Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  In this action Cutilas was struck in the middle of the head by a javelin, and he kept on pursuing with the javelin still embedded in his head. And after the rout had taken place, he rode into the city at about sunset together with the other survivors, the javelin in his head waving about, a most extraordinary sight. During the same encounter Arzes, one of the guards of Belisarius, was hit by one of the Gothic archers between the nose and the right eye. And the point of the arrow penetrated as far as the neck behind, but it did not shew through, and the rest of the shaft projected from his face and shook as the man rode. And when the Romans saw him and Cutilas they marvelled greatly that both men continued to ride, paying no heed to their hurt. Such, then, was the course of events in that quarter.

  But in the Plain of Nero the barbarians had the upper hand. For the men of Valerian and Martinus, fighting with a great multitude of the enemy, withstood them stoutly, to be sure, but suffered most terribly, and came into exceedingly great danger. And then Belisarius commanded Bochas to take his troops, which had returned from the engagement unwearied, men as well as horses, and go to the Plain of Nero. Now it was already late in the day. And when the men under Bochas had come to the assistance of the Romans, suddenly the barbarians were turned to flight, and Bochas, who had impetuously followed the pursuit to a great distance, came to be surrounded by twelve of the enemy, who carried spears. And they all struck him at once with their spears. But his corselet withstood the other blows, which therefore did not hurt him much; but one of the Goths succeeded in hitting him from behind, at a place where his body was uncovered, above the right armpit, very close to the shoulder, and smote the youth, though not with a mortal stroke, nor even one which brought him into danger of death. But another Goth struck him in front and pierced his left thigh, and cut the muscles there; it was not a straight blow, however, but only a slanting cut. But Valerian and Martinus saw what was happening, and coming to his rescue as quickly as possible, they routed the enemy, and both took hold of the bridle of Bochas’ horse, and so came into the city. Then night came on and Euthalius entered the city with the money.

  And when all had returned to the city, they attended to the wounded men. Now in the case of Arzes, though the physicians wished to draw the weapon from his face, they were for some time reluctant to do so, not so much on account of the eye, which they supposed could not possibly be saved, but for fear lest, by the cutting of membranes and tissues such as are very numerous in that region, they should cause the death of a man who was one of the best of the household of Belisarius. But afterwards one of the physicians, Theoctistus by name, pressed on the back of his neck and asked whether he felt much pain. And when the man said that he did feel pain, he said, “Then both you yourself will be saved and your sight will not be injured.” And he made this declaration because he inferred that the barb of the weapon had penetrated to a point not far from the skin. Accordingly he cut off that part of the shaft which shewed outside and threw it away, and cutting open the skin at the back of the head, at the place where the man felt the most pain, he easily drew toward him the barb, which with its three sharp points now stuck out behind and brought with it the remaining portion of the weapon. Thus Arzes remained entirely free from serious harm, and not even a trace of his wound was left on his face. But as for Cutilas, when the javelin was drawn rather violently from his head (for it was very deeply embedded), he fell into a swoon. And since the membranes about the wound began to be inflamed, he fell a victim to phrenitis and died not long afterwards. Bochas, however, immediately had a very severe hemorrhage in the thigh, and seemed like one who was presently to die. And the reason for the hemorrhage, according to what the physicians said, was that the blow had severed the muscle, not directly from the front, but by a slanting cut. In any event he died three days later. Because of these things, then, the Romans spent that whole night in deep grief; while from the Gothic camps were heard many sounds of wailing and loud lamentation. And the Romans indeed wondered, because they thought that no calamity of any consequence had befallen the enemy on the previous day, except, to be sure, that no small number of them had perished in the encounters. This had happened to them before in no less degree, perhaps even to a greater degree, but it had not greatly distressed them, so great were their numbers. However, it was learned on the following day that men of the greatest note from the camp in the Plain of Nero were being bewailed by the Goths, men whom Bochas had killed in his first charge.

  And other encounters also, though of no great importance, took place, which it has seemed to me unnecessary to chronicle. This, however, I will state, that altogether sixty-seven encounters occurred during this siege, besides two final ones which will be described in the following narrative. And at that time the winter drew to its close, and thus ended the second year of this war, the history of which Procopius has written.

  Ἤδη δὲ τῆς θερινῆς τροπῆς ἀρξαμένης λιμός τε ὁμοῦ καὶ λοιμὸς τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπέπεσε. καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις σῖτος μὲν ἔτι ἐλείπετο, ἄλλο δὲ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων οὐδέν, Ῥωμαίους δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ὅ τε σῖτος ἐπελελοίπει καὶ ὁ λιμὸς ἀκριβῶς ξὺν τῷ λοιμῷ ἐπίεζεν. [2] ὧν δὴ οἱ Γότθοι αἰσθόμενοι μάχῃ μὲν διακινδυνεύειν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους οὐκέτι ἤθελον, ἐφύλασσον δὲ ὅπως αὐτοῖς μηδὲν τοῦ λοιποῦ ἐσκομίζοιτο. [3] ἐστὸν δὲ ὕδατος ὀχετὼ δύο μεταξὺ Λατίνης τε καὶ Ἀππίας ὁδοῦ, ὑψηλὼ ἐς ἄγαν, κυρτώμασί τε ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνεχομένω. [4] τούτω δὴ τὼ ὀχετὼ ἐν χώρῳ διέχοντι Ῥώμης σταδίοις πεντήκοντα ξυμβάλλετόν τε ἀλλήλοιν καὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν ὁδὸν δἰ ὀλίγου τρέπεσθον. [5] ὁ γὰρ ἔμπροσθεν χώραν λαχὼν τὴν ἐν δεξιᾷ τηνικαῦτα χωρεῖ φερόμενος τὰ εὐώνυμα. [6] πάλιν δὲ ξυνιόντε καὶ χώραν τὴν προτέραν ἀπολαβόντε τὸ λοιπὸν διακέκρισθον, καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ χῶρον τὸν μεταξὺ ὀχύρωμα ξυμβαίνει τῷ ἐκ τῶν ὀχετῶν περιβάλλεσθαι. [7] τούτων δὲ τὰ κάτω κυρτώματα οἱ βάρβαροι λίθοις τε καὶ πηλῷ φράξαντες φρουρίου σχῆμα πεποίηνται κἀνταῦθα οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ ἐς ἑπτακισχιλίους ἐνστρατοπεδευσάμενοι φυλακὴν εἶχον τοῦ μηκέτι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐς τὴν πόλιν τι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐσκομίζεσθαι. [8] Τότε δὴ Ῥωμαίους πᾶσα μὲν ἐλπὶς ἀγαθοῦ ἐπελελοίπει, πᾶσα δὲ ἰδέα κακοῦ περιεστήκει. τέως μὲν οὖν ὁ σῖτος ἤκμαζε, τῶν στρατιωτῶν οἱ εὐτολμότατοι ἐναγούσης αὐτοὺς τῆς τῶν χρημάτων ἐπιθυμίας τοῖς ἵπποις τε ὀχούμενοι καὶ ἄλλους ἐφέλκοντες ἐν τοῖς ληΐοις ἐγίνοντο νύκτωρ τῆς πόλεως οὐ μακρὰν ἄποθεν. [9] τέμνοντές τε τοὺς ἀστάχυας καὶ τοῖς ἵπποις οὓς αὐτοὶ ἐφεῖλκον ἐνθέμενοι, ἐς τὴν πόλιν λανθάνοντες τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκόμιζον χρημάτων τε μεγάλων Ῥωμαίων τοῖς εὐδαίμοσιν ἀπεδίδοντο. [10] οἱ μέντοι ἄλλοι βοτάναις τισὶν ἀπέζων, οἷαι πολλαὶ ἀμφί τε τὰ προάστεια καὶ τοῦ περιβόλου ἐντὸς γίνονται. βοτάνη γὰρ γῆν τὴν Ῥωμαίων οὔτε χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ οὔτε ἐς ἄλλον τινὰ ἐπιλείπει καιρόν, ἀλλ̓ ἀνθεῖ �
�ε ἀεὶ καὶ τέθηλεν ἐς πάντα τὸν χρόνον. [11] ἀφ̓ οὗ δὴ καὶ ἱπποφορβεῖν ἐνταῦθα τοὺς πολιορκουμένους τετύχηκε. τινὲς δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἡμιόνων τῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ θνησκόντων ἀλλᾶντας ποιούμενοι ἀπεδίδοντο λάθρα. [12] ἐπεὶ δὲ σῖτον τὰ λήϊα οὐκέτι εἶχε καὶ ἐς μέγα κακὸν ἅπαντες Ῥωμαῖοι ἀφίκοντο, Βελισάριόν τε περιίσταντο καὶ μάχῃ μιᾷ διακρίνεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἠνάγκαζον, Ῥωμαίων οὐδένα τῆς ξυμβολῆς ἀπολείψεσθαι ὑποσχόμενοι. καὶ αὐτῷ ἀπορουμένῳ τε τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ λίαν ἀχθομένῳ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ δήμου ἔλεξάν τινες τοιάδε: [13] ‘Οὐ προσδεχομένους ἡμᾶς ἡ παροῦσα, ὦ στρατηγέ, κατέλαβε τύχη, ἀλλ̓ εἰς πᾶν ἡμῖν τοὐναντίον τὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐκβέβηκε. [14] τετυχηκότες γὰρ ὧν πρότερον ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ κατέστημεν, τανῦν ἐς τὴν παροῦσαν ξυμφορὰν ἥκομεν, καὶ περιέστηκεν ἡμῶν ἡ προλαβοῦσα δόξα τὸ καλῶς τῆς βασιλέως προμηθείας ἐφίεσθαι, νῦν ἄνοιά τε οὖσα καὶ κακῶν τῶν μεγίστων ὑπόθεσις. [15] ἀφ̓ οὗ δὴ ἐς τόδε ἀνάγκης ἀφίγμεθα ὥστε ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἔτι βιάζεσθαι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ὁπλίζεσθαι τετολμήκαμεν. [16] καὶ συγγνώμη μὲν εἰ πρὸς Βελισάριον θρασυνόμεθα, γαστὴρ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ἀποροῦσα τῶν ἀναγκαίων αἰσχύνεσθαι, [17] ἀπολελογήσθω δὲ ἡμῖν τῆς προπετείας ἡ τύχη. πάντων γὰρ εἰκότως ἀνιαρότατος εἶναι δοκεῖ μηκυνόμενος τοῖς οὐκ εὖ φερομένοις ὁ βίος. τὰ μὲν οὖν ξυμπεσόντα ἡμῖν ὁρᾷς δήπουθεν. [18] ἀγροὶ μὲν οὗτοι καὶ χώρα ξύμπασα ὑποπέπτωκε ταῖς τῶν πολεμίων χερσίν: ἡ πόλις δὲ αὕτη τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀποκέκλεισται πάντων οὐκ ἴσμεν ἐξ ὅτου δὴ χρόνου. [19] Ῥωμαίων δὲ οἱ μὲν ἤδη κεῖνται, τὸ μηδὲ γῇ κρύπτεσθαι κληρωσάμενοι, ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ περιόντες, ὡς ἂν συλλήβδην εἴπωμεν ἅπαντα τὰ δεινά, ξυντετάχθαι τοῖς οὕτω κειμένοις εὐχόμεθα. [20] πάντα γὰρ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ὁ λιμὸς τὰ κακὰ φορητὰ δείκνυσιν, ἔνθα τε ἂν φαίνηται, μετὰ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἐπέρχεται λήθης καὶ θανάτους ἅπαντας, πλὴν τοῦ παῤ αὐτοῦ προσιόντος πρὸς ἡδονῆς εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐργάζεται. [21] ἕως τοίνυν ἔτι μὴ κεκράτηκεν ἡμῶν τὸ κακόν, δὸς ἡμῖν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἀνελέσθαι τὴν ἀγωνίαν, ἐξ ἧς ἡμῖν ἢ περιεῖναι τῶν πολεμίων ἢ τῶν δυσχερῶν ἀπηλλάχθαι ξυμβήσεται. [22] οἷς μὲν γὰρ ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας ἡ μέλλησις φέρει, πολλὴ ἄνοια ἂν εἴη προτερήσασιν ἐς κίνδυνον τὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων καθίστασθαι, οἷς δὲ τῇ βραδυτῆτι δυσκολώτερος ὁ ἀγὼν γίνεται, τὸ καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἀναβάλλεσθαι χρόνον τῆς παραυτίκα προπετείας μεμπτότερον.’ [23] Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν τοσαῦτα εἶπον. Βελισάριος δὲ ἀμείβεται ὧδε: ‘Ἀλλ̓ ἔμοιγε καὶ λίαν προσδεχομένῳ τὰ παῤ ὑμῶν γεγένηται πάντα, ἐκβέβηκε δὲ παρὰ δόξαν οὐδέν. [24] ἐγὼ γὰρ πάλαι οἶδα δῆμον ὅτι πρᾶγμα ἀβουλότατόν ἐστι, καὶ οὔτε τὰ παρόντα φέρειν πέφυκεν οὔτε τὰ μέλλοντα προβουλεύεσθαι, ἀλλ̓ ἐγχειρεῖν μὲν εὐπετῶς ἀεὶ τοῖς ἀμηχάνοις, διαφθείρεσθαι δὲ ἀνεπισκέπτως ἐπίσταται μόνον. [25] ἐγὼ μέντοι οὐκ ἄν ποτε διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ὀλιγωρίαν οὔτε ὑμᾶς ἀπολέσαιμι ἑκών γε εἶναι οὔτε ὑμῖν τὰ βασιλέως συνδιαφθείραιμι πράγματα. [26] πόλεμος γὰρ οὐκ ἐξ ἀλογίστου σπουδῆς κατορθοῦσθαι φιλεῖ, ἀλλ̓ εὐβουλίᾳ τε καὶ προμηθείᾳ τὴν τῶν καιρῶν ἀεὶ σταθμώμενος ῥοπήν. [27] ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν πεττεύειν οἰόμενοι τὸν ἕνα βούλεσθε ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἀναρρίπτειν κύβον, ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ σύνηθες αἱρεῖσθαι πρὸ τοῦ ξυμφόρου τὸ σύντομον. [28] εἶτα σὺν ἡμῖν ἐπαγγέλλεσθε τοῖς πολεμίοις διὰ μάχης ἰέναι, πότε τὰς μελέτας τοῦ πολέμου πεποιημένοι; ἢ ποῖος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐκμαθὼν τοῖς ὅπλοις οὐκ οἶδεν ὅτι οὐ χωρεῖ ἄχρι τῆς διαπείρας ἡ μάχη; οὐδὲ αὐτός οἱ ἐμμελετᾶν ὁ πολέμιος ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσι παρέχεται. [29] νῦν μὲν τὴν προθυμίαν ὑμῶν ἄγαμαι καὶ συγγνώμων εἰμὶ ταραχῆς τῆσδε: [30] ὡς δὲ ὑμῖν ταῦτα οὐκ εἰς καιρὸν γέγονε καὶ ἡμεῖς μελλήσει προμηθεῖ χρώμεθα ἐγὼ δηλώσω. στράτευμα ἡμῖν ἀριθμοῦ κρεῖσσον ἐκ πάσης γῆς ἀθροίσας βασιλεὺς ἔπεμψε καὶ στόλος ὅσος οὐ πώποτε Ῥωμαίοις ξυνέστη τήν τε Καμπανίας ἀκτὴν καὶ κόλπου τοῦ Ἰονίου τὰ πλεῖστα καλύπτει. [31] ὀλίγων τε ἡμερῶν ξὺν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπιτηδείοις παῤ ἡμᾶς ἥξουσι, τήν τε ἀπορίαν ἡμῖν διαλύσοντες καὶ πλήθει βελῶν τὰ τῶν βαρβάρων στρατόπεδα καταχώσοντες. [32] ἐλογισάμην οὖν ἐς τὴν ἐκείνων παρουσίαν τὸν τῆς ξυμβολῆς μᾶλλον ἀποθέσθαι καιρὸν καὶ ξὺν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ τὸ τοῦ πολέμου πορίζεσθαι κράτος, ἢ σπουδῇ ἀλογίστῳ θρασυνόμενος τὴν τῶν ὅλων σωτηρίαν προΐεσθαι. ὅπως δὲ αὐτίκα τε ἥξουσι καὶ μὴ περαιτέρω μελλήσουσιν, ἐγὼ προνοήσω.’

  III

  But at the beginning of the spring equinox famine and pestilence together fell upon the inhabitants of the city. There was still, it is true, some grain for the soldiers, though no other kind of provisions, but the grain-supply of the rest of the Romans had been exhausted, and actual famine as well as pestilence was pressing hard upon them. And the Goths, perceiving this, no longer cared to risk a decisive battle with their enemy, but they kept guard that nothing in future should be brought in to them. Now there are two aqueducts between the Latin and the Appian Ways, exceedingly high and carried on arches for a great distance. These two aqueducts meet at a place fifty stades distant from Rome and cross each other, so that for a little space they reverse their relative position. For the one which previously lay to the right from then on continues on the left side. And again coming together, they resume their former places, and thereafter remain apart. Consequently the space between them, enclosed, as it is, by the aqueducts, comes to be a fortress. And the barbarians walled up the lower a
rches of the aqueducts here with stones and mud and in this way gave it the form of a fort, and encamping there to the number of no fewer than seven thousand men, they kept guard that no provisions should thereafter be brought into the city by the enemy.

  Then indeed every hope of better things abandoned the Romans, and every form of evil encompassed them round about. As long as there was ripe grain, however, the most daring of the soldiers, led on by lust of money, went by night to the grain-fields not far from the city mounted on horses and leading other horses after them. Then they cut off the heads of grain, and putting them on the horses which they led, would carry them into the city without being seen by the enemy and sell them at a great price to such of the Romans as were wealthy. But the other inhabitants lived on various herbs such as grow in abundance not only in the outskirts but also inside the fortifications. For the land of the Romans is never lacking in herbs either in winter or at any other season, but they always flourish and grow luxuriantly at all times. Wherefore the besieged also pastured their horses in those places. And some too made sausages of the mules that died in Rome and secretly sold them. But when the corn-lands had no more grain and all the Romans had come into an exceedingly evil plight, they surrounded Belisarius and tried to compel him to stake everything on a single battle with the enemy, promising that not one of the Romans would be absent from the engagement. And when he was at a loss what to do in that situation and greatly distressed, some of the populace spoke to him as follows: