Delphi Complete Works of Procopius

by Procopius of Caesarea

  XXIX

  Such were the events of the march of the Roman army. Now Totila, having already learned what had taken place in Venetia, at first remained quiet in the vicinity of Rome awaiting Teïas and his army. But when they had come and only two thousand horsemen were still missing, Totila, without awaiting these, started on the march with all the rest of the army in order to encounter the enemy in a suitable place. But he learned on this march both what had befallen Usdrilas and also that his enemy had passed by Ariminum, whereupon he crossed the whole of Tuscany, and upon reaching the mountains called the Apennines established his camp there and remained close to a village which the inhabitants call Taginae. And the Roman army led by Narses also made camp on the Apennines not long afterward and remained in that position, about one hundred stades distant from the camp of their opponents, in a place which is level but surrounded by many hills close by, the very place where once, they say, Camillus as general of the Romans defeated in battle and destroyed the host of the Gauls. And the place even to my day bears witness to this deed in its name and preserves the memory of the disaster which befell the Gauls, being called Busta Gallorum. For the Latins call the remains of the funeral pyre “busta.” And there are great numbers of mounded tombs of their bodies in this place.

  Now Narses immediately sent from there some of his associates, bidding them exhort Totila to lay aside warfare and at last make plans for peace, for he must realize that as ruler of only a small number of men recently banded together by no law, he would not be able to contend for very long with the whole Roman empire. But he told them this also, that, if they saw that Totila was determined to fight, they should immediately urge him to appoint a definite day for the battle. These envoys accordingly came before Totila and carried out their instructions. And he in a spirit of bravado began to boast that by all means they must fight, but the envoys rejoined quickly, “Very well, good Sir, appoint some definite time for the engagement.” Whereupon he immediately said, “At the end of eight days let us match our strength.” So the envoys returned to Narses and reported their agreement, whereupon he, suspecting that Totila was planning treachery, made preparations to fight on the following day. And in fact he was right in his judgment of the purpose of his enemy. For on the succeeding day Totila was at hand self-announced with his whole army. And immediately the two armies took up positions opposite one another, not more than two bowshots apart.

  Now there was a small hill there which both were eager to occupy, thinking that it was favourably situated for their purposes, both in order to shoot at their opponents from a high point of vantage, and also because the ground being hilly thereabout, as I have previously stated, it was impossible for anyone to encircle the Roman camp on that side and get behind it except by following a single path which happened to skirt the hill. Consequently both of them were bound to consider it of particular importance; the Goths, in order that they might surround their enemy during the engagement and so place them between two forces, and the Romans, in order that they might not have this thing happen to them. But Narses had anticipated the Goths by choosing fifty infantrymen from a cohort and sending them late at night to occupy and hold the hill. And they, finding none of the enemy in the way, went there and remained quiet. Now there is a certain water-course in front of the hill, running along the path which I have just mentioned and opposite the spot where the Goths had made their camp, and it was at this point that the fifty took up their position, standing shoulder to shoulder and arrayed in the form of a phalanx as well as the limited space permitted.

  After day came, Totila saw what had happened and was eager to dislodge them. So he immediately sent a troop of horsemen against them with orders to drive them out from there as quickly as possible. The horsemen accordingly charged upon them with great hubbub and shouting, intending to capture them at the first cry, but the Romans drew up together into a small space and, making a barrier with their shields and thrusting forward their spears, held their ground. Then the Goths came on, charging in haste and thus getting themselves into disorder, while the fifty, pushing with their shields and thrusting very rapidly with their spears, which were nowhere allowed to interfere one with the other, defended themselves most vigorously against their assailants; and they purposely made a din with their shields, terrifying the horses, on the one hand, by this means, and the men, on the other, with the points of their spears. And the horses became excited, because they were greatly troubled both by the rough ground and by the din of the shields, and also because they could not get through anywhere, while the men at the same time were gradually worn out, fighting as they were with men packed so closely together and not giving an inch of ground, and trying to manage horses that did not in the least obey their urging. So they were repulsed in the first attack and rode back. And a second time they made the attempt and retired with the same experience. Then, after faring thus many times, they no longer continued the attack, but Totila substituted another troop for this work. And when they fared as their predecessors had, still others undertook the task. So after Totila had in this way sent in many troops and had accomplished nothing with all of them, he finally gave up.

  Thus the fifty won great renown for valour, but two of them distinguished themselves particularly in this action, Paulus and Ansilas, who had leaped out from the phalanx and made a display of valour surpassing all others. For they drew their swords and laid them on the ground, and then stretched their bow’s and kept shooting with a most telling aim at the enemy. And they destroyed many men and many horses as well, as long as their quivers still held arrows. At length, when their missiles had now entirely failed them, seizing their swords and holding their shields before them, all by themselves they warded off the assailants. And whenever any of their opponents on horseback came at them with their spears, they immediately broke off the heads of the spears with a blow of their swords. But after they had in this manner checked the onrushes of the enemy many times, it came about that the sword of one of them (this was Paulus) was bent double by the frequent cutting of the wooden shafts and so was utterly useless. This then he immediately threw on the ground, and seizing the spears with both hands he would wrench them from his assailants. And by wrenching four spears from the enemy in this way in the sight of all he made himself the chief cause of their abandoning their attempt. Wherefore, in consequence of the exploit, Narses made him a personal guard of his own from that time on.

  Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τῇδε κεχώρηκεν. ἑκάτεροι δὲ παρεσκευάζοντο εἰς παράταξιν. καὶ Ναρσῆς τὸ στράτευμα ἐν χώρῳ ὀλίγῳ ξυναγαγὼν τοιάδε παρεκελεύσατο: ‘Τοῖς μὲν ἐξ ἀντιπάλου τῆς δυνάμεως ἐς ἀγωνίαν τοῖς πολεμίοις καθισταμένοις παρακελεύσεώς τε ἂν ἴσως δεήσειε πολλῆς καὶ παραινέσεως ἐς τὴν προθυμίαν ὁρμώσης, ὅπως δὴ ταύτῃ τῶν ἐναντίων πλεονεκτοῦντες κατὰ νοῦν μάλιστα τῆς παρατάξεως ἀπαλλάξωσιν: ὑμῖν δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες, οἷς καὶ τῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ τῷ πλήθει καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ παρασκευῇ πάσῃ πολλῷ τῷ διαλλάσσοντι πρὸς καταδεεστέρους ἡ μάχη ἐστίν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο προσδεῖν οἴομαι ἢ τῷ θεῷ ἵλεῳ ἐς ξυμβολὴν τήνδε καθίστασθαι. [2] εὐχῇ τοίνυν αὐτὸν ἐνδελεχέστατα ἐς ξυμμαχίαν ἐπαγόμενοι πολλῷ τῷ καταφρονήματι ἐπὶ τούτων δὴ τῶν λῃστῶν τὴν ἐπικράτησιν ἵεσθε, οἵ γε δοῦλοι βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὄντες καὶ δραπέται γεγενημένοι τύραννόν τε αὑτοῖς ἀγελαῖόν τινα ἐκ τοῦ συρφετοῦ προστησάμενοι ἐπικλοπώτερον συνταράξαι τὴν Ῥωμαίω
ν ἀρχὴν ἐπὶ καιροῦ τινὸς ἴσχυσαν. [3] καίτοι τούτους γε ἡμῖν οὐδὲ ἀντιπαρατάσσεσθαι νῦν τὰ εἰκότα λογιζομένους ὑπώπτευσεν ἄν τις. [4] οἱ δὲ θράσει θανατῶντες ἀλογίστῳ τινὶ καὶ μανιώδη προπέτειαν ἐνδεικνύμενοι προὖπτον αὐτοῖς θάνατον ἀναιρεῖσθαι τολμῶσιν, οὐ προβεβλημένοι τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐλπίδα, οὐδὲ τί ἐπιγενήσεται σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ παραλόγου καὶ τοῦ παραδόξου καραδοκοῦντες, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ διαρρήδην ἐπὶ τὰς ποινὰς τῶν πεπολιτευμένων ἀγόμενοι. ὧν γὰρ ἄνωθέν τι κατεγνώσθη παθεῖν, χωροῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰς τιμωρίας αὐτόματοι. [5] χωρὶς δὲ τούτων ὑμεῖς μὲν πολιτείας εὐνόμου προκινδυνεύοντες καθίστασθε εἰς ξυμβολὴν τήνδε, οἱ δὲ νεωτερίζουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς νόμοις ζυγομαχοῦντες, οὐ παραπέμψειν τι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐς διαδόχους προσδοκῶντές τινας, ἀλλ̓ εὖ εἰδότες ὡς συναπολεῖται αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα καὶ μετ̓ ἐφημέρου βιοτεύουσι τῆς ἐλπίδος. [6] ὥστε καταφρονεῖσθαι τὰ μάλιστά εἰσιν ἄξιοι. τῶν γὰρ οὐ νόμῳ καὶ ἀγαθῇ πολιτείᾳ ξυνισταμένων ἀπολέλειπται μὲν ἀρετὴ πᾶσα, διακέκριται δέ, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, ἡ νίκη, οὐκ εἰωθυῖα [7] ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἀντιτάσσεσθαι.’ τοιαύτην μὲν ὁ Ναρσῆς τὴν παρακέλευσιν ἐποιήσατο. Καὶ Τουτίλας δὲ τεθηπότας. τὴν Ῥωμαίων στρατιὰν τούς οἱ ἑπομένους ὁρῶν ξυγκαλέσας καὶ αὐτὸς ἅπαντας ἔλεξε τάδε. ‘Ὑστάτην ὑμῖν παραίνεσιν ποιησόμενος ἐνταῦθα ὑμᾶς, ἄνδρες ξυστρατιῶται, ξυνήγαγον. [8] ἄλλης γάρ, οἶμαι, παρακελεύσεως μετὰ τήνδε τὴν ξυμβολὴν οὐκέτι δεήσει, ἀλλὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐς ἡμέραν μίαν ἀποκεκρίσθαι ξυμβήσεται πάντως. [9] οὕτω γὰρ ἡμᾶς τε καὶ βασιλέα Ἰουστινιανὸν ἐκνενευρίσθαι τετύχηκε καὶ περιῃρῆσθαι δυνάμεις ἁπάσας, πόνοις τε καὶ μάχαις καὶ ταλαιπωρίαις ὡμιληκότας ἐπὶ χρόνου παμμέγεθες μῆκος, ἀπειρηκέναι τε πρὸς τὰς τοῦ πολέμου ἀνάγκας, ὥστε, ἢν τῇ ξυμβολῇ τῇ νῦν τῶν ἐναντίων περιεσόμεθα, οὐδαμῶς ἀναποδιεῖν τὸ λοιπὸν ἕξουσιν, ἢν δὲ ἡμεῖς τι προσπταίσωμεν ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ μάχῃ, ἐλπὶς οὐδεμία εἰς τὸ ἀναμαχήσεσθαι λελείψεται Γότθοις, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἧσσαν ἑκατέροις σκῆψιν ἐς τὴν ἡσυχίαν εὐπρόσωπον διαρκῶς ἕξομεν. [10] ἀπολέγοντες γὰρ ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τῶν πραγμάτων τὰ πονηρότατα ἐς αὐτὰ ἐπανιέναι οὐκέτι τολμῶσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα ἴσως διωθουμένης αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ταῦτα τῆς χρείας ταῖς γνώμαις ἀναχαιτίζονται, δεδισσομένης αὐτοῖς τὰς ψυχὰς τῆς τῶν κακῶν μνήμης. [11] τοσαῦτα, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἀκηκοότες ἀνδραγαθίζεσθε μὲν τῷ παντὶ σθένει, μηδεμίαν ἐς ἄλλον τινὰ χρόνον ἀποτιθέμενοι τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρετήν, ταλαιπωρεῖσθε δὲ ἀλκῇ τῇ πάσῃ, μηδὲ τὸ σῶμα ταμιευόμενοι ἐς κίνδυνον ἄλλον. [12] ὅπλων δὲ ὑμῖν γινέσθω καὶ ἵππων μηδεμία φειδώ, ὡς οὐκέτι χρησίμων ἐσομένων ὑμῖν. ἅπαντα γὰρ προκατατρίψασα τὰ ἄλλα ἡ τύχη, μόνην τῆς ἐλπίδος τὴν κεφαλὴν εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν ἐφύλαξε ταύτην. [13] τὴν εὐψυχίαν τοίνυν ἀσκεῖτε καὶ πρὸς εὐτολμίαν παρασκευάζεσθε. οἷς γὰρ ἐπὶ τριχὸς ἡ ἐλπίς, ὥσπερ τανῦν ὑμῖν, ἕστηκεν, οὐδὲ χρόνου τινὰ βραχυτάτην ῥοπὴν ἀναπεπτωκέναι ξυνοίσει. [14] παρεληλυθυίας γὰρ τῆς ἀκμῆς τοῦ καιροῦ ἀνόνητος ἡ σπουδὴ τὸ λοιπὸν γίνεται, κἂν διαφερόντως ὑπέρογκος ᾖ, οὐκ ἐνδεχομένης τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς φύσεως ἀρετὴν ἕωλον, ἐπεὶ παρελθούσης τῆς χρείας ἔξωρα καὶ τὰ ἐπιγινόμενα ἐπάναγκες εἶναι. [15] οἶμαι τοίνυν προσήκειν ὑμᾶς ἐπικαιριώτατα ἐν ἔργῳ λαβεῖν τὴν ἀγώνισιν, ὡς ἂν δυνήσεσθε καὶ τοῖς αὐτῆς ἀγαθοῖς χρῆσθαι. ἐξεπίστασθέ τε ὡς ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἀξιώλεθρος μάλιστα ἡ φυγὴ γίνεται. [16] φεύγουσι γὰρ ἄνθρωποι λιπόντες τὴν τάξιν οὐκ ἄλλου του ἕνεκα ἢ ὅπως βιώσονται: ἢν δὲ θάνατον ἡ φυγὴ προὖπτον ἐπάγεσθαι μέλλῃ, ὁ τὸν κίνδυνον ὑποστὰς τοῦ φυγόντος πολλῷ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ ἔσται. [17] τοῦ δὲ τῶν πολεμίων ὁμίλου ὑπερφρονεῖν ἄξιον, ἐξ ἐθνῶν ξυνειλεγμένων ὅτι μάλιστα πλείστων. ξυμμαχία γὰρ πολλαχόθεν ἐρανισθεῖσα οὔτε τὴν πίστιν οὔτε τὴν δύναμιν ἀσφαλῆ φέρεται, ἀλλὰ σχοζομένη τοῖς γένεσι μερίζεται καὶ ταῖς γνώμαις εἰκότως. [18] μηδὲ γὰρ οἴεσθε Οὔννους τε καὶ Λαγγοβάρδας καὶ Ἐρούλους ποτέ, χρημάτων αὐτοῖς μεμισθωμένους οὐκ οἶδα ὁπόσων, προκινδυνεύσειν αὐτῶν ἄχρι ἐς θάνατον. [19] οὐ γὰρ οὕτως αὐτοῖς ἡ ψυχὴ ἄτιμος ὥστε καὶ ἀργυρίου τὰ δευτερεῖα παῤ αὐτοῖς φέρεσθαι, ἀλλ̓ εὖ οἶδα ὡς μάχεσθαι τὰ ἐς τὴν ὄψιν ποιούμενοι ἐθελοκακήσουσιν αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα, ἢ κεκομισμένοι τὴν μίσθωσιν, ἢ τὴν ἐπίταξιν ὑποτετελεκότες τῶν ἐν σφίσιν ἀρχόντων. [20] τοῖς γὰρ ἀνθρώποις καὶ τὰ τῶν πραγμάτων τερπνότατα δοκοῦντα εἶναι μὴ ὅτι πολέμια, ἢν μὴ κατὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς πράσσηται, ἀλλὰ βιασθεῖσιν ἢ μισθαρνήσασιν ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ ἀναγκασθεῖσιν, οὐκέτι αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὸ καταθύμιον ἀποκεκρίσθαι ξυμβήσεται, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀναγκαίῳ μοχθηρὰ φαίνεται. ὧν ἐνθυμηθέντες προθυμίᾳ τῇ πάσῃ ὁμόσε τοῖς πολεμίοις χωρήσωμεν.’