A Struggle for Rome, v. 2

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER IV.

  A few days later Mataswintha again repaired to the camp, this timeunaccompanied by Aspa, for the latter never stirred, by day or night,from the bedside of her wounded countryman, who was rapidly recoveringunder her careful nursing.

  King Witichis himself came to fetch the Queen with all his court, for amost important council of war was to be held in his tent. The arrivalof the last reinforcements had been reported, and Guntharis andHildebad were also expected to return with the reply of Belisarius tothe proposal of peace.

  "This will be a fateful day," said Witichis to his consort. "Pray toHeaven for peace."

  "I pray for war," said Mataswintha, with a fixed stare.

  "Does thy woman's heart so long for revenge?"

  "For revenge alone, and it will be mine!"

  They entered the tent, which was already crowded with Gothic leaders.

  Mataswintha returned their reverent greetings with a haughty bend ofher neck.

  "Are the ambassadors here?" the King asked old Hildebrand, as he seatedhimself. "Then bring them in."

  At a sign from the old man, the curtains at the side of the tent werewithdrawn, and Duke Guntharis and Hildebad entered, bowing low.

  "What bring you, peace or war?" Witichis asked eagerly.

  "War! war, King Witichis!" cried both men with one voice.

  "What! Belisarius refuses the sacrifice I offered him? Hast thoucommunicated my proposal to him in a friendly and earnest manner?"

  Duke Guntharis stepped forward and answered:

  "I met the commander in the Capitol, as the guest of the Prefect, and Isaid to him: 'The Gothic King, Witichis, sends thee greeting. In thirtydays he will march before these walls with a hundred and fifty thousandvaliant Goths, and there will be a strife and struggle for thisvenerable city, such as her bloodstained soil has not witnessed for athousand years. The King of the Goths loves peace even more thanvictory, and he swears to yield the island of Sicilia to the EmperorJustinian, and stand by him in every war with thirty thousand Goths, ifyou will at once evacuate Rome and Italy, which belong to us by rightof conquest, as well as according to the treaty with Emperor Zeno, whoconceded them to Theodoric when he had overthrown Odoacer.' Thus Ispoke, according to thy command. But Belisarius laughed, and cried:'Witichis is very kind to yield to me the island of Sicilia, whichbelongs to me already, and is no more his. I will give him instead theisland of Thule! No. The treaty of Theodoric with Zeno was a forcedone, and as to the right of conquest--well, that speaks now for us. Nopeace except upon these conditions: that the whole Gothic army lay downtheir arms, and the entire nation march over the Alps, sending theirKing and Queen as hostages to Byzantium.'"

  A murmur of indignation ran through the tent.

  "Without making any reply to such a proposition," continued Guntharis,"we turned our backs angrily and departed. 'We shall meet again inRavenna!' Belisarius cried after us."

  "Then I turned," added Hildebad, "and cried: 'We shall meet againbefore Rome!' Up, King Witichis! to arms! Thou hast done thine utmostfor peace, and hast only reaped humiliation. Up, then! Long enough hastthou lingered and prepared; lead us now to battle!"

  Just then a flourish of trumpets was heard in the camp, followed by thesound of the hoof-beats of approaching horses.

  Presently the curtain of the tent was lifted, and Totila entered in hisshining armour, his white mantle floating round him.

  "Hail, my King and my Queen!" he said, bowing, "My mission isfulfilled, I bring you the friendly greeting of the Frank King. He hadan army ready for the service of Byzantium, and prepared to attackthee. I succeeded in changing his intentions. His army will not enterItaly against the Goths. Duke Markja of Mediolanum, who, until now, hasdefended the Cottian Alps against the Franks, is therefore free. Hefollows me in haste with all his thousands. On my way hither I gatheredtogether whatever men I found capable of bearing arms, and also thegarrisons of the fortresses. Further: until now we were short ofcavalry. Be comforted, my King! I bring thee six thousand horsemen,splendidly mounted. They long to caper upon the plains of Rome. _One_wish alone dwells in all our hearts: lead us to battle, to Rome!"

  "Thanks, my friend, to thee and to thy horsemen! Speak, Hildebrand, howis the army now divided? Tell me, generals, how many men does each oneof you command? Notaries, write the numbers down."

  "I command three thousand foot-soldiers," cried Hildebad.

  "And I forty thousand foot and horse with shield and spear," said DukeGuntharis.

  "I lead forty thousand foot: archers, slingers, and spear-bearers,"said Earl Grippa of Ravenna.

  "I seven thousand with knives and clubs," counted Hildebrand.

  "Then come Totila's six thousand horse, and fourteen selected thousandsled by Teja, with battle-axes--where is he? I miss him here--and I haveraised the number of my troops, foot and horse, to fifty thousand,"concluded the King.

  "Altogether that makes a hundred and sixty thousand," said theprotonotary, writing down the numbers, and handing the parchment to theKing.

  A ray of warlike joy and exultation spread over the face of Witichis.

  "A hundred and sixty thousand Gothic warriors! Belisarius, shall theylay down their arms before thee without a struggle?--What repose do youneed before the march?"

  Just then Teja hurried into the tent. As he entered he caught the lastquestion. His eyes flashed; he trembled with rage.

  "Repose? not an hour longer; up! revenge, King Witichis! a monstrouscrime has been committed, which cries to Heaven for vengeance. Lead usat once to battle!"

  "What has happened?"

  "One of Belisarius's generals, the Hun Ambazuch, besieged, as thouknowest, the fortress of Petra with his Huns and Armenians. There wasno relief for the garrison far and near. Only young Earl Arahad--hesurely sought death--attacked the superior force with his small troop;he fell in brave combat. The little company of armed Goths in thefortress resisted desperately, for all the helpless people of theGoths, the Aged, the sick, women and children, coming from the plainsof Tuscany, Valeria, and Picenum, and amounting to some thousands, hadtaken refuge in the fortress from the enemy. At last famine compelledthem to open the gates, with the stipulation that they should beallowed to leave unhurt. The Hun swore that he would not allow a dropof Gothic blood to be shed. He entered, and ordered the Goths toassemble in the Great Basilica of St. Zeno. This they did, above fivethousand people and a few hundred warriors. And when they were allassembled----"

  Teja paused with a shudder.

  "Well?" asked Mataswintha, turning pale.

  "The Hun closed the doors, surrounded the church with his troops--andburnt all the five thousand, together with the church."

  "And his promise!" cried Witichis.

  "Yes, so cried the desperate people amidst the smoke and flames! 'Mypromise?' laughed the Hun, 'it will be fulfilled: not a drop of bloodwill be shed. The Goths must be burnt out of Italy, like field-mice andvermin.' And so the Byzantines looked on, while five thousand Goths,aged men, women, sick people, and children--King Witichis, dost thouhear?--_children_! were miserably suffocated and burnt to death! Suchthings happen, and thou--thou sendest offers of peace! Up, KingWitichis!" cried the enraged man, drawing his sword. "If thou be a man,set forth at once to revenge thy people! The spirits of the murderedwill march before us. Lead us to battle! Lead us to revenge!"

  "Lead us to battle! lead us to revenge!" echoed the Goths with a shout.

  Witichis rose with quiet majesty.

  "So be it! the extremity has been reached. And our best armour is ourright. To arms!"

  And he gave the parchment, which he held in his hand, to Mataswintha,in order to take up the blue banner which hung over his chair.

  "You see this old banner of Theodoric; he has carried it from victoryto victory. It is now, alas, in weaker hands than his; but do not bediscouraged. You know well that a foolish confidence is not in mynature, but this time I tell you beforehand that a present victoryrustles in the folds of
this flag--a great, proud, and avengingvictory! Follow me! The army will march at once. Generals, order yourtroops. To Rome!"

  "To Rome!" was echoed through the tent. "To Rome!"