Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XXII

  BUT while these envoys were travelling to Byzantium and returning to Italy, the following events took place in Lucania. Tullianus gathered the rustics of that region and set a guard upon the pass (a very narrow one) which gives access to the district, with the purpose of preventing the enemy from entering to devastate the land of Lucania. And three hundred Antae also were helping them to keep guard, men whom John had left there previously, as it happened, at the request of Tullianus; for these barbarians excel all others in their ability to fight on rough ground. When Totila learned this, though he considered it inexpedient to assign Goths to the task, he gathered a multitude of rustics, and sent them with a very few Goths, with orders to try with all their strength to force the pass. When these two forces engaged in battle, a violent struggle ensued, each side striving to force the other back, but the Antae by their valour, and also because the very roughness of the ground was to their advantage, together with the rustics under Tullianus turned their opponents to flight; and a great number of them were slaughtered.

  But when Totila learned this, he decided first to raze Rome to the ground, and then, while leaving the most of his army in that neighbourhood, to march with the rest against John and the Lucanians. Accordingly he tore down the fortifications in many places so that about one third of the defences were destroyed. And he was on the point also of burning the finest and most noteworthy of the buildings and making Rome a sheep-pasture, but Belisarius learned of his design and sent envoys with a letter to him. When these envoys came before Totila, they stated why they had come and delivered the letter, which conveyed the following.

  “While the creation of beauty in a city which has not been beautiful before could only proceed from men of wisdom who understand the meaning of civilization, the destruction of beauty which already exists would be naturally expected only of men who lack understanding, and who are not ashamed to leave to posterity this token of their character.

  Now among all the cities under the sun Rome is agreed to be the greatest and the most noteworthy. For it has not been created by the ability of one man, nor has it attained such greatness and beauty by a power of short duration, but a multitude of monarchs, many companies of the best men, a great lapse of time, and an extraordinary abundance of wealth have availed to bring together in that city all other things that are in the whole world, and skilled workers besides. Thus, little by little, have they built the city, such as you behold it, thereby leaving to future generations memorials of the ability of them all, so that insult to these monuments would properly be considered a great crime against the men of all time; for by such action the men of former generations are robbed of the memorials of their ability, and future generations of the sight of their works. Such, then, being the facts of the case, be well assured of this, that one of two things must necessarily take place: — either you will be defeated by the emperor in this struggle, or, should it so fall out, you will triumph over him. Now, in the first place, supposing you are victorious, if you should dismantle Rome, you would not have destroyed the possession of some other man, but your own city, excellent Sir, and, on the other hand, if you preserve it, you will naturally enrich yourself by a possession the fairest of all; but if, in the second place, it should perchance fall to your lot to experience the worse fortune, in saving Rome you would be assured of abundant gratitude on the part of the victor, but by destroying the city you will make it certain that no plea for mercy will any longer be left to you, and in addition to this you will have reaped no benefit from the deed. Furthermore, a reputation that corresponds with your conduct will be your portion among all men, and it stands waiting for you according as you decide either way. For the quality of the acts of rulers determines, of necessity, the quality of the repute which they win from their acts.” Such was the letter of Belisarius.

  And Totila, after reading it over many times and coming to realize accurately the significance of the advice, was convinced and did Rome no further harm. So he sent a statement of his decision to Belisarius and immediately dismissed the envoys. And he commanded the main body of the army to make camp not far from Rome at the town of Algedon, which is about one hundred and twenty stades distant from the city toward the west, and to remain quietly there, in order that the troops of Belisarius might have no freedom to go anywhere outside Portus; but with the rest of the army he himself marched against John and the Lucanians. As for the Romans, however, he kept the members of the senate with him, while all the others together with their wives and children he sent into Campania, refusing to allow a single soul in Rome, but leaving it entirely deserted.

  When John learned that Totila was marching against him, he refused to remain longer in Apulia, but went hastily to Dryus. Now those patricians who were being taken into Campania sent certain of their domestics into Lucania, by direction of Totila, and bade their tenants abandon their present machinations, and till the fields as they were accustomed; for, the message announced, they would have the property of their masters. So they detached themselves from the Roman army, and remained quietly on the land; whereupon Tullianus made off in flight, and the three hundred Antae decided to follow John in his retreat. In this wav the whole territory south of the Ionian Gulf, with the exception of Dryus, became once more subject to the Goths and Totila. And the barbarians by this time were filled with confidence and, scattering in small bands, began to overrun the whole country round about. When John learned this, he sent a numerous force of his men against them. And this force, falling unexpectedly upon the enemy, killed a large number. And Totila, as a result of this experience, became cautious and gathered all his troops together in the neighbourhood of Mt. Garganon, which rises near the centre of Apulia, and encamping in the fortified enclosure of Hannibal the Libyan, he remained quiet.

  Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῶν τις ξὺν τῷ Κόνωνι ἐκ Ῥώμης φυγόντων, ἡνίκα ἡ πόλις ἡλίσκετο, Μαρτινιανὸς ὄνομα, Βυζάντιος γενος, Βελισαρίῳ προσελθὼν στέλλεσθαι αὐτόμολος δῆθεν τῷ λόγῳ παρὰ τοὺς πολεμίους ἠξίου, μεγάλα Ῥωμαίους ἐπαγγελλομενος ἀγαθὰ δράσειν: δόξαν τε τοῦτο Βελισαίῳ, ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο. καὶ αὐτὸν ὁ Τουτίλας ἰδὼν ὑπερφυῶς ἥσθη. [2] εὐδοκιμοῦντα γὰρ ἐν μονομαχίαις τὸν νεανίαν ἤκουσέ τε καὶ εἶδε πολλάκις. ὄντων δὲ αὐτῷ παίδων τε δύο καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐν τοῖς αἰχμαλώτοις, τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα καὶ τῶν παίδων τὸν ἕτερον εὐθὺς τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἀπέδωκε, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον ἐν ὁμήρου λόγῳ ἐφύλασσεν, ἔς τε Σπολίτιον ξὺν ἑτέροις τισὶν ἔπεμψεν. [3] Ἐτύγχανον δὲ Γότθοι, ἡνίκα Ἡρωδιανοῦ ἐνδιδόντος Σπολίτιον εἷλον, τῆς μὲν πόλεως τὸν περίβολον ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος καθελόντες, τοῦ δὲ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως κυνηγεσίου, ὅπερ καλεῖν ἀμφιθέατρον νενομίκασι, τάς τε εἰσόδους ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς ἀποφράξαντες καὶ φρουρὰν ἐνταῦθα καταστησάμενοι Γότθων τε καὶ Ῥωμαίων τῶν αὐτομόλων, [4] ἐφ̓ ᾧ φυλάξωσι τὰ ἐκείνῃ χωρία. Μαρτινιανὸς οὖν ἐπειδὴ εἰς Σπολίτιον ἦλθε, στρατιώτας πεντεκαίδεκα ἑταιρίσασθαι ἴσχυσεν, οὕσπερ ἀνέπειθε δράσαντάς τι ἐς τοὺς βαρβάρους μέγα οὕτω δὴ ἐπανήκειν ἐς τὸ Ῥωμαίων στρατόπεδον. [5] στείλας δέ τινας καὶ παρὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ ἐν Περυσίᾳ φυλακτηρίου ἐκέλευέν οἱ στράτευμα ὅτι τάχιστα ἐς Σπολίτιον πέμψαι, τοῦ παντ�
��ς λόγου τὴν δήλωσιν ποιησάμενος. [6] Ὁδολγὰν δὲ Οὖννος ἦρχε τότε τῆς ἐν Περυσίᾳ φρουρᾶς, Κυπριανοῦ πρός του τῶν αὐτοῦ δορυφόρων, ὥς μοι ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται, δόλῳ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθέντος. ὅσπερ ξὺν στρατεύματι ἐπὶ τὸ Σπολίτιον ᾔει. [7] Μαρτινιανὸς δὲ ἄγχιστά πη εἶναι τὸ στράτευμα τοῦτο αἰσθόμενος, ἅμα τοῖς πεντεκαίδεκα στρατιώταις τοῦ τε φυλακτηρίου τὸν ἄρχοντα ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου διέφθειρε καὶ τὰς πύλας ἀναπετάσας Ῥωμαίους ἅπαντας τῷ φρουρίῳ ἐδέξατο. οἳ δὴ κτείνουσι μὲν τῶν πολεμίων πλείστους, τινὰς δὲ ζωγρήσαντες παρὰ Βελισάριον ἦγον. [8] Ὀλίγῳ δὲ ὕστερον Βελισαρίῳ ἔννοια γέγονεν ἐς Ῥώμην τε ἀναβῆναι καὶ ἐς ὅ τι τύχης ἐληλύθει θεάσασθαι. τῶν στρατιωτῶν οὖν χιλίους ἀπολεξάμενος ἐνταῦθα ᾔει. [9] Ῥωμαῖος δὲ ἀνὴρ ἀφικόμενος δρόμῳ ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους, οἵπερ ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο ἐν Ἀλγηδόνι, τὸ Βελισαρίου στράτευμα ἤγγειλεν. [10] οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι προλοχίσαντες ἐνέδραις τισὶ τὰ πρὸ τῆς Ῥώμης χωρία, ἐπειδὴ ἄγχιστά πη ἀφικομένους τοὺς ἀμφὶ Βελισάριον εἶδον, ἐκ τῶν ἐνεδρῶν ἀναστάντες ἐπ̓ αὐτοὺς ᾔεσαν. [11] μάχης τε καρτερᾶς γενομένης, τῇ σφετέρᾳ ἀρετῇ Ῥωμαῖοι τοὺς πολεμίους τρεψάμενοι, πλείστους τε διαφθείραντες ἐς τὸν Πόρτον εὐθὺς ἀνεχώρησαν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τῇδε ἐχώρησεν. [12] Ἔστι δὲ Καλαβρῶν ἐπιθαλασσία πόλις ὁ Τάρας, δυοῖν σχεδόν τι ἡμέραιν ὁδὸν Δρυοῦντος διέχουσα, ἐπί τε Θουρίους καὶ Ῥηγίνους ἐνθένδε ἰόντι. [13] ἐνταῦθα Ἰωάννης ξὺν ὀλίγοις τισί, Ταραντηνῶν αὐτὸν ἐπαγαγομένων, ἀφίκετο, τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Δρυοῦντος φυλακῇ καταστησάμενος. [14] καὶ ἐπεὶ τὴν πόλιν εἶδε μεγίστην τε ὑπερφυῶς καὶ παντάπασιν ἀτείχιστον οὖσαν, πᾶσαν μὲν φυλάξαι οἷός τε ἔσεσθαι οὐδεμιᾷ μηχανῇ ᾤετο, ἰδὼν δὲ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς πόλεως ἐς τὰ πρὸς βορρᾶν ἄνεμον ἀμφί τινα χῶρον στενὸν μάλιστα ἑκατέρωθεν ἐς κόλπον ἰοῦσαν, οὗ δὴ Ταραντηνῶν ὁ λιμήν ἐστιν, ἰσθμόν τε, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, τὸν ἐν μέσῳ χῶρον οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ σταδίων εἴκοσιν ὄντα, ἐπενόει τάδε. [15] ἀποτεμὼν ἀπὸ τῆς ἄλλης πόλεως τὴν τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ μοῖραν τειχίσματί τε αὐτὴν περιέβαλεν ἐκ θατέρου θαλάσσης μέρους ἄχρι ἐς ἕτερον καὶ τάφρον βαθεῖαν ἀμφὶ τὸ τείχισμα ὤρυσσεν. [16] ἐνταῦθά τε οὐ Ταραντηνοὺς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσοι τὰ ἐκείνῃ χωρία ᾤκουν συνήγαγε, καὶ φυλακὴν αὐτοῖς λόγου ἀξίαν ἐλίπετο. [17] ταύτῃ τε Καλαβροὶ ἅπαντες ἐν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ ἤδη γενόμενοι Γότθων ἐς ἀπόστασιν εἶδον. ταῦτα μὲν ἐφέρετο τῇδε. [18] Τουτίλας δὲ φρούριον ἐν Λευκανοῖς καταλαβὼν ἐχυρώτατον ἄγχιστά πη τῶν Καλαβρίας ὁρίων κείμενον, ὅπερ Ἀχεροντίδα καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι, ἐνταῦθά τε φυλακτήριον ἀνδρῶν οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ τετρακοσίων καταστησάμενος αὐτὸς ξὺν τῷ ἄλλῳ στρατῷ ἐπὶ Ῥάβενναν ᾔει, τῶν βαρβάρων τινὰς ἀπολιπὼν ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Καμπανίας χωρία, οἷσπερ ἡ Ῥωμαίων ἐπέκειτο φυλακή, τῶν ἐκ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς ἐνταῦθα ὄντων.

  XXIII

  AT this time one of the men who had fled from Rome with Conon while the city was being captured — he was named Martinianus, a Byzantine by birth — came before Belisarius and asked permission to go to the enemy, pretending to be a deserter, and he promised to render the Romans a great service; and since this met with the approval of Belisarius, he went off. Now when Totila saw him, he was exceedingly pleased. For he heard that the youth had won fame in single combats, and he had also seen him many times. And since the man had two children and his wife among the captives, Totila immediately restored to him his wife and one of the children, but the other he continued to guard as a hostage, and sent Martinianus to Spolitium with a few others.

  Now it so happened that when the Goths captured Spolitium by the surrender of Herodian, they had indeed razed the whole circuit-wall of the city to the ground, but they had thoroughly walled up the entrances of the structure in front of the city, which served for the keeping of wild animals and has come to be called an amphitheatre, and had established in it a garrison both of Goths and of Roman deserters, for the purpose of guarding the country round about. So when Martinianus had come to Spolitium, he succeeded in winning the friendship of fifteen soldiers, whom he persuaded to return to the Roman army after first accomplishing some great exploit against the barbarians. And he also sent some men to the commander of the garrison in Perusia, bidding him send an army to him at Spolitium with all possible speed, and explaining to him the whole situation. Now the garrison in Perusia was at that time commanded by Odalgan, a Hun, Cyprian having been treacherously removed from the world, as has been stated above, by one of his own bodyguards. And he came himself with an army to Spolitium.

  Then, when Martinianus ascertained that this army was close at hand, he in company with the fifteen soldiers suddenly slew the commander of the garrison and, opening the gates, received all the Romans into the fortress. And the most of the enemy they slew, but they made some prisoners and brought them before Belisarius.

  Shortly after this Belisarius conceived the idea of going up to Rome and seeing into what condition it had fallen. So he selected a thousand of his soldiers and with them went to the city. But a man of Rome went in haste to the enemy who were in camp at Algedon, and reported the presence of Belisarius’ army. So the barbarians occupied the district in front of Rome with several ambuscades, and, when they saw that the force of Belisarius had come close upon them, they rose from their places of ambush and attacked them. Thereupon a fierce battle ensued, in which the Romans by their valour routed their enemy, and, after destroying the most of them, they withdrew immediately to Portus. Such was the course of events at Rome.