Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XXI

  Now when Belisarius heard that Uraias and the barbarians were besieging Milan, he sent Martinus and Uliaris against them with a numerous army. But when this force reached the River Po, which is one day’s journey distant from Milan, they established a camp and remained there. And a long time was spent by them at that camp while they were deliberating about the crossing of the river. And when Mundilas heard this, he sent to them one of the Romans, Paulus by name. He accordingly passed through the lines of the enemy without being detected, and reached the bank of the Po. But he happened to find no ferry ready at the moment, and so he removed his clothing and, at great risk, made the crossing by swimming. So when he had betaken himself to the Roman camp and had come into the presence of the commanders, he spoke as follows:

  “Martinus and Uliaris, you are not acting justly nor in a manner worthy of your own fame, seeing that in appearance you have come for the saving of the emperor’s cause, but in reality to magnify the power of the Goths. For this city of Milan, which far surpasses practically all the other cities of Italy in point of size and population and in every other sort of prosperity, and, apart from these advantages, is an outpost against the Germans and the other barbarians, and has been thrown out to protect the whole Roman empire, so to speak, — this city, I say, has now fallen into great danger together with Mundilas and the emperor’s army, harassed as it is by the enemy, and neglected meanwhile by you. And how much the emperor has been wronged by you in the present case, I refrain from stating. For the urgency of the moment does not allow me to use many words, seeking as I do quick assistance for the city, while some hope is still left. But you, I say, must come to the defence of the people of Milan in their peril with all possible speed. For if at the present crisis you act with any hesitation in coming to us, the result will be for us, on the one hand, to perish after suffering the most cruel fate possible, and for you, on the other, to have betrayed to the enemy the emperor’s power. For those who may perchance open their gates to the enemy are not the only ones who are justly called traitors, but with equal, nay even greater, justice this name belongs to those who, though they have the power to defend those dearest to them when they are besieged, still choose the course of hesitation, which involves no danger, instead of engaging in the struggle, and thus probably give to their enemy the victory over them.” Thus spoke Paulus, and Martinus and Uliaris sent him back with the promise to follow him right speedily. And he once more succeeded in getting through the barbarians unnoticed, entered Milan by night, and having roused the hopes of the soldiers and all the Romans, still more strengthened their purpose to be faithful to the emperor.

  Nevertheless Martinus and his men continued to be reluctant to move and remained where they were, and much time was consumed by them in hesitating in this way. But finally Martinus, wishing to clear himself of the charge, wrote to Belisarius as follows:

  “You sent us hither in order to bring support to those endangered in Milan, and we have come in great haste, just as you commanded, as far as the River Po; but the army fears to cross this river, since we hear that a strong force of Goths are in Liguria, and a very great multitude of Burgundians with them; and against such an army we do not consider ourselves able to fight a decisive battle alone. But command John and Justinus, who are in our neighbourhood in the land of Aemilia, to come with all possible speed together with their troops and assist us in meeting this danger. For by going together from here we shall be enabled both to be safe ourselves and also to do some harm to the enemy.” Such was the content of Martinus’ letter. And Belisarius, upon reading it, commanded John and Justinus to join the forces of Martinus and go with all speed against Milan. But they said that they would do nothing except what Narses commanded them. Wherefore Belisarius wrote also to Narses as follows:

  “Consider that the whole army of the emperor is one body, and that, if it does not display one single purpose, just as do the members of a man, but one part wishes to act separately from the others, what will be left to us is to perish utterly without having performed any of our duties. Therefore have done with Aemilia, which neither contains any fortress nor has any decisive importance for the Romans, at least at the present moment. But do you command John and Justinus without the least delay to go with the forces of Martinus straight against the enemy at Milan, for they are near at hand and sufficiently strong to overpower the barbarians. For it so happens that I myself have here no numerous army which I could possibly send, and even apart from this, I think it inexpedient for soldiers to go from here against Milan. For a great amount of time will be consumed in the journey so that they will fail to reach the city at the proper moment, and they will be quite unable on account of the length of the journey to use their horses against the enemy when they reach them. But if these men go with Martinus and Uliaris against Milan, they will in all probability both overcome the barbarians there and also take possession of Aemilia again without encountering any further resistance.” When this letter had been delivered to Narses and read by him, he himself sent orders to John and Justinus to go with the other army to Milan. And John a little later set out for the sea-coast, in order to bring boats from there, which were to enable the army to cross the river. But an illness which fell upon him put a stop to the undertaking.

  But while the forces of Martinus were hesitating about the crossing of the river, and those of John were awaiting the instructions of Νarses, a great amount of time was consumed, and the siege meantime continued to be pressed. And the besieged were already suffering extremely from the famine, and under the overwhelming necessity of their wretched situation the most of them had begun to eat dogs and mice and other animals such as had never been eaten by man. So the barbarians sent envoys to Mundilas, bidding him surrender the city to them, with the condition that he himself and the soldiers should remain free from harm. But Mundilas agreed to do this only on condition that they not only give pledges for the safety of the Roman garrison, but also that they would do no harm to any one of the inhabitants. But since the enemy, though ready to give pledges to Mundilas and the soldiers, were moved by furious passion against the Ligurians and were evidently going to destroy them all, Mundilas called all the soldiers together and spoke as follows:

  “If it has ever happened that any men before us, though having the opportunity to save their lives with disgrace, have chosen rather to die with fair fame, abandoning their immediate safety for a glorious end of life, such men I should wish you also to be at the present time, and not through fondness for life to pursue it even though it be involved in shame, and that too, contrary to the teaching of Belisarius, by which you have profited for a long time past, so that to be otherwise than noble and exceedingly courageous is for you sacrilege. For when men have once entered life, a single fate is advancing upon all of them — to die at the appointed time; but as to the manner of death men differ, for the most part, one from the other. And there is this difference, that cowards, as one might expect, in every case first bring upon themselves insult and ridicule from their enemies and then, at the exact time previously appointed, fulfil their destiny no whit the less; but it falls to the lot of noble men to suffer this with valour and an abundance of goodly fame. And apart from these considerations, if it had been possible to become slaves of the barbarians, and at the same time to save the people of the city, that at least might have brought us some forgiveness for saving ourselves so disgracefully. But if, in fact, we are bound to look on while such a great multitude of Romans is being destroyed by the hand of the enemy, this will be more bitter than any form of death of which a man could tell. For we should appear to be doing nothing more or less than helping the barbarians to perpetrate this dreadful deed. While, therefore, we are sufficiently our own masters to adorn necessity with valour, let us make glorious the fortune which has fallen upon us. And I say that we ought all to arm ourselves in the best possible manner, and advance upon the enemy when they are not expecting us. For the result for us will be one of two things: eithe
r fortune will have wrought for us in some way a success which transcends our present hope, or we, in achieving a happy end, shall have rid ourselves of our present troubles with the fairest fame.”

  So spoke Mundilas; but not one of the soldiers was willing to undergo the danger, and they surrendered both themselves and the city on the terms which the enemy offered. And the barbarians did indeed inflict no harm upon the soldiers, simply putting them under guard with Mundilas, but the city they razed to the ground, killing all the males of every age to the number of not less than three hundred thousand and reducing the women to slavery and then presenting them to the Burgundians by way of repaying them for their alliance. And when they found Reparatus, the pretorian prefect, they cut his body into small pieces and threw his flesh to the dogs. But Vergentinus (for he had been, as it happened, inside Milan) made his escape and betook himself with his followers to Dalmatia, passing through the land of the Veneti and the other nations of that region. And from there he went to the emperor bearing the message of this great calamity which had befallen the Romans. In consequence of this success the Goths took by surrender the other cities which happened to have Roman garrisons and again gained control over the whole of Liguria. As for Martinus and Uliaris, they marched back with their army toward Rome.

  Ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ὧδέ πη ἔσχε. Βελισάριος δὲ οὔπω τι πεπυσμένος τῶν ἐν Λιγουρίᾳ ξυμπεπτωκότων, ἐπειδὴ ὁ χειμὼν ἐτελεύτα ἤδη, τῷ παντὶ στρατῷ ἐς Πικηνὸν ᾔει. [2] τά τε ἀμφὶ Μεδιολάνῳ τετυχηκότα ἐν ταύτῃ δὴ τῇ πορείᾳ μαθὼν ἐν μεγάλῳ ἐποιήσατο πένθει. [3] καὶ Οὐλίαριν μὲν ἐς ὄψιν οἱ ἐλθεῖν οὐκέτι τὸ λοιπὸν εἴασεν, ἅπαντα δὲ τὰ ξυμπεσόντα βασιλεῖ ἔγραψε. [4] βασιλεὺς δὲ τούτων μὲν ἕνεκα δεινόν τι εἰργάσατο οὐδένα, τὴν δὲ Βελισαρίου τε καὶ Ναρσοῦ διαφορὰν ἀκούσας Ναρσῆν τε αὐτίκα μεταπεμψάμενος αὐτοκράτορα παντὸς τοῦ πολέμου Βελισάριον κατεστήσατο. [5] ὧδε μὲν ἐς Βυζάντιον Ναρσῆς ἐπανῆκε, τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὀλίγους τινὰς ἄγων. Ἔρουλοι δὲ μένειν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Ναρσοῦ ἐνθένδε ἀναχωροῦντος οὐκέτι ἠξίουν, καίτοι Βελισαρίου πολλὰ ὑποσχομένου σφίσι πρός τε αὐτοῦ καὶ βασιλέως ἀγαθὰ μένουσιν ἔσεσθαι, ἀλλὰ συσκευασάμενοι ἅπαντες τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἐπὶ Λιγουρίας ἀπεχώρησαν. [6] οὗ δὴ ἐντυχόντες τῷ Οὐραΐα στρατῷ, ἀνδράποδά τε καὶ ἄλλα ζῷα ὅσα ἐπῆγον τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπέδοντο, καὶ χρήματα πολλὰ κεκομισμένοι ἀπώμοσαν, μήποτε Γότθοις ἀντιτάξεσθαι ἢ εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι. [7] οὕτω τε εἰρηναίαν τὴν ἀναχώρησιν ποιησάμενοι ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Βενετίας χωρία ἦλθον. ἐνταῦθα αὐτοῖς Βιταλίῳ ξυγγενομένοις τῶν ἐς βασιλέα Ἰουστινιανὸν ἡμαρτημένων μετέμελεν. [8] ἀφοσιούμενοί τε τὸ ἔγκλημα Οὐίσανδον μὲν τῶν ἀρχόντων ἕνα ξὺν τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτοῦ εἴασαν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἐς Βυζάντιον ἀπεκομίσθησαν ἅπαντες, Ἀλουίθ τε ἡγουμένου σφίσι καὶ Φιλιμούθ, ὅσπερ Φανιθέου τετελευτηκότος ἐν Καισήνῃ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν. [9] Οὐίττιγις δὲ καὶ οἱ ξὺν αὐτῷ Γότθοι Βελισάριον ἅμα ἦρι ἀρχομένῳ ἐπὶ σφᾶς τε καὶ Ῥάβενναν ἥξειν ἀκούοντες ἐν δείματι μεγάλῳ καθίσταντο καὶ τὰ παρόντα σφίσιν ἐν βουλῇ ἐποιοῦντο: καὶ αὐτοῖς πολλὰ βουλευσαμένοις ῾οὐ γὰρ ἀξιόμαχοι τοῖς πολεμίοις κατὰ μόνας ᾤοντο εἶναἰ ἔδοξεν ἄλλων τινῶν βαρβάρων ἐπικουρίαν ἐπάγεσθαι. [10] Γερμανῶν μὲν οὖν τοῦ τε δολεροῦ καὶ ἀπίστου ἤδη ἐν πείρᾳ γεγενημένοι ἀπέσχοντο, ἀγαπῶντες, ἢν μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ξὺν Βελισαρίῳ ἐπὶ σφᾶς ἴωσιν, [11] ἀλλ̓ ἀμφοτέροις ἐκποδὼν στήσωνται. ἐς δὲ Λαγγοβαρδῶν τὸν ἄρχοντα Οὐάκην πρέσβεις ἔπεμψαν, χρήματά τε μεγάλα προτεινόμενοι καὶ ἐς τὴν ὁμαιχμίαν παρακαλοῦντες. [12] οἳ δή, ἐπεὶ βασιλεῖ φίλον τε καὶ ξύμμαχον τὸν Οὐάκην ἔγνωσαν εἶναι, ἄπρακτοι ἀνεχώρησαν. [13] Οὐίττιγις τοίνυν τοῖς παροῦσιν, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, ἀπορούμενος τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀεὶ ξυνεκάλει πολλούς. παῤ ὧν δὴ συχνὰ ἐπυνθάνετο ὅ τί ποτέ οἱ βουλευομένῳ τε καὶ πράσσοντι ἄμεινον τὰ πράγματα ἕξει. [14] γνῶμαι οὖν πολλαὶ πρὸς τῶν ἐς τὴν βουλὴν ξυνιόντων ἐλέγοντο, αἱ μὲν ἐπιτηδείως τοῖς παροῦσιν οὐδαμῆ ἔχουσαι, αἱ δέ τι καὶ λόγου ἄξιον φέρουσαι. [15] ἐν αἷς καὶ τόδε ἐς τὸν λόγον ἦλθεν, ὡς οὐ πρότερόν ποτε Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἑσπερίᾳ βαρβάροις πολεμεῖν ἴσχυσε, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτε αἱ σπονδαὶ ἐς Πέρσας γεγένηνται. [16] τούς τε γὰρ Βανδίλους καὶ Μαυρουσίους τηνικαῦτα ἀπολωλέναι καὶ Γότθοις τὰ παρόντα ξυμπεπτωκέναι. ὥστε, ἤν τις καὶ νῦν Ἰουστινιανῷ αὐτοκράτορι τὸν Μήδων βασιλέα ξυγκρούῃ, οὐ μήποτε Ῥωμαῖοι, τούτου δὴ ἐκπεπολεμωμένου σφίσι τοῦ ἔθνους, πόλεμον ἄλλον διενεγκεῖν πρὸς οὐδένας ἀνθρώπων τὸ λοιπὸν ἕξουσι. [17] ταῦτα Οὐιττίγιδί τε αὐτῷ ἤρεσε καὶ Γότθοις τοῖς ἄλλοις. Ἔδοξεν οὖν πρέσβεις παρὰ τὸν Μήδων βασιλέα Χοσρόην στέλλεσθαι, οὐ Γότθους μέντοι, ὅπως μὴ κατάδηλοι αὐτόθεν γινόμενοι ξυγχέωσι τὰ πρασσόμενα, ἀλλὰ Ῥωμαίους, οἵπερ αὐτὸν Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ πολέμιον καταστήσουσι. [18] διὸ δὴ τῶν ἐν Λιγούροις ἱερέων δύο χρήμασι πολλοῖς ἐς ταύτην ἀναπείθουσι τὴν ὑπουργίαν. [19] ὧν ἅτερος μέν, ὅσπερ ἀξιώτερος ἔδοξεν εἶναι, ἐπισκόπου δόκησίν τε καὶ ὄνομα περιβεβλημένος, οὐδὲν αὐτῷ προσῆκον, ἐς τὴν πρεσβείαν καθίστατο, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος αὐτῷ ὑπηρετῶν εἵπετο. [20] γράμματά τε αὐτοῖς ἐγχειρίσας πρὸς Χοσρόην γεγραμμένα Οὐίττιγις ἔπεμψεν. οἷς δὴ Χοσρόης ἠγμένος ἀνήκεστα ἐν σπονδαῖς ἔργα Ῥωμαίους εἰργάσατο, ὥσπερ μοι ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λόγοις ἐρρήθη. [21] ταῦτα δὲ ἐπεὶ Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς Χοσρόην τε καὶ Πέρσας βουλεύεσθαι ἤκουσε, καταλύειν μὲν τὸν ἐν τῇ ἑσπερίᾳ πόλεμον ὡς τάχιστα ἔγνω, Βελισάριον δὲ μεταπέμψασθαι ἐφ̓ ᾧ ἐπὶ Π
έρσας στρατεύσειε. [22] τοὺς μὲν οὖν Οὐιττίγιδος πρέσβεις ῾ἔτι γὰρ ὄντες ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐτύγχανον̓ αὐτίκα δὴ ἀπεπέμψατο, ἄνδρας παῤ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Ῥαβέννης σταλήσεσθαι ὑποσχόμενος, οἵπερ ἐς Γότθους τὰς σπονδὰς θήσονται ὅπη ἂν ἑκατέροις ξυνοίσειν μέλλῃ. [23] τούτους δὲ τοὺς πρέσβεις οὐ πρότερον μεθῆκε Βελισάριος τοῖς πολεμίοις ἕως καὶ αὐτοὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Ἀθανάσιόν τε καὶ Πέτρον ἀφῆκαν. [24] οὓς δὴ ἐς Βυζάντιον ἀφικομένους γερῶν βασιλεὺς τῶν μεγίστων ἠξίωσεν, Ἀθανάσιον μὲν ὕπαρχον τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πραιτωρίων καταστησάμενος, Πέτρῳ δὲ τὴν τοῦ μαγίστρου καλουμένου ἀρχὴν παρασχόμενος. [25] καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἔληγε καὶ τέταρτον ἔτος ἐτελεύτα τῷ πολέμῳ τῷδε, ὃν Προκόπιος ξυνέγραψε.