Belisarius: The Last Roman General

by Hughes, Ian

  With the siege now laid ever closer, the Goths in the city began to suffer from famine. As supplies ran low they sent an emissary to Witigis to ask for aid. Witigis agreed to send troops, but then remained in Ravenna. Procopius (Wars, VI.xxiv.l4) notes that this was due to there being a shortage of supplies everywhere due to the widespread crop failures in Italy; Witigis would have had none to spare for the defenders, and if he had moved with his entire army they would likely also have run out of food as they approached the city.

  As the siege of Auximus progressed, Cyprian and Justinus laid siege to Fisula, although, due to the topography, this could not be a close siege. Consequently, the Goths mounted many sorties against the Byzantines, but, being defeated, were gradually restricted to the city and the siege here, too, began to take effect. Eventually, these men also sent a message to Witigis asking for help. Since the city was not far from Milan, Witigis sent an order to Uraias commanding him to raise the siege. Uraias moved his army out of Milan and advanced to Dorthon, where he made camp opposite Martinus and John. However, he did not attack them, believing that his defeat would mean that the Gothic cause in Italy would be lost. Since they were effectively pinning Uraias in place, the Byzantines were also happy to remain in their camp.

  The Franks invade Italy

  At this vital juncture the Franks, who were in theory allied to both the Byzantines and the Goths, decided to abandon their treaty with both and make an attempt to take at least part of Italy for themselves. Theudibert, king of the Franks, reasoned that, with both the Goths and the Byzantines tired by their long war, conquest of at least part of the peninsula was now feasible.

  Leading a force of 100,000 men, according to Procopius, the Franks crossed the Alps into that part of Italy north of the Po. The Franks differed from the Goths and the Byzantines in that, again according to Procopius, they only had a small mounted bodyguard that protected the king. The remainder of the army was composed entirely of foot warriors armed with sword, shield and a throwing axe – the famed francisca. Although possibly a little simplistic, since at least some of the infantry would have carried long-range missile weapons such as bows, the description illustrates the main strength of the Frankish army.

  The Franks marched through the north of Italy, welcomed by the Goths who believed that they had come as allies. Only when they had secured the bridge across the Po at Ticinum did the Franks show their true colours, attacking the neighbouring Goths, taking much spoil and many captives, before launching an attack on Uraias’ camp. The Goths quickly broke and fled past the Byzantine camp. Assuming that Belisarius had arrived unannounced and attacked Uraias, Martinus and John led their troops out of their camp and rode to his assistance. Upon reaching the Gothic camp they were attacked by the Franks and also quickly fled, retiring to the relative safety of Tuscany.

  However, Theudibert now halted his large army in an area where the Goths and Byzantines had been camped for quite a while. Supplies were low and, due to their poor diet, the Frankish troops began to suffer from diarrhoea and dysentery. With a large part of the army ill, the Franks were forced to remain stationary, which added to the numbers suffering from disease.

  Hearing of the Frankish attack, Belisarius became increasingly worried about the troops besieging Fisula, since they were now vulnerable should the Franks march in their direction. In order to buy time, he sent an envoy to Theudibert, warning him of the consequences should he maintain his aggressive behaviour and remain in Italy. Worried by the possibility of a counterattack, and even more so since possibly up to a third of his army had died of disease, Theudibert decided not to remain in Italy. Instead, he led the remainder of his forces back home over the Alps. Once he had gone, Martinus and John moved their forces back to Dorthon so that they could give an advanced warning to the troops besieging Fisula should the Franks return, as well as guarding them from the Goths in Milan.

  Affairs in the empire

  It was only due to the relative peace on his other fronts that Justinian had been able to free troops to attempt the conquest of Africa and Italy. The peace was to be shattered by two events. The nearest of these to Italy, and so the one that could be expected to affect the progress of that war, was the Hunnic invasion of the Balkans. With most of the troops from the area already involved in the Gothic war (at the time of the Hunnic invasion Vitalius was advancing with a large body of troops from Dalmatia towards the north of Italy) the Huns advanced as far as the walls of Constantinople before returning to their homeland with a large number of captives and a vast amount of booty. A second wave invaded Greece, bypassing Thermopylae – which was stoutly defended -and ravaged the whole of Greece except for the Peleponnese.

  Affairs in the east also began to affect the situation in Italy. Khusrow had been viewing the conquests of Belisarius with alarm, and he had asked his ally Al-Mundhir of the Lakhmids to give him a pretext for declaring war. Accordingly, Al-Mundhir accused Arethas, the Ghassanid ally of the Byzantines, of violating his territory. He then invaded the Ghassanid kingdom, declaring that he was not in breach of the treaty, since he had not been named in it. However, Procopius claims that traditionally the various ‘Saracens’ allied to Rome and Persia were automatically included in treaties made between those two empires.

  Both the Ghassanids and the Lakhmids claimed suzerainty over an area known as Strata, south of Palmyra, and this is where Al-Mundhir attacked. Justinian sent Strategius, the administrator of the royal treasuries, as an envoy, who advised Justinian that he should relinquish claims to the area and so not provide Khusrow with a pretext for war.

  However, Khusrow now claimed that the envoys to Al-Mundhir had been sent in an attempt to detach Al-Mundhir from his alliance to the Persians. He also claimed that Justinian had sent a letter to the Huns asking them to invade Persia. Although Justinian denied the claims, it now appeared to be only a matter of time before war was declared.

  At this point the two ‘Roman’ envoys from Italy reached Khusrow. Whether he would have declared war upon hearing their pleas is unknown, since events in Armenia tipped the balance. An individual called Symeon had betrayed the city of Pharangium to the Byzantines during the Persian war, and had been given several villages in Armenia as a reward. Unfortunately, the previous owners did not appreciate the gift and had killed Symeon before fleeing to Persia. Justinian now gave the villages to Amazaspes, Symeon’s nephew, but he was denounced by a man named Acacius for both abusing the native Armenians and for planning to betray Theodosiopolis and other fortresses to the Persians. Following the accusation, Acacius killed Amazaspes and took his place. He then treated the natives badly and they killed him before fleeing to Pharangium. In frustration, Justinian ordered Sittas to invade Armenia. After trying to negotiate a peace, Sittas entered Armenia but was killed in a skirmish. Justinian sent Buzes as a replacement, who also attempted to negotiate, asking for representatives to meet him. Only a single noble named John, who knew Buzes, agreed, taking a few men to the meeting place. On seeing that they were almost surrounded by the Byzantines, his followers fled, but this John stayed and was killed by Buzes. In response, the Armenian nobles now sent envoys to Khusrow to solicit his help.

  With the Hunnic invasion and the threat of war in the east, Justinian sent emissaries to Khusrow, admitting writing letters to the Huns, but stating that they were not attempting to provoke the Huns to invade Persia. They also noted the aggressive acts of Al-Mundhir, but it was to no avail. Believing that his moment had come, Khusrow cancelled the treaty and prepared for war. The Persians were always a far greater threat than the Goths, so Justinian decided to end the war in Italy and recall Belisarius to take charge of the war in the east. He determined to send Domnicus and Maximinus as envoys to the Goths with the message that the Goths could have peace if they agreed that Witigis would retain half of the Gothic treasure plus Italy north of the Po, whilst the emperor would gain the other half of the treasure and all of Italy south of the Po.

  The Fall of Auximus and Fisula

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sp; The Gothic garrison of Auximus did not know of the Frankish invasion and could not understand why Witigis had not sent help. As they were restricted to the city, they decided to bribe one of the Byzantine troops to carry a message to Witigis in Ravenna. Burcentius, a man in the command of Narses, accepted the bribe and took the message to Witigis. Witigis sent a reply outlining the attack of the Franks and stating that he would arrive shortly with the army, once the Franks had definitely retreated from Italy.

  Burcentius returned and gave the message to the Goths, replying to his companions’ queries as to his whereabouts that he had been ill in a nearby sanctuary. Shortly thereafter, the Goths became frustrated and sent Burcentius to Ravenna again, this time with a message saying that they would be forced to surrender in five days unless help arrived. Again Burcentius returned with an excuse for his absence and passed a message to the Goths saying that help would soon be arriving.

  Belisarius was baffled by the defenders’ refusal to surrender and decided to find out why they were being so stubborn. He set Valerian the task of catching a Goth for questioning. A Goth was duly caught as he tried to gather grass from the usual source. When questioned he told the whole story of the messages, including the bribe to Burcentius. Belisarius arrested Burcentius, but then gave him to his comrades, telling them that the punishment was in their hands. His army colleagues decided to burn him alive as a warning to others.

  Becoming impatient, Belisarius attempted to cut the supply of water to the city. The main source of water was a spring that arose on the side of the hill, just outside the city walls. From there, the spring ran in to a cistern from which most of the water for the city was drawn. Ordering his troops to draw up their battle lines as if to attack the city, Belisarius then sent five Isaurians with tools to break the cistern. Advancing under a cover of shields provided by their fellow troops, the men advanced to the cistern, which was covered from sight of the walls by a vault over the top, and jumped into the water. The Goths, believing that the attackers were going to attempt to weaken the walls, at first made no response, waiting for the wall of shields to advance to a closer range. Then, when they realised the purpose of the attack, they showered the area with missiles. At this, the shield carriers fled back down the hill, but the Isaurians, covered by the vault, began to attack the walls of the cistern.

  In desperation, the defenders mounted a sortie in an attempt to stop the work. As they appeared, Belisarius ordered his troops to attack and a battle took place on the side of the hill. Many Byzantines fell, since the Goths had the advantage of the higher ground, until seven Armenians from the command of Narses and Aratius – possibly eager to wipe out the shame of Burcentius accepting Gothic bribes – routed a section of the defenders. The Byzantines advanced through the gap and the defenders retired to the walls. The attackers also withdrew. Unfortunately, the cistern was undamaged, partly because of the superior building methods used in ancient times making the task extremely difficult, and partly because the Isaurians had retreated along with the troops after the skirmish.

  Although a failure, the attack had made it clear how important the water supply in the cistern was to the defenders, so Belisarius ordered animal carcasses and lime thrown in to the water to make it unfit to drink. The Goths now had to rely on a small well within the city which did not fulfil their needs, but still they held out.

  As the siege of Auximus progressed, the Gothic garrison of Fisula finally surrendered to Cyprian and Justinus. Leaving a garrison in the city, Cyprian and Justinus moved to Auximus and joined Belisarius for the siege there. Belisarius paraded the leaders of the garrison from Fisula outside the walls of Auximus. As a consequence, the garrison began to negotiate for their surrender. Originally, they demanded to be freed and allowed to retire to Ravenna, taking all of their belongings. Yet Belisarius was uncertain what course to take. His next move would be to advance on Ravenna, so it would be a mistake to allow the garrison, who had already proved themselves resourceful and brave, to join Witigis and fight him again. On the other hand, speed was needed, in case the Franks should decide to cross the Alps again and join with the Goths. Belisarius needed to secure Auximus to prevent the Goths attacking him from the rear. Finally, the Byzantine troops, having received the news of the Gothic terms for surrender, were unhappy since they would not receive any rewards for their bravery. Eventually, a compromise was reached in which the Goths kept half of their property, the other half being distributed as booty to the troops, and the Gothic garrison was to join forces with Belisarius, being distributed amongst the Byzantine army. It was now October or November 539 and the siege had lasted for seven months.

  The Siege of Ravenna

  In haste, as it was now late in the campaign season, either late 539 or early 540, Belisarius advanced towards Ravenna. He dispatched the general Magnus with a large force to go to the farther side of the city and patrol the south banks of the River Po to ensure that no supplies reached the city. Furthermore, Vitalius had meanwhile advanced from Dalmatia and was now in a position to patrol north of the river. It was as Vitalius approached the river that Belisarius’ luck helped him again. Vitalius discovered boats loaded with grain that were destined for Ravenna. They had been unable to navigate to the city due to the river falling to a very low level, the cause of which is unknown. Shortly after, the river rose again and the grain was sent to Belisarius for distribution to the troops.

  The Goths in Ravenna began to suffer from the perils of starvation, as their supplies had been captured and the Byzantines had control of the sea, so cutting of the supplies usually transported by ship. Seeing that the Gothic position was becoming desperate, King Theudibert of the Franks sent messengers to Witigis, offering his military support in return for a share in the kingship of Italy. Hearing of the offer, Belisarius sent Theodosius, the head of his household, to Witigis to remind him of the Franks’ recent invasion and reinforce the belief that they could not be trusted. After deliberating on the matter, Witigis decided to open negotiations with Belisarius with a view to surrender. Whilst Witigis’ was considering his options, Belisarius used the pause in the conflict to send Vitalius to Venetia to secure as many towns as he could in that region.

  Procopius reports that it was about this time that the grain stores in Ravenna caught fire and were burnt down, all of the grain in them being lost. Although the cause of the fire is unknown, Procopius suggests that the most likely causes are either that Belisarius bribed a citizen of the town to start the fires, or that they were ordered by Matasuintha, the wife of Witigis, who was unhappy because he had forced her to marry him to cement his position on the throne.

  Hearing of the siege of Ravenna, and convinced that their cause was now lost, the Goths garrisoning the passes through the Cottian Alps decided that the time had come to surrender. When the news reached him, Belisarius sent Thomas and a force of troops to accept the surrender and secure the passes. When Thomas arrived, Sisigis, the Gothic commander in the region, surrendered himself and ordered all of the garrisons in the region to surrender at the same time. However, Uraias, who had gathered a force of 4,000 men in Liguria after his defeat by Theudibert, was moving towards Ravenna in order to help fight in the siege. When news of the surrender reached him, his troops demanded action, since most of them had families in the Alps who were now in the hands of the Byzantines. As a consequence, Uraias changed direction and immediately laid siege to Thomas and Sisigis.

  When word of Thomas’ plight reached Martinus and John, who following their defeat had returned to Dorthon, they moved north to help him, taking many Goths captive on the way. By chance, these included many of the wives and children of the troops under Uraias, who immediately deserted and surrendered to the Byzantines. As his force melted away, Uraias retired with his remaining force to Liguria and remained there quietly until later in the year. There was now no source of help for the Goths trapped in Ravenna.

  The End of the Belisarian War

  It was now that Justinian’s envoys arrived at Rav
enna and conveyed the emperor’s offer to the Goths. The Goths would have agreed to the treaty, but Belisarius, as the general on the spot, refused to ratify it. The army commanders were unhappy with his decision, so Belisarius had a conference during the course of which they agreed to sign a declaration stating that, when the emperor’s offer had arrived, there was no real chance of the Byzantines completing the conquest of Italy. Belisarius was very close to a total victory and did not want to leave them with the opportunity to later declare that he could easily have completed the conquest, but lacked either the will or the ability to do so. The officers agreed, and Belisarius was happy since they would not be able to lay charges against him.

  Yet even at this late stage the situation changed drastically. The Gothic nobles, who had become disillusioned with Witigis, feared that their surrender would result in their being transported to the east and not allowed to return. In secret, they sent a messenger to Belisarius and offered him the title Emperor of the West. When Witigis heard of the plan, he gave it his whole-hearted support.