And when Totila learned this, he said “Verus has one of two things, either a powerful army or a very silly head. Let us then proceed against him instantly, that either we may make trial of the man’s army, or that he may realize his own silliness.” So Totila with these words marched against him with a numerous army; and the Eruli, spying the enemy already at hand, took refuge in a wood which was close by. And the enemy surrounded them and killed more than two hundred, and were about to lay hands on Verus himself and the rest of the force who were hiding among the thorn-bushes, but fortune came to their aid and saved them unexpectedly. For the ships in which Varazes and the Armenians under him were sailing suddenly put in at the shore there. Now when Totila saw this, supposing the hostile army to be more numerous than it really was, he immediately set out and marched away from there, while Verus and his men were glad to reach their ships on the run. And Varazes decided to sail no farther, but proceeded with them to Tarentum, whither John the nephew of Vitalian also not long afterwards came with his whole army. Such was the course of these events.
Now the emperor wrote to Belisarius that he had sent him a numerous army with which he should unite in Calabria and so engage with the enemy. And in fact Valerian had already come down close to the Ionian Gulf, but he thought that, for the present at any rate, it was inexpedient for him to ferry across. For at that season of the year, he reasoned, provisions would not be sufficient for men and horses, since it was near the winter solstice. But he did send three hundred of his men to John with the promise that after spending the winter there he would also come himself at the beginning of spring.
Belisarius, accordingly, upon reading the emperor’s letter, selected nine hundred men distinguished for valour, seven hundred horse-men and two hundred foot-soldiers, and leaving all the rest to guard that district, and appointing Conon commander over them, he immediately set sail for Sicily. And from there he again put out to sea purposing to sail to the harbour of Tarentum; and as he sailed by he had on his left the place called Scylaeum, at which the poets say that Scylla once lived, not because there really existed there the woman in the form of a beast, as they say, but rather because a certain fish, formerly called “scylax” and now “cyniscus” has been found in great abundance in this part of the strait from ancient times even down to my day. For names in the beginning are always appropriate to the things they describe, but rumour, carrying these names to other peoples, engenders there certain false opinions through ignorance of the facts. And as time goes on with this process, it immediately becomes a powerful builder, as it were, of the story, and allies itself with the poets, presumably because of the licence of their art, as witnesses of things that never happened. Thus, for example, the natives of the island of Cercyra have from ancient times called one headland of the island “Dog’s Head” — the one toward the east — but others because of this name will have it that the people there are a kind of dog-headed folk. Indeed they even call some of the Pisidians “Wolf-Skulls,” not because they have the heads of wolves, but because the mountain which rises there has received the name “Wolf-Helmet.” Now as for these matters, let each one both think and speak as he wishes. But I shall return to the point from which I have strayed.
XXVIII
So Belisarius was making haste to go straight to Tarentum. Now the shore there has approximately the form of a crescent, where the coast recedes and the sea advances in a gulf, as it were, far up into the land. But the distance, as one sails along this whole coast, extends to one thousand stades, and on either side of the opening of the gulf stand two cities, the one toward the west being Croton, and the one to the east Tarentum. And at the middle of this shore is the city of Thurii. But Belisarius was hindered by a storm and forced from his course by a violent wind and a high sea which would not permit his ships to make any progress at all; he therefore put in at the harbour of Croton.
And since he neither found any fortress there nor any place from which provisions could be brought in for the soldiers, Belisarius himself together with his wife remained there with the infantry, in order that from there he might be able to summon and organize John’s army; but he ordered all the horsemen to go ahead and make camp at the passes leading into the country, placing in command of them Phazas the Iberian and the guardsman Barbation. For in this way he thought that they could secure all necessary supplies for their horses and themselves very easily, and would probably, too, be able in a narrow pass to repulse the enemy. For the mountains of Lucania extend as far as Bruttium, and standing as they do close to one another, they form there only two passes, which are exceedingly narrow, one of which has received the name “Rock of Blood” in the Latin tongue, while the natives are accustomed to call the other Lavula. Not far from these passes on the coast is Rusciane, the naval harbour of Thurii, while above it at a distance of about sixty stades is a very strong fortress built by the ancient Romans. This fortress had been occupied by John much earlier and he had established a considerable garrison in it.
Now the soldiers of Belisarius, upon reaching this district, chanced upon a hostile army, which Totila had sent for the purpose of making an attempt on the fortress there. And they engaged with them immediately and by their valour routed them without any difficulty, although they were far outnumbered, and they slew more than two hundred. Those who were left took to flight and when they came before Totila, reported everything that had befallen them. As for the Romans, they made camp and remained there, but since they were without proper commanders and had won a victory, they began to conduct themselves in a rather careless manner. For they neither stayed quietly gathered in one place, nor did they take up positions near the pass and guard the approaches, but, becoming negligent, they were sleeping at night in encampments very far removed from one another, and during the day they would go about searching for provisions, neither sending any men out as scouts nor taking any other measures for security.
Totila, consequently, upon learning everything, selected three thousand horsemen from his whole army and went against the enemy. And falling upon them unexpectedly, not drawn up in battle formation but going about in the manner described, he threw them all into consternation and complete disorder. At this moment Phazas, who happened to be camping near by, encountered the enemy and made a display of valorous deeds, and he did, indeed, thus make himself the cause of the escape of a few men, but he himself perished together with all his men. This misfortune fell heavily upon the Romans, because they all pinned their hope on this detachment as an unusually efficient fighting force. Now as many as succeeded in fleeing saved themselves in such manner as each found possible. And Barbation, the guardsman of Belisarius, fled with two others as hard as he could, and was the first to reach Croton. There he reported how matters stood at the moment, and added that he thought the barbarians too would be at hand right speedily. And Belisarius, upon hearing this, was sorely grieved, and rushed on board the ships. So they set sail from there, and since a wind was blowing, they succeeded that day in reaching Messana in Sicily, which is seven hundred stades from Croton, being situated opposite to Rhegium.
XXIX
AT about this time an army of Sclaveni crossed the river Ister and spread desolation throughout the whole of lllyricum as far as Epidamnus, killing or enslaving all who came in their way, young and old alike, and plundering their property. And they had already succeeded in capturing numerous strongholds of that region, which were then quite undefended, but which previously had been reputed to be strong-places, and they continued to roam about searching out everything at their own pleasure. And the commanders of the Illyrians kept following them with an army of fifteen thousand men, without, however, having the courage to get close to the enemy.
At that time also, earthquakes of extraordinary severity occurred many times during the winter season, both in Byzantium and in other places, always at night. And the inhabitants of these cities, supposing that they would be overwhelmed, fell into great fear, yet no harm befell them as a result of the earthquakes
.
Then it was, too, that the river Nile rose above eighteen cubits and flooded all Egypt with water; and yet in the region of Thebes, which is higher upstream, the waters settled and receded at the appointed time and gave opportunity to the inhabitants of that district both to sow the land and to attend to their other tasks just as they were accustomed to do. But as for the country below, after the water had first covered the surface, it did not recede, but remained in the way throughout the time of sowing, a thing which had never happened before in all time; and there were places where the water, even after receding, flowed in again not long afterwards. Thus it came about that all the seeds, such as had been put into the ground in the interval, rotted. And by this strange occurrence the people were reduced to dire straits, while most of the animals died through lack of sustenance.
It was at that time also that the whale, which the Byzantines called Porphyrius, was caught. This whale had been annoying Byzantium and the towns about it for fifty years, not continuously, however, but disappearing sometimes for a rather long interval. And it sank many boats and terrified the passengers of many others, driving them from their course and carrying them off to great distances. It had consequently become a matter of concern to the Emperor Justinian to capture this creature, but he was unable by any device to accomplish his purpose. But I shall explain how it came to be captured in the present instance. It happened that while a deep calm prevailed over the sea, a very large number of dolphins gathered close to the mouth of the Euxine Sea. And suddenly they saw the whale and fled wherever each one could, but the most of them came in near the mouth of the Sangarius. Meanwhile the whale succeeded in capturing some of them, which he swallowed forthwith. And then, either still impelled by hunger or by a contentious spirit, it continued the pursuit no less than before, until, without noticing it, it had itself come very close to the land. There it ran upon some very deep mud, and, though it struggled and exerted itself to the utmost to get out of it as quickly as possible, it still was utterly unable to escape from this shoal, but sank still deeper in the mud. Now when this was reported among all the people who dwelt round about, they straightway rushed upon the whale, and though they hacked at it most persistently with axes on all sides, even so they did not kill it, but they dragged it up with some heavy ropes. And they placed it on waggons and found its length to be about thirty cubits, and its breadth ten. Then, after forming several groups and dividing it accordingly, some ate the flesh immediately, while others decided to cure the portion which fell to them.
Now the Byzantines, observing the earthquakes and learning the circumstances of the Nile’s rise and the capture of this whale, began straightway to prophesy that such and such things would take place, according to the taste of each. For men are wont, when present events baffle them, to utter awesome prophecies of the future, and, distracted by occurrences which trouble them, to infer, with no good reason, what the future will bring forth. But as for me, I shall leave to others prophecies and explanations of marvels; still, I know well that the lingering of the Nile on the fields did prove a cause of great calamities at that time at any rate, while the disappearance of the whale, on the other hand, unquestionably provided an escape from many troubles. However, some say that it was not the same whale that I mentioned, but another one that was captured. But I shall return to the point where I made the digression from my narrative.
Totila, after accomplishing what has been recounted, learning that the Romans in the fortress near Rusciane were beginning to feel the want of provisions, thought that he would capture them very quickly if they should be unable to bring in any supplies, and so he made camp close to the town and settled down for a siege. And the winter drew to a close and the thirteenth year ended in this war, the history of which Procopius has written.[548 A.D.]
XXX
THE Emperor Justinian now sent not less than two thousand infantry by sea to Sicily and ordered Valerian to join Belisarius without any delay. He accordingly crossed the sea and put in at Dryus where he found Belisarius together with his wife. At about this time Antonina, the wife of Belisarius, set off for Byzantium, intending to beg the empress to make larger provision for carrying on the war. But the Empress Theodora had fallen sick and passed from the world, having lived as queen twenty-one years and three months. [June 28, 548 A.D.]
Meanwhile the Romans who were being held under siege in the fortress near Rusciane, hard pressed, as they were, by the lack of necessary supplies, opened negotiations with the enemy and agreed that precisely at the middle of the summer season they would hand over the fortress, unless some relief came to them in the interval, on condition, however, that they should all remain free from harm. Now there were in this fortress many notables of the Italians, among whom was Deopheron the brother of Tullianus, while the Roman army was represented by three hundred Illyrian horsemen whom John had stationed in that place, appointing as commanders over them Chalazar the guardsman, a Massagete by birth and an especially able warrior, and Gudilas the Thracian; and there were also a hundred infantry sent by Belisarius to guard the fortress.
At that time also the soldiers who had been detailed by Belisarius for the garrison of Rome killed their commander Conon, bringing against him the charge of trafficking in grain and the other provisions to their detriment. And they sent some of the priests as envoys, firmly declaring that if the emperor did not exonerate them from guilt for this deed and remit to them within a specified time the back payment which the state owed them, they would without the slightest hesitation go over to Totila and the Goths. And the emperor fulfilled their request.
Belisarius now summoned John to Dryus and, together with him and Valerian and other commanders, he gathered a great fleet and sailed straight for Rusciane with all speed, being intent upon bringing relief to the besieged. And those in the fortress, seeing this fleet from their elevated position, revived their hopes and now decided not to yield to the enemy, although the day upon which they had agreed was already close at hand. First then a terrific storm came on, and for this reason and also because the coast there is altogether without harbours, the ships came to be scattered far apart from one another; thus it came about that considerable time was wasted. And when they had been collected in the harbour of Croton, they put out a second time for Rusciane. But when the barbarians saw them, they leaped upon their horses and came down to the beach, intending to prevent the disembarkation of their enemy. And Totila placed them for a great distance along the shore face to face with the prows of the ship, some with spears and some with bows ready strung. This array struck terror to the hearts of the Romans when they saw it and they had not the courage to come close, but they first stopped their ships at a great distance and remained quiet for some time, and then, giving up the landing in despair, they all backed off and put to sea and sailed once more into the harbour of Croton.
There, after taking council together, they decided that it was better that Belisarius should proceed to Rome and there set matters in order as well as possible and bring in provisions, while John and Valerian should first disembark the men and horses on the shore and then march overland into Picenum, in order to throw into confusion those of the barbarians who were besieging the strongholds in that region. For they entertained the hope that Totila would be led by such moves to abandon the siege and follow them. Accordingly, John, for his part, accompanied by his troops, a thousand in number, carried out this plan; but Valerian, fearing the danger, went around through the Ionian Gulf with the ships and sailed straight for Ancon. For he thought that he could in this way reach Picenum with safety and unite with John. But even so Totila was unwilling to abandon the siege, but, while he himself remained settled there, he selected two thousand horsemen from the army and sent them into Picenum, in order to unite with the barbarians there and throw back the forces of John and Valerian.
The Romans who were besieged in the fortress at Rusciane, seeing that their provisions had now completely failed them and that they had no further hope of assistanc
e from the Romans, sent Gudilas the guardsman and Deopheron the Italian to Totila and opened negotiations concerning their safety, begging him to pardon them for their deeds. And Totila promised that he would inflict punishment upon no one except Chalazar, seeing that he had disregarded the previous agreement, but he would remit the charge against all the others. On such terms he in person took over the fortress. And he cut off both the hands of Chalazar and his private parts and then killed him immediately; as for the soldiers, he ordered those who wished to do so to remain, keeping their own possessions, on condition that they array themselves thereafter with the Goths on terms of complete equality; indeed this was the same procedure which he had regularly followed when the other strongholds were captured; those, on the other hand, who were not at all satisfied to remain, he commanded to depart from there and go without equipment wherever they pleased, in order that no man in the world might march unwillingly under his standard. Thus, while eighty of the Roman army abandoned their possessions and came to Croton, the rest remained where they were with their possessions. The Italians, however, he deprived of all their property, though he left their persons entirely unharmed.
When Antonina, the wife of Belisarius, reached Byzantium after the decease of the empress, she begged the emperor to summon her husband thither. This she accomplished very readily. For the Persian war was now pressing the Emperor Justinian to the utmost, and influenced him to this decision.
XXXI
AT this time certain men formed a plot to assail the Emperor Justinian. And I shall now set forth how these men came to undertake this plot and the manner in which they were frustrated and never came to the accomplishment of their purpose. Artabanes, after slaying the tyrant Gontharis, as told in the preceding narrative, conceived an immoderate desire to take to wife the emperor’s niece Preiecta, who was betrothed to him. Now she, too, desired this very ardently, not that she was led to this by love for the man, but because she acknowledged a heavy-debt of gratitude to him, seeing that he had not only avenged the murder of her husband Areobindus, but had also rescued and snatched her from peril when she was a captive and destined after no long time to become the unwilling consort of the tyrant Gontharis. Since, then, both wanted this, Artabanes sent Preiecta to the emperor, while he himself, though appointed to the post of General of all Libya, invented sundry untruthful pretexts to induce the emperor to summon him to Byzantium. For he was led on to do this by the hope of this marriage, which suggested to him many blessings that would flow from the union and, in particular, that he would thereafter not be far from the throne. For when men lay hold upon prosperity unexpectedly, their minds cannot remain stable, but in their hopes they ever keep going forward, until they are deprived even of the felicity that has been undeservedly theirs.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 74