And while I watched the entry of the Roman army into Ravenna at that time, an idea came to me, to the effect that it is not at all by the wisdom of men or by any other sort of excellence on their part that events are brought to fulfilment, but that there is some divine power which is ever warping their purposes and shifting them in such a way that there will be nothing to hinder that which is being brought to pass. For although the Goths were greatly superior to their opponents in number and in power, and had neither fought a decisive battle since they had entered Ravenna nor been humbled in spirit by any other disaster, still they were being made captives by the weaker army and were regarding the name of slavery as no insult. But when the women, as they sat at the gate, had seen the whole army (for they had heard from their husbands that the enemy were men of great size and too numerous to be counted), they all spat upon the faces of their husbands, and pointing with their hands to the victors, reviled them for their cowardice.
As for Belisarius, he held Vittigis under guard, but not in disgrace, and urged those of the barbarians who lived south of the river Po to go to their own lands and care for them unmolested. This he did because he felt that he would have no hostile force to deal with in that quarter, and that the Goths of that region would never unite, because he had, as it happened, previously established a large number of Roman troops in the towns there. So these Goths gladly made haste to return. And thus the Romans were now making their position secure, for in Ravenna at least they were no longer outnumbered by the Goths. He next took possession of the money in the palace, which he intended to convey to the emperor. But as for the private property of the Goths, neither did he take plunder from any individual, nor would he permit any other Roman to take such plunder, but each one of them preserved his property according to the terms of the agreement. Now when those of the barbarians who were keeping guard in the strongest of the towns heard that both Ravenna and Vittigis were held by the Romans, they began to send envoys to Belisarius, craving permission to submit themselves by surrender and the places they guarded. And he most willingly furnished pledges to them all, and thus took over Tarbesium and such other strongholds as there were in Venetia. For Caesena was the only one remaining in Aemilia, and this he had previously taken over along with Ravenna. And the Goths who commanded these towns, as soon as they received the pledges, came to Belisarius and remained with him — all except Ildibadus, a man of note, who commanded the garrison in Verona; for though he too sent envoys to Belisarius on the same mission as the others, especially because Belisarius had found his children in Ravenna and taken possession of them, still he did not either come to Ravenna or submit himself to Belisarius. For fortune brought him to a situation which I shall now describe.
XXX
CERTAIN officers of the Roman army, out of malice toward Belisarius, began to slander him to the emperor, advancing against him a charge of usurpation for which there were no grounds whatever in his case. And the emperor, not so much because he was persuaded by these slanders as because the Medic war was already pressing upon him, summoned Belisarius to come as quickly as possible, in order to take the field against the Persians; meanwhile he commanded Bessas and John with the others to take charge of Italy, and directed Constantianus to go to Ravenna from Dalmatia. Now the Goths who inhabited the country to the north of the Po and of Ravenna, upon hearing that the emperor was summoning Belisarius, at first, indeed, paid no heed to the matter, thinking that Belisarius would never regard the kingdom of Italy as of less account than loyalty to Justinian. But when they learned that he was making preparations for his departure in real earnest, all the loyal Goths of that region who were still left formed a common purpose and went to Uraïas, the nephew of Vittigis, at Ticinum; and after first lamenting long with him, they spoke as follows:— “The man who has proved to be chiefly responsible for the present misfortunes of the nation of the Goths is no other than you. For we, on our part, should have long ago removed that uncle of yours from the kingship, seeing that he has led us in such a cowardly manner and with such ill fortune, just as we removed Theodatus, the nephew of Theoderic, unless, out of respect for the natural vigour which you seemed to display, we had decided to concede to Vittigis merely the title of king, but in fact to entrust to you alone the rule of the Goths. What, however, seemed then consideration, now stands out clearly as folly and the cause of these misfortunes of ours. For very many of the Goths, as you know, dear Uraïas, and our noblest, have perished in the war, and such nobles as are left among the survivors Belisarius will lead away along with Vittigis and all our wealth. And no one could deny that we too shall suffer this same fate a little later, seeing that we are reduced to a small and pitiable band. Since, therefore, such a dire fate has encompassed us, it will be preferable for us to die with glory rather than to see our wives and children led by the enemy to the extremities of the earth. And we shall, in all probability, accomplish something worthy of valorous men, if only we have you as leader of our struggles.” Thus spoke the Goths.
And Uraïas replied as follows:— “You say that we ought in our present extremity to choose the peril of battle rather than slavery, and this opinion I share with you. But, on the other hand, I think it altogether inexpedient for me to ascend the throne of the Goths, in the first place because, being the nephew of Vittigis, a man who has been so unfortunate, I should appear to the enemy as worthy to be despised, since men believe that among kinsmen the like fortune is ever handed on from one to another; and, in the second place, I should seem to act impiously in usurping the rule of my uncle, and in case I do this I shall probably have the most of you angry with me. But my opinion is that Ildibadus must become ruler of the Goths for this perilous enterprise, a man who has attained the highest excellence and is conspicuously energetic. And it is to be expected with certainty that Theudis also, the ruler of the Visigoths, seeing that he is Ildibadus’ uncle, will assist him in the war because of his kinship. And this indeed will be ground for more confident hope in carrying on the struggle against our opponents.”
When Uraïas, in his turn, had spoken thus, it seemed to all the Goths that his words pointed out the course which would be to their advantage. And Ildibadus was straightway summoned by them and came from Verona. Then, after clothing him in the purple, they declared him king of the Goths and entreated him to take the situation in hand and set matters right for them. Thus did Ildibadus come into the royal power. But a short time after this, he called all the Goths together and spoke as follows:— “All of you, fellow-soldiers, as I am well aware, have had experience in many wars, so that we shall probably never proceed to make war on the spur of the moment. For experience brings a man sober judgment, so that he is not wont to act rashly in any case. Now you ought, in fairness to yourselves, to call to recollection all that has befallen us heretofore, and make plans to meet the present situation with this in mind. For when forgetfulness of past events comes upon men, it often, through folly, exalts their minds at the wrong moment, and then, when their all is at stake, utterly overthrows them. Now when Vittigis placed himself in the hands of the enemy, it was not against your will nor did you strive to prevent him, but at that time you bowed before the adversities of fortune and considered that we should best consult our own interests by sitting at home and obeying Belisarius rather than by risking our lives in endless dangers. But now, upon hearing that Belisarius is setting out for Byzantium, you have decided to undertake a revolution. And yet each one of you ought to have taken into consideration that things do not always happen for men as they will them, but many times the outcome of events has unexpectedly gone contrary to what has been determined upon. For chance or a change of heart have a way of setting most things right when least expected; and even now it is by no means improbable that this is what will happen to Belisarius. It is better, therefore, to make enquiries of him first and to attempt to bring the man back to the earlier agreement, and only after this should you proceed to the next best step.”
When Ildibadus had thus spoken, th
e Goths decided that he had counselled well, and he sent envoys to Ravenna with all speed. So these envoys, upon coming before Belisarius, reminded him of the agreement made with them and reproached him as a breaker of his promises, calling him a slave by his own choice, and chiding him because, they said, he did not blush at choosing servitude in place of the kingship; and with many other speeches of a similar sort they kept urging him to accept the rule. For, should he do so, they declared that Ildibadus would come of his own accord in order to lay down the purple at his feet and do obeisance to Belisarius as king of the Goths and Italians. So the envoys, on their part, kept making these speeches, thinking that the man would without any hesitation take upon himself the kingly title immediately. But he, contrary to their expectation, refused them outright, saying that never, while the emperor Justinian lived, would Belisarius usurp the title of king. So they, upon hearing this, departed as quickly as possible and reported the whole matter to Ildibadus. And Belisarius took his way to Byzantium; and the winter drew to its close and the fifth year ended in this war, the history of which Procopius has written.[500 A.D.]
BOOK VII. THE GOTHIC WAR (continued)
I
THUS Belisarius departed, though the situation was still unsettled, and he arrived at Byzantium in company with Vittigis and the notables of the Goths and the children of Ildibadus, bringing with him all the treasure; and he was escorted by Ildiger, Valerian, Martinus, and Herodian only. Now the Emperor Justinian did indeed take pleasure in seeing Vittigis and his wife, and marvelled at both the beauty and the great stature of the barbarian throng. But upon receiving the wealth of Theoderic, a notable sight in itself, he merely set it forth for the members of the senate to view privately in the palace, being jealous because of the magnitude and splendour of the achievement; and neither did he bring it out before the people, nor did he accord to Belisarius the customary triumph, as he had done when he returned from his victory over Gelimer and the Vandals. However, the name of Belisarius was on the lips of all: to him were ascribed two victories, such as had never before fallen to the lot of any one man to achieve; he had brought two kings captive to Byzantium, and unexpectedly had made both the race and the possessions of Gizeric and of Theoderic Roman spoil — two kings than whom none, among barbarians at least, has ever been more illustrious; and he had brought back their wealth from the enemy and restored it once more to the state, and recovered for the empire in a short space of time almost one half of its territory on land and sea. And the Byzantines took delight in watching Belisarius as he came forth from his house each day and proceeded toward the market-place or as he returned to his house, and none of them could get enough of this sight. For his progress resembled a crowded festival procession, since he was always escorted by a large number of Vandals, as well as Goths and Moors. Furthermore, he had a fine figure and was tall and remarkably handsome. But his conduct was so meek and his attitude toward those who met him so affable that he seemed like a very poor man and one of no repute.
As a commander the love ever felt for him both by soldiers and peasants was irresistible, seeing that, in his treatment of his soldiers on the one hand, he was surpassed by none in generosity; (for when any had met with misfortune in battle, he used to console them by large presents of money for the wounds they had received, and to those who had distinguished themselves he presented bracelets and necklaces to wear as prizes, and when a soldier had lost in battle horse or bow or anything else whatsoever, another was straightway provided in its place by Belisarius); and in his treatment of the peasants, on the other hand, he won their affection because he shewed so much restraint and such consideration for them that it never fell to their lot to suffer any violence when Belisarius was general — nay, rather, all those whose land was visited by a large body of troops under his command unexpectedly found that they were enriched; for they always set their own price upon everything sold to the soldiers. And whenever the crops were ripe, Belisarius used to watch closely that the cavalry in passing should not damage any man’s grain. Also, when the fruit was ripe on the trees, not a single man was permitted to touch it. Furthermore, he possessed the virtue of self-restraint in a marvellous degree; and hence it was that he never would touch any woman other than his wedded wife. And so, although he took captive such great numbers of women from both the Vandals and the Goths, and such beautiful women as no man in the world, I suppose, has ever seen, he refused to allow any of them to come into his presence or meet him in any other way. In addition to all his other qualities, he was also remarkably shrewd, and in difficult situations he was able with unerring judgment to decide upon the best course of action. Furthermore, in the dangers of war he was both courageous without incurring unnecessary risks and daring to a degree without losing his cool judgment, either striking quickly or holding back his attack upon the enemy according to the requirements of the situation. Nay more, in desperate situations, on the one hand he shewed a spirit which was both full of confidence and unruffled by excitement, and in the fulness of success, on the other hand, he neither gave way to vanity nor rushed into indulgence; at any rate no man ever saw Belisarius intoxicated.
Now as long as he was in command of the Roman x55 army both in Libya and in Italy, he was continually victorious and always acquired whatever lay before him. But when he had been brought back to Byzantium by imperial summons, his ability was recognized still more fully than in previous times and received most generous appreciation. For since by his own outstanding merit in every field he was prominent above all his fellows, and surpassed the generals of all time in the vastness of his wealth and the number of his bodyguards and spearmen, he was naturally looked upon by all officers and soldiers alike as a formidable person. For no one, I am sure, had the hardihood to resist his commands, and his men never refused to carry out whatever orders he gave, both respecting as they did his ability and fearing his power. For he used to equip seven thousand horsemen from his own household, and not one of these was an inferior man, but each of them could claim to stand first in the line of battle and to challenge the best of the enemy. Indeed, when Rome was beleaguered by the Goths, and the Roman elders were watching the progress of the struggle through the various engagements, they marvelled greatly and cried out that one man’s household was destroying the power of Theoderic.
So Belisarius, having become, as was noted above, a man of power, both because of the respect accorded him and because of his sound judgment, continued to advise such measures as would prove in the interest of the emperor’s cause and to carry out with independent judgment the decisions reached. But the other commanders, being, unlike him, on an equality with one another, and having no single thought in mind except to make sure of their own personal gain, had already begun both to plunder the Romans and to put the civil population at the mercy of the soldiers, and neither were they themselves any longer giving heed to the requirements of the situation, nor could they secure obedience to their commands on the part of the soldiers. Consequently, many blunders were committed by them, and the entire fabric of the Roman power was utterly destroyed in a short space of time. And I shall now proceed to recount the story of these events as best I can.
When Ildibadus learned that Belisarius had departed from Ravenna and was on his way, he began to gather about him all the barbarians and as many of the Roman soldiers as were inclined to favour a revolution. And he sought by every means to strengthen his rule, and laboured diligently to recover for the Gothic nation the sovereignty of Italy. Now at the first not more than a thousand men followed him and they held only one city, Ticinum, but little by little all the inhabitants of Liguria and Venetia came over to his side.
Now there was a certain Alexander in Byzantium who held the office of comptroller of the state treasury; this official the Romans call “logothete,” using a Greek name. This man was always making charges against the soldiers for the losses they caused to the treasury of the state. And by subjecting them to trial for offences of this sort, he on his part quickly rose fro
m obscurity to fame and from poverty to immense wealth, and not only this, but he also succeeded in collecting great sums of money for the emperor, surpassing all predecessors in this; but it was he, more than any other man, who was chiefly responsible for the deterioration of the army, in that the soldiers were both few and poor and reluctant to face the perils of war. The Byzantines indeed went so far as to call him by the name “ Snips,” because it was an easy feat for him to cut off the edge all around a golden coin, and while thus making it as much smaller as he wished, still to preserve the circular shape it originally had. For they call the tool with which such work is done “snips.” This Alexander, then, it was whom the emperor sent to Italy after summoning Belisarius to return. And directly upon his arrival at Ravenna, he published an altogether unreasonable financial reckoning. For though the Italians had neither laid hands upon the emperor’s money nor committed any offence against the state, he summoned them, first of all, to face an investigation, laying to their charge the wrongs they had done Theoderic and the other Gothic rulers, and compelling them to pay whatever gains they had made, as he alleged, by deceiving the Goths. In the second place, he disappointed the soldiers by the niggardliness of the reckoning with which he repaid them for their wounds and dangers. Hence not only did the Italians become disaffected from the Emperor Justinian, but not one of the soldiers was willing any longer to undergo the dangers of war, and by wilfully refusing to fight, they caused the strength of the enemy to grow continually greater.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 64