Belisarius: The Last Roman General

by Hughes, Ian

  With Rome confined under siege, Totila sent a contingent of troops to Placentia, the only city in Aemilia in Byzantine hands, to either take the city by storm or to starve it into submission. Upon its arrival, the army’s leaders offered terms to the Byzantine defenders, but these were refused and so the Goths began a siege. Again, due to the lack of supplies in much of Italy, the city was quickly reduced to starvation rations since they were already low on supplies.

  Belisarius realised that he did not have the troops needed to effect the relief of Rome. Leaving Justinus to command the garrison in Ravenna, Belisarius, accompanied by ‘a few men’ (Proc, Wars, VH.xiii.19), travelled across the Adriatic and through Dalmatia to Epidamnus (Durazzo), from where he sent a message to Justinian requesting that reinforcements be sent to him. By this time Justinian had troops to spare for Italy, so sent a force of Byzantines and barbarians, under the command of John nephew of Vitalianus and Isaac the Armenian, brother of Aratus and Narses, to Epidamnus.

  To help alleviate his manpower problems, Justinian sent Narses the Eunuch to the Heruls in order to persuade them to send an army to Italy to help Belisarius. The Heruls agreed and a large force set out led by Philemuth, amongst others. The intention was to winter in Thrace before joining Belisarius in spring. The move was to prove extremely fortunate. Accompanied by John the Glutton, the Heruls moved towards Thrace and, by chance, encountered an army of Sclaveni which had been plundering Byzantine territory. The Heruls defeated the Sclaveni and released all of their captives, who were allowed to return home.

  In another attempt to wrest the initiative from the Goths, Belisarius now sent Valentinus and Phocas, his bodyguard, to join Innocentius in Portus with orders to harry the Gothic camps. Upon their arrival, they sent a message to Bessas informing him that they would be launching an attack on the main Gothic camp and requesting that he make a sortie and join the attack.

  With 500 men, Valentinus and Phocas rode to the Gothic camp and began to fire arrows into it. They killed a few men, and the uproar the attack caused was heard by the people in Rome. However, Bessas made no attempt to leave the city and the Byzantines withdrew to Portus.

  Valentinus and Phocas now sent a second message to Bessas, informing him that they were going to repeat the attack and again requesting that he send forces out of the city to join them. The attack never took place. A deserter informed Totila of the Byzantine plans and he ambushed Valentinus and Phocas as they were en route to the Gothic camp. Valentinus, Phocas and the majority of their men were killed in the ambush.

  At this time Pope Vigilius (537–555) was in Sicily. Determined to help the Byzantine citizens, he loaded ships with grain and sent them to Portus. Unfortunately, the Goths controlled the actual harbour. The ships were taken by surprise and all of their provisions taken by the Goths. Shortly afterwards, Vigilius was summoned to Constantinople by Justinian to take part in the ‘Three Chapters’ controversy.

  Totila in the ascendant

  As winter began, the Byzantines in Placentia began to suffer from the worst effects of famine – so much so that some of them turned to cannibalism in order to survive. It was not enough. The garrison finally surrendered and the last city in Aemilia fell to Totila.

  In the city of Rome the situation was becoming desperate. Pelagius the Deacon (Pope Vigilius was in Constantinople) was sent to Totila to negotiate a set period of truce, after which the city would surrender if no help came. Confident in his victory, Totila refused the offer.

  The citizens asked Bessas for food, knowing that he had a large store set by for the troops. Bessas refused, and the troops made money selling their extra food to the citizens at hugely-inflated prices. Things now became so desperate that rich Romans began to run out of money and were reduced to bartering with the troops to exchange their possessions for food. When the troops’ food also began to run out, many citizens left the city, either bribing the guards to let them out of the gates or escaping over the walls. The majority died in the attempt.

  Belisarius reacts

  At the beginning of the new campaign season, Belisarius – who had remained in Epidamnus over winter – was joined by John the nephew of Vitalianus and Isaac the Armenian. John advised that they should sail across the Adriatic before marching across land to Rome. Belisarius disagreed with the idea, instead sending John to southern Italy to secure the region of Calabria before marching on Rome. Belisarius and the rest of the army would sail directly to Rome.

  John set sail first, but met a gale and was forced to take refuge in the harbour at Dryus. A force of Goths had been sent to lay siege to the city, but when they saw the fleet arrive they raised the siege and fled north to Brundisium. Assuming that the Byzantines were sailing further south, they sent messengers to Totila to advise him of their assumptions. Totila set his army on alert and ordered his commanders in Calabria to maintain control of the passes across the Apennines. Shortly afterwards, Belisarius set sail, intent on sailing directly to Portus.

  The Goths in Calabria managed to overcome their initial fright and slowly began to relax, so they were completely oblivious when John ferried his troops across to that region. Recognising that Rome was likely to be the target for Belisarius’ campaign, Totila remained on his guard and took measures to prevent any help arriving in the city. About 90 stades south of the city, the River Tiber became narrow. At this point Totila placed long timbers across the river and constructed a tower on either side to obstruct passage up the river. Leaving garrisons in the towers, Totila withdrew to his camp. Not long afterwards, Belisarius landed at Portus.

  John the nephew of Vitalianus

  After his landing in Calabria, John captured two Goths. He executed one of the Goths, and, unsurprisingly, the second Goth cooperated. He showed the Byzantines where the Goths at Brundisium pastured their horses. The Byzantine infantry immediately mounted the horses and the whole force attacked the Gothic camp. The majority of the Goths were killed, the remainder fled to Totila’s camp near Rome. Having secured the area, John acted with restraint in an attempt to secure the locals’ loyalty.

  With his reputation growing, John advanced to Canusium, which he took. Tullianus, the leader of the Brutii and Lucani, agreed to hand over Bruttium and Lucanium if, this time, the Byzantines behaved in a proper manner. John agreed to the terms, a deal was struck and Tullianus accompanied the army on their travels.

  Hearing of the loss of Bruttium and Lucania, Totila dispatched a force of 300 Goths to shadow John, but not to engage in combat. Wary of falling into a trap, John stopped his attempts to rejoin Belisarius as ordered, instead retiring to Bruttium. Totila had sent Rhecimundus with a force of Goths, plus Byzantine and Moorish deserters, to guard Rhegium and the Bruttian coast. The army was taken unawares by John, who destroyed the majority of the force – since they were deserters from the Byzantine army – and captured Rhecimundus and some of the Goths. Despite the victory, John still refused to combine forces with Belisarius near Rome, even though Belisarius pointed out repeatedly that he was only being blocked by 300 Goths based at Capua. Instead, John retreated to Cervarium in Apulia and remained there.

  Belisarius attempts to supply Rome

  Frustrated by John’s refusal to act, Belisarius determined to force supplies through to Rome. He sent men posing as deserters to spy on the Gothic camps and the towers on the river. Upon their return he lashed two wide skiffs together to form a stable base. He then had a tower that was taller than those of the Goths built upon the skiffs. Once completed, he had a small boat fastened to the top of the tower and filled it with pitch, sulphur, resin and other flammable materials. At the same time, he took 200 fast boats and had wooden walls built on them with loopholes cut for his archers. The boats were then filled with grain and other supplies ready to sail to the city.

  He left Isaac the Armenian in charge at Portus with strict instructions not to leave the city under any circumstances. He also left Antonina in the care of Isaac. Furthermore, he left troops to guard the approaches to Portus s
o that Isaac could not be the victim of a surprise attack. Finally, he sent a message to Bessas announcing his imminent arrival and ordered Bessas to mount an attack on the Goths on the following day in order to distract them from his own forces. The order was, as usual, to be ignored; according to Procopius, Bessas was by now the only individual with grain left in the city and was making a fortune selling it to the senators for vast sums of money. He did not want the relief force to arrive and cut off his source of income or the relief of the city to see the start of his own prosecution (Proc, Wars, VII.xix.14).

  Once all these measures were in place, Belisarius embarked on one of the 200 fast boats and the relief force set out, accompanied by an infantry force that marched along the right (east) bank of the river. It was now that he was surprised to find that, a little downstream from the barrier of long timbers, the Goths had secured an iron chain across the river. Fortunately, upon his approach the Goths defending the chain fled and he was able to quickly dismantle the obstacle.

  As he advanced upon the bridge, the Goths – warned of his arrival by the men who had been guarding the chain – were rushing out of their camps and running to help in the defence of the structure. On the east side of the river the road from Portus came near to the bridge and here Belisarius brought the skiffs close to the Gothic tower. He ordered the small boat on the top of his own tower to be set on fire, and it was then thrown on to the Goths’ lower tower. Immediately, the Gothic tower caught fire and was quickly destroyed by the flames, the Goths also losing the 200 men that were stationed inside it. In disarray, the Goths withdrew and Belisarius began the task of destroying the bridge.

  Events beyond Belisarius’ control now forced his hand. In Portus, Isaac heard of the capture of the chain and decided that he wanted to take part in the momentous events taking place. Accordingly, he took 100 men and mounted an attack on a nearby Gothic camp, where Totila had left a certain Ruderic in charge. Ruderic was injured in the fighting and the Goths withdrew. With no thought to their safety, the Byzantines began to plunder the camp. The Goths reformed and realised that there were only a few Byzantines in the camp, wandering about in total disorder, so they launched a counterattack. Many Byzantines were killed and the rest were driven off, but Isaac himself was captured.

  Unaware of these events, Belisarius received word that Isaac had been captured. As Isaac had been ordered to stay in Portus, the only logical explanation was that the Goths had assaulted the city and taken it. The only hope was to attack them while they were still in a state of disarray in the newly-captured city. Abandoning his attempt to supply Rome, Belisarius ordered an immediate withdrawal and rushed back to Portus. Only when he reached the city did he realise his mistake: the city was safe and the attempt to resupply Rome had failed. Procopius states that he was so distressed by the whole situation that he fell ill, nearly succumbing to the fever (Wars, xix.33–4). Two days later, Ruderic, the Gothic leader, died of his wounds. When he died, Totila had Isaac executed.

  Although it is possible to view the return to Portus as a mistake, such a judgement is unfair to Belisarius, given the information he had. It is obvious that Belisarius realised the importance of Portus as the only safe base for his army. When he gave Isaac instructions not to leave the city under any circumstances, he was ensuring that Portus could not be lost. When he heard reports of Isaac’s capture, he naturally assumed that the port was lost and returned to attempt its recapture. Only when he returned did he recognise that his decision had lost the chance to slip supplies into Rome. Although an understnadable mistake, the decision was to lose Rome to the Goths.

  The Loss of Rome

  In Rome, Bessas was now focusing entirely on making money, paying no heed to his military responsibilities.. As a result, the soldiers were neglecting their duties and only a skeleton force was manning the walls. The remaining citizens were wasting away due to the famine caused by the siege.

  It was at this point that four Isaurians used ropes to let themselves down from the wall at night and approached Totila with a proposal. They manned the Asinarian Gate at night and offered to let Totila into the city, since he would be able to enter unobserved due to the negligence of the army commanders. Totila agreed to their proposal and promised them large sums of money if the plan succeeded. Two Goths accompanied them on their return to Rome and reported to Totila that their reports had been true: there was no force on the walls to stop the Goths if they attacked at night.

  Totila was suspicious and, when he failed to act, the Isaurians returned and repeated the offer. Two different Goths were sent with the Isaurians and again the report showed that the plan would work. Not only did Totila still hesitate to act, a reconnaissance force from Rome captured ten Goths not far from the city. Under questioning, they told the whole story of the Isaurians’ offer, since it was well known to all of the Goths. Bessas and Conon dismissed the story and failed to act and so stop the Isaurians.

  For a third time the Isaurians made the same offer to Totila, and again he sent a number of Goths with them when they returned to Rome, and again the report was that the plan would succeed. This time, Totila decided to act. On the following night, he ordered the army to gather in silence and approached the Asinarian Gate (see Map 13). Four Goths armed with axes climbed the ropes used by the Isaurians and entered the city. With the axes they smashed the bars holding the gates closed, opened the gates, and finally the Goths entered the city.

  In the darkness, Totila kept his men under tight control, fearing that the Byzantines might regroup and ambush his forces if they were scattered around the city. As word spread that the Goths were in the city, the Byzantine troops fell into confusion, some taking refuge in sanctuaries, others following their unit commanders out of whichever gate in the walls was nearest. Bessas himself escaped along with some of the Roman nobles, whilst others took sanctuary in the Church of St Peter.

  Throughout the night Totila was repeatedly informed that Bessas had fled the city, but still he maintained a tight control of his troops. However, when day came he was approached by Pelagius the Deacon who pleaded with him to spare the lives of the citizens. Totila acceded to the request, with the result that less than 100 people were killed in the capture of the city. He further ordered his troops not to molest any of the citizens, but allowed them freedom to plunder the city of its wealth and himself laid hands on the treasure that Bessas had accumulated but not been able to take with him when he fled. According to Procopius, Totila ‘won great renown’ amongst the Italians due to his moderate treatment of the captured city, which fell on 17 December 546 (Wars, VII.xx.31).

  After the capture of the city, Totila assembled the senators and berated them for their betrayal of the Goths. He relieved them of their offices and gave the posts to the four Isaurians who had betrayed the city to him, along with Herodian, the man who had surrendered the city of Spoletium. In the hopes of securing peace, he sent Pelagius the Deacon and Theodorus, a Roman orator, to Justinian with the offer of a Gothic alliance. The attempt failed as Justinian sent them back with the reply that Belisarius was the commander in Italy and that he was empowered to make such decisions.

  It took time for the envoys to travel to and from Constantinople. Meanwhile, in Lucania John gave Tullianus command of a unit of 300 Antae (a tribe living to the north of the Danube), who were excellent troops in rough ground. Tullianus supplemented them with a force of peasants and used the combined army to hold the passes into Lucania against the Goths. When Totila learned of this development, he gathered his own force of Italian peasants and sent them, with a small force of Goths, to force the passes. When the two sides met there was a battle, which the Byzantines won mainly thanks to the superior skills of the Antae at fighting in rough terrain. The Gothic forces were forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses.

  When he heard of the defeat, Totila determined to raze Rome to the ground and then march with the entire army against John and Tullianus. He had torn down about a third of the city walls and was consideri
ng burning many of the important buildings in the city when a message arrived from Belisarius. Belisarius had learnt of his decision and the message implored him not to set fire to the city: Rome was full of noteworthy buildings that were a memorial to the building ability of the ancients that had constructed them. Furthermore, if Totila was victorious, he would be destroying his own property and, if he lost, such an act would negate any chance of mercy being shown towards him. It would also damage his reputation in Italy for clemency and toleration. After much consideration, Totila let the buildings remain. Leaving Rome entirely deserted, he stationed the main force of the Goths in a camp 120 stades west of the city in order to pin Belisarius in Portus, then led the remainder of his forces against John and Tullianus.

  Hearing that Totila was advancing against him, John fled to Dryus with his troops. Totila sent messengers ahead telling the peasants gathered with Tullianus that, if they returned to their fields, the farms would be confiscated from their landlords and given to them instead. Naturally, the peasants left and Tullianus fled. The Antae retreated and joined John at Dryus. The Goths entered Lucania but dispersed and wandered around the countryside in small groups. Seeing this, John sent out a large force of Byzantines that ambushed and killed many of the Goths. Therefore, Totila ordered his troops to gather at Garganon (Gargano) and remained there inactive.