Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XXXI

  Thus then spoke Totila. And the armies drew together for battle and arrayed themselves as follows. All the forces in each army took their stand facing the enemy, making the phalanx as deep as possible and the front very long. And the Roman left wing was held by Narses and John near the hill, and with them was the flower of the Roman army; for each of them had, apart from the other soldiers, a great following of spearmen and guards and barbarian Huns, all chosen for their valour; and on the right were arrayed Valerian and John the Glutton along with Dagisthaeus and all the rest of the Romans. Furthermore, they placed on both wings about eight thousand unmounted bowmen from the regular troops. But at the centre of the phalanx Narses had placed the Lombards and the nation of the Eruli and all the other barbarians, causing them to dismount from their horses and making them infantry, in order that, if it should chance that they turned cowards in the engagement or deserted, they might not be too eager to fly. Now Narses had set the extreme left wing of the Roman front at an angle, placing fifteen hundred cavalry there. And the instructions previously given provided that the five hundred, on the one hand, should rush to the rescue the moment that any of the Romans chanced to be driven back, while the thousand, at the moment when the enemy’s infantry began action, were to get behind them immediately and thus place them between two forces. And Totila arrayed his army in the same way opposite his enemy. Then going along his own battle-line he kept encouraging his soldiers with voice and expression and urging them to boldness. Narses likewise did the same thing, holding in the air bracelets and necklaces and golden bridles on poles and displaying certain other incentives to bravery in the coming struggle. For some time, however, neither army began battle, but both remained quiet awaiting the assault of their opponents.

  But later on one man of the Gothic army named Coccas, who had a great reputation as an active fighter, rode his horse out and came close to the Roman army and uttered a challenge, if anyone was willing to come forth against him in single combat. Now this Coccas happened to be one of the Roman soldiers who had previously deserted to Totila. And immediately one of the spearmen of Narses stood forth against him, a man of Armenian birth named Anzalas, who was likewise mounted on a horse. Coccas then made the first rush and charged his foe in order to smite him with his spear, aiming the weapon at his belly. But Anzalas, by suddenly turning his horse aside, caused the charge of his enemy to be futile. By this manœuvre he was placed on his enemy’s flank and he now thrust his spear into his left side. And Coccas fell from his horse to the ground and lay there a dead man. Whereupon a tremendous shout arose from the Roman army, but even then neither side began any fighting.

  But Totila now went alone into the space between the armies, not in order to engage in single combat, but in order to prevent his opponents from using the present opportunity. For he had learned that the two thousand Goths who had been missing were now drawing near, and so he sought to put off the engagement until their arrival by doing as follows. First of all, he was not at all reluctant to make an exhibition to the enemy of what manner of man he was. For the armour in which he was clad was abundantly plated with gold and the ample adornments which hung from his cheek-plates as well as from his helmet and spear were not only of purple but in other respects befitting a king, marvellous in their abundance. And he himself, sitting upon a very large horse, began to perform the dance under arms skilfully between the armies. For he wheeled his horse round in a circle and then turned him again to the other side and so made him run round and round. And as he rode he hurled his javelin into the air and caught it again as it quivered above him, then passed it rapidly from hand to hand, shifting it with consummate skill, and he gloried in his practice in such matters, falling back on his shoulders, spreading his legs and leaning from side to side, like one who has been instructed with precision in the art of dancing from childhood. By these tactics he wore away the whole early part of the day. And wishing to prolong indefinitely the postponement of the battle, he sent to the Roman army saying that he wished to confer with them. But Narses declared that he must be trifling, seeing that he had been set on fighting at the time when there was opportunity to make proposals, but now, upon reaching the battle-field, he came forward to parley.

  XXXII

  Meanwhile the two thousand Goths arrived; and when Totila had learned that they had reached the stockade, seeing that it was time for the morning meal, he himself went off to his own tent and the Goths began to break up their formation and retire. And when Totila reached his quarters, he found the two thousand already present. He then commanded all to take their meal, and changing his entire equipment he armed himself with all care with the private soldier’s equipment and led the army out straightway against his enemy, thinking that he would fall upon them unexpectedly and thus overwhelm them. But even so he did not find the Romans unprepared. For Narses had feared, as actually happened, that the enemy would fall upon them when they were not expecting it, and so he had given orders that not a single man should either sit down to lunch or go off to sleep or even remove his cuirass, nor yet take his bridle off his horse. However, he did not allow them to be altogether without food, but commanded them to eat a small meal in ranks and with their equipment on, meanwhile maintaining a sharp look-out constantly and expecting the attack of the enemy. However, they were no longer arrayed in the same formation as before, for the Roman wings, in each of which four thousand unmounted horsemen had taken their stand, were moved forward at Narses’ command so as to form a crescent. But the Gothic infantry were all placed in a body in the rear of the cavalry, in order that, if the horsemen should be routed, the fugitives might fall back upon them and be saved, and all could then advance immediately together.

  Now orders had been given to the entire Gothic army that they should use neither bow nor any other weapon in this battle except their spears. Consequently it came about that Totila was out-generalled by his own folly; for in entering this battle he was led, by what I do not know, to throw against his opponents his own army with inadequate equipment and outflanked and in no respect a match for their antagonists. For the Romans, on the one hand, made use of each weapon in the fighting according to the particular need of the moment, shooting with bows or thrusting with spears or wielding swords, or using any other weapon which was convenient and suitable at a given point, some of them mounted on horses and others entering the combat on foot, their numbers proportioned to the needs of the situation, so that at one point they could carry out an encircling movement around the enemy, and at another receive a charge and with their shields stop short the attack. The cavalry of the Goths, on the other hand, leaving their infantry behind, and trusting only to their spears, made their charge with reckless impetuosity; and once in the midst of the fray they suffered for their own folly. For in making their charge against their enemy’s centre they had, before they realized it, placed themselves in between the eight thousand infantry, and being raked by their bowshots from either side they gave up immediately, since the bowmen kept gradually turning both the wings of their front so as to form the crescent which I have mentioned above. Consequently the Goths lost many men as well as many horses in this phase of the encounter before they had ever engaged with their opponents, and only after they had experienced very heavy losses did they with difficulty finally reach the ranks of their enemy.

  At this point I cannot admire any of the Romans or of their barbarian allies more than the others. For they all shewed a common enthusiasm and displayed the same valour and energy in action, for each of them received the enemy’s attack with the utmost vigour and repulsed the assault. And it was now toward evening when each of the two armies suddenly began to move, the Goths in retreat and the Romans in pursuit. For the Goths could no longer hold out against the onslaught of their enemy, but began to give ground before their attacks, and finally turned precipitately, terrified by their great numbers and their perfect order. And they gave not a thought to resistance, being as filled with terror as if some appar
itions of the air had fallen upon them or as if Heaven were warring against them. But when shortly they reached their own infantry, their misfortune was doubled and trebled. For they did not come to them in an orderly retreat, as with the purpose of recovering their breath and renewing the fight with their assistance, as is customary; indeed they had no intention either of throwing back their pursuers by a massed attack or of undertaking a counter pursuit or any other military manoeuvre, but they arrived in such disorder that some of the men were actually destroyed by the onrushing cavalry. Consequently the infantry did not open intervals to receive them nor stand fast to rescue them, but they all began to flee precipitately with the cavalry, and in the rout they kept killing each other just as in a battle at night. Meanwhile the Roman army, profiting by their panic, continued to kill without mercy all who fell in their way, while their victims offered no defence nor dared look them in the face, but gave themselves up to their enemy to treat as they wished; so thoroughly had terror settled upon them and panic possessed them.

  Six thousand of the Goths perished in this battle, while great numbers put themselves into the hands of their opponents. These the Romans for the moment made prisoners, but a little later they slew them. And not Goths alone were destroyed, but also great numbers of the old Roman soldiers who had earlier detached themselves from the Roman army and deserted, as I have told in the previous narrative, to Totila and the Goths. But all the soldiers of the Gothic army who had the fortune neither to perish nor to come under the hand of their enemy were able to hide or to flee, according as each could avail himself of horse or foot or good luck so as to find opportunity for the one or a place for the other.

  Such was the conclusion of this battle, and complete darkness was already settling down. But Totila was in flight through the night accompanied by not more than five men, one of whom chanced to be Scipuar, pursued by some of the Romans who did not know that he was Totila; among these was Asbadus of the Gepaedes. This man had drawn close to Totila and was charging him with the purpose of thrusting his spear into his back. But a Gothic youth of the household of Totila, who was following his fleeing master, outraged at what was taking place, cried aloud, “What is this, you dog? Are you rushing to smite your own master?” Then Asbadus thrust his spear with all his strength at Totila, but he himself was wounded in the foot by Scipuar and remained there. And Scipuar was wounded in turn by one of the pursuers and stopped, whereupon those who had been making the pursuit with Asbadus, four in number, gave up the chase in order to save him, and turned back with him. But the escort of Totila, thinking that the enemy were still pursuing them, rode forward without pausing, taking him along with great determination, though mortally wounded and fainting, for necessity compelled them to that headlong flight. So after covering eighty-four stades they came to a place called Caprae. Here they rested from travel and endeavoured to treat the wound of Totila, who not long afterwards completed the term of his life. And there his followers buried him in the earth and departed.

  Such was the conclusion of the reign and the life of Totila who had ruled the Goths eleven years. But the end which came to him was not worthy of his past achievements, for everything had gone well with the man before that, and his end was not commensurate with his deeds. But here again Fortune was obviously disporting herself and tearing human affairs to shreds by wav of making a display of her own perverse nature and unaccountable will; for she had endowed Totila of her own free will with prosperity for no particular reason for a long time, and then after this fashion smote the man with cowardice and destruction at the present time for no fitting cause. But these things, I believe, have never been comprehensible to man, nor will they ever become so at any future time. And yet there is always much talk on this matter and opinions are being for ever bandied about according to each man’s taste, as he seeks comfort for his ignorance in an explanation which seems reasonable. But I shall return to the previous narrative.

  The Romans, indeed, did not know that Totila had been thus taken from the world, until a certain woman of the Gothic race told them and pointed out the grave. But when they heard it they did not think the story sound, and so they came to the spot and with no hesitation dug out the grave and brought up from it the corpse of Totila; then, they say, after recognizing him and satisfying their curiosity with this sight, they again buried him in the earth and immediately reported the whole matter to Narses.

  But some say that Totila’s death and this battle happened otherwise than I have told it: and it has seemed to me not improper to record this version. For these say that the retreat of the Gothic army did not take place in any strange and unaccountable manner, but while some of the Romans were shooting from a distance, a missile from a bow suddenly struck Totila, but not by the purpose of the man who had sent it, for Totila was armed in the fashion of a simple soldier and the place in the phalanx where he stood had been chosen at random; for he did not wish to be manifest to his enemy, nor would he, of course, expose himself to attack; but some chance prepared this fate for him and directed the shaft to the man’s body. Then he, having suffered a mortal wound and being tortured with intense pain, withdrew from the phalanx with a few men and moved slowly away. And as far as Caprae he endured the suffering and continued to ride his horse, but there he fainted and after that remained there to care for his wound, and not long afterwards the final day of his life came upon him. Meanwhile the Gothic army, not being in any case a match for their opponents, upon seeing also that their commander had been unexpectedly rendered unfit for battle, became thunderstruck to think that Totila alone among them had been mortally wounded with no design on the part of the enemy, and consequently they became alarmed and discouraged and were plunged into terror which had no bounds and began to retreat in that disgraceful manner. But concerning these matters let each man speak according to his knowledge.

  XXXIII

  Narses was overjoyed at the outcome and ceased not attributing everything to God, an opinion which was indeed true; and he proceeded to arrange all urgent matters. And first of all he was eager to be rid of the outrageous behaviour of the Lombards under his command, for in addition to the general lawlessness of their conduct, they kept setting fire to whatever buildings they chanced upon and violating by force the women who had taken refuge in the sanctuaries. He accordingly propitiated them by a large gift of money and so released them to go to their homes, commanding Valerian and Damianus, his nephew, with their commands to escort them on the march as far as the Roman boundary, so that they might harm no one on the return journey. And after the Lombards had departed from Roman territory, Valerian went into camp near the city of Verona, intending to besiege it and win it for the emperor. But the garrison of this city became frightened and opened negotiations with Valerian, with the purpose of making a conditional surrender of themselves and the city. When this was learned by the Franks who were keeping guard in the towns of Venetia, they tried with all eagerness to prevent it, claiming the right to take charge of the land as belonging to themselves. And as a result of this, having accomplished nothing, Valerian retired from there with his whole army.

  As for the Goths who had saved themselves by fleeing from the battle, they crossed the Po River and occupied the city of Ticinum and the adjacent country, appointing Teïas as ruler over them. And he found all the money which Totila had deposited in Ticinum, and was purposing to draw the Franks into an alliance; he also began to organize and put in order the Goths as well as circumstances permitted, eagerly gathering them all about him. When Narses heard this, he ordered Valerian with all his force to maintain a guard near the Po River so that the Goths might not be at liberty to assemble freely, while he himself with all the rest of the army marched against Rome. And when he came into Tuscany, he took Narnia by surrender and left a garrison at Spolitium, which was then without walls, instructing them to rebuild as quickly as possible such parts of the fortifications as the Goths had torn down. And he also sent some men to make trial of the garrison in Perusia. Now the
garrison of Perusia was commanded by two Romans who had become deserters, Meligedius and Ulifus; the latter had formerly been a bodyguard of Cyprian, but had been won over by the large promises made to him by Totila and had treacherously killed Cyprian who then commanded the garrison of that place. Now Meligedius was for accepting the proposals of Narses and was planning with the men under his command to hand the city over to the Romans, but the party of Ulifus perceived what was going on and banded together openly against them. In the fight that followed Ulifus was destroyed together with those who thought as he did, and Meligedius immediately surrendered Perusia to the Romans. And Ulifus obviously suffered retribution from Heaven in being destroyed at the very place where he himself had murdered Cyprian. Such was the course of these events.