by Ross Laidlaw
Goths should man the army. . Romans. . the administration
Despite some scholars (e.g. Ensslin, Theoderich) insisting otherwise, the rule was not set in concrete. A few Romans, such as a certain Cyprianus and Count Colosseus served in the army, while Wilia the Comes Patrimonii, Triwila the Praepositus Sacri Cubili and the senator Arigern were Goths. All the above were, however, exceptional.
Chapter 17
his markedly Teutonic features
Coins from Theodahad’s short reign (534–536), especially a bronze forty-nummi piece depicting the king in profile wearing a Spangenhelm, show an archetypally Germanic physiognomy — an image that surely would have gladdened the heart of Hitler. However, as an exemplar of some Aryan uber race, Theodahad would have proved a sad disappointment to der Fuhrer — timidity, vacillation, greed, and self-delusion being the Gothic monarch’s predominant character traits.
The ritual of bathing
I have based my description of a Roman bath-house on the reconstructed one at Wallsend, the remains of one at Chesters (both sites on Hadrian’s Wall), the famous complex at Bath, and (because Turkish baths are the direct descendants of Roman ones, with which they are virtually identical) the Turkish baths at Portobello, Edinburgh — where the old Roman terminology: caldarium, tepidarium, etc. is alive and well today! In a typical Roman bathing suite, a steam room (sudatorium) was not obligatory, but would have been an optional extra. (‘There were many variations on the sequence. . cold and hot, moist and dry. .’. Philip Wilkinson, What The Romans Did For Us.)
In the steam room at Portobello, the temperature of the steam is in the region of 50 °C. If heated to 100 °C, I was assured it would cause the blood to boil, death occurring after around twenty minutes to half an hour. (‘The steam rising from boiling water in an open vessel is of the same temperature as the water — viz. 212°F; but notwithstanding this, it contains a great deal more heat’. Chambers’ Encyclopaedia, 1888.)
Some sources say that Theodahad had Amalasuntha strangled, others that he had her murdered in her bath — which allowed me, I think, to despatch her in the way I have described.
Today, Bolsena (anciently Volsinii) is a favourite stopping-off point for tourists en route to Orvieto with its famous cathedral. The circular lake (a crater lake set in a basalt plateau ringed by mountains) is popular with swimmers, who can be joined by remarkably tame ducks, its waters being pleasantly cool thanks to an altitude of c. 1,000 feet. The area, noted for its association with the powerful Farnese family, is rich in Etruscan remains. On the triangular-shaped island of Martana, the remains of the castellum where Amalasuntha met her end, can still be seen. A tourist attraction with less grisly associations is the Capodimonte porcelain factory, situated near the lake.
Chapter 18
Dear ‘Cato’. ‘Cato’, ‘Regulus’ et al.
in the spirit of Libertas, these noms de guerre are borrowed from celebrated Romans noted for their staunch championing of Republican values. (Shades of ‘Jacques One, Two, and Three’ in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.)
events as they now stand
In the text, a detailed account of the dreary catalogue of marches, sorties, sieges, attacks and counter-attacks (including the mutinies in Africa and Sicily), which make up the initial phases of the Gothic War, would, I suspect, have tested the patience of most readers. To avoid this, I resorted to that well-worn (but handy) device of summarizing the key points by means of an interchange of letters.
the Tomb of Cecilia Metella
This huge brick-built drum from the Augustan period, situated outside Rome on a well-preserved section of the Appian Way (built by the censor Appius Claudius from 312 BC), was converted into a castle in the fourteenth century.
I’m assured he’ll be released ere long
Some hope! — his imprisonment lasted altogether four years. After his release, Peter continued a long and distinguished career, becoming Master of Offices, and carrying out important diplomatic missions into the 560s.
Chapter 19
the two women. . concocted a plot
When it comes to ruthless scheming and the ability to manipulate members of the male sex, especially husbands, Antonina and Theodora make the likes of Lucretia Borgia and Cleopatra look like amateurs. (Their ‘framing’ of John of Cappadocia to bring about his downfall is a classic revenge plot worthy of the Mafia.) Although Theodora could be devious and unscrupulous in striving to achieve her goals (witness her likely connection with Amalasuntha’s murder), she was driven by motives in themselves commendable — ferocious loyalty towards her husband and her friends, unselfish concern for the welfare of her proteges.
Antonina’s character, on the other hand, is not redeemed, as far as can be ascertained, by any trace of altruism. Self-gratification seems to have been her chief motivation, and she showed no shame or scruple in her attempts to satisfy it. One example will suffice to illustrate this. With breathtaking brazenness, she seduced her and Belisarius’ adopted son, Theodosius (a youth half her age), and carried on the affair right under her husband’s nose while accompanying him on campaign in Africa, Sicily and Italy. Even when discovered in flagrante delicto, she managed to pull the wool over the eyes of the doting Belisarius. On one occasion, she was denounced to Belisarius, with clear evidence of guilt, by servants; on another by her own son Photius (from a liaison preceding her marriage to Belisarius). In each case, the whistleblowers were rewarded for their pains by execution and imprisonment, respectively. When eventually (the presumably exhausted) Theodosius fled to a monastery to escape the demands of his insatiable lover, Antonina — with the assistance of her devoted friend, Theodora — tracked him down and had him re-installed in the bosom of the family. (Soon afterwards, according to Gibbon, ‘Theodosius expired in the first fatigues of an amorous interview’!)
Regarding the plot to have Silverius replaced by Vigilius, I have telescoped some of the events, and taken one or two liberties with the (probably true) account of his death by starvation on an island west of Naples. But the facts as I have presented them in the story are substantially those that history records. None of the four main protagonists emerge from the affair with any credit. The worst that can be said of Justinian and Belisarius however, is that they were weak — meekly going along with their wives’ demands, against the dictates of their consciences.
The stories behind the Silverius/Vigilius plot, Antonina’s affair with Theodosius, and the fall of John of Cappadocia are recounted in graphic and fascinating detail by Antony Bridge in his Theodora. Ironically, after being shoehorned into the Vatican, Vigilius proved a sad let-down to Theodora. Unwilling to offend the staunchly Orthodox clergy and people of Italy (and thus weaken his position as Pope), he procrastinated endlessly about implementing her wishes. The impasse was eventually overtaken by events of a catastrophic nature — as will be seen in later chapters.
a dark, triangular fin slicing through the water
While sharks that are dangerous to man are mostly encountered in tropical waters, they are, or were until recently, not uncommon in the Mediterranean — including the fearsome Great White Shark (which actually prefers temperate seas to warm ones). This species tends to cruise in shallow water near the coast, which of course would have put Silverius in danger as he approached the shore. Shark attacks in the Mediterranean on humans have been recorded from Ancient Greek times onwards.
Chapter 20
dropping anchor beside Trajan’s Mole
This enormous structure — 2,000 feet in length — can still be seen, as can a triumphal arch erected for the same emperor.
he’s still in Ariminum
In fact, John refused to evacuate Rimini when ordered to do so by Belisarius. This flagrant act of disobedience received the backing of Narses, who proceeded to tell Belisarius to relieve the town — thus adding insult to injury!
when the old man became a god
Prior to Constantine under whom Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, em
perors, on dying, were deemed to become gods, acquiring thereby the title ‘Divus’. This was a piece of state propaganda that probably few people, especially among the upper classes, took very seriously — witness the remark of one expiring emperor: ‘I believe I am turning into a god!’ Shades of the god-emperors of Japan, a status surviving into modern times.
the spat developing between their two commanders
The clash between the two generals (arising from the extraordinary rider to his commission which enabled Narses to outrank Belisarius whenever he felt it appropriate to do so) created a poisonous atmosphere of acrimony and dissent, which at times virtually paralyzed the progress of the war, and was directly responsible for the failure to relieve Milan.
B.’s capture of Ravenna in a bloodless coup
Displaying a failure of nerve that was not untypical, Justinian ordered Belisarius to abandon the siege of Ravenna (which the emperor had been led to believe was virtually impregnable) and make the best terms he could with the Goths — in case troops had to be diverted to the east in the event of Persian aggression. Italy would then be divided between the Romans, who would retain the land south of the Po, and the Goths, who would keep the rest — mainly consisting of their heartland, the Plain of Lombardy. Belisarius however, was made of sterner stuff than his emperor. Ignoring the order, he pretended to agree with a secret proposal of the Goths that he become Western emperor in return for a power-sharing deal with them. He was then allowed to enter Ravenna with his army, whereupon the Goths surrendered — only to discover that they had been tricked. Belisarius, who had no intention of honouring the deal, informed the Gothic leaders that he was occupying Ravenna in Justinian’s name and that the Ostrogothic kingdom was no more. (Gibbon suggests that Ravenna was captured late in 539, rather than 540 — the year most sources give.)
half a million put to the sword and the city razed
The population of Milan — then as now Italy’s second city — has been estimated to number c. 500,000 at the time. Displaying his usual common sense, Gibbon (in contrast to most historians) is highly sceptical about the notion of total genocide and destruction being visited on a conurbation of this magnitude. He suggests that dividing the reported number slain (300,000 males alone) by ten, and assuming that the city’s walls rather than its buildings were levelled, would give a more credible picture. Though inclined to agree with Gibbon, for dramatic reasons I have, in the story, stuck with the generally accepted version of the fate of Milan.
the Year of the Consul Basilius
After a lapse of several years, a consul, Basilius, was elected for the year 540. His diptych shows him in his consular robes, beside him — hand on his shoulder — an allegorical figure of Rome. Basilius wears a most apprehensive expression — caused by worry about the colossal expense of throwing his consular Games, or concern regarding the imminent demise of the office he represents? He was in fact to be the very last consul. (The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian suggests a date of 541 for Basilius. As, however, Gibbon gives 539 as the final consular year, I decided to split the difference and settle for 540.)
as once You did to Constantine
Justinian is referring to the famous incident — one of the most important single events in the history of Christianity, when Constantine, about to do battle with his rival Maxentius for mastery of the Roman Empire, beheld in the sky a cross (cloud formation?) — the emblem of the hitherto persecuted Christian sect. Interpreting the vision as a sign from God, he instructed his soldiers to paint the symbol on their shields. In the ensuing battle at the Milvian Bridge (still in use) outside Rome in 312, Constantine was victorious and the rest, as they say, is history. .
Khusro was contemplating ending the treaty
For dramatic reasons, I have deferred Khusro’s invasion of Syria until Chapter 21, so as not to spoil Justinian’s moment of triumph on hearing the news of the capture of Ravenna — which must have seemed to bring the Gothic War to a glorious conclusion. In fact, according to most sources, the news arriving in Constantinople of Khusro’s ‘putsch’ preceded — just — the tidings that Ravenna had fallen (March and May 540 respectively). If, however, we accept Gibbon’s argument that Ravenna in fact fell in late 539 rather than in early 540, then the order of events as I’ve presented them can stand. (See Gibbon’s footnote on the capture of Ravenna in Chapter 41 of his Decline and Fall.)
Elsewhere in Chapter 20, in order to present a reasonably coherent picture from the shifting pattern of sieges, blockades, reliefs, reductions and ‘pushes’ which constitute the main strategic events in Italy for the years 538–540 (a crucially important period in the first phase of the Gothic War), I have gone in for some pruning and telescoping without, I trust, distorting the essential facts.
Chapter 21
the age-old contest between Persia and Rome
If we broaden the term ‘Rome’ to ‘the Greeks and Romans’, and ‘Persia’ to include successively: the empire begun by Cyrus in 537 BC, the Parthian state which lasted from 246 BC to AD 218, and its successor the Sassanian Empire, then, by the reign of Justinian, the Graeco-Roman world had been at war with Persia for over a thousand years — allowing for an interregnum (329–246 BC) when the country had come under the sway of Alexander and his successors. For a time — in the 610s and 20s — it looked as if Persia might overrun the East Roman state, but in 628 the tables were turned decisively in Rome’s favour when the emperor Heraclius utterly crushed Khusro II. Then, just when it seemed that Rome had emerged the final victor. . (For the ‘Final Solution’ to the millenium-long struggle, see Afterword.)
as once we served Valerian
In AD 260, the Roman emperor Valerian, along with his 70,000-strong army was captured by the Persians, who for many years displayed his skin as a grisly trophy of war.
a legitimate claim to Justinian’s throne
This astonishing assertion was not without an element of justification. Near the end of Justin’s reign, when Khusro (the third and favourite son of the Great King, Kavad) was a young boy, plans (part of a diplomatic entente between Persia and Rome) were drawn up whereby young Khusro would be adopted by the childless Justin. The boy had actually started on the journey to Constantinople when — on the advice of hardliners, particularly the quaestor Proclus — the scheme was cancelled. Had it not been. . (It is fascinating to speculate what might have been the implications for the succession on Justin’s death, if the plan had been implemented.)
their proud Seleucid ancestors
One of the most splendid cities of the ancient world, Antioch was founded c. 300 BC by Seleucus Nicator (in honour of his father Antiochus), one of Alexander’s generals. He began the Seleucid dynasty, whose territory included most of the eastern portion of Alexander’s empire.
Antioch will rise again
‘After his [Khusro’s] return he founded, at the distance of one day’s journey from the palace of Ctesiphon, a new city, which perpetuated the joint names of Chosroes and of Antioch. The Syrian captives recognised the form and situation of their new abodes; baths and a stately circus were constructed for their use, and. . a liberal allowance was assigned to these fortunate exiles. .’ (Gibbon.) A quixotic (but staggeringly generous!) gesture by one of history’s most enigmatic and intriguing personalities. In contrast to Justinian, Khusro was motivated by pragmatism rather than idealism, and possessed both a streak of cruelty and a sense of humour — traits not shared by his great rival.
Chapter 22
thanks to the network of irrigation channels
These, once ubiquitous throughout Mesopotamia, have long fallen into disuse. As a result, most of what is now Iraq has largely reverted to desert.
protection against lions
Ammianus Marcellinus, the fourth-century soldier-turned-historian, mentions (in his The Histories) seeing lions in this area.
a. . silent world of pools, lagoons, and reeds
I trust I may be forgiven for having transposed the world of the marsh Arabs
(whose way of life is said to go back to the time of the Sumerians) a few hundred miles north-west from the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. This is not as capricious as it may sound. Ammianus mentions marshy terrain beside the Euphrates, in the area west of the Naarmalcha Canal (i.e. south of present-day Baghdad) — something that is still the case, as John Keegan in his masterly The Iraq War confirms: ‘Manoeuvre along this stretch of the Euphrates [near Karbala, south of Baghdad] was difficult. The river banks were high, the surrounding ground marshy’. So, my depiction of the topography of this area is more, perhaps, a case of judicious borrowing and augmentation rather than unalloyed invention.
The marsh Arabs had, in the course of many centuries, succeeded in creating an environment in which human activity and nature achieved a perfect balance — a unique, unchanging, and arrestingly beautiful world, which aroused the admiration of many environmentalists, as well as explorers such as Wilfred Thesiger. (See his The Marsh Arabs.) To a monster like Saddam Hussein, such an ideal scenario was of course intolerable, and he set about destroying it (by drainage on a massive scale) with brutal efficiency. Since the fall of his regime however, the area is beginning to recover, and there is hope that the way of life of a unique community may yet be saved.
the poisonous miasma supposedly arising from the marsh