Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XX

  Now Belisarius, since he had captured Urbinus at about the winter solstice, thought it inexpedient to march against Auximus immediately; for he suspected that a long time would be consumed by his troops in besieging it. For it was impossible to take the place by storm because of the strength of its defences, and the barbarian garrison of the city was both numerous and composed of the best troops, as I have previously stated, and since they had plundered a large tract of country, they had brought in for themselves a great store of provisions. But he commanded Aratius with a numerous army to pass the winter in Firmum and to be on his guard that the barbarians in future should not be at liberty to make their raids from Auximus and fearlessly to carry on a campaign of violence in that region; he himself, however, led his army against Urviventus. For Peranius kept urging him to do this, since he had heard from the deserters that the Goths in that city had a scarcity of provisions, and he hoped that if, in addition to their lack of supplies, they should see Belisarius also present with his whole army, as they would suppose, they would give in the more readily, as indeed actually happened. For Belisarius, immediately upon reaching Urviventus, commanded the whole army to encamp in a place suitably situated, while he himself made a complete circuit of the city, looking carefully to see whether it was perhaps not impossible to capture it by storm. And it seemed to him that there was no possible means of taking the place by any manner of assault. However, he decided that it would not be altogether impossible to capture it by a secret stratagem.

  For the city occupies a lone hill which springs from low-lying ground, being on the top level and smooth, but precipitous at the base. And round this hill there stand rocks of equal height which form, as it were, a circle about it, not immediately at the base of the hill, but about a stone’s throw away. Upon this hill, then, the men of old built the city, and they neither placed walls around it nor constructed defences of any other kind, since the place seemed to them impregnable by nature. For there is only one approach to the city through the rocks, and if the inhabitants of the city only keep this under guard, they have nothing to fear from hostile attacks at any other point. For apart from the place where nature, as has been stated, constructed the approach to the city, a river which is always large and impassable occupies the space between the hill and the rocks which I have just mentioned. In view of this situation the Romans of old built a short piece of wall across this approach. And there is a gate in it, which the Goths were guarding at that time. Such is the situation of Urviventus.

  And Belisarius commenced the siege with his whole army, hoping either to deliver an attack by way of the river or to bring the enemy to submission by famine. The barbarians, on their part, were for a time not utterly destitute of provisions, though their supply was indeed too scanty for their needs, but still they held out beyond all expectation in enduring their suffering, never getting sufficient nourishment to satisfy them, and using each day only enough food so as not to die of starvation. But finally, when all their provisions had been exhausted, they began to eat skins and hides which they had previously soaked in water for a long time; for their commander Albilas, a man of especial note among the Goths, was sustaining them with empty hopes.

  Now as time went on and brought again the summer season, the grain was already ripening uncared for in the cornlands, but in no such quantities as formerly — indeed it was much less. For since it had not been covered in the furrows, either by ploughs or by the hand of man, but lay upon the surface, the earth was able to make only a small portion of it take root. And since after that no one reaped it, when it had become fully ripe it fell again to the ground and nothing grew from it thereafter. And this same thing had happened also in Aemilia; and because of this situation the inhabitants of that region left their homes and went to Picenum, thinking that, since that country was on the sea, it could not be suffering from absolute lack of food supplies. And the Tuscans, no less than the others, were attacked by famine for the same cause; and as many of them as lived in the mountains were eating loaves made of the acorns of the oak trees, which they ground up just like grain. The natural result of this was that the most of the people fell victim to all manner of diseases, and it was only a few who threw these off and recovered. Indeed it is said that among the Roman farmers in Picenum not less than fifty thousand persons perished by famine, and a great many more north of the Ionian Gulf.

  I shall now tell of the appearance which they came to have and in what manner they died, for I was an eye-witness. All of them first became lean and pale; for the flesh, being ill supplied with nourishment, according to the old saying “laid hold upon itself,” and the bile, having now the mastery of their bodies by reason of its excess, lent them almost its own appearance. And as the malady developed, all moisture left them, and the skin became very dry so that it resembled leather more than anything else, giving the appearance of having been fastened upon the bones. And as they changed from a livid to a black colour, they came to resemble torches thoroughly burned. And their faces always wore an expression of amazement, while they always had a dreadful sort of insane stare. And they died, some because of the lack of food, and others too by sating themselves too much with it. For since all the warmth which nature kindled within them had died away, whenever anyone fed them to satiety, and not little by little, just like infants newly born, the result was that, since they were as yet unable to digest the food, they died much more quickly. Some too, overcome by hunger, fed upon their comrades. And it is said that two women in a certain place in the country above the city of Ariminum ate seventeen men; for these women, as it happened, were the only inhabitants of the place who survived, and consequently it came about that strangers travelling that way lodged in the little house where these women lived; so they would kill these strangers while they slept and eat them. Now the story goes that the eighteenth stranger was roused from sleep, just when these women were about to lay hands upon him, and leaping up and learning from them the whole story, killed both of them. Such, then, is the story which they tell. And the most of the people were so overcome by their hunger that if they happened upon a bit of grass anywhere, they would rush to it with great eagerness, and kneeling down, would try to pull it from the ground. Then, finding themselves unable to do so because all strength had left them, they would fall upon the grass and their outstretched hand and die. And no one ever laid them in the earth, for there was in fact not a man to concern himself about burying them; and yet they remained untouched by any of those numerous birds which have the habit of feeding upon dead bodies, for they offered nothing which the birds craved. For all the flesh, as I have previously stated, had already been consumed by starvation. Such was the manner in which famine visited the land.

  XXI

  Now when Belisarius heard that Uraias and the barbarians were besieging Milan, he sent Martinus and Uliaris against them with a numerous army. But when this force reached the River Po, which is one day’s journey distant from Milan, they established a camp and remained there. And a long time was spent by them at that camp while they were deliberating about the crossing of the river. And when Mundilas heard this, he sent to them one of the Romans, Paulus by name. He accordingly passed through the lines of the enemy without being detected, and reached the bank of the Po. But he happened to find no ferry ready at the moment, and so he removed his clothing and, at great risk, made the crossing by swimming. So when he had betaken himself to the Roman camp and had come into the presence of the commanders, he spoke as follows:

  “Martinus and Uliaris, you are not acting justly nor in a manner worthy of your own fame, seeing that in appearance you have come for the saving of the emperor’s cause, but in reality to magnify the power of the Goths. For this city of Milan, which far surpasses practically all the other cities of Italy in point of size and population and in every other sort of prosperity, and, apart from these advantages, is an outpost against the Germans and the other barbarians, and has been thrown out to protect the whole Roman empire, so
to speak, — this city, I say, has now fallen into great danger together with Mundilas and the emperor’s army, harassed as it is by the enemy, and neglected meanwhile by you. And how much the emperor has been wronged by you in the present case, I refrain from stating. For the urgency of the moment does not allow me to use many words, seeking as I do quick assistance for the city, while some hope is still left. But you, I say, must come to the defence of the people of Milan in their peril with all possible speed. For if at the present crisis you act with any hesitation in coming to us, the result will be for us, on the one hand, to perish after suffering the most cruel fate possible, and for you, on the other, to have betrayed to the enemy the emperor’s power. For those who may perchance open their gates to the enemy are not the only ones who are justly called traitors, but with equal, nay even greater, justice this name belongs to those who, though they have the power to defend those dearest to them when they are besieged, still choose the course of hesitation, which involves no danger, instead of engaging in the struggle, and thus probably give to their enemy the victory over them.” Thus spoke Paulus, and Martinus and Uliaris sent him back with the promise to follow him right speedily. And he once more succeeded in getting through the barbarians unnoticed, entered Milan by night, and having roused the hopes of the soldiers and all the Romans, still more strengthened their purpose to be faithful to the emperor.

  Nevertheless Martinus and his men continued to be reluctant to move and remained where they were, and much time was consumed by them in hesitating in this way. But finally Martinus, wishing to clear himself of the charge, wrote to Belisarius as follows:

  “You sent us hither in order to bring support to those endangered in Milan, and we have come in great haste, just as you commanded, as far as the River Po; but the army fears to cross this river, since we hear that a strong force of Goths are in Liguria, and a very great multitude of Burgundians with them; and against such an army we do not consider ourselves able to fight a decisive battle alone. But command John and Justinus, who are in our neighbourhood in the land of Aemilia, to come with all possible speed together with their troops and assist us in meeting this danger. For by going together from here we shall be enabled both to be safe ourselves and also to do some harm to the enemy.” Such was the content of Martinus’ letter. And Belisarius, upon reading it, commanded John and Justinus to join the forces of Martinus and go with all speed against Milan. But they said that they would do nothing except what Narses commanded them. Wherefore Belisarius wrote also to Narses as follows:

  “Consider that the whole army of the emperor is one body, and that, if it does not display one single purpose, just as do the members of a man, but one part wishes to act separately from the others, what will be left to us is to perish utterly without having performed any of our duties. Therefore have done with Aemilia, which neither contains any fortress nor has any decisive importance for the Romans, at least at the present moment. But do you command John and Justinus without the least delay to go with the forces of Martinus straight against the enemy at Milan, for they are near at hand and sufficiently strong to overpower the barbarians. For it so happens that I myself have here no numerous army which I could possibly send, and even apart from this, I think it inexpedient for soldiers to go from here against Milan. For a great amount of time will be consumed in the journey so that they will fail to reach the city at the proper moment, and they will be quite unable on account of the length of the journey to use their horses against the enemy when they reach them. But if these men go with Martinus and Uliaris against Milan, they will in all probability both overcome the barbarians there and also take possession of Aemilia again without encountering any further resistance.” When this letter had been delivered to Narses and read by him, he himself sent orders to John and Justinus to go with the other army to Milan. And John a little later set out for the sea-coast, in order to bring boats from there, which were to enable the army to cross the river. But an illness which fell upon him put a stop to the undertaking.

  But while the forces of Martinus were hesitating about the crossing of the river, and those of John were awaiting the instructions of Νarses, a great amount of time was consumed, and the siege meantime continued to be pressed. And the besieged were already suffering extremely from the famine, and under the overwhelming necessity of their wretched situation the most of them had begun to eat dogs and mice and other animals such as had never been eaten by man. So the barbarians sent envoys to Mundilas, bidding him surrender the city to them, with the condition that he himself and the soldiers should remain free from harm. But Mundilas agreed to do this only on condition that they not only give pledges for the safety of the Roman garrison, but also that they would do no harm to any one of the inhabitants. But since the enemy, though ready to give pledges to Mundilas and the soldiers, were moved by furious passion against the Ligurians and were evidently going to destroy them all, Mundilas called all the soldiers together and spoke as follows:

  “If it has ever happened that any men before us, though having the opportunity to save their lives with disgrace, have chosen rather to die with fair fame, abandoning their immediate safety for a glorious end of life, such men I should wish you also to be at the present time, and not through fondness for life to pursue it even though it be involved in shame, and that too, contrary to the teaching of Belisarius, by which you have profited for a long time past, so that to be otherwise than noble and exceedingly courageous is for you sacrilege. For when men have once entered life, a single fate is advancing upon all of them — to die at the appointed time; but as to the manner of death men differ, for the most part, one from the other. And there is this difference, that cowards, as one might expect, in every case first bring upon themselves insult and ridicule from their enemies and then, at the exact time previously appointed, fulfil their destiny no whit the less; but it falls to the lot of noble men to suffer this with valour and an abundance of goodly fame. And apart from these considerations, if it had been possible to become slaves of the barbarians, and at the same time to save the people of the city, that at least might have brought us some forgiveness for saving ourselves so disgracefully. But if, in fact, we are bound to look on while such a great multitude of Romans is being destroyed by the hand of the enemy, this will be more bitter than any form of death of which a man could tell. For we should appear to be doing nothing more or less than helping the barbarians to perpetrate this dreadful deed. While, therefore, we are sufficiently our own masters to adorn necessity with valour, let us make glorious the fortune which has fallen upon us. And I say that we ought all to arm ourselves in the best possible manner, and advance upon the enemy when they are not expecting us. For the result for us will be one of two things: either fortune will have wrought for us in some way a success which transcends our present hope, or we, in achieving a happy end, shall have rid ourselves of our present troubles with the fairest fame.”

  So spoke Mundilas; but not one of the soldiers was willing to undergo the danger, and they surrendered both themselves and the city on the terms which the enemy offered. And the barbarians did indeed inflict no harm upon the soldiers, simply putting them under guard with Mundilas, but the city they razed to the ground, killing all the males of every age to the number of not less than three hundred thousand and reducing the women to slavery and then presenting them to the Burgundians by way of repaying them for their alliance. And when they found Reparatus, the pretorian prefect, they cut his body into small pieces and threw his flesh to the dogs. But Vergentinus (for he had been, as it happened, inside Milan) made his escape and betook himself with his followers to Dalmatia, passing through the land of the Veneti and the other nations of that region. And from there he went to the emperor bearing the message of this great calamity which had befallen the Romans. In consequence of this success the Goths took by surrender the other cities which happened to have Roman garrisons and again gained control over the whole of Liguria. As for Martinus and Uliaris, they marched back with their army toward
Rome.

  XXII

  SUCH was the course of events in Liguria. And Belisarius, having not yet learned anything of what had happened in that field, was moving with his whole army into Picenum, since the winter was now coming to an end. But learning in the course of this journey what had befallen Milan, he grieved exceedingly. And never after that time would he allow Uliaris to come into his presence; but he wrote to the emperor everything which had taken place. And the emperor treated no one with severity on account of these things, but upon hearing of the disagreement between Belisarius and Narses, he recalled Narses immediately and appointed Belisarius commander-in-chief for the whole war. Thus it was that Narses returned to Byzantium, bringing some few of the soldiers. But the Eruli, seeing that Narses was departing from Italy, refused to remain there longer, although Belisarius promised that they would receive many benefits both from himself and from the emperor, if they remained; but they all packed up their luggage and withdrew, going first to Liguria. There they happened upon the army of Uraias, and they sold all the slaves and the animals they were taking with them to the enemy, and, having thus acquired a great amount of money, they took an oath that they would never array themselves against Goths or do battle with them. Thus they made their withdrawal in peace and came into the land of the Veneti. But upon meeting Vitalius there, they forthwith began to repent of the wrong they had done the Emperor Justinian. And seeking to clear themselves of the charge against them, they left there Visandus, one of their commanders, with his forces, but all the rest betook themselves to Byzantium under the leadership of Aluith and Philemuth, the latter having taken the command after Phanitheus was killed at Caesena.