Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  II

  After such words of exhortation, Belisarius sent out all the horsemen on the same day, except five hundred, and also the guardsmen and the standard, which the Romans call “bandum,” entrusting them to John the Armenian, and directing him to skirmish only, if opportunity should arise. And he himself on the following day followed with the infantry forces and the five hundred horsemen. And the Massagetae, deliberating among themselves, decided, in order to seem in friendly agreement with both Gelimer and Belisarius, neither to begin fighting for the Romans nor to go over to the Vandals before the encounter, but whenever the situation of one or the other army should be bad, then to join the victors in their pursuit of the vanquished. Thus, then, had this matter been decided upon by the barbarians. And the Roman army came upon the Vandals encamped in Tricamarum, one hundred and fifty stades distant from Carthage. So they both bivouacked there at a considerable distance from one another. And when it was well on in the night, a prodigy came to pass in the Roman camp as follows. The tips of their spears were lighted with a bright fire and the points of them seemed to be burning most vigorously. This was not seen by many, but it filled with consternation the few who did see it, not knowing how it would come out. And this happened to the Romans in Italy again at a much later time. And at that time, since they knew by experience, they believed it to be a sign of victory. But now, as I have said, since this was the first time it had happened, they were filled with consternation and passed the night in great fear.

  And on the following day Gelimer commanded the Vandals to place the women and children and all their possessions in the middle of the stockade, although it had not the character of a fort, and calling all together, he spoke as follows: “It is not to gain glory, or to retrieve the loss of empire alone, O fellow Vandals, that we are about to fight, so that even if we wilfully played the coward and sacrificed these our belongings we might possibly live, sitting at home and keeping our own possessions; but you see, surely, that our fortunes have come round to such a pass that, if we do not gain the mastery over the enemy, we shall, if we perish, leave them as masters of these our children and our wives and our land and all our possessions, while if we survive, there will be added our own enslavement and to behold all these enslaved; but if, indeed, we overcome our foes in the war, we shall, if we live, pass our lives among all good things, or, after the glorious ending of our lives, there will be left to our wives and children the blessings of prosperity, while the name of the Vandals will survive and their empire be preserved. For if it has ever happened to any men to be engaged in a struggle for their all, we now more than all others realize that we are entering the battle-line with our hopes for all we have resting wholly upon ourselves. Not for our bodies, then, is our fear, nor in death is our danger, but in being defeated by the enemy. For if we lose the victory, death will be to our advantage. Since, therefore, the case stands so, let no one of the Vandals weaken, but let him proudly expose his body, and from shame at the evils that follow defeat let him court the end of life. For when a man is ashamed of that which is shameful, there is always present with him a dauntless courage in the face of danger. And let no recollection of the earlier battle come into your minds. For it was not by cowardice on our part that we were defeated, but we tripped upon obstacles interposed by fortune and were overthrown. Now it is not the way of the tide of fortune to flow always in the same direction, but every day, as a rule, it is wont to change about. In manliness it is our boast that we surpass the enemy, and that in numbers we are much superior; for we believe that we surpass them no less than tenfold. And why shall I add that many and great are the incentives which, now especially, urge us on to valour, naming the glory of our ancestors and the empire which has been handed down to us by them? For in our case that glory is obscured by our unlikeness to our kindred, while the empire is bent upon fleeing from us as unworthy. And I pass over in silence the wails of these poor women and the tears of our children, by which, as you see, I am now so deeply moved that I am unable to prolong my discourse. But having said this one thing, I shall stop, — that there will be for us no returning to these most precious possessions if we do not gain the mastery over the enemy. Remembering these things, shew yourselves brave men and do not bring shame upon the fame of Gizeric.”

  After speaking such words, Gelimer commanded his brother Tzazon to deliver an exhortation separately to the Vandals who had come with him from Sardinia. And he gathered them together a little apart from the camp and spoke as follows: “For all the Vandals, fellow soldiers, the struggle is in behalf of those things which you have just heard the king recount, but for you, in addition to all the other considerations, it so happens that you are vying with yourselves. For you have recently been victorious in a struggle for the maintenance of our rule, and you have recovered the island for the empire of the Vandals; there is every reason, therefore, for you to make still greater display of your valour. For those whose hazard involves the greatest things must needs display the greatest zeal for warfare also. Indeed, when men who struggle for the maintenance of their rule are defeated, should it so happen, they have not failed in the most vital part; but when men are engaged in battle for their all, surely their very lives are influenced by the outcome of the struggle. And for the rest, if you shew yourselves brave men at the present time, you will thereby prove with certainty that the destruction of the tyrant Godas was an achievement of valour on your part; but if you weaken now, you will be deprived of even the renown of those deeds, as of something which does not belong to you at all. And yet, even apart from this, it is reasonable to think that you will have an advantage over the rest of the Vandals in this battle. For those who have failed are dismayed by their previous fortune, while those who have encountered no reverse enter the struggle with their courage unimpaired. And this too, I think, will not be spoken out of season, that if we conquer the enemy, it will be you who will win the credit for the greatest part of the victory, and all will call you saviours of the nation of the Vandals. For men who achieve renown in company with those who have previously met with misfortune naturally claim the better fortune as their own. Considering all these things, therefore, I say that you should bid the women and children who are lamenting their fate to take courage even now, should summon God to fight with us, should go with enthusiasm against the enemy, and lead the way for our compatriots into this battle.”

  Τοσαῦτα Γελίμερ τε καὶ Τζάζων παραινέσαντες ἐξῆγον τοὺς Βανδίλους, καὶ ἀμφὶ τὸν τοῦ ἀρίστου καιρόν, οὐ προσδεχομένων Ῥωμαίων, ἀλλ̓ ἄριστον σφίσι παρασκευαζόντων, παρῆσαν καὶ παρὰ τὰς τοῦ ποταμοῦ ὄχθας ὡς ἐς μάχην ἐτάξαντο. [2] ἔστι δὲ ποταμὸς ὁ ταύτῃ ῥέων ἀένναος μέν, οὕτω δὲ τὸ ῥεῦμα βραχὺς ὥστε οὐδὲ ὀνόματος ἰδίου πρὸς τῶν ἐπιχωρίων μεταλαγχάνει, ἀλλ̓ ἐν ῥύακος μοίρᾳ ὠνόμασται. [3] τούτου δὴ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Ῥωμαῖοι ἐς τὴν ἑτέραν ὄχθην ὡς ἐκ τῶν παρόντων παρασκευασάμενοι ἧκον καὶ ἐτάξαντο ὧδε. [4] κέρας μὲν τὸ ἀριστερὸν Μαρτῖνός τε κὶ Βαλεριανὸς καὶ Ἰωάννης καὶ Κυπριανός τε κἁ̣̣̓ Αλθίας καὶ Μάρκελλος εἶχον καὶ ὅσοι ἄλλὁ̣̣̓ φοιδεράτων ἄρχοντες ἦσαν, τὸ δὲ δὴ δεξιὸν Πάππος τε καὶ Βαρβᾶτος καὶ Ἀϊγὰν καὶ ὅσοι τῶν ἱππικῶν καταλόγων ἦρχον. [5] κατὰ δὲ τὸ μέσον Ἰωάννης ἐτάσσετο, τούς τε ὑπασπιστὰς καὶ δορυφόρους Βελισαρίου καὶ σημεῖον τὸ στρατηγικὸν ἐπαγόμενος. [6] οὗ δὴ καὶ Βελισάριος εἰς καιρὸν ξὺν τοῖς πεντακοσίοις ἱππεῦσιν
ἀφίκετο, τοὺς πεζοὺς ὄπισθεν βάδην προσιόντας ἀπολιπών [7] οἱ γὰρ Οὖννοι ἅπαντες ἐν ἄλλῃ ἐτάξαντο χώρᾳ εἰθισμένον μὲν σφίσι καὶ πρότερον ἥκιστα ἐπιμίγνυσθαι τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατῷ, τότε δὲ καὶ ἐν νῷ ἃ προδεδήλωται ἔχουσιν οὐκ ἦν βουλομένοἱ̣̣̓ ξὺν τῇ ἄλλῃ στρατιᾷ τάσσεσθαι. Ῥωμαίοις μἓ̣̣̓ οὖν τὰ τῆς τάξεως ὧδέ πη εἶχε. [8] Βανδίλων δ̣̣̔̓ κέρας μὲν ἑκάτερον οἱ χιλίαρχοι εἶχον, ἕκαστός τ̣̣̔̓ ἡγεῖτο τοῦ ἀμφ̓ αὐτὸν λόχου, κατὰ δὲ δὴ τ̣̣̔̓ μέσον Τζάζων ἦν ὁ τοῦ Γελίμερος ἀδελφός, ὄπισθεν δὲ οἱ Μαυρούσιοι ἐτετάχατο. [9] αὐτὸς μέντοι ῾̣̣̓ Γελίμερ πανταχόσε περιιὼν ἐνεκελεύετό τε καὶ ἐ̣̣̔̓ εὐτολμίαν ἐνῆγε. προείρητο δὲ Βανδίλοις ἅπας῾̣̣̓ μήτε δορατίῳ μήτε ἄλλῳ ὁτῳοῦν ὀργάνῳ ἐς ξυμ̣̣̔̓ βολὴν τήνδε, ὅτι μὴ τοῖς ξίφεσι, χρῆσθαι. [10] Χρόνου δὲ τριβέντος συχνοῦ καὶ μάχης οὐδενὃ̣̣̓ ἄρχοντος Ἰωάννης τῶν ἀμφ̓ αὐτὸν ὀλίγοὑ̣̣̓ ἀπολέξας Βελισαρίου γνώμῃ τόν τε ποταμὃ̣̣̓ διέβη καὶ ἐς τοὺς μέσους ἐσέβαλεν, ἔνθα δὴ ῾̣̣̓ Τζάζων ὠθισμῷ χρησάμενος ἐδίωξεν αὐτούς [11] καὶ οἱ μὲν φεύγοντες ἐς τὸ σφῶν αὐτῶν στρἁ̣̣̓ τόπεδον ἧκον, οἱ δὲ Βανδίλοι διώκοντες ἄχρι ῾̣̣̓ τόν ποταμὸν ἦλθον, οὐ μέντοι διέβησαν. [12] αὖθ̣̣̔̓ δὲ Ἰωάννης πλείους τῶν Βελισαρίου ὑπασπιστὧ̣̣̓ ἐπαγόμενος ἐς τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Τζάζωνα ἐσεπήδης῾̣̣̓ καὶ αὖθις ἐνθένδε ἀποκρουσθεὶς ἐς τὸ Ῥωμαίὡ̣̣̓ στρατόπεδον ἀνεχώρησε. [13] τὸ δὲ δὴ τρίτον ξὓ̣̣̓ πᾶσι σχεδὸν τοῖς Βελισαρίου τε δορυφόροις κἁ̣̣̓ ὑπασπισταῖς τὸ στρατηγικὸν σημεῖον λαβὼν̣̣̔̓ τὴν ἐσβολὴν ἐποιήσατο ξὺν βοῇ τε καὶ πατάγ̣̣̔̓ πολλῷ. [14] τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων ἀνδρείως τε αὐτοὓ̣̣̓ ὑφισταμένων καὶ μόνοις χρωμένων τοῖς ξίφεσι γίνεται μὲν καρτερὰ ἡ μάχη, πίπτουσι δ̣̣̔̓ Βανδίλων πολλοί τε καὶ ἄριστοι, καὶ Τζάζων αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Γελίμερος ἀδελφός. [15] τότε δὴ ἅπαν τὸ Ῥωμαίων στράτευμα ἐκινήθη καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν διαβάντες ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐχώρησαν, ἥ τ̣̣̔̓ τροπὴ ἀρξαμένη ἀπὸ τοῦ μέσου λαμπρὰ ἐγεγόνει: τοὺς γὰρ κατ̓ αὐτοὺς οὐδενὶ πόνῳ ἐτρέψαντ̣̣̔̓ ἕκαστοι. [16] ἃ δὴ ὁρῶντες οἱ Μασσαγέται κατὰ τὰ σφίσι ξυγκείμενα ξὺν τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατῷ τὴν δίωξιν ἐποιήσαντο, οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ μέντοι ἡ δίωξις ἥδε ἐγεγόνει. [17] οἵ τε γὰρ Βανδίλοι ἐς τὸ σφέτερον στρατόπεδον κατὰ τάχος εἰσελθόντες ἡσύχαζον καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, οὐκ ἂν οἰόμενοι ἐν τῷ χαρακώματι πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαμάχεσθαι οἷοί τε εἶναι, τούς τε νεκροὺς ὅσοι ἐχρυσοφόρουν ἀπέδυσαν καὶ ἐς τὸ σφῶν αὐτῶν στρατόπεδον ἀπεχώρησαν [18] ἀπέθανον δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ μάχῃ Ῥωμαίων μὲν ἥσσους ἢ πεντήκοντα, Βανδίλων δὲ ὀκτακόσιὁ̣̣̓ μάλιστα. [19] Βελισάριος δέ, τῶν πεζῶν οἱ ἀφικομένων ἀμφ̣̣̔̓ δείλην ὀψίαν, ἄρας ὡς εἶχε τάχους παντὶ τῷ στρατῷ ᾔει ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν Βανδίλων στρατόπεδον. [20] Γελίμερ δὲ γνοὺς Βελισάριον ξύν τε τοῖς πεζοῖς καὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ στρατῷ ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν αὐτίκα ἰέναι, οὐδὲν οὔτε εἰπὼν οὔτε ἐντειλάμενος ἐπί τε τὸν ἵππον ἀναθρώσκει καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Νουμίδας φέρουσαν ἔφευγε. [21] καὶ αὐτῷ οἵ τε ξυγγενεῖς καὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν ὀλίγοι τινὲς εἵποντο καταπεπληγμένοι τε καὶ τὰ παρόντα ἐν σιγῇ ἔχοντες. [22] καὶ χρόνον μέν τινα ἔλαθε Βανδίλους ἀποδρὰς Γελίμερ, ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτόν τε πεφευγέναι ᾔσθοντο ἅπαντες καὶ οἱ πολέμιοι ἤδη καθεωρῶντο, τότε δὴ οἵ τε ἄνδρες ἐθορύβουν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἀνέκραγε καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες ἐκώκυον. [23] καὶ οὔτε χρημάτων παρόντων μετεποιοῦντο οὔτε τῶν φιλτάτων ὀδυρομένων σφίσιν ἔμελεν, ἀλλ̓ ἕκαστος ἔφευγεν οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ ὅπη ἐδύνατο. [24] ἐπελθόντες δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τό τε στρατόπεδον ἀνδρῶν ἔρημον αὐτοῖς χρήμασιν αἱροῦσι καὶ ἐπιδιώξαντες τὴν νύκτα ὅλην ἄνδρας μὲν ὅσοις ἐντύχοιεν ἔκτεινον, παῖδας δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας ἐποιοῦντο ἐν ἀνδραπόδων λόγῳ. [25] χρήματα δὲ τοσαῦτα τὸ πλῆθος ἐν τούτῳ τῷ στρατοπέδῳ εὗρον ὅσα οὐδεπώποτε ἔν γε χωρίῳ ἑνὶ τετύχηκεν εἶναι. [26] οἵ τε γὰρ Βανδίλοι ἐκ παλαιοῦ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ληισάμενοι συχνὰ χρήματα ἐς Λιβύην μετήνεγκαν καὶ τῆς χώρας αὐτοῖς ἀγαθῆς ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα οὔσης καρποῖς τε τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις ἐς ἄγαν εὐθηνούσης, τὰς τῶν χρημάτων προσόδους ξυνέβη, αἵ γε ἐκ τῶν ἐκείνῃ γινομένων ἀγαθῶν ἠγείροντο, οὐκ ἐς ἑτέραν τινὰ δαπανᾶσθἁ̣̣̓ χώραν ἐμπορίᾳ τῇ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ἀλλ̓ αὐτἃ̣̣̓ ἀεὶ οἱ τὰ χωρία κεκτημένοι προσεποιοῦντο ἐς πέντε καὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἔτη, ἐς οἷς δὴ Λιβύης ὁ̣̣̓ Βανδίλοι ἦρξαν. [27] καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἐς πάμπολ̣̣̔̓ χρῆμα ὁ πλοῦτος χωρήσας ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐς τῶν Ῥωμαίων τὰς χεῖρας ἐπανῆκεν αὖθις. [28] ἡ μὲν οὖν μάχη καὶ δίωξις ἥδε καὶ τοῦ Βανδίλὡ̣̣̓ στρατοπέδου ἡ ἅλωσις τρισὶ μησὶν ὕστερὁ̣̣̓ γέγονεν ἢ ὁ Ῥωμαίων στρατὸς ἐς Καρχηδόν̣̣̔̓ ἦλθε, μεσοῦντος μάλιστα τοῦ τελευταίου μηνός, ὃ̣̣̓ Δεκέμβριον Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσι.