Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  But in Byzantium Basiliscus, being no longer able to master his passion for royal power, made an attempt to usurp the throne, and succeeded without difficulty, since Zeno, together with his wife, sought refuge in Isauria, which was his native home. [471 A.D.] And while he was maintaining his tyranny for a year and eight months he was detested by practically everyone and in particular by the soldiers of the court on account of the greatness of his avarice. And Zeno, perceiving this, collected an army and came against him. And Basiliscus sent an army under the general Harmatus in order to array himself against Zeno. But when they had made camp near one another, Harmatus surrendered his army to Zeno, on the condition that Zeno should appoint as Caesar Harmatus’ son Basiliscus, who was a very young child, and leave him as successor to the throne upon his death. And Basiliscus, deserted by all, fled for refuge to the same sanctuary as formerly. And Acacius, the priest of the city, put him into the hands of Zeno, charging him with impiety and with having brought great confusion and many innovations into the Christian doctrine, having inclined toward the heresy of Eutyches. And this was so. And after Zeno had thus taken over the empire a second time, he carried out his pledge to Harmatus formally by appointing his son Basiliscus Caesar, but not long afterwards he both stripped him of the office and put Harmatus to death. And he sent Basiliscus together with his children and his wife into Cappadocia in the winter season, commanding that they should be destitute of food and clothes and every kind of care. And there, being hard pressed by both cold and hunger, they took refuge in one another’s arms, and embracing their loved ones, perished. And this punishment overtook Basiliscus for the policy he had pursued. These things, however, happened in later times.

  But at that time Gizeric was plundering the whole Roman domain just as much as before, if not more, circumventing his enemy by craft and driving them out of their possessions by force, as has been previously said, and he continued to do so until the emperor Zeno came to an agreement with him and an endless peace was established between them, by which it was provided that the Vandals should never in all time perform any hostile act against the Romans nor suffer such a thing at their hands. And this peace was preserved by Zeno himself and also by his successor in the empire, Anastasius And it remained in force until the time of the emperor Justinus. But Justinian, who was the nephew of Justinus, succeeded him in the imperial power, and it was in the reign of this Justinian that the war with which we are concerned came to pass, in the manner which will be told in the following narrative. [477 A.D.] Gizeric, after living on a short time, died at an advanced age, having made a will in which he enjoined many things upon the Vandals and in particular that the royal power among them should always fall to that one who should be the first in years among all the male offspring descended from Gizeric himself. So Gizeric, having ruled over the Vandals thirty-nine years from the time when he captured Carthage, died, as I have said.

  Ὁνώριχος δέ, ὁ τῶν ἐκείνου παίδων πρεσβύτατος, διεδέξατο τὴν ἀρχήν, Γένζωνος ἤδη ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθέντος. ἐπὶ τούτου Ὁνωρίχου Βανδίλων ἄρχοντος πόλεμος αὐτοῖς πρὸς οὐδένα ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι μὴ ἐς Μαυρουσίους, ἐγένετο. [2] δέει γὰρ τῷ ἐκ Γιζερίχου ἡσυχάζοντες πρὸ τοῦ οἱ Μαυρούσιοι, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἐκποδὼν αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνος ἐγεγόνει, ἔδρασάν τε πολλὰ τοὺς Βανδίλους κακὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔπαθον. [3] γέγονε δὲ Ὁνώριχος ἐς τοὺς ἐν Λιβύῃ Χριστιανοὺς ὠμότατός τε καὶ ἀδικώτατος ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων. [4] βιαζόμενος γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐς τὴν Ἀρειανῶν μετατίθεσθαι δόξαν, ὅσους ἂν λάβοι οὐχ ἑτοίμως αὐτῷ εἴκοντας, ἔκαιέ τε καὶ ἄλλαις θανάτου ἰδέαις διέφθειρε, πολλῶν δὲ καὶ τὰς γλώσσας ἀπέτεμεν ἀπ̓ αὐτῆς φάρυγγος, οἳ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ περιόντες ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐχρῶντο ἀκραιφνεῖ τῇ φωνῇ, οὐδ̓ ὁπωστιοῦν ταύτης δὴ τῆς τιμωρίας ἐπαισθανόμενοι: ὧν δὴ δύο, ἐπειδὴ γυναιξὶν ἑταίραις πλησιάζειν ἔγνωσαν, [5] οὐκέτι φθέγγεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν ἴσχυσαν. ἔτη τε ὀκτὼ Βανδίλων ἄρξας ἐτελεύτησε νόσῳ, Μαυρουσίων ἤδη τῶν ἐν τῷ Αὐρασίῳ ὄρει ᾠκημένων ἀποστάντων τε ἀπὸ Βανδίλων καὶ αὐτονόμων ὄντων ῾ἔστι δὲ τὸ Αὐράσιον ἐν Νουμιδίᾳ τριῶν καὶ δέκα ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν μάλιστα Καρχηδόνος διέχον, τετραμμένον τε πρὸς μεσημβρίαν̓, οἳ οὐκέτι ὑπὸ Βανδίλοις ἐγένοντο, οὐ δυναμένων Βανδίλων ἐν ὄρει δυσόδῳ τε καὶ ἀνάντει λίαν πόλεμον πρὸς Μαυρουσίους διενεγκεῖν. [6] Τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ὁνωρίχου τὸ τῶν Βανδίλων κράτος ἐς Γουνδαμοῦνδον ἦλθε τὸν Γένζωνος τοῦ Γιζερίχου. ἐς αὐτὸν γὰρ ὁ χρόνος ἔφερε τὰ πρωτεῖα τοῦ Γιζερίχου γένους. [7] οὗτος ὁ Γουνδαμοῦνδος πλείοσι μὲν πρὸς Μαυρουσίους ἐμαχέσατο ξυμβολαῖς, μείζοσι δὲ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ὑπαγαγὼν πάθεσιν ἐτελεύτησε νοσήσας, ἤδη που μεσοῦντος τοῦ δωδεκάτου τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔτους. [8] ἀδελφός τε αὐτοῦ Τρασαμοῦνδος παρέλαβε τὴν βασιλείαν, εἴδους τε καὶ ξυνέσεως ἐς τὰ μάλιστα καὶ μεγαλοψυχίας εὖ ἥκων. [9] τοὺς μέντοι Χριστιανοὺς ἐβιάζετο μεταβαλέσθαι τὴν πάτριον δόξαν, οὐκ αἰκιζόμενος τὰ σώματα ὥσπερ οἱ πρότεροι, ἀλλὰ τιμαῖς τε καὶ ἀρχαῖς μετιὼν καὶ χρήμασι μεγάλοις δωρούμενος, καὶ τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας, ὁποῖοί ποτε εἶεν, ἥκιστά γε εἰδέναι ποιούμενος. [10] εἰ δέ τινας λάβοι μεγάλοις ἁμαρτήμασιν ἐνόχους ἢ γνώμῃ γεγενημένους, τούτοις δὴ μεταβαλλομένοις τὴν δόξαν μισθὸν προὐτίθει μὴ δοῦναι τὴν δίκην ὧν ἥμαρτον. [11] ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡ γυνὴ ἐτελεύτα, οὐ γενομένη μήτηρ οὔτε ἄρσενος οὔτε θήλεος γόνου, κρατῦναι ὡς ἄριστα τὴν βασιλείαν βουλόμενος, ἐς Θευδέριχον τὸν Γότθων βασιλέα πέμψας ᾔτει οἱ γυναῖκα τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ἀμαλαφρίδαν διδόναι, ἧς δὴ ἄρτι ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐτεθνήκει. [12] ὁ δέ οἱ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἔπεμψε καὶ Γότθων δοκίμων χιλίους ἐν δορυφόρων λόγῳ, οἷς δὴ ὅμιλος θεραπείας εἵπετο ἐς πέντε μάλιστα χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν μαχίμων. [13] ἐδωρήσατο δὲ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Θευδέριχος καὶ τῶν Σικελίας ἀκρωτηρίων τριῶν ὄντων ἑνί, ὃ δὴ καλοῦσι Λιλύβαιον, καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἔδοξεν ὁ Τρασαμοῦνδος πάντων δὴ τῶν ἐν Βανδίλοις ἡγησαμένων κρείσσων τε εἶναι καὶ δυνατώτατος. [14] ἐγένετο δὲ φίλος καὶ Ἀναστασίῳ βασιλεῖ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος ξυνέπεσε Βανδίλοις πάθος τι παθεῖν πρὸς Μαυρουσίων οἷον οὔπω πρὸ τοῦ ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθα
ι. [15] Καβάων ἦν τις ἄρχων τῶν ἀμφὶ Τρίπολιν Μαυρουσίων, πολέμων τε πολλῶν ἔμπειρος καὶ λίαν ἀγχίνους. οὗτος ὁ Καβάων ἐπειδὴ ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν στρατεύεσθαι Βανδίλους ἐπύθετο, ἐποίει τοιάδε. [16] πρῶτα μὲν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐπήγγελλεν ἀδικίας τε πάσης καὶ βρώσεως ἐς τρυφὴν ἀγούσης καὶ πάντων μάλιστα γυναικῶν ξυνουσίας ἀπέχεσθαι: χαρακώματά τε δύο πηξάμενος ἐν θατέρῳ μὲν αὐτὸς ξὺν πᾶσιν ἐστρατοπεδεύσατο τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ἐν δὲ δὴ τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὰς γυναῖκας καθεῖρξε, θάνατόν τε τὴν ζημίαν ἠπείλησεν ἔσεσθαι, ἤν τις ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν γυναικῶν χαράκωμα ἴοι. [17] μετὰ δὲ πέμψας ἐς Καρχηδόνα κατασκόπους ἐπέταττε τάδε: ἐπειδὰν οἱ Βανδίλοι ἐπὶ τὴν στρατείαν βαδίζοντες ἔς τινα νεὼν ὑβρίσωσιν ὃν οἱ Χριστιανοὶ σέβονται, αὐτοὺς μὲν ἐφορᾶν τὰ γινόμενα: ἢν δὲ οἱ Βανδίλοι τὸ χωρίον ἀμείψωσιν, ἅπαντα ποιεῖν τἀναντία ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν ὧν ἐκεῖνοι δράσαντες οἴχονται. [18] ἐπειπεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τοῦτό φασιν, ὡς ἀγνοοίη μὲν τὸν θεὸν ὃν Χριστιανοὶ σέβονται, εἰκὸς δὲ αὐτόν, εἴπερ ἰσχυρός ἐστιν, ὡς λέγεται, τίσασθαι μὲν τοὺς ὑβρίζοντας, ἀμῦναι δὲ τοῖς θεραπεύουσιν. [19] οἱ μὲν οὖν κατάσκοποι ἐς Καρχηδόνα ἐλθόντες ἡσύχαζον, τὴν παρασκευὴν τῶν Βανδίλων θεώμενοι: ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ στράτευμα τὴν ἐπὶ Τρίπολιν ᾔεσαν, σχήματα περιβεβλημένοι ταπεινὰ εἵποντο. [20] οἱ δὲ Βανδίλοι ὡς ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πρώτῃ ηὐλίσαντο, ἐς τῶν Χριστιανῶν τοὺς νεὼς τούς τε ἵππους τά τε ἄλλα ζῷα ἐσαγαγόντες, ὕβρεώς τε οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπελείποντο καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκολασίᾳ τῇ σφετέρᾳ ἐχρήσαντο, τούς τε ἱερέας, οὓς ἂν λάβοιεν, ἐρράπιζόν τε καὶ ξαίνοντες κατὰ τοῦ νώτου πολλὰς ὑπηρετεῖν σφίσιν ἐκέλευον ὅσα δὴ ἐπέχειν τῶν οἰκετῶν τοῖς ἀτιμοτάτοις εἰώθεσαν. [21] καὶ ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἐνθένδε ἀπηλλάγησαν, ἐποίουν οἱ τοῦ Καβάωνος κατάσκοποι ὅσα αὐτοῖς ἐπετέτακτο: τά τε γὰρ ἱερὰ ἐκάθηραν αὐτίκα τήν τε κόπρον καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο οὐχ ὁσίως ἐπέκειτο ξὺν ἐπιμελείᾳ πολλῇ ἀφελόμενοι, τά τε λύχνα ἔκαυσαν ἅπαντα καὶ τοὺς ἱερέας αἰδοῖ τε πολλῇ προσεκύνησαν καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ φιλοφροσύνῃ ἠσπάσαντο: [22] ἀργύριά τε τοῖς πτωχοῖς δόντες οἳ ἀμφὶ τὰ ἱερὰ ταῦτα ἐκάθηντο, οὕτω δὴ τῇ τῶν Βανδίλων στρατιᾷ εἵποντο. [23] καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ξύμπασαν οἵ τε Βανδίλοι κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἡμάρτανον καὶ οἱ κατάσκοποι ἐθεράπευον. [24] ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀγχοῦ ἔσεσθαι ἔμελλον, προτερήσαντες οἱ κατάσκοποι ἀγγέλλουσι τῷ Καβάωνι ὅσα Βανδίλοις τε καὶ σφίσιν ἐς τὰ Χριστιανῶν ἱερὰ εἴργαστο καὶ ὡς ἐγγύς που οἱ πολέμιοι εἶεν. [25] ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας ἐς τὴν ξυμβολὴν καθίστατο ὧδε. κύκλον ἀπολαβὼν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ἔνθα δὴ τὸ χαράκωμα ποιεῖσθαι ἔμελλε, τὰς καμήλους ἔρυμα τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ἐγκαρσίας ἐν κύκλῳ καθίστη, κατὰ δώδεκα μάλιστα καμήλους ποιησάμενος τὸ τοῦ μετώπου βάθος. [26] παῖδας μὲν οὖν καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ εἴ τι αὐτοῖς ἀπόμαχον ἦν ὁμοῦ τοῖς χρήμασιν ἐς μέσον ἐτίθετο, τὸν δὲ τῶν μαχίμων λεὼν ἐς τῶν ζῴων ἐκείνων τοὺς πόδας ἐν μέσῳ φραξαμένους ταῖς ἀσπίσιν ἐκέλευεν εἶναι. [27] οὕτω δὲ Μαυρουσίοις ἐχούσης τῆς φάλαγγος οἱ Βανδίλοι ἐν ἀπόρῳ εἶχον θέσθαι τὸ παρόν: οὔτε γὰρ ἀκοντισταὶ οὔτε τοξόται ἀγαθοὶ ἦσαν οὔτε πεζοὶ ἐς μάχην ἰέναι ἠπίσταντο, ἀλλ̓ ἱππεῖς τε ἦσἁ̣̣̓ ἅπαντες, δόρασί τε ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καὶ ξίφεσἱ̣̣̓ ἐχρῶντο, καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἄποθέν τε οὐδὲν ἐργἅ̣̣̓ ζεσθαι κακὸν τοὺς πολεμίους οἷοί τε ἦσαν, ἥ τ̣̣̔̓ ἵππος αὐτοῖς, ἀχθομένη τῇ τῶν καμήλων ὄψει ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἥκιστα ἤγετο. [28] ἐπειδή τ̣̣̔̓ συχνὰ ἐς αὐτοὺς ἀκοντίζοντες ἐκ τοῦ ἀσφαλοὗ̣̣̓ οἱ πολέμιοι τούς τε ἵππους καὶ αὐτούς, ἅτ̣̣̔̓ πλῆθος ὄντας, οὐ χαλεπῶς ἔκτεινον, ἔφευγόν τ̣̣̔̓ καὶ τῶν Μαυρουσίων ἐπεξιόντων οἱ μὲν πολλὁ̣̣̓ διεφθάρησαν, εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῖς πολεμίοἱ̣̣̓ ἐγένοντο, ὀλίγοι τε κομιδῆ ἐκ τοῦ στρατοῦ τούτὁ̣̣̓ ἐπ̓ οἴκου ἀπεκομίσθησαν. [29] ταῦτα μὲν Τρασαμούνδῳ παθεῖν πρὸς Μαυρουσίων ξυνέπεσεν ἐτελεύτα δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον ἑπτά τε καὶ εἴκοσιν ἔτη Βανδίλων ἄρξας.

  VIII

  And Honoric, the eldest of his sons, succeeded to the throne, Genzon having already departed from the world. During the time when this Honoric ruled the Vandals they had no war against anyone at all, except the Moors. For through fear of Gizeric the Moors had remained quiet before that time, but as soon as he was out of their way they both did much harm to the Vandals and suffered the same themselves. And Honoric shewed himself the most cruel and unjust of all men toward the Christians in Libya. For he forced them to change over to the Arian faith, and as many as he found not readily yielding to him he burned, or destroyed by other forms of death; and he also cut off the tongues of many from the very throat, who even up to my time were going about in Byzantium having their speech uninjured, and perceiving not the least effect from this punishment; but two of these, since they saw fit to go in to harlots, were thenceforth no longer able to speak. And after ruling over the Vandals eight years he died of disease; and by that time the Moors dwelling on Mt. Aurasium had revolted from the Vandals and were independent (this Aurasium is a mountain of Numidia, about thirteen days’ journey distant from Carthage and fronting the south); and indeed they never came under the Vandals again, since the latter were unable to carry on a war against Moors on a mountain difficult of access and exceedingly steep.

  After the death of Honoric the rule of the Vandals fell to Gundamundus, the son of Genzon, the son of Gizeric. [485 A.D.] For he, in point of years, was the first of the offspring of Gizeric. This Gundamundus fought against the Moors in numerous encounters, and after subjecting the Christians to still greater suffering, he died of disease, being now at about the middle of the twelfth year of his reign. [496 A.D.] And his brother Trasamundus took over the kingdom, a man well-favoured in appearance and especially gifted with discretion and highmindedness.
However he continued to force the Christians to change their ancestral faith, not by torturing their bodies as his predecessors had done, but by seeking to win them with honours and offices and presenting them with great sums of money; and in the case of those who would not be persuaded, he pretended he had not the least knowledge of what manner of men they were. And if he caught any guilty of great crimes which they had committed either by accident or deliberate intent, he would offer such men, as a reward for changing their faith, that they should not be punished for their offences. And when his wife died without becoming the mother of either male or female offspring, wishing to establish the kingdom as securely as possible, he sent to Theoderic, the king of the Goths, asking him to give him his sister Amalafrida to wife, for her husband had just died. And Theoderic sent him not only his sister but also a thousand of the notable Goths as a bodyguard, who were followed by a host of attendants amounting to about five thousand fighting men. And Theoderic also presented his sister with one of the promontories of Sicily, which are three in number, — the one which they call Lilybaeum, — and as a result of this Trasamundus was accounted the strongest and most powerful of all those who had ruled over the Vandals. He became also a very special friend of the emperor Anastasius. It was during the reign of Trasamundus that it came about that the Vandals suffered a disaster at the hands of the Moors such as had never befallen them before that time.