good order that was no longer present and abusing both soldiers and commanders alike. 4.8. Then indeed all who chanced to be somewhere near, and especially those of the household of Belisarius, sent to Carthage the money and slaves they had, together with their tent-mates and table-companions, while they themselves, going to the general, gave heed to the commands given them. 4.9. He commanded John the Armenian, with two hundred men, to follow Gelimer, and, slackening neither by night nor by day, to pursue him until they should take him alive or dead. 4.10. And to the friendly people in Carthage he sent orders, with regard to the Vandals who were sitting as suppliants in the sanctuaries about the city, to take their pledges and their arms, that they might attempt no revolt, and to bring them into the city and keep them, 4.11. until he himself should come. And with those who were left he went about everywhere and zealously roused the soldiers, and to the Vandals who were continually being found he gave pledges of safety. For it was no longer possible to take any Vandal except as a suppliant in the sanctuaries. 4.12. And taking away their arms, he sent them to Carthage with soldiers to guard them, giving them no opportunity to unite against the Romans. 4.13. And when everything was in the best of order for him, he himself with the greater part of the army went in haste against Gelimer. 4.14. Now John, having pursued for five days and nights, was now not far from Gelimer, but on the following day he was about to come to grips with him. But since it was not fated that Gelimer should be taken by John, an adverse stroke of fortune fell out as follows. 4.15. Among those pursuing with John there chanced to be Uliaris, the guardsman of Belisarius. 4.16. Now this man was high-spirited and well endowed by nature for vigour of soul and body, but not very serious, taking pleasure for the most part in wine and jests. 4.17. This Uliaris, on the sixth day of the pursuit, being drunk about sunrise, saw a bird sitting on a tree, and quickly drawing his bow, let fly the arrow at the bird. 4.18. And he missed the bird, but hit John behind in the neck, by no means willingly. 4.19. And he, smitten by a mortal wound, a little later passed from among men, leaving great longing for himself to the Emperor Justinian and to Belisarius the general and to all the Romans and Carthaginians. 4.20. For he was well endowed with manliness and all other virtue, and showed himself gentle to those who met him, and most reasonable, inferior to none. So John fulfilled his destiny in this way. 4.21. And Uliaris, when he came to himself, fled to a certain village near by and sat as a suppliant in the sanctuary there. 4.22. But the soldiers were no longer eager to pursue Gelimer; instead, they tended John while he lived, and when he died they performed the customary rites for his burial, and, after disclosing the whole matter to Belisarius, they remained there. 4.23. And he, as soon as he heard it, came to the tomb of John and bewailed his fate. 4.24. And when he had bewailed him and grieved deeply over the whole calamity, he honoured the tomb of John with many things and especially with the revenue of money. 4.25. To Uliaris, however, he did nothing dreadful, since the soldiers said that John had enjoined upon them by the most terrible oaths that no vengeance should be taken upon him, inasmuch as he had wrought the defilement not from forethought. 4.26. In this way, then, Gelimer escaped falling under the hand of the enemy on that day. And Belisarius thereafter pursued him, and arriving at a strong city of the Numidians, lying upon the sea, distant ten days' journey from Carthage, which they call Hippo Regius, he learned that Gelimer, having gone up to Mount Papua, was no longer to be captured by the Romans. 4.27. Now this mountain is at the extreme limits of Numidia, exceedingly steep and dreadfully hard to traverse (for lofty rocks rise on every side toward it), and on it dwell barbarian Moors who were friends and helpers of Gelimer; and an ancient city, Medeus by name, lies at the extremity of the mountain. 4.28. There Gelimer with those who followed him kept quiet. But Belisarius (since he was not able to attempt the mountain, especially in the winter season, and since, moreover, with his affairs still in suspense, he thought it inexpedient to be away from Carthage), picking out soldiers and a commander, Pharas, established them in the blockade of the mountain. 4.29. Now this Pharas was energetic and exceedingly serious and well endowed with valour, although he was an Erulian by race. 4.30. And for an Erulian not to be given over to faithlessness and drunkenness, but to lay claim to valour, is both difficult and worthy of much praise. 4.31. And Pharas was not the only one who held to good order, but also all the Eruli who followed him. This Pharas, then, Belisarius commanded to sit at the foot of the mountain during the winter season and to keep strict guard, so that it should be impossible either for Gelimer to leave the mountain or for any necessaries to be brought in to him. 4.32. And Pharas did accordingly. But Belisarius caused the Vandals who were sitting as suppliants at the sanctuaries in Hippo Regius, many and of the best, to rise up after receiving pledges, and sent them to Carthage under guard. And there it chanced that something of the following sort befell him. 4.33. In the house of Gelimer there was a secretary, Boniface, a Libyan, coming from Byzacium, exceedingly faithful to Gelimer. 4.34. This Boniface Gelimer, at the beginning of this war, had embarked upon a ship that was a most excellent sailer, and, placing in it all the royal treasure, commanded him to anchor in the harbour of Hippo Regius, and, if he should see that affairs were not turning out well for them, to sail in haste to Spain with the money and come to Theudis the ruler of the Visigoths, where Gelimer himself also expected to find safety, should the fortune of the war prove evil for the Vandals. 4.35. And Boniface, so long as he had hope in the affairs of the Vandals, remained there; but as soon as the battle at Tricamarum and the other events that have been told had taken place, he set sail and sailed as Gelimer had directed him. 4.36. But a contrary wind carried him back, against his will, to the harbour of Hippo Regius. And when he heard that the enemy were now somewhere near, he promised much to the sailors and begged them to go by force to some other mainland or island. 4.37. But they (for they were unable, since a very severe storm had fallen upon them and the surge of the sea, being in the Tyrrhenian deep, was rising to a great height), then indeed both they and Boniface came to the thought that God, wishing to give the money to the Romans, would not permit the ship to put out. 4.38. With difficulty, however, getting outside the harbour, they held the ship at sea amid great danger. 4.39. And when Belisarius came to Hippo Regius, Boniface sent some men to him. These he bade sit in a sanctuary and say that they had been sent by Boniface, who had the money of Gelimer, but to conceal where it might be, until they should receive pledges that, by giving the money of Gelimer, he should himself depart unharmed and free from evil, keeping whatever was his own. 4.40. And they did this, and Belisarius was glad at the good tidings and did not refuse to swear. 4.41. And sending some of his friends, he took the wealth of Gelimer and let Boniface go with his own money, of which he had stolen a very great amount from the wealth of Gelimer. 5.1. When Belisarius returned to Carthage, he set about preparing all the Vandals, so that he might send them to Byzantium at the opening of spring, and he sent out an army to recover for the Romans all the territory which the Vandals had ruled. 5.2. He sent Cyril, then, with a great force to Sardinia, carrying the head of Tzazon, since these islanders by no means wished to come over to the Romans, both fearing the Vandals and not supposing that what was said to have befallen them at Tricamarum was true. 5.3. And to this Cyril he gave orders to send a part of the army to Corsica and to recover the island for the Roman empire, since it had formerly been subject to the Vandals; it was in ancient times called Cyrnus, and is not far from Sardinia. 5.4. And he, coming to Sardinia, showed the head of Tzazon to those who dwelt there, and recovered both islands for the Roman empire to pay tribute. 5.5. And to Caesarea in Mauretania Belisarius sent John with a company of infantry of which he himself was leader; this city is distant from Carthage a journey of thirty days for an unencumbered man, as one goes toward Gadira and the setting sun; and it lies on the sea, being great and populous from of old. 5.6. And another John, one of his own guardsmen, he sent to the strait at Gadira and the other of the Pillars of Heracles, to hold the fortress there which they call Septem. 5.7. And to the islands which are near the entrance of the Ocean, called by the natives Ebusa and Majorica and Minorica, he sent Apollinarius, who came originally from Italy, but while still a youth had come to Libya. 5.8. And having been presented with much money by Ilderic, who was then ruling the Vandals, when Ilderic had been deposed from the kingship and was being held in prison, as has been told in the previous narrative, he came to the Emperor Justinian with the other Libyans who supported the cause of Ilderic, to make supplication. 5.9. And taking the field with the Roman fleet against Gelimer and the Vandals, he proved himself a good man in this war and above all others at Tricamarum. And on account of this deed Belisarius entrusted these islands to him. 5.10. And afterward, sending an army to Tripolis, to Pudentius and Tattimuth, who were being hard pressed by the Moors there, he strengthened the Roman power in that quarter. 5.11. And sending some men also to Sicily, in order that they might hold the fortress in Lilybaeum, on the ground that it belonged to the dominion of the Vandals, he was repulsed from there, the Goths by no means consenting to yield any part of Sicily, on the ground that this fortress in no way belonged to the Vandals. 5.12. And he, when he heard this, wrote to the commanders who were there as follows: "You are robbing us of Lilybaeum, the fortress of the Vandals, who are slaves of the emperor, doing what is neither just nor expedient for yourselves, and you wish to make hostile toward your ruler, who is neither willing for it nor present at what is being done, the great emperor, whose goodwill he has gained with much toil. 5.13. And yet how would you not seem to act contrary to the manner of mankind, if you lately consented that Gelimer should hold the fortress, but have decided to deprive the emperor, the master of Gelimer, of the possessions of his slave? 5.14. Do not so, most excellent men. But consider that friendship is wont to cover many grievances, while enmity does not endure even the smallest wrongs, but searches everything out from the beginning, and does not overlook the enemy growing rich on things that in no way belong to them. 5.15. Then it fights over things for which it says its forefathers were wronged; and if it stumbles in the danger, it has lost nothing of what it had, but if it prospers, it makes the vanquished unlearn forgiveness. 5.16. Do you, then, neither do us any further harm nor suffer it yourselves, nor make the great emperor an enemy to the Gothic race, for whom it is your prayer that he should be propitious to you. 5.17. For know well that, if you lay claim to this fortress, war will be at hand for you, not over Lilybaeum only, but over all the things to which, though none of them belongs to you, you nevertheless cling." 5.18. Such was the import of the letter. But the Goths referred these matters to the mother of Atalaric, and as the woman had directed them, answered thus: 5.19. "The letter which you have written, most excellent Belisarius, brings a true exhortation, but one that has come to certain other men, not to us Goths. 5.20. For we hold nothing that we have taken belonging to the Emperor Justinian — may we never be so mad! — but we claim that the whole of Sicily is ours, of which one promontory is the fortress in Lilybaeum. 5.21. And if Theoderic permitted his sister, who was the wife of the king of the Vandals, to use one of the market-towns of Sicily, this is no matter. 5.22. For it would bring you no claim of right whatever. You, however, O general, would be doing what is just toward us, if you should be willing to make the settlement of the matters in dispute between us not as an enemy but as a friend. And there is this difference, 5.23. that friends are wont to decide their differences by arbitration, but enemies by battle. 5.24. We, then, shall entrust to the Emperor Justinian the arbitration concerning these matters, in whatever way may seem to him lawful and just. And we wish you to deliberate in the best way rather than the quickest, and to await the decision of your emperor." Such was the import of the writing of the Goths. 5.25. And Belisarius, referring everything to the emperor, kept quiet until the emperor should send him word as to what was his pleasure. 6.1. But Pharas, already distressed by the blockade, especially in the winter season, and at the same time not supposing that the Moors there were able to stand in his way, attempted the ascent to Papua with great eagerness. So he armed all his followers very well and began the ascent. 6.2. But as the Moors came to the rescue, since the place was steep and exceedingly hard to traverse, the hindrance came easily upon those ascending. 6.3. And as Pharas forced the ascent vigorously, one hundred and ten of his men perished in this action, and he himself, beaten back with the survivors, withdrew; and as a result he no longer ventured to attempt the ascent, the thing being against him, but established a most zealous guard, as strict as possible, so that those in Papua, being hard pressed by famine, should give themselves up, and he neither allowed them to escape nor permitted anything from outside to be brought in to them. 6.4. There it befell Gelimer and those about him, his nephews and cousins and other men of good birth, to undergo such suffering as, however one might describe it, one could not set forth in a way to match the reality. 6.5. For of all the nations whom we know, the most luxurious is that of the Vandals, and the most wretched that of the Moors. 6.6. For the Vandals, from the time they took Libya, used baths, all of them, every day, and a table abounding in all things, the sweetest and best that earth and sea produce. 6.7. And they wore gold for the most part, and clothed themselves in Median garments, which they now call silken, and passed their time in theatres and hippodromes and in other pleasures, and above all in hunting. 6.8. And they had dancers and mimes and all manner of things to hear and to see that are accounted musical or otherwise worth seeing among men. 6.9. And most of them dwelt in parks, well supplied with water and trees; and they held very many banquets, and all the pursuits of love were practised by them with great zeal. 6.10. But the Moors dwell in stifling huts, both in winter and in the summer season and at every other time, removing thence neither for snows nor for the heat of the sun nor for any other compulsion of evil whatever. 6.11. And they sleep upon the ground, the prosperous among them, if it so happen, spreading a fleece under them. 6.12. And it is not their custom to change their garments with the seasons, but they wear a thick cloak and a rough shirt at all times. 6.13. And they have neither bread nor wine nor any other good thing, but the grain, either spelt or barley, neither boiling it nor grinding it to meal or barley-groats, they eat in no way different from the other animals. 6.14. Among such Moors, then, the followers of Gelimer, having dwelt for a long time, and having changed their accustomed manner of life to this wretchedness, when even the very necessaries had now failed them, no longer held out, but to them death seemed sweetest and slavery by no means shameful. 6.15. When Pharas perceived this, he wrote to Gelimer as follows: "I too am myself a barbarian, and I am neither accustomed to letters and speech nor otherwise experienced in them. 6.16. But what it is necessary for me, being a man, to know, I have written, having learned it from the nature of things. 6.17. Why ever, dear Gelimer, have you suffered such a thing as to cast not yourself only but your whole race into this pit, that you may not, forsooth, become a slave? 6.18. For I think that in this you are playing the youthful boaster, and holding forth liberty, as though it were worth exchanging all hardships for it. 6.19. And then, do you not think that you are now a slave to the most unfortunate of the Moors, you who hold your hope of safety, if the best should come, in them? 6.20. And yet how would it not in every way be better to be a slave among the Romans and a beggar than to play the monarch in Papua and among the Moors? 6.21. But of course to you it seems the height of insolence even to be a fellow-slave with Belisarius. 6.22. Away with such thoughts, most excellent Gelimer. Or are not we too, sprung from noble fathers, proud now to serve the emperor? And indeed they say that it is the pleasure of the Emperor Justinian both to enroll you in the senate, sharing the highest honour, which they call the patriciate, and to present you with much good land and great wealth, and that Belisarius is willing to guarantee that all this shall be yours, giving pledges. 6.23. As for the hard things which fortune has brought, you are able to bear them all nobly, thinking that what comes from this source is necessary for a man. 6.24. But if it has been decided to mingle some good with these hard things, would you not deem it right to receive this of your own free will? Or are not the good things which come from fortune, no less than the base, to be reckoned by us as necessary? But this does not seem so even to the very foolish. 6.25. But for you now, plunged as you are in misfortunes, it happens, as is likely, that you are without understanding; 6.26. for despondency, striking with dismay, is wont to turn men to thoughtlessness. But if you are able to bear your own mind and not be vexed at fortune as it shifts, it will be possible for you straightway to choose all that is expedient and to be freed from the evils that press upon you." 6.27. When Gelimer had read this letter, he wept bitterly and wrote back thus: "For the counsel which you have given me I am very grateful to you, but to be a slave to an unjust enemy I think not endurable — to one from whom I would pray to obtain justice, if God should be propitious to me, since, though I had suffered nothing unpleasant from him either in deed nor heard it in word, he furnished a pretext for war when I gave no occasion, and brought me to this fortune, having from I know not where brought Belisarius against me. 6.28. And yet to him too, being a man and an emperor, it is not unlikely that something of what he would not choose may befall. 6.29. I, however, am not able to write anything further. For the present fortune has taken away my power of thought. 6.30. But farewell to me, dear Pharas, and send me, who beg it, a lyre and one loaf of bread 6.31. and a sponge." When this was brought to him and Pharas had learned it, he was for some time at a loss, unable to make out the conclusion of the letter, until the man who brought it explained to him that Gelimer was in need of one loaf, longing to come to the sight and the tasting of it, since from the time he had gone up to Papua he had seen no baked bread. 6.32. And a sponge was necessary to him, for one of his eyes, irritated by lack of washing, had become greatly swollen. 6.33. And being a good harpist, he had composed a song over his present misfortune, which he was eager to lament and bewail to the lyre. 6.34. When Pharas heard this, he grieved deeply and bewailed the lot of mankind, and did according to what was written and sent all the things of which Gelimer was in need. The blockade, however, he relaxed not at all, but kept guard even more strictly than before. 7.1. Now the time of three months had already been spent in this blockade, and the winter was coming to an end. And Gelimer was afraid, suspecting that the besiegers would before long ascend against him; and the bodies of most of the children of his kinsmen, in this wretchedness, were sending forth worms. 7.2. And he was in pain over all things, and ill-content with everything except dying; yet against his suffering he held out beyond expectation, until it befell him to see a sight of the following kind. 7.3. A certain Moorish woman, having somehow pounded a little grain, and made from it a very small cake, threw it into the hot ashes upon the hearth. For thus it is the custom among the Moors to bake their bread. 7.4. By this hearth two boys were sitting, exceedingly oppressed by hunger — one of them the son of the woman herself who had thrown in the cake, the other a nephew of Gelimer — and they wished to snatch this cake as soon as it should seem to them to be baked. 7.5. Of these two boys the Vandal, getting the start, seized the cake first, and, while it was still very hot and full of ashes, hunger overmastering him, thrust it into his mouth and was eating it; but the other, laying hold of him by the hair of his head, struck him on the temple and, striking him again, compelled him with much violence to throw out the cake which was already in his throat. 7.6. This calamity Gelimer could not bear (for he had followed all things from the beginning), and he was unmanned in his mind and wrote to Pharas as quickly as possible as follows: 7.7. "If it has ever fallen to any other man, after enduring dreadful things, to go contrary to what he had before resolved, count me too to be some such man, most excellent Pharas. 7.8. For your counsel has come into my mind, which I am by no means willing to disregard. For I would no longer strive against fortune nor wrestle with destiny, but will follow at once wherever it may seem good to her to lead; only let me receive the pledges, that Belisarius will guarantee that the emperor will do all that you lately promised me. 7.9. For I, as soon as you give the pledge, will deliver myself into your hands, and these kinsmen and the Vandals who are here with us." 7.10. Such was what Gelimer had written in this letter. And Pharas, making known both this and what had been previously written between them to Belisarius, begged him to disclose as quickly as possible what was his pleasure. 7.11. And Belisarius (for he had a great desire to bring Gelimer alive to the emperor), as soon as he had read the letter, was overjoyed and commanded Cyprian, a commander of the foederati, to go to Papua with certain others, and enjoined upon them to give oaths concerning the safety of Gelimer and those with him, and that he should be held in honour by the emperor and lack nothing. 7.12. And they, when they had come to Pharas, went with him to a place at the foot of the mountain, where Gelimer came at their summons, and, receiving the pledges as he wished, came with them to Carthage. 7.13. And it chanced that Belisarius was making a stay in the suburb of the city 7.14. which they call Aclas. There Gelimer came in to him, laughing a laugh that was neither slight nor able to be hidden; and some of those who beheld him suspected, by reason of the excess of his suffering, that he had departed from his natural state of mind and was already mad, and held his laughter for no reason at all. 7.15. His friends, however, wished the man to be shrewd, and held that, since he had been born of a royal house and had ascended to kingship, and had been clothed about with strong power and great wealth from boyhood even to old age, and then had fallen into flight and great fear and had endured the suffering in Papua, and had now come into the lot of captives, and had thus made trial of all the goods and ills that come from fortune — he thought that human affairs were worthy of nothing else but much laughter. 7.16. Now concerning the laughter with which Gelimer laughed, let each speak as he knows, 7.17. both foe and friend. But Belisarius, having reported to the emperor that Gelimer was a captive in Carthage, asked to come with him to Byzantium. Meanwhile he kept both him and all the Vandals under guard, not in dishonour, and made the fleet ready. 7.18. Now many other things in all the ages have come to pass beyond expectation, and ever will, so long as the fortunes of men are the same; 7.19. for things which seem in reasoning to be impossible are accomplished in deed, and things which often appeared impossible, 7.20. when they have come to pass, have seemed worthy of wonder. Whether, however, such deeds have ever before come to pass, I am not able to say — that the fourth descendant of Gizeric, and his kingdom flourishing in wealth and in the power of soldiers, should have been overthrown in so short a time by five thousand men who were newcomers and had no place to anchor. 7.21. For such was the number of the horsemen who followed Belisarius and who carried through the whole war against the Vandals. Whether, then, this came about by fortune or by some valour, one might justly marvel at it. But I shall return to the point from which I digressed. 8.1. The Vandalic war, then, ended thus. But envy, such as is wont to arise amid great prosperity, was now swelling against Belisarius, although he furnished it no occasion. 8.2. For some of the commanders slandered him to the emperor, charging him with aiming at a tyranny in no way belonging to him. 8.3. But the emperor did not bring this matter into the open at all, either making light of the slander, or because he thought it better so. 8.4. And sending Solomon, he gave Belisarius the choice of whichever of two courses he wished — either to come to Byzantium with Gelimer and the Vandals, or, remaining there, to send them. 8.5. But he (for the commanders who had brought the charge of tyranny did not escape his notice) was eager to come to Byzantium, that he might both clear himself of the accusation and be able to punish those who had slandered him. And in what manner he learned of the attempt of his accusers, I shall now tell. 8.6. When those who slandered him wished to make this slander, fearing lest he who was to carry the letter to the emperor should perish at sea and so prevent what they were doing, they wrote out the charge of tyranny on two documents and planned to send two messengers to the emperor in two ships. 8.7. Of these one set sail unobserved, but the other, falling under some suspicion, was caught at Mandracium, and, handing over the letter to those who seized him, made known what was being done. 8.8. And learning of this, Belisarius was eager, as has been said, to come into the presence of the emperor. These things, then, were going on at Carthage in this way. 8.9. But the Moors who dwelt in Byzacium and Numidia looked toward revolt for no cause whatever, and, dissolving the truce, suddenly resolved to raise their hands against the Romans. And this was done by them in no way alien to their character. 8.10. For among the Moors there is neither fear of God nor respect of men. For they care neither for oaths nor for hostages, even though the hostages chance to be the children or brothers of their leaders. 8.11. Nor is there any other peace among the Moors except that which is held secure by fear of the enemies opposed to them. And in what manner the truce with Belisarius was made by them, and in what manner it was dissolved, I shall now disclose. 8.12. When the fleet of the emperor was expected to come to Libya, the Moors, fearing lest they should suffer some harm from it, made use of the divinations of their women. 8.13. For it is not lawful for a man to give oracles in this nation, but women among them, becoming possessed by reason of a certain sacred rite, foretell the future, no less than any of the ancient oracles. 8.14. At that time, then, as they inquired, as has been said, the women declared: an army from the waters, the destruction of the Vandals, the ruin and defeat of the Moors, 8.15. when there should come to the Romans a beardless general. The Moors, hearing this, when they saw the emperor's army come from the sea, fell into great fear, and were by no means willing to ally themselves with the Vandals, but, sending to Belisarius and confirming the peace, as has been disclosed before, kept quiet and waited to see how the future would turn out. 8.16. But when the affairs of the Vandals had now come to an end, they sent to the Roman army, inquiring whether there was anyone among them beardless in command. 8.17. And when they saw all of them grown full of beard, they supposed that the oracle did not signify to them the present time, but many generations afterward, interpreting the prophecy in this way, as they themselves wished. 8.18. At once, then, they were eager for the dissolution of the truce, but the fear of Belisarius held them back. 8.19. For they had no hope of prevailing in war over the Romans while he was present. 8.20. But when they heard that he was departing with his own guardsmen and spearmen, and learned that the ships were now being filled by these men and the Vandals, suddenly taking up their arms they displayed every form of evil against the Libyans. 8.21. For the soldiers, being few in each extreme region and still unprepared, were unable to withstand the barbarians overrunning the land everywhere, nor to prevent their incursions, which were frequent and not made in the open. 8.22. But the men were slain in no order, and the women with the children were made slaves, and the goods from every borderland were carried off, and the whole country was filled with flight. These things were reported to Belisarius when he was now putting to sea. 8.23. And he was no longer able to turn back, but gave to Solomon the management of the dominion of Libya, picking out for him also the greater part of his own guardsmen and spearmen, so that the Moors who had revolted might as quickly as possible be punished by Solomon, with great eagerness, for their wrong against the Romans. 8.24. And the emperor too sent another army to Solomon, with Theodore the Cappadocian and Ildiger, who was the son-in-law of Antonina the wife of Belisarius. 8.25. And since it was no longer possible to find the taxes of the regions in Libya set down in writing, in the way in which the Romans had recorded them in former times — inasmuch as Gizeric had at the beginning thrown all into confusion and destroyed everything — Tryphon and Eustratius were sent by the emperor to assess the taxes for them according to each man's measure. These, however, seemed to the Libyans neither moderate nor bearable. 9.1. But Belisarius, coming with Gelimer and the Vandals to Byzantium, was deemed worthy of such honours as in former times had been appointed for those Roman generals who had won the greatest and most noteworthy victories. 9.2. And a period of about six hundred years had now passed since anyone had attained these honours, except indeed Titus and Trajan and such other emperors as had led armies against some barbarian nation and conquered. 9.3. For displaying the spoils and the captives of the war, he marched in procession in the midst of the city, the thing which the Romans call a triumph — not, however, in the ancient fashion, but going on foot from his own house to the hippodrome, and there again from the starting-line until he reached the place where the imperial throne is. 9.4. And there was booty — all that is wont to be set apart for the service of the emperor: thrones of gold and carriages in which it is customary for the wife of the emperor to ride, and much jewelry made of precious stones, and golden drinking-cups, and all the other things useful for the imperial banquet. 9.5. And there was also silver weighing many tens of thousands of talents, and all the royal treasure amounting to an exceedingly great sum (since Gizeric had despoiled the Palatium in Rome, as has been said in the previous narrative), among which were also the treasures of the Jews, which Titus the son of Vespasian, after the capture of Jerusalem, had brought to Rome together with certain others. 9.6. And one of the Jews, seeing these, approached one of those known to the emperor and said: "These treasures I think it inexpedient to carry into the palace in Byzantium. 9.7. For it is not possible for them to be anywhere except in the place where Solomon the king of the Jews formerly placed them. 9.8. For it was because of these that Gizeric captured the palace of the Romans, and now the Roman army has captured that of the Vandals." 9.9. When this had been reported and the emperor heard it, he became afraid and quickly sent everything to the sanctuaries of the Christians in Jerusalem. 9.10. And the captives of the triumph were Gelimer himself, wearing some purple garment upon his shoulders, and all his family, and those of the Vandals who were very tall and fair of body. 9.11. And when Gelimer came into the hippodrome and saw the emperor sitting upon a lofty seat and the people standing on either side, and perceived, as he looked about, in what evil case he was, he neither wept nor cried out, but ceased not saying, according to the Hebrew scripture, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 9.12. And when he came before the emperor's seat, they stripped off the purple robe and compelled him to fall prone and do obeisance to the Emperor Justinian. This Belisarius also did, inasmuch as he had become a suppliant of the emperor along with him. 9.13. And the Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodora presented the children and all the descendants of Ilderic, and all those of the lineage of the Emperor Valentinian, with sufficient money, and giving to Gelimer not despicable lands in Galatia, they permitted him to dwell there together with his kinsmen. 9.14. Gelimer, however, was by no means enrolled among the patricians, since he was not willing to change from the faith of Arius. 9.15. And a little later the triumph was celebrated for Belisarius also according to the ancient custom. For as he advanced to the consulship, it fell to him to be borne aloft by the captives, and, riding in the curule chair, to throw to the people those very spoils of the Vandalic war. 9.16. For the silver plate and golden girdles and a great amount of other Vandalic wealth the people seized from the consulship of Belisarius, and it seemed that something not customary was being renewed after a long time. These things, then, happened thus in Byzantium. 10.1. But Solomon, having taken over the army in Libya, with the Moors in revolt, as has been disclosed, and with the whole situation in suspense, was at a loss how to deal with the present state of affairs. 10.2. For it was reported that the barbarians had slain the soldiers in Byzacium and Numidia and were plundering and carrying off everything there. 10.3. And most of all, both him and all Carthage there confounded the events that befell Aïgan the Massagete and Rufinus the Thracian in Byzacium. 10.4. For both were exceedingly notable, both in the household of Belisarius and in the Roman army — the one of them, Aïgan, being ranked among the guardsmen of Belisarius, the other, being the most stout-hearted of all, accustomed to carry the general's standard in the battle-lines, which the Romans call a bandophorus. 10.5. For at that time these two men, leading cavalry detachments in Byzacium, when they saw the Moors plundering all that was at hand and making slaves of all the Libyans, watching for them in a narrow place with those who followed them, attacked the men who were escorting the booty, slew them, and took away all the captives. 10.6. But when this word came to the commanders of the barbarians — Cutzinas and Esdilasas and Iourphouthes and Medisinissas — who were not far from this narrow place, they advanced against them with their whole army about late afternoon. 10.7. And the Romans, being exceedingly few and shut up in a narrow space in the midst of many tens of thousands, were not able to defend themselves against the assailants. For wherever they turned, they were always struck in the rear. 10.8. Then indeed Rufinus and Aïgan with a few men ran up to a rock that was somewhere near and from there defended themselves against the barbarians. 10.9. So long, then, as they used their bows, the enemy did not dare to come straight to grips with them, but hurled their javelins; but when all their missiles had failed them, the Moors came to grips with them, and they too defended themselves with their swords as best they could from what they had. 10.10. But as the multitude of the barbarians pressed hard, Aïgan, his whole body cut to pieces, fell there, but Rufinus the enemy seized and led away. 10.11. And straightway one of the commanders, Medisinissas, fearing lest he should escape and cause them trouble again, cut off his head, and, taking it home, showed it to his women, since it was worth seeing for its exceeding size and the abundance of its hair. 10.12. But since the course of the history has brought us here, it is necessary to tell from the beginning whence the Moorish nations came to Libya and how they settled there. 10.13. When the Hebrews had departed from Egypt and had come near the borders of Palestine, Moses, a wise man, who had led them on the way, died, and the leadership was taken over by Joshua the son of Nun, who led this people into Palestine, and, displaying valour in war greater than that of human nature, won the land. 10.14. And overthrowing all the nations, he easily subdued the cities, and seemed to be altogether invincible. 10.15. At that time the whole coast-land from Sidon to the borders of Egypt was called Phoenicia. 10.16. And a single king of old presided over it, as is agreed by all who have written the most ancient history of the Phoenicians. 10.17. There dwelt nations exceedingly populous, the Gergesites and the Jebusites and others bearing certain other names, by which the history of the Hebrews calls them. 10.18. This people, when they saw that the invading general was an irresistible thing, rose up from their ancestral homes and went off to Egypt, which bordered upon them. 10.19. There, finding no place sufficient for them to settle in, since there was from of old a dense population in Egypt, they set out for Libya. 10.20. And settling many cities, they took possession of the whole of Libya as far as the Pillars of Heracles, and there, using the Phoenician tongue, they have dwelt even down to my time. 10.21. And they built a fortress in Numidia, where now is the city called Tigisis. 10.22. There are two columns made of white stones near the great spring, having Phoenician letters cut in them which say in the Phoenician tongue thus: "We are those who fled from before the face of Joshua 10.23. the robber, the son of Nun." And there were also other nations who had dwelt in Libya before, who, because they had been settled there from of old, were said to be sprung from the soil. 10.24. And from this they said that Antaeus, their king, who wrestled with Heracles at Clypea, was a son of the earth. 10.25. And at a later time those who removed from Phoenicia with Dido came to their kinsmen who were dwelling in Libya. And these of their own free will permitted them to found Carthage and to hold it. 10.26. And as time went on, the power of the Carthaginians became great and populous. 10.27. And when a battle took place between them and their neighbours, who had come earlier, as has been said, from Palestine, and are now called Moors, the Carthaginians defeated them and compelled them to dwell very far from Carthage. 10.28. Then the Romans, having become superior to all in war, settled the Moors at the extremities of the inhabited land of Libya, and made the Carthaginians and the other Libyans subject to themselves and tributary. 10.29. And later the Moors, winning many victories over the Vandals, took possession of what is now called Mauretania, extending from Gadira to the borders of Caesarea, and of most of the rest of Libya. So the matter of the settlement of the Moors in Libya was in this way. 11.1. But Solomon, hearing what had befallen Rufinus and Aïgan, set about preparing for war and wrote to the commanders of the Moors as follows: 11.2. "It has already fallen to certain other men to lose their senses and to perish, who had no means before of conjecturing how their madness would turn out for them. 11.3. But you, who have the example near at hand in the Vandals who dwelt beside you, what ever has happened to you that you have resolved to raise your hands against the great emperor and to throw away your own salvation, 11.4. and that too after giving the most terrible oaths in writing and offering your children as pledges of your agreements? 11.5. Or have you decided to make some demonstration that you have no regard for God or for faith or for kinship itself or for your safety or for anything else whatever? 11.6. And yet, if your dealings with the divine are thus, in what ally do you trust as you march against the emperor of the Romans? 11.7. And if you are about to destroy your children by taking the field, for what then have you resolved to run the risk? 11.8. But if any repentance for what has gone before has now entered you, write, that we may settle for you well what has been done; but if your madness has not yet abated, receive a Roman war coming against you together with the oaths you have outraged and the wrong done to your children." 11.9. So much Solomon wrote. But the Moors answered thus: "Belisarius, encompassing us with great promises, persuaded us to be subjects of the Emperor Justinian; but the Romans, giving us a share in none of their good things, while we were oppressed by famine, demanded to have us as friends and allies. 11.10. So that it is fitting that the name of faithless should belong rather to you than to the Moors. 11.11. For it is not those who, being wronged, openly accuse their neighbours and revolt who break the truce, but those who, claiming to hold others as allies, then do them violence. 11.12. And it is not those who go against others to recover their own who make God hostile to them, but those who lay claim to what belongs to others and so come into the danger of war. 11.13. As for children, that will be a concern to you, who must marry one wife each; for to us, who have wives, even fifty if it so happen, dwelling with us, the breed of children would never fail." 11.14. When Solomon had read this, he decided to lead his whole army against the Moors. And having set in order affairs in Carthage, he went with all his army to Byzacium. 11.15. And coming to the place called Mammes, where the four commanders of the Moors whom I mentioned a little before had encamped, he made a stockade. 11.16. Now there are lofty mountains there, and a level space about the foot of the mountains, where the barbarians, having made their preparation, set their array for battle thus. 11.17. Forming a circle of their camels — the very thing which Cabaon also was said in the previous narrative to have done — they made the depth of the front about twelve camels. 11.18. And the women with the children they placed within the circle (for it is the custom among the Moors to bring a few women with the children into the battle-line, who make for them their stockades and huts, and tend the horses skilfully, and have charge of the camels and the food; 11.19. and, sharpening the iron of their weapons, they relieve them of much of the toil in the battle-lines); and they themselves on foot stood in the middle, between the legs of the camels, having shields and swords and javelins, with which they are accustomed to hurl. And some of them, keeping their horses in the mountains, remained quiet. 11.20. But Solomon left untouched the half of the Moorish circle which chanced to be next to the mountain, stationing no one there. 11.21. For he feared lest the enemy in the mountain, coming down, and those in the circle, turning about, should put those arrayed there between two fires in the battle-line. 11.22. And arraying his whole army against the remaining part of the circle, when he saw that most of them were afraid and without courage on account of what had befallen Aïgan and Rufinus, wishing to make for them a reminder of courage, he spoke as follows: 11.23. "Men who took the field with Belisarius, let no fear of these men enter you, nor, if the Moors, gathered together to the number of fifty thousand, conquered five hundred Romans, let this become to you in the place of an example. 11.24. But remember your own valour, and reckon that the Vandals conquered the Moors, while you have become masters of the Vandals in war without an effort; and that for those who have mastered the greater to fear the lesser is not just. 11.25. And yet the nation of the Moors seems to be the most worthless of all men for a contest of war. 11.26. For the most of them are naked, and those of them who have shields hold before themselves shields which are small and not well made and unable to ward off what comes against them. 11.27. And after hurling these two javelins, if they accomplish nothing, 11.28. they turn of their own accord to flight. So that it is possible for you, after guarding against the first onset of the barbarians, to win the mastery in war with no trouble. 11.29. And how great the difference is between your equipment and that of the enemy you surely see. 11.30. And besides this, valour of soul and strength of body and experience of wars and confidence, by reason of having already conquered all the enemy, belong to you; but the Moors, deprived of all these things, trust in their own throng alone. 11.31. And it is easier for a few men, best equipped, to conquer in war a multitude of men who are not good, than to be defeated by them. 11.32. For to the good soldier confidence in himself is present, but for the cowardly the multitude of his fellows in array for the most part turns into a perilous straitness. 11.33. And indeed it is right that you should despise these camels too, which are neither able to defend their masters, and, when struck, as is likely, will be the cause to them of greater confusion and disorder. 11.34. And the rashness which the enemy have gained by their former success will fight on your side. 11.35. For daring, when measured to one's power, will perhaps even profit those who use it, 11.36. but when it overpasses this, it leads to danger. Bearing these things in mind, and despising the enemy, practise silence and good order; for taking care of these things, we shall master the disorder of the barbarians more easily and with less toil." Thus Solomon spoke. 11.37. But the commanders of the Moors, when they too saw the barbarians dismayed at the good order of the Romans, wishing to bring their multitude back to courage, exhorted them thus: 11.38. "That the Romans have human bodies and such as we have learned yield when struck with iron, fellow-soldiers — we who lately slew the best of them, partly by burying them under our spears, partly by seizing and making them our captives. 11.39. And these things being so, that we now far surpass them in multitude, it is possible to see. 11.40. And indeed our struggle is for the greatest stakes — either to be masters of all Libya, 11.41. or to be slaves to these braggarts. So that we must of necessity play the man now as much as possible. For those whose danger is for their all, not to be most stout-hearted is inexpedient. 11.42. And it is fitting that we despise the equipment of the enemy. For if they come against us on foot, they will not be nimble, but will be worsted by the swiftness of the Moors, and as for their cavalry, the sight of the camels, striking them with dismay, and the bellowing of these, drowning out the other tumult of war, will, as is likely, throw them into disorder. 11.43. And if anyone, reckoning up the victory over the Vandals, thinks that they are not to be contended with, he errs in judgment. 11.44. For the issue of war is wont to be decided by the valour or fortune of the general; and as for Belisarius, who was the cause of the conquest of the Vandals, the divine power has caused him now to stand out of our way. 11.45. Besides, we ourselves, having often conquered the Vandals and stripped them of their power, have made the mastery over them easier and less toilsome for the Romans. 11.46. And now too we have hope of mastering these enemy, if you play the man in the action." 11.47. When the commanders of the Moors had thus exhorted them, they began the encounter. And at first great disorder fell upon the Roman army. 11.48. For their horses, distressed by the bellowing and the sight of the camels, reared up, and, throwing off their riders, fled in no order, most of them. 11.49. And meanwhile the Moors, making sallies and hurling all the javelins they had in their hands, kept filling the army with confusion, and struck them as they neither defended themselves nor kept their array. 11.50. But afterward Solomon, perceiving what was being done, leaped down first from his horse and led all the rest to do the same. 11.51. And when they had dismounted, he commanded the others to remain quiet, holding their shields before them and receiving the missiles sent from the enemy, and to keep their array; while he himself, taking with him no fewer than five hundred soldiers, attacked a part of the circle. 11.52. These he commanded to draw their swords and kill the camels that stood there. 11.53. Then the Moors who were stationed there turned to flight, and those with Solomon killed about two hundred camels; and straightway the circle, when the camels had fallen, 11.54. became open to the Romans. And they ran at a run into the middle of the circle, where the women of the Moors sat; while the barbarians, dismayed, withdrew to the mountain which was nearest, and the Romans, pursuing them in their flight with all disorder, kept killing them. 11.55. And it is said that ten thousand of the Moors perished in this action; and the women, all of them, with the children, became slaves. 11.56. And the soldiers plundered all the camels, as many as they had not killed. And thus the Romans went with all the booty to Carthage to celebrate the festival of victory. 12.1. But the barbarians, with one accord using their fury against the Romans again, leaving none of themselves behind, took the field and began to overrun the regions in Byzacium, sparing no age among those who fell in their way. 12.2. And when Solomon had just arrived at Carthage, it was reported that barbarians in great multitude had come to Byzacium and were plundering everything there. So setting out in haste with all his army, he went against them. 12.3. And coming to Burgaon, where the enemy had encamped, for some days he sat opposite them, so that, as soon as the Moors should come down into the level ground, he might begin the encounter. 12.4. But as they remained in the mountain, he set his army in order as for battle and arrayed it; and the Moors planned by no means to go down henceforth into the plain to battle with the Romans (for already an irresistible fear came over them), but in the mountain they hoped to overcome them more easily in war. 12.5. Now the mountain Burgaon is for the most part precipitous, and the side toward the rising sun terribly hard to traverse, while the side toward the west is easy of approach and gently sloping. 12.6. And two lofty peaks rise up, making a glen between them, exceedingly narrow but stretching down to an unspeakable depth. 12.7. The barbarians left the summit of the mountain empty of men, thinking that no danger to them would come thence; and likewise they left the place about the foot, where Burgaon was easy of approach. 12.8. But encamping in the middle, they waited, so that, if the enemy, ascending against them, should begin the battle, they themselves, being already above them, might hurl missiles down upon their heads. 12.9. And there were with them in the mountain also many horses, made ready either for flight or for pursuit, if they should master the battle. 12.10. But Solomon, when he saw that the Moors no longer wished to fight it out in the level ground, and at the same time was distressed that the Roman army should sit idle in the blockade in a desolate place, was eager to come to grips with the enemy in Burgaon. 12.11. And seeing the soldiers dismayed at the throng of their opponents, many times greater than that which had appeared in the former battle, he called the multitude together and spoke as follows: 12.12. "The fear which the enemy feel toward you needs no other accuser, but is self-proclaimed and convicted, bringing the testimony from its own home. 12.13. For you see surely that the enemy, gathered together to so many tens of thousands, do not dare to come down into the plain and join battle with us, nor have confidence in themselves, but have taken refuge in the difficulty of this place. 12.14. So that there is no necessity even to exhort you at present. For those to whom the circumstances and the weakness of the enemy give confidence have no need, I think, of the help that comes from words. 12.15. But this much it will be necessary to remind you of: that, if we carry through this encounter too with good courage, it will be left to us, the Vandals having been conquered and the Moors having come to the same fortune, to enjoy all the good things of Libya, with nothing left that we can reckon as hostile. 12.16. And that the enemy may not hurl missiles down upon your heads, nor any harm come to us from the ground, I shall provide." 12.17. After Solomon had thus exhorted them, he commanded Theodore, who was leader of the excubitores (for thus the Romans call their guards), to take a thousand foot-soldiers, and about late afternoon, having with him one of the standards, to ascend secretly the side of Burgaon toward the rising sun, where the mountain was most difficult and almost impassable, charging him that, when they should come near the crest of the mountain, they should there remain quiet and pass the rest of the night, and at sunrise, appearing above the enemy and displaying the standards, should hurl their missiles. 12.18. And he did accordingly. And when the night was far advanced, ascending through the precipitous part near the peak, they escaped the notice not only of the Moors but of all the Romans as well; 12.19. for they were sent out, by way of pretext, as an advance-guard, lest anyone from outside should go to do mischief to the camp. And at deep dawn Solomon with all his army began to ascend against the enemy by the lower part of Burgaon. 12.20. And when day had come and the enemy were seen near at hand, the soldiers, no longer beholding the summit of the mountain bare, as before, but full of men and displaying Roman standards (for already some part of the day was showing), were perplexed. 12.21. But when those on the summit began the fight, and the Romans perceived that the army was their own and the barbarians perceived that they had come into the midst of the enemy, being struck from both sides and unable to defend themselves against the enemy, they no longer looked to defence, but all at once turned to flight. 12.22. And being unable to run up to the summit of Burgaon, held by the enemy, nor to go down to the level ground through the foot, where their opponents were pressing upon them, they went at a great run into the glen and to one of the two peaks, some on horseback, some on foot. 12.23. And since they were a great throng fleeing in fear and great tumult, they kept killing one another, and, falling into the glen, which was exceedingly deep, the first ones kept dying, but gave no perception of the disaster to those coming behind. 12.24. But when the glen, becoming full of dead horses and men, made a crossing from Burgaon to the other mountain, then those who were left were saved, making their way over the bodies. 12.25. And there perished in this action of the Moors fifty thousand, as the survivors among them maintained, but of the Romans not one at all, nor did anyone even receive a wound either from the enemy or by any chance befalling him, but all unhurt enjoyed this victory. 12.26. And all the leaders of the barbarians escaped, except indeed that Esdilasas, receiving pledges, delivered himself up to the Romans. 12.27. As for the booty of women and children, the Romans took so great a multitude that for the price of a sheep they sold a Moorish child to those who wished to buy. 12.28. And then there came over the survivors among the Moors the prophecy of their women, that their race should be destroyed by a beardless man. 12.29. So the Roman army with the booty and Esdilasas marched into Carthage; while of the barbarians who chanced not to have perished, it seemed impossible to be settled in Byzacium, lest, being few, they should suffer violence from the Libyans who bordered upon them; and going with their own commanders into Numidia, they became suppliants of Iaudas, who ruled the Moors in Aurasium. 12.30. Alone of the Moors there remained in Byzacium those whose leader was Antalas, who in this time, keeping faith with the Romans, remained free from harm with his own subjects. 13.1. While these things were happening in Byzacium, Iaudas, who ruled the Moors in Aurasium, leading more than thirty thousand fighting men, plundered the regions in Numidia and made slaves of many of the Libyans. 13.2. Now it chanced that Althias was holding the garrison of the fortresses there in Centuriae; he, being eager to take away some of the captives from the enemy, with the Huns who followed him, about seventy in number, got outside the fortress. 13.3. And reckoning that he was not able with seventy men to come to grips with so great a multitude of the Moors, he wished to seize some narrow place, so that, as the enemy went along the road through it, he might be able to snatch away some of the captives. 13.4. And (since there is no such road there, the regions thereabouts being level plains on every side) he devised the following. 13.5. There is a city near by, Tigisis by name, at that time unwalled, but having a certain great spring in a very narrow place. 13.6. This spring Althias decided to seize, reckoning that the enemy, compelled by thirst, would by all means come there; for there was no other water at all near by. 13.7. To all who reckoned up the multitude of the enemy, the thought seemed contrary to reason, and his plan to be madness. 13.8. But the Moors, having met with much toil and great suffocating heat in the summer season, and, as was likely, oppressed by very great thirst from this, came to the spring at a great run, with no thought of any obstacle in mind. 13.9. But when they found the water held by the enemy, they all stood in perplexity, the greatest part of their strength being already spent on their desire for the water. 13.10. Wherefore Iaudas, coming to a parley with Althias, agreed to give him the third part of the booty, on condition that all the Moors should drink. 13.11. But he by no means wished to accept the proposal, and demanded to fight a single combat with him over these things. 13.12. And when Iaudas had accepted this challenge, it was agreed that, if Althias should chance to be defeated, the Moors should drink. 13.13. And the whole army of the Moors rejoiced, being of good hope, since Althias was thin and not large of body, while Iaudas was the fairest and most warlike of all the Moors. 13.14. Both, then, chanced to be horsemen. And Iaudas hurled his javelin first, and Althias, as it came against him, succeeded beyond expectation in catching it with his right hand, and struck Iaudas and the enemy with dismay. 13.15. And drawing his bow with his left hand at once, since he was ambidextrous, he hit the horse of Iaudas and killed it. 13.16. And when it had fallen, the Moors brought another horse for their commander, upon which Iaudas leaped and straightway fled; and in no order the army of the Moors followed him. 13.17. And Althias, taking away the captives and all the booty, won a great name from this deed throughout all Libya. These things, then, went thus. 13.18. But Solomon, after spending a short time in Carthage, led his army against Mount Aurasium and Iaudas, bringing against him the charge that, when the Roman army had its occupation in Byzacium, he plundered many of the regions in Numidia. And so it was. 13.19. And other commanders of the Moors urged Solomon on against Iaudas — Massonas and Ortaïas — because of their own enmity: Massonas, because Iaudas, being his father Mephanias's son-in-law, had slain him by treachery; the other, because, along with Mastinas, who ruled the barbarians in Mauretania, he had planned to drive both him and the Moors he ruled out of the country where they had dwelt of old. 13.20. So the Roman army, with Solomon leading them, and the Moors who came to them as allies, encamped at the river Abigas, which, flowing past Aurasium, waters the regions there. 13.21. To Iaudas it seemed inexpedient to array himself against the enemy in the plain, but he set in order matters in Aurasium so that it should seem to him as difficult as possible for the assailants. 13.22. Now this mountain is distant from Carthage about thirteen days' journey, and it is the greatest of all we know. 13.23. For its circuit is a journey of three days for an unencumbered man. And to one wishing to go up into it, it is hard of access and terribly wild, but to one who has come up and reached the level ground there appear plains and many springs forming rivers, and a great number of parks, wonderful to behold. 13.24. And the grain which grows there and every kind of fruit is double the size of that which is wont to grow in all the rest of Libya. 13.25. There are also some fortresses there, neglected, because they seem not necessary to those who dwell there. 13.26. For from the time the Moors took Aurasium from the Vandals, no enemy ever came to it or put the barbarians in fear, but even the city of Tamougadis, which, lying at the mountain at the beginning of the plain toward the rising sun, was populous, the Moors made empty of men and razed to the ground, so that the enemy should not be able to encamp there, nor even, on the pretext of the city, to come near the mountain. 13.27. And the Moors there held also the country to the west of Aurasium, 13.28. which was large and good. And beyond these dwelt other nations of the Moors, whom Ortaïas ruled, who, 13.29. as has been said before, came as an ally to Solomon and the Romans. I myself heard this man saying that beyond the country which he ruled no men dwell, but a desert land stretches over a very great distance, and beyond this are men, not black-skinned like the Moors, but very white in body and fair-haired. So these things are thus. 13.30. But Solomon, having presented the allied Moors with great sums of money, and after much exhortation, with his whole army ascended Mount Aurasium arrayed as for battle, supposing that on that day he would both come to battle with the enemy and be parted from them, whichever way fortune should wish. 13.31. For the soldiers brought along for themselves and their horses only a little food. 13.32. And going on amid much rough country about fifty stades, they bivouacked. 13.33. And accomplishing so great a journey each day, on the seventh they arrived at a place where there was an old fortress and a perennial river. The Latins call the place 'Shield Mountain' in their own tongue. 13.34. There the enemy were reported to be encamping, and when they came to this place and no enemy met them, they encamped and, making preparation as for battle, remained there, and a period of three days was spent by them there. 13.35. But when the enemy stood altogether out of their way and provisions failed, it came into the mind of Solomon and the whole army that some plot against them was being formed by the allied Moors; 13.36. for these men, although they were not without practice in the journey through Aurasium, and knew, as was likely, all that the enemy had planned, hastening to them secretly each day, as was said, and often sent to them by the Romans for scouting, had decided to report nothing sound, so that the Romans, not learning beforehand, might not, having more provisions for a longer time, ascend Mount Aurasium and make their other preparations in the way that would be best. 13.37. And altogether suspecting that an ambush had been laid for them by their allies, they came into fear, reckoning that the Moors were said to be by nature faithless, especially when, fighting as allies of the Romans or any others, they take the field against Moors. 13.38. Bearing these things in mind, and at the same time oppressed by famine, they withdrew thence in haste without accomplishing anything, and, coming to the plain, made a stockade. 13.39. Afterward Solomon, stationing a part of the army for the sake of guard in Numidia (for it was now winter), with the rest went to Carthage. 13.40. There he managed and arranged everything, so that at the opening of spring he might take the field again against Aurasium with greater preparation and, if he should be able, without the alliance of the Moors. 13.41. And at the same time he was preparing generals and another army and a fleet of ships against the Moors who dwell in the island of Sardinia; 13.42. for this island is large and otherwise prosperous, extending toward the two parts of Sicily (for the circuit of its land is a journey of twenty days for an unencumbered man), and lying midway between Rome and Carthage, it is oppressed by the Moors who dwell there. 13.43. For the Vandals of old, using their anger against these barbarians, sent some few of them with their wives to Sardinia and shut them up there. 13.44. And as time went on, they seized the mountains which are somewhere near Caranalis, at first making robberies in secret upon their neighbours, but when they became no fewer than three thousand, overrunning the land openly too, and, deeming it not worth while to escape notice, plundered all the regions there, being called Barbaricini by the natives. 13.45. Against these Moors, then, Solomon was making ready a fleet during this winter. These things, then, were going on in Libya in this way. 14.1. In Italy during this same time the following things chanced to happen. Belisarius was being sent by the Emperor Justinian against Theudatus and the nation of the Goths, and, sailing to Sicily, he took this island with no trouble. 14.2. In what manner he did so will be told in the later part of my narrative, when the account brings me to the history of the affairs of Italy. 14.3. For now it has seemed to me not out of place, having recorded all that happened in Libya, thus to go on to the account concerning Italy and the Goths. 14.4. During this winter, then, Belisarius spent his time in Syracuse, and Solomon in Carthage. 14.5. And a most dread portent chanced to come to pass in this year. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, throughout the whole of this year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear nor such as it is accustomed to shed. 14.6. And from the time when this happened, men were free neither from war nor pestilence nor anything else leading to death. And it was the time when Justinian was in the tenth year of his reign. 14.7. And at the opening of spring, when the Christians were keeping the feast which they call Easter, a mutiny fell upon the soldiers in Libya. How it arose and to what end it came, I shall now tell. 14.8. When the Vandals had been defeated in the battle, as I have said before, the Roman soldiers took their daughters and wives in the place of married wives. 14.9. And each of these women kept urging her husband to lay claim to the possession of the lands of which she had previously been mistress, saying that it was not holy if, while dwelling with the Vandals, they had enjoyed these lands, but, having come in marriage to those who had conquered them, they should thus be deprived of what was theirs. 14.10. Bearing these things in mind, the soldiers did not think they ought to yield to Solomon, who wished to register the lands of the Vandals to the public treasury and the emperor's house, saying that it was not unreasonable for the slaves and all the other goods to go to the soldiers as plunder, but that the land itself belonged to the emperor and the Roman state, which had reared them and had made them to be called soldiers and to be such, not in order that they should acquire for themselves the lands which they had taken from barbarians who had usurped the empire of the Romans, but in order that these should go to the public treasury, from which both they and all others receive their pay. 14.11. This, then, was one cause of the mutiny. And another also chanced to come about of the following kind, which no less, if not more, had power to confound all the affairs in Libya. 14.12. In the Roman army it chanced that there were no fewer than a thousand soldiers of the Arian faith; of these the most were barbarians, and some of them of the Erulian nation. 14.13. These the priests of the Vandals urged most of all to mutiny. For it was not possible for them to perform the customary rites to God, but they were excluded from all mysteries and sacred things. 14.14. For the Emperor Justinian did not permit a Christian man who had not partaken of the orthodox faith to use either baptism or any other mystery. 14.15. And most of all the feast of Easter confounded them, at which they were unable to baptize their own children in the divine bath, or do anything else pertaining to this feast. 14.16. And as if these things were not enough for the divine power, which was eager to destroy the affairs of the Romans, something else also befell as a provision for those who were planning the mutiny. 14.17. The Vandals whom Belisarius had brought to Byzantium the emperor had organized into five cavalry detachments, so that they should be settled in the cities of the East for all time; and calling them the Justinianic Vandals, he commanded them to be conveyed with ships to the East. 14.18. Of these Vandal soldiers the most came to the East and, filling the detachments to which they had been assigned, take the field against the Persians even to this day; but the others, about four hundred in number, when they came to Lesbos, with their sails bellied out, forced the sailors and put in at the Peloponnesus. 14.19. And setting out thence, they sailed to Libya and landed at a desolate place, where, leaving the ships and gathering their gear, they went up to Mount Aurasium and into Mauretania. 14.20. Encouraged by these, the soldiers who had the mutiny in charge united among themselves still more. 14.21. And many words about this and oaths now took place in the camp. And when they were about to keep the feast, the Arians, distressed at the prohibition of their sacred rites, pressed exceedingly hard. 14.22. And it seemed good to their leaders, on the first day of the feast, which they call the Great Day, 14.23. to kill Solomon. And they escaped detection, no one having disclosed this plan. For inasmuch as those who were planning the dreadful deed were many, the talk, going round, fell upon no one hostile to them, and in this way they were able to escape notice, since indeed many of Solomon's own guardsmen and spearmen and most of his servants had been enrolled in this mutiny through their desire for the lands. 14.24. And when the appointed day was now at hand, Solomon was sitting in the sanctuary, far removed from his own danger. 14.25. And those who had resolved to kill this man went in and, urging one another on with nods, laid hold of their swords; yet they did nothing, either because they were ashamed before the rites then being performed in the sanctuary, or because they blushed before the general's reputation, or because something divine prevented them. 14.26. But when the sacred rites of that day had now been performed and each was being conveyed home, the mutineers blamed one another for having become soft when they ought not, and again put off the plan to the next day. 14.27. And in like manner on the following day too, having passed it without accomplishing anything, they withdrew from the sanctuary, and, coming to the market-place, abused one another openly, and each one, calling his neighbour a coward and a breaker of their fellowship, did not refuse to reproach him with his respect for Solomon. 14.28. Wherefore they no longer thought their stay in Carthage would be free from danger, inasmuch as they had brought the plan completely into the open. 14.29. So the most of them, going quickly outside the city, plundered the lands and treated as enemies the Libyans whom they met; but the others, remaining in the city, gave no perception of the purpose which they themselves held, but pretended to be ignorant of what had been planned. 14.30. But Solomon, hearing what was being done by the soldiers in the country, falling into great tumult, ceased not exhorting those in the city, calling upon them to be loyal to the emperor. 14.31. And they at first seemed to accept his words, but on the fifth day, when they heard that those who had gone out were firmly established in tyranny, gathering in the hippodrome, they outraged Solomon and the other commanders without restraint. 14.32. There Theodore the Cappadocian, sent by Solomon, undertook to console and tame them, but they paid no heed at all to what was said. 14.33. Now this Theodore had a grudge against Solomon and a suspicion of plotting against him. 14.34. Wherefore the mutineers straightway by acclamation voted him to be their general, and with him, bearing arms and using much tumult, they came quickly to the Palatium. 14.35. There they killed another Theodore, who was leader of the guards, a man who had attained the height of all virtue and was exceedingly good in matters of war. 14.36. And when they had tasted of this murder, they now killed everyone in their way, whether Libyan or Roman, who was an acquaintance of Solomon or who had money in his hands; and thence they withdrew to plunder, going up into the houses where soldiers did not defend them, and seized all the most precious things, until night, coming on, and drunkenness, succeeding their toil, made them cease. 14.37. But Solomon, taking refuge in the sanctuary which is great in the Palatium, escaped notice, and there Martinus too came to him about late afternoon. 14.38. And when all the mutineers were asleep, going out from the sanctuary they came to the house of Theodore the Cappadocian, who compelled them, though by no means eager, to dine, and, conveying them to the harbour, put them into a skiff of a certain ship which there chanced to have been made ready by Martinus. 14.39. And there followed them Procopius, who wrote these things, and about five men of the household of Solomon. 14.40. And accomplishing three hundred stades, they came to Misua, the port of the Carthaginians, and when they were in safety, straightway Solomon commanded Martinus to go to Numidia, to Valerianus and the other commanders, and to try, if in any way each one might be able, by money or in some other way, to come round some of the notable soldiers and bring them over to loyalty to the emperor. 14.41. And he sent a letter to Theodore, enjoining him to take charge of Carthage and to manage everything else as might seem to him possible; while he himself with Procopius came to Belisarius at Syracuse. 14.42. And reporting to him all that had chanced to happen in Libya, he begged him to go quickly to Carthage and to aid the emperor, who was suffering unholy things at the hands of his own soldiers. So Solomon did this. 15.1. But the mutineers, having plundered everything in Carthage, and gathering in the plain of Bulla, chose for themselves as tyrant Stotzas, one of the guardsmen of Martinus, a man high-spirited and energetic, in order that, after driving out the emperor's commanders, they might master all Libya. 15.2. And he, having armed his whole force, amounting to about eight thousand, led it against Carthage, intending to bring the city over to himself straightway with no trouble. 15.3. And he sent also to the Vandals who had run away from Byzantium with the ships and those who from the first had not followed Belisarius, either having escaped notice or because those who at that time were conveying the Vandals had made no account of them. 15.4. And there were no fewer than a thousand, who not long afterward came with eagerness to Stotzas in the camp. And there came to him also a great throng of slaves. 15.5. And when they were near Carthage, Stotzas sent a message, commanding them to surrender the city to him as quickly as possible, 15.6. on condition that they should remain free from harm. But those in Carthage and Theodore, refusing this outright, agreed with the emperor to guard Carthage. 15.7. And sending to him Josephius, who had become a not undistinguished secretary of the emperor's guards and was of the household of Belisarius, and had lately been sent to them in Carthage on some business, they begged him to use no further force against them. 15.8. But Stotzas, when he heard this, straightway killed Josephius and set about the siege. And those in the city, dreading the danger, planned to deliver themselves and Carthage to Stotzas by agreement. So the army of Libya was in this state. 15.9. But Belisarius, picking out a hundred men of his own guardsmen and spearmen and taking Solomon along, sailed to Carthage with a single ship at lamp-lighting time, when the besiegers expected the city to be delivered to them on the following day. And holding these things in hope, they bivouacked that night. 15.10. But when day had come and they learned that Belisarius was present, dissolving the camp as quickly as possible, shamefully and in no order, they turned to flight. 15.11. And Belisarius, gathering about two thousand of the army and urging them on to loyalty to the emperor by words, and strengthening them with much money, made the pursuit upon the fugitives. 15.12. And he overtook them at the city of Membresa, distant three hundred and fifty stades from Carthage. 15.13. There each side encamped and made ready for battle, those with Belisarius at the river Bagradas, the others making their stockade in a place lofty and difficult. 15.14. For into the city neither side decided to go, since it chanced to be unwalled. 15.15. And on the following day they joined the encounter, the mutineers trusting in their own multitude, those with Belisarius despising the enemy as senseless and without a general. 15.16. And Belisarius, wishing to fix these things firmly in the minds of the soldiers, called them all together and spoke as follows: "It is less than our hope and prayer, fellow-soldiers, that the affairs of the emperor and of the Romans stand. 15.17. For we have now come to an encounter from which we shall not even have the victory without tears, taking the field against kinsmen and those nurtured with us. 15.18. But we have this comfort for the evil, that we are not ourselves beginning the battle, but defending ourselves we come into the danger. 15.19. For he who has made the plot against his dearest and dissolved the kinship by what he has done, if he perishes, dies not at the hands of friends, but, having become as an enemy, pays the penalty to those whom he has wronged. 15.20. And that the enemy are foes and barbarians and whatever one might say more dreadful, not only does Libya show, which has come into plunder under their hands, nor those who dwell in it, slain by them without cause, but also the multitude of Roman soldiers whom these foes dared to kill, charging against them one accusation alone, their loyalty to the state. 15.21. Avenging whom, we have now come against them, having reasonably become foes to those once dearest. 15.22. For by nature none of all men would be friendly or hostile to one another, but the deeds of each, either joining men in alliance by likeness of character, or distinguishing them into enmity by difference of judgment, make them, as it may chance, either friends or enemies to one another. 15.23. That, then, we are taking the field against unholy and hostile men, you have enough; and that they are worthy to be despised by us, I shall show. 15.24. For a throng of men gathered together not by law but assembled out of injustice is by no means apt to play the man, since valour cannot in any way dwell with lawlessness, but ever withdraws from the unholy. 15.25. Nor will they keep good order, nor obey the commands of Stotzas. 15.26. For a tyranny lately established and not yet having received the power to feel confidence must of necessity be despised by the ruled. 15.27. For neither is it honoured by goodwill, since tyranny is wont to be hated, nor does it lead its subjects by fear; for fear has taken away from it its frankness. 15.28. And when the enemy are left without valour and good order, they are easily defeated. With much contempt, then, as I said, it is fitting for us to go against these enemy. 15.29. For the mastery in war is wont to be measured not by the multitude of the combatants, but by good order and courage." 15.30. Belisarius spoke thus. And Stotzas exhorted his men as follows: "Men who with me have got outside the slavery to the Romans, let none of you deem it not worth while to die for liberty, which you have won by courage and all other valour. 15.31. For it is not so dreadful, after growing old amid evils, to end one's life, as, after the freedom from hardships, to return to them again. 15.32. For the time in between, having given a taste of release, makes the calamity, as is likely, harder to bear. 15.33. These things being so, you must remember that, having conquered the Vandals and the Moors, you yourselves enjoyed the toils of the wars, while others became masters of all the spoils. 15.34. And reckon that, being soldiers, you must consort with the dangers of war for all time — either for the emperor's affairs, if you should again be his slaves, or for your own selves, if you preserve this liberty. 15.35. And which of the two is the more to be chosen, it is in your power to choose, either by playing the coward in the present, or by wishing to play the man. 15.36. And indeed this too it is fitting that you should consider: that, having taken up arms against the Romans, if you come to be under them, you will make trial of masters neither moderate nor forgiving, but you will suffer irreparable things, and there will be added to you the consolation of not having perished unjustly. Death, then, to whomsoever of you it may come in this battle, will plainly be glorious; 15.37. but life, for those who master the enemy, will be independent and otherwise happy, while for the defeated I would call it nothing else but bitter, having all its hope in the pity of those men." 15.38. And the encounter will not be on equal terms of power. 15.39. For in multitude the enemy fall far short of us, and they come against us with the least eagerness — men who, I think, even pray to share with us this liberty." Such things Stotzas also said. 15.40. As the armies were going to the encounter, a wind hard and dreadfully troublesome fell full in the face of the mutineers of Stotzas. 15.41. Wherefore they thought it inexpedient to make the battle there, fearing lest the wind, overpowering them, should both direct the missiles of the enemy upon them and check most of all the force of their own missiles. 15.42. Setting out, then, they went obliquely, reckoning that, if the enemy too, as was likely, should shift, so that they might not be harassed from behind by them, the wind would be in their faces. 15.43. But Belisarius, when he saw them leaving their array and going about in no order, straightway commanded the attack to begin. 15.44. And those with Stotzas, thrown into confusion by the unexpected, with much disorder, as each one could, turned to flight, and, coming into Numidia, gathered again. 15.45. Few of them, however, perished in this action, and most of these were Vandals. 15.46. For Belisarius made no pursuit at all upon them, since, his army being very small, it seemed enough to him if the enemy, being for the present defeated, should stand out of his way. 15.47. And he gave the soldiers the stockade of their opponents to plunder, and they took it empty of men. There were found there much money and many women, on account of whom this war had arisen. Having accomplished these things, Belisarius marched off to Carthage. 15.48. And someone, coming from Sicily, reported to him that a mutiny, having fallen upon the army, was about to throw affairs into confusion, unless he himself, returning quickly to them, should put a stop to it. 15.49. And he, after setting in order the affairs in Libya as best he could and handing over Carthage to Ildiger and Theodore, went to Sicily. 15.50. But the Roman commanders in Numidia, when they heard that the forces of Stotzas had come and were gathering there, made ready for battle. Now the leaders of the foederati were Marcellus and Cyril, of a cavalry detachment Barbatus, 15.51. and of infantry Terentius and Sarapis. To Marcellus, however, all gave heed, inasmuch as he held the command of Numidia. 15.52. He, when he heard that Stotzas was at a place called Gazophyla, distant about two days' journey from Constantina, with a few men, wishing to get the start before all the mutineers should gather, led his army quickly against them. 15.53. But when the armies had come near and the battle was about to be at hand, Stotzas alone, coming into the midst of his opponents, spoke as follows: 15.54. "Fellow-soldiers, you do not do what is just, taking the field against kinsmen and those nurtured with you, and raising arms against men who, distressed at your evils and at the wrongs done to you, have decided to make war upon the emperor and the Romans. 15.55. Or do you not remember that you have been deprived of the pay long owed to you, and robbed of the spoils of the enemy, which the law of war has set as the prizes of the dangers of battle? 15.56. And that, while others have thought it right to revel for all time in the good things of victory, you follow in the lot of servants? 15.57. If, then, you are angry with me, it is in your power to use your fury upon this body alone, but to escape the defilement against the rest; but if you have no accusation to bring against me, it is time for you, on behalf of your own selves, 15.58. to take up arms." So Stotzas said this much; and the soldiers accepted his words and greeted him with much goodwill. 15.59. And the commanders, seeing what was being done, withdrew in silence and took refuge in a sanctuary which was in Gazophyla. But Stotzas, gathering both armies into one, went against them, and, finding them in the sanctuary and giving them pledges, killed them all. 16.1. When the emperor learned this, he sent Germanus, his own nephew, a man of patrician rank, to Libya with a few men. 16.2. And there followed him Symmachus and Domnicus, men of the senate, the one to be prefect and steward of the expense, Domnicus to be in charge of the infantry. For John, upon whom this office had rested, had now died after falling sick. 16.3. And when they had sailed to Carthage, Germanus numbered the soldiers present with them and, going through the books of the secretaries, where are recorded all the names of the soldiers, found that the third part of the army was in Carthage and the other cities, but all the rest had ranged themselves with the tyrant against the Romans. 16.4. So for this reason he did not begin battle, but took care of the army as well as possible. And reckoning that those left in Carthage chanced to be kinsmen or tent-mates of the enemy, he uttered many things enticing to all, and said that he himself had been sent by the emperor to Libya to defend the wronged soldiers and to punish those who had begun any wrong against them. 16.5. When the mutineers learned this, they began to come over to him in small numbers. And Germanus received them into the city with kindness, and, giving pledges, held them in honour, and gave them their pay for the time during which they were in arms against the Romans. 16.6. And when the talk about this, going round, came to all, they now in great numbers, abandoning the tyrant, marched into Carthage. 16.7. And then indeed Germanus, hoping that the battle with his opponents would be on equal terms of power, made ready for the array. 16.8. Meanwhile Stotzas, now perceiving his trouble, and fearing lest, by the desertion of still more soldiers, his army should be still further diminished, was eager to run the risk at once and to take hold of the war more sharply. 16.9. And he had some hope from the soldiers in Carthage concerning desertion, and thought that they, if they should come near, would with no trouble desert, having spread the hope abroad to all; and especially encouraging them by this, he went quickly against Carthage with his whole army. 16.10. And coming within thirty-five stades of it, he encamped not far from the sea, and Germanus, arming his whole force and arraying it as for battle, led it out. 16.11. And when they had got outside the city — for he had heard what Stotzas was hoping for — calling all together, he spoke as follows: 16.12. "That you would not justly blame the emperor in anything, fellow-soldiers, nor find fault with anything that has been done by him toward you, no one, I think, of all men would gainsay; 16.13. seeing that he, having gathered you who came from the country with a wallet and a single tunic, and brought you to Byzantium, has made you to be so great that the affairs of the Romans now rest upon you. 16.14. But that he has chanced not only to be insulted, but also to suffer the most dreadful things of all at your hands, 16.15. you yourselves surely also know. Wishing the memory of these things to be preserved for you forever, he has remitted the grounds of complaint, deeming this debt alone to be owed him by you — the shame for what has been done. 16.16. Being led by this consideration, it is reasonable that you should unlearn your faithlessness and set right your former folly. 16.17. For repentance, coming upon those who have stumbled at the right time, is wont to make those who have been wronged forgiving toward them, and service, coming at the proper moment, is wont to change the name of the ungrateful." 16.18. "And this too it will be well for you to know: that, if in the present you become most loyal to the emperor, no memory of what has gone before will be left. 16.19. For every deed is ever wont to be named by men from its conclusion; and a fault once committed could not in all time be made undone, but, set right by deeds better than those which wrought it, it attains a seemly silence and for the most part comes round to oblivion. 16.20. And yet, if you now treat these accursed men with some negligence, and afterward, contending in many wars on behalf of the Romans, often win the mastery over the enemy, you would no longer seem to have rendered the like service to the emperor. 16.21. For those who win good repute in the very matters in which they erred bear forever a more seemly defence. So let each one of you reckon thus concerning the emperor. 16.22. And I, who have begun no wrong against you, and have shown by every means my goodwill toward you, and am now coming into this danger, have decided to ask this much of all: let no one go with us against the enemy contrary to his own judgment. 16.23. But if it is now the wish of any of you to range himself with them, let him, without delay, go with his arms to the camp of our opponents, granting us this one favour only, that he has decided to wrong us not secretly but openly. 16.24. For this is the reason that I make my speech not in Carthage but in the open space between the armies, so that I may be a hindrance to no one who wishes to desert to our opponents, it being possible for all, free from danger, to display 16.25. their purpose toward the state." Germanus said this much. And there was great commotion in the Roman army, since each one was eager to be first to display his goodwill toward the emperor to the general and to swear the most terrible oaths concerning these things. 17.1. For some time, then, each side remained, sitting opposite the other. But afterward the mutineers, seeing that nothing of what Stotzas had foretold was coming to pass, became afraid, inasmuch as their hope had been belied beyond expectation, and, dissolving their array, withdrew and marched off to Numidia, where their women and the goods of the booty were. 17.2. Thither Germanus too with his whole army came not long afterward, having made his other preparations as well as possible and bringing many wagons for the army. 17.3. And overtaking his opponents at a place which the Romans call Scalae Veteres, he made ready for the array in the following manner. 17.4. Placing the wagons in a line in front, he stationed all the infantry by them, of whom Domnicus was leader, so that, having their backs in safety, they might be the more confident. 17.5. And of the horsemen the best men, and those who had come with him from Byzantium, he himself held on the left of the infantry, but all the others he stationed on the right wing, not in one array, but in about three companies. 17.6. And of these Ildiger led one, Theodore the Cappadocian another, and the remaining one, which was the larger, John the brother of Pappus, himself the fourth in command. Thus, then, the Romans were arrayed. 17.7. And the mutineers stood facing them, not, however, arrayed in order, but scattered in barbarian fashion. 17.8. And there followed them at no great distance many tens of thousands of Moors, of whom, among many others, Iaudas and Ortaïas were leaders. 17.9. Not all, however, chanced to be faithful to the forces of Stotzas, but many, sending to Germanus beforehand, agreed that, when they should be in the action, they would range themselves with the emperor's army against the enemy. 17.10. Germanus, however, was not able to trust them altogether, since the nation of the Moors is by nature faithless toward all men. 17.11. Wherefore they did not even array themselves with the mutineers, but remained behind, watching for the outcome, so that with the victors they too might make the pursuit upon the defeated. 17.12. The Moors, then, with this purpose, not mingling with the mutineers, followed behind. 17.13. But Stotzas, when he had come very near the enemy, as soon as he saw the standard of Germanus, urging on those present, went against him. 17.14. But the Eruli who chanced to be arrayed as mutineers about him neither followed nor permitted it with all their might, saying that they did not know what the force of Germanus might be, but knew well that those who were arrayed on the right wing of the enemy would by no means withstand them. 17.15. If, then, they should go against those men, they themselves, not withstanding them, would turn to flight and would, as was likely, throw the rest of the army into confusion; but if Germanus, beating them off, should turn them, all their affairs would straightway be ruined. 17.16. Persuaded by these men, Stotzas left the others to fight with the forces of Germanus, while he himself with the best men went against John and those arrayed with him. 17.17. And they, not withstanding them, in no order turned to flight. And the mutineers straightway took all their standards, and pursued the fugitives with all their might, and some of them rode even against the infantry, 17.18. and the infantry now began to leave their array. But meanwhile Germanus himself, drawing his sword and rousing all the army there to the same, with much toil turned the mutineers opposed to him and at a run advanced against Stotzas. 17.19. And as the forces of Ildiger and Theodore joined him in this action, both sides became so mingled with one another that the mutineers, pursuing some of the enemy, were overtaken by others and slain. 17.20. And as the confusion advanced to a great pitch, the forces of Germanus, coming from behind, pressed on still more, while the mutineers, falling into great fear, no longer looked to defence. 17.21. Neither side, however, was distinguishable, either to themselves or to one another. For all used one tongue and the same fashion of arms, differing neither in form nor in dress nor in anything else whatever. 17.22. Wherefore, by the judgment of Germanus, the emperor's soldiers, whomsoever they should seize, asked who he was; then, if anyone said he was a soldier of Germanus, they bade him give the watchword of Germanus, and one who was in no way able to give this they straightway killed. 17.23. In this action one of the enemy, unobserved, killed the horse of Germanus, and Germanus himself, falling to the ground, came into danger, had not his guardsmen quickly saved him, fencing him round about and mounting him upon another horse. 17.24. So Stotzas in this tumult, with a few men, was able to escape. But Germanus, urging on his men, went straight against the camp of the enemy. 17.25. There those of the mutineers who had been stationed to guard the stockade met him. 17.26. And a fierce battle taking place about its entrance, the mutineers came within a little of beating off their opponents, but Germanus, sending some of those who followed him, commanded them to attempt another part of the camp. 17.27. And they, no one defending it there, got inside the stockade with little trouble. 17.28. And the mutineers, seeing them, turned to flight, and Germanus with all the rest of the army leaped into the camp of the enemy. 17.29. There the soldiers, plundering the goods with no trouble, made no account of their opponents nor any longer gave heed to the general as he exhorted them, the goods being at hand; wherefore Germanus, 17.30. fearing lest the enemy, coming to an understanding, should go against them, himself with a few men stood at the entrance of the stockade, lamenting much and calling those who paid no heed to good order. 17.31. And many of the Moors, the rout having thus come about, now pursued the mutineers and, ranging themselves with the emperor's army, plundered the camp of the defeated. 17.32. But Stotzas, at first having confidence in the army of the Moors, rode toward them, as if to renew the battle. 17.33. But perceiving what was being done, with a hundred men he was scarcely able to escape. 17.34. And again many, gathering about him, attempted to come to grips with the enemy, but, beaten off, no less, if not more, they all came over to Germanus. 17.35. And Stotzas alone, with a few Vandals, withdrew to Mauretania, and, taking as wife the daughter of one of the rulers, remained there. So this mutiny came to such an end. 18.1. Now there was among the guardsmen of Theodore the Cappadocian a certain Maximinus, an exceedingly wicked man. 18.2. This Maximinus, having with him very many of the soldiers who had sworn together against the state, 18.3. planned to make an attempt at tyranny. And being eager to win over still more to his fellowship, he disclosed the plan, among others, to Asclepiades, a man who came originally from Palestine, was well born, and was the first of the intimates of Theodore. 18.4. So Asclepiades, taking counsel with Theodore, straightway reported the whole matter to Germanus. 18.5. And he, not wishing, with his affairs still in suspense, to begin some other disturbance, decided to come round the man by flattery rather than by punishment, and to bind him by oaths to loyalty to the state. 18.6. Since, then, it was customary for all Romans from of old that no one should be appointed a guardsman of any commander unless he first, by providing the most terrible oaths, gave pledges of his loyalty toward him and toward the emperor of the Romans, Germanus, summoning Maximinus, praised his courage and bade him be henceforth his guardsman. 18.7. And he, overjoyed at the surpassing honour, and supposing that thereby his attack would proceed more easily for him, both submitted to the oath and thereafter, being ranged among the guardsmen of Germanus, thought it right straightway to disregard what he had sworn and to make his preparations for the tyranny much more strongly still. 18.8. Now the city was keeping a certain festival in full assembly, and many of the mutineers of Maximinus came about the time of the midday meal to the Palatium according to their agreement, where Germanus was entertaining his intimates, and Maximinus stood by the feast with the other guardsmen. 18.9. As the drinking went on, someone came in and reported to Germanus that many soldiers, in no order, were standing before the courtyard door, complaining that the public treasury owed them pay of a long time. 18.10. And he commanded the most faithful of the guardsmen secretly to keep Maximinus under guard, giving him by no means any perception of what was being done. 18.11. So the mutineers, with threat and tumult, went at a run to the hippodrome, and those of the senate who shared in their plan, gathering little by little out of the houses, streamed together there. 18.12. And if it had chanced that all were gathered into one place, no one, I think, 18.13. would easily have been able to break up their force; but as it was, Germanus, getting the start while the greater part of the throng was still left behind, sent against them at once all those who were loyal to him and to the emperor. 18.14. And these came to grips with the mutineers, who were not expecting them. And they, neither having Maximinus with them, whom they were expecting to lead them in the danger, nor seeing the multitude gathered to them as they thought, but beholding their fellow-soldiers fighting them beyond expectation, and from this falling into negligence, were easily defeated in the battle and in no order turned to flight. 18.15. And their opponents killed many of them and led many, taken alive, to Germanus. 18.16. But those who did not arrive at the hippodrome in time gave no perception of their share in the purpose concerning Maximinus. 18.17. Germanus, however, did not think it right to search these out further, but inquired whether Maximinus, after he had sworn, had practised plotting. 18.18. And when he was convicted of having, while ranged among his own guardsmen, made his attack still more, he impaled him very near the circuit-wall of Carthage, and thus was able to break up the mutiny altogether. So the plot of Maximinus came to such an end. 19.1. And the emperor, summoning Germanus with Symmachus and Domnicus, again entrusted to Solomon all the affairs of Libya, being in the thirteenth year of his reign as autocrat; and he furnished him an army and commanders, among others Rufinus and Leontius, the sons of Zaunas the son of Pharesmanes, and John the son of Sisiniolus. 19.2. For Martinus and Valerianus had already before come to Byzantium at the emperor's summons. 19.3. And Solomon, having sailed to Carthage and being freed from the mutiny of Stotzas, governed with moderation and guarded Libya in security, setting the army in order, and, if he found anything suspicious in it, sending it to Byzantium and to Belisarius, and enrolling new soldiers in place of those; and removing the surviving Vandals, and not least all their women, out of the whole of Libya. And he surrounded each city with a wall, and, guarding the laws with great strictness, preserved the state as well as possible. 19.4. And Libya became under him strong in revenue of money and otherwise prosperous. 19.5. And when everything had been set in the best order for him, he took the field again against Iaudas and the Moors in Aurasium. 19.6. And first he sent Gontharis, one of his own guardsmen, a man good in matters of war, with an army. 19.7. And he, coming to the river Abigas, encamped near Bagaïs, a desolate city. 19.8. And there, coming to grips with the enemy and being defeated in battle, and withdrawing to the stockade, he was now hard pressed by the blockade of the Moors. 19.9. Then Solomon himself too came up with the whole army, and when he was sixty stades from the camp which Gontharis commanded, making a stockade, he remained there, and, hearing all that had befallen the forces of Gontharis, sent them a part of the army and bade them with good courage fight it out with the enemy. 19.10. But the Moors, having got the upper hand in the encounter, 19.11. as has been said, did as follows. The river Abigas flows from Aurasium, and, coming down into the plain, waters the land in whatever way the men there wish. 19.12. For the natives lead this stream wherever they think it will for the moment be of advantage to them, since in this plain there chance to be many channels, into which the Abigas, dividing and going into all of them, is borne under the earth and again appears above the earth, 19.13. gathering its stream. And this, happening over the greater part of the plain, is set in the power of those who dwell there, by stopping up the channels with a mound, or again by uncovering them, to use the water of this river for whatever they wish. 19.14. At that time, then, the Moors, blocking up all the channels there, let the whole stream be borne about the camp of the Romans. 19.15. From this a deep and impassable marsh came to be and struck them with the utmost dismay and brought them into perplexity. 19.16. Hearing this, Solomon went quickly. But the barbarians, taking fright, withdrew to the foot of Aurasium. And at a place which they call Babosis, encamping, they remained. And Solomon, setting out with the whole army, came there. 19.17. And coming to grips with the enemy and mastering them by far, he turned them to flight. 19.18. And from this the Moors thought it inexpedient for them to fight a pitched battle against the Romans on equal terms; for they did not hope to prevail over them in battle; but in the rough country of Aurasium they had hope that the Romans, giving up through hardship, would in a short time withdraw thence as before. 19.19. So the most of them went off to Mauretania and to the barbarians south of Aurasium, but Iaudas with twenty thousand of the Moors remained there. Now it chanced that he had built a fortress in Aurasium, Zerbule by name. Into this entering with all the Moors, he kept quiet. 19.20. But Solomon by no means wished to spend time in the siege, and, learning that the plains about the city of Tamougadis were full of grain at its prime, led his army against them, and, settling there, ravaged the land. And after burning everything, he returned again to the fortress of Zerbule. 19.21. In the time during which the Romans were ravaging the land, Iaudas, leaving some of the Moors whom he thought most sufficient for the guard of the fortress, himself ascended to the height of Aurasium with the rest of the army, so that, while they were being besieged, provisions might not fail them there. 19.22. And finding a place held up on all sides by cliffs and covered by sheer rocks, 19.23. Toumar by name, there he kept quiet. And the Romans besieged the fortress of Zerbule for three days. And using their bows, since the wall was not high, they struck many of the barbarians on the battlements. 19.24. And by some chance it happened that all the leaders of the Moors, meeting with these missiles, died. 19.25. And when the time of three days had been spent and night came on, the Romans, learning nothing of the death of the leaders among the Moors, were planning to dissolve the blockade. 19.26. For it seemed better to Solomon to go against Iaudas and the multitude of the Moors, thinking that, if he should be able to take them by siege, the barbarians in Zerbule would come over to them more easily and with less toil. 19.27. But the barbarians, no longer thinking they could hold out against the blockade, since all their leaders had now been slain, decided to flee quickly and abandon the fortress. 19.28. Straightway, then, all in silence and giving the enemy no perception, fled, and the Romans at daybreak made ready for the withdrawal. 19.29. And when no one appeared on the wall, although the enemy were withdrawing, they marvelled and were for a long time perplexed with one another. 19.30. And in this helplessness, going round the fortress, they found the postern open, by which the Moors had gone off in flight. 19.31. And entering the fortress, they made everything plunder; yet they by no means planned to pursue the enemy, men lightly equipped and experienced in the regions there. 19.32. And when they had plundered everything, setting guards over the fortress, they all advanced on foot. 20.1. And coming to Toumar, the place where the enemy, having shut themselves up, kept quiet, they encamped somewhere near in a difficult place, where they were destined to have abundance neither of water, except a little, nor of any other necessary. 20.2. And when much time had been spent and the barbarians by no means came out against them, they themselves were no less, if not more, distressed, being hard pressed by the blockade. 20.3. And most of all they were vexed by the scarcity of water, which Solomon himself guarded, and gave out nothing else for the day except indeed a single cup to each man. 20.4. And when he saw them openly impatient and no longer able to bear the present hardships, he planned to make an attempt on the place, although it was hard of access, and, calling all together, exhorted them as follows: 20.5. "Since God has given to the Romans to besiege the Moors in Aurasium — a thing both before greater than hope and now altogether incredible to those who do not see what is being done — it is necessary that we too, serving the help from above, should not betray this favour, but, undertaking the danger with eagerness, should reach out for the good fortune that comes from success. 20.6. For every turn of human affairs comes round to the crisis of the opportune moment; and if anyone, playing the coward, betrays his fortune, he would not justly blame her, having brought the blame upon himself. 20.7. The weakness of the Moors you see surely, and the place where, deprived of all the necessaries, they keep themselves shut up. 20.8. And you must of necessity do one of two things: either, being by no means distressed at the blockade, await the surrender of the enemy, or, making light of this, accept the victory that comes with danger. 20.9. Rather, even to make war upon these barbarians will be free from danger for us, who, I think, fighting as they already are with famine, will never even come to grips with us. Bearing all these things in mind in the present, it is fitting that you should eagerly perform what is commanded." 20.10. After Solomon had thus exhorted them, he considered from what point it would be better for them to make the attempt on the place, and for a long time seemed to be at a loss. 20.11. For the difficulty of the ground seemed to him exceedingly hard to fight against. But while Solomon was pondering these things, fortune provided a way for the matter as follows. 20.12. There was among the soldiers a certain Gezon, an infantryman, the optio of the company in which he himself was enrolled; for thus the Romans call the steward of the pay. 20.13. This Gezon, whether in jest or in anger, or because some divine power moved him, began to ascend alone, as though going against the enemy, and some of his fellow-soldiers followed a little behind him, holding what was being done in great wonder. 20.14. And three of the Moors, who had been stationed to guard the entrance, suspecting that the man was coming against them, met him at a run. 20.15. But inasmuch as in the narrow place they did not advance in order, but each went separately, 20.16. Gezon, striking the first who fell in his way, killed him, and likewise dispatched each of the others too. 20.17. Seeing this, those who were coming behind, with much tumult and confusion, advanced against the enemy. 20.18. And when the whole Roman army heard and saw what was being done, neither awaiting the general to lead them on the way, nor the trumpets to signal the encounter, as was customary, nor indeed keeping their array, but using much din and urging one another on, they ran against the camp of the enemy. 20.19. There Rufinus and Leontius, the sons of Zaunas the son of Pharesmanes, displayed deeds against the enemy worthy of valour. 20.20. And the Moors, dismayed at them, when they learned that their guards too had been slain, straightway turned to flight, each as he could, and most of them, overtaken in the rough country, perished. 20.21. And Iaudas himself, struck in the thigh by a javelin, nevertheless escaped and withdrew to Mauretania. 20.22. And the Romans, having plundered the camp of the enemy, decided no longer to leave Aurasium, but, Solomon building fortresses there, to guard it, so that this mountain might never again be accessible to the Moors. 20.23. Now there is in Aurasium a sheer rock rising up in the midst of cliffs; the natives call it the rock of Geminianus; on it the men of old, making a very small tower, built a refuge strong and impregnable, the nature of the place helping them. 20.24. There it chanced that Iaudas had, a few days before, deposited his money and his women, setting one old Moor as guard of the money. 20.25. For he would never have suspected either that the enemy would come to this place, or that they could ever in all time take the tower by force. 20.26. But the Romans then, searching out the difficult places of Aurasium, came there, and one of them undertook with a laugh to climb up to the tower; and the women jeered, laughing at him as one reaching for the impossible; 20.27. and this the old man too did, peeping down from the tower. But the Roman soldier, when, climbing with hands and feet, he had got somewhere near, quietly drawing his sword, leaped up as fast as he could, and, hitting the old man on the neck, was able to cut him through and through. 20.28. And the head fell to the ground, and the soldiers, now taking courage and holding to one another, climbed up to the tower, and took out thence the women and the money, which was exceedingly great. 20.29. From this Solomon surrounded many of the cities in Libya with walls. 20.30. And when the Moors had withdrawn from Numidia, defeated, as has been said, he added to the Roman dominion, to pay tribute, the country of Zabe, which is beyond Mount Aurasium and is called First Mauretania, having Sitiphis as its metropolis; 20.31. for of the other Mauretania the first city chances to be Caesarea, where Mastigas with his own Moors was settled, holding all the regions there subject and tributary except indeed the city of Caesarea. 20.32. For this Belisarius had previously recovered for the Romans, as has been disclosed by me in the previous narrative; to it the Romans are always sent by ship, but they are not able to go by land, since Moors dwell in this country. 20.33. And from this all the Libyans who were subjects of the Romans, attaining a secure peace and the rule of Solomon, which was prudent and very moderate, and having henceforth nothing hostile in mind, seemed to be the most prosperous of all men. 21.1. But four years later all their good things chanced to turn into the opposite. For when the Emperor Justinian was in the seventeenth year of his reign as autocrat, Cyrus and Sergius, the sons of Bacchus the brother of Solomon, were appointed by the emperor to rule cities in Libya — Cyrus the elder over Pentapolis, 21.2. and Sergius over Tripolis. And the Moors called the Leuathae came with a great army to Leptis Magna to Sergius, noising it abroad that for this reason they had come, that Sergius might give them gifts and the customary tokens and confirm the peace. 21.3. But Sergius, persuaded by Pudentius, a man of Tripolis, whom I have mentioned in the previous narrative as having served the Emperor Justinian against the Vandals at the beginning of the Vandalic war, received into the city eighty of the most notable of the barbarians, promising to fulfil all that was asked, and commanded the rest to remain in the suburb. 21.4. And to these eighty, providing pledges concerning the peace, he thus invited them to a feast. But it is said that these barbarians had come into the city with treacherous intent, so that, having laid an ambush, they might kill Sergius. 21.5. And when they had come to a parley with him, they brought against the Romans, among other charges, that they had ravaged their crops when they ought not. 21.6. And Sergius, making light of this, rose from the seat on which he was sitting and wished to depart. 21.7. And one of the barbarians, laying hold of his shoulder, undertook to hinder him. 21.8. And from this falling into tumult, the others about him now streamed together. 21.9. And one of the guardsmen of Sergius, drawing his sword, dispatched this Moor. 21.10. And from this, a great commotion arising, as was likely, in the chamber, the guardsmen of Sergius killed all the barbarians. 21.11. And one of them, when he saw the others being slain, leaped out of the room where these things were being done, and, escaping the notice of all, came to his fellow-tribesmen and disclosed what had befallen them. 21.12. And they, hearing this, betook themselves at a run to their own camp and with all the rest came in arms against the Romans. 21.13. And when they had come about the city of Leptis Magna, Sergius and Pudentius with all the army met them. 21.14. And the battle being at close quarters, at first the Romans conquered and killed many of the enemy, and, plundering their camp, both got possession of the goods and made slaves of a great number of women and children. 21.15. But afterward Pudentius, given over to inconsiderate daring, perished. And Sergius with the Roman army (for it was now growing dark) marched into Leptis Magna. 21.16. And at a later time the barbarians with greater preparation took the field against the Romans. And Sergius was sent to Solomon his uncle, in order that he too might go with a greater army against the enemy; and there he found his brother Cyrus also. 21.17. And the barbarians, coming to Byzacium, plundered most of the regions there by their incursion; and Antalas (whom I have mentioned in the previous narrative as having remained faithful to the Romans, and for this reason being alone of the Moors a ruler in Byzacium) had now become hostile to Solomon, both because Solomon had taken from him the pay with which the emperor had honoured him, and because he had killed his brother, bringing a charge against him of some disturbance arising among the Byzacenes. 21.18. At that time, then, Antalas saw these barbarians gladly and, making alliance with them, led the way for them against Solomon and Carthage. 21.19. But Solomon, when he heard this, set out with all his army against them, and overtaking them about the city of Theveste, distant six days' journey from Carthage, encamped, both he and the sons of his brother Bacchus, Cyrus and Sergius and Solomon the youngest. 21.20. And fearing the multitude of the barbarians, he sent to the commanders of the Leuathae, blaming them because, being at peace with the Romans, they had then come in arms against them, and demanding that the peace be confirmed between them, and he promised to swear the most terrible oaths that in truth he would use amnesty for what had been done against them. 21.21. But the barbarians, mocking what was said, declared that he should by all means swear by the oracles of the Christians, which they are accustomed to call gospels. 21.22. Since, then, Sergius, after swearing by these, had then killed those who trusted them, they wished, going into battle, to make trial of these oracles, what power they have against perjurers, so that, trusting them most firmly, they might thus enter upon the agreements. Hearing this, Solomon made ready for the encounter. 21.23. On the following day, falling in with a part of the enemy who were carrying off the greatest possible booty, and conquering them in battle, he took away all the booty and kept it. 21.24. And to the soldiers, who were impatient and made it a grievance that he did not give them the spoils, he said that he was waiting for the end of the war, so that they might then distribute everything, as might appear to fall to each according to his worth. 21.25. But when the barbarians again with their whole army set out for the encounter, then some of the Romans were left behind, and the others went into the array without eagerness. 21.26. At first, then, the battle was evenly balanced, but afterward, the Moors far surpassing them in multitude, the most of the Romans fled, while Solomon and some about him for a time held out under the missiles, but afterward, the enemy overpowering them, they fled in haste and came to a ravine made by a brook flowing there. 21.27. There, his horse stumbling, Solomon fell to the ground, and his guardsmen, quickly lifting him in their hands, set him upon his horse. 21.28. But being in great pain and no longer able to hold the rein, he was overtaken by the barbarians, who killed both him and many of his guardsmen. Such was the end of life for Solomon. 22.1. After the death of Solomon, Sergius his nephew, as has been said, by the gift of the emperor took over the rule of Libya. 22.2. He became most of all responsible for great destruction to the Libyan race, and all were distressed at his rule — the commanders, because, being utterly without understanding and young both in character and in years, he became the most arrogant of all men, and outraged them for no reason at all and despised them, ever using to this end the power of his wealth and the authority of his office; the soldiers, because he was altogether unmanly and soft; and the Libyans, for these reasons and because he became a strange lover of other men's women and money. 22.3. But most of all John the son of Sisiniolus was grieved at the power of Sergius. For, being good in matters of war and exceedingly well reputed, he met with simple ingratitude from the man. 22.4. Wherefore neither he himself nor any other of all the men was willing to take up arms against the enemy. 22.5. And almost all the Moors followed Antalas, and Stotzas came at his summons from Mauretania. 22.6. And since no one of the enemy went out against them, they plundered and carried off everything fearlessly. Then Antalas wrote a letter to the Emperor Justinian. 22.7. And the writing disclosed this: "That I am a slave of your majesty I would not myself deny; but the Moors, having suffered unholy deeds at the hands of Solomon while at peace, have been forced most utterly to take up arms, not raising them against you, but defending themselves against their enemy, and I especially. 22.8. For not only did he decide to deprive me of the pay which Belisarius long ago appointed for me and you granted, but he also killed my brother, having no wrong to charge against him. 22.9. The penalty, then, we have taken from him who wronged us. But if it is your wish that the Moors should be slaves to your majesty and serve in all things as they are accustomed, command Sergius the nephew of Solomon, departing hence, to return to you, and send another general to Libya. 22.10. For you will not lack men of understanding and in every way worthier than Sergius; for so long as he commands your army, it is impossible for peace to be established between Romans and Moors." Such things Antalas wrote. But the emperor, 22.11. having read these things and learned the common hatred of all toward Sergius, even so was not willing to remove him from the command, out of respect for Solomon's other virtue and the close of his life. These things, then, were going on in this way. 22.12. But Solomon, the brother of Sergius, who was supposed to have perished from among men together with his uncle Solomon, was neglected both by the rest and by his brother; for no one knew that he was alive. 22.13. Now it chanced that the Moors had taken him alive, inasmuch as he was very young, 22.14. and inquired of him who he might be. And he said that he was a Vandal by race and a slave of Solomon; he said, however, that he had a friend, one of the physicians, Pegasius by name, in the city of Laribus, which was near by, who would purchase him by paying the ransom. 22.15. So the Moors, coming very near the circuit-wall of the city, called Pegasius and showed him Solomon, and asked whether it was his pleasure to purchase him. 22.16. And when he agreed to purchase him, they sold Solomon to him for fifty gold pieces. 22.17. But when he was inside the wall, Solomon mocked the Moors as having been deceived by a mere boy; for he said that he himself was Solomon, the son of Bacchus 22.18. and the nephew of Solomon. And the Moors, grieved at what had befallen and making it a great matter that, having had a strong pledge of Sergius and the Romans, they had then so carelessly let him go, came to Laribus and set about the siege of it, in order to take Solomon together with the city. 22.19. But those who were besieged, dreading the blockade of the barbarians, since they had not chanced to bring in provisions, came to a parley with the Moors, on condition that, paying over much money, they should straightway dissolve the blockade. 22.20. And they, not supposing they could take the city by force, since the Moors are by no means practised in storming walls, and by no means knowing that the besieged were short of provisions, accepted the proposal, and, having received three thousand gold pieces, dissolved the siege, and all the Leuathae withdrew homeward. 23.1. But Antalas and the army of the Moors gathered again in Byzacium, and with them was Stotzas, having some few soldiers and Vandals. 23.2. And John the son of Sisiniolus, the Libyans much beseeching him, gathered an army and came against them. 23.3. Now it chanced that Himerius the Thracian was commander of the detachments in Byzacium; him then John commanded, bringing with him all the detachments there with their several leaders, to come to a place called Menephesse, which is in Byzacium, 23.4. and join them. But afterward, hearing that the enemy were encamping there, John wrote to Himerius, disclosing what had befallen and bidding them join him elsewhere, so that not separately but in common all might meet the enemy. 23.5. But by some chance those who had this letter, using another road, were by no means able to find Himerius, but he, falling with his army into the camp of his opponents, came under their hands. 23.6. Now there was in this Roman army a young man, Severianus, son of Asiaticus, a Phoenician, of Emesa by race, commander of a cavalry detachment. 23.7. He alone, with the soldiers about him, fifty in number, came to grips with the enemy. 23.8. And for some time they held out, but then, overpowered by the great multitude, they ran up to a hill that was there, where also there was a fortress not secure. 23.9. Wherefore by agreement they surrendered themselves to their opponents, who had come up against them. 23.10. And they killed neither him nor any of the soldiers, but, taking them all alive, kept Himerius under guard and delivered the soldiers to Stotzas, who agreed with great eagerness to take the field against the Romans; Himerius, however, they threatened to kill, if he should not do what was enjoined. 23.11. And they enjoined him to deliver to them by some device the seacoast city of Adramytus. And when he maintained that this was his wish, they went with him against Adramytus. 23.12. And when they came near the city, they sent Himerius a little in advance with some of the soldiers who followed Stotzas, dragging along Moors bound, forsooth, while they themselves followed behind. 23.13. And they enjoined Himerius to say to those set over the gates of the city that the emperor's army had won a decisive victory and that John would come straightway, leading a multitude of Moorish captives beyond number; and thus, when the gates were opened to them, to get inside the circuit-wall with those going with him. 23.14. And he did accordingly. And the people of Adramytus, thus deceived (for they could not disbelieve the commander of all the soldiers in Byzacium), opening wide the gates, received the enemy. 23.15. Then those who entered with Himerius, drawing their swords, no longer permitted the guards there to set the gates in place, but straightway admitted the whole army of the Moors into the city. 23.16. And the barbarians, having plundered it and set a few guards, departed. 23.17. And of the Romans who had been taken alive, some, escaping, came to Carthage, among whom were Severianus and Himerius. For from the Moors it was not difficult for those who wished to flee. And many also remained with Stotzas, by no means against their will. 23.18. And not long afterward one of the priests, Paul by name, who had charge of the care of the sick, taking counsel with some of the notable men, said: "I myself 23.19. will be sent to Carthage, and I have hope of returning quickly with an army; and it will be your care to receive the emperor's army into the city." So they, fastening him to some ropes, let him down by night from the wall, and he, coming to the shore of the sea, and chancing upon a fishing-boat that was there, persuaded its owners with much money and sailed to Carthage. 23.20. There, having put in and come into the presence of Sergius, he told the whole story and asked him to give him an army worth mentioning, to recover Adramytus. 23.21. And when this by no means pleased Sergius, inasmuch as the army in Carthage was not large, he asked him to give him some few soldiers, and, taking men not more than eighty, devised the following. 23.22. Making a gathering of ships and many small boats, he embarked many sailors there and other Libyans, clothed in the garments which the soldiers of the Romans are accustomed to wear. 23.23. And setting out with the whole fleet, he sailed in haste straight for Adramytus. And when he had come very near it, he sent some men secretly and signified to the notable men of the city that Germanus, the nephew of the emperor, having lately come to Carthage, had sent to the people of Adramytus an army worth mentioning. 23.24. And he bade them take courage and open one postern for them that night. 23.25. And they did what was enjoined. And thus Paul, with those who followed him, getting inside the circuit-wall, killed all the enemy and recovered Adramytus for the emperor; and the report concerning Germanus, beginning there, advanced as far as Carthage. 23.26. But the Moors and Stotzas with those who followed him, hearing this, at first were dismayed and went off in flight to the extremities of Libya, but afterward, learning the true story, made it a dreadful matter that they, having spared all the people of Adramytus, had suffered such things at their hands. 23.27. Wherefore, falling upon them everywhere, they wrought unholy deeds upon the Libyans, sparing no age, and at that time the country became empty of men over a very great extent. 23.28. For of the Libyans who were left, some fled to the cities, others to Sicily and the other islands. 23.29. But almost all the notable men came to Byzantium, among whom was Paul too, who had recovered Adramytus for the emperor. 23.30. And the Moors more fearlessly, since no one went out against them, plundered and carried off everything, and with them was Stotzas, now in power. 23.31. For many Roman soldiers followed him, some having come as deserters, others having at first been made captives, 23.32. but remaining with him of their own will. And John, who had some reputation among the Moors, having quarrelled exceedingly with Sergius, kept quiet. 24.1. Meanwhile the emperor sent another general to Libya, Areobindus, with some few soldiers, a man of senatorial rank and well born, 24.2. but by no means experienced in deeds of war. And with him he sent Athanasius, a prefect lately come from Italy, and a few Armenians, of whom Artabanes and John were leaders, the sons of John, Arsacids by race, who had lately abandoned the Persian army and come over again to the Romans as deserters with the other Armenians. 24.3. And there were with Areobindus his sister and Praeiecta his wife, the daughter of Vigilantia, the sister of the Emperor Justinian. 24.4. He did not, however, summon Sergius, but commanded both him and Areobindus to be generals of Libya, dividing between them the country and the detachments of the soldiers. 24.5. And he assigned to Sergius the carrying on of the war against the barbarians in Numidia, and to Areobindus to fight continually with the Moors in Byzacium. 24.6. And when this fleet had sailed into Carthage, Sergius went off with his own army to Numidia, while Areobindus, learning that Antalas and Stotzas were encamping about the city of Siccaveneria, distant three days' journey from Carthage, commanded John the son of Sisiniolus to go against them, picking out whatever was best of the army; 24.7. and he wrote to Sergius to join the forces of John, in order that in common all might advance against the enemy. 24.8. Sergius, then, decided to make light of both the letter and this action, while John with a small army, beyond telling, was compelled to come to grips with a multitude of the enemy. 24.9. Now there was always great enmity between him and Stotzas, and each of them prayed to become the slayer of the other and thus to perish from among men. 24.10. At that time, then, as soon as the battle was about to be at hand, both, riding out from the camps, came against one another. 24.11. And John, drawing his bow, while Stotzas was still approaching, hit him, chancing upon his right groin, and he, smitten by a mortal wound, fell there, not yet dead, but destined to survive this wound for some short time. 24.12. And straightway all came up, both those who followed him and the army of the Moors, and placed Stotzas, faint, against a certain tree, while they themselves, advancing with much fury against the enemy, since they far surpassed them in multitude, turned John and all the Romans to flight with no trouble. 24.13. Then it is said that John said he died a sweet death, since the matter of his prayer concerning Stotzas had come to fulfilment. Now there was a steep place there, where his horse, stumbling, threw him off. 24.14. And as he tried to leap upon it again, the enemy, overtaking him, killed him, a man who had become great in reputation and in valour. And Stotzas, learning this, died, saying only this much, that now he died most sweetly. 24.15. In this battle John the Armenian also, the brother of Artabanes, perished, after displaying deeds against the enemy worthy of valour. 24.16. And the emperor, hearing this, and being exceedingly grieved at the valour of John, and thinking it inexpedient that two generals should administer the rule, summoned Sergius at once and sent him to Italy with an army, and handed over to Areobindus the whole power of Libya. 25.1. But Gontharis, two months after Sergius had departed thence, attempted a tyranny in the following manner. It chanced that he himself was commander of the detachments in Numidia and for this reason had his abode there, and he was secretly contriving with the Moors that they should advance against Carthage. 25.2. Straightway, then, an army of the enemy, gathered together from Numidia and Byzacium, went with much haste against Carthage. And the leaders of the Numidians were Cutzinas and Iaudas, of the Byzacenes Antalas. 25.3. And with him was also John the tyrant with his followers, whom the mutineers, after the death of Stotzas, had set up as commander over themselves. 25.4. And Areobindus, learning of the attack, summoned the other commanders with their followers to Carthage, and Gontharis. And there came to him also Artabanes with the Armenians. 25.5. So Areobindus commanded Gontharis to lead all the army against the enemy. 25.6. And he, promising eagerly to serve him in matters of war, did as follows. One of his servants, a Moor by race and a cook by trade, he commanded to go to the camp of the enemy, and to give to the others the appearance that he had run away from his master, but secretly to say to Antalas that Gontharis wished to share with him the rule of Libya. 25.7. So the cook did accordingly, and Antalas heard the proposal gladly, but answered only this much, that noble deeds are not wont to come to men through cooks. 25.8. When Gontharis heard this, he sent at once to Antalas one of his guardsmen, Ulitheus by name, whom he used as most faithful, inviting him to come as near as possible to Carthage. 25.9. For thus he promised to do away with Areobindus. 25.10. So Ulitheus, secretly from the other barbarians, made an agreement with Antalas, on condition that Antalas should rule Byzacium, holding the half of the money of Areobindus and bringing with him fifteen hundred Roman soldiers, while Gontharis should take the imperial dignity, holding the power of Carthage and the rest of Libya. 25.11. And having accomplished these things, he returned to the Roman camp, which they had made entirely before the circuit-wall, dividing among themselves the guard-posts of each gate. 25.12. And the barbarians not long afterward went with much haste straight for Carthage, and, encamping at the place called Decimum, remained there. And setting out thence on the following day, they advanced. 25.13. And some of the Roman army, meeting them, came to grips with them unexpectedly and killed not a few of the Moors. 25.14. These Gontharis straightway recalled, abusing them as men who showed daring without consideration and wished to throw the affairs of the Romans into manifest danger. 25.15. Meanwhile Areobindus, sending secretly to Cutzinas, was contriving concerning treachery. And Cutzinas agreed with him that, when they should be in the action, he would turn against Antalas and the Moors in Byzacium. 25.16. For the Moors keep faith neither with any other men nor with one another. These things Areobindus disclosed to Gontharis. 25.17. And he, wishing to deceive and to put off the matter, advised Areobindus by no means to have faith in Cutzinas, unless he should receive his children from him as hostages. 25.18. So Areobindus and Cutzinas, sending continually to one another secretly, were occupied with the plot against Antalas. 25.19. But Gontharis, again sending Ulitheus, made known to Antalas what was being done. 25.20. And he decided neither to make any charge against Cutzinas, nor to make manifest to him that he had learned of the plot, nor indeed did he disclose anything of what had been agreed between him and Gontharis. 25.21. But both, being enemies to one another and hostile in their purposes, ranged themselves together with evil intent, each going to take the field on behalf of his own friend against the other. 25.22. With such a purpose Cutzinas and Antalas led the army of the Moors against Carthage. And Gontharis planned to kill Areobindus, but, in order not to seem to be aiming at tyranny, he wished to do this secretly in the array, so that the plot against the general might seem to have been made by others, while he himself should be compelled by the Roman army to take up the rule of Libya. 25.23. By a trick, then, encompassing Areobindus, he persuaded him to go out against the enemy and engage them, now that they had come very near Carthage. 25.24. It was decided, then, that on the following day he should lead out the whole army against the enemy at sunrise. 25.25. But Areobindus, being very inexperienced in this matter and timid, used delay for no good reason. 25.26. For, practising how he should put on the equipment of arms and making his other preparations for the sortie, he spent the greater part of the day. 25.27. Wherefore, putting off the array to the next day, he remained quiet. 25.28. But Gontharis, suspecting that he had made the delay on purpose, as perceiving what was being done, decided openly to accomplish both the murder of the general and the attempt at tyranny. 26.1. On the following day he did as follows. Throwing open the gates where he himself kept guard, he placed enormous stones underneath, so that no one could easily set them in place, and stationed many men armoured and holding bows in their hands about the battlements, and he himself, putting on his corselet, stood in the midst of the gates. 26.2. He devised this not for the sake of the Moors, that he might receive them into the city (for the Moors, being altogether unstable, are suspicious toward all men. 26.3. And this happens to them not without reason; for whoever is by nature faithless to his neighbours is unable himself to trust anyone whatever, but is compelled to be suspicious toward all men, judging the character of his neighbour from his own mind). 26.4. Wherefore Gontharis did not even hope that the Moors, trusting him, would come inside the circuit-wall, but did this so that Areobindus, falling into great fear, might straightway be set in motion to flight and, quickly leaving Carthage, be conveyed to Byzantium. 26.5. And he did indeed hit upon the true thought, had not a storm coming on meanwhile prevented it. 26.6. And Areobindus, learning what was being done, summoned Athanasius and some of the notable men. 26.7. And there came to him also Artabanes from the camp, himself the third, and advised Areobindus neither to lose heart nor to yield to the daring of Gontharis, but at once to go against him together with all who followed him and set about the work, before any further evil should come to pass. 26.8. At first, then, Areobindus, sending to Gontharis one of his intimates, Phredas by name, commanded him to make trial of his purpose. 26.9. But when Phredas, returning, reported that Gontharis by no means denied the tyranny, he now planned to go against him as to battle. 26.10. Meanwhile Gontharis slandered Areobindus to the soldiers, saying that he was unmanly and, at once held fast by fear of the enemy and unwilling to give them their pay, was planning flight with Athanasius and was about straightway to sail off from Mandracium, so that the soldiers, fighting with famine and the Moors, might perish; and he inquired whether it was their wish to seize both and keep them under guard. 26.11. For thus he hoped that Areobindus, either perceiving the commotion, would take to flight, or, being caught by the soldiers, would be destroyed without any account. 26.12. He agreed, however, to give the soldiers from his own resources as much money as the public treasury owed them. 26.13. And they praised his words and were held by much fury against Areobindus, but meanwhile Areobindus with Artabanes and his followers arrived there. 26.14. And a battle took place both on the battlements and below about the gates where Gontharis stood, in which neither side had the worse. 26.15. And those who were loyal to the emperor, gathering from the camps, were about to take the mutineers by force. For Gontharis had not yet deceived all, but the most still remained pure in their purposes. 26.16. But Areobindus, then for the first time seeing men being slain (for he did not yet chance to be accustomed to this sight), was dismayed and, playing the coward and unable to endure what he beheld, fled. 26.17. Now there is within the circuit-wall of Carthage a sanctuary by the shore of the sea, where dwell men to whom the things pertaining to the divine have been strictly practised; we have always been accustomed to call these men monks; this sanctuary Solomon had built not long before and, surrounding it with a wall, had made it a most secure fortress. 26.18. There Areobindus, fleeing, leaped in, where he had chanced to send his wife and his sister. 26.19. Then Artabanes too went off, and all the rest withdrew thence, each as he could. 26.20. But Gontharis, having conquered by force, held the Palatium with the mutineers, and now kept most constant guard over the gates and the harbour. 26.21. First, then, he summoned Athanasius, and he, without any delay, came to him, 26.22. and, using much flattery, gave the appearance that the action pleased him exceedingly. 26.23. Then, sending the priest of the city, he commanded Areobindus to receive pledges and come to the Palatium, threatening to besiege him if he disobeyed and to give him no further pledges for his safety, but by every device to take him out and kill him. 26.24. So the priest Reparatus maintained that, by the consent of Gontharis, he would swear to Areobindus that nothing unpleasant would befall him at his hands, telling also what threats the man had made if he should not obey. 26.25. And Areobindus, taking fright, agreed straightway to follow the priest, if he, after performing the divine bath, as is customary, should then, on his behalf, swear to him pledges concerning his safety. 26.26. So the priest did accordingly. And Areobindus, without any delay, followed him, wearing a garment fit neither for a general nor for any other military man, but altogether becoming a slave or a private person; the Romans call it a casula in the Latin tongue. 26.27. And when they had come near the Palatium, taking the sacred oracles in his hands from the priest, he came into the sight of Gontharis. 26.28. And falling prone, he lay there a long time, holding out to him the suppliant's branch and the sacred oracles and the child which had been deemed worthy of the divine bath, on whom the priest, as I have said, had given him the pledge. 26.29. And when Gontharis with difficulty raised him up, he inquired of Gontharis, by all things holy, whether his safety was in security. 26.30. And he bade him be of very good courage now; for he should suffer nothing unpleasant at his hands, but on the following day should depart from Carthage with his wife and his money. 26.31. Then, dismissing the priest Reparatus, he bade Areobindus and Athanasius dine with him in the Palatium. 26.32. And he honoured Areobindus as he dined; for he made him recline first upon the couch; but when he had dined he did not let him go, but compelled him to sleep alone in a chamber, whither he sent Ulitheus with certain others against him. 26.33. And these, while he wailed and used many lamentations and uttered many things moving to pity toward them, killed him. Athanasius, however, they spared, despising, I think, the old age of the man. 27.1. On the following day Gontharis sent the head of Areobindus to Antalas, but decided to deprive him of the money and the soldiers. 27.2. Antalas, then, both because Gontharis fulfilled none of their agreements, and considering the oaths sworn and the deeds done by Gontharis against Areobindus, was indignant. 27.3. For it seemed to him that one who had so wronged such oaths would never be faithful either to himself or to anyone else whatever. 27.4. So, reckoning much within himself, he wished to come over to the Emperor Justinian; wherefore he marched back. 27.5. And learning that Marcentius, who commanded the detachments in Byzacium, had fled to one of the islands lying off the coast, he sent to him, told him the whole story, and, giving pledges, won the man over. 27.6. And Marcentius remained with Antalas in the camp, while the soldiers who had their station in Byzacium, being loyal to the emperor, guarded the city of Adramytus. 27.7. But the soldiers of Stotzas, no fewer than a thousand, perceiving what was being done, with John leading them, went at a run to Gontharis; 27.8. and he received them gladly into the city. And there were of them five hundred Romans, about eighty Huns, and all the rest Vandals. 27.9. And Artabanes, taking pledges, went up to the Palatium with the Armenians and agreed to serve the tyrant in whatever he commanded. 27.10. But secretly he was planning to kill Gontharis, having communicated this plan to Gregorius his nephew and Artasires his guardsman. 27.11. And Gregorius, urging him on to the deed, spoke as follows: "Artabanes, now it is in your power alone to win the glory of Belisarius, nay rather even to surpass it by far. 27.12. For he, taking a most notable army and great sums of money from the emperor, came here, having commanders who followed him and many counsellors, and a fleet of ships such as we have never known by hearsay, and much cavalry and arms and, in a word, simply everything prepared for him worthily of the Roman empire. 27.13. And thus with much toil he recovered Libya for the Romans. 27.14. But all this has so perished that, even if it had never been at all, the present state would be the same; except indeed that it has fallen to the Romans now, as a result of the victory of Belisarius, to be damaged in both bodies and money, and besides to have become unable even to guard the good things. 27.15. But the recovering of all this now for the emperor lies in your soul alone and your judgment and your right hand. 27.16. Reckon, then, that you are an Arsacid by descent from of old, and consider that for the well-born to play the man is fitting always and everywhere. 27.17. Many wonderful deeds, indeed, have been done by you on behalf of liberty. For while still a young man you killed Acacius, the ruler of the Armenians, and Sittas, the general of the Romans, and from this, having become known to the king Chosroes, you took the field with him against the Romans. 27.18. But since you are now so great that it belongs to you not to overlook the Roman dominion lying under a drunken dog, show now that by your nobility and valour of soul you have wrought, good sir, those former deeds; and I and Artasires here will serve you with all our power in whatever you command." 27.19. Gregorius said this much; and he set the mind of Artabanes still more eagerly upon the tyrant. 27.20. But Gontharis, leading the wife and sister of Areobindus out of the fortress, compelled them to remain in a certain house, neither outraging them in word or deed, nor having them in want of the necessaries beyond their need, nor forcing them to say or do anything else, except indeed that Praeiecta was compelled to write to her uncle that Gontharis honoured them exceedingly and was altogether pure of the murder of her husband, but that the evil had been wrought by Ulitheus, Gontharis by no means approving. 27.21. And Gontharis did this, persuaded by Pasiphilus, a man who had become first among the mutineers in Byzacium and had especially assisted him in the attempt at tyranny. 27.22. For Pasiphilus maintained that, if he did this, the emperor would give him the girl in marriage and bestow as dowry, by reason of the kinship, great sums of money. 27.23. And he commanded Artabanes to lead the army against Antalas and the Moors in Byzacium. 27.24. For Cutzinas, having quarrelled with Antalas, had revolted from him openly and come over to Gontharis, to whom he gave his son and his mother as hostages. 27.25. So the army, with Artabanes leading, advanced straightway against Antalas. And with him was also John, the commander of the mutineers of Stotzas, and Ulitheus the guardsman; and the Moors followed too, 27.26. of whom Cutzinas was leader. And passing by the city of Adramytus, they came upon their opponents who were somewhere there, and encamping a little apart from the enemy, they bivouacked. 27.27. On the following day John and Ulitheus, holding a part of the army, remained there, while Artabanes and Cutzinas led the army against their opponents. 27.28. And the Moors with Antalas, not withstanding them, turned to flight. 27.29. But Artabanes, playing the coward on purpose, suddenly turned his standard back and marched off. 27.30. Wherefore Ulitheus planned to kill him when he came to the camp. 27.31. But Artabanes, excusing himself, said he feared lest Marcentius, coming to the aid of his opponents from the city of Adramytus, where he chanced to be, should work irreparable deeds upon them; 27.32. and that Gontharis ought to go with the whole army against the enemy. 27.33. And at first he planned, going to Adramytus, to join the emperor's army. 27.34. But after much reckoning it seemed better to him, having made away with Gontharis from among men, to free the emperor and Libya from their troublesome affairs. 27.35. Returning, then, to Carthage, he reported to the tyrant that he would need a larger army against the enemy. 27.36. And he, having communicated with Pasiphilus, wished to arm the whole army, while he himself, after setting a guard in Carthage, should lead the army against the enemy. 27.37. He put to death, then, each day many, against whom he used some suspicion that had no reason. 27.38. And he enjoined upon Pasiphilus, whom he was about to set over the guard of Carthage, to kill all the Greeks, taking no account of any. 28.1. Having managed everything else as seemed to him best, he decided to entertain his intimates, intending on the following day to make the sortie. 28.2. And in a chamber where three couches had been made ready from of old, he held the banquet. 28.3. He himself, then, reclined upon the first couch, as was natural, where also were Athanasius and Artabanes, and some of the acquaintances of Gontharis, and Peter, a Thracian by race, who had formerly been a guardsman of Solomon. 28.4. And on both the other couches were the first and best of the Vandals. 28.5. John, however, who commanded the mutineers of Stotzas, Pasiphilus entertained apart, and each of the rest, wherever it seemed dear to each of the intimates of Gontharis. 28.6. Artabanes, then, when he was invited to this banquet, thinking this time suitable for him for the murder of the tyrant, planned to accomplish his purpose. 28.7. Disclosing the matter, then, to Gregorius and Artasires and three other guardsmen, he commanded the guardsmen to come inside with their swords (for it is the custom, when commanders are feasting, for the guardsmen to stand behind), and, when they were inside, to set to work suddenly, whenever the moment should seem to them most suitable, and that Artasires should first set to work. 28.8. And he enjoined Gregorius, picking out the most stout-hearted of the Armenians, to bring them to the Palatium, carrying their swords only in their hands (for with nothing else is it lawful for those who follow commanders in the city to be armed), and, leaving these in the portico, to go inside with the guardsmen, and to disclose the plan to no one of them, but to say only this much, that he was suspicious toward Gontharis, that with evil intent he had invited Artabanes to the banquet; 28.9. and that he wished them to stand by the guards of Gontharis who were stationed there on guard, and, giving the appearance of playing, to lay hold of the very shields which those men carried, and, brandishing them and otherwise moving them up and down, to keep turning them about continually; and when tumult or shouting arose inside, taking up the shields themselves, to come to the rescue at a run. 28.10. Artabanes, then, gave these orders, and Gregorius carried them out. And Artasires devised the following. Dividing some of his arrows in two, he set them upon the wrist of his left hand, along the divisions, up to the elbow. And binding them tight with thongs, he threw over them the part of his tunic there. 28.11. And he did this so that, if anyone, raising his sword against him, should undertake to strike him, he might suffer nothing dreadful, his left arm being held before him, since the iron, broken off in its rush against the wood, would be unable in any way to touch the body. With such a purpose Artasires did this, as I have said. 28.12. And to Artabanes he said as follows: "I shall undertake the deed with no hesitation, and I have hope of touching the body of Gontharis with this sword, but what comes after that I cannot say — whether God, being angry with the tyrant, will help me to accomplish this daring deed, or whether, exacting penalty for some sin of mine, He will here meet me and be a hindrance. 28.13. If, then, you see the tyrant struck not in a mortal spot, do you with my sword, without any delay, kill me, so that I may not, being maltreated by him, and saying under torture that the deed was undertaken by your judgment, both myself perish most shamefully and be compelled, against my will, to destroy you besides." 28.14. When Artasires had said this much, going with Gregorius and one of the guardsmen to the couches, he stood behind Artabanes. And the rest, remaining by the guards, did what had been enjoined upon them. 28.15. So Artasires, when the banquet had somehow begun, planned to set to work, and already was laying hold of the hilt of his sword. 28.16. But Gregorius prevented him, saying in the Armenian tongue that Gontharis was still wholly in possession of himself, not yet having drunk much of the wine. 28.17. Then Artasires, groaning, said: "O man, how good a spirit have you needlessly checked for the present!" 28.18. And as the drinking went on, Gontharis, now drenched, gave the guardsmen of the food, using a certain liberality. 28.19. And they, taking these portions, were about now to eat outside the room, only three guardsmen being left behind by Gontharis, of whom Ulitheus chanced to be one. 28.20. And Artasires too was going out, as if to taste of the food with the others. 28.21. There a thought came to him, lest, when he wished to draw the dagger, something should be a hindrance. 28.22. So, getting outside, he secretly threw away the sheath of his sword, and, taking it naked under his armpit, hidden by his cloak, he leaped in upon Gontharis, as though to say something secretly from the rest. 28.23. Seeing this, Artabanes, boiling with passion and falling, by the excess of his agony, into deep anxiety, began to move his head and to change the colours of his face many times, and seemed altogether to have become inspired by the greatness of the deed. 28.24. Peter, seeing this, understood what was being done, but did not disclose it to any of the others, since, being loyal to the emperor, what was being done exceedingly pleased him. 28.25. And as Artasires came very near the tyrant, one of the servants pushed him, and as he drew back a little, perceived the naked sword and cried out, saying, "What is this, most excellent man?" 28.26. And Gontharis, putting his hand to his right ear and turning his face, looked at him. 28.27. And Artasires struck him meanwhile with his sword and cut off a part of the forehead together with the fingers. 28.28. And Peter, crying out, urged Artasires on to kill the most unholy of all men. 28.29. And Artabanes, seeing Gontharis leaping up (for he was reclining near), drawing his two-edged dagger, which hung beside his thigh, a great one, thrust it into the left side of the tyrant up to the very hilt and there left it. 28.30. And he, none the less, undertook to leap up, but, having received a mortal wound, fell there. 28.31. Ulitheus, then, brought down his sword upon Artasires, as if to cleave his head; but he, putting his left hand before his head, enjoyed in his utmost need the fruit of his own forethought. 28.32. For the edge of the sword, being checked in the cuttings of the arrows on his arm, he himself, having become unharmed, killed Ulitheus with no trouble. 28.33. And Peter and Artabanes, the one seizing the sword of Gontharis, the other that of the fallen Ulitheus, killed the remaining guardsmen there. 28.34. There arose, then, as was likely, a great clamour and tumult. And when those of the Armenians who stood by the guards of the tyrant perceived this, straightway taking up the shields according to their agreement, they advanced at a run to the couches, and killed all the Vandals and the intimates of Gontharis, no one withstanding them. 28.35. Then Artabanes adjured Athanasius to take charge of the money in the Palatium; for all that had been left to Areobindus was there. 28.36. And when the guards learned the death of Gontharis, many ranged themselves at once with the Armenians; for the most were of the household of Areobindus. Coming to an understanding, then, they shouted the name of Justinian as triumphant. 28.37. And the cry, going forth from a multitude of men and being prodigiously loud, had power to reach the greater part of the city. 28.38. Thence those who were loyal to the emperor, leaping into the houses of the mutineers, killed straightway some who were taking sleep, some food, and some seized with fear and held by dire helplessness. 28.39. Among these was Pasiphilus too. For John with some of the Vandals fled to the sanctuary. 28.40. To these Artabanes, providing pledges, and raising them up thence, sent them to Byzantium, and, having recovered the city for the emperor, guarded it. 28.41. And the murder of the tyrant took place on the thirty-sixth day from the tyranny, in the nineteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian as autocrat. 28.42. And Artabanes from this deed won great glory among all men. 28.43. And Praeiecta, the wife of Areobindus, straightway presented him with great sums of money, and the emperor appointed him general of all Libya. 28.44. But not long afterward Artabanes begged the emperor to summon him to Byzantium, 28.45. and the emperor fulfilled his request. And summoning Artabanes, he appointed John the brother of Pappus sole general of Libya. 28.46. This John, as soon as he came to Libya, coming to grips with Antalas and the Moors in Byzacium and conquering them in battle, killed many of the enemy, and, taking away from these barbarians all the standards of Solomon, sent them to the emperor, which they themselves had taken when Solomon was destroyed from among men. And the rest he drove very far from the Roman dominion. 28.47. But at a later time the Leuathae again, coming with a great army from the regions about Tripolis to Byzacium, joined the forces of Antalas. 28.48. Meeting them, John was defeated in the encounter, and, losing many of those who followed him, fled to Laribus. 28.49. And then indeed the enemy, overrunning everything as far as Carthage, wrought irreparable deeds upon the Libyans who fell in their way. 28.50. But not long afterward John, gathering the survivors among the soldiers, and bringing in as allies the Moors, among others those about Cutzinas, came to grips with the enemy and unexpectedly turned them to flight. 28.51. And the Romans, following them as they fled in no order, killed a great part of them, while the rest escaped to the extremities of Libya. 28.52. And thus to the survivors among the Libyans, few in number and exceedingly poor, there came at last and with difficulty some measure of quiet.