Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XXV

  AT this time the Franks, hearing that both Goths and Romans had suffered severely by the war, and thinking for this reason that they could with the greatest ease gain the larger part of Italy for themselves, began to think it preposterous that others should carry on a war for such a length of time for the rule of a land which was so near their own, while they themselves remained quiet and stood aside for both. So, forgetting for the moment their oaths and the treaties they had made a little before with both the Romans and the Goths (for this nation in matters of trust is the most treacherous in the world), they straightway gathered to the number of one hundred thousand under the leadership of Theudibert, and marched into Italy; they had a small body of cavalry about their leader, and these were the only ones armed with spears, while all the rest were foot-soldiers having neither bows nor spears, but each man carried a sword and shield and one axe. Now the iron head of this weapon was thick and exceedingly sharp on both sides, while the wooden handle was very short. And they are accustomed always to throw these axes at one signal in the first charge and thus to shatter the shields of the enemy and kill the men.

  Thus the Franks crossed the Alps which separate the Gauls from the Italians, and entered Liguria. Now the Goths had previously been vexed at the thanklessness of the Franks, on the ground that, although they, the Goths, had often promised to give up to them a large territory and great sums of money in return for an alliance, these Franks had been unwilling to fulfil their own promise in any way; but when they heard that Theudibert was at hand with a great army, they were filled with rejoicing, lifted up, as they were, by the liveliest hopes and thinking that thereafter they would have the superiority over their enemy without a battle. As for the Germans, as long as they were in Liguria, they did no harm to the Goths, in order that these might make no attempt to stop them at the crossing of the Po. Consequently, when they reached the city of Ticinum, where the Romans of old had constructed a bridge over this river, those who were on guard there gave them every assistance and allowed them to cross the Po unmolested. But, upon getting control of the bridge, the Franks began to sacrifice the women and children of the Goths whom they found at hand and to throw their bodies into the river as the first-fruits of the war. For these barbarians, though they have become Christians, preserve the greater part of their ancient religion; for they still make human sacrifices and other sacrifices of an unholy nature, and it is in connection with these that they make their prophecies. And the Goths, upon seeing what was being done, fell into a kind of irresistible fear, took to flight and got inside the fortifications.

  So the Germans, having crossed the Po, advanced to the Gothic camp, and the Goths were at first pleased to see them coming in small companies toward their camp, thinking that these men had come to fight in alliance with them. But when a great throng of Germans had come up and opened an attack, and by hurling their axes were already slaying many, they turned their backs and rushed off in flight, and passing through the Roman camp ran along on the road to Ravenna. And the Romans, seeing them in flight, thought that Belisarius had come to support their own force and had both taken the camp of the enemy and dislodged them from it after defeating them in battle. And wishing to join forces with him, they took up their arms and went forth with all speed. But coming unexpectedly upon a hostile army, they were compelled, much against their will, to engage with them, and being badly worsted in the battle, they all fled, not to their camp, to which it was now impossible to return, but to Tuscany. And when they had at length reached safety, they reported to Belisarius all that had befallen them.

  The Franks, having defeated both armies, as has been said, and having captured both camps without a single man in them, for the time being found provisions in the camps; but in a short time they had consumed all these on account of their great numbers, and, since the land was destitute of human habitation, they were unable to obtain any provisions except cattle and the water of the Po. But they were unable to digest this meat because of the great quantity of water they drank, and consequently the most of them were attacked by diarrhoea and dysentery, which they were quite unable to shake off because of the lack of proper food. Indeed they say that at least one-third of the Frankish army perished in this way. Hence it was that, as they were unable to go forward, they remained where they were.

  Now when Belisarius heard that an army of Franks was in Italy and that the forces of Martinus and John had been defeated in battle and had fled, he was reduced to a state of perplexity, concerned as he was, not only for the whole army, but especially for the detachment conducting the siege of Fisula, since he learned that these barbarians were nearer to them than to any others. He therefore wrote immediately to Theudibert as follows: “I consider it unseemly in any case, O noble Theudibert, for a man who lays claim to excellence to fail to be truthful, but especially so when he is a ruler, as thou art, of nations of such vast numbers. But to violate oaths which are set down in writing and to disregard treaties — this would not be proper even for the most ignoble of men. And yet these very offences have been committed by thee in the present case, as thou knowest thyself, although it was only recently that thou didst agree to assist us in this war against the Goths. But, as matters now stand, far from holding thyself aloof from both nations, thou hast actually taken up arms in this rash manner and made an attack upon us. Do not thou, at least, my excellent friend, follow such a course, and that too when it involves an insult to the great emperor, who would surely not be likely to overlook the insult, or fail to exact atonement in the fullest measure. Now the best course is for each man to keep his own possessions in safety, and not, by laying claim to the possessions of others, to involve himself in any danger which concerns his most vital interests.” When Theudibert had read this letter, perplexed as he was already by his present situation, and sharply reproached by the Germans, because, as they said, they were, for no good reason, dying in a deserted land, he broke camp with the survivors of the Franks and retired homeward with great speed.

  XXVI

  THUS did Theudibert, after marching into Italy, take his departure. And the troops of Martinus and John returned in spite of the changed situation, in order that the enemy might not make any attack upon the Romans engaged in the siege. Now the Goths in Auximus, who had learned nothing concerning the coming of the Franks, had begun to despair of their hope from Ravenna which was so long deferred, and were purposing once more to address an appeal to Vittigis; but seeing that they were unable to elude the guards of the enemy, they were filled with grief. But later on their attention was drawn to one of the Romans — he was of the race of the Besi and named Burcentius, and had been assigned to the command of Narses, the Armenian — for they noted that he was keeping guard alone at midday, that no one should come out from the city to take the grass; and they went nearer and hailed him, and giving pledges that they would do him no harm, they urged him to come to meet them, promising that he would receive from them a large sum of money. And when they had come together, the barbarians besought the man to carry a certain letter to Ravenna, naming a fixed sum of gold to be paid to him immediately, and promising to give more when he should return bringing them a letter from Vittigis. And the soldier, won over by the money, agreed to perform this service, and he carried out his promise. For he received a sealed letter and carried it with all speed to Ravenna; and coming before Vittigis he delivered it to him. Now the message conveyed was as follows: “The situation in which we now find ourselves will be clearly revealed to you when you inquire who the bringer of this letter is. For not a Goth can find a way to get outside the fortifications. And as for food, the most available supply we have is the grass which grows by the wall, and even this at the present time we cannot so much as touch, except by losing many men in the struggle for it. And it becomes both thee and the Goths in Ravenna to consider what the end of all this will be for us.” When Vittigis had read this, he replied as follows: “Let no one think that we have ceased our efforts, dearest of all men, no
r that we have come to be guilty of such a degree of baseness as to abandon utterly the cause of the Goths through sheer indifference. For, on my part, it was only recently that the preparations for departure had been made with all possible thoroughness, and Uraias with his whole army had come under summons from Milan. But the inroad of the Franks, coming upon us unexpectedly as it did, has made havoc of all our preparations, a result for which I, at least, could not justly hear the blame. For things which are beyond human power confer even upon those who fail the boon of being free from blame, since fortune draws upon herself whatever charge springs from what has befallen. Now, however, since we hear that Theudibert has got out of our way, we shall at no distant time, if God wills, come to you with the whole Gothic army. And it is needful for you to bear whatever falls to your lot manfully and as befits the necessity which is upon you, calling to mind, first, your own valour, on account of which I chose you out from the whole army and established you in Auximus, and respecting also the reputation which you hold among all the Goths, and which prompted them to put you forward as a bulwark for Ravenna and for their own safety.” After writing this letter and rewarding the man with a large sum of money, Vittigis sent him away. And when he reached Auximus, he rejoined his comrades, giving as his excuse that some sickness or other had fallen upon him, and that for this reason he had been passing the time in a certain sanctuary not far away; and so he was appointed once more to guard-duty, to the very watch to which he had been accustomed, and unbeknown to all the Romans he gave the letter to the enemy; and when this was read to the people, it gave them all additional encouragement, although they were hard pressed by the famine. Wherefore they were quite unwilling to yield to Belisarius, although he offered many enticements. But when no army had been reported as having left Ravenna, and they were already in extreme distress because of the lack of provisions, they once more sent Burcentius with a message stating only this, that after five days they would no longer be able to fight with the famine. And he returned to them a second time with a letter from Vittigis tantalizing them with similar hopes.

  Now the Romans were distressed no less than the Goths, because they had been carrying on such a long siege in a deserted land, and they were completely baffled at seeing the barbarians refusing to give in to them although involved in so much suffering. In view of this situation Belisarius was eager to capture alive one of the men of note among the enemy, in order that he might learn what the reason might be why the barbarians were holding out in their desperate situation. And Valerian promised readily to perform such a service for him. For there were some men in his command, he said, from the nation of the Sclaveni, who are accustomed to conceal themselves behind a small rock or any bush which may happen to be near and pounce upon an enemy. In fact, they are constantly practising this in their native haunts along the river Ister, both on the Romans and on the barbarians as well. Belisarius was pleased by this suggestion and bade him see that the thing was done with all speed. So Valerian chose out one of the Sclaveni who was well suited as to size of body and especially active, and commanded him to bring a man of the enemy, assuring him that he would receive a generous reward from Belisarius. And he added that he could do this easily in the place where the grass was, because for a long time past the Goths had been feeding upon this grass, since their provisions were exhausted. So this barbarian at early dawn went close to the fortifications, and hiding himself in a bush and drawing his body into small compass, he remained in concealment near the grass. And at daybreak a Goth came there and began hastily to gather the blades of grass, suspecting no harm from the bush, but looking about frequently toward the enemy’s camp, lest anyone should attack him from there. Then the barbarian, falling unexpectedly upon the Goth from behind, made him captive, holding him tightly about the waist with both hands, and thus carried him to the camp and handed him over to Valerian. And when he questioned the prisoner, asking what basis of confidence and what assurance the Goths could possibly have that they were absolutely unwilling to yield to the Romans, but were voluntarily enduring the most dreadful suffering, the Goth told Valerian the whole truth concerning Burcentius, and when he was brought before him he proved his guilt. As for Burcentius, when he perceived that he had been already found out, he concealed nothing of what he had done. Wherefore Belisarius handed him over to his comrades to do with him as they wished, and they not long afterwards burned him alive, the enemy looking on as they did so. Thus did Burcentius profit by his love for money.

  XXVII

  BUT when Belisarius saw that the barbarians continued none the less to hold out in their suffering, he was minded to carry out his plot against their water-supply, thinking that in this way he would accomplish the capture of his enemy with greater ease and facility. Now there was a spring on a steep slope to the north of Auximus, about a stone’s throw distant from the circuit-wall, which discharged its water in a very small stream into a cistern which had been there from of old; and when the cistern became full from this small inflow, it was a matter of no difficulty for the inhabitants of Auximus to draw the water. This situation suggested to Belisarius that, if the water should not be collected there, the barbarians would never be able to till their jars from the spring’s flow, because they would be exposed to the missiles of their enemy for a long time. Wishing, therefore, to destroy the cistern, he devised the following plan. He armed his whole force and drew it up in a circle about the circuit-wall as if for battle, giving his opponents the impression that he was about to make an attack upon their defences from all sides without the least delay. The Goths, consequently, fearing the attack, remained quietly at the battlements, with the intention of warding off their enemy from that position. But Belisarius meanwhile chose out five Isaurians who were skilled in masonry and conducted them to the cistern with mattocks and other implements suitable for cutting stone, concealing them as they went under a great number of shields; then he commanded them to put forth all their strength to break up and tear down the walls of the cistern as quickly as possible. As for the barbarians, as long as they suspected that these men were coming against the wall, they remained quiet, in order that they might come as close as possible and thus form an easy mark for their missiles, never once thinking what their real object was; but when they saw that the Isaurians had got inside the cistern, they began to hurl stones and discharge all kinds of missiles at them. Then indeed all the other Romans retired on the run, but the five Isaurians alone, who had now reached safety, began their work; for a sort of vault had been built over the cistern by the men of old in order to shade the water. So when they had got under this vault, they paid not the least heed to the enemy, although they were discharging missiles with great frequency.

  In view of this the Goths could no longer endure to remain inside the fortifications, but opening the small gate on that side, they all rushed out against the Isaurians with great fury and tumult. And the Romans, urged on by Belisarius, made a countercharge with great enthusiasm. So a fierce battle took place in which for a long time they engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle, and there was great slaughter on both sides. But the men were falling more thickly among the Romans. For since the barbarians were defending themselves from a higher position, a few men could overpower many, and gaining superiority in the hand-to-hand struggle, they were killing more men than those who were killed among themselves. However, the Romans were determined not to give in, feeling shame before Belisarius, who was present and urging them on with shouts. While this battle was in progress, it also happened that a missile came flying with a shrill whiz toward the belly of the general, having been directed there by one of the enemy either by some chance or with deliberate intent. And this missile was not seen at all by Belisarius. At any rate, he failed either to guard against it or to step aside to avoid it. But a certain spearman named Unigastus, who was standing beside him, saw it when it was not far from the belly of Belisarius, and by putting forth his right hand saved the general unexpectedly; but he himself, owing to the wound inflicte
d by the arrow, withdrew immediately, suffering severe pain. And after that, since the sinews had been severed, he was never able to use his hand again. And the battle, which had begun early in the morning, continued up to midday.

  And seven men of the Armenians from the command of Narses and Aratius made a display of valorous deeds, running about the unfavourable ground, which was exceedingly steep, just as if on the level, and killing those of the enemy who from time to time made a stand against them, until they forced back the barbarians in that part of the line and routed them. Then the other Romans, seeing the enemy now giving way, began to pursue them and the rout became decisive, and the barbarians went back inside the fortifications. Now the Romans thought that the cistern had been destroyed and that the Isaurians had accomplished their whole task, but in fact they had been altogether unable to remove so much as one pebble from the masonry; for the artisans of old, who cared most of all for excellence in their work, had built this masonry in such a way as to yield neither to time nor to the attempts of men to destroy it. At any rate the Isaurians had accomplished nothing when, upon seeing that the Romans had won the position, they left the cistern and withdrew to the camp. Consequently Belisarius commanded the soldiers to throw into the water the dead bodies of animals and such herbs as nature has caused to be especially deadly for man and also to put in a kind of stone, very thoroughly burned, which in olden times they were accustomed to call “titanos,” but which at the present time they call “asbestos,” and thus to quench it in the water. And the soldiers did accordingly, but the barbarians made use of a well inside the fortifications which had an exceedingly scant supply of water, and thus they supplied themselves during this time, but with a smaller quantity than they needed. Thereafter Belisarius no longer exerted himself either to capture the place by storm or to carry out any plot with regard to the water or anything else, hoping that by famine alone he would overcome the enemy. And because of this purpose he exercised the greatest care in guarding the lines. The Goths, meanwhile, still expecting the army from Ravenna and being in great want of provisions, remained quiet.