Now there is a certain church of the Apostle Paul, fourteen stades distant from the fortifications of Rome, and the Tiber River flows beside it. In that place there is no fortification, but a colonnade extends all the way from the city to the church, and many other buildings which are round about it render the place not easy of access. But the Goths shew a certain degree of actual respect for sanctuaries such as this. And indeed during the whole time of the war no harm came to either church of the two Apostles at their hands, but all the rites were performed in them by the priests in the usual manner. At this spot, then, Belisarius commanded Valerian to take all the Huns and make a stockade by the bank of the Tiber, in order that their horses might be kept in greater security and that the Goths might be still further checked from going at their pleasure to great distances from their camps. And Valerian acted accordingly. Then, after the Huns had made their camp in the place where the general directed, he rode back to the city.
So Belisarius, having accomplished this, remained quiet, not offering battle, but eager to carry on the defence from the wall, if anyone should advance against it from outside with evil intent. And he also furnished grain to some of the Roman populace. But Martinus and Trajan passed by night between the camps of the enemy, and after reaching Taracina sent Antonina with a few men into Campania; and they themselves took possession of the fortified places in that district, and using them as their bases of operations and making thence their sudden attacks, they checked such of the Goths as were moving about in that region. As for Magnus and Sinthues, in a short time they rebuilt such parts of the fortress as had fallen into ruin, and as soon as they had put themselves in safety, they began immediately to make more trouble for the enemy, whose fortress was not far away, not only by making frequent raids upon them, but also by keeping such of the barbarians as were escorting provision-trains in a constant state of terror by the unexpectedness of their movements; but finally Sinthues was wounded in his right hand by a spear in a certain battle, and since the sinews were severed, he became thereafter unfit for fighting. And the Huns likewise, after they had made their camp near by, as I have said, were on their part causing the Goths no less trouble, so that these as well as the Romans were now feeling the pressure of famine, since they no longer had freedom to bring in their food-supplies as formerly. And pestilence too fell upon them and was destroying many, and especially in the camp which they had last made, close by the Appian Way, as I have previously stated. And the few of their number who had not perished withdrew from that camp to the other camps. The Huns also suffered in the same way, and so returned to Rome. Such was the course of events here. But as for Procopius, when he reached Campania, he collected not fewer than five hundred soldiers there, loaded a great number of ships with grain, and held them in readiness. And he was joined not long afterwards by Antonina, who immediately assisted him in making arrangements for the fleet.
At that time the mountain of Vesuvius rumbled, and though it did not break forth in eruption, still because of the rumbling it led people to expect with great certainty that there would be an eruption. And for this reason it came to pass that the inhabitants fell into great terror. Now this mountain is seventy stades distant from Naples and lies to the north of it — an exceedingly steep mountain, whose lower parts spread out wide on all sides, while its upper portion is precipitous and exceedingly difficult of ascent. But on the summit of Vesuvius and at about the centre of it appears a cavern of such depth that one would judge that it extends all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And it is possible to see fire there, if one should dare to peer over the edge, and although the flames as a rule merely twist and turn upon one another, occasioning no trouble to the inhabitants of that region, yet, when the mountain gives forth a rumbling sound which resembles bellowing, it generally sends up not long afterward a great quantity of ashes. And if anyone travelling on the road is caught by this terrible shower, he cannot possibly survive, and if it falls upon houses, they too fall under the weight of the great quantity of ashes. But whenever it so happens that a strong wind comes on, the ashes rise to a great height, so that they are no longer visible to the eye, and are borne wherever the wind which drives them goes, falling on lands exceedingly far away. And once, they say, they fell in Byzantium and so terrified the people there, that from that time up to the present the whole city has seen fit to propitiate God with prayers every year; and at another time they fell on Tripolis in Libya. Formerly this rumbling took place, they say, once in a hundred years or even more, but in later times it has happened much more frequently. This, however, they declare emphatically, that whenever Vesuvius belches forth these ashes, the country round about is bound to flourish with an abundance of all crops. Furthermore, the air on this mountain is very light and by its nature the most favourable to health in the world. And indeed those who are attacked by consumption have been sent to this place by physicians from remote times. So much, then, may be said regarding Vesuvius.
Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ἄλλο στράτευμα ἐκ Βυζαντίου κατέπλευσεν, Ἰσαύρων μὲν ἐς τὸν Νεαπόλεως λιμένα τρισχίλιοι, ὧν Παῦλος καὶ Κόνων ἡγοῦντο, ἐς Δρυοῦντα δὲ Θρᾷκες ἱππεῖς ὀκτακόσιοι, ὧν Ἰωάννης ἦρχεν ὁ Βιταλιανοῦ τοῦ πρώην τετυραννηκότος ἀδελφιδοῦς καὶ ξὺν αὐτοῖς ἕτεροι στρατιῶται ἐκ καταλόγου ἱππικοῦ χίλιοι: ὧν ἄλλοι τε καὶ Ἀλέξανδρός τε καὶ Μαρκέντιος ἦρχον. [2] ἐτύγχανε δὲ ἤδη καὶ Ζήνων ξὺν τριακοσίοις ἱππεῦσιν ἐς Ῥώμην διά τε Σαμνίου καὶ Λατίνης ὁδοῦ ἀφικόμενος. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννης ξὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἐς Καμπανίαν ἦλθεν, ἁμάξας πολλὰς ἐκ Καλαβρῶν ἔχων, ἀνεμίγνυντο αὐτοῖς πεντακόσιοι ἠθροισμένοι ἐκ Καμπανίας, [3] ὥσπερ μοι εἴρηται. οὗτοι μὲν ὁδὸν τὴν παραλίαν ξὺν ταῖς ἁμάξαις ᾔεσαν ἐν νῷ ἔχοντες, ἤν τι ἀπαντήσῃ πολέμιον σφίσι, κύκλον τέ τινα καὶ χαρακώματος σχῆμα τὰς ἁμάξας ποιησάμενοι ἐνθένδε τοὺς ἐπιόντας ἀμύνασθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἀμφὶ Παῦλόν τε καὶ Κόνωνα πλεῖν κατὰ τάχος ἐκέλευον, καὶ σφίσιν ἐς Ὀστίαν συμμῖξαι τὸ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίνειον, σῖτον μὲν ἱκανὸν ἐν ταῖς ἁμάξαις ἐνθέμενοι, ναῦς δὲ ἁπάσας οὐ σίτου μόνον ἐμπλησάμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἴνου καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἁπάντων. [4] καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν τοὺς ἀμφὶ Μαρτῖνόν τε καὶ Τραϊανὸν ᾤοντο ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Ταρακίνης χωρία εὑρήσειν καὶ ξὺν αὐτοῖς ἐνθένδε ἰέναι: γεγονότες δὲ ἄγχιστα ἔμαθον ὡς ὀλίγῳ πρότερον ἐς Ῥώμην μετάπεμπτοι ἀνεχώρησαν. [5] Βελισάριος δὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην προσιέναι μαθὼν καὶ δείσας μὴ σφᾶς οἱ πολέμιοι πλήθει πολλῷ ἀπαντήσαντες διαφθείρωσιν ἐποίει τάδε. [6] πύλην τὴν Φλαμινίαν, οὗ δὴ αὐτῆς ἄγχιστα ἐνστρατοπεδεύσασθαι τοὺς πολεμίους τετύχηκε, λίθων οἰκοδομίαις αὐτὸς κατ̓ ἀρχὰς τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου ἀπέφραξεν, ὥσπερ μοι ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λόγοις ἐρρήθη, ὅπως δὴ μὴ ἐνθένδε οἱ πολέμιοι εὐπετῶς ἔχωσιν ἢ βιάζεσθαι ἤ τινα ἐπιβουλὴν ἐς τὴν πόλιν ποιεῖσθαι. [7] καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ξυμβολὴν οὐδεμίαν ἐν τ
αύτῃ γεγονέναι ξυμβέβηκεν, οὐδ̓ ἄν τι οἱ βάρβαροι ἔσεσθαι σφίσι πολέμιον ἐνθένδε ὑπώπτευον. [8] ταύτης τῆς πύλης νύκτωρ τὴν οἰκοδομίαν περιελών, οὐδενὶ τῶν πάντων προειρημένον, τὸ πλεῖστον τοῦ στρατοῦ ἐνταῦθα ἡτοίμαζεν. [9] ἅμα τε ἡμέρα διὰ πύλης Πιγκιανῆς Τραϊανόν τε καὶ Διογένην ξὺν ἱππεῦσι χιλίοις ἔπεμψεν, οὓς δὴ ἔν τε τοῖς χαρακώμασι βάλλειν ἐκέλευσε καί, ἐπειδὰν οἱ ἐναντίοι ἐπ̓ αὐτοὺς ἴωσι, φεύγειν τε ἥκιστα αἰδουμένους καὶ μέχρι ἐς τὸν περίβολον ἀπελαύνειν δρόμῳ. [10] τινὰς δὲ καὶ ταύτης ἐντὸς τῆς πυλίδος ἔστησεν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ Τραϊανόν, καθάπερ σφίσιν ἐπέστελλε Βελισάριος, τοὺς βαρβάρους ἠρέθιζον, καὶ αὐτοὺς οἱ Γότθοι ἐκ πάντων ἀγειρόμενοι τῶν χαρακωμάτων ἠμύνοντο. [11] ἀμφότεροί τε ὡς τάχιστα ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς πόλεως περίβολον ᾔεσαν, οἱ μὲν ὅτι φεύγουσι δόξαν παρέχοντες, οἱ δὲ διώκειν τοὺς πολεμίους οἰόμενοι. [12] Βελισάριος δέ, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα τοὺς ἐναντίους ἐς τὴν δίωξιν καθισταμένους εἶδε, πύλην τε τὴν Φλαμινίαν ἀνοίγνυσι καὶ τὸ στράτευμα ἐπὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους οὐ προσδεχομένους ἀφίησιν. [13] ἓν δὲ τῶν Γότθων στρατόπεδον παρὰ τὴν ταύτῃ ὁδὸν ἐτύγχανεν ὄν, καί τις αὐτοῦ ἔμπροσθεν ἦν στενοχωρία κρημνώδης τε καὶ δεινῶς ἄβατος. [14] ἐνταῦθα τῶν τις βαρβάρων τεθωρακισμένος τε καὶ σώματος ἐς ἄγαν εὖ ἥκων, ἐπειδὴ εἶδε προϊόντας τοὺς πολεμίους, προτερήσας εἱστήκει καὶ τοὺς ἑταίρους ἐκάλει τε καὶ τὴν στενοχωρίαν ξυμφυλάσσειν ἠξίου. [15] Μουνδίλας δὲ φθάσας αὐτόν τε ἔκτεινε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων βαρβάρων οὐδένα ἐς τοῦτον διελθεῖν τὸν στενωπὸν ξυνεχώρησε. [16] διελθόντες οὖν, οὐδενὸς σφίσιν ἀντιστατοῦντος, ἔς τε τὸ πλησίον χαράκωμα ἵκοντο καὶ αὐτοῦ τινες δἰ ὀλίγου ἀποπειρασάμενοι οὐκ ἔσχον ἑλεῖν ἰσχύϊ τοῦ χαρακώματος, καίπερ οὐ πολλῶν ἐνταῦθα ἐγκαταλελειμμένων βαρβάρων. [17] ἥ τε γὰρ τάφρος ἐς μέγα τι βάθους ὠρώρυκτο χρῆμα καὶ χοῦς ὃς ἐνθένδε ἀφῄρητο, ἐς τὴν ἐντὸς ἀεὶ ἐντιθέμενος μοῖραν ἐς ὕψος τε ᾔρετο καὶ ἀντὶ τείχους ἐγίνετο, τοῖς τε σκόλοψι περιεσταύρωτο ὑπερφυῶς, ὀξέσι τε λίαν καὶ συχνοῖς οὖσιν. [18] οἷς δὴ θαρσοῦντες οἱ βάρβαροι καρτερῶς τοὺς πολεμίους ἠμύνοντο. εἷς δὲ τῶν Βελισαρίου ὑπασπιστῶν, Ἀκυλῖνος ὄνομα, δραστήριος ἀνὴρ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα, λώρου λαβόμενος ἵππου, ἐνθένδε ξὺν τῷ ἵππῳ ἐς μέσον τὸ χαράκωμα ἥλατο, καί τινας τῶν ἐναντίων αὐτοῦ ἔκτεινε. [19] περιστάντων δὲ αὐτὸν συχνά τε ἀκοντιζόντων τῶν ἐναντίων ὁ μὲν ἵππος πληγεὶς ἔπεσεν, αὐτὸς δὲ παρὰ δόξαν διὰ μέσων τῶν πολεμίων διέφυγε. [20] πεζὸς δὲ ξὺν τοῖς ἑταίροις ἐπὶ πύλας Πιγκιανὰς ᾔει. ἔτι τε διώκοντας τοὺς βαρβάρους καταλαβόντες καὶ κατὰ νώτου βάλλοντες ἔκτειναν. [21] Ὅπερ δὴ οἱ ἀμφὶ Τραϊανὸν κατιδόντες, ἐπιβεβοηθηκότων σφίσι καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ ἐν παρασκευῇ καθεστώτων ἱππέων, ἐπὶ τοὺς διώκοντας δρόμῳ ἐχώρουν. [22] τότε δὴ οἱ Γότθοι καταστρατηγηθέντες τε καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἐν μέσῳ ἐκ τοῦ ἀπροσδοκήτου ἀπειλημμένοι, οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ ἐκτείνοντο. [23] πολύς τε αὐτῶν γέγονε φόνος καὶ ὀλίγοι κομιδῆ ἐς τὰ στρατόπεδα διέφυγον μόλις, οἵ τε λοιποὶ περὶ πᾶσι τοῖς χαρακώμασι δείσαντες αὐτοῦ φραξάμενοι τὸ λοιπὸν ἔμενον, αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα ἐπιέναι σφίσι τοὺς Ῥωμαίους οἰόμενοι. [24] ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἔργῳ τῶν τις βαρβάρων Τραϊανὸν βάλλει ἐς τὸ πρόσωπον, ὀφθαλμοῦ μὲν τοῦ δεξιοῦ ἄνωθεν, [25] ὀλίγῳ δὲ τῆς ῥινὸς ἄποθεν. καὶ σίδηρος μὲν ἅπας ἐντός τε ἐπάγη καὶ παντάπασιν ἀφανὴς γέγονε, καίπερ μεγάλην τε τὴν ἀκίδα ἔχων καὶ μακρὰν κομιδῆ. τοῦ δὲ βέλους τὸ λειπόμενον ἐς τὴν γῆν οὐδενὸς βιασαμένου εὐθὺς ἔπεσε: δοκεῖ γάρ μοι οὐδὲ ἀσφαλῶς ἐς αὐτὸν ὁ σίδηρός πη ἐρηρεῖσθαι. [26] Τραϊανῷ μέντοι αἴσθησις τούτου οὐδεμία ἐγένετο, ἀλλ̓ οὐδέν τι ἧσσον κτείνων τε καὶ διώκων τοὺς πολεμίους διέμεινε. πέμπτῳ δὲ ὕστερον ἐνιαυτῷ αὐτόματον ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ προὖχον τὸ τοῦ σιδήρου ἄκρον ἐφάνη. [27] τρίτον τε τοῦτο ἔτος ἐξ οὗ κατὰ βραχὺ πρόεισιν ἔξω ἀεί. ἐπίδοξος οὖν ἐστι πολλῷ ὕστερον χρόνῳ ἔξω γενήσεσθαι ἡ ἀκὶς ξύμπασα. ἐμπόδιος δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ οὐδαμῆ γέγονε. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτως ἔσχεν.
V
At this time another army also arrived by sea from Byzantium, three thousand Isaurians who put in at the harbour of Naples, led by Paulus and Conon, and eight hundred Thracian horsemen who landed at Dryus, led by John, the nephew of the Vitalian who had formerly been tyrant, and with them a thousand other soldiers of the regular cavalry, under various commanders, among whom were Alexander and Marcentius. And it happened that Zeno with three hundred horsemen had already reached Rome by way of Samnium and the Latin Way. And when John with all the others came to Campania, provided with many waggons by the inhabitants of Calabria, his troops were joined by five hundred men who, as I have said, had been collected in Campania. These set out by the coast road with the waggons, having in mind, if any hostile force should confront them, to make a circle of the waggons in the form of a stockade and thus to ward off the enemy; and they commanded the men under Paulus and Conon to sail with all speed and join them at Ostia, the harbour of Rome; and they put sufficient grain in the waggons and loaded all the ships, not only with grain, but also with wine and all kinds of provisions. And they, indeed, expected to find the forces of Martinus and Trajan in the neighbourhood of Taracina and to have their company from that point on, but when they approached Taracina, they learned that these forces had recently been recalled and had retired to Rome.
But Belisarius, learning that the forces of John were approaching and fearing that the enemy might confront them in greatly superior numbers and destroy them, took the following measures. It so happened that the enemy had encamped very close to the Flaminian Gate; this gate Belisarius himself had blocked up at
the beginning of this war by a structure of stone, as has been told by me in the previous narrative, his purpose of course being to make it difficult for the enemy either to force their way in or to make any attempt upon the city at that point. Consequently no engagement had taken place at this gate, and the barbarians had no suspicion that there would be any attack upon them from there. Now Belisarius tore down by night the masonry which blocked this gate, without giving notice to anyone at all, and made ready the greatest part of the army there. And at daybreak he sent Trajan and Diogenes with a thousand horsemen through the Pincian Gate, commanding them to shoot missiles into the camps, and as soon as their opponents came against them, to flee without the least shame and to ride up to the fortifications at full speed. And he also stationed some men inside this gate. So the men under Trajan began to harass the barbarians, as Belisarius had directed them to do, and the Goths, gathering from all the camps, began to defend themselves. And both armies began to move as fast as they could toward the fortifications of the city, the one giving the appearance of fleeing, and the other supposing that they were pursuing the enemy.
But as soon as Belisarius saw the enemy take up the pursuit, he opened the Flaminian Gate and sent his army out against the barbarians, who were thus taken unawares. Now it so happened that one of the Gothic camps was on the road near this gate, and in front of it there was a narrow passage between steep banks which was exceedingly difficult of access. And one of the barbarians, a man of splendid physique and clad in a corselet, when he saw the enemy advancing, reached this place before them and took his stand there, at the same time calling his comrades and urging them to help in guarding the narrow passage. But before any move could be made Mundilas slew him and thereafter allowed none of the barbarians to go into this passage. The Romans therefore passed through it without encountering opposition, and some of them, arriving at the Gothic camp near by, for a short time tried to take it, but were unable to do so because of the strength of the stockade, although not many barbarians had been left behind in it. For the trench had been dug to an extraordinary depth, and since the earth taken from it had invariably been placed along its inner side, this reached a great height and so served as a wall; and it was abundantly supplied with stakes, which were very sharp and close together, thus making a palisade. These defences so emboldened the barbarians that they began to repel the enemy vigorously. But one of the guards of Belisarius, Aquilinus by name, an exceedingly active man, seized a horse by the bridle and, bestriding it, leaped from the trench into the middle of the camp, where he slew some of the enemy. And when his opponents gathered about him and hurled great numbers of missiles, the horse was wounded and fell, but he himself unexpectedly made his escape through the midst of the enemy. So he went on foot with his companions toward the Pincian Gate. And overtaking the barbarians, who were still engaged in pursuing Roman horsemen, they began to shoot at them from behind and killed some of them.
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius Page 444