Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XVII

  IN that place it was my fortune to see the following sight. When the army of John came into Picenum, the people of that region, as was natural, were thrown into great confusion. And among the women, some took hurriedly to flight, wherever each one found it possible, while others were captured and led away in a disorderly manner by those who chanced upon them. Now a certain woman of this city had, as it happened, just given birth to a child, and had abandoned the infant, leaving it in its swaddling clothes lying upon the ground; and whether she sought safety in flight or was captured by someone or other, she did not succeed in getting back again to that place; for assuredly it fell out that she disappeared from the world or at least from Italy. So the infant, being thus abandoned, began to cry. But a lone she-goat, seeing it, felt pity and came near, and gave the infant her udder (for she too, as it happened, had recently brought forth young) and guarded it carefully, lest a dog or wild beast should injure it. And since the confusion was long continued, it came about that the infant partook of this food for a very long time. But later, when it became known to the people of Picenum that the emperor’s army had come there to injure the Goths, but that the Romans would suffer no harm from it, they all returned immediately to their homes. And when such of the women as were Romans by birth came to Urvisalia with the men, and saw the infant still alive in its swaddling clothes, they were utterly unable to comprehend what had happened and considered it very wonderful that the infant was living. And each of them who chanced to be at that time able to do so offered her breast. But neither would the infant now have anything to do with human milk, nor was the goat at all willing to let it go, but as it kept bleating unceasingly about the infant, it seemed to those present to be feeling the greatest resentment that the women came near it and disturbed it as they did, and, to put all in a word, she insisted upon claiming the babe as her own. Consequently the women no longer disturbed the infant, and the goat continued to nourish it free from fear and to guard it with every care. Wherefore the inhabitants of the place appropriately called this infant Aegisthus. And when I happened to be sojourning in that place, by way of making a display of the strange sight they took me near the infant and purposely hurt it so that it might cry out. And the infant, annoyed by those hurting it, began to cry; whereupon the goat, which was standing about a stone’s throw away from it, hearing the cry, came running and bleating loudly to its side, and took her stand over it, so that no one might be able to hurt it again. Such then is the story of this Aegisthus.

  But Belisarius was advancing through the mountains in this region. For seeing that he was greatly inferior to his opponents in numbers, he did not wish to engage in an open battle with them, since he could see that the barbarians were actually paralyzed by their previous defeats; and he thought that, as soon as they learned that a hostile army was coming upon them from all sides, they would not once think of resistance, but would without the least hesitation turn to flight. And indeed he arrived at a correct opinion regarding the situation, and his suppositions were not at variance with what the future was to bring forth. For when they had reached a point in the mountains where they were about one day’s journey distant from Ariminum, they happened upon a small company of Goths who were travelling on some necessary errand. And these Goths, falling in unexpectedly with a hostile army, were quite unable to get away from the road before they were attacked by the missiles of those who marched in the van, and some fell on the spot, while others, after receiving wounds, succeeded in hiding themselves by scrambling up some of the high cliffs close by. From that position they watched the Roman army collecting over all the rough ground, and they supposed them to be many more than they really were. And seeing the standards of Belisarius there also, they realized that he was leading this army in person. Then night came on and the Romans bivouacked where they were, while the wounded Goths went stealthily to the camp of Vittigis. And reaching it about midday, they displayed their wounds and declared that Belisarius would be upon them almost at once with an army past numbering. Then the Goths began to prepare for battle to the north of the city of Ariminum, for they thought that the enemy would come from that direction, and they were all constantly looking toward the heights of the mountain. But when, as night came upon them, they had laid down their weapons and were resting, they saw many camp-fires to the east of the city, about sixty stades away — these were the fires which the troops of Martinus were burning — and they fell into a state of helpless fear; for they suspected that they would be surrounded by the enemy at daybreak. So for that night they bivouacked in such a state of fear; but on the succeeding day at sunrise they saw a fleet of ships in overwhelming numbers bearing down upon them, and being plunged into speechless terror, they made a rush to flee. And while they were packing up their luggage as quickly as they could, there arose so much confusion and shouting among them that they neither paid heed to the commands given nor did they think of anything else than how each man for himself could get away first from the camp and place himself inside the fortifications of Ravenna. And if the besieged had only had some strength or daring left in them, they could have killed great numbers of the enemy on the spot by making a sally from the city, and the whole war would have ended there. But, as it was, this was prevented by the great fear which had taken possession of them because of their past experiences, and by the weakness which had come upon many owing to the lack of provisions. So the barbarians, leaving there some of their possessions in the excess of their confusion, began to run as fast as they could go on the road to Ravenna.

  XVIII

  AMONG the Romans, Ildiger and his men were the first to arrive at the enemy’s camp, and they made slaves of such of the Goths as had remained there suffering from sickness of one kind or another, and collected all the valuables which the Goths had left in their flight. And Belisarius with his whole army arrived at midday. And when he saw John and his men pale and dreadfully emaciated, he said to him, hinting at the rashness of his audacious deed, that he owed a debt of gratitude to Ildiger. But John said that he recognized his obligation, not to Ildiger, but to Narses, the emperor’s steward, implying, I suppose, that Belisarius had not come to his defence very -willingly, but only after being persuaded by Narses. And from that time both these men began to regard each other with great suspicion. It was for this reason that the friends of Narses even tried to prevent him from marching with Belisarius, and they sought to shew him how disgraceful it was for one who shared the secrets of the emperor not to be commander-in-chief of the army, but to take orders from a mere general. For they expressed the view that Belisarius would never willingly share with him the command of the army on equal terms, but that, if he wished to take command of the Roman army for himself, he would be followed by the greater part of the soldiers, and much the best ones too, together with their commanders. For the Eruli, they said, and Narses’ own spearmen and guards, and the troops commanded by Justinus and John himself, together with the forces of Aratius and the other Narses, amounted to not less than ten thousand men, brave soldiers and especially capable warriors, and they did not wish the subjugation of Italy to be reckoned to the credit of Belisarius alone, but desired that Narses too should carry off his share of the honour. For they supposed that he had left the society of the emperor, not that by facing danger himself he might establish the glory of Belisarius, but presumably in order that by making a display of deeds of wisdom and bravery he might become famous among all men. Furthermore, they said, even Belisarius would thenceforth be unable to accomplish anything without these troops. For the greater part of the forces which he commanded had already been left behind in fortresses and cities which he had himself captured, and they enumerated them all, starting at Sicily and naming them in order as far as Picenum.

  When Narses heard this, he was exceedingly pleased with the suggestion and could no longer restrain his mind or tolerate the existing arrangement. Often, therefore, when Belisarius thought proper to undertake some new enterprise, he would resort to d
ifferent pretexts, now one and now another, and thus block the project he was urging. And Belisarius, perceiving this, called together all the commanders and spoke as follows:

  “It seems to me, fellow officers, that I do not have the same opinion regarding this war as you have. For you, I see, are contemptuous of the enemy as being completely vanquished. But my opinion is that by this confidence of yours we shall fall into a danger which can be foreseen, because I know that the barbarians have not been vanquished by us because of any lack of courage on their part or because of inferiority in numbers, but that it is by means of careful planning beforehand that they have been outgeneralled, and consequently have turned to flight from this place. And I fear that you may be deceived in regard to these facts because of your false estimate of the situation, and may thus do irreparable harm both to yourselves and to the cause of the Romans. For those who, accounting themselves victorious, are lifted up by their achievements are more readily destroyed than those who have indeed suffered an unexpected reverse, but thereafter are actuated by fear and abundant respect of their enemy. For while indifference has sometimes ruined men who were in good case, energy coupled with solicitude has often relieved those who had been unfortunate. For, on the one hand, when men allow themselves to drift into an attitude of unconcern, the measure of their strength is wont, as a rule, to be lessened, but, on the other hand, careful study of a situation is naturally calculated to instil vigour. Accordingly, let each one of you remember that Vittigis is in Ravenna with many tens of thousands of Goths, that Uraias is besieging Milan and has brought the whole of Liguria under his power, that Auximus is already filled with an array both numerous and formidable, and that many other places, as far as Urviventus, which is in the neighbourhood of Rome, are guarded by barbarian garrisons which are a match for us. Consequently the situation is more perilous for us at the present time than it formerly was, seeing that we have come to be, in a way, surrounded by the enemy. And this is not all, for I pass over the report that the Franks also have joined forces with them in Liguria, a thing which cannot fail to be remembered by all Romans with great fear. I state, therefore, as my opinion that a part of the army ought to be sent to Liguria and Milan, but that the rest should instantly proceed against Auximus and the enemy there, in order to accomplish whatever God permits; and afterwards we should also take in hand the other tasks of the war in whatever way seems best and most advantageous.” So spoke Belisarius.

  And Narses replied as follows: “In other respects, General, no one could deny that everything has been spoken by you with truth. But that the emperor’s whole army here should be divided between Milan and Auximus alone I consider to be utterly inexpedient. It would not be at all unreasonable for you, on your part, to lead against these places such of the Romans as you yourself might wish, but we, on our part, shall take possession for the emperor of the territory of Aemilia, which the Goths are making the greatest effort to win for themselves, and we shall harass Ravenna in such a way that you will crush the enemy before you as you wish, while they are excluded from the hope of armies to support them. For if we should elect to join you in carrying on a siege at Auximus, the barbarians, I fear, will come upon us from Ravenna, with the result that we shall become exposed to the enemy on both sides and, being at a distance from our base of supplies, we shall be destroyed on the spot.” Such were the words of Narses.

  But Belisarius feared that, if the Romans should go against many places at once, it would come about that the emperor’s cause would be weakened and finally ruined by the confusion resulting therefrom, and so he shewed a letter from the Emperor Justinian which he had written to the commanders of the army, conveying the following message: “We have not sent our steward Narses to Italy in order to command the army; for we wish Belisarius alone to command the whole army in whatever manner seems to him to be best, and it is the duty of all of you to follow him in the interest of our state.” Such was the purport of the emperor’s letter. But Narses, laying hold of the final words of the letter, declared that Belisarius at the present time was laying plans contrary to the interest of the state; for this reason, he said, it was unnecessary for them to follow him.

  XIX

  UPON hearing this Belisarius sent Peranius with a numerous army to Urviventus with instructions to besiege it, while he himself led his army against Urbinus, a city of strong defences and guarded by a sufficient garrison of Goths (it is at a distance from the city of Ariminum of one day’s journey for an unencumbered traveller), and as he led forth the army he was followed by Narses and John and all the others. And upon coming near the city, they encamped in two divisions along the foot of the hill; for they had not combined their forces at all, but the troops of Belisarius held the position to the east of the city, and those of Narses that to the west. Now the city of Urbinus is situated upon a hill which is round and exceedingly high. However, the hill is neither precipitous nor altogether impossible to climb, and it is difficult only by reason of being very steep, especially as one comes very close to the city. But it has one approach by level ground on the north. So the Romans were stationed for the siege as has been stated. Now Belisarius was of the opinion that the barbarians would somewhat readily make terms with the Romans for a surrender, believing that they had become terrified by the danger, and so he sent envoys to them, promising that they would receive many benefits, and exhorting them to become subjects of the emperor. These envoys stood near the gates (for the enemy would not receive them into the city), and spoke at length, making a great effort to win them over, but the Goths, confident in the strength of their position and their abundance of provisions, would not listen to their proposals, and bade the Romans depart from the city with all speed. So when Belisarius heard this, he ordered the army to collect thick poles and to make of them a long colonnade. This device was destined to cover the men hidden inside as they moved it forward close up to the gate at the particular point where the ground was level and carried on their operations against the wall. So the soldiers were engaged in this work.

  But some of the intimates of Narses gathered around him and declared that Belisarius was undertaking an endless task and devising impracticable plans. For John, they said, had already made an attempt upon the place, and that too at a time when it was guarded by only a few men, and had perceived that it was altogether impregnable (and this was true), and they said that he ought to recover for the emperor the land of Aemilia. And since he was won over by this suggestion, Narses at night abandoned the siege, although Belisarius begged him earnestly to remain there and assist his own troops in capturing the city of Urbinus. So Narses and his followers went in haste to Ariminum with a portion of the army. And as soon as Moras and his barbarians saw at daybreak that one-half of the enemy had withdrawn, they began to shout taunts and bantering words from the fortifications at those who had remained. Belisarius, however, was purposing to storm the wall with his remaining force. And while he was laying plans for this attack, an altogether wonderful piece of good fortune befell him. There was only one spring in Urbinus, and from it all the inhabitants of the city were drawing water. This spring of its own accord little by little dried up and began to give out. And in three days the water had left it to such an extent that the barbarians drawing from it were drinking the water along with mud. Consequently they decided to capitulate to the Romans. But Belisarius, who had not received any information of this, was still purposing to make an attempt upon the fortifications. And he armed his entire force and placed it in a circle about the whole hill, and then commanded a few men to move forward the colonnade of poles (for such is the name by which this device is customarily called ) where the ground was level. So these men went into it and began to walk and to draw the colonnade with them, hidden from the eyes of the enemy. Thereupon, the barbarians, stretching forth their right hands from the parapet, begged to receive peace. But the Romans, not knowing anything of what had taken place regarding the spring, supposed that it was the combat and the Roman device which they dread
ed. Both sides, at any rate, gladly refrained from battle. And the Goths surrendered both themselves and the city to Belisarius with the condition that they should remain free from harm and that they should become subjects of the emperor on terms of complete equality with the Roman army.

  But Narses, upon hearing of this success, was filled with both astonishment and dejection. And he himself still remained quietly in Ariminum, but he ordered John to lead his whole army against Caesena. So they went, taking ladders with them. And when they came close to the fortress, they delivered an attack and made trial of the fortifications. But since the barbarians defended themselves manfully, many fell in the fight and among them Phanitheus, the leader of the Eruli. So John. failing to capture the fortress of Caesena at that time, saw fit to make no further attempt upon it, since it seemed to him impregnable, and he marched forward with Justinus and the rest of the army. And by a sudden move he succeeded in taking possession of an ancient city which is named Forocornelius; and since the barbarians constantly retired before him and never came to an engagement, he recovered the whole of Aemilia for the emperor. Such was the course of these events.