Now it so happened that a certain man named Ustrigothus had fled from the Gepaedes to the Lombards in the following circumstances. Elemundus, who had been king of the Gepaedes, had been taken from the world by disease not long before, this Ustrigothus being his only surviving child; but Thorisin had forced him aside (for he was still a stripling) and had thus secured the power. Consequently the boy, having no means of defending himself against the aggressor, departed from his native land and made off to the Lombards, who were then at war with the Gepaedes. But a little later a reconciliation was effected by the Gepaedes with both the Emperor Justinian and the Lombard nation, and they bound themselves by the most solemn oaths that from that time forth they would preserve an eternal friendship with each other. And as soon as the details of the agreement had been most firmly fixed, both the Emperor Justinian and Auduin, ruler of the Lombards, sent to Thorisin, the ruler of the Gepaedes, demanding the surrender of Ildigisal as a common enemy, asking that he make the betrayal of his suppliant the first proof of his friendship to them.
He then conferred on the situation with the notable men of the Gepaedes and eagerly asked whether he was bound to fulfil the demand of the two sovereigns. And they forbade him absolutely to do so, firmly declaring that it was better for the nation of the Gepaedes to perish forthwith with their women and their whole stock rather than to become polluted by such an impiety. Upon hearing this Thorisin was plunged into uncertainty. For neither could he perform the deed against the will of his subjects, nor did he wish to revive once more a war against the Romans and Lombards which had been brought to an end with great labour and expenditure of time. Later, however, he thought of the following plan. He sent to Auduin and demanded the surrender of Ustrigothus, son of Elemundus, urging him to commit a sin equal to the one urged upon himself, and inviting him to betray one suppliant in exchange for the other. In this way he hoped that he would frustrate their demand through dread of a similar transgression and would immediately catch Auduin himself by the proposed illicit compact. So when they had reached these decisions and understood clearly that neither Lombards nor Gepaedes were willing to have any share in the pollution, they did nothing at all openly, but each of them put the enemy of the other to death by stealth. But as to how they did this, I shall not undertake to tell; for the accounts of this matter do not agree with each other, but differ widely, as is natural in matters of a very secret nature. Such was the end of the story of Ildigisal and Ustrigothus.
XXVIII
When the forces of Narses reached the city of Ravenna, they were joined by the generals Valerian and Justinus and whatever of the Roman army was left in that region. Now when they had spent nine days’ time at Ravenna, Usdrilas, a Goth and an exceptionally capable warrior, commander of the garrison at Ariminum, wrote to Valerian as follows. “Though you have filled the world with talk of you and have already captivated the whole of Italy with the visions of your power, and have assumed an air of supercilious pride quite above the level of mortal men, and though you have in this way frightened the Goths, as you fondly imagine, you nevertheless now sit in Ravenna without at all shewing your own forces to your enemy, through your policy of keeping hidden — no doubt as a way of guarding still this proud spirit of yours — but using a heterogeneous horde of barbarians with which to ruin the land which belongs to you in no sense whatever. But arise with all speed and henceforth essay the deeds of war; shew yourselves to the Goths, and do not tantalize us longer with mere hope, since we have been awaiting the spectacle a long time.” Such was the message of the letter.
When this was brought to Narses and seen by him, he laughed at the effrontery of the Goths and immediately prepared his whole army for departure, leaving a garrison with Justinus at Ravenna. But when they came close to the city of Ariminum, they found that the road from that point was not easy, since the Goths had not long before damaged the bridge there. For the river which flows by Ariminum is scarcely passable for a single unarmed man making his way on foot over the bridge with great labour and difficulty, and that too when no one is harassing him or disputing the passage; but for a large number of men, particularly when under arms, and above all when confronted by an enemy, it is impossible by any means whatever to make that crossing. Consequently Narses went to the site of the bridge accompanied by a few, and being thoroughly perplexed he was considering carefully what solution he could possibly find for the difficulty. And Usdrilas also came thither, bringing some of his horsemen, lest anything that was done should escape him. Then one of the followers of Narses drew his bow and shot at them, and he hit one of their horses and killed it outright. And the company of Usdrilas for the moment departed from there in haste and got inside the fortifications, but immediately rushed out against the Romans through another gate, bringing with them others of their most warlike men, in order to fall upon them unexpectedly and destroy Narses forthwith. For in reconnoitring the crossing for the army he had already reached the other side of the river. But certain of the Eruli by some chance encountered them there and slew Usdrilas, and since he was identified by a Roman they cut off’ his head, and coming into the Roman camp displayed it to Narses and so strengthened the courage of all; for they inferred from what had happened that Heaven was hostile to the Goths, seeing that in seeking to ambush the general of their enemy they themselves, not through any plot or preconceived plan, had suddenly lost their own commander.
But Narses, in spite of the fall of Usdrilas, commander of the garrison at Ariminum, pushed forward with the army. For he did not wish to trouble Ariminum nor any other place held by the enemy, in order that no time might be wasted by him and the accomplishment of the most important thing be crowded out by that which was incidental to his task. The enemy, for their part, now that their commander had fallen, remained quiet and sought no longer to block his way, so that Narses without a fear spanned the river with a bridge and took the entire army across without any trouble. From there he left the Flaminian Way and went to the left. For the place called Petra Pertusa, whose naturally strong fortress has been described by me in the previous narrative, had been occupied by his opponents long before, and consequently the road was closed to the Romans and it was out of the question to pass through, as far at least as the Flaminian Way was concerned. Narses accordingly left the shorter road on this account and went by the road which could be travelled.
XXIX
Such were the events of the march of the Roman army. Now Totila, having already learned what had taken place in Venetia, at first remained quiet in the vicinity of Rome awaiting Teïas and his army. But when they had come and only two thousand horsemen were still missing, Totila, without awaiting these, started on the march with all the rest of the army in order to encounter the enemy in a suitable place. But he learned on this march both what had befallen Usdrilas and also that his enemy had passed by Ariminum, whereupon he crossed the whole of Tuscany, and upon reaching the mountains called the Apennines established his camp there and remained close to a village which the inhabitants call Taginae. And the Roman army led by Narses also made camp on the Apennines not long afterward and remained in that position, about one hundred stades distant from the camp of their opponents, in a place which is level but surrounded by many hills close by, the very place where once, they say, Camillus as general of the Romans defeated in battle and destroyed the host of the Gauls. And the place even to my day bears witness to this deed in its name and preserves the memory of the disaster which befell the Gauls, being called Busta Gallorum. For the Latins call the remains of the funeral pyre “busta.” And there are great numbers of mounded tombs of their bodies in this place.
Now Narses immediately sent from there some of his associates, bidding them exhort Totila to lay aside warfare and at last make plans for peace, for he must realize that as ruler of only a small number of men recently banded together by no law, he would not be able to contend for very long with the whole Roman empire. But he told them this also, that, if they saw that Totila was determined to fight
, they should immediately urge him to appoint a definite day for the battle. These envoys accordingly came before Totila and carried out their instructions. And he in a spirit of bravado began to boast that by all means they must fight, but the envoys rejoined quickly, “Very well, good Sir, appoint some definite time for the engagement.” Whereupon he immediately said, “At the end of eight days let us match our strength.” So the envoys returned to Narses and reported their agreement, whereupon he, suspecting that Totila was planning treachery, made preparations to fight on the following day. And in fact he was right in his judgment of the purpose of his enemy. For on the succeeding day Totila was at hand self-announced with his whole army. And immediately the two armies took up positions opposite one another, not more than two bowshots apart.
Now there was a small hill there which both were eager to occupy, thinking that it was favourably situated for their purposes, both in order to shoot at their opponents from a high point of vantage, and also because the ground being hilly thereabout, as I have previously stated, it was impossible for anyone to encircle the Roman camp on that side and get behind it except by following a single path which happened to skirt the hill. Consequently both of them were bound to consider it of particular importance; the Goths, in order that they might surround their enemy during the engagement and so place them between two forces, and the Romans, in order that they might not have this thing happen to them. But Narses had anticipated the Goths by choosing fifty infantrymen from a cohort and sending them late at night to occupy and hold the hill. And they, finding none of the enemy in the way, went there and remained quiet. Now there is a certain water-course in front of the hill, running along the path which I have just mentioned and opposite the spot where the Goths had made their camp, and it was at this point that the fifty took up their position, standing shoulder to shoulder and arrayed in the form of a phalanx as well as the limited space permitted.
After day came, Totila saw what had happened and was eager to dislodge them. So he immediately sent a troop of horsemen against them with orders to drive them out from there as quickly as possible. The horsemen accordingly charged upon them with great hubbub and shouting, intending to capture them at the first cry, but the Romans drew up together into a small space and, making a barrier with their shields and thrusting forward their spears, held their ground. Then the Goths came on, charging in haste and thus getting themselves into disorder, while the fifty, pushing with their shields and thrusting very rapidly with their spears, which were nowhere allowed to interfere one with the other, defended themselves most vigorously against their assailants; and they purposely made a din with their shields, terrifying the horses, on the one hand, by this means, and the men, on the other, with the points of their spears. And the horses became excited, because they were greatly troubled both by the rough ground and by the din of the shields, and also because they could not get through anywhere, while the men at the same time were gradually worn out, fighting as they were with men packed so closely together and not giving an inch of ground, and trying to manage horses that did not in the least obey their urging. So they were repulsed in the first attack and rode back. And a second time they made the attempt and retired with the same experience. Then, after faring thus many times, they no longer continued the attack, but Totila substituted another troop for this work. And when they fared as their predecessors had, still others undertook the task. So after Totila had in this way sent in many troops and had accomplished nothing with all of them, he finally gave up.
Thus the fifty won great renown for valour, but two of them distinguished themselves particularly in this action, Paulus and Ansilas, who had leaped out from the phalanx and made a display of valour surpassing all others. For they drew their swords and laid them on the ground, and then stretched their bow’s and kept shooting with a most telling aim at the enemy. And they destroyed many men and many horses as well, as long as their quivers still held arrows. At length, when their missiles had now entirely failed them, seizing their swords and holding their shields before them, all by themselves they warded off the assailants. And whenever any of their opponents on horseback came at them with their spears, they immediately broke off the heads of the spears with a blow of their swords. But after they had in this manner checked the onrushes of the enemy many times, it came about that the sword of one of them (this was Paulus) was bent double by the frequent cutting of the wooden shafts and so was utterly useless. This then he immediately threw on the ground, and seizing the spears with both hands he would wrench them from his assailants. And by wrenching four spears from the enemy in this way in the sight of all he made himself the chief cause of their abandoning their attempt. Wherefore, in consequence of the exploit, Narses made him a personal guard of his own from that time on.
XXX
Such was the progress of these events. Both armies now prepared for action. And Narses gathered his army in a small space and exhorted them as follows. “When an army is entering the combat with its strength evenly matched with that of the enemy, a long speech of exhortation and encouragement would perhaps be necessary of the sort which would inspire the men with ardour, in order that, being superior to the enemy in this respect they might find the issue of the combat wholly what they wish. But in your case, my men, you who have to fight against an army vastly inferior to you in valour, in numbers, and in every sort of equipment besides, I think nothing further is necessary than that we enter this engagement with God propitious to us. Do you, then, invoke His alliance with unceasing prayer, and so fare forth with great contempt to achieve the overthrow of these robbers, who, being originally slaves of the great emperor and then turning fugitives and setting a tyrant over themselves who was a worthless fellow from the common rabble, have been able for a certain season to work havoc in the Roman empire by their thievish actions. And yet one would have supposed that these men would not even have arrayed themselves against us now, if they had considered the probabilities. Yet they are playing a desperate game with an irrational sort of boldness and displaying the rashness of frenzy, and in this spirit they dare to embrace a death which obviously awaits them, not shielding themselves by a reasonable hope, nor even looking forward to see what will fall to their lot through a strange and unexpected turn of events, but being indisputably led on by God to the punishment earned by their administration of the state. For such men as have been condemned to suffer by the powers above move on to their punishment unaided. But aside from this, while you for your part are entering this combat in defence of a lawful government, they are in revolt against the laws and fighting a battle of desperation, not expecting to transmit anything they hold to any successors, but well assured that it will all perish with them and that the hope on which they live is ephemeral. Consequently they deserve thoroughly to be despised. For those who are not organized under law and good government are bereft of all virtue, and the victory, naturally, is already decided; for victory is not accustomed to range itself against the virtues.” Such was the exhortation which Narses made.
And Totila likewise, seeing his men in abject terror of the Roman army, called them all together and spoke as follows: “Fellow-soldiers, I have brought you together here with the purpose of making a final exhortation. For no other admonition will, I believe, be necessary after this battle, but the result will certainly be that the war will be decided on one day. For so thoroughly have both we and the Emperor Justinian become exhausted and stripped of all power through being subjected to toils and battles and hardships for an exceedingly long time, and so completely have we found ourselves unable to meet the demands of the war, that, if we shall overcome our opponents in this present engagement, they will be utterly unable to come back in the future, while if we meet with any reverse in this battle, no hope will be left the Goths of renewing the fight, but either side will have in defeat a thoroughly sufficient excuse for inaction. For when men once give up the fight against overwhelming obstacles, they no longer have the courage to return to them, but even when the
y are perhaps strongly impelled to do so by actual need, their hearts rebel, for the memory of their failure makes their spirit quail. Having heard this, my men, play the brave part with all your might, without holding any fighting power in reserve for some other occasion, and put your whole strength into the struggle without trying to save your bodies for another danger. And let there be on your part no sparing of arms or of horses, for they will never again be useful to you. For fortune, having demolished everything else, has preserved only the ultimate hope for this day. Tune your hearts, then, to a high courage, and make ready for deeds of noble daring. For when hope hangs by a thread, as it now does with you, the only safe course will be not to lose courage for the briefest moment of time. For after the point of the crisis has passed, zeal becomes for ever worthless, even though it be of an altogether immoderate sort, since the nature of things has no place for valour after the event, for once the need has passed, everything which follows must necessarily be too late. I believe, then, that you should enter the struggle making the best use of every opportunity which presents itself in action, so that you may be enabled also to enjoy the benefits to come from it. And you understand well that in the present situation he who flees thoroughly deserves his own destruction. For men abandon their post and flee for no other reason than that they may live; but if flight can be seen to involve the death of the fugitive, he who faces the danger will be in much greater safety than the man who flees. But the vast number of the enemy is worthy only to be despised, seeing that they present a collection of men from the greatest possible number of nations. For an alliance which is patched together from many sources gives no firm assurance of either loyalty or power, but being split up in nationality it is naturally divided likewise in purpose. And do not think that Huns and Lombards and Eruli, hired by them with I know not how much money, will ever endanger themselves for them to the point of death. For life with them is not so cheap as to take second place to silver in their estimation, but I well know that after making an appearance of fighting they will desert with all speed, either because they have received their pay, or as carrying out the orders of their own commanders. For even things that seem most delightful, — to say nothing of what happens in war — if they do not turn out in accordance with men’s wishes, but if they are forced or hired or subject to any other compulsion, then such things will come no longer to be accounted pleasant, but by reason of the compulsion appear detestable. Remembering these things let us with all enthusiasm engage with the enemy.”
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 90