Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  After Totila had made this speech before the Goths, he likewise called together the members of the Roman senate, and reproached and abused them at length, saying that, although they had received many benefits from both Theoderic and Atalaric, in that they themselves had always been appointed to the chief offices throughout the kingdom and had thus administered the government, and had, furthermore, amassed vast wealth, still they had acted with such ingratitude toward the Goths, their benefactors, that, regardless of their obligations, they had planned a revolt to their own harm, and brought in the Greeks to attack their fatherland, thus turning traitors to themselves on the impulse of the moment. Then, after enquiring whether they had ever suffered any personal harm at the hands of the Goths, he compelled them to state whether any good thing came to them from the Emperor Justinian, reviewing all that had happened in order: first, they had, he said, been stripped of practically all the offices; second, they had been maltreated by the logothetes, as they were called, in that they had been compelled to settle accounts for their treatment of the Goths during their official careers; and, third, although they were in dire straits on account of the war, they were paying the Greeks not a whit less in public taxes than in times of peace. And he included many other things too in his speech, such things as an angry master might be expected to say in upbraiding men who have become his slaves. Then he set before them Herodian and the Isaurians who had handed over the city to him, and said: “You, who have been reared together with the Goths, have not up to the present day seen fit to surrender to us even one empty town, but these men have received us into Rome itself and Spolitium. By this action you have been reduced to the rank of household slaves, while these men, seeing that they have really proved themselves friends and kinsmen of the Goths, will hold your offices hereafter “ Now when the patricians heard this, they sat in silence. But Pelagius began to plead with Totila for them as men who had suffered reverse and misfortune, and would not let him go until he made them a promise of kind treatment and thus sent them away.

  After this he sent Pelagius and one of the Roman orators, Theodoras by name, as envoys to the Emperor Justinian, having bound them by most solemn oaths that they would remain loyal to him and would make every effort to return to Italy as quickly as possible. And he instructed them to exert themselves to the utmost to secure peace for him from the emperor, in order, as he said, that he, for his part, might not be compelled to raze Rome entirely to the ground, to destroy the members of the senate, and to carry the war into lllyricum. And he also wrote a letter to the Emperor Justinian. Now the emperor had already heard of what had taken place in Italy. But when later on the envoys came before him, they delivered the message which Totila had instructed them to bring and put the letter into his hands.

  Now the contents of the letter were as follows: “As to what has transpired in the city of Rome, since I suppose thou hast learned everything, I have decided to remain silent. But as to the purpose for which I have sent these envoys, thou shalt straightway be informed. We demand that thou, for thy part, take to thyself the advantages which flow from peace and also grant them to us. These advantages are recalled and exemplified most admirably in the lives of Anastasius and Theoderic, who ruled as kings not long ago, and filled their whole reigns with peace and prosperity. And if this same condition should perchance please thee, thou wouldst properly be called my father, and thou wilt also have us hereafter as allies against whomsoever thou mayest wish to use us.” When the Emperor Justinian saw this letter thus brought to him, and heard all the words of the envoys, he dismissed them instantly, giving them only this reply and writing it to Totila, that he had made Belisarius supreme commander in the war, and that he, consequently, had full power to make such settlement with Totila as he wished.

  XXII

  BUT while these envoys were travelling to Byzantium and returning to Italy, the following events took place in Lucania. Tullianus gathered the rustics of that region and set a guard upon the pass (a very narrow one) which gives access to the district, with the purpose of preventing the enemy from entering to devastate the land of Lucania. And three hundred Antae also were helping them to keep guard, men whom John had left there previously, as it happened, at the request of Tullianus; for these barbarians excel all others in their ability to fight on rough ground. When Totila learned this, though he considered it inexpedient to assign Goths to the task, he gathered a multitude of rustics, and sent them with a very few Goths, with orders to try with all their strength to force the pass. When these two forces engaged in battle, a violent struggle ensued, each side striving to force the other back, but the Antae by their valour, and also because the very roughness of the ground was to their advantage, together with the rustics under Tullianus turned their opponents to flight; and a great number of them were slaughtered.

  But when Totila learned this, he decided first to raze Rome to the ground, and then, while leaving the most of his army in that neighbourhood, to march with the rest against John and the Lucanians. Accordingly he tore down the fortifications in many places so that about one third of the defences were destroyed. And he was on the point also of burning the finest and most noteworthy of the buildings and making Rome a sheep-pasture, but Belisarius learned of his design and sent envoys with a letter to him. When these envoys came before Totila, they stated why they had come and delivered the letter, which conveyed the following.

  “While the creation of beauty in a city which has not been beautiful before could only proceed from men of wisdom who understand the meaning of civilization, the destruction of beauty which already exists would be naturally expected only of men who lack understanding, and who are not ashamed to leave to posterity this token of their character.

  Now among all the cities under the sun Rome is agreed to be the greatest and the most noteworthy. For it has not been created by the ability of one man, nor has it attained such greatness and beauty by a power of short duration, but a multitude of monarchs, many companies of the best men, a great lapse of time, and an extraordinary abundance of wealth have availed to bring together in that city all other things that are in the whole world, and skilled workers besides. Thus, little by little, have they built the city, such as you behold it, thereby leaving to future generations memorials of the ability of them all, so that insult to these monuments would properly be considered a great crime against the men of all time; for by such action the men of former generations are robbed of the memorials of their ability, and future generations of the sight of their works. Such, then, being the facts of the case, be well assured of this, that one of two things must necessarily take place: — either you will be defeated by the emperor in this struggle, or, should it so fall out, you will triumph over him. Now, in the first place, supposing you are victorious, if you should dismantle Rome, you would not have destroyed the possession of some other man, but your own city, excellent Sir, and, on the other hand, if you preserve it, you will naturally enrich yourself by a possession the fairest of all; but if, in the second place, it should perchance fall to your lot to experience the worse fortune, in saving Rome you would be assured of abundant gratitude on the part of the victor, but by destroying the city you will make it certain that no plea for mercy will any longer be left to you, and in addition to this you will have reaped no benefit from the deed. Furthermore, a reputation that corresponds with your conduct will be your portion among all men, and it stands waiting for you according as you decide either way. For the quality of the acts of rulers determines, of necessity, the quality of the repute which they win from their acts.” Such was the letter of Belisarius.

  And Totila, after reading it over many times and coming to realize accurately the significance of the advice, was convinced and did Rome no further harm. So he sent a statement of his decision to Belisarius and immediately dismissed the envoys. And he commanded the main body of the army to make camp not far from Rome at the town of Algedon, which is about one hundred and twenty stades distant from the city toward the west, and to re
main quietly there, in order that the troops of Belisarius might have no freedom to go anywhere outside Portus; but with the rest of the army he himself marched against John and the Lucanians. As for the Romans, however, he kept the members of the senate with him, while all the others together with their wives and children he sent into Campania, refusing to allow a single soul in Rome, but leaving it entirely deserted.

  When John learned that Totila was marching against him, he refused to remain longer in Apulia, but went hastily to Dryus. Now those patricians who were being taken into Campania sent certain of their domestics into Lucania, by direction of Totila, and bade their tenants abandon their present machinations, and till the fields as they were accustomed; for, the message announced, they would have the property of their masters. So they detached themselves from the Roman army, and remained quietly on the land; whereupon Tullianus made off in flight, and the three hundred Antae decided to follow John in his retreat. In this wav the whole territory south of the Ionian Gulf, with the exception of Dryus, became once more subject to the Goths and Totila. And the barbarians by this time were filled with confidence and, scattering in small bands, began to overrun the whole country round about. When John learned this, he sent a numerous force of his men against them. And this force, falling unexpectedly upon the enemy, killed a large number. And Totila, as a result of this experience, became cautious and gathered all his troops together in the neighbourhood of Mt. Garganon, which rises near the centre of Apulia, and encamping in the fortified enclosure of Hannibal the Libyan, he remained quiet.

  XXIII

  AT this time one of the men who had fled from Rome with Conon while the city was being captured — he was named Martinianus, a Byzantine by birth — came before Belisarius and asked permission to go to the enemy, pretending to be a deserter, and he promised to render the Romans a great service; and since this met with the approval of Belisarius, he went off. Now when Totila saw him, he was exceedingly pleased. For he heard that the youth had won fame in single combats, and he had also seen him many times. And since the man had two children and his wife among the captives, Totila immediately restored to him his wife and one of the children, but the other he continued to guard as a hostage, and sent Martinianus to Spolitium with a few others.

  Now it so happened that when the Goths captured Spolitium by the surrender of Herodian, they had indeed razed the whole circuit-wall of the city to the ground, but they had thoroughly walled up the entrances of the structure in front of the city, which served for the keeping of wild animals and has come to be called an amphitheatre, and had established in it a garrison both of Goths and of Roman deserters, for the purpose of guarding the country round about. So when Martinianus had come to Spolitium, he succeeded in winning the friendship of fifteen soldiers, whom he persuaded to return to the Roman army after first accomplishing some great exploit against the barbarians. And he also sent some men to the commander of the garrison in Perusia, bidding him send an army to him at Spolitium with all possible speed, and explaining to him the whole situation. Now the garrison in Perusia was at that time commanded by Odalgan, a Hun, Cyprian having been treacherously removed from the world, as has been stated above, by one of his own bodyguards. And he came himself with an army to Spolitium.

  Then, when Martinianus ascertained that this army was close at hand, he in company with the fifteen soldiers suddenly slew the commander of the garrison and, opening the gates, received all the Romans into the fortress. And the most of the enemy they slew, but they made some prisoners and brought them before Belisarius.

  Shortly after this Belisarius conceived the idea of going up to Rome and seeing into what condition it had fallen. So he selected a thousand of his soldiers and with them went to the city. But a man of Rome went in haste to the enemy who were in camp at Algedon, and reported the presence of Belisarius’ army. So the barbarians occupied the district in front of Rome with several ambuscades, and, when they saw that the force of Belisarius had come close upon them, they rose from their places of ambush and attacked them. Thereupon a fierce battle ensued, in which the Romans by their valour routed their enemy, and, after destroying the most of them, they withdrew immediately to Portus. Such was the course of events at Rome.

  There is a city on the coast of Calabria called Tarentum, about two days’ journey distant from Dryus, on the road from there to Thurii and Rhegium. Thither John came with a few men, at the invitation of the Tarentines, having established the rest of his command as a garrison in Dryus. And when he saw that this city was exceedingly large and entirely without defences, he thought that he would be utterly unable to defend the whole of it; but he observed that the sea to the north of the city formed a bay on either side of a very narrow strip of land, where the port of Tarentum is situated, and thus the space between the bays naturally forms an isthmus for a distance of not less than twenty stades; so he formed the following plan. He cut off from the rest of the city that portion which lay on the isthmus, and enclosed it by means of a wall extending from one bay to the other and along the wall he dug a deep trench. There he collected not only the Tarentines but also all the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and he left them a garrison of considerable size. In this way all the Calabrians were now in a secure position and they consequently purposed to revolt from the Goths. Such was the course of events in this quarter.

  Totila, for his part, occupied a very strong fortress in Lucania, situated close to the boundaries of Calabria, called Acherontis by the Romans; and after establishing there a garrison of not less than four hundred men, he himself with the rest of his army marched against Ravenna, leaving in Campania some of the barbarians, who were charged with the guarding of Roman prisoners, the members of the senate being in that place.

  XXIV

  AT that time Belisarius conceived a daring and far-seeing plan, which in the beginning indeed appeared insane to those who first saw and heard of his actions. but its outcome proved to be a splendid achievement of marvellous importance. For he sallied forth, leaving behind only a few of his soldiers to keep guard in Portus, and went himself with the rest of his army to Rome, with the intention of trying with all his strength to establish himself in possession of the city. And since he was unable in a short time to rebuild all the portions of the wall which Totila had torn down, he did as follows. Gathering stones which lay close by, he threw them one on top of the ether, regardless of order, without putting anything at all between the stones, since he had neither lime nor anything else of the sort, but caring only that the face of the masonry should be preserved, and he set a great quantity of stakes on the outside. Now he had previously, as it happened, dug deep trenches around the entire circuit-wall, as stated in the previous narrative. And since the whole army carried out this work with unbounded enthusiasm, in twenty-five days such parts of the fortifications as had been torn down had been finished in this manner. And all the Romans who lived in the neighbourhood gathered in the city, both because of their desire to make their homes in Rome, and also because they had for a time been scantily supplied with provisions and they found abundance there; for Belisarius had been able to bring this about by loading a great number of boats with all manner of provisions and bringing them up to Rome by the river.

  When Totila heard this, he immediately set his whole army in motion and marched against Belisarius and Rome, before Belisarius had as yet been able to fit the gates to the wall. For it so happened that Totila had destroyed them all, and Belisarius had not up to that time succeeded in having gates built because of the lack of artisans. And when the barbarian army came near the city, they made camp for the moment and bivouacked on the bank of the Tiber, but on the following day at sunrise they advanced, filled with great fury and shouting as they came, to a position before the walls. But Belisarius had selected the most warlike of his soldiers and stationed them in the open gateways, commanding the rest to stand above and ward off the assailants from the wall with all their force. So a fierce battle ensued; for the barbarians, on their
part, at first entertained the hope that they would capture the city at the first shout, but since the attempt proved difficult, and the Romans offered a most vigorous resistance, they gave way to rage and began to press upon the foe, their fury inspiring them to daring beyond their strength. The Romans, meanwhile, resisted with unexpected determination, the danger naturally arousing them to bravery. Consequently a great slaughter of the barbarians took place, since they were being shot at from a high position, and both armies were becoming very weary and distressed; and the battle, which had begun in the morning, ended at night. Thereupon the barbarians repaired to their camps and passed the night there, caring for their wounded; as for the Romans, some were keeping guard on the wall, while others, who were the men most conspicuous of all for their bravery, were guarding the open gateways in relays, having placed triboli in great numbers in front of them, so that the enemy might not make a surprise attack upon them.

  Now these triboli are of the following sort. Four spikes of equal length are fastened together at their butts in such a manner that their points form the outline of a triangle on every side. These they throw at random upon the ground, and because of their form three of the spikes all plant themselves very firmly upon the ground, while the remaining one stands up alone and always proves an obstacle for both men and horses. And as often as anybody rolls over one of these triboli, the spike which hitherto has chanced to stand up straight in the air becomes planted on the ground, but another one takes its place above, as an obstacle to those who wish to advance to the attack. Such are the triboli. So both sides bivouacked thus after the battle.

  On the following day Totila decided to storm the wall again with his whole army, and the Romans proceeded to ward them off in the manner described; and gaining the upper hand in the engagement, they plucked up courage to make a sally against their enemy. And as the barbarians retreated, some of the Romans, in pursuing them, went to a considerable distance from the fortifications. These the barbarians were on the point of surrounding, so that they might be unable to return to the city. But Belisarius, noting what was taking place, sent a large number of his men to that point and thus succeeded in rescuing the force. After being repulsed in this way the barbarians withdrew, having lost many of their able fighting men, and bringing with them a great number of wounded to their camp. There they remained quiet, caring for their wounds and attending to their arms, many of which had now been destroyed, and putting everything else in readiness.