Book 5

1.1. The affairs of the Romans in Libya, then, proceeded in this way. I shall now go on to the Gothic war, telling first what befell the Goths and the Italians before this war. 1.2. While Zeno was reigning in Byzantium, Augustus held the dominion of the West, whom the Romans called by the diminutive Augustulus, because, being still a boy, he had taken over the kingship, which his father Orestes, a man of the utmost sagacity, administered for him. 1.3. Now it chanced that the Romans a little before had brought in as allies the Sciri and the Alani and certain other Gothic nations; and from this it came about that they suffered at the hands of Alaric and Attila the things which I have told in the earlier narrative. 1.4. And in proportion as the strength of the barbarians among them flourished, in like proportion the prestige of the Roman soldiers was already declining; and, under the fair-sounding name of alliance, being tyrannized over by these newcomers, they were oppressed; so that the newcomers compelled them, with no restraint, to do many other things against their will, and finally demanded that they should divide among themselves all the lands of Italy. 1.5. And they commanded Orestes to give them the third part of these, and when he by no means agreed to do this, they straightway killed him. 1.6. Now there was among them a man named Odoacer, one of the bodyguards of the emperor; and he agreed to do for them at that time what they demanded, if they should set him in the position of power. 1.7. And having thus taken over the rule, he did the emperor no further harm, but allowed him to live thenceforth as a private person. 1.8. And by giving the third part of the lands to the barbarians, and in this way binding them most firmly to himself, he made the tyranny secure for ten years. 1.9. About the same time the Goths also, who dwelt in Thrace by permission of the emperor, took up arms against the Romans, under the leadership of Theoderic, a man of patrician rank who had attained the consular chair in Byzantium. 1.10. But the Emperor Zeno, who knew how to settle to his advantage the matters at hand, advised Theoderic to proceed to Italy, and, coming to grips with Odoacer, to win for himself and the Goths the dominion of the West. 1.11. For it was better for him, he said, especially as he had attained the senatorial dignity, to force out a tyrant and rule over all the Romans and Italians than to come into so great danger by contending with the emperor. 1.12. And Theoderic, pleased with the suggestion, went to Italy, and the people of the Goths followed him, placing their children and women and such of their goods as they could carry in the wagons. 1.13. And when they had come close to the Ionian Gulf, they were by no means able to cross it, since no ships were at hand; but going around the circuit of the gulf, they advanced through the land of the Taulantii and the nations there. 1.14. These the forces of Odoacer met, but, being defeated in many battles, shut themselves up with their leader in Ravenna and in the strongest of the other places. 1.15. And the Goths, settling down to a siege, took all the other places in whatever way it chanced for each, but Caesena, the fortress which is distant three hundred stades from Ravenna, and Ravenna itself, where Odoacer chanced to be, they were unable to take either by agreement or by force. 1.16. For this Ravenna lies in a level plain at the extremity of the Ionian Gulf, separated by the measure of two stades from being on the sea, and it appears to be easy of approach neither for ships nor for an army of foot-soldiers. 1.17. For ships are by no means able to put in to the shore there, since the sea itself is a hindrance, forming a shallow no less than thirty stades wide; and for this reason this shore, although it appears very near to those who sail, is in fact very far off by reason of the extent of the shallow. 1.18. And it is by no means accessible to an army of foot-soldiers; for the river Po, which they also call the Eridanus, flowing past from the borders of the Celts, and other navigable rivers, together with certain lagoons, surround the city on every side and make it encompassed by water. 1.19. There a wonderful thing happens every day. In the morning the sea, taking the form of a river, comes up over the land for a journey of one day for an unencumbered man, and renders itself navigable in the midst of the mainland; and then, dissolving the channel again, it turns back about late afternoon and gathers the stream upon itself. 1.20. All those, then, who have occasion to bring provisions into the city, or to carry them out for trade or for any other reason, place their cargoes in the boats, and, having drawn them down at the place where the channel is wont to be formed, await the inflow. 1.21. And when this comes, the boats, lifted little by little from the land, float, and the sailors about them, setting to work, now sail. 1.22. And this happens not there only, but along the whole of that shore continually, as far as the city of Aquileia. 1.23. It does not, however, happen in the same way at all times, but when the light of the moon is faint, the advance of the sea also is not strong, but after the first quarter until the second the inflow is wont to become stronger. So these things are thus. 1.24. But when the third year had now been spent by the Goths and Theoderic in besieging Ravenna, and the Goths were distressed at the blockade and the forces of Odoacer were oppressed by the scarcity of necessaries, they came to a parley with one another through the mediation of the priest of Ravenna, on condition that Theoderic and Odoacer should dwell in Ravenna on terms of equality and likeness. 1.25. And for some time they kept the agreement, but afterward Theoderic, having caught Odoacer, as they say, plotting against him, invited him to a banquet with treacherous intent and killed him; and from this, having won over by persuasion such of the hostile barbarians as chanced to survive, he himself held the power over both Goths and Italians. 1.26. And he did not see fit to assume either the dress or the name of emperor of the Romans, but continued to be called rex to the end of his life (for thus the barbarians are accustomed to call their leaders); yet he presided over his subjects, investing himself with all the qualities which are fitting for one who is by nature king. 1.27. For he took the most extraordinary care of justice and preserved the laws securely; he guarded the land safely from the barbarians dwelling round about, and attained the highest degree of wisdom and manliness. 1.28. And he himself committed scarcely a single act of injustice against his subjects, nor did he permit any other who attempted such things, except indeed that the Goths divided among themselves the portion of the lands which Odoacer had given to his partisans. 1.29. And Theoderic was in name a tyrant, but in deed a true king, inferior to none of those who had distinguished themselves in this office from the beginning; and love for him among both Goths and Italians flourished greatly, and this contrary to the manner of mankind. 1.30. For since in states men of different parties always choose different things, it comes about that the government in power pleases for the moment those to whom its deeds are pleasing, but offends those whose judgment runs counter to it. 1.31. But after a reign of thirty-seven years he died, having become terrible to all his enemies, but having left great longing for himself among his subjects. And he died in the following manner. 1.32. Symmachus and Boethius, his son-in-law, were patricians by descent from of old, and both had been first in the Roman senate and consuls. 1.33. But having cultivated philosophy and given heed to justice no less than any others, and having remedied the want of many of the citizens and of strangers with their money, and having advanced greatly in reputation, they brought the most wicked men into envy of them. 1.34. And Theoderic, persuaded by these slanderers, killed these two men on the charge that they were attempting a revolution, and confiscated their property to the public treasury. 1.35. And a few days later, while he was dining, the servants set before him the head of a great fish. This head seemed to Theoderic to be that of Symmachus newly slain. 1.36. And with the teeth fixed in the lower lip, and the eyes looking at him with a grim and mad gaze, it seemed exceedingly like one threatening him. 1.37. And being terror-stricken at the strangeness of the portent and shivering exceedingly, he withdrew at a run to his own chamber, and, bidding them lay many coverlets upon him, kept quiet. 1.38. But afterward, disclosing all that had befallen to Elpidius the physician, he wept for the wrong he had done to Symmachus and Boethius. 1.39. And after he had wept and grieved deeply over the calamity, he died not long afterward, having done this first and last act of injustice against his subjects, namely, that he had passed judgment concerning the two men without searching out the matter, as had been his custom. 2.1. After his death the kingship was taken over by Atalaric, the grandson of Theoderic by his daughter, being eight years old and reared under his mother Amalasuntha. 2.2. For his father had already departed from among men. And not long afterward Justinian took over the kingship in Byzantium. 2.3. And Amalasuntha, being guardian of her child, administered the government, having attained the highest degree of wisdom and justice, but displaying to a marked degree a masculine quality of nature. 2.4. And during the whole time that she presided over the state she punished none of all the Romans in his person, nor confiscated their money. 2.5. Nor indeed did she yield to the Goths in their desire to do them wrong, but she even restored to the children of Symmachus and Boethius their property. 2.6. Now Amalasuntha wished to make her child resemble the Roman princes in his manner of life, and was already compelling him to attend a school of letters. 2.7. And she chose out three of the old men among the Goths whom she knew to be most prudent and reasonable of all, and bade them associate with Atalaric. 2.8. But this was by no means pleasing to the Goths. For, through their desire to wrong their subjects, they wished to be ruled by him in a more barbarian fashion. 2.9. And once the mother, finding the child doing some wrong in his chamber, struck him; and he, in tears, went off thence to the men's apartment. 2.10. And the Goths, meeting him, made a great matter of it, and, abusing Amalasuntha, maintained that she wished to put the child out of the way as quickly as possible, so that she herself, coming to the bed of another husband, might rule the Goths and Italians along with him. 2.11. And all who were notable among them gathered together and came to Amalasuntha and found fault that the king was not being educated rightly nor in a way to his advantage. 2.12. For letters, they said, are far removed from manliness, and the teaching of old men for the most part results in a cowardly and submissive spirit. 2.13. Therefore the man who is to be bold in any action and great in reputation must be set free from the fear that comes from teachers and must practise the exercises of arms. 2.14. And they said that not even Theoderic would ever allow any of the Goths to send their children to a school of letters; 2.15. for he used to say to them all that, if the fear of the strap once came over them, they would never have the spirit to despise sword or spear. 2.16. And they thought it right that she should reflect that her father Theoderic, before he died, had become master of so great a territory and had invested himself with a kingship in no way belonging to him, although he had no acquaintance even by hearsay with letters. 2.17. "Therefore, O mistress," they said, "bid these tutors now begone, and do you give to Atalaric some companions of his own age to share his life, who, growing up to manhood along with him, will urge him on to valour after the barbarian fashion." 2.18. When Amalasuntha heard this, she did not approve, but, fearing the plot of these men, she gave the appearance that their words were pleasing to her, and conceded all that the barbarians demanded of her. 2.19. And when the old men had left Atalaric, certain boys associated with him to share his life, not yet come to manhood, but a little older in years, who, as soon as he came to manhood, by urging him to drunkenness and intercourse with women, made him exceedingly base in character and, through their folly, more disobedient to his mother. 2.20. So that he by no means thought it right to give heed to her at all, although the barbarians were already openly uniting against her, who indeed bade the woman without restraint withdraw from the palace. 2.21. But Amalasuntha neither was dismayed at the plot of the Goths nor weakened as a woman might, but, still displaying her royal dignity, she chose out three of the most notable among the barbarians who were most responsible for the sedition against her, and commanded them to go to the extremities of Italy — not, however, together, but as far as possible from one another; and in name they were sent to guard the country against the inroad of the enemy. 2.22. But none the less these men, through their friends and kinsmen (for they still came together with them, even though making a long journey), were preparing the plot against Amalasuntha. And being no longer able to bear this, the woman devised the following plan. 2.23. She sent to Byzantium and inquired of the Emperor Justinian whether it was his wish that Amalasuntha the daughter of Theoderic should come to him; for she wished to depart from Italy as quickly as possible. 2.24. And the emperor, pleased at the word, bade the woman come, and gave orders that the finest of the houses in Epidamnus should be made ready, so that, when Amalasuntha should come there, she might lodge there and, after spending as much time as she wished, might thus be conveyed to Byzantium. 2.25. When Amalasuntha learned this, she chose out Gothic men, energetic and most devoted to her, and sent them to kill the three whom I have just mentioned, since they had been most responsible for the sedition against her. 2.26. And she herself, placing in a single ship other money and four hundred centenaria of gold, and embarking on it some of those most faithful to her, bade them sail to Epidamnus, and, when they arrived, to anchor in its harbour, but of the cargo, until she herself should send word, 2.27. to carry nothing whatever out of the ship. And she did this in order that, if she should learn that the three were dead, she might remain where she was and send for the ship, having no longer any fear from her enemies; but if it should chance that one of them survived, then, with no good hope left to her, she might sail in haste and find safety in the emperor's land together with the money. 2.28. With such a purpose Amalasuntha sent the ship to Epidamnus, and when it arrived at the harbour of the Epidamnians, those who had the money did what had been enjoined upon them. 2.29. And a little later Amalasuntha, the murders having been accomplished for her as she wished, sent for the ship and, remaining in Ravenna, made her rule as secure as possible. 3.1. Now there was among the Goths one Theodahad by name, son of Amalafrida the sister of Theoderic, a man already advanced in years, who had partaken of Latin letters and the doctrines of Plato, but was altogether without practice in war and far removed from any energy, though devoted to the love of money in a marvellous degree. 3.2. This Theodahad had become master of most of the lands in Tuscany, and was eager to take from their owners the rest by force as well; for to have a neighbour seemed to Theodahad a kind of misfortune. 3.3. Amalasuntha was eager to check this eagerness of his, and on this account he was always vexed with her and ill-disposed toward her. 3.4. He planned, therefore, to give over Tuscany to the Emperor Justinian, on condition that, receiving much money and the dignity of senator from him, he should spend the rest of his life in Byzantium. 3.5. While Theodahad was planning this, envoys came from Byzantium to the bishop of Rome — Hypatius, the priest of Ephesus, and Demetrius from Philippi in Macedonia — on account of a doctrine over which the Christians dispute among themselves, being in doubt. 3.6. The points in dispute I shall by no means mention, though I know them well; for I consider it a kind of insane folly to investigate the nature of God, of what sort it is. 3.7. For I think that even human things are not accurately comprehended by man, much less the things that pertain to the nature of God. So let these matters be passed over by me in safety, with the sole purpose that things held in honour be not disbelieved. 3.8. For I, for my part, would say nothing whatever about God except that He is altogether good and holds all things in His power. 3.9. But let each speak concerning these matters as he thinks he knows, both priest and layman. But Theodahad, meeting secretly with these envoys, enjoined them to report to the Emperor Justinian what he had planned, telling them all that I have just disclosed. 3.10. Meanwhile Atalaric, having fallen into a debauchery that knew no bounds, was seized by a wasting disease. 3.11. Wherefore Amalasuntha was at a loss; for she had no confidence in the judgment of her child, who had come to such a state of degeneracy, and, if Atalaric himself should depart from among men, she did not think her own life would be in safety thereafter, since she had offended the most notable of the Goths. 3.12. For this reason she wished to give over the power of the Goths and Italians to the Emperor Justinian, in order that she herself might be saved. 3.13. Now it chanced that Alexander, a man of senatorial rank, had come there with Demetrius and Hypatius. 3.14. For when the emperor heard that the ship of Amalasuntha was anchored in the harbour of Epidamnus, but that she still delayed, although much time had been spent, he sent Alexander to spy out everything concerning Amalasuntha and report it. 3.15. And in name the emperor sent Alexander as an envoy, being disturbed about the affairs of Lilybaeum (which I have disclosed in the previous narrative), and because ten Huns from the army in Libya, taking to flight, had come to Campania, and Uliaris, who guarded Naples, had received them, not without the consent of Amalasuntha; and because the Goths, in their war with the Gepaedes about Sirmium, had treated the city of Gratiana, which lies on the borders of Illyricum, as hostile. 3.16. Bringing these charges against Amalasuntha, and writing a letter, he sent Alexander. And he, when he came to Rome, left the priests there transacting the business for which they had come, while he himself, conveyed to Ravenna and coming into the presence of Amalasuntha, reported the emperor's words secretly and handed over the letter openly. 3.17. And the writing disclosed this: "The fortress in Lilybaeum, which is ours, you hold, having taken it by force, and barbarians who have become runaways from me you have received and have not even now decided to give back, but you have also wrought irreparable injury upon my Gratiana, 3.18. though it in no way belongs to you. Wherefore it is time for you to reckon what the end of these things will be." 3.19. When the woman had read this letter, she answered as follows: "A great emperor, and one who lays claim to virtue, ought reasonably to assist an orphan child who by no means perceives what is being done, rather than to be at variance with him for no cause whatever. 3.20. For a contest, unless it be set up between equals, does not bring even victory in a seemly form. 3.21. But you brandish Lilybaeum against Atalaric, and ten runaways, and a wrong committed by soldiers going against their own enemies, which fell upon a friendly city through some ignorance. 3.22. Do not so, O emperor, do not so; but reflect that, when you were taking the field against the Vandals, not only did we set ourselves as no hindrance to you, but we also gave you with great eagerness a road against the enemy and a market of the most necessary things, and among other things so great a multitude of horses, from which most of all your victory over the enemy came about. 3.23. And yet he would justly be called an ally and a friend, not only who holds out the alliance in word to his neighbours, but who also is seen serving each one in war with whatever he may need. 3.24. And reckon that at that time your fleet was able neither to put in to land anywhere from the sea except Sicily, nor to go to Libya without the things purchased there. 3.25. So that the chief part of the victory comes to you from us; for he who provides the solution to those in difficulty has a just claim to the success that follows. 3.26. And what would be sweeter to a man, O emperor, than mastery over his enemies? And indeed it falls to us to be wronged in no moderate degree, since, contrary to the law of war, we do not divide the portion of the spoils. 3.27. But now you think it right to take from us even the Sicilian Lilybaeum, which belonged to the Goths from of old — a single rock, O emperor, not worth even a piece of silver, which it would have been fitting for you to render in turn to Atalaric, who assisted you in your direst need, even if it had chanced from of old 3.28. to belong to your empire." This Amalasuntha wrote openly to the emperor; but secretly she agreed to put the whole of Italy into his hands. 3.29. And the envoys, returning to Byzantium, reported everything to the Emperor Justinian — Alexander what was the purpose of Amalasuntha, and Demetrius and Hypatius all that they had heard Theodahad say, and that Theodahad, wielding great power in Tuscany and having become master of much of the land there, would be able with no trouble to accomplish what had been agreed. 3.30. Overjoyed at this, the emperor straightway sent to Italy Peter, an Illyrian by race, coming from Thessalonica, one of the orators in Byzantium, and otherwise sagacious and gentle and well fitted by nature for persuasion. 4.1. While these things were happening thus, many of the Tuscans denounced Theodahad to Amalasuntha for doing violence to all the people there and taking away their lands for no reason — all the rest, and not least the royal house itself, which the Romans are accustomed to call the patrimonium. 4.2. Wherefore the woman, calling Theodahad to account and convicting him outright by his accusers, compelled him to pay back everything which he had wrongfully taken, and so dismissed him. 4.3. And from this, having offended the man exceedingly, she became at variance with him thenceforth, since he was grieved to the utmost by his love of money, because he was unable to do wrong and to use violence. 4.4. About this time Atalaric, wasted away by his disease, died, having survived for eight years in his rule. And Amalasuntha (for it was fated that evil should befall her), making no account of the nature of Theodahad and of what he had lately done to her, supposed that she would suffer nothing unpleasant at his hands if she did the man some greater good. 4.5. Summoning him, therefore, when he came, she said, taming him with soft words, that she had long known that her child would die before long; for she had heard that all the physicians agreed in their opinion, and she herself had perceived that the body of Atalaric was ever wasting away. 4.6. And since she saw that both Goths and Italians held no good opinion concerning Theodahad himself, to whom the family of Theoderic had come round, she was eager to purge him of this shameful name, so that nothing might be a hindrance to him when he should be called to the kingship. 4.7. And at the same time the matter of justice troubled her, lest, if it should come about that those who already accused him of having wronged them should have no one to whom to report what had befallen them, they should have as master the one who was hostile to them. 4.8. For these reasons, then, she said, she was calling him, now thus purified, to the kingship; but he must be bound by the most terrible oaths that the name of the rule should belong to Theodahad, while she herself in deed should have the power no less than before. 4.9. When Theodahad heard this, having sworn all that Amalasuntha wished, he agreed to it with treacherous intent, keeping in mind all that she had previously done to him. 4.10. Thus Amalasuntha, deceived both by her own judgment and by the oaths of Theodahad, established him in the rule. 4.11. And sending Gothic men as envoys to Byzantium, she disclosed this to the Emperor Justinian. 4.12. But Theodahad, having taken over the leadership, did everything contrary to what she had hoped and what he himself had promised. 4.13. And, having won over the kinsmen of those Goths whom she had killed, who were many and exceedingly notable among the Goths, he suddenly killed some of the relatives of Amalasuntha and kept her under guard, the envoys not having yet arrived at Byzantium. 4.14. Now there is a certain lake in Tuscany, called Bolsena, within which an island rises up, exceedingly small, but having a strong fortress. 4.15. There Theodahad shut up Amalasuntha and kept her under guard. But fearing — which indeed came to pass — that he had thereby offended the emperor, he sent men of the Roman senate, Liberius and Opilio with certain others, and enjoined them to excuse him with all their power before the emperor, maintaining that nothing unpleasant had befallen Amalasuntha at his hands, although she had previously wrought irreparable dreadful deeds against him. 4.16. And to this effect he himself wrote to the emperor, and compelled Amalasuntha, against her will, to write. 4.17. These things, then, were going on in this way. But Peter was already being sent on the embassy, having been directed beforehand by the emperor to meet Theodahad secretly from all the rest, and, when he gave pledges by oath that none of what was being done should become known, thus to settle the matter of Tuscany securely with him, 4.18. and, meeting Amalasuntha secretly, to arrange about the whole of Italy in whatever way was likely to be of advantage to each. 4.19. But openly he was going to act as envoy concerning Lilybaeum and the other matters which I have just mentioned. For the emperor had not yet heard anything concerning the death of Atalaric, or the rule of Theodahad, or what had befallen Amalasuntha. 4.20. And Peter, journeying on the way, first met the envoys of Amalasuntha and learned about the rule of Theodahad; 4.21. and coming a little later to the city of Aulon, which lies on the Ionian Gulf, and there meeting the forces of Liberius and Opilio, he learned of all that had befallen, and, reporting this to the emperor, remained there. 4.22. And when the Emperor Justinian heard this, planning to throw the Goths and Theodahad into confusion, he wrote a letter to Amalasuntha, disclosing that he was eager to take her part as much as possible; and he enjoined Peter by no means to conceal these things, but to make them manifest both to Theodahad himself and to all the Goths. 4.23. And of the envoys from Italy the others, when they were conveyed to Byzantium, reported the whole matter to the emperor, and Liberius most of all; 4.24. for the man was exceedingly fair and good, and knew how to give heed to the truth; 4.25. but Opilio alone maintained most persistently that Theodahad had done no wrong to Amalasuntha. And when Peter arrived in Italy, it befell Amalasuntha to be removed from among men. 4.26. For the kinsmen of the Goths whom she had killed, coming to Theodahad, maintained that neither his life nor theirs was in safety unless Amalasuntha should be put out of the way as quickly as possible. 4.27. And when he gave them leave, they went to the island and straightway killed Amalasuntha. 4.28. This grieved exceedingly all the Italians and the other Goths. 4.29. For the woman had the strongest care for all virtue, 4.30. as I have said a little before. So Peter protested outright to Theodahad and the other Goths that, this dreadful deed having been wrought by them, there would be a truceless war between the emperor and them. 4.31. But Theodahad, in his folly, holding the murderers of Amalasuntha in honour and esteem, wished to persuade Peter and the emperor that this defilement had been wrought by the Goths with his disapproval and most against his will. 5.1. Meanwhile it chanced that Belisarius had won renown against Gelimer and the Vandals. And the emperor, learning what had befallen Amalasuntha, straightway entered upon the war, being in the ninth year of his reign. 5.2. And he commanded Mundus, the general of Illyricum, to go to Dalmatia, which was subject to the Goths, and to make an attempt on Salones (now Mundus was a barbarian by race, but exceedingly loyal to the emperor's cause and good in matters of war); and he sent Belisarius by sea, having four thousand soldiers from the regular forces and the foederati, and about three thousand Isaurians. 5.3. And the commanders of note were Constantinus and Bessas, from the regions of Thrace, and Peranius from Iberia which is near the Medes, who was sprung from the royal line of the Iberians, but had previously come over to the Romans as a deserter through hatred of the Persians; and of the cavalry detachments Valentinus and Magnus and Innocentius, and of the infantry Herodian and Paulus and Demetrius and Ursicinus, and the leader of the Isaurians, Ennes. 5.4. And there followed also two hundred Huns as allies and three hundred Moors. And the general with supreme command over all was Belisarius, who had many notable guardsmen and spearmen. 5.5. And there followed him also Photius, the son of his wife Antonina by a former marriage, still a young man and just growing his first beard, but exceedingly sagacious and displaying strength of nature beyond his years. 5.6. And the emperor enjoined upon Belisarius to set sail in name for Carthage, but, when they should come to Sicily, to disembark there as if on some need and make an attempt on the island. 5.7. And if it should be possible to make it subject with no trouble, to hold it and let go of it no more; but if any hindrance should meet them, to sail in haste to Libya, giving no one any perception of his purpose. 5.8. He sent also to the leaders of the Franks and wrote as follows: "The Goths, having taken our Italy by force, have not only by no means decided to give it back, but have also wronged us in ways neither bearable nor moderate. 5.9. Therefore we have been compelled to take the field against them, and it is reasonable that you should carry through this war along with us, which both right belief, which casts off the opinion of the Arians, and your common hatred toward the Goths make a common one for us." 5.10. So much the emperor wrote; and presenting them with money, he agreed to give more when they should be in the action. And they promised to fight as his allies with great eagerness. 5.11. Mundus, then, and the army with him, having come to Dalmatia and come to grips with the Goths there who met them, and having conquered in the encounter, took Salones. 5.12. And Belisarius, sailing to Sicily, took Catana. And setting out thence, he won over Syracuse by agreement and the other cities with no trouble; except indeed that the Goths who held the garrison in Panormus, trusting in the circuit-wall (for the place was strong), by no means wished to come over to Belisarius, and bade him lead his army away thence in haste. 5.13. But Belisarius, reckoning that it was impossible to take the place from the mainland, commanded the fleet to sail into the harbour, which extended up to the wall. 5.14. For it was outside the circuit-wall and altogether empty of men. There, when the ships had anchored, it came about that the masts were higher than the battlements. 5.15. Straightway, then, filling all the small boats of the ships with bowmen, he hung them from the tops of the masts. 5.16. Whence the enemy, being shot at from above, came into an irresistible fear and straightway surrendered Panormus to Belisarius by agreement. 5.17. And from this the emperor held the whole of Sicily subject, to pay tribute. And at that time it befell Belisarius to have good fortune beyond words. 5.18. For having received the dignity of the consulship for having conquered the Vandals, and still holding it, when he had won over the whole of Sicily, on the last day of his consulship he rode into Syracuse, applauded most heartily by the army and the Sicilians, and throwing gold coin to all. 5.19. This, however, was not done by him on purpose, but a certain fortune befell the man, that, having recovered the whole island for the Romans, on that very day he rode into Syracuse, and laid down the office of consul there, not, as had been the custom, in the senate-house of Byzantium, but there, ceasing to be consul. So it befell Belisarius thus to prosper. 6.1. When Peter learned this, he pressed Theodahad much more strongly and ceased not to frighten him. 6.2. And he, playing the coward and falling into speechlessness no less than if he himself had been a captive together with Gelimer, came to a parley with Peter secretly from all the rest, and came to an agreement with him, on condition that Theodahad should give up to the Emperor Justinian the whole of Sicily, and should send him a golden crown each year weighing three hundred pounds, and three thousand Gothic warriors whenever he should wish; and that Theodahad himself should by no means have authority to put to death any of the priests or senators, or to confiscate his property to the public treasury except by the emperor's consent; 6.3. and if Theodahad should wish to advance any of his subjects to the patrician or other senatorial dignity, that he should not himself give it, but should ask the emperor to give it; 6.4. and that the people of the Romans, in their acclamations, should always shout the name of the emperor first, and then Theodahad, in theatres and hippodromes and wherever else it should be necessary for such a thing to be done. 6.5. And a statue of bronze or of any other material should never be set up for Theodahad alone, but should always be made for both, and should stand thus: on the right that of the emperor, on the other side that of Theodahad. On these terms Theodahad wrote the agreement and dismissed the envoy. 6.6. But a little later a trembling of soul came over the man and led him to fears that knew no bounds and turned his mind, terrifying him with the name of war, and saying that, if the agreement made between him and Peter should by no means please the emperor, war would straightway be at hand. 6.7. Sending again, therefore, for Peter, who was already among the Albani, as if to take counsel secretly with the man, he inquired whether he thought the agreement would be pleasing to the emperor. 6.8. And he said that he so suspected. "But if these things should by no means please the man, what will come of it thereafter?" 6.9. he said. Peter answered: "You will have to make war thereafter, most noble sir." "And is this just, dearest envoy?" he said. And he straightway said in reply: "And how is it not just, good sir, that the practices proper to each man's soul should be preserved?" "What is this?" Theodahad asked. 6.10. "Because for you there is great zeal to be a philosopher," he said, "but for the Emperor Justinian to be a noble Roman emperor. And there is this difference, that for one who has practised philosophy to bring death to men, especially in so great a multitude, would never be seemly, and that too as a partaker of the teaching of Plato, of which surely it is unholy for you, having shared in it, not to be free of all murder; but for him to lay claim to a land that from of old 6.11. belongs to the empire which is his is in no way unreasonable." Persuaded by this suggestion, Theodahad agreed to give up the leadership to the Emperor Justinian. 6.12. And to this effect both he and his wife swore; and he bound Peter by oaths not to make these things known until he should see that the emperor would not accept the former agreement. 6.13. And he sent with him Rusticus, one of the priests and especially intimate with him, a Roman man, on this agreement. To them too he gave a letter. 6.14. So Peter and Rusticus, coming to Byzantium, reported the things which had previously seemed good to the emperor, as Theodahad had enjoined upon them. And when the emperor by no means wished to accept these proposals, 6.15. they showed him the things written afterward. And the writing disclosed this: "I have not become a newcomer to the royal court, for it has chanced that I was born in the family of a king and reared worthily of my race; but of wars and the tumults attending them I am altogether without experience. 6.16. For having from of old had a passionate love for hearing about discourses, and having always made my pursuit of this, it comes about that I am very far from the tumult of battles. 6.17. So that it is by no means reasonable for me, coveting the honours that come from kingship, to pursue a life amid dangers, when it is possible for me to stand apart from both. 6.18. For neither of these is pleasing to me: the one, because it is honoured to the point of satiety — for there is a surfeit of all pleasant things — the other, because the not being accustomed to it leads to confusion. 6.19. But I, if I should be given lands yielding a yearly revenue of no less than twelve centenaria, would account the kingship of less value than these, and would straightway put into your hands the power over Goths and Italians. 6.20. For I would more gladly be a farmer with freedom from cares than live amid royal anxieties, which pass on dangers from dangers. 6.21. But send a man as quickly as possible to whom it is fitting for me to hand over Italy and the affairs of the kingdom." 6.22. So much the writing of Theodahad disclosed. And the emperor, overjoyed, answered as follows: "Long ago I held it by hearsay that you were sagacious, but now I know it also by experience, in that you have decided not to await the issue of war. 6.23. Some, having already suffered this, have stumbled in the greatest matters. And you will never repent of having made us friends instead of enemies. 6.24. But you shall have these things which you ask of us, and besides there shall be added to you that you be enrolled in the first honours of the Romans. 6.25. Now, then, I have sent Athanasius and Peter, in order that there may be security to each through some agreement. And Belisarius too will come to you almost at once, to put an end to all matters 6.26. which are agreed between us." Having written this, the emperor sent Athanasius the brother of Alexander, who had previously gone, as has been said, on an embassy to Atalaric, and again Peter the orator, whom I have mentioned before, enjoining them to assign to Theodahad the lands of the emperor's house which they call the patrimonium, and, making letters and oaths a security for the agreements, thus to summon Belisarius from Sicily, in order that, taking over the palace and the whole of Italy, he might hold it under guard. 6.27. And to Belisarius he sent word to come to them quickly when they should summon him. 7.1. While the emperor was doing this and these envoys were being sent to Italy, meanwhile the Goths, under the leadership of Asinarius and Gripas among others, came to Dalmatia with a great army. 7.2. And when they had come close to Salones, Mauricius the son of Mundus met them with a few men, not for battle, but having come for reconnaissance. 7.3. And a fierce encounter taking place, the first and best of the Goths fell, but of the Romans almost all, and Mauricius the general. 7.4. When Mundus heard this, becoming exceedingly grieved at the calamity and now held by great fury, he straightway went against the enemy in no order. 7.5. And a fierce battle taking place, it befell the Romans to win a Cadmean victory. For the most of the enemy fell there and the rout was brilliant, but Mundus, killing and following wherever he chanced, and by no means able to control his mind by reason of the calamity of his child, was struck by one of the fugitives and fell; and the pursuit ended in this way and both armies were dissolved. 7.6. Then the Romans remembered the verse of the Sibyl, which, sung in former time, had seemed to them a portent. For that oracle said that, when Africa should be held, the world together with its offspring would perish. 7.7. The oracle, however, did not mean this, but, having hinted that Libya would again be under the Romans, it added this also, that then Mundus together with his child would perish. For it runs thus: Africa capta mundus cum nato peribit. 7.8. And since 'world' in the Latin tongue means 'Mundus,' they thought the oracle concerned the world. So these things were thus. And no one entered Salones. 7.9. For the Romans withdrew homeward, since they were left altogether without a leader, and the Goths, no one of their best being left to them, falling into fear, held the fortresses there; 7.10. for they did not even trust the circuit-wall of Salones, especially as the Romans who dwelt there were not very well disposed toward them. 7.11. When Theodahad heard this, he made no account of the envoys who had now come to him. For he was sufficiently inclined by nature to faithlessness, and his mind was by no means firm, but the present fortune always led him, unreasonably and not worthily of the circumstances, into terror that knew no measure, and then again set him into unspeakable boldness. 7.12. And so at that time, hearing of the death of Mundus and Mauricius, he was exceedingly elated and not in proportion to what had been done, and he thought fit to mock the envoys who had now come to him. 7.13. And when Peter at one time abused him for having overstepped what had been agreed with the emperor, Theodahad, calling them both publicly, spoke as follows: 7.14. "The institution of envoys is august and otherwise held in honour among all men, but envoys preserve this privilege among themselves to this extent, that they guard the dignity of the embassy by their own moderation. 7.15. For men have held it just to kill an envoy when he is seen either to have insulted a king, or to have come to the bed 7.16. of a woman living with another man." This Theodahad flung at Peter, not because he had approached a woman, but in order to maintain that there are charges which lead, as is likely, to the death of an envoy. But the envoys answered as follows: 7.17. "Neither are these things, O leader of the Goths, as you have said, nor could you, by unsound pretexts, charge envoys with unholy deeds against men. 7.18. For an envoy cannot become an adulterer even if he wishes, since it is not easy for him even to partake of water except by the will of those guarding him. 7.19. And as for the words which he speaks, having heard them from him who sent him, he would not reasonably bear the blame therefrom, even if they should chance not to be good, but he who commanded would justly bear this charge, while to the envoy belongs only the fulfilment of the service. 7.20. So that we shall say everything which we were sent to say, having heard it from the emperor, but do you hear it calmly; for if you are disturbed, there will be left to you the wronging of envoys. 7.21. Therefore it is time for you of your own will to fulfil all that you agreed with the emperor. For it is for this very thing that we have come. And the letter which he wrote you you already have received, but the writing which he sent to the first men of the Goths we shall give to none other than 7.22. to them." When the envoys had said this, the commanders of the barbarians who were present heard it and enjoined them to put into the hands of Theodahad what was written for them. 7.23. And it ran thus: "It has been our care to take you into our state, at which it is reasonable that you should rejoice. For it is not for your diminishing, but in order that you may be more honoured, that you will come to us. 7.24. And besides, we call the Goths not to strange or unfamiliar customs, but to those with which you became familiar and from which it chanced afterward, on occasion, that you stood apart. For these reasons Athanasius and Peter have now been sent there, 7.25. with whom you must cooperate in all things." So much the writing disclosed. But Theodahad, having read everything, decided neither to fulfil in deed any of what he had promised the emperor and kept the envoys under no moderate guard. 7.26. But when the Emperor Justinian heard this and what had befallen in Dalmatia, he sent Constantianus, who commanded the imperial grooms, to Illyricum, enjoining him to gather an army thence and make an attempt on Salones in whatever way might be possible for him; and he commanded Belisarius to go quickly to Italy and treat the Goths as enemies. 7.27. Constantianus, then, came to Epidamnus and, spending some time there, gathered an army. Meanwhile the Goths, under the leadership of Gripas, coming to Dalmatia with another army, held Salones; 7.28. and Constantianus, when his preparation was in the best state, setting out from Epidamnus with his whole fleet, anchored at Epidaurus, which is on the right as one sails into the Ionian Gulf; and there chanced to be men whom Gripas had sent for reconnaissance. 7.29. And to them, as they observed the ships and the camp of Constantianus, the sea and the whole land seemed to be full of soldiers, and, returning to Gripas, they maintained that Constantianus was bringing no few tens of thousands of men. 7.30. And he, falling into great fear, thought it inexpedient to meet the assailants, and by no means wished to be besieged by the emperor's army, which thus had command of the sea; 7.31. and most of all the circuit-wall of Salones disturbed him, since most of it had now fallen down, and the exceedingly suspicious attitude of those dwelling there toward the Goths. 7.32. And for this reason, departing thence with his whole army as quickly as possible, he encamped in the plain which is between Salones and the city of Scardona. And Constantianus, sailing with all his ships from Epidaurus, put in at Lysina, which lies in the gulf. 7.33. And thence he sent some of his followers, in order that, searching out how the affairs of Gripas stood, they might report it. And learning the whole matter from them, he sailed in haste straight for Salones. 7.34. And when he had come close to it, disembarking the army onto the mainland, he himself remained quiet there, but, picking out five hundred of the army and setting over them as commander Sifilas, one of his own guardsmen, he bade them seize the narrow place which he had learned was in the suburb of the city. And Sifilas did accordingly. 7.35. And Constantianus and the whole army, riding into Salones on the following day, anchored both the infantry and the ships. 7.36. Constantianus, then, took care of the circuit-wall of Salones, rebuilding in haste all that had fallen down; but Gripas and the army of the Goths, when the Romans had taken Salones, on the seventh day setting out thence, were conveyed to Ravenna; and thus Constantianus held Dalmatia and all of Liburnia, winning over all the Goths who were settled there. 7.37. The affairs of Dalmatia, then, were in this state. And the winter was coming to an end, and the first year of this war which Procopius wrote was being completed. 8.1. But Belisarius, leaving garrisons in Syracuse and Panormus, crossed with the rest of the army from Messina to Rhegium (where indeed the poets make Scylla and Charybdis to have been), and the people there came over to him every day. 8.2. For their places being unwalled from of old, they had no garrison of them at all, and they were exceedingly distressed at the present government through hatred of the Goths, as was likely. 8.3. And there came as a deserter to Belisarius from the Goths Ebrimous with all his followers, the son-in-law of Theodahad, who was married to his daughter Theodenantha. And being straightway sent to the emperor, he met with other honours and attained the patrician dignity. 8.4. And the army went on foot from Rhegium through the Bruttii and Lucanians, and the fleet of ships followed close along the mainland. 8.5. And when they came to Campania, they met a city on the sea, Naples by name, strong in the nature of its site and having a garrison of many Goths. 8.6. And Belisarius bade the ships anchor in the harbour, which was out of range of missiles, while he himself, making a camp near the city, first took by agreement the fortress in the suburb, and then permitted those in the city who wished to send some of their notable men to the camp, in order that they might say all that they wished and, having heard his words, might report them to the whole people. 8.7. Straightway, then, the Neapolitans sent Stephanus. And he, when he came to Belisarius, spoke as follows: "You do not do what is just, O general, in taking the field against Roman men who do no wrong, who dwell in a small city and have a garrison of barbarian masters, so that it is not even in our power to act against it 8.8. if we should wish. But it has befallen these guards too, leaving their children and wives and most precious things in the hands of Theodahad, to come for our guarding. 8.9. Therefore, if they do anything toward you, they will plainly be betraying not the city, but their own selves. 8.10. And if I must speak the truth, hiding nothing, you have come against us without even planning what is to your own advantage. For if you take Rome, Naples too will be subject to you with no trouble, but if, as is likely, you are repulsed from there, you will not hold this city either in safety. 8.11. So that the time will be spent by you to no purpose in this blockade." So much Stephanus said. And Belisarius answered as follows: 8.12. "Whether we have come here having planned well or otherwise, we shall not give the Neapolitans to consider. But what is worthy of your deliberation, we wish you to consider, and so to do whatever is likely to be of advantage to your own selves. 8.13. Receive, then, into the city the emperor's army, which has come for the freedom of you and the other Italians, and do not choose for yourselves the most grievous of all things. 8.14. For all who, escaping slavery or some other shameful thing, go to war, these, if they prosper in the struggle, have a double good fortune, having won, along with victory, freedom from evils; and if they are defeated, they bear off for themselves some consolation, in that they did not willingly follow the worse fortune. 8.15. But those for whom it is possible to be free without a fight, but who enter a struggle in order that they may have slavery made secure, these, even though they conquer, if it so chance, have stumbled in the most necessary things, and, having come off from the battle worse than they wished, will have, along with their other misfortune, the calamity that comes from defeat. So much let be said by us to the Neapolitans. 8.16. But to these Goths who are present we give the choice, either henceforth to be ranged with us under the great emperor, or to go home altogether free from harm. 8.17. For if both they and you, neglecting all this, dare to raise arms against us, it will be necessary for us too, if God wills, to treat whoever falls in our way as an enemy. 8.18. If, however, it should be the will of the Neapolitans to choose the emperor's cause and so to be freed from such grievous slavery, I undertake, giving the pledges, that you shall receive from us those things which the Sicilians lately, hoping for, were unable to call us false-swearers in." 8.19. This Belisarius bade Stephanus report to the people. And privately he promised that great good things would come to him, if he should urge the Neapolitans to loyalty toward the emperor. 8.20. And Stephanus, coming to the city, reported the words of Belisarius and himself declared the opinion that it was inexpedient to fight against the emperor. 8.21. And there cooperated with him Antiochus, a Syrian man, who had long dwelt in Naples engaged in maritime trade and had a great reputation there for sagacity and justice. 8.22. But Pastor and Asclepiodotus were orators and exceedingly notable among the Neapolitans, but friends of the Goths to the utmost, and by no means wishing for the present state to be changed. 8.23. These two men, planning how what was being done might be hindered, urged the multitude to put forward many great demands and to bind Belisarius by oaths that they would obtain these from him at once. 8.24. And writing in a little document all that they supposed Belisarius would not accept, they gave it to Stephanus. 8.25. And he, when he came again to the emperor's camp, showing the document to the general, inquired whether it was his wish to fulfil everything that the Neapolitans put forward and to swear concerning these things. And he, promising that everything would be fulfilled for them, dismissed him. 8.26. When the Neapolitans heard this, they now accepted the words and quickly bade the city receive the emperor's army. 8.27. For he maintained that nothing unpleasant would befall them, if anyone could judge from the Sicilians, to whom it had lately fallen, having exchanged barbarian tyrants for the rule of Justinian, to be free and unharmed by all grievous things. 8.28. And held by much tumult, they went to the gates to open them. But to the Goths what was being done was not pleasing; yet being unable to prevent it, they stood aside. 8.29. But Pastor and Asclepiodotus, calling the people and all the Goths together into one place, spoke as follows: "That a city's multitude should throw away itself and its own salvation is in no way strange, especially if, communicating with none of the notable men, it then makes an independent decision about the whole matter. 8.30. But we must, along with you, who are about to perish almost at once, render this exhortation as a last contribution to our fatherland. 8.31. We see you, then, citizens, eager to betray to Belisarius both your own selves and the city, when he promises to do you many good things and to swear the most terrible oaths concerning these. 8.32. If, then, he is able to guarantee to you this also, that the mastery of the war will come to him, no one would gainsay that these things are of advantage to you. 8.33. For to grant everything to him who is to become master is great folly. But if this lies in uncertainty, and no man is competent to guarantee the decision of fortune, consider over what calamities your zeal is. 8.34. For if the Goths prevail in the war over their enemies, they will punish you as enemies who have wrought against them the most dreadful things. 8.35. For it is not under the compulsion of necessity, but of your own deliberate will, that you set yourselves to betrayal. So that to Belisarius too, if he masters the enemy, we shall perhaps appear faithless and betrayers of our leaders, and, having become runaways, we shall, as is likely, have a garrison from the emperor for all time. 8.36. For he who has met with a traitor rejoices for the moment, having conquered through the favour, but afterward, by reason of the suspicion that comes from what has been done, he hates and fears his benefactor, having upon himself the tokens of faithlessness. 8.37. If, however, we are faithful to the Goths in the present, nobly undertaking the danger, both they themselves, if they master the enemy, will do us great good, and Belisarius, if he conquers us, 8.38. if it so chance, will be forgiving. For goodwill that has failed is punished by no man except a fool. 8.39. And what has happened to you that you have come to dread the blockade of the enemy, you who, lacking none of your provisions and shut off from none of the necessaries, sit at home, having confidence in the circuit-wall and these guards? And we think that Belisarius would not even have come to this agreement with us, if he had any hope of taking the city by force. 8.40. And yet, if he wished to do what is just and to our advantage, he ought not to frighten the Neapolitans nor to confirm his own power by the wrong done by us to the Goths, but to come to grips with Theodahad and the Goths, so that, without danger and treachery on our part, the city might come to the power of the victors." 8.41. When Pastor and Asclepiodotus had said this, they brought forward the Jews, who maintained that the city would lack none of the necessaries, and the Goths maintained that they would guard the circuit-wall safely. 8.42. Led by these, the Neapolitans bade Belisarius depart thence as quickly as possible. 8.43. But he set about the siege. And many times making an attempt on the circuit-wall, he was repulsed, losing many of his soldiers, and especially those who chanced to lay some claim to valour. 8.44. For the wall of Naples was inaccessible, partly by the sea, partly by certain difficult places, and by no means to be entered by those plotting against it, both for other reasons and because of the steepness. 8.45. And though Belisarius cut the aqueduct which conducted the water into the city, he did not greatly disturb the Neapolitans, since wells within the circuit-wall, supplying their need, did not give them much perception of this. 9.1. The besieged, then, escaping the notice of the enemy, sent to Rome to Theodahad, begging him to come to their aid quickly. But Theodahad made no preparation for war whatever, being by nature unmanly, as I have said before. 9.2. And they say that something else also befell him, which most of all dismayed him and led him to greater terror — though to me they tell what is not credible; 9.3. but even so it shall be told. Theodahad even before had not been without practice in making inquiries of those who professed to foretell anything, and at that time, being at a loss about the present (which most of all is wont to urge men to divinations), he inquired of one of the Hebrews, who had a great reputation for this, what would be the end of this war. 9.4. And he enjoined upon him to shut up thirty swine in three pens, and, having given a name to each group of ten — of Goths and Romans and the emperor's soldiers — to wait quietly for a stated number of days. 9.5. And Theodahad did accordingly. And when the appointed day came, both of them, coming to the pens, observed the swine, and found that of those to whom the name of the Goths belonged all were dead except two; and almost all were living to whom the name of the emperor's soldiers had come; but as for those that were called Romans, it befell them that the hair fell off all of them, and about half survived. 9.6. When Theodahad had observed this and conjectured the issue of the war, they say that great fear came over him, knowing well that it would surely befall the Romans to die in half and to be deprived of their money, and the Goths, being defeated, to be reduced in race to a few, and that to the emperor, with the loss of a few of his soldiers, 9.7. the mastery of the war would come. And on this account they say that no impulse fell upon Theodahad to enter into a struggle with Belisarius. Concerning these things, then, let each speak according to his disposition toward belief or disbelief. 9.8. But Belisarius, besieging the Neapolitans by land and sea, was distressed. For he did not think they would ever come over to him, nor did he hope to take the city, since he had the difficulty of the place opposing him to the utmost. 9.9. And the time spent there vexed him, as he reckoned how he might not be compelled to go against Theodahad and Rome in the winter season. 9.10. And he had already enjoined the army to pack up, intending to depart thence as quickly as possible. And to him, being at the utmost loss, it befell to have the following good fortune. 9.11. A desire seized one of the Isaurians to behold the construction of the aqueduct, and in what manner it supplied the city's need of water. 9.12. And entering it at a distance from the city, where Belisarius had broken it, he walked with no trouble, since the water had failed in it, inasmuch as it was broken. 9.13. And when he came close to the circuit-wall, he met a great rock, set there not by the hands of men, but by the nature of the place. 9.14. To this rock those who built the aqueduct of old, joining their masonry, made a tunnel from there, not, however, sufficient for the passage of a man, 9.15. but only to provide a way for the water. And for this reason it came about that the aqueduct was not of the same width everywhere, but a narrow place met one in that rock, impassable for a man, especially one armoured or carrying a shield. 9.16. When the Isaurian had observed this, it seemed to him not impossible for the army to go into the city, if they should make the tunnel there a little wider in measure. 9.17. But since he was himself an obscure person and had never come to speech with any of the commanders, he brought the matter to Paucaris, an Isaurian man, of repute among the guardsmen of Belisarius. And Paucaris straightway reported the whole matter to the general. 9.18. And Belisarius, breathing again at the pleasure of the word, and promising to present the man with great sums of money, set the matter in motion, and bade him, having taken some of the Isaurians as companions, make the cutting of the rock as quickly as possible, guarding lest they give anyone perception of the work. 9.19. And Paucaris, picking out Isaurians altogether fit for the work, got secretly within the aqueduct with them. 9.20. And coming to the place where the rock made the narrow space, they set to work, cutting the rock not with axes or hatchets, lest they make what was being done evident to the enemy by the noise, but scraping it most constantly with certain sharp iron tools. 9.21. And in a short time it was wrought out so that it was possible for a man, wearing a corselet and carrying a shield, to go through. 9.22. And when everything was now in the best state, the thought came to Belisarius that, if the army should enter Naples by war, it would befall the people to perish and all the other things to happen that are wont to occur to a city taken by enemies. 9.23. And straightway sending for Stephanus, he spoke as follows: "Many times have I seen cities taken, and I am experienced in what then happens. 9.24. For they slay all the men, of every age, and the women, begging to die, they do not see fit to kill, but, being led off to outrage, they suffer things irreparable and worthy of much pity. 9.25. And the children, who have shared neither in food nor in education in this way, must become slaves, and that too to those most hostile, in whose hands they have beheld the blood of their fathers. 9.26. For I forbear, dear Stephanus, to speak of the fire, by which both the other property and the beauty of the city is destroyed. Seeing this Naples suffering, as in a mirror, like the cities taken before, I come to pity both it and you. 9.27. For engines have now been made by me against it, by which it cannot but be taken. But that an ancient city, having inhabitants Christian and Roman from of old, should come to such a fortune, I would not pray, especially when I am the general of the Romans, most of all since I have many barbarians in my army, who have lost brothers or kinsmen before this wall; whose fury, if they take the city by war, I should not be able to restrain. 9.28. Therefore, while it is still in your power to choose and to do what is to your advantage, deliberate the better course and flee calamity; which, when it befalls you, as is likely, you will blame, not fortune justly, but your own judgment." 9.29. Having said this, Belisarius dismissed Stephanus. And he came to the people of the Neapolitans in tears and reported with lamentation all that he had heard Belisarius say. 9.30. But they (for it was not fated that the Neapolitans should become subjects of the emperor without paying a penalty) neither feared anything nor decided to come over to Belisarius. 10.1. Then indeed Belisarius himself made his arrangements for the entry as follows. Picking out about four hundred men at lamp-lighting time and setting over them as commanders Magnus, who led a cavalry detachment, and Ennes the leader of the Isaurians, he bade them all put on their corselets and, taking up their shields and swords, keep quiet until he himself should give the signal. 10.2. And sending for Bessas, he enjoined him to remain there; for he wished to take some counsel with him concerning the army; 10.3. and when the night was far advanced, telling Magnus and Ennes the situation and showing them the place where he had previously broken the aqueduct, he bade the four hundred lead the way into the city, 10.4. taking up lights. And he sent with them two men who knew how to use the trumpets, in order that, when they should get within the circuit-wall, they might be able both to throw the city into confusion and to signal to them what was being done. 10.5. And he himself had ready as many ladders as possible, made beforehand. So the men, slipping into the aqueduct, walked toward the city, while he with Bessas and Photius remained there and did everything with them. 10.6. And sending to the camp, he enjoined them to keep awake and have their arms in their hands. And he had many about himself whom he thought most stout-hearted. But of those who were going into the city, more than half, dreading the danger, were conveyed back. 10.7. And when Magnus, though he exhorted them much, could not persuade them to follow him, he returned with them to the general. 10.8. These Belisarius reviled, and, picking out two hundred of those about himself, bade them go with Magnus. And Photius too, wishing to lead them, leaped into the tunnel; but Belisarius prevented him. 10.9. And being ashamed before the general and Photius and the reviling, even those who were fleeing the danger, daring again to undertake it, followed him. 10.10. But Belisarius, fearing lest perception of what was being done should come to some of the enemy who held the guard in the tower which chanced to be near the aqueduct, came there and bade Bessas converse in the Gothic tongue with the barbarians there, so that no noise of arms might be audible to them. 10.11. And Bessas, shouting loudly to them, urged them to come over to Belisarius, promising that many good things would come to them. 10.12. But they jeered, insulting Belisarius and the emperor much. So these things were done by Belisarius and Bessas in this way. 10.13. Now the aqueduct of Naples is not covered only as far as the wall, but extends thus over a great part of the city, having a high vaulting of baked brick, so that the forces of Magnus and Ennes, when they had got within the circuit-wall, were unable even to conjecture where on earth they were. 10.14. Nor indeed could they get out from there, until the first of them came to a place where the aqueduct chanced to be roofless and there was a quite neglected building. 10.15. There within dwelt a certain woman, alone and living in great poverty, and an olive tree had grown above the aqueduct. 10.16. When these men saw the sky and perceived that they were in the midst of the city, they planned to get out, but they had no means at all, especially with their arms, of departing from the aqueduct. For the building there chanced to be high and had no means of ascent. 10.17. And when the soldiers were at the utmost loss and were crowding into a narrow space (for already a great throng of those coming behind was streaming together), it occurred to one of them to make an attempt at the ascent. 10.18. Laying down his arms straightway, therefore, and forcing the ascent with his hands and feet, he came into the woman's dwelling. 10.19. And seeing her there, he threatened to kill her if she should not keep silence. And she, struck with dismay, remained voiceless. And he, fastening a strong thong to the trunk of the olive, threw the other end of the thong into the aqueduct. And each of the soldiers, laying hold of it, climbed up with difficulty. 10.20. And when all had climbed up and a quarter of the night still remained, they advanced to the wall; and they killed the guards of two towers, who perceived nothing of the evil, about the northern part of the circuit-wall, where Belisarius with Bessas and Photius was standing, awaiting what was being done. 10.21. And these men called the army to the wall with the trumpets, and Belisarius, setting the ladders against the circuit-wall, bade the soldiers climb up there. 10.22. But it came about that none of the ladders reached up to the battlements. For inasmuch as the artificers had not made them in the open, they failed to reach the proper measure. 10.23. Wherefore, binding two together and climbing up on both, the soldiers thus got above the battlements. So these things were done by Belisarius in this way. 10.24. But on the part of the circuit-wall toward the sea, where not the barbarians but the Jews held the guard, the soldiers could neither use the ladders nor climb up to the wall. 10.25. For the Jews, having already offended the enemy, and having been a hindrance to their taking the city without a fight, and for this reason having no hope if they should come under them, fought stubbornly, although the city was already taken, and held out against the assault of their opponents beyond expectation. 10.26. But when day came and some of those who had climbed up went against them, then indeed they too, being struck from behind, fled, and Naples was taken by force. And the gates being now thrown open, the whole Roman army entered. 10.27. But those who had been stationed about the gates that face the rising sun, since no ladders chanced to be at hand, burned these gates, which were altogether unguarded. 10.28. For the wall there was empty of men, the guards having taken to flight. 10.29. And there was much slaughter there. For all, held by fury, and especially those whose brother or kinsman had chanced to die in fighting at the wall, kept killing whoever was in their way, sparing no age, and, breaking into the houses, they made slaves of the children and women and plundered the goods; and most of all the Massagetae, who, not even abstaining from the sanctuaries, killed many of those who had fled into them, until Belisarius, going about everywhere, prevented it, and, calling all together, spoke as follows: 10.30. "Since God has given us to conquer and to attain the highest reputation, having made subject to us a city before invincible, it is necessary for us too not to be unworthy of the favour, but, by humanity toward the vanquished, to display that we have justly mastered them. 10.31. Do not, then, hate the Neapolitans without end, nor make your hatred toward them extend beyond the war. For no one of the victors any longer hates the vanquished. 10.32. And by killing them you will not free yourselves from enemies for the future, but you will be punished by the death of your subjects. Do not, then, work these men any further evil, nor grant everything to your anger. 10.33. For it is shameful to master the enemy but appear weaker than your own passion. Let the rest of the property, then, be your prizes of valour, but let the women, with the children, be given back to the men. And let the vanquished learn by experience how great friends they have lost through their folly." 10.34. Having said this, Belisarius gave back to the Neapolitans all the women and children and the other slaves, who had not come to any experience of outrage, and reconciled the soldiers to them. 10.35. And so it befell the Neapolitans on that day both to become captives and to recover their freedom and to win back the most precious of their goods. 10.36. For those of them who chanced to have gold or any other precious thing had previously buried it in the ground and hidden it, and thereby they were able to escape the notice of the enemy and got back their houses with their goods. And the siege, having extended to about twenty days, ended thus. 10.37. And the Goths who were taken there, being no fewer than eight hundred, Belisarius preserved altogether free from harm and held in honour no less than his own soldiers. 10.38. But Pastor, who, as I have disclosed before, had urged the people to madness, when he saw the city being taken, fell into an apoplexy and suddenly died, neither having been sick before nor having suffered anything unpleasant at anyone's hands. 10.39. And Asclepiodotus, who had done these things along with him, came to Belisarius with the survivors of the notable men. 10.40. And Stephanus reviled him, mocking, as follows: "See, O most wicked of all men, what evils you have wrought upon your fatherland, having sold the salvation of your fellow-citizens for goodwill toward the Goths. 10.41. And then, if the affairs of the barbarians had gone well, you would have thought it right to be yourself in their pay and to lead each one of us who had planned the better course into the charge of betrayal of the Romans. 10.42. But since the emperor has taken the city, and we have been saved by the valour of this man, then you have dared thus inconsiderately to come into the general's presence, as though you had wrought no dreadful thing against either the Neapolitans or the emperor's army — you shall pay a worthy penalty." 10.43. So Stephanus, being in pain at the calamity, flung this at Asclepiodotus. And he answered him as follows: "You do not perceive, noble sir, that you are praising us, in that you reproach us with goodwill toward the Goths. 10.44. For one would never be loyal to masters in danger except from a firmness of judgment. The rulers, then, will have me as such a guardian of the state as they lately found an enemy, since he who has fidelity by nature does not change his judgment along with fortune. 10.45. But you, when affairs do not go in like manner with them, would readily accept the words of the assailants. For he who is sick in the inconstancy of his mind both straightway feared and renounced his fidelity to his dearest." 10.46. So much Asclepiodotus also said. But the people of the Neapolitans, when they saw him withdrawing thence, gathering in a body, charged him with all their present misfortunes. And they did not desist until they had killed him and torn his body to pieces. 10.47. And then, going to the house of Pastor, they sought the man. And when his servants maintained that Pastor was dead, they refused to believe it, until they were shown the man's corpse. And the Neapolitans impaled him in the suburb. 10.48. And thus they begged off Belisarius for what they had done, held by just anger, and, finding him forgiving, were reconciled. So the Neapolitans came off thus. 11.1. But the Goths, who chanced to be about Rome and the regions there, even before holding the inaction of Theodahad in great wonder, in that, being neighbours to the enemy, he did not wish to go to battle, and using among themselves much suspicion toward him, that he was willingly betraying the affairs of the Goths to the Emperor Justinian, and had no other care than that he himself might live quietly, surrounding himself with as much money as possible, when they heard that Naples was taken, now openly charging him with all this, gathered together at a place distant from Rome two hundred and eighty stades, which the Romans call Regata. There it seemed best to them to encamp; for there are many plains there, fit for the pasturing of horses. 11.2. And a river also flows there, which the natives call Decennovium in the Latin tongue, because, going round nineteen markers, which amount to one hundred and thirteen stades, it thus empties into the sea near the city of Tarracina, close to which is Mount Circaeum, where they say Odysseus consorted with Circe — though to me they tell what is not credible, since Homer maintains that the dwelling of Circe was on an island. 11.3. This, however, I am able to say, that this Circaeum, extending far into the sea, resembles an island, and to those who sail near and to those who walk to the shore there it seems to be very much an island. And when one comes upon it, then indeed one unlearns and finds one's former opinion deceived. 11.4. And for this reason perhaps Homer called the place an island. But I shall return to the previous account. 11.5. The Goths, when they had gathered at Regata, chose as king over themselves and the Italians Witigis, a man of no distinguished family, but who had previously won great repute in the battles about Sirmium, when Theoderic was carrying on the war against the Gepaedes. 11.6. Theodahad, then, hearing this, set out in flight and was driving along the road to Ravenna. But Witigis quickly sent Optaris, a Gothic man, enjoining him to bring Theodahad either alive or dead. 11.7. Now this Optaris chanced to be ill-disposed toward Theodahad for the following reason. Optaris was wooing a certain maiden who was both an heiress and fair of face. 11.8. This girl Theodahad took from this suitor and, persuaded by money, betrothed to another. Wherefore, both by his anger and to gratify Witigis, he pursued Theodahad with great zeal and eagerness, slackening neither night nor day. 11.9. And he overtook him while still journeying on the road, and, laying him on his back on the ground, slaughtered him like a sacrificial victim. This was the end of life and of leadership for Theodahad, which had lasted into its third year. 11.10. And Witigis with the Goths who were present rode into Rome. And learning what had befallen Theodahad, he was glad and put his son Theodegisclus under guard. 11.11. And since the affairs of the Goths seemed to him by no means in a state of preparation, he thought it better first to go to Ravenna, and there, having arranged everything in the best way, thus to set about the war. Calling all together, therefore, he spoke as follows: 11.12. "The greatest deeds, fellow-soldiers, are wont to be set right not by sharpness of opportunity, but by good counsel. 11.13. For often delay, coming at the right moment, has profited more, and zeal displayed not when it ought has checked for many the hope of success. 11.14. For most men more easily, when unprepared but fighting on equal terms of strength, are defeated, than those who, with the lesser strength but having prepared in the best way, have entered the struggle. 11.15. Let us not, then, lifted up by the love of immediate glory, work irreparable harm to ourselves; for it is better, being ashamed for a short time, to preserve our good fame without end, than, fleeing the immediate disgrace, to be covered, as is likely, with shame for all time. 11.16. And indeed you surely know that the multitude of the Goths and almost all the equipment of arms chance to be in Gaul and Venetia and the regions farthest off. 11.17. And moreover, against the nations of the Franks we are carrying on a war no less than this, which it is great folly to abandon ill-settled and to go against another. For those who place themselves in an ambiguous position and do not look toward a single enemy are likely to be defeated by their opponents. 11.18. But I say that we must now go straight from here to Ravenna, and, dissolving the war against the Franks and having arranged everything else in the best way, then fight it out with Belisarius with the whole army of the Goths. 11.19. And let no one of you shrink from this withdrawal of ours, nor hesitate to name it a flight. 11.20. For the appellation of cowardice, applied opportunely, has set many right, but the name of courage, born in some men not at the proper time, has then ended in defeat. 11.21. For it is right to follow not the names of things, but the advantage of deeds. For deeds reveal a man's valour not at the beginning, but at the end. 11.22. And those flee the enemy, not who go against them at once with greater preparation, but who, wishing to preserve their own bodies for ever, stand aside. And let no fear come to any of you about the capture of this city. 11.23. For if the Romans are well disposed toward us, they will guard the city securely for the Goths and will have no experience of compulsion, 11.24. since we shall return to them in a short time. And if they have any suspicion toward us, they will harm us less by receiving the enemy; for it is better to fight against foes openly. 11.25. But that no such thing may come to pass, I shall provide. For we shall leave many men and a most sagacious commander, who will be sufficient to guard Rome, so that both these things will lie well for us and no harm would come to us from this withdrawal." 11.26. Witigis said this much. And all the Goths, approving, made ready for the journey. And afterward Witigis, after much exhortation to Silverius the bishop of the city and to the Romans, both those of the senate and the people, and reminding them of the rule of Theoderic, urged all to be well disposed toward the nation of the Goths, binding them by the most terrible oaths concerning these things; and picking out men no fewer than four thousand, and setting over them as commander Leuderis, a man advanced in years and having a great reputation for sagacity, in order that they might guard Rome for them, he thus went to Ravenna with the rest of the army, having most of the senators with him as hostages. 11.27. And when he came there, he took Matasuntha, the daughter of Amalasuntha, a maiden now ripe for marriage, as his wedded wife, against her will, in order that he might hold the rule more securely by his connexion with the family of Theoderic. 11.28. Then, gathering all the Goths from every quarter, he arranged and ordered them, distributing arms and horses to each according to his rank; only the Goths who held the guard in Gaul he was unable to summon, through fear of the Franks. 11.29. Now these Franks were anciently called Germans. But in what manner from the beginning, and where dwelling, they invaded Gaul and became at variance with the Goths, I shall now tell. 12.1. To one sailing the sea from the Ocean and Gadira, the land on the left, as has been said in the previous narrative, is called Europe, and that opposite it has been called Libya, which, as one goes on, they call Asia. 12.2. Now of the parts of Libya beyond I am not able to speak accurately; for it is for the most part desert of men, and on this account the first source of the Nile is by no means known, which they say is borne thence to Egypt. 12.3. But Europe, at its very beginning, is most exactly like the Peloponnesus and lies with sea on either side. And the first country, about the Ocean and the setting sun, is called Spain, as far as the Alps which are in the Pyrenees mountains. 12.4. For the people there are accustomed to call the passage in the narrow place the Alps. And from there to the borders of Liguria it is called Gaul. There too other Alps separate the Gauls and the Ligurians. 12.5. Gaul, however, is much wider than Spain, as is likely, since Europe, beginning narrow, advances proportionately to an unspeakable width as one goes on. 12.6. And each of these countries is surrounded on the north by the Ocean, and on the south has the sea called the Tyrrhenian. 12.7. In Gaul flow other rivers, and the Rhone and the Rhine. These two, going in opposite directions to one another, the one empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea, while the Rhine makes its outlet into the Ocean. 12.8. And there are many lagoons there, where the Germans dwelt of old, a barbarian nation, not worth much account at the beginning, who are now called Franks. 12.9. Next to these dwelt the Arborychi, who, together with all the rest of Gaul and indeed Spain, were subjects of the Romans from of old. 12.10. And beyond them toward the rising sun the Thuringian barbarians settled, the first emperor Augustus having given them the land. 12.11. And the Burgundians dwelt not far from them, turned toward the south wind, and the Suevi above the Thuringians, and the Alamani, powerful nations. These were all independent and settled there from the beginning. 12.12. As time went on, the Visigoths, forcing the dominion of the Romans, held all Spain and the parts of Gaul beyond the Rhone river, having made them subject to themselves to pay tribute. 12.13. Now the Arborychi at that time chanced to have become soldiers of the Romans. And the Germans, wishing to make them subject to themselves, inasmuch as they were neighbours and had changed the polity which they had of old, plundered them and, with the whole people eager for war, went against them. 12.14. But the Arborychi, displaying valour and goodwill toward the Romans, proved themselves good men in this war, and since the Germans were unable to force them, they thought fit to make them comrades and to become connected with one another by marriage. 12.15. And this the Arborychi accepted not unwillingly; for both chanced to be Christians, and thus, coming together into one people, they advanced to great power. 12.16. And other Roman soldiers also had been stationed at the extremities of Gaul for the sake of guard. 12.17. And these, having no means of returning to Rome, and at the same time unwilling to come over to the enemy who were Arians, gave themselves over with their standards and the land which they had long guarded for the Romans to the Arborychi and the Germans; and handing down to their descendants all the customs of their fathers, they preserved them, which, revering, they think fit to keep even down to my time. 12.18. For even to this day they are clearly distinguished by the detachments in which they were stationed of old when they served, and they go into battle carrying their own standards, and use the laws of their fathers continually. 12.19. And they preserve the dress of the Romans in all other respects, and especially in their footwear. 12.20. As long, then, as the Roman polity remained the same, the emperor held the parts of Gaul within the Rhone river; but when Odoacer changed it into a tyranny, then indeed, the tyrant having given way to them, the Visigoths held the whole of Gaul as far as the Alps which separate the borders of the Gauls and the Ligurians. 12.21. But when Odoacer had fallen, the Thuringians and the Visigoths, fearing the now growing power of the Germans (for it had become exceedingly populous and forced openly those who from time to time were in their way), were eager to win over the alliance of the Goths and Theoderic. And Theoderic, wishing to make them his comrades, did not refuse to become connected with them by marriage. 12.22. To Alaric the younger, then, who at that time was leader of the Visigoths, he betrothed his own daughter Theudichusa, a maiden, and to Hermenefris the ruler of the Thuringians Amalaberga, the daughter of his sister Amalafrida. 12.23. And from this the Franks abstained from violence against them through fear of Theoderic, 12.24. but went to war against the Burgundians. But later there came to be alliances and agreements between the Franks and the Goths for the harm of the Burgundians, on condition that each should send an army against them; 12.25. and if, when one was absent, the others, taking the field, should subdue the race of the Burgundians and bring under their hand the land which they held, the victors should receive from those who had not taken the field a stated sum of gold as a penalty, and the captured land should thus be common to both. 12.26. So the Germans came with a great army against the Burgundians according to what had been agreed between them and the Goths, but Theoderic made preparation, forsooth, in word, yet on purpose always put off the going out of his army to the next day, awaiting what should come to pass. 12.27. And with difficulty he sent and enjoined the commanders of the army to make the journey more slowly, and, if they should hear that the Franks had conquered, then to go quickly, but if they should learn that any reverse had befallen them, to journey no further, but to remain where they were. 12.28. And they did what Theoderic enjoined upon them, while the Germans alone came to grips with the Burgundians. 12.29. And a fierce battle taking place, there was great slaughter on both sides; for the encounter was evenly balanced for the most part; 12.30. then the Franks, having routed the enemy, drove them to the extremities of the land which they then inhabited, where they had many strongholds, 12.31. and themselves held all the rest. And the Goths, hearing this, quickly came. And being reviled by their allies, they pleaded the difficulty of the country, and, paying the penalty, divided the land with the victors, as had been agreed. 12.32. And thus the foresight of Theoderic became still more known, in that, having lost none of his subjects, with a little gold he won half the land of the enemy. So at the beginning the Goths and the Germans held a portion of Gaul. 12.33. But afterward the Germans, their power having advanced, making light of Theoderic and the fear that came from him, took the field against Alaric and the Visigoths. 12.34. And Alaric, learning this, sent for Theoderic as quickly as possible. And he went to the rescue with a great army. 12.35. Meanwhile the Visigoths, when they learned that the Germans were encamping about the city of Carcassiana, met them and, making a camp, kept quiet. 12.36. And when much time had been spent by them in this blockade, they were distressed, and, since the land was being plundered by the enemy, made a great matter of it. 12.37. And finally they insulted Alaric much, both reviling him for his fear of the enemy and reproaching the delay of his father-in-law. 12.38. For they maintained that they themselves were a match for the foe and would more easily prevail over the Germans in war by themselves alone. 12.39. Wherefore, the Goths not yet being present with them, Alaric was compelled to go to battle with the enemy. 12.40. And the Germans, having got the upper hand in this encounter, killed most of the Visigoths and Alaric their commander. 12.41. And taking possession of most of Gaul, they held it, and besieged Carcassiana with great zeal, since they had learned that the royal treasure was there, which the elder Alaric had plundered when he took Rome in former times. 12.42. Among these treasures were also the precious things of Solomon the king of the Hebrews, exceedingly worth seeing. For an emerald stone for the most part adorned them, which the Romans had taken of old from Jerusalem. 12.43. But the survivors of the Visigoths proclaimed as their commander Gisalic, a bastard son of Alaric, since Amalaric, the son of Theoderic's daughter, was still quite young. 12.44. Then, when Theoderic came with the army of the Goths, the Germans, taking fright, broke up the siege. 12.45. And withdrawing thence, they held the parts of Gaul beyond the Rhone river turned toward the Ocean. And Theoderic, being unable to drive them out from there, conceded these parts to them, while he himself recovered the rest of Gaul. 12.46. And when Gisalic had been put out of the way, he transferred the rule of the Visigoths to his grandson Amalaric, over whom he himself was guardian, since he was still a child. 12.47. And taking all the money that lay in the city of Carcassiana, he marched off in haste to Ravenna, and, continually sending commanders and an army to Gaul and Spain, he himself held in deed the power of rule, and, providing how he might hold it secure for ever, appointed the rulers there to render him tribute. 12.48. And receiving this each year, in order not to seem grasping after money, he sent an annual gift to the army of the Goths and Visigoths. 12.49. And from this the Goths and Visigoths, as time went on, inasmuch as they were ruled by one man and held the same land, betrothing their children to one another, became connected by kinship. 12.50. Afterward Theudis, a Gothic man, whom Theoderic had sent as commander of the army, took a wedded wife from Spain, not, however, of the race of the Visigoths, but from the house of one of the prosperous natives, who was endowed with great wealth and was mistress of much land in Spain. 12.51. Whence, gathering soldiers about two thousand, and surrounding himself with a force of guardsmen, he ruled the Goths in name by Theoderic's appointment, but in deed was a not undistinguished tyrant. 12.52. And Theoderic, fearing — since he had attained the height of sagacity and experience — lest the Franks should meet him, as was likely, while he was carrying on the war against his own slave, or lest the Visigoths should do some revolutionary thing against him, neither deposed Theudis from his office, but even bade him always lead the army when it went to war. 12.53. He enjoined, however, the first men of the Goths to write to him that he would be doing what is just and worthy of his sagacity, if, coming to Ravenna, he should greet Theoderic. 12.54. But Theudis fulfilled all that Theoderic commanded, and never ceased to render the annual tribute, but neither wished to go to Ravenna nor promised it to those who wrote. 13.1. But when Theoderic had departed from among men, the Franks, no one any longer withstanding them, took the field against the Thuringians, and killed Hermenefris their ruler, and, making all of them subject, held them. 13.2. But the wife of Hermenefris with her children, escaping notice, came to her brother Theodahad, who at that time was ruler of the Goths. 13.3. Afterward the Germans came to grips with the survivors of the Burgundians and, conquering them in battle, shut up their ruler in one of the fortresses there and kept him under guard, and, making the rest subject, compelled them thenceforth to take the field with them against the enemy as captives; and they acquired all the land which the Burgundians previously inhabited, subject to the payment of tribute. 13.4. And Amalaric, who ruled the Visigoths, when he came to man's estate, dreading the power of the Germans, took the sister of Theudibert the ruler of the Germans as his wedded wife, and divided Gaul with the Goths and his cousin Atalaric. 13.5. For the parts within the Rhone river fell to the Goths, while those beyond it came round to the dominion of the Visigoths. 13.6. And it was agreed that the tribute which Theoderic had imposed should no longer be brought to the Goths, and the money which he had taken from the city of Carcassiana Atalaric rightly and justly gave back to Amalaric. 13.7. And since both these nations chanced to have come into the connexion of marriage with one another, they gave the choice to each man who had made his betrothal into the other nation, whether he wished to follow his wife or to bring her into his own race. 13.8. And there were many both who led their wives wherever they wished and who were led by their wives. 13.9. Later Amalaric, having offended his wife's brother, met with a great misfortune. 13.10. For though his wife was of the orthodox faith, he himself holding the Arian heresy, he would not allow her to use the accustomed rites nor to perform her devotions to the divine according to the customs of her fathers, but held her in great dishonour, since she was unwilling to come over to his own customs. And since the woman was unable to bear this, she disclosed everything to her brother. 13.11. Wherefore the Germans and the Visigoths came to war with one another. And the battle was exceedingly fierce for a long time, but at last Amalaric, being defeated, lost many of his own and himself died. 13.12. And Theudibert took his sister with all the money, and as much of Gaul as the Visigoths held by lot. 13.13. And the survivors of the defeated, rising up from Gaul with their wives and children, came to Theudis in Spain, who was now openly playing the tyrant. So the Goths and the Germans held Gaul. 13.14. At a later time Theodahad, the leader of the Goths, when he learned that Belisarius had come to Sicily, made an agreement with the Germans, on condition that they should hold the portion of Gaul which fell to the Goths and, receiving twenty centenaria of gold, should join in this war with them. 13.15. But before he had fulfilled the agreements in deed, he fulfilled his destiny. Wherefore many of the best of the Goths there, of whom Marcias was leader, 13.16. held the guard. These Witigis was unable to remove thence, nor did he think they would be sufficient to array themselves against the Franks, who would, as was likely, overrun Gaul and Italy, if he himself should march with the whole army against Rome. 13.17. Calling together, therefore, whatever was sound among the Goths, he spoke as follows: "Wishing to make to you, kinsmen, an exhortation not pleasant, but necessary, I have gathered you here at the present; but hear it calmly and deliberate worthily of our present circumstances. 13.18. For those whose deeds do not go according to their mind, it is inexpedient not to yield to necessity or fortune and so to manage the present. The other things, then, are in the best state of preparation for the war. 13.19. But the Franks stand in our way, with whom, being enemies of old, expending both our bodies and our money, we have nevertheless been able to hold out until now, since nothing else met us as an enemy. 13.20. But now that we are compelled to go against others, we shall have to dissolve the war against them, first because, if they remain hostile to us, they will surely be ranged with Belisarius against us. 13.21. For the nature of things teaches those who have the same enemy to join with one another in goodwill and alliance. 13.22. Then, even if we carry on the war separately against each army, it will be left to us to be defeated by both. 13.23. It is better, therefore, being diminished a little, to preserve most of our rule, than, coveting to have everything, to perish at the hands of the enemy together with all the power of our leadership. 13.24. I think, then, that if we give to the Germans the parts of Gaul bordering on them, and the money which Theodahad agreed to give them along with this land, they will not only turn away their hatred toward us, but will also join us in this war. 13.25. But that hereafter, when our affairs go well, we may recover Gaul, let no one of you reckon. For an old saying comes into my mind, bidding us settle the present well." 13.26. When the notable men of the Goths heard this, thinking it of advantage, they wished it to be accomplished. Envoys, then, are straightway sent to the nation of the Germans, on condition that they should give them Gaul together with the gold and should make an alliance. 13.27. Now the leaders of the Franks at that time were Ildibert and Theudibert and Cloadarius, who, receiving Gaul and the money, divided them according to the rule of each, and agreed to be exceedingly friendly to the Goths and to send them secretly auxiliaries, not, however, Franks, 13.28. but from the nations subject to them. For they were unable to make an alliance with them openly for the harm of the Romans, since a little before they had agreed to assist the emperor in this war. 13.29. The envoys, then, having accomplished the things for which they were sent, returned to Ravenna. And then Witigis also sent for Marcias with his followers. 14.1. While Witigis was doing this, meanwhile Belisarius was preparing to go to Rome. Picking out, then, three hundred men from an infantry detachment and setting Herodian over them as commander, he established them as the garrison of Naples. 14.2. And he sent guards also to Cumae, as many as he thought would be sufficient for the garrison of the fortress there. For there was no other stronghold in Campania except those in Cumae and Naples. 14.3. In this Cumae the natives show the cave of the Sibyl, where they say her oracle was. And Cumae is on the sea, distant one hundred and twenty-eight stades from Naples. 14.4. Belisarius, then, was arranging the army, and the Romans, fearing lest there should befall them what had befallen the Neapolitans, reckoning, decided that it was better to receive the emperor's army into the city. And Silverius, the bishop of the city, most of all urged them to this. 14.5. And sending Fidelius, a man coming from Mediolanum, which lies in Liguria, who had previously assisted Atalaric (the Romans call this office quaestor), they invited Belisarius to Rome, promising to hand over the city without a fight. 14.6. And he led the army by the Latin Way, leaving the Appian Way on the left, which Appius, the consul of the Romans, made nine hundred years before and gave his name to. Now the Appian Way is a journey of five days for an unencumbered man; for it extends from Rome to Capua. 14.7. And the width of this road is such that two wagons going in opposite directions may pass one another, and it is worth seeing above all things. 14.8. For all the stone, being millstone and hard by nature, Appius cut from another country far off and brought there; 14.9. for in this land it nowhere grows naturally. And having made the stones smooth and even, and fashioned them angular in the cutting, he bound them to one another, having put neither gravel within nor anything else. 14.10. And they are so securely bound to one another and have so coalesced that they give to those who see them the impression that they are not joined together but have grown together; 14.11. and though much time has passed and they are traversed each day by many wagons and all manner of animals, they have neither been separated at all in their joining nor has it befallen any of them to be destroyed or to become smaller, nor indeed have they lost any of their brightness. Such, then, is the Appian Way. 14.12. But the Goths who held the guard in Rome, when they learned that the enemy was somewhere near and perceived the purpose of the Romans, were distressed at being unable then to go to battle for the city and against the assailants, and were perplexed; 14.13. then, the Romans giving way, all departed thence and went to Ravenna, except indeed Leuderis, who commanded them, who, ashamed, I think, at the present fortune, remained there. 14.14. And it befell on that day, at the same time, that Belisarius and the emperor's army entered Rome through the gate which they call Asinaria, while the Goths departed thence through another gate which is called Flaminia; and Rome again, sixty years afterward, came under the Romans, on the ninth day of the last month, called by the Romans December, in the eleventh year of the reign of the Emperor Justinian as autocrat. 14.15. So Belisarius sent Leuderis the commander of the Goths and the keys of the gates to the emperor, while he himself took care of the circuit-wall, which had broken down in many places; and he made each battlement angular, placing another piece of masonry at an angle on the left side, so that those fighting there against the assailants might not be struck by those storming the wall on their left; and he dug about the wall a moat deep and worth much account. 14.16. And the Romans praised the foresight of the general and especially the experience displayed in the matter of the battlements, but, holding it in great wonder, were distressed if, having any thought that the city would be besieged, he supposed that it was possible to enter Rome, which can neither bear a siege through the scarcity of provisions, since it is not on the sea, and is encompassed by so great a circuit-wall, and, lying moreover in an exceedingly level plain, 14.17. is easy of approach for assailants, as is likely. But he, hearing this, none the less made ready everything for a siege, and the grain which he had brought from Sicily in the ships, placing it in public storehouses, he guarded, and compelled all the Romans, though they made a great matter of it, to bring in all the provisions for themselves from the fields. 15.1. Then indeed Pitzas too, a Gothic man, coming from Samnium, put into the hands of Belisarius both himself and the Goths who dwelt there with him, and half of maritime Samnium as far as the river which is borne through the middle of the country. 15.2. For the Goths who were settled on the other side of the river were unwilling either to follow Pitzas or to be subject to the emperor. And Belisarius gave him not many soldiers, in order that they might help him guard the regions there. 15.3. And before this the Calabrians and Apulians, the Goths not being present in their land, had come over to Belisarius of their own free will, both those on the coast and those holding the interior. 15.4. Among these is Beneventum, which the Romans of old named Maleventum, but now call Beneventum, avoiding the ill-omen from the former name; for ventus means wind in the Latin tongue. 15.5. For in Dalmatia, which lies opposite this, on the mainland across the way, a wind is wont to blow hard and prodigiously fierce, which, when it begins to blow, there is no means of finding a man still going on the road there, but all shut themselves up at home and wait. 15.6. For such is the force of this wind that it seizes a horseman together with his horse and bears him aloft, and, having carried him round over a great extent of the air, then, casting him down wherever it may chance, kills him. 15.7. And Beneventum, since it lies opposite Dalmatia, as I have said, and is situated on a high place, it befalls to bear some portion of the difficulty of this wind. 15.8. This city Diomedes the son of Tydeus once built, having been driven from Argos after the capture of Ilium. And as a token he left to the city the tusks of the Calydonian boar, which his uncle Meleager chanced to have received as prizes of the hunt, which are there even down to my time, a sight worth much account to see, having a circumference not less than three spans in a crescent shape. 15.9. There too they say that Diomedes met Aeneas the son of Anchises, coming from Ilium, and, according to the oracle, gave him the image of Athena which he chanced to have stolen along with Odysseus, when the two of them went as spies into Ilium before it became capturable by the Greeks. 15.10. For they say that when he was sick later and inquired about his sickness, the oracle gave him response that there would never be a release from the evil for him unless he should give this image to a Trojan man. 15.11. And the Romans say they do not know where on earth it is, but they show an image of it carved on a certain stone even down to my time, in the temple of Fortune, where it lies before the bronze statue of Athena, which is set up in the open air toward the east of the temple. 15.12. And this image on the stone resembles one fighting and raising her spear as for battle; but even so she has her chiton reaching to the feet. 15.13. And the face does not resemble the Greek statues of Athena, but is altogether such as the Egyptians of old used to make. 15.14. And the Byzantines say that the Emperor Constantine buried this image in the forum which is named after him and set it there. So these things are thus. 15.15. So Belisarius won over all Italy which is within the Ionian Gulf, as far as Rome and Samnium, while the parts outside the gulf as far as Liburnia Constantianus, as has been said, 15.16. held. But in what manner the people there inhabit Italy I shall now tell. The Adriatic Sea, casting out a certain outlet far into the mainland, makes the Ionian Gulf, in no way like the other regions where the rising of the sea onto the mainland, coming to an end, makes an isthmus. 15.17. For the gulf called Crisaean, ending at Lechaeum, where the city of the Corinthians is, in the measure of about forty stades makes the isthmus there; 15.18. and the gulf from the Hellespont, which they call Melas, makes the isthmus in the Chersonese not more, but according to this same measure. 15.19. But from the city of Ravenna, where the Ionian Gulf ends, to the Tyrrhenian Sea is a journey of no less than eight days for an unencumbered man. 15.20. And the reason is that, going on, the rising of the sea is always borne to the right for a great distance. Within this gulf, the first town inhabited is Dryus, which is now called Hydrus. 15.21. On the right of this are the Calabrians and Apulians and Samnites, and next to them the Picentines are settled, as far as the city of Ravenna. 15.22. On the other side is the remaining portion of the Calabrians, and the Bruttii and Lucanians, after whom the Campanians dwell as far as the city of Tarracina, whom the borders of Rome receive. 15.23. These nations hold the shore of each sea and all the interior regions there. And this is what was formerly called Great Greece. For among the Bruttii are the Epizephyrian Locrians and the Crotoniates and the Thurians. 15.24. But outside the gulf the first are Greeks, called Epirotes, as far as the city of Epidamnus, which is inhabited on the sea. 15.25. And next to this is the country of Precalis, after which comes that called Dalmatia, and it is reckoned to the dominion of the West. And from there are Liburnia and Istria and the country of the Venetians, extending as far as the city of Ravenna. 15.26. These dwell on the sea there. But above them the Siscii and Suevi (not the subjects of the Franks, but others beyond these) hold the interior country. 15.27. And above these the Carnii and Norici are settled. And on the right of these dwell the Dacians and Pannonians, who hold other places and Singidunum and Sirmium, extending as far as the river Ister. 15.28. Of these nations, then, the Goths ruled those outside the Ionian Gulf at the beginning of this war, while above the city of Ravenna, on the left of the river Po, dwell the Ligurians. 15.29. And on the north of these the Albani dwell in an exceedingly good land called Langouvilla, and above these are the nations subject to the Franks; while toward the west the Gauls hold the land, and after them the Spaniards. 15.30. And on the right of the Po is Aemilia and the nations of the Tuscans, extending even to the borders of Rome. So these things are thus. 16.1. But Belisarius, having taken all the borders of Rome round about as far as the river Tiber, made them secure. And when everything was in the best state for him, he gave to Constantinus many of his own guardsmen with other spearmen, both Zarter and Chorsamantis and Aeschmanes the Massagetae, and another army, and bade him go to Tuscany, in order that he might win over the regions there. 16.2. And he enjoined Bessas to seize Narnia, a city exceedingly strong, in Tuscany. Now this Bessas was a Goth by race, of those who had dwelt in Thrace from of old and had not followed Theoderic when he led the people of the Goths thence to Italy, but he was energetic and good in matters of war. 16.3. For he was both an excellent general and a skilful worker with his own hands. And Bessas held Narnia, the inhabitants not being unwilling, and Constantinus won over Spolitium and Perusia and certain other towns with no trouble. 16.4. For the Tuscans received him into their cities of their own free will. Setting a garrison in Spolitium, therefore, he himself with the rest of the army kept quiet in Perusia, the first city of the Tuscans. 16.5. But Witigis, hearing this, sent an army and the commanders Unilas and Pissas against them. 16.6. These Constantinus met in the suburb of Perusia and came to grips. And though the barbarians far surpassed them in multitude, at first the battle was evenly balanced, but afterward the Romans, having got the upper hand by their valour, routed the enemy and killed almost all of them in no order as they fled; 16.7. and taking alive the commanders of the enemy, they sent them to Belisarius. When Witigis heard this, he no longer wished to remain quiet in Ravenna, where indeed Marcias and those with him, not yet come from Gaul, were a hindrance to him. 16.8. To Dalmatia, then, he sent a large army and the commanders Asinarius and Uligisalus, in order that they might recover Dalmatia for the dominion of the Goths. 16.9. And he enjoined them, having gathered an army from the regions about Suavia of the barbarians there, thus to go straight for Dalmatia and Salones. 16.10. And he sent with them also many warships, so that they might be able to besiege Salones by land and by sea. 16.11. And he himself was eager to go with his whole army against Belisarius and Rome, bringing horsemen and foot-soldiers no fewer than fifteen tens of thousands, and most of them were armoured together with their horses. 16.12. Asinarius, then, going about Suavia, gathered the army of the barbarians, while Uligisalus alone led the Goths to Liburnia. 16.13. And when the Romans came to grips with them at a place called Scardon, they were defeated in the battle and withdrew to the city of Burnus; and there Uligisalus awaited his colleague. 16.14. But Constantianus, when he heard of the preparation of Asinarius, fearing for Salones, sent for the soldiers who held all the fortresses there. 16.15. And he dug a moat about the whole circuit-wall round about and made all his other preparations for the siege in the best way. And Asinarius, having gathered a very great army of barbarians, came to the city of Burnus. 16.16. There, joining Uligisalus and the army of the Goths, he came to Salones. And they made a stockade about the circuit-wall, and, filling the ships with soldiers, guarded the seaward part of the circuit-wall; and thus they besieged Salones by land and by sea. 16.17. But the Romans, falling suddenly upon the ships of the enemy, turned them to flight, and sank many of them with their men, and took many empty of men. 16.18. The Goths, however, did not break up the blockade, but rather shut up the Romans in the city, besieging them by force. So the armies of the Romans and Goths were faring thus in Dalmatia. 16.19. But Witigis, when he heard from the natives who came from Rome that the army with Belisarius was very small, repented of having withdrawn from Rome and was no longer able to remain in his present position, but, now held by fury, went against them. 16.20. And on this journey one of the priests, coming from Rome, met him. Of him, they say, Witigis inquired with much tumult whether Belisarius was still in Rome, fearing lest he should be unable to overtake him, but he should get the start by running away thence. And the man said that he need by no means be anxious about this; 16.21. for he himself guaranteed that Belisarius would never take to flight, but would remain there. And he hastened still more than before, having prayed openly to behold the wall of Rome before Belisarius should run away thence. 17.1. But Belisarius, when he heard that the Goths were taking the field against him with their whole people, was at a loss. For he neither wished to leave behind the forces of Constantinus and Bessas, especially as his army was altogether small, and to abandon the strongholds in Tuscany seemed to him inexpedient, lest the Goths should have these as fortified positions against the Romans. 17.2. Reckoning, then, he enjoined Constantinus and Bessas to leave a garrison in the most necessary of the places there, as much as would be sufficient to guard them, but to go themselves with the rest of the army quickly to Rome. 17.3. And Constantinus did accordingly. For setting a garrison in Perusia and Spolitium, he marched off to Rome with all the rest. 17.4. But while Bessas was more slowly settling matters in Narnia, it befell that, as the enemy made their passage there, the plains in the suburb were full of Goths. 17.5. These were forerunners in advance of the rest of the army; and Bessas, coming to grips with them, routed those opposed to him beyond expectation, and, after killing many, since he was pressed by the multitude, withdrew to Narnia. 17.6. And there, leaving guards, as Belisarius had enjoined upon him, he went quickly to Rome and reported that the enemy would be present almost at once. For Narnia is distant from Rome three hundred and fifty stades. 17.7. But Witigis by no means undertook to make an attempt on Perusia and Spolitium; for the places are exceedingly strong, and he by no means wished his time to be spent there; 17.8. for his sole desire was to find Belisarius in Rome before he had run away. But even learning that Narnia was held by the enemy, he wished to disturb nothing there, knowing that the place was hard of access and otherwise steep; for it lies on a high mountain. 17.9. And the river Narnus flows past the foot of the mountain, which also gave its name to the city. And two roads lead up there, the one toward the rising sun, the other toward the setting. 17.10. Of these one had a certain difficult narrow place of sheer rocks, but to the other there is no way except through the bridge which, spanning the river, makes a crossing there. 17.11. This bridge Caesar Augustus made in former times, a sight worth much account; for of all arches which we know it is the highest. 17.12. Witigis, then, not awaiting his time to be spent there, departing thence quickly, went with his whole army against Rome, making the journey through the Sabines. 17.13. And when he came near Rome and was distant from it not more than fourteen stades, he met a bridge over the river Tiber. 17.14. There Belisarius, a little before, had built a tower and, putting gates upon it, established a garrison of soldiers, not because the Tiber was crossable for the enemy there only (for there are ships and bridges in many parts of the river), but because he wished the time of the enemy in their journey to be spent more, awaiting another army from the emperor, and in order that the Romans might bring in their provisions still more. 17.15. For if the barbarians, repulsed from there, should undertake to cross by another bridge somewhere, he reckoned that no fewer than twenty days would be expended by them, and that, if they wished to draw down so great a multitude of boats into the Tiber, more time still, 17.16. as was likely, would be wasted. Having this in mind, he established the garrison there; where the Goths bivouacked on that day, being at a loss and supposing they would have to fight against the tower on the following day; 17.17. but there came to them twenty-two deserters, barbarians by race, but Roman soldiers, from a cavalry detachment of which Innocentius was commander. 17.18. And the thought then came to Belisarius to encamp by the river Tiber, so that he might be still more a hindrance to the crossing of the enemy and might make some display of his own courage to his opponents. 17.19. But the soldiers who held the garrison, as has been said, on the bridge, dismayed at the throng of the Goths and dreading the greatness of the danger, abandoning by night the tower which they were guarding, set out in flight. 17.20. And not supposing that they could enter Rome, they went secretly to Campania, either fearing the punishment from the general, or blushing before their comrades. 18.1. On the following day the Goths, destroying the gates of the tower with no trouble, made the crossing, no one standing in their way. 18.2. But Belisarius, not yet having learned anything of what had befallen the garrison, taking a thousand horsemen, went to the bridge over the river, to spy out the place where it would be better for them to encamp. 18.3. And when they had come nearer, they met the enemy already across the river, and came to grips with some of them against their will. And the encounter was of horsemen on both sides. 18.4. Then Belisarius, though previously cautious, no longer kept the place of the general, but fought among the first like a soldier; 18.5. and from this it befell the affairs of the Romans to fall into great danger, since the whole issue of the war rested upon him. 18.6. And he chanced at that time to be mounted on a horse exceedingly experienced in war and knowing how to save its rider, which was grey in its whole body, but its forehead was very white from the head to the nostrils. This horse the Greeks call phalios, the barbarians balan. And it befell that the most of the Goths cast at him and at Belisarius their javelins and other missiles for the following reason. 18.7. The deserters who on the previous day had come to the Goths, when they saw Belisarius fighting among the first, knowing that, if he should fall, the affairs of the Romans would straightway be ruined, raised a shout, 18.8. urging them to strike at the horse balan. And from this the report, passing round, came to the whole army of the Goths, but they did not search out who it was, inasmuch as they were in great tumult, nor did they clearly know that it referred to Belisarius. 18.9. But conjecturing not without reason that the report which was current pointed to all, abandoning all the rest, most of them cast at Belisarius. 18.10. And those of them who laid some claim to valour, now held also by great ambition, coming as close as possible, tried to lay hold of him, and, held by great fury, smote at him with their spears and swords. 18.11. But Belisarius himself, turning this way and that, killed those who from time to time met him, and most of all in this danger enjoyed the goodwill of his own guardsmen and spearmen toward him. 18.12. For gathering about him, all displayed such valour as I do not think has been shown by any men down to this day; 18.13. for holding their shields before the general and his horse, they received all the missiles and beat off, by thrusting, those who from time to time came on. And thus the whole encounter was decided about the body of a single man. 18.14. In this action there fell of the Goths no fewer than a thousand, and these men who fought among the first; and there died of the household of Belisarius many of the best, and Maxentius the guardsman, having displayed great deeds against the enemy. 18.15. But it befell Belisarius to have some fortune that day, that he was neither wounded nor struck, although the battle was about him alone. 18.16. At last by their own valour the Romans routed the enemy, and a very great throng of barbarians fled, until they came to their own camp. For there the Gothic foot-soldiers, being unwearied, withstood the enemy and beat them off with no trouble. 18.17. And when other horsemen came to the rescue, the Romans fled with all their might, until, going up onto a certain hillock, they stood. And when barbarian horsemen overtook them, again a cavalry battle took place. 18.18. There Valentinus, the groom of Photius the son of Antonina, made a most notable display of valour. For, leaping alone into the throng of the enemy, he became a hindrance to the onset of the Goths and saved those with him. 18.19. And thus, having escaped, they came to the circuit-wall of Rome, and the barbarians, pursuing them as far as the wall, pressed hard about the gate which is named Salaria. 18.20. And the Romans, fearing lest the enemy, bursting in with the fugitives, should get within the circuit-wall, by no means wished to open the gates, although Belisarius exhorted them much and shouted with threats. 18.21. For neither were those peeping out from the tower able to recognize the man, since his face and whole head were covered with gore and dust, and at the same time no one could see clearly; for it was about sunset. 18.22. Nor indeed did the Romans think the general was alive; for all who had come fleeing in the previous rout reported that Belisarius had died fighting among the first. 18.23. The throng of the enemy, then, having streamed up in great numbers and held by great fury, planned both to cross the moat at once and to fall upon the fugitives there, 18.24. while the Romans, gathered about the wall within the moat, crowding closely together, were drawn into a small space. 18.25. But those within the circuit-wall, being altogether without a general and altogether unprepared, and afraid both for their own selves and for the city, were by no means able to defend their own people, though they had come into such great danger. 18.26. Then a thought and a daring deed came to Belisarius, which unexpectedly saved the affairs of the Romans. For, exhorting all those with him, he fell suddenly upon his opponents. 18.27. And they, even before in much disorder, inasmuch as they were in darkness and pursuit, when they saw the fugitives coming against them beyond expectation, suspecting that another army too had come to the rescue from the city, and from this falling into great fear, now all fled with all their might. 18.28. But Belisarius, by no means rushing into the pursuit, straightway returned to the wall. And thus the Romans, taking courage, received him and all those with him into the city. 18.29. So great was the danger into which Belisarius and the affairs of the emperor came; and the battle, having begun in the morning, ended at night. And in this battle the most distinguished were, of the Romans Belisarius, of the Goths Visandus Vandalarius, who, when the battle was about Belisarius, since he fell upon him among the first, did not draw back until, having received thirteen wounds in his body, he fell. 18.30. And being supposed straightway to be dead, he was neglected by his comrades, although they were victorious, and lay there with the dead. 18.31. But on the third day, when the barbarians, having encamped close to the circuit-wall of Rome, sent some men to bury their own dead and perform the customary rites for their burial, those who searched the bodies of the fallen found Visandus Vandalarius still breathing, and one of his comrades begged him to utter some word to him. 18.32. But he (for he was unable, since his inner parts were exceedingly parched by famine and the dryness from his other suffering) signed to them to put water into his mouth. And when he had drunk and come to himself, they lifted him up and carried him to the camp. 18.33. And Visandus Vandalarius won a great name from this deed among the Goths, and, being held in the highest repute, survived for a very long time. So these things befell on the third day from the battle. 18.34. Then Belisarius, when he was in safety with his followers, gathering almost all the soldiers and the people of the Romans to the wall, bade them light many fires and keep awake the whole night. And going about the circuit-wall in a circle, he arranged other things and set one of the commanders over each gate. 18.35. And Bessas, who held the guard in the gate called Praenestine, sending a messenger to Belisarius, bade him say that the city was held by the enemy, who had burst in through another gate which is over the river Tiber, named after Pancratius a holy man. 18.36. When those about Belisarius heard this, they advised him to save himself as quickly as possible through another gate. He, however, neither was dismayed, nor maintained that the report was sound. 18.37. And he sent some of the horsemen over the river Tiber in haste, who, having observed the things there, reported that no hostile thing had befallen the city there. 18.38. Straightway, then, sending to each gate, he enjoined the commanders everywhere that, when they should hear that the enemy had burst into some other part of the circuit-wall, they should neither go to the rescue nor abandon their own guard, but remain quiet; for he himself would take care of these things. 18.39. And he did this so that they might not again be thrown into confusion by an untrue report. But Witigis, while the Romans were still in great tumult, sent to the Salarian gate one of the commanders, Vacis by name, a not obscure man. 18.40. He, coming there and reviling the Romans for their faithlessness toward the Goths, reproached them with the betrayal which he said they had committed against their fatherland and themselves, in that they had exchanged the power of the Goths for Greeks who were unable to defend them, from whom in former times they had seen no one come to Italy except tragic actors and mimes and thieving sailors. 18.41. This and many such things Vacis said, but since no one answered him, 18.42. he withdrew to the Goths and Witigis. But Belisarius incurred much laughter from the Romans, since, having scarcely escaped the enemy, he now bade them take courage and despise the barbarians; for he knew well, he said, that he would conquer them by force. But how he came to know and decide this will be told in the later narrative. 18.43. And when the night was far advanced, his wife and those of his intimates who were present scarcely compelled Belisarius, who was still without food, to taste a little bread. So both sides passed that night in this way. 19.1. On the following day the Goths, thinking that they would take Rome by siege with no trouble through the size of the city, and the Romans, defending it, arrayed themselves as follows. The circuit-wall of the city has twice seven gates and certain posterns. 19.2. But the Goths, being unable to surround the whole wall in a circle with their whole army, made six stockades and harassed the space of five gates, from the Flaminian as far as the so-called Praenestine; and all these stockades they had made within the river Tiber. 19.3. Fearing, then, lest the enemy, destroying the bridge which is named after Milvius, should make impassable for them all the parts beyond the river extending as far as the sea, and from this they should have no perception of the evils of those under siege, the barbarians built a seventh stockade outside the Tiber in the plains of Nero, so that the bridge might be between their camps. 19.4. Wherefore it came about that two other gates of the city were harassed by the enemy, the Aurelian (which is now named after Peter, the chief of the apostles of Christ, since he lies somewhere near) and the one over the river Tiber. 19.5. And thus the Goths with their army encircled about half the portion of the wall, but, being in no way at all hindered by the river, they went to war against the whole circuit-wall round about whenever they wished. 19.6. But in what manner the Romans built the wall of the city on either side of the river, I shall now tell. Of old the Tiber, flowing past, was borne for a great part along the circuit-wall there. 19.7. And this region, on which the circuit-wall rises along the stream of the river, is level and exceedingly easy of approach. 19.8. And opposite this region, outside the Tiber, there chances to be a great hill, where all the mills of the city have been made from of old, since much water is there conducted by an aqueduct to the top of the hill, and going down thence with great force. 19.9. Wherefore the Romans of old decided to surround both the hill and the bank of the river by it with a wall, so that it might never be possible for the enemy to destroy the mills and, crossing the river, easily to plot against the circuit-wall of the city. 19.10. Bridging the river there, then, they decided to join the wall, and, building many houses in the place opposite, they made the stream of the Tiber flow through the middle of the city. So these things are thus. 19.11. But the Goths dug deep moats about all the stockades, and, heaping the earth which they took out of them above the inner wall, and making it as high as possible, and fixing a great number of sharp stakes on top, they made all their camps in no way inferior to the strongholds in fortresses. 19.12. And of the stockade in the plain of Nero Marcias was commander (for he had now come from Gaul with his followers, with whom he encamped there), and of the rest Witigis was leader, himself the sixth; for there was one commander to each stockade. 19.13. The Goths, then, having arrayed themselves thus, cut all the aqueducts, so that no water should come into the city from there. Now the aqueducts of Rome are fourteen in number, made by the men of old of baked brick, extending to such a width and depth that it is possible for a man riding a horse to ride within them. 19.14. But Belisarius arranged the guarding of the city as follows. The postern called Pincian and the gate on the right of it 19.15. (which is named Salaria) he himself held. For at these the circuit-wall was assailable, and it chanced to be possible for the Romans to go out against the enemy there. The Praenestine he gave to Bessas. 19.16. And over the Flaminian, which is on the other side of the Pincian, he set Constantinus, having first put the gates in place and blocked them within most thoroughly with a masonry of great stones, so that it might not be possible to open them for anyone. 19.17. For since one of the stockades was very close by, he feared lest some ambush against the city should be there from the enemy. 19.18. And the remaining gates he bade the commanders of the infantry detachments guard. And he closed up each of the aqueducts most securely with masonry for the greatest part, lest anyone from outside should go there to do mischief. 19.19. But when, the aqueducts being cut, as I have said, the water no longer worked the mills, and they were unable to work them by any animals, being in want of all food, inasmuch as they were in a siege (for they could scarcely take care of the horses necessary to them), Belisarius devised the following. 19.20. In front of the bridge which I just now mentioned as being near the circuit-wall, he fastened ropes most tightly stretched from each bank of the river, and to these he bound two boats beside one another, two feet apart, just where the inflow of the water, coming with full force from the arch of the bridge, came down; and, placing two mills in each boat, he hung between them the mechanism which is wont to turn the mills. 19.21. And beyond these he bound other boats, each one to those behind in order, and he placed the mechanisms in like manner for a great distance. 19.22. So, as the force of the water advanced, all the mechanisms in succession, revolving upon themselves, worked the mills connected with them and ground enough for the city. When the enemy learned this from the deserters, they destroyed the mechanisms in the following way. 19.23. Gathering great trees and bodies of Romans newly slain, they cast them into the river. 19.24. And most of these, borne with the stream into the midst of the boats, broke off the mechanism. But Belisarius, observing what was being done, contrived the following in addition. 19.25. He hung long iron chains in front of the bridge, reaching across the whole Tiber. Against these everything that the river bore came and was held, and went no further forward. 19.26. And those to whom this work was assigned, always drawing these things up, carried them to the land. And Belisarius did this not so much for the sake of the mills as because from this he came into fear and the thought lest the enemy, with many boats, should secretly get within the bridge and into the midst of the city. 19.27. And thus the barbarians abstained from the attempt, since nothing succeeded for them in this way. And thereafter the Romans used these mills, but were altogether shut off from the baths through the scarcity of water. 19.28. They had, however, enough water to drink, since even those who dwelt farthest from the river could draw water from wells. 19.29. And as for the sewers, which carry out of the city whatever is not clean, he was compelled to devise no security for them, since they all have their outlets into the river Tiber, and for this reason no plot against the city could come from there from the enemy. 20.1. The arrangements for the siege, then, Belisarius managed thus. But many sons of the Samnites, pasturing sheep in their own country, picking out two of themselves who were well grown of body, and calling one of them by the name of Belisarius and naming the other Witigis, 20.2. bade them wrestle. And as they entered the struggle most vigorously, it befell that Witigis, forsooth, fell. And the throng of boys, in play, hung him on a tree. 20.3. And when by some chance a wolf appeared there, the boys all fled, but Witigis, hanging on the tree, the time having been spent in this punishment, died. 20.4. And when this became known to the Samnites, they neither imposed any punishment on these children and, conjecturing what had happened, maintained that Belisarius would conquer Witigis by force. So these things happened thus. 20.5. But the people of the Romans, being altogether unaccustomed to the evils of war and siege, when they were oppressed by the lack of bathing and by the want of necessaries, and were compelled to guard the circuit-wall sleepless, and suspected that the city would be taken before long, and at the same time saw the enemy plundering the fields and everything else, were distressed and made a great matter of it, that they, having done no wrong, should be besieged and come into so great a magnitude of danger. 20.6. And uniting among themselves, they openly reviled Belisarius, in that he, having received an insufficient force from the emperor, had dared to take the field against the Goths. 20.7. This too those of the senate which they call the synkletos reproached Belisarius with in secret. And Witigis, hearing this from the deserters, and wishing to make them clash still more, and thinking that the affairs of the Romans would in this way fall into great confusion, sent as envoys to Belisarius certain men and Albis. 20.8. These, when they came into the presence of Belisarius, with the Romans of the senate present and all who were commanders of the army, spoke as follows: "Long ago, O general, names have been well and fairly distinguished by men for things; among which is this one, that rashness is distinguished from courage. 20.9. For the one of these, to whomsoever it is added, leads with dishonour into danger, but the other bears sufficiently the reputation of valour. 20.10. One of these two has brought you toward us, but which, you will straightway disclose. For if, trusting in courage, you took the field against the Goths — for you surely see from the wall the camp of the enemy, and it is amply in your power, noble sir, to play the man; but if, held by rashness, you set out against us, surely you also repent of what was done at random. 20.11. For the judgments of the reckless, when they come into the struggles, are wont to repent. Now, then, neither prolong further the wretchedness for these Romans, whom Theoderic reared in a life luxurious and otherwise free, nor stand in the way of the master of Goths and Italians. 20.12. For how is it not strange that you, thus shut up and cowering before the enemy, should sit in Rome, while the king of this city, abiding in a stockade, should work the evils of war upon his own subjects? 20.13. But we will grant to you and your followers to make your departure now at your discretion, keeping all your own possessions. For to trample upon those who have relearned moderation we consider neither holy nor worthy of the manner of mankind. 20.14. And we would gladly ask these Romans too, what ever charge they had to bring against the Goths that they betrayed both us and themselves, who enjoyed our kindness until now, and now are experiencing the help you give." 20.15. So much the envoys said. But Belisarius answered as follows: "The time of counsel will not rest with you. For men are by no means wont to make war according to the judgment of the enemy, but it is the custom for each to manage his own affairs in whatever way may seem to him best. 20.16. And I say to you that there will come a time when you will wish to hide your heads under the brambles but will by no means be able to. 20.17. Rome, however, having taken, we hold nothing belonging to others, but you, having previously usurped this city, which in no way belonged to you, have now against your will given it back to those who possessed it of old. 20.18. And whoever of you has hope of setting foot in Rome without a fight errs in judgment. For while Belisarius lives it is impossible for him to give it up." So much Belisarius said. 20.19. But the Romans, in great fear, sat quietly, and dared not gainsay the envoys at all, although reviled by them much for their betrayal to the Goths, except indeed that Fidelius decided to mock them. 20.20. He, at that time, chanced to have been established as prefect of the court by Belisarius, and from this seemed most of all to be well disposed toward the emperor. 21.1. So the envoys were conveyed to their own camp. And when Witigis inquired of them what manner of man Belisarius was and what was his purpose concerning the withdrawal from there, they answered that the Goths were hoping for what was unlikely, if they supposed that they would frighten Belisarius in any way. 21.2. Hearing this, Witigis planned to storm the wall with great zeal and made ready his preparations for the assault on the circuit-wall as follows. 21.3. He made wooden towers equal to the wall of the enemy, and he chanced to have hit upon the true measure by repeatedly measuring it by the courses of the stones. 21.4. And under the base of these towers wheels were placed, set under each corner, which, rolling, were destined to move them most easily wherever those storming the wall should wish, and oxen yoked together drew the towers. 21.5. Then he made ready also many ladders, reaching up to the battlements, and four engines which are called rams. 21.6. Now the engine is of this kind. Four upright wooden columns stand opposite and equal to one another. Into these columns they fit eight cross-beams, four above and four near the bases. 21.7. And making the form of a four-sided little house, they cover it round about with hides instead of walls and a wall, so that the engine may be light for those drawing it and those within may be in safety, struck as little as possible by their opponents. 21.8. And within it they hang another beam from above, crosswise, by loose chains, holding it about the middle of the engine. And making its end sharp, they cover it with much iron like the point of a missile, or they make the iron four-sided, like an anvil. 21.9. And the engine is raised on four wheels, set one under each column, and men no fewer than fifty move it from within. 21.10. And when they have set it against the circuit-wall, they draw back the beam which I just mentioned by some mechanism, turning it, and then let it go against the wall with great force. 21.11. And it, struck repeatedly, is able to shake down and most easily break apart whatever it falls upon, and from this the engine has this name, since the projecting end of this beam is wont to strike whatever it chances upon, like the males of the flocks. 21.12. Of those storming the wall, then, the rams are such. 21.13. And the Goths had ready a very great quantity of faggots made of wood and reeds, so that, casting them into the moat, they might make the place level and the engines might by no means be hindered in crossing there. Thus, then, the Goths, having made their preparation, set out to storm the wall. 21.14. But Belisarius placed engines on the towers which they call ballistrae. These engines have the form of a bow, and below it a kind of hollow wooden horn projects, itself loosely hung, lying upon a straight iron piece. 21.15. When, then, men wish to shoot at the enemy from there, they make the pieces of wood which form the ends of the bow lean toward one another by the insertion of a short cord, and they place the shaft in the hollow horn, half the length, about, of the other missiles which they shoot from bows, but four times the width. 21.16. It is held, however, not by the usual feathers, but, inserting thin pieces of wood in the place of the feathers, they imitate the whole form of the arrow, putting in a point exceedingly large and proportionate to the thickness. 21.17. And men on either side draw it tight with great strength by certain mechanisms, and then the hollow horn, advancing, springs forward, and the missile flies out with such force that it reaches no less than twice the distance of a bow-shot, and, meeting a tree or a stone, easily cuts it through. 21.18. Such is the engine, called by this name because it shoots most vigorously. And they fixed other engines on the battlements of the circuit-wall, fit for casting stones. 21.19. These resemble a sling and are called wild-asses. And at the gates they set up wolves on the outside, which they make in the following way. 21.20. They set up two beams from the ground reaching up to the battlements, and, placing worked pieces of wood one upon another, they fit some upright, some crosswise, so that the openings between the joinings appear as holes to one another. 21.21. And from each joining a projection juts out, very like a thick goad. And fitting the cross-pieces of wood into each beam, reaching from above to the half measure, they lean the beams back over the gates. 21.22. And when the enemy come nearer to them, those above, laying hold of the ends of the beams, push, and these, falling suddenly upon the assailants, by the projecting goads easily kill all whom they may catch. Belisarius, then, did this. 22.1. The Goths, on the eighteenth day from the beginning of the blockade, under the leadership of Witigis, about sunrise, went against the circuit-wall to storm it, and the sight of the towers and rams, coming on and being altogether unfamiliar, dismayed all the Romans. 22.2. But Belisarius, seeing the line of the enemy advancing with the engines, laughed and bade the soldiers remain quiet and by no means begin the action until he himself should give the signal. And why he was laughing he did not for the moment disclose, but it was learned later. 22.3. The Romans, however, suspecting that he was dissembling, reviled him and called him shameless, and, because he did not check the enemy as they advanced, made a great matter of it. 22.4. But when the Goths came nearer the moat, first the general, drawing his bow, struck one of the armoured men who led the army, hitting him in the neck. 22.5. And he, smitten by a mortal wound, fell on his back, and the whole people of the Romans raised a prodigious shout, louder than the ear could bear, thinking that the best omen had befallen them. 22.6. And when Belisarius let fly the missile a second time, this same thing happened again, and a greater shout was raised from the circuit-wall, and the Romans now thought that the enemy were defeated. 22.7. And then Belisarius signaled to the whole army to set all their arrows in motion, but those about himself he bade shoot at the oxen only. 22.8. And when all the oxen straightway fell, the enemy were neither able to move the towers further forward nor, being at a loss, to contrive anything in the very midst of the action. 22.9. And thus the foresight of Belisarius became known, in that he did not try to check the enemy while they were far off, and that he was laughing at the simplicity of the barbarians, who had hoped, so inconsiderately, to bring oxen up to the wall of the enemy. These things happened about the Salarian gate. 22.10. But Witigis, repulsed there, left a large army of Goths in that place, and, making a deep phalanx of them and enjoining the commanders to make no assault on the circuit-wall, but, remaining in array, to shoot constantly at the battlements and give Belisarius as little opportunity as possible to go to the rescue elsewhere on the wall where he himself should intend to assault with a larger army, thus went with a great army to the Praenestine gate, to a part of the circuit-wall which the Romans call Vivarium, and where the wall was most assailable; 22.11. and there chanced to be there already other engines of towers and rams and many ladders. 22.12. Meanwhile another assault of the Goths was made on the Aurelian gate in the following way. The tomb of Hadrian the Roman emperor is outside the Aurelian gate, distant from the circuit-wall about a stone's throw, a sight worth much account. 22.13. For it is made of Parian marble, and the stones cohere with one another, having nothing else within. And it has four sides equal to one another, each one having a width of about a stone's throw, but a height greater than the wall of the city; 22.14. and there are wonderful statues above of men and horses, of the same marble. This tomb the men of old (for it seemed to be a fortified position against the city) surrounded with two walls reaching to it from the circuit-wall, and made it a part of the wall. 22.15. It resembles, then, a high tower set before the gate there. So the stronghold there was most sufficient. And Belisarius chanced to have set Constantinus in charge of its garrison. 22.16. He enjoined him also to take care of the guard of the adjoining wall, which had a poor and not noteworthy garrison. For since the circuit-wall was least assailable there, the river flowing past, supposing that no assault would be made there, he had established no noteworthy garrison there, but, his soldiers being few, he had assigned the multitude to the most necessary of the places. 22.17. For the emperor's army that gathered in Rome at the beginning of this siege was about five thousand. 22.18. But Constantinus (for it was reported to him that the enemy were attempting the crossing of the Tiber), fearing for that wall, himself went quickly there with a few men to the rescue, and enjoined the greater part to take care of the garrison at the gate and the tomb. 22.19. Meanwhile the Goths assaulted the Aurelian gate and the tomb of Hadrian, having no engine, but bringing a very great quantity of ladders and thinking that by the multitude of arrows they would more easily bring the enemy into difficulty and master the garrison there through the fewness of men with no trouble. 22.20. And they advanced holding shields before them, in no way inferior to the bucklers of the Persians, and they escaped the notice of their opponents in coming very close to them. 22.21. For hidden under the colonnade which extends to the temple of the apostle Peter, they came, and, appearing suddenly thence, set to work, so that the guards were neither able to use the so-called ballistra (for these engines do not shoot except straight ahead) nor to defend themselves against the assailants with their arrows, the matter being against them by reason of the shields. 22.22. But when the Goths pressed on vigorously, shooting constantly at the battlements, and were now about to set the ladders against the wall, having almost surrounded those defending from the tomb (for they kept getting behind them on the flanks as they advanced), for a short time there was dismay among the Romans, who had no means by which, defending themselves, they might be saved; but afterward, taking counsel, they broke up most of the statues, which were exceedingly large, and, lifting up huge stones thence with both hands, hurled them down upon the heads of the enemy, and they, being struck, gave way. 22.23. And as they withdrew little by little, the Romans, now having the advantage, took courage and with a louder shout defended themselves against those storming the wall with bows and casts of stones. 22.24. And, laying hold of the engines, they brought their opponents into great fear, and the assault of them came to an end in a short time. 22.25. And Constantinus too was now present, having frightened those who were attempting the river and easily thrust them back, since they had found the wall there not altogether unguarded, as they supposed. And thus the matters about the Aurelian gate became safe. 23.1. But to the gate over the river Tiber, which is called Pancratian, a force of the enemy came but did anything worth account by reason of the strength of the place; for the circuit-wall of the city there is steep and not easy of approach. 23.2. Paulus held the guard there with an infantry detachment of which he himself was commander. Nor indeed did they make an attempt on the Flaminian gate, since, lying in a precipitous place, it is not very easy of approach. 23.3. The Reges, an infantry corps, guarded there, and Ursicinus, who commanded them. Now between this gate and the postern next on the right, which is named Pincian, a certain part of the circuit-wall, anciently broken apart of itself into two, not, however, from its foundation, but only as to half its length, neither fell nor was otherwise destroyed, but leaned over so to either side that part of it appeared outside the rest of the wall and part inside. 23.4. And from this the Romans in their own tongue call the place the Broken Wall from of old. 23.5. And when Belisarius at the beginning undertook to pull down and rebuild this part, the Romans prevented him, maintaining that the apostle Peter had promised them that he himself would take care of the guard there. And this apostle the Romans revere and hold in awe above all others. 23.6. And everything in this place turned out for them as they planned and expected. For neither on that day, nor indeed during the whole time that the Goths besieged Rome, did any force of the enemy come there, nor did any disturbance chance to take place. 23.7. And we marveled that this part of the circuit-wall never came either to our memory or to that of the enemy during the whole time, neither when they were storming the wall nor when by night they were plotting against the wall, as they often attempted. 23.8. Wherefore no one afterward even dared to rebuild it, but down to this day the wall there is thus divided. So these things are thus. 23.9. At the Salarian gate a Gothic man, tall of stature and good in matters of war, wearing a corselet and having a helmet on his head, and being not obscure in the nation of the Goths, did not remain in array with the rest, but, standing on a tree, shot constantly at the battlements. 23.10. This man an engine, which was on a tower at the left part, struck by some chance. 23.11. And passing through both his corselet and his body, the missile sank more than half into the tree, and, binding the man fast by its insertion, hung him there a corpse. 23.12. When the Goths saw this, falling into dismay and getting out of range of missiles, they remained still in array, but no longer harassed those on the wall. 23.13. But Bessas and Peranius, since Witigis was pressing them most strongly at the Vivarium, sent for Belisarius. And he, fearing for the wall there (for it was most assailable there, as has been said), went quickly to the rescue himself, leaving one of his intimates at the Salarian gate. 23.14. And finding the soldiers in the Vivarium afraid of the assault of their opponents, which was great and full of men, he bade them despise the enemy and set them toward courage. 23.15. Now the place there was quite level and from this exposed to the approaches of those coming on. And by some chance the wall there had broken apart for a great distance, so that the joining of the bricks did not hold together very well. 23.16. And the Romans of old had surrounded it on the outside with another small wall, not for the sake of any security (for it neither had the strength of towers, nor were any battlements made there, nor anything else from which it would be possible to beat off the plot of the enemy against the circuit-wall), but for a kind of unseemly luxury, in order that, shutting up lions and the other beasts there, they might keep them. 23.17. Wherefore it is named Vivarium; for thus the Romans call the place where the untamed animals are wont to be reared. Witigis, then, prepared other engines in different parts of the wall and bade the Goths dig through the outer wall, thinking that, if they should get within it, they would master the wall with no trouble, since he knew that it was by no means strong. 23.18. But Belisarius, seeing the enemy digging through the Vivarium and assaulting the circuit-wall in many places, allowed the soldiers neither to defend themselves nor to remain at the battlements, except a very few, although he had with him whatever was notable in the army. 23.19. But below, about the gates, he kept all in readiness, armoured and carrying swords only in their hands. And when the Goths, having broken through the wall, got inside the Vivarium, sending Cyprian with certain others quickly against them, he bade him set to work. 23.20. And they killed all who had burst in, who neither defended themselves and were destroyed by one another in the narrow space at the exit. 23.21. And the enemy being dismayed by the unexpected and not arrayed in order, but each going one way, Belisarius, suddenly throwing open the gates of the circuit-wall, sent out the whole army against his opponents. 23.22. And the Goths by no means looked toward defence, but set out in flight, each where he chanced; and the Romans, pursuing, most easily killed those in their way, and the pursuit became great, since the Goths were storming the wall there far from their own stockades. 23.23. And Belisarius bade them burn the engines of the enemy, and the flame, rising up to a great height, made the dismay greater, as was likely, for the fugitives. 23.24. Meanwhile it befell that the like fortune occurred also at the Salarian gate. For they suddenly opened the gates and fell unexpectedly upon the barbarians, and killed these men, who did not defend themselves but turned their backs, 23.25. and burned the engines opposite them. And the flame rose to a great height in many parts of the wall, and the withdrawal of the Goths now took place by force from the whole circuit-wall, and the shout on both sides was prodigious, those on the wall urging on the pursuers, those in the stockades bewailing the excess of their suffering. 23.26. And there died of the Goths on that day thirty thousand, as their commanders maintained, and the wounded were more; for inasmuch as they were in a great multitude, both those from the battlements for the most part chanced to be shooting at them, and those who made the sallies destroyed a very great number of men dismayed and fleeing. 23.27. And the storming of the wall, having begun in the morning, ended in late afternoon. And both sides bivouacked that night, the Romans on the circuit-wall singing paeans and extolling Belisarius and holding the spoils of the dead, the Goths tending their wounded and bewailing the dead. 24.1. And Belisarius wrote a letter to the emperor; and the writing disclosed this: "We have come to Italy, as you commanded, and have won over much of its land and taken Rome, having thrust out the barbarians there, whose commander Leuderis I lately sent to you. 24.2. But it has befallen us, having established a multitude of the soldiers in Sicily and Italy for the guard of the strongholds which we have been able to master, that our army has been left to about five thousand. 24.3. And the enemy have come against us gathered to the number of fifteen tens of thousands. And first, when we had gone for reconnaissance of the men by the river Tiber, and were compelled against our judgment to come to grips with them, it befell us almost to be buried under the multitude of spears. 24.4. Then the barbarians, storming the wall with their whole army and assaulting with engines all parts of the wall, came within a little of taking both us and the city at the first shout, had not some fortune snatched us up. 24.5. For events that surpass nature would not reasonably be attributed to the valour of men, but to the higher power. 24.6. The things, then, that have been done by us up to now, whether by some fortune or by valour, are in the best state; but for what comes hereafter I would wish things to be better for your affairs. 24.7. What it is fitting for me to say and you to do, I shall never conceal, knowing that human affairs go on in whatever way may be God's will, but that those in charge of all works bear forever the blame or the praise from what has been done by themselves. 24.8. Let arms, then, and soldiers be sent to us in such number that we may thenceforth join battle with the enemy on equal terms of power in this war. 24.9. For we must not trust everything to fortune, since it is not wont to be borne in the same way for all time. But let this come to you, O emperor, that if now the barbarians prevail over us, we shall both be cast out of your Italy and lose the army besides, and there will be added to us this so great shame for what has been done. 24.10. For I forbear to say that we should seem to have destroyed the Romans too, who have made their own safety of less account than their fidelity to your sovereignty. 24.11. So that it will befall us that the good fortune which has come to us up to now will have ended in a foundation of calamities. 24.12. For if we had chanced to be repulsed from Rome and Campania and, much earlier, from Sicily, the lightest of all the evils would gnaw us, that we had not been able to grow rich on the goods of others. 24.13. And indeed this too is worth your reckoning, that it has never been possible to guard Rome for any long time even with many tens of thousands, since it is surrounded by much land and, by not being on the sea, is shut off from all the necessaries. 24.14. And the Romans are now well disposed toward us, but when their evils are prolonged, as is likely, they will not delay to choose the better course for themselves. 24.15. For those who have come to goodwill toward some at short notice are wont to preserve their fidelity to them, not when they fare ill, but when they fare well. 24.16. And besides, the Romans will be compelled by famine to do many things which they would not wish. 24.17. I know, then, that I owe death to your sovereignty, and for this reason no one could drive me out from here while I live; but consider what reputation such an end of Belisarius will bring you." 24.18. So much Belisarius wrote. And the emperor, exceedingly disturbed, hastily gathered an army and ships and enjoined the forces of Valerianus and Martinus to go quickly. 24.19. For these, having been sent with another army about the winter solstice, chanced to be on the point of sailing to Italy. 24.20. But they, having sailed to Greece (for they were unable to force the voyage further), were wintering in the regions of Aetolia and Acarnania. 24.21. Having disclosed this to Belisarius, the Emperor Justinian strengthened still more both him and all the Romans in their eagerness. 24.22. Meanwhile it befell the following to happen in Naples. There chanced to be in the marketplace an image of Theoderic the ruler of the Goths, composed of certain mosaic cubes, exceedingly small, and dyed in almost all colours. 24.23. The head of this image chanced to break apart while Theoderic was alive, the setting of the cubes being disturbed of itself, and it befell Theoderic to end his life almost at once. 24.24. And eight years later the cubes that formed the belly of the image suddenly fell apart, and Atalaric the grandson of Theoderic straightway died. 24.25. And a little time having passed, the cubes about the private parts fell to the ground, and Amalasuntha the child of Theoderic was removed from among men. So these things happened. 24.26. And when the Goths set about the siege of Rome, it befell that the parts of the image from the thighs to the extremities of the feet were destroyed, 24.27. and thereby the whole image disappeared from the wall; and the Romans, conjecturing this matter, maintained that the emperor's army would prevail in the war, thinking that the feet of Theoderic were nothing else than the people of the Goths whom he ruled, and from this they became still more of good hope. 24.28. In Rome, however, some of the patricians brought forward the oracles of the Sibyl, maintaining that the danger to the city had come about only as far as the month of July. 24.29. For at that time, they said, an emperor must be established over the Romans, from whom Rome would thenceforth fear nothing Getic; 24.30. for they say the Goths are a Getic nation. And the oracle ran thus: Quintili mense rege nihil Geticum iam. 24.31. And they maintained that July was the fifth month — some because the siege had begun at the beginning of March, from which it follows that July is the fifth; others because they reckoned March the first month before the reign of Numa, when the time of the year amounted to ten months for the Romans, and July was from this called Quintilis. But none of this was sound. 24.32. For neither was an emperor established over the Romans at that time, and the siege was to be broken up a year later, and again, under Totila the ruler of the Goths, Rome was to come into similar dangers, as will be told by me in the later narrative. 24.33. For it seems to me that the oracle does not disclose this inroad of the barbarians, but some other, either already past or to come at some later time. 24.34. For to discover the meaning of the oracles of the Sibyl before the event is, I think, impossible for a man. 24.35. And the reason I shall now disclose, having gathered all that. The Sibyl does not speak all the events in order nor making any connexion of the discourse, but, having uttered some verse about the evils of Libya, she straightway leaps to the affairs of the Persians, 24.36. and thence, coming to the memory of the Romans, transfers her discourse to the Assyrians. And again, prophesying about the Romans, she foretells the sufferings of the Britons. 24.37. And thus it is impossible for any man whatever to understand the oracles of the Sibyl before the event, unless time itself, the matter having already come to pass and the saying having been put to the test, should become an accurate interpreter of the verse. But let each reckon these things as is dear to him. And I shall return to the point from which I digressed. 25.1. When the Goths were repulsed from storming the wall, both sides bivouacked that night as has been said. 25.2. On the following day Belisarius bade all the Romans convey their children and wives away to Naples, and such of their servants as they thought would not be necessary for the guarding of the wall, so that they might not come into want of provisions. 25.3. And this same thing he enjoined upon the soldiers also, if any one of them had a manservant or maidservant. For he said he was no longer able to provide their rations during the siege in the customary way, but it was necessary for them to receive half each day in the provisions themselves, and the rest in money. 25.4. And they did accordingly. And a great multitude straightway went to Campania. And some were conveyed by chancing upon ships which were anchored in the harbour of Rome, while others went on foot by the road called the Appian. 25.5. And no danger or fear from the besiegers fell either upon those who journeyed there or upon those who went to the harbour. 25.6. For the enemy were neither able to surround the whole of Rome with their stockades through the size of the city, nor did they dare in small numbers to be left far from their camps, fearing the sallies of their opponents. 25.7. And on this account there was for the besieged for some time much freedom both to depart from the city and to bring provisions into it from outside. 25.8. And most of all by night the barbarians always came into great fear, and, making guards, kept quiet in their camps. 25.9. For from the city others and many Moors, going out, wherever they might find the enemy either sleeping or going along the road in small numbers (such things being wont to happen frequently in a great army, both for other necessary needs and for the pasturing of horses and mules and animals fit for food), killed them and, having quickly despoiled them, if more of the enemy chanced to fall upon them, withdrew at a run, being men swift of foot by nature and lightly equipped and getting the start by their flight. 25.10. Thus the great multitude were able to withdraw from Rome, and some went to Campania, some to Sicily, and others wherever it was thought easier and better for them. 25.11. But Belisarius, seeing that the number of the soldiers by no means reached around the circuit of the wall (for they were few, as I have said before), and that the same men were not able always to keep guard sleepless, but some, as was likely, chose sleep while others were stationed for the guard, and that the greatest part of the people, oppressed by poverty and lacking the necessaries (for inasmuch as they were laborers having everything from day to day and compelled to be idle through the siege, no means of livelihood came to them), he mingled soldiers and private men and assigned them to each guard-post, appointing a stated wage to a private man each day. 25.12. From these were formed companies sufficient for the guard, and the guard of the circuit-wall fell upon each company by a fixed night, and they all guarded by turns. And in this way Belisarius solved the difficulty of both. 25.13. And when suspicion arose against Silverius the bishop of the city, that he was practising betrayal to the Goths, he sent him straightway to Greece, and a little later established another bishop, Vigilius by name. 25.14. And he drove out some of the senators also on the same charge, and, when the enemy had broken up the siege and withdrawn, brought them back again to their own homes. 25.15. Among these was Maximus too, whose ancestor Maximus had wrought the calamity against the Emperor Valentinian. And fearing lest some plot arise from the guards at the gates, and lest someone from outside should go to corrupt them with money, twice each month he removed all the keys and renewed them always into another form, and he set the guards at another guard-post far off from the former, and over those who held the guard on the circuit-wall he set others each night. 25.16. Upon these it was incumbent, going round a measure of the wall by turns, to record the names of the guards, and if any one of them was absent there, to set up another in his place at the moment, and to report on the following day to him whoever the absent one might be, so that the fitting punishment might come upon him. 25.17. And he bade the musicians use their instruments on the circuit-wall by night, and he sent out some of the soldiers, and not least of the Moors, who were always to pass the night about the moat, and with them he let loose dogs, so that no one going to the circuit-wall even from afar might escape notice. 25.18. At that time too some of the Romans, forcing the doors of the temple of Janus, secretly tried to open them. 25.19. Now this Janus was the first of the ancient gods whom the Romans in their own tongue called Penates. And he has his temple in the marketplace before the senate-house, a little beyond the Tria Fata; 25.20. for thus the Romans are accustomed to call the Fates. And the whole temple stands of bronze in a four-sided form, of such size, however, as only to cover the statue of Janus. 25.21. And this statue is of bronze, no less than five cubits, like a man in all other respects, but having a head with two faces, and one of the faces is turned toward the rising, the other toward the setting sun. 25.22. And there are bronze doors at each face, which in peace and good circumstances the Romans of old were accustomed to keep closed, but, when they were at war, opened. 25.23. But when the Romans honoured the doctrine of the Christians, if any did, they no longer opened these doors even when at war. 25.24. But in this siege certain men, having in mind, I think, the old belief, undertook to open them secretly, yet were not altogether able, except that the doors no longer closed against one another, as before. 25.25. And those who had undertaken to do this escaped notice; and no search for the deed was made, inasmuch as there was great tumult, since it was not learned by the commanders, nor came to the multitude, except to a very few. 26.1. But Witigis, at first held by fury and at a loss, sent some of his guardsmen to Ravenna and bade them kill all the Romans of the senate whom he had brought there at the beginning of this war. 26.2. And some of them, learning beforehand, were able to flee, among whom were Vergentinus and Reparatus, the brother of Vigilius the bishop of Rome, both of whom, conveyed to Liguria, remained there; but all the rest were destroyed. 26.3. Afterward Witigis, seeing that the enemy had much freedom both to carry out anything they wished from the city and to bring in provisions by land and sea, decided to seize the harbour which the Romans call Portus. 26.4. This is distant from the city one hundred and twenty-six stades; for by so great a measure Rome is shut off from being on the sea. 26.5. And it is where the river Tiber has its outlets, which, borne from Rome, when it comes nearer the sea by about fifteen stades, splitting into two, makes there the so-called Sacred Island. 26.6. And as the river advances the island becomes wider, so that the measure of its width is proportionate to its length; for each stream has between them fifteen stades. 26.7. And the Tiber remains navigable on both sides. The part on the right of the river makes its outlets into the harbour, outside which the Romans of old built a city by the bank, surrounded by a circuit-wall most strong, and they call it Portus, with the same name as the harbour. 26.8. And on the left, by the other outlet of the Tiber into the sea, lies the city of Ostia, outside the bank of the river, of much account in former times, but now altogether unwalled. 26.9. The road, then, which leads to Rome from Portus, the Romans made from the beginning level and having no obstacle. 26.10. And many barges always lie on purpose in the harbour, and not a few oxen stand ready close by. 26.11. So whenever the merchants come with their ships into the harbour, taking the cargoes thence and placing them in the barges, they sail through the Tiber to Rome, using neither sails nor oars (since neither can the boats be driven by any wind there, the river winding much and not going in a straight course, nor can the oars do anything, the force of the water being borne always against them), 26.12. but, fastening ropes from the barges to the necks of the oxen, they draw them like wagons up to Rome. 26.13. But on the other side of the river, going from the city of Ostia to Rome, the road is wooded and otherwise neglected and not even near the bank of the Tiber, since the towing of the barges does not take place there. 26.14. Finding, then, the city by the harbour unguarded, the Goths took it at the first shout and killed many of the Romans who dwelt there, 26.15. and held the harbour together with it. And, establishing a thousand of themselves there as guards, the rest withdrew to the camps. 26.16. And from this it was impossible for the besieged to bring in things from the sea, except through Ostia, with toil, as was likely, and great danger. 26.17. For neither could the ships of the Romans put in there any longer, but they anchored at Antium, distant a day's journey from Ostia. 26.18. And taking the cargoes up thence, they conveyed them with difficulty; and the cause was the fewness of men. For Belisarius, fearing for the circuit-wall of Rome, was unable to secure the harbour with any garrison. 26.19. For I think that, if even three hundred had guarded there, the barbarians would never have made an attempt on the place, since it was exceedingly strong. 27.1. These things, then, the Goths did on the third day after they had been repulsed in storming the wall. And twenty days after Portus and the city and harbour were taken, Martinus and Valerianus came, bringing sixteen hundred horsemen. 27.2. And most of these were Huns and Sclaveni and Antae, who are settled above the river Ister not far from its bank there. 27.3. And Belisarius was glad at their presence and thought they should henceforth make war upon the enemy. 27.4. On the following day, then, he bade one of his own guardsmen, high-spirited and energetic, Traianus by name, taking two hundred of the spearmen who were horsemen, go straight against the barbarians, and, when they came nearer the stockades, to go up onto a high hill and remain quiet, showing him a certain place. 27.5. And if the enemy should go against them, not to let the battle become hand-to-hand, nor to lay hold of sword or any spear, but to use arrows only, and whenever he should see his quiver empty, to flee with all his might, ashamed at nothing, and withdraw to the circuit-wall at a run. 27.6. Having enjoined this, he kept ready the engines for shooting and the artificers about them. And Traianus with the two hundred went out by the Salarian gate against the camp of the enemy. 27.7. And they, dismayed at the suddenness, came to the rescue from the stockades, as each one chanced to be equipped from the available means. 27.8. But the forces of Traianus, going up onto the hill which Belisarius had shown them, from there defended themselves against the barbarians by shooting. 27.9. And it befell that their shafts, falling into a great throng, hit for the most part a man or a horse. But when all their missiles had now failed them, these men marched off behind in haste, and the Goths, pursuing, pressed on. 27.10. But when they came nearer the circuit-wall, the artificers worked the missiles from the engines, and the barbarians, dreading them, abstained from the pursuit. 27.11. And it is said that no fewer than a thousand of the Goths died in this action. A few days later Belisarius, sending Mundilas, another of his own guardsmen, and Diogenes, exceedingly good in matters of war, with three hundred spearmen, bade them do the same as the former. And they did accordingly. 27.12. And when the enemy met them, it befell no fewer of them, if not more, to perish than in the former action in the same way. 27.13. And sending also a third time, with three hundred horsemen, Oilas the guardsman, in order that they might do the like to the enemy, he wrought the same. 27.14. And by making three sallies, as I have said, he destroyed about four thousand of his opponents. 27.15. But Witigis (for the difference in the armies in armament and practice for the deeds of war did not occur to him) himself supposed that he would most easily work irreparable harm upon the enemy, if he should make his inroad against them with a small army. 27.16. He sent, then, five hundred horsemen, bidding them go very close to the circuit-wall, and what they had often suffered at the hands of a few of the enemy, this to display against their whole army. 27.17. And these, getting onto a high place not far from the city, but just out of range, stood. 27.18. But Belisarius, picking out a thousand men and setting over them as commander Bessas, enjoined them to advance against the enemy. 27.19. And they, surrounding the barbarians and shooting always from behind, killed many and forced the rest, by violence, to come down into the plain. 27.20. There, the battle being hand-to-hand, not on equal terms of strength, the most of the Goths were destroyed, and a few, scarcely escaping, withdrew to their own camp. 27.21. These Witigis reviled as having been defeated by cowardice, and, promising to retrieve the disaster before long with certain others, kept quiet for the present, but three days later, picking out five hundred men from all the stockades, he bade them display against the enemy deeds worthy of valour. 27.22. And when Belisarius saw them coming nearer, he sent against them fifteen hundred men and the commanders Martinus and Valerianus. 27.23. And a cavalry battle taking place at once, the Romans, far surpassing the enemy in multitude, routed them with no trouble and destroyed almost all of them. 27.24. And to the enemy it seemed altogether dreadful and a stroke of adverse fortune, that, being many, they were defeated by a few of the enemy coming against them, and that, going again against them in small numbers, they were destroyed. 27.25. But the Romans publicly praised the sagacity of Belisarius, holding it, as was likely, in great wonder, while privately his intimates asked him from what evidence, on that day on which he had thus escaped from the enemy, having been defeated, he had become of good hope to prevail over them by force in the war. 27.26. And he himself said that, having at the beginning come to grips with them with a few men, he had observed what was the difference in each army, so that, if he should make the encounters proportionate to the strength, the multitude of the enemy could in no way injure his own fewness of men. 27.27. And the difference was that the Romans, almost all of them, and the allied Huns are good mounted archers, but for the Goths this art was practised by none; rather their horsemen are wont to use only spears and swords, and their archers, being on foot and protected by the heavy-armed, go into battle. 27.28. So the horsemen, unless the encounter be hand-to-hand, having no means of defending themselves against opponents using bows, are easily shot and destroyed, and the foot-soldiers could never be sufficient to make sallies against horsemen. 27.29. For these reasons Belisarius maintained that the barbarians in these encounters were being defeated by the Romans. And the Goths, having in mind the strangeness of what had befallen them, neither went thereafter against the circuit-wall of Rome in small numbers nor pursued the enemy when they harassed them, except only so far as to thrust them back from the stockades. 28.1. Afterward all the Romans, elated by their previous successes, were eager to go to battle with the whole army of the Goths and thought they should make war openly. 28.2. But Belisarius, thinking that the difference between the two armies was still very great, shrank always from risking everything with his whole army, and was the more zealous for the sallies and devised plans against the enemy. 28.3. But when, being reviled by the army and the other Romans, he gave up, he wished to fight with his whole army, but to make the encounter none the less by a sally. 28.4. And many times he was repulsed when he set out for this, and was compelled to put off the inroad to the next day, since he found the enemy prepared beyond expectation, having learned beforehand what would happen from the deserters. 28.5. Wherefore he wished thenceforth to fight it out openly, and the barbarians gladly entered the battle. And when the preparations for the encounter had been made in the best way by both sides, Belisarius, gathering the whole army, exhorted them as follows: 28.6. "It was not from condemning any softness in you, fellow-soldiers, nor from dreading the power of the enemy, that I shrank from the encounter with them, but, since our affairs stood well when we carried on the war by sallies, I thought I ought to preserve forever the cause of our good success. 28.7. For those whose present affairs go according to their mind, I think it inexpedient to change to another course. Seeing, however, that you are eager for this danger, I am of good hope and shall never stand in the way of your impulse. 28.8. For I know that the greatest part of the issue in wars is always allotted to the judgment of the combatants, and that things are for the most part set right by their eagerness. 28.9. That few men arrayed with valour are able to prevail over a multitude of their opponents, each one of you knows well, not having taken it by hearsay, but having come to the experience of the daily struggle. 28.10. But that you may not disgrace either the former reputation of my generalship or the hope that comes from this eagerness of yours, it will rest with you. 28.11. For everything that has chanced to be done by us in this war must of necessity be judged by the outcome of the present day. 28.12. And I see that the present moment also assists us, which, the spirit of the enemy having been enslaved by their previous reverses, will, as is likely, easily place their conquest in our hands. 28.13. For the judgments of those who have often been unfortunate are by no means wont to play the man. And let no one of you spare his horse or bow or any other weapon. 28.14. For I will straightway render to you in return others for all that is destroyed in the battle." 28.15. Having thus exhorted them, Belisarius led out the army through the Pincian postern and the Salarian gate, and bade a few go through the Aurelian gate into the plain of Nero. 28.16. Over these he set Valentinus, commander of a cavalry detachment, and enjoined him to begin no battle, nor to go nearer the camp of the enemy, but always to give the appearance of being about to assault at once, so that none of the enemy there, crossing the bridge there, might be able to come to the aid of those from the other stockades. 28.17. For since the barbarians encamping in the plain of Nero were many, as I have disclosed before, it seemed sufficient to him that all these should be cut off from the rest of the army by not taking part in the encounter. 28.18. And when some of the people of the Romans of their own will took up arms and followed, he did not allow them to be arrayed with them for the encounter, fearing lest, having come into the struggle, they should dread the danger and throw the whole army into confusion, being laborers and altogether without practice in war. 28.19. But he bade them, outside the Pancratian gates, which are over the river Tiber, making a phalanx, remain quiet until he himself should give the signal, reckoning, which indeed came to pass, that, if the enemy in the plain of Nero should see both them and the forces of Valentinus, they would never take courage to leave their own stockade and go into battle against them with the rest of the army. 28.20. And it was a piece of luck and worth much account that so great a multitude of the enemy's army should be cut off. 28.21. Thus, then, he wished to make only a cavalry battle on that day, and the most of the other foot-soldiers, by now not thinking it right to remain in their present condition, having plundered horses of the enemy and become not without practice in riding, 28.22. were horsemen. But the foot-soldiers, being few and neither able to make a phalanx worth account nor having yet taken courage to come to grips with the barbarians, but always setting out in flight at the first onset, he thought it not safe to array far from the circuit-wall, but bade them remain in array close by the moat, so that, if it should befall their horsemen to be routed, they might be able to receive the fugitives and, being unwearied, defend themselves against their opponents along with them. 28.23. But a certain Principius, one of his guardsmen, a notable man, a Pisidian by race, and Tarmutus an Isaurian, the brother of Ennes the leader of the Isaurians, coming into the presence of Belisarius, spoke as follows: 28.24. "Best of generals, do not see fit to cut off from your army, which is small and is to fight against many tens of thousands of barbarians, the phalanx of foot-soldiers, nor think it right that the Roman infantry should be insulted, through which we hear that the rule of the Romans of old advanced to this magnitude. 28.25. For if it chances that nothing worth account has been wrought by them in this war, this is no proof of the cowardice of the soldiers, but the commanders of the foot are justly to bear the blame, who alone are mounted on horses in the array, but do not think fit to share the fortune of war in common, but each one of them by himself for the most part uses flight even before the struggle. 28.26. But do you, having all the commanders of the foot — for you see that they have become horsemen and are by no means willing to be arrayed with their own subjects — with the rest of the cavalry army enter into this encounter, and grant us to lead the foot-soldiers into the array. 28.27. For being foot-soldiers ourselves, we shall bear with them the multitude of the barbarians, having hope to do to the enemy whatever God may grant." 28.28. Hearing this, Belisarius at first did not consent; for he loved these two exceedingly warlike men beyond measure and was unwilling to risk a few foot-soldiers. 28.29. But at last, forced by the eagerness of the men, he left some few at the gates and up at the battlements with the people of the Romans about the engines, and, setting Principius and Tarmutus over the rest, he bade them stand behind in array, so that they themselves might not, dreading the danger, throw the rest of the army into confusion, and, if ever any portion of the horsemen should be routed, they might not go off as far as possible, but, taking refuge with the foot-soldiers, might be able with them to defend themselves against the pursuers. 29.1. The Romans, then, made their preparations for the encounter thus. But Witigis armed all the Goths, leaving no one in the stockades except those unfit for battle. 29.2. And he bade the forces of Marcias remain in the plain of Nero and take care of the guard at the bridge, so that the enemy might not go against them from there; while he himself, gathering the rest of the army, spoke as follows: 29.3. "Perhaps I might seem to some of you to be afraid for my rule, and on this account to be showing you my other kindness and now to be uttering words enticing to courage. 29.4. And this they reckon not according to the manner of mankind. For ignorant men are wont to treat with gentleness those whom they need, even though they chance to be much their inferiors, but to be hard of approach toward those whose service they do not require. 29.5. To me, however, neither the end of life nor the loss of rule is a concern. For I would pray even to strip off this purple today, if a Gothic man should be about to put it on. 29.6. And I have considered the end of Theodahad to have been among the most blessed, in that it befell him to give up both his rule and his life at the hands of his own kinsmen. 29.7. For a calamity falling upon one privately, when one's race is not destroyed along with him, is for those who are not foolish not without consolation. 29.8. But when I consider the calamity of the Vandals and the end of Gelimer, nothing moderate comes upon me, but I seem to see the Goths with their children enslaved, and your women serving the most hateful of men in the most shameful of all things, and myself led, together with the daughter of Theoderic's child, wherever the present enemy please; these things I would wish that you too, fearing lest they befall, should enter into this battle. 29.9. For thus you would account the end of your life in the place of the encounter of more value than safety after defeat. For noble men consider that they are unfortunate in one thing only, in being worsted by the enemy. 29.10. And death, especially when it comes swiftly, always makes blessed those who before were not faring well. 29.11. And it is plain that, if you carry through this encounter with these reckonings, you will most easily conquer your opponents, who are few and Greeks, and you will punish them almost at once for the injustice and insolence which they began against us. 29.12. For we boast that we surpass them in valour and in multitude and in all other things, but they are emboldened against us, lifted up by our misfortunes, and having as their sole provision our negligence. For the prosperity beyond their desert feeds their boldness." 29.13. Having thus exhorted them, Witigis too arranged his army for battle, setting the foot-soldiers in the middle, and the horsemen on both wings. 29.14. He arrayed the phalanx, however, not far from the stockades, but close by, so that, as soon as the rout should come, the enemy might easily be overtaken and destroyed, the pursuit of them taking place over much ground. 29.15. For he hoped that, if the battle should be hand-to-hand in the plain, they would not hold out even a short time, judging from the great strangeness of it that the army of the enemy was not a match for his own. 29.16. The soldiers, then, beginning early, set to work on both sides; and Witigis and Belisarius, exhorting from behind, urged both to good courage. 29.17. And at first the affairs of the Romans were uppermost, and many of the barbarians fell by the arrows; yet no pursuit of them took place. 29.18. For inasmuch as the Goths were stationed in a great multitude, others most easily stood in the place of those who were destroyed, and gave no perception of those perishing among them. And to the Romans, being exceedingly few, it seemed sufficient that the struggle should be confined to this for them. 29.19. And having carried the battle even to the camps of their opponents by midday, and having now destroyed many of the enemy, they wished to return to the city, if any pretext should arise for them. 29.20. In this action three Roman men proved the best of all — Athenodorus, an Isaurian man, of repute among the guardsmen of Belisarius, and Theodoriscus and Georgius, 29.21. guardsmen of Martinus, Cappadocians by race. For always going out from the front of the phalanx, they dispatched with their spears many of the barbarians. These things happened thus. 29.22. But in the plain of Nero each side sat opposite the other for a long time, and the Moors, always making sallies and hurling their javelins, distressed the Goths. 29.23. For they by no means wished to go out against them, fearing those of the people of the Romans who were not far off, whom they supposed to be soldiers and to be remaining quiet, making some ambush against them, so that, getting behind them and putting them between two fires, they might destroy them. 29.24. But when the day was now half spent, the army of the Romans rushed suddenly upon the enemy, and the Goths, dismayed by the unexpected, were routed beyond expectation. 29.25. And they were not even able to flee into the stockade, but, going up onto the hills there, kept quiet. Now the Romans were many, but not all soldiers, 29.26. but the most were an unarmed throng. For inasmuch as the general was elsewhere, many in the camp of the Romans, sailors and servants eager to share in the war, mingled with the army there. 29.27. And by their multitude, having dismayed the barbarians, as has been said, they routed them, but by their disorder they overthrew the affairs of the Romans. 29.28. For by mingling with them the soldiers fell into great confusion, and, although Valentinus exhorted them much, they by no means gave heed to the commands. 29.29. Wherefore, neither pursuing the fugitives, did they kill any, but permitted them, remaining quiet on the hills, to behold without fear what was being done. 29.30. Nor did they take thought to break up the bridge there, so that the city might not thereafter be besieged on both sides, the barbarians being no longer able to encamp over the river Tiber. 29.31. Nor indeed, by crossing the bridge, did they get behind the enemy who were fighting against the forces of Belisarius there. Which, had it come about, the Goths, I think, would no longer have looked toward defence, but would have set out in flight at once, as each one could. 29.32. But as it was, having taken the stockade of the enemy, they turned to plundering the goods, and carried off much silver plate and much other property thence. 29.33. But the barbarians, for some time beholding what was being done, kept quiet and remained where they were, but at last, taking counsel, and held by great fury and shouting, advanced against their opponents. 29.34. And finding men plundering their goods in no order, they killed many of them and quickly drove out the rest. For those of them who, being caught, were not destroyed, throwing the goods from their shoulders, fled gladly. 29.35. While these things were happening in the plain of Nero, meanwhile the rest of the army of the barbarians, fencing themselves with shields close by their own camps, defended themselves vigorously against their opponents, and destroyed many men, but many more horses. 29.36. And when of the Romans some had become wounded, and others, their horses being destroyed, left the array, in an army already small the fewness of men became still more apparent, and the difference of the throng of the Goths appeared great. 29.37. Having this in mind, the horsemen of the barbarians from the right wing went at a run against the enemy opposed to them. And the Romans there, not enduring their spears, set out in flight and came to the phalanx of the foot-soldiers. 29.38. But neither did the foot-soldiers withstand the assailants, but the most of them fled along with the horsemen. And straightway the rest of the Roman army also withdrew, the enemy pressing upon them, and the rout took place by force. 29.39. But Principius and Tarmutus, with a few of the foot-soldiers about them, displayed deeds worthy of valour against them. 29.40. For the most of the Goths, fighting and by no means thinking fit to be routed along with the others, the most of the Goths stood, holding this in great wonder. And from this both the other foot-soldiers and the most of the horsemen were saved with less fear. 29.41. Principius, then, his whole body cut to pieces, fell there, and about him forty-two foot-soldiers. 29.42. But Tarmutus, having two Isaurian javelins in both his hands, and always thrusting, turning this way and that, against those coming on, when, being cut about the body, he gave out — his brother Ennes having come to the rescue with some horsemen — recovered his breath and at a swift run, full of gore and wounds, went to the circuit-wall, having thrown away neither of his javelins. 29.43. And being swift of foot by nature, he was able to escape, although in such a state of body, and, coming to the very Pincian gates, fell. And, being supposed to be dead, he was lifted upon a shield and carried by some of his comrades. 29.44. And surviving two days, he died, having left a great name for himself among the Isaurians and the rest of the army. 29.45. And the Romans, now in fear, took care of the guard on the wall, and, putting the gates in place with much tumult, did not receive the fugitives into the city, fearing lest the enemy should burst in with them. 29.46. And those of them who had not arrived inside the circuit-wall in time, crossing the moat and setting their backs against the wall, trembled and stood having forgotten all defence, and were by no means able to defend themselves against the barbarians, although they pressed on and were about to cross the moat against them. 29.47. And the reason was that the spears of most had been broken in the encounter and the flight, and they were unable to work their bows by reason of the narrowness of their position with one another. 29.48. As long, then, as not many were seen at the battlements, the Goths pressed on, having hope to destroy all those shut out and to overpower those within the circuit-wall. 29.49. But when they saw a great number of soldiers and of the people of the Romans defending themselves at the battlements, straightway despairing, they marched off behind, reviling their opponents much. 29.50. And the battle, having begun in the stockades of the barbarians, ended in the moat and the wall of the city.