Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  So spoke Belisarius. But not one of the enemy came over to him, either Goth or Roman. Next he sent his bodyguard Thurimuth and some of his own troops with Vitalius and the Illyrian soldiers into Aemilia, commanding them to make trial of the towns there. So Vitalius with this force took up a position near the city of Bononia, and, after taking some of the neighbouring fortresses by surrender, remained inactive in Bononia. But not long after this the whole body of the Illyrians who were serving under him, suddenly and without having either experienced any hard treatment or heard any rebuke, withdrew secretly from the town by night and betook themselves homeward. And sending envoys to the emperor, they begged him to grant them pardon, seeing that they had come to their homes in this manner for no other reason than that, after their long service in Italy without receiving the regular pay at all, the state now owed them a large sum of money. But it so happened that a Hunnic army had fallen upon the Illyrians and enslaved the women and children, and it was because of this intelligence, and also because they had a scarcity of provisions in Italy, that they withdrew. And though the emperor was at first angry with them, he afterwards forgave them.

  Now Totila, upon learning of the withdrawal of the Illyrians, sent an army against Bononia in order to capture Vitalius and the troops with him by a swift attack. But Vitalius and Thurimuth laid ambuscades in several places and thus destroyed many of the attacking force and turned the rest to flight. There Nazares, a man of note and an Illyrian by birth, commander of the troops in Illyricum, surpassed all others by the remarkable exhibition he made of warlike deeds against the enemy. Thereupon Thurimuth came to Belisarius in Ravenna.

  Then at length Belisarius sent three of his own bodyguards, Thurimuth, Ricilas and Sabinianus, with a thousand soldiers to the city of Auximus, in order to support Magnus and the Romans besieged there. This force, slipping past Totila and the enemy’s camp by night, got inside of Auximus, and then began planning to make sallies against their opponents. So on the following day about noon, upon learning that some of the enemy were near at hand, they sallied forth with the purpose of confronting them; but, before proceeding, they decided to send scouts against them to spy out the enemy’s strength so as not to make an attack on them without reconnoitring.

  But Ricilas, the guardsman of Belisarius, who chanced to be drunk at the time, would not allow any others to go scouting, but he himself rode out alone on horseback and went on at full speed. And happening upon three Goths on a steep slope, he at first took his stand with the intention of opposing them; for he was a man of extraordinary bravery; but upon seeing many men rushing toward him from all sides, he made haste to flee. But his horse stumbled in a rough place, whereupon a great shout arose from the enemy and they all hurled their javelins at him. Then the Romans, hearing this uproar, came to the rescue on the run. And Ricilas was killed, being buried under a great number of spears, but the troops of Thurimuth routed their opponents, and lifting up the body carried it inside the city of Auximus; thus did Ricilas meet his death in a manner unworthy of his valour.

  Thereupon Sabinianus and Thurimuth in conference with Magnus found it inadvisable for them to spend any more time there, reasoning that while clearly, owing to his numbers, they would never be a match for the enemy in battle, they would, on the other hand, by using up the supplies of the besieged, doom the city to still earlier capture by their opponents. And when this had been decided upon, they themselves and their thousand men began to prepare for their departure, intending to make the beginning of their journey at night; but one of the soldiers forthwith deserted secretly to the enemy’s camp and made known the plans of the Romans. Totila accordingly picked out two thousand men distinguished for their valour and, as night came on, set guards upon the roads at a distance of thirty stades from Auximus, keeping his movements entirely secret. So when these guards at about midnight saw the enemy passing by, they drew their swords and began their attack. And they killed two hundred of them, but Sabinianus and Thurimuth, together with the rest, thanks to the darkness, succeeded in escaping and fleeing into Ariminum. However, the Goths captured all the pack animals which were carrying the servants, the weapons, and the clothing of the soldiers.

  There are two fortresses on the coast of the Ionian Gulf, Pisaurus and Fanus, situated between the cities of Auximus and Ariminum. They had been dismantled at the beginning of this war by Vittigis, who had burned the houses in them and torn down their walls to about half their height, in order that the Romans might not, by seizing them, make trouble for the Goths. One of these fortresses, Pisaurus, Belisarius decided to seize; for it seemed to him that the place was by its situation suitable for the pasturage of horses. So he sent by night some of his associates and secretly obtained the accurate measurements, as to breadth and height, of each one of the gate-ways. He next had gates made and bound with iron and then loaded them on boats and sent them off, commanding the men of Sabinianus and Thurimuth to fit these gates quickly to the walls and then to remain inside the circuit-wall, and, after thus insuring their safety, to build up in whatever manner possible such parts of the circuit-wall as had fallen down, putting in stones and mud and any other material whatsoever. So they carried out these instructions. But Totila, upon hearing what was going on, marched against them with a great army. And he made an attempt on the town and tarried near it for some time, but since he was unable to capture it, he returned baffled to his camp at Auximus.

  The Romans, however, were no longer making sallies against the enemy, but at each fortress they were remaining inside the walls. Furthermore, even when Belisarius sent two of his guardsmen to Rome, Artasires, a Persian, and Barbation of Thrace, in order to assist Bessas in guarding the city, he instructed them by no means to make sallies against the enemy. As for Totila and the Gothic army, seeing that the force of Belisarius was not sufficient to array itself against them, they decided to harass the strongest of the towns. They accordingly made camp in Picenum before Firmum and Asculum, and commenced a siege. And the winter drew to a close, and the tenth year ended in this war, the history of which Procopius has written. [545 A.D.]

  XII

  Now Belisarius, finding himself utterly unable to give support to the besieged towns, sent John the nephew of Vitalian to Byzantium, first binding him by the most solemn oaths that he would make every effort to return as quickly as possible; and his mission was to beg the emperor to send them a large army and a generous supply of money, and, furthermore, both arms and horses. For even the few soldiers he had were unwilling to fight, asserting that the state owed them much money and that they themselves were in want of everything. And this was true. Belisarius also wrote a letter to the emperor recording these matters; and the letter set forth the following.

  “We have arrived in Italy, most mighty emperor, without men, horses, arms, or money, and no man, I think, without a plentiful supply of these things, would ever be able to carry on a war. For though we did travel about most diligently through Thrace and Illyricum, the soldiers we gathered are an exceedingly small and pitiful band, men without a single weapon in their hands and altogether unpractised in fighting. And we see, on the other hand, that the men who were left in Italy are both insufficient in number and in abject terror of the enemy, their spirit having been utterly humbled by the many defeats they have suffered at their hands, — men who did not simply escape at random from their opponents, but even abandoned their horses and flung their weapons to the ground. And as for the revenue, it is impossible for us to derive any money from Italy, since it has again been taken by the enemy into their possession. Consequently, since we have fallen behind in regard to the payment of the soldiers, we find ourselves quite unable to impose our orders upon them; for the debt has taken away our right to command. And this also thou must know well, my master, that the majority of those serving in thy armies have deserted to the enemy. If, therefore, it was only necessary that Belisarius be sent to Italy, then thou hast made the best preparation possible for the war; for I am already in the very midst of Ita
ly. If, however, it is thy will to overcome thy foes in the war, provision must also be made for the other necessary things. For no man could, I think, be a general without men to support him. It is therefore needful that, above all others, my spearmen and guards should be sent me, and, next to them, a very large force of Huns and other barbarians is needed, to whom money must also be given immediately.”

  Such was the letter written by Belisarius. But as for John, though he spent a long time in Byzantium, he accomplished none of the objects of his mission; but he married the daughter of Germanus, the nephew of the emperor. In the meantime Totila captured Firmum and Asculum by surrender; and advancing into Tuscany, he began the siege of Spolitium and Asise. Now the garrison in Spolitium was commanded by Herodian and that in Asise by Sisifridus, who, though a Goth by birth, was exceedingly loyal to the Romans and the emperor’s cause. Herodian, for his part, came to terms with the enemy, the agreement being that they should remain quiet for thirty days; and if no assistance should come to the Romans within this time, he was to surrender both himself and the city together with the soldiers and the inhabitants to the Goths. And he furnished his son as a hostage for the keeping of this agreement. So when the appointed day came, and no Roman army had arrived from any quarter, Herodian and the whole garrison of Spolitium, in accordance with the agreement, put themselves and the city into the hands of Totila and the Goths. But they say that the hostility existing between Herodian and Belisarius was the real cause of his surrendering himself and Spolitium to the Goths; for Belisarius had threatened to call him to account for his previous record.

  Such was the course of events as regards Spolitium. Sisifridus, on the other hand, in making a sally with his troops, lost the most of his men and perished himself. Thereupon the inhabitants of Asise, despairing of the situation, immediately handed the city over to the enemy. Totila also sent straightway to Cyprian, demanding that he surrender Perusia to him, attempting to terrify him in case he should disobey, but promising, on the other hand, to reward him with a large sum of money if he should carry out this order. But since he met with no success in dealing with Cyprian, he bribed one of his bodyguard, Ulifus by name, to kill him by treachery. Ulifus accordingly, meeting Cyprian by chance alone, killed him and got away in flight to Totila. But nevertheless the soldiers of Cyprian continued to guard the city for the emperor, and the Goths, consequently, decided to retire from Perusia.

  XIII

  AFTER this Totila moved against Rome, and upon coming near the city, he began a siege. He did no harm, however, to the farmers in this or any other part of Italy, but commanded them to continue tilling the soil without fear, just as they were accustomed to do, bringing to him the revenue which they had formerly brought to the public treasury and to the owners of the land. And when some Goths had come close up to the fortifications of Rome, Artasires and Barbation made a sally against them, though Bessas did not in the least approve their action, leading out a large number of their men to the attack. And they straightway killed many and turned the rest to flight. But in following up these men and allowing themselves to be drawn into a pursuit over a great distance, they fell into an ambush set by the enemy. Here they lost the most of their men, and they themselves, accompanied by a handful of men, succeeded only with difficulty in making their escape. And thereafter they no longer dared go out against their opponents, even though they were pressing their attack.

  From this time on a severe famine afflicted the Romans, for they were no longer able to bring in any necessaries from the country and the traffic by sea was cut off. For after the Goths captured Naples, they had stationed a navy of many light craft both there and at the so-called Aeolian Islands and at such other islands as lie off this coast, and with these they were keeping a close watch over the sea-route. Consequently such ships as put out from Sicily and started to sail to the harbour of Rome fell one and all into the hands of these patrols together with their crews.

  Totila now sent an army into Aemilia, with orders to take the city of Placentia either by storm or by surrender. This is the chief city in the land of Aemilia and has strong defences, being situated on the river Eridanus, and it was the only city still left in that region subject to the Romans. So when this army came near Placentia, they offered terms to the garrison there to the end that they might hand over the city by surrender to Totila and the Goths. But since they met with no success, they made camp on the spot and began a siege, perceiving that the people in the city were in need of provisions.

  At that time there arose a suspicion of treason among the commanders of the emperor’s army in Rome against Cethegus, a patrician and leader of the Roman senate. For this reason he departed hastily for Centumcellae.

  But Belisarius became alarmed both for Rome and for the whole Roman cause, since it was impossible to lend assistance from Ravenna in any case, and especially with a small army; and so he decided to remove from there and take possession of the district about Rome, in order that by being near at hand he might be able to go to the rescue of those in difficulty there. Indeed he repented having ever come to Ravenna at all, a course which he had taken earlier through the persuasion of Vitalius and not to the advantage of the emperor’s cause, since by shutting himself up in that place he had given the enemy a free hand to determine the course of the war as they wished. And to me it seemed either that Belisarius had chosen the worse course because it was fated at that time that the Romans should fare ill, or that he had indeed determined upon the better course, but God, having in mind to assist Totila and the Goths, had stood as an obstacle in his way, so that the best of the plans of Belisarius had turned out utterly contrary to his expectations. For those upon whom the wind of fortune blow’s from a fair quarter, even though they make the worst plans, will meet with no calamity, since Heaven reverses these plans and brings them to an entirely favourable issue; but a man, I believe, who is under the ban of fortune utterly lacks the ability to plan wisely, being bereft of understanding and insight into the truth by the fact that he is fated to suffer ill. And even if he ever does make some plan adapted to the needs of the situation, still fortune straightway breathes contrariwise upon him after he has made such a plan, and perverts his wise purpose so as to bring about the most dire results. However, whether this is so or otherwise, I am unable to say.

  Belisarius then appointed Justinus to command the garrison of Ravenna, and himself, with only a few men, journeyed thence through Dalmatia and the neighbouring lands to Epidamnus, where he remained quiet expecting an army from Byzantium. And writing a letter to the emperor, he reported the present situation. The emperor, therefore, not long afterward, sent him John the nephew of Vitalian and Isaac the Armenian, brother of Aratius and Narses, together with an army of barbarian and Roman soldiers. These troops reached Epidamnus and joined Belisarius there.

  The emperor also sent Narses the eunuch to the rulers of the Eruli, in order to persuade the most of them to march to Italy. And many of the Eruli followed him, commanded by Philemuth and certain others, and they came with him into the land of Thrace. For the intention was that, after passing the winter there, they should be despatched to Belisarius at the opening of spring. And they were accompanied also by John whom they called the Glutton. And it so fell out that during this journey they unexpectedly rendered a great service to the Romans. For a great throng of the barbarians, Sclaveni, had, as it happened, recently crossed the river Ister, plundered the adjoining country and enslaved a very great number of Romans. Now the Eruli suddenly came upon these barbarians and joined battle with them, and, although far outnumbered, they unexpectedly defeated them, and some they slew, and the captives they released one and all to go to their homes. At that time also Narses found a certain man who was pretending to the name of Chilbudius, a man of note who had once been a general of the Romans, and he easily succeeded in unmasking the plot. Here I shall give the facts of this story.