Belisarius: The Last Roman General

by Hughes, Ian

  After a long delay, Maximinus sent Demetrius, who had previously served under Belisarius, to Sicily. Learning that Conon in Naples was hard pressed to resist the Goths, Demetrius decided to act, although he had only a few men with him. Accordingly, he gathered a large fleet and stocked it with grain for the city. Assuming, correctly as it turned out, that the Goths would believe this to be a large army, he set sail. The Goths were fearful for their safety, but the fleet sailed past and proceeded to Portus, where Demetrius hoped to spend a little time in gathering extra troops from the area. However, the Byzantines in the area had only recently been defeated by the Goths and refused to join him.

  During this time, the Neapolitans had become ever more desperate and finally sent another Demetrius, known as the Cephalonian, who was governor of the city, to Rome to ask for help. Frustrated in his attempts to raise an army, Demetrius agreed to help the Neapolitans and sailed for Naples. It was too late. By this time, Totila had learnt of the composition of the Byzantine fleet. As they neared Naples, the Gothic fleet attacked the Byzantines, defeating them and capturing all of their ships and cargoes. The Byzantine Demetrius escaped in a small boat, as did a few others, but most were captured or killed, including Demetrius the Cephalonian. He was taken alive before Totila. During the siege, he had been accustomed to stand upon the walls and hurl insults at the Goths and their king. As a punishment, Totila cut out his tongue and chopped off his hands. He was then allowed to return to the city.

  After a very long delay in Epirus, Maximinus, the new commander of the Italian armies, reached Syracuse. Learning of his arrival, messengers from all over Italy arrived to ask him for help. Finally, he sent Herodian, Demetrius – who had returned to Sicily – and Phazes to Naples by sea. As it was now close to winter, the fleet was caught in a storm and blown aground near to the Gothic camp. Most of the troops were killed or captured, including Demetrius. Herodian and Phazes and a few others managed to escape, but it was now clear that there was to be no relieving army for the city of Naples.

  Demetrius was paraded before the walls and forced to tell the Neapolitans that they could no longer expect any help from the Byzantine army. After negotiations, the citizens agreed to surrender in 30 days if no army arrived to help them. As a sign of his confidence, Totila extended the deadline to three months, in order to emphasise the hopelessness of their cause. The strategy worked. Shortly after the negotiations, and long before the deadline, the city surrendered.

  Totila now worked upon improving his image. He collected food for the city, and himself organised its distribution so as to minimise the number of deaths caused by people eating too much food after reaching the edge of starvation. He also allowed the Byzantine troops to go free, but when they decided to sail to Rome a strong wind kept them in the harbour. Finally, Totila gave them horses and pack animals and they headed for Rome by the land route. When a Neapolitan complained to Totila that his daughter had been raped by one of his men, Totila had the man imprisoned and then executed. In this way he began to gain the loyalty of the native Italians. In direct contrast, the Byzantine troops who were not immediately threatened by the Goths plundered the territories around their cities and so alienated the natives from their cause. Slowly, army discipline began to collapse.

  A further repercussion of the capture of Naples was that the Goths now occupied a large port on the western coast of Italy. As a consequence, Totila gathered a fleet in the port with which to control the Tyrrenhian Sea (Proc. VII. xiii. 6).

  Totila’s next move was to send messengers to the senators of Rome asking them to revert to their original allegiance. John, nephew of Vitalianus, prevented the senators from sending a reply, but Totila sent a second letter stating that the Byzantines would be unharmed if they supported him. Suspecting the Arian bishops in the city of colluding with Totila, the Byzantines evicted them from the city. After sending the letters, Totila dispatched an army to Dryus (Otranto) with orders to ask the city to surrender. If it refused, it was to be laid under siege. With the rest of the army, Totila himself moved to lay siege to Rome.

  As their control of Italy slipped away, Constantianus sent a letter to Justinian, signed by all of the other commanders, stating that they were unable to fight the Goths.

  Belisarius reappointed to a command

  In Constantinople, Belisarius had been living simply as a private citizen, and although allowed access to the palace, he was not allowed into the presence of Justinian and Theodora. According to Procopius, he only retained a few attendants, which was very different from his recent exploits accompanied by thousands of bucellarii and a large household. Procopius also alleges that Belisarius was poorly treated by the emperor and empress, who allowed their lackeys to treat him with contempt, and that he lived in fear of assassination – possibly on imperial orders (Anekdota, 4.20–22).

  It is possible that this treatment had two distinct causes. The first is that the empress wanted to punish Belisarius for his alleged inclusion in the plot to replace her husband on his death. This would have stripped Theodora of her power and rendered her vulnerable to attack from her enemies. It is not hard to see why Theodora would want to punish him for his actions.

  The second revolves around Antonina. Procopius claims that Antonina and Belisarius had quarrelled after her services for the empress. It is likely that Theodora wanted to impress upon Belisarius the importance of Antonina in maintaining his position at court. Without her, he would not have the same level of influence in political and military affairs. Furthermore, the reliance went both ways. By having Belisarius, the empire’s leading general, tied to her close friend and confidante, Antonina, Theodora ensured that the likelihood of Belisarius leading a successful revolt against Justinian was slim; even if he did and won, Antonina would be in a position to intercede on her behalf with the new emperor.

  Shortly afterwards, Theodora agreed to allow the restoration of Belisarius to the imperial grace. Again according to Procopius, Theodora emphasised that Belisarius was being restored to favour due to the intercession of Antonina, to whom the empress owed a favour thanks to her recent service. She also pointed out that Belisarius’ attitude to the emperor and empress would be judged by his treatment of Antonina (Anekdota, 4. 27–30). The circumstances surrounding his restoration to favour reinforces the idea that the whole episode was contrived in order to reduce Belisarius from his lofty position as conqueror of the west and remind him that he was subordinate to both Justinian and Theodora. It further suggests that it was at least in part engineered to ensure that he remained loyal to Antonina, and was thus kept subordinate to Theodora.

  The majority of Belisarius’ wealth was restored, except for a portion that was given as a present by Theodora to her husband. To further secure his loyalty to the imperial family, his daughter Joannina was betrothed to Anastasius, one of Theodora’s grandsons, although Procopius suggests that this was also a way for Theodora or her descendants to acquire his personal wealth after he had died (Anekdota, 5. 20).

  Once restored to imperial favour, Belisarius asked to be reinstalled as magister militum per Orientem, and to be sent to the east to fight the Persians. His request was declined, possibly at the request of Antonina, who declared that she did not want to go back to the place where she had been insulted in front of everybody (Anekdota, 4.38). However, a further reason for the refusal presents itself. There was an urgent need for a commander in Italy and Justinian may have already decided to send Belisarius back to the scene of his earlier triumphs. Instead of being reinstated as magister militum per Orientem he was given the lower rank of comes sacri stabuli (count of the sacred stables). Whilst still a senior post, the appointment must be seen as evidence that Belisarius had not been fully restored to imperial favour. Moreover, the post of magister militum per Orientem was still held by Martinus and it may have been impolitic to have removed him from office after such a short tenure.

  The Return to Italy

  For his new campaign Belisarius was not given the troops that
had recently served under him. They were needed in the east to face the Persians. Furthermore, his comitatus had been distributed by lot amongst his fellow generals and he does not appear to have been able to recruit a substantial number of bucellarii to form his household. Instead, he travelled throughout Thrace, his home province, offering a bounty to volunteers willing to join him. He was joined in this exercise by Vitalius, magister militum per Illyricum, who had recently returned from Italy.

  After collecting around 4,000 men, Belisarius decided to make for Salona and from there, following Vitalius’ advice, proposed to take the land route to Ravenna (Proc, Wars, VILxiii. 14). With the Goths controlling the Italian peninsula outside the towns, Belisarius decided not to travel straight to Rome. He did not yet have enough troops to face the Goths in open battle and he was certain to be seen and his presence reported to Totila; there was no chance of taking the Goths by surprise.

  Meantime, at Dryus the Byzantines were in such dire straits as their food supplies ran low that they agreed to surrender the city on a specific date should no outside help arrive. Belisarius loaded provisions on to ships and sent Valentinus to save the city. Arriving unannounced, the ships entered the harbour unmolested, and when the Goths besieging the city saw the fleet, they abandoned the siege and retired to join forces with Totila. Valentinus stocked the city with provisions and replaced the sick and malnourished garrison with fresh troops that he had brought from Belisarius. However, the new troops set out to plunder the countryside around the city and, in an accidental encounter with a Gothic force, were routed and forced to retreat to the city, having lost 170 men. Leaving the city with provisions to last them for a full year, Valentinus returned to Belisarius, who was still at Salona.

  Once Valentinus had arrived back at Salona, Belisarius sailed to Pola. Totila quickly learned that he had landed and attempted to discover the composition of his army by sending a fake message from the Byzantine commander at Genoa. The messengers had instructions to spy on the Byzantine army, taking note of the numbers and types of troops present. Belisarius was completely fooled by the ploy and Totila now knew the nature of the army he had brought to Italy.

  Whilst Totila had been spying upon Belisarius, the citizens of the besieged town of Tibur betrayed the town to the Goths. The garrison escaped but the Goths put the town to the sack, taking a large amount of spoils and captives.

  In the meantime, Belisarius moved to Ravenna and attempted to persuade the Byzantines and Goths in the region to accept service with him. The appeal failed: not a single man was willing to reenlist in the army under Belisarius. There was a single major reason for their refusal to reenlist. Although they may have retained their loyalty to and respect for Belisarius, they knew that he would at some time be sent elsewhere again and they would be left with the same generals in Italy that they had previously abandoned. Alongside a reversion to the poor policies of lesser generals, there also remained the possibility of punishment for their desertion by generals other than Belisarius.

  Unwilling to remain inactive, although he did not have enough troops to mount significant expeditions, Belisarius sent his bodyguard Thurimuth and some bucellarii, along with Vitalius and some Illyrians, into Aemilia. Camping near to Bononia (Bologne), they exerted pressure upon the surrounding area, inducing some fortresses to surrender. Before they could secure their gains, one night the Illyrians decided to return home, claiming that they were owed back-pay. In reality, it is more likely that they were worried about a Hunnic invasion that was currently devastating their homeland.

  Totila learned of their departure and sent an army to attack Vitalius. Vitalius and Thurimuth were informed of the Goths’ approach and set up a series of devastating ambushes. The Goths were either destroyed or routed and, once the outcome was certain, Thurimuth returned to Ravenna to report to Belisarius. Although the loss of the Illyrians was a serious blow, overall the venture had been a success, so Belisarius now sent Thurimuth, Ricilas, and Sabinianus with 1,000 troops to help the garrison of Auximus, which was under the command of Magnus. The town was still under siege, but the reinforcements managed to enter the town by night completely unobserved.

  Once inside, it was decided to send out some scouts to discover the strength and position of the besiegers before mounting a series of sorties. Unfortunately, Ricilas became drunk and personally went out on reconnaissance. He was killed, and although an attack by Thurimuth’s men routed the Goths and retrieved the body, it was decided in a conference that there were too few men available to defeat the enemy, but too many to act as a garrison; the extra men would simply use up the supplies faster and so hasten the capitulation of the town. Thurimuth and Sabinianus decided to leave the town by night, but a deserter informed Totila of the plan. He put in place an ambush of 2,000 men, which killed 200 Byzantines and captured the pack animals, servants, weapons and clothes of the troops. The remainder of the Byzantine force, including Thurimuth and Sabinianus, fled to Ariminum.

  Still desiring to retain some of the initiative, Belisarius decided to restore one of two fortresses that had previously been dismantled by Witigis. Pisaurus (Pesaro) and Fanus (Fano) had both had their houses destroyed and the walls reduced to half their original height. As Pisaurus was in a region which was good for the pasturing of horses, Belisarius had the entrances measured and gates made in secret. Once complete, he ordered Thurimuth and Sabinianus with a force of men to retake the fortress and rebuild it. Totila heard of the attempt and led an army to assault the fortress. The attack failed and Totila withdrew to his camp near Auximus.

  As a final move, Belisarius sent two of his personal guards to Rome with instructions for Bessas to remain within the walls and not attempt any sallies or forays outside. With the refortification of Pisaurus, Belisarius had used all of his available men; he could not do anything now other than wait. Totila had the initiative.

  Totila became aware that all Byzantine movements had ceased, so, although winter had arrived, he decided to test the strength of the strongest towns, secure in the knowledge that they would receive no outside help. The first two towns he laid siege to were Firmum (Fermo) and Asculum (Ascoli) in Picenum.

  Belisarius did not have spare forces with which to send help to the two towns. In desperation, he sent John the nephew of Vitalianus to Constantinople with instructions to act as swiftly as possible. John carried a message to Justinian begging for a large army and also for money to cover the arrears in pay for the troops, as many were now unwilling to fight. He further requested a supply of fresh horses and other equipment, as much had been lost in the various defeats that had been inflicted on the Byzantines by the Goths. Finally, he requested the return of his comitatus plus the recruitment of a large force of Huns and other mercenaries. He was aware that the Goths had yet to discover a counter to the use of massed horse archers, and wanted to take advantage of their inabilities.

  John did not fulfil his task. Although when in Constantinople he married the daughter of Germanus, the emperor’s nephew, he failed to convince Justinian of the need for speed in dispatching the reinforcements to Belisarius. Despite Procopius’ castigation of his failure, it is not surprising. As we saw earlier, the Huns had only recently invaded Illyricum, the war was continuing against Persia, and there was a major rebellion in Africa. As a further –and major – factor, there had recently been a recurrence of the plague in Constantinople. The empire’s resources were stretched to the limit.

  These arguments would have done nothing to help the citizens of Firmum and Asculum, since both cities surrendered. Totila moved on and now laid siege to Spoletium and Asise. Neither of these cities were to fare any better. Spoletium was held by Herodian, who made an agreement with the Goths that if no help came within thirty days he would surrender the city. Procopius states that Herodian may have surrendered very easily, since he was worried about facing prosecution for his earlier failure to act against the Goths. Given the treatment of Belisarius after his actions in the east, such a worry is understandable. Nat
urally, the overstretched Byzantines could not help the city and Herodian surrendered as agreed. Asise was held by Sisifridus, himself a Goth. When he was killed in a sally against the besiegers the heart went out of the city’s defenders. They immediately surrendered to the Goths.

  In contrast to these two cities, following their surrender a message was sent to Cyprian in Perusia, demanding that he surrender the city and offering a large sum of money as a reward. When Cyprian refused, Totila bribed one of his bodyguards, Ulifus, to kill Cyprian. Yet, when Ulifus succeeded both in killing Cyprian and in escaping, the troops and citizens still held firm and Totila retired from the city. Lifting the siege, Totila marched on Rome.

  The Second Siege of Rome

  Like his predecessor Witigis, Totila fortified a number of camps around the city with which to control movement both to and from it. When a number of Goths approached the city walls, Artasires and Barbation sallied against them – against Bessas’ wishes – and routed them. However, they pursued the Goths into an ambush from which Artasires and Barbation escaped with only a few men, the rest being killed. Following this defeat, no more sorties would be allowed by Bessas. With Totila cutting the land routes and the navy stationed in Naples cutting the sea routes, severe famine quickly set in at Rome.