Procopius

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DATES:
[N]476 A.D.
[O]493 A.D.
[P]534 A.D.

But later on, when the power of the Germans was growing greater, they
began to think slightingly of Theoderic and the fear he inspired, and
took the field against Alaric and the Visigoths. And when Alaric learned
this, he summoned Theoderic as quickly as possible. And he set out to
his assistance with a great army. In the meantime, the Visigoths, upon
learning that the Germans were in camp near the city of Carcasiana,[56]
went to meet them, and making a camp remained quiet. But since much time
was being spent by them in blocking the enemy in this way, they began to
be vexed, and seeing that their land was being plundered by the enemy,
they became indignant. And at length they began to heap many insults
upon Alaric, reviling him on account of his fear of the enemy and
taunting him with the delay of his father-in-law. For they declared that
they by themselves were a match for the enemy in battle and that even
though unaided they would easily overcome the Germans in the war. For
this reason Alaric was compelled to do battle with the enemy before the
Goths had as yet arrived. And the Germans, gaining the upper hand in
this engagement, killed the most of the Visigoths and their ruler
Alaric. [Q] Then they took possession of the greater part of Gaul and
held it; and they laid siege to Carcasiana with great enthusiasm,
because they had learned that the royal treasure was there, which Alaric
the elder in earlier times had taken as booty when he captured Rome.[57]
Among these were also the treasures of Solomon, the king of the Hebrews,
a most noteworthy sight. [R]For the most of them were adorned with
emeralds; and they had been taken from Jerusalem by the Romans in
ancient times.[58] Then the survivors of the Visigoths declared Giselic,
an illegitimate son of Alaric, ruler over them, Amalaric, the son of
Theoderic's daughter, being still a very young child. And afterwards,
when Theoderic had come with the army of the Goths, the Germans became
afraid and broke up the siege. So they retired from there and took
possession of the part of Gaul beyond the Rhone River as far as the
ocean. And Theoderic, being unable to drive them out from there,
allowed them to hold this territory, but he himself recovered the rest
of Gaul. Then, after Giselic had been put out of the way, he conferred
the rule of the Visigoths upon his grandson Amalaric, for whom, since he
was still a child, he himself acted as regent. And taking all the money
which lay in the city of Carcasiana, he marched quickly back to Ravenna;
furthermore, he continued to send commanders and armies into Gaul and
Spain, thus holding the real power of the government himself, and by way
of providing that he should hold it securely and permanently, he
ordained that the rulers of those countries should bring tribute to him.
And though he received this every year, in order not to give the
appearance of being greedy for money he sent it as an annual gift to the
army of the Goths and Visigoths. And as a result of this, the Goths and
Visigoths, as time went on, ruled as they were by one man and holding
the same land, betrothed their children to one another and thus joined
the two races in kinship.

DATES:
[Q]507 A.D.
[R]410 A.D.

But afterwards, Theudis, a Goth, whom Theoderic had sent as commander of
the army, took to wife a woman from Spain; she was not, however, of the
race of the Visigoths, but belonged to the house of one of the wealthy
inhabitants of that land, and not only possessed great wealth but also
owned a large estate in Spain. From this estate he gathered about two
thousand soldiers and surrounded himself with a force of bodyguards, and
while in name he was a ruler over the Goths by the gift of Theoderic, he
was in fact an out and out tyrant. And Theoderic, who was wise and
experienced in the highest degree, was afraid to carry on a war against
his own slave, lest the Franks meanwhile should take the field against
him, as they naturally would, or the Visigoths on their part should
begin a revolution against him; accordingly he did not remove Theudis
from his office, but even continued to command him, whenever the army
went to war, to lead it forth. However, he directed the first men of the
Goths to write to Theudis that he would be acting justly and in a manner
worthy of his wisdom, if he should come to Ravenna and salute Theoderic.
Theudis, however, although he carried out all the commands of Theoderic
and never failed to send in the annual tribute, would not consent to go
to Ravenna, nor would he promise those who had written to him that he
would do so.

FOOTNOTES:

[44] Book III. i. 7.

[45] _i.e._ equatorial Africa.

[46] Cf. Book IV. xiii. 29.

[47] This vague statement is intended to describe the country west of
the Rhine, at that time a land of forests and swamps.

[48] The people whom Procopius names Arborychi must be the Armorici. If
so, they occupied the coast of what is now Belgium.

[49] Now south-eastern Germany.

[50] Now south-eastern France.

[51] Between the Germans and Burgundians.

[52] In modern Bavaria.

[53] _i.e._ west of the Rhone.

[54] _i.e._ the Visigoths.

[55] _i.e._ under a recognized imperial dynasty.

[56] In Gallia Narbonensis, modern Carcassone. Procopius has been
misled. The battle here described was fought in the neighbourhood of
Poitiers.

[57] Cf. Book III. ii. 14-24.

[58] At the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. The treasures here
mentioned were removed from Rome in 410 A.D. The remainder of the Jewish
treasure formed part of the spoil of Gizeric, the Vandal. Cf. Book IV.
ix. 5 and note.

XIII

After Theoderic had departed from the world,[S] the Franks, now that
there was no longer anyone to oppose them, took the field against the
Thuringians, and not only killed their leader Hermenefridus but also
reduced to subjection the entire people. But the wife of Hermenefridus
took her children and secretly made her escape, coming to Theodatus, her
brother, who was at that time ruling over the Goths. After this the
Germans made an attack upon the Burgundians who had survived the former
war,[59] and defeating them in battle confined their leader in one of
the fortresses of the country and kept him under guard, while they
reduced the people to subjection and compelled them, as prisoners of
war, to march with them from that time forth against their enemies, and
the whole land which the Burgundians had previously inhabited they made
subject and tributary to themselves. And Amalaric, who was ruling over
the Visigoths, upon coming to man's estate, became thoroughly frightened
at the power of the Germans and so took to wife the sister of
Theudibert, ruler of the Germans, and divided Gaul with the Goths and
his cousin Atalaric. The Goths, namely, received as their portion the
land to the east of the Rhone River, while that to the west fell under
the control of the Visigoths. And it was agreed that the tribute which
Theoderic had imposed should no longer be paid to the Goths, and
Atalaric honestly and justly restored to Amalaric all the money which he
had taken from the city of Carcasiana. Then, since these two nations had
united with one another by intermarriage, they allowed each man who had
espoused a wife of the other people to choose whether he wished to
follow his wife, or bring her among his own people. And there were many
who led their wives to the people they preferred and many also who were
led by their wives. But later on Amalaric, having given offence to his
wife's brother, suffered a great calamity. For while his wife was of the
orthodox faith, he himself followed the heresy of Arius, and he would
not allow her to hold to her customary beliefs or to perform the rites
of religion according to the tradition of her fathers, and, furthermore,
because she was unwilling to conform to his customs, he held her in
great dishonour. And since the woman was unable to bear this, she
disclosed the whole matter to her brother. For this reason, then, the
Germans and Visigoths entered into war with each other. [T]And the
battle which took place was for a long time very stoutly contested, but
finally Amalaric was defeated, losing many of his men, and was himself
slain. And Theudibert took his sister with all the money, and as much of
Gaul as the Visigoths held as their portion. And the survivors of the
vanquished emigrated from Gaul with their wives and children and went to
Theudis in Spain, who was already acting the tyrant openly. Thus did the
Goths and Germans gain possession of Gaul.

DATES:
[S]526 A.D.
[T]531 A.D.

But at a later time[60] Theodatus, the ruler of the Goths, upon learning
that Belisarius had come to Sicily, made a compact with the Germans, in
which it was agreed that the Germans should have that portion of Gaul
which fell to the Goths, and should receive twenty centenaria[61] of
gold, and that in return they should assist the Goths in this war. But
before he had as yet carried out the agreement he fulfilled his
destiny.[U] It was for this reason, then, that many of the noblest of
the Goths, with Marcias as their leader, were keeping guard in Gaul. It
was these men whom Vittigis was unable to recall from Gaul,[62] and
indeed he did not think them numerous enough even to oppose the Franks,
who would, in all probability, overrun both Gaul and Italy, if he should
march with his whole army against Rome. He therefore called together all
who were loyal among the Goths and spoke as follows:

DATE:
[U]526 A.D.

"The advice which I have wished to give you, fellow-countrymen, in
bringing you together here at the present time, is not pleasant, but it
is necessary; and do you hear me kindly, and deliberate in a manner
befitting the situation which is upon us. For when affairs do not go as
men wish, it is inexpedient for them to go on with their present
arrangements in disregard of necessity or fortune. Now in all other
respects our preparations for war are in the best possible state. But
the Franks are an obstacle to us; against them, our ancient enemies, we
have indeed been spending both our lives and our money, but nevertheless
we have succeeded in holding our own up to the present time, since no
other hostile force has confronted us. But now that we are compelled to
go against another foe, it will be necessary to put an end to the war
against them, in the first place because, if they remain hostile to us,
they will certainly array themselves with Belisarius against us; for
those who have the same enemy are by the very nature of things induced
to enter into friendship and alliance with each other. In the second
place, even if we carry on the war separately against each army, we
shall in the end be defeated by both of them. It is better, therefore,
for us to accept a little loss and thus preserve the greatest part of
our kingdom, than in our eagerness to hold everything to be destroyed by
the enemy and lose at the same time the whole power of our supremacy. So
my opinion is that if we give the Germans the provinces of Gaul which
adjoin them, and together with this land all the money which Theodatus
agreed to give them, they will not only be turned from their enmity
against us, but will even lend us assistance in this war. But as to how
at a later time, when matters are going well for us, we may regain
possession of Gaul, let no one of you consider this question. For an
ancient saying[63] comes to my mind, which bids us 'settle well the
affairs of the present.'"

Upon hearing this speech the notables of the Goths, considering the plan
advantageous, wished it to be put into effect. Accordingly envoys were
immediately sent to the nation of the Germans, in order to give them the
lands of Gaul together with the gold, and to make an offensive and
defensive alliance. Now at that time the rulers of the Franks were
Ildibert, Theudibert, and Cloadarius, and they received Gaul and the
money, and divided the land among them according to the territory ruled
by each one, and they agreed to be exceedingly friendly to the Goths,
and secretly to send them auxiliary troops, not Franks, however, but
soldiers drawn from the nations subject to them. For they were unable to
make an alliance with them openly against the Romans, because they had a
little before agreed to assist the emperor in this war. So the envoys,
having accomplished the mission on which they had been sent, returned to
Ravenna. At that time also Vittigis summoned Marcias with his followers.

FOOTNOTES:

[59] Cf. chap. xii. 24 ff.

[60] Procopius resumes his narrative, which was interrupted by the
digression beginning in chap. xii.

[61] Cf. Book I. xxii. 4; III. vi. 2 and note.

[62] Cf. chap. xi. 28.

[63] Cf. Thuc. i. 35, [Greek: thesthai to paron], "to deal with the
actual situation"; Hor. _Od._ iii. 29, 32, "quod adest memento |
Componere."

XIV

But while Vittigis was carrying on these negotiations, Belisarius was
preparing to go to Rome. He accordingly selected three hundred men from
the infantry forces with Herodian as their leader, and assigned them
the duty of guarding Naples. And he also sent to Cumae as large a
garrison as he thought would be sufficient to guard the fortress there.
For there was no stronghold in Campania except those at Cumae and at
Naples. It is in this city of Cumae that the inhabitants point out the
cave of the Sibyl, where they say her oracular shrine was; and Cumae is
on the sea, one hundred and twenty-eight stades distant from Naples.
Belisarius, then, was thus engaged in putting his army in order; but the
inhabitants of Rome, fearing lest all the calamities should befall them
which had befallen the Neapolitans, decided after considering the matter
that it was better to receive the emperor's army into the city. And more
than any other Silverius,[64] the chief priest of the city, urged them
to adopt this course. So they sent Fidelius, a native of Milan, which is
situated in Liguria, a man who had been previously an adviser of
Atalaric (such an official is called "quaestor"[65] by the Romans), and
invited Belisarius to come to Rome, promising to put the city into his
hands without a battle. So Belisarius led his army from Naples by the
Latin Way, leaving on the left the Appian Way, which Appius, the consul
of the Romans, had made nine hundred years before[66] and to which he
had given his name.

Now the Appian Way is in length a journey of five days for an
unencumbered traveller; for it extends from Rome to Capua. And the
breadth of this road is such that two waggons going in opposite
directions can pass one another, and it is one of the noteworthy sights
of the world. For all the stone, which is mill-stone[67] and hard by
nature, Appius quarried in another place[68] far away and brought there;
for it is not found anywhere in this district. And after working these
stones until they were smooth and flat, and cutting them to a polygonal
shape, he fastened them together without putting concrete or anything
else between them. And they were fastened together so securely and the
joints were so firmly closed, that they give the appearance, when one
looks at them, not of being fitted together, but of having grown
together. And after the passage of so long a time, and after being
traversed by many waggons and all kinds of animals every day, they have
neither separated at all at the joints, nor has any one of the stones
been worn out or reduced in thickness,--nay, they have not even lost any
of their polish. Such, then, is the Appian Way.

But as for the Goths who were keeping guard in Rome, it was not until
they learned that the enemy were very near and became aware of the
decision of the Romans, that they began to be concerned for the city,
and, being unable to meet the attacking army in battle, they were at a
loss; but later, with the permission of the Romans, they all departed
thence and proceeded to Ravenna, except that Leuderis, who commanded
them, being ashamed, I suppose, because of the situation in which he
found himself, remained there. And it so happened on that day that at
the very same time when Belisarius and the emperor's army were entering
Rome through the gate which they call the Asinarian Gate, the Goths were
withdrawing from the city through another gate which bears the name
Flaminian; and Rome became subject to the Romans again after a space of
sixty years, on the ninth day of the last month, which is called
"December" by the Romans, in the eleventh year of the reign of the
Emperor Justinian. [V] Now Belisarius sent Leuderis, the commander of
the Goths, and the keys of the gates to the emperor, but he himself
turned his attention to the circuit-wall, which had fallen into ruin in
many places; and he constructed each merlon of the battlement with a
wing, adding a sort of flanking wall on the left side,[69] in order that
those fighting from the battlement against their assailants might never
be hit by missiles thrown by those storming the wall on their left; and
he also dug a moat about the wall of sufficient depth to form a very
important part of the defences. And the Romans applauded the forethought
of the general and especially the experience displayed in the matter of
the battlement; but they marvelled greatly and were vexed that he should
have thought it possible for him to enter Rome if he had any idea that
he would be besieged, for it cannot possibly endure a siege because it
cannot be supplied with provisions, since it is not on the sea, is
enclosed by a wall of so huge a circumference,[70] and, above all, lying
as it does in a very level plain, is naturally exceedingly easy of
access for its assailants. But although Belisarius heard all these
criticisms, he nevertheless continued to make all his preparations for a
siege, and the grain which he had in his ships when he came from Sicily
he stored in public granaries and kept under guard, and he compelled all
the Romans, indignant though they were, to bring all their provisions in
from the country.

DATE:
[V]536 A.D.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] Cf. chap. xi. 26, note.

[65] The quaestor held an important position as counsellor ([Greek:
paredros]) of the emperor in legal matters. It was his function, also,
to formulate and publish new laws.

[66] Built in 312 B.C. by the censor, Appius Claudius.

[67] Chiefly basalt. As built by Appius, however, the surface was of
gravel; the stone blocks date from later years.

[68] Apparently an error, for lava quarries have been found along the
road.

[69] _i.e._ on the left of the defender. The battlement, then, in
horizontal section, had this form |--|--|--, instead of the usual series
of straight merlons. Winged merlons were used on the walls of Pompeii;
for an excellent illustration see Overbeck, _Pompeji_^4, p. 46.

[70] _i.e._ too great to be defended at every point: the total length of
the circuit-wall was about twelve miles.

XV

At that time Pitzas, a Goth, coming from Samnium, also put himself and
all the Goths who were living there with him into the hands of
Belisarius, as well as the half of that part of Samnium which lies on
the sea, as far as the river which flows through the middle of that
district.[71] For the Goths who were settled on the other side of the
river were neither willing to follow Pitzas nor to be subjects of the
emperor. And Belisarius gave him a small number of soldiers to help him
guard that territory. And before this the Calabrians and Apulians, since
no Goths were present in their land, had willingly submitted themselves
to Belisarius, both those on the coast and those who held the interior.

Among the interior towns is Beneventus,[72] which in ancient times the
Romans had named "Maleventus," but now they call it Beneventus, avoiding
the evil omen of the former name,[73] "ventus" having the meaning "wind"
in the Latin tongue. For in Dalmatia, which lies across from this city
on the opposite mainland, a wind of great violence and exceedingly wild
is wont to fall upon the country, and when this begins to blow, it is
impossible to find a man there who continues to travel on the road, but
all shut themselves up at home and wait. Such, indeed, is the force of
the wind that it seizes a man on horseback together with his horse and
carries him through the air, and then, after whirling him about in the
air to a great distance, it throws him down wherever he may chance to be
and kills him. And it so happens that Beneventus, being opposite to
Dalmatia, as I have said, and situated on rather high ground, gets some
of the disadvantage of this same wind. This city was built of old by
Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, when after the capture of Troy he was
repulsed from Argos. And he left to the city as a token the tusks of the
Calydonian boar, which his uncle Meleager had received as a prize of the
hunt, and they are there even up to my time, a noteworthy sight and well
worth seeing, measuring not less than three spans around and having the
form of a crescent. There, too, they say that Diomedes met Aeneas, the
son of Anchises, when he was coming from Ilium, and in obedience to the
oracle gave him the statue of Athena which he had seized as plunder in
company with Odysseus, when the two went into Troy as spies before the
city was captured by the Greeks. For they tell the story that when he
fell sick at a later time, and made enquiry concerning the disease, the
oracle responded that he would never be freed from his malady unless he
should give this statue to a man of Troy. And as to where in the world
the statue itself is, the Romans say they do not know, but even up to my
time they shew a copy of it chiselled on a certain stone in the temple
of Fortune, where it lies before the bronze statue of Athena, which is
set up under the open sky in the eastern part of the temple. And this
copy on the stone represents a female figure in the pose of a warrior
and extending her spear as if for combat; but in spite of this she has a
chiton reaching to the feet. But the face does not resemble the Greek
statues of Athena, but is altogether like the work of the ancient
Aegyptians. The Byzantines, however, say that the Emperor Constantine
dug up this statue in the forum which bears his name[74] and set it
there. So much, then, for this.

In this way Belisarius won over the whole of that part of Italy which is
south of the Ionian Gulf,[75] as far as Rome and Samnium, and the
territory north of the gulf, as far as Liburnia, had been gained by
Constantianus, as has been said.[76] But I shall now explain how Italy
is divided among the inhabitants of the land. The Adriatic Sea[77] sends
out a kind of outlet far into the continent and thus forms the Ionian
Gulf, but it does not, as in other places where the sea enters the
mainland, form an isthmus at its end. For example, the so-called
Crisaean Gulf, ending at Lechaeum, where the city of Corinth is, forms
the isthmus of that city, about forty stades in breadth; and the gulf
off the Hellespont, which they call the Black Gulf,[78] makes the
isthmus at the Chersonese no broader than the Corinthian, but of about
the same size. But from the city of Ravenna, where the Ionian Gulf ends,
to the Tuscan Sea is not less than eight days' journey for an
unencumbered traveller. And the reason is that the arm of the sea, as it
advances,[79] always inclines very far to the right. And below this gulf
the first town is Dryus,[80] which is now called Hydrus. And on the
right of this are the Calabrians, Apulians, and Samnites, and next to
them dwell the Piceni, whose territory extends as far as the city of
Ravenna. And on the other side are the remainder of the Calabrians, the
Bruttii, and the Lucani, beyond whom dwell the Campani as far as the
city of Taracina, and their territory is adjoined by that of Rome. These
peoples hold the shores of the two seas, and all the interior of that
part of Italy. And this is the country called Magna Graecia in former
times. For among the Bruttii are the Epizephyrian Locrians and the
inhabitants of Croton and Thurii. But north of the gulf the first
inhabitants are Greeks, called Epirotes, as far as the city of
Epidamnus, which is situated on the sea. And adjoining this is the land
of Precalis, beyond which is the territory called Dalmatia, all of
which is counted as part of the western empire. And beyond that point is
Liburnia,[81] and Istria, and the land of the Veneti extending to the
city of Ravenna. These countries are situated on the sea in that region.
But above them are the Siscii and Suevi (not those who are subjects of
the Franks, but another group), who inhabit the interior. And beyond
these are settled the Carnii and Norici. On the right of these dwell the
Dacians and Pannonians, who hold a number of towns, including
Singidunum[82] and Sirmium, and extend as far as the Ister River. Now
these peoples north of the Ionian Gulf were ruled by the Goths at the
beginning of this war, but beyond the city of Ravenna on the left of the
river Po the country was inhabited by the Ligurians.[83] And to the
north of them live the Albani in an exceedingly good land called
Langovilla, and beyond these are the nations subject to the Franks,
while the country to the west is held by the Gauls and after them the
Spaniards. On the right of the Po are Aemilia[84] and the Tuscan
peoples, which extend as far as the boundaries of Rome. So much, then,
for this.

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