Procopius

P >> Procopius >> Procopius

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

FOOTNOTES:

[71] Probably either the Biferno or the Sangro.

[72] _sic_ Procopius. The customary form "Beneventum" shews less clearly
the derivation from "ventus" which Procopius favours. Other possible
explanations are "bene" + "venio" or "bene" + (suff.) "entum."

[73] Cf. Pliny III. xi. 16, Sec. 105, who says that the name was originally
"Maleventum," on account of its unwholesome air.

[74] The Forum of Constantine was a short distance west of the
Hippodrome. One of its principle monuments, a huge porphyry column,
still stands and is known as the "Burnt Column."

[75] _i.e._ the Adriatic Sea; see note 4.

[76] Chap. vii. 36.

[77] By the "Adriatic" is meant the part of the Mediterranean which lies
between Africa on the south, Sicily and Italy on the west, and Greece
and Epirus on the east; Procopius' "Ionian Gulf" is therefore our
Adriatic Sea.

[78] Now the Gulf of Saros, north and west of the Gallipoli peninsula.

[79] _i.e._ to the north-west. Procopius means that the Adriatic should
incline at its upper end more toward the left (the west) in order to
form the isthmus which he is surprised to find lacking.

[80] Hydruntum; cf. Book III. i. 9, note.

[81] Modern Croatia.

[82] Modern Belgrade.

[83] Procopius seems to have erred: Liguria, as well as Aemilia (below),
was south of the Po. Cf. chap. xii. 4, where Liguria is represented as
extending to the Alps.

[84] Whose capital was Placentia (Piacenzo).

XVI

So Belisarius took possession of all the territory of Rome as far as the
river Tiber, and strengthened it. And when all had been settled by him
in the best possible manner, he gave to Constantinus a large number of
his own guards together with many spearmen, including the Massagetae
Zarter, Chorsomanus, and Aeschmanus, and an army besides, commanding him
to go into Tuscany, in order to win over the towns of that region. And
he gave orders to Bessas to take possession of Narnia, a very strong
city in Tuscany. Now this Bessas was a Goth by birth, one of those who
had dwelt in Thrace from of old and had not followed Theoderic when he
led the Gothic nation thence into Italy, and he was an energetic man and
a capable warrior. For he was both a general of the first rank, and a
skilful man in action. And Bessas took Narnia not at all against the
will of the inhabitants, and Constantinus won over Spolitium[85] and
Perusia[86] and certain other towns without any trouble. For the Tuscans
received him into their cities willingly. So after establishing a
garrison in Spolitium, he himself remained quietly with his army in
Perusia, the first city in Tuscany.

Now when Vittigis heard this, he sent against them an army with Unilas
and Pissas as its commanders. And Constantinus confronted these troops
in the outskirts of Perusia and engaged with them. The battle was at
first evenly disputed, since the barbarians were superior in numbers,
but afterwards the Romans by their valour gained the upper hand and
routed the enemy, and while they were fleeing in complete disorder the
Romans killed almost all of them; and they captured alive the commanders
of the enemy and sent them to Belisarius. Now when Vittigis heard this,
he was no longer willing to remain quietly in Ravenna, where he was
embarrassed by the absence of Marcias and his men, who had not yet come
from Gaul. So he sent to Dalmatia a great army with Asinarius and
Uligisalus as its commanders, in order to recover Dalmatia for the
Gothic rule. And he directed them to add to their own troops an army
from the land of the Suevi, composed of the barbarians there, and then
to proceed directly to Dalmatia and Salones. And he also sent with them
many ships of war, in order that they might be able to besiege Salones
both by land and by sea. But he himself was hastening to go with his
whole army against Belisarius and Rome, leading against him horsemen and
infantry to the number of not less than one hundred and fifty thousand,
and the most of them as well as their horses were clad in armour.

So Asinarius, upon reaching the country of the Suevi, began to gather
the army of the barbarians, while Uligisalus alone led the Goths into
Liburnia. And when the Romans engaged with them at a place called
Scardon, they were defeated in the battle and retired to the city of
Burnus; and there Uligisalus awaited his colleague. But Constantianus,
upon hearing of the preparations of Asinarius, became afraid for
Salones, and summoned the soldiers who were holding all the fortresses
in that region. He then dug a moat around the whole circuit-wall and
made all the other preparations for the siege in the best manner
possible. And Asinarius, after gathering an exceedingly large army of
barbarians, came to the city of Burnus. There he joined Uligisalus and
the Gothic army and proceeded to Salones. And they made a stockade about
the circuit-wall, and also, filling their ships with soldiers, kept
guard over the side of the fortifications which faced the sea. In this
manner they proceeded to besiege Salones both by land and by sea; but
the Romans suddenly made an attack upon the ships of the enemy and
turned them to flight, and many of them they sunk, men and all, and also
captured many without their crews. However, the Goths did not raise the
siege, but maintained it vigorously and kept the Romans still more
closely confined to the city than before. Such, then, were the fortunes
of the Roman and Gothic armies in Dalmatia.

But Vittigis, upon hearing from the natives who came from Rome that the
army which Belisarius had was very small, began to repent of his
withdrawal from Rome, and was no longer able to endure the situation,
but was now so carried away by fury that he advanced against them. And
on his way thither he fell in with a priest who was coming from Rome.
Whereupon they say that Vittigis in great excitement enquired of this
man whether Belisarius was still in Rome, shewing that he was afraid he
would not be able to catch him, but that Belisarius would forestall him
by running away. But the priest, they say, replied that he need not be
at all concerned about that; for he, the priest, was able to guarantee
that Belisarius would never resort to flight, but was remaining where he
was. But Vittigis, they say, kept hastening still more than before,
praying that he might see with his own eyes the walls of Rome before
Belisarius made his escape from the city.

FOOTNOTES:

[85] Modern Spoleto.

[86] Modern Perugia.

XVII

But Belisarius, when he heard that the Goths were marching against him
with their whole force, was in a dilemma. For he was unwilling, on the
one hand, to dispense with the troops of Constantinus and Bessas,
especially since his army was exceedingly small, and, on the other, it
seemed to him inexpedient to abandon the strongholds in Tuscany, lest
the Goths should hold these as fortresses against the Romans. So after
considering the matter he sent word to Constantinus and Bessas to leave
garrisons in the positions which absolutely required them, large enough
to guard them, while they themselves with the rest of the army should
come to Rome with all speed. And Constantinus acted accordingly. For he
established garrisons in Perusia and Spolitium, and with all the rest of
his troops marched off to Rome. But while Bessas, in a more leisurely
manner, was making his dispositions in Narnia, it so happened that,
since the enemy were passing that way, the plains in the outskirts of
the city were filled with Goths. These were an advance guard preceding
the rest of the army; and Bessas engaged with them and unexpectedly
routed those whom he encountered and killed many; but then, since he was
overpowered by their superior numbers, he retired into Narnia. And
leaving a garrison there according to the instructions of Belisarius,
he went with all speed to Rome, and reported that the enemy would be at
hand almost instantly. For Narnia is only three hundred and fifty stades
distant from Rome. But Vittigis made no attempt at all to capture
Perusia and Spolitium; for these places are exceedingly strong and he
was quite unwilling that his time should be wasted there, his one desire
having come to be to find Belisarius not yet fled from Rome. Moreover,
even when he learned that Narnia also was held by the enemy, he was
unwilling to attempt anything there, knowing that the place was
difficult of access and on steep ground besides; for it is situated on a
lofty hill. And the river Narnus flows by the foot of the hill, and it
is this which has given the city its name. There are two roads leading
up to the city, the one on the east, and the other on the west. One of
these is very narrow and difficult by reason of precipitous rocks, while
the other cannot be reached except by way of the bridge which spans the
river and provides a passage over it at that point. This bridge was
built by Caesar Augustus in early times, and is a very noteworthy sight;
for its arches are the highest of any known to us.

So Vittigis, not enduring to have his time wasted there, departed thence
with all speed and went with the whole army against Rome, making the
journey through Sabine territory. [W]And when he drew near to Rome, and
was not more than fourteen stades away from it, he came upon a bridge
over the Tiber River.[87] There a little while before Belisarius had
built a tower, furnished it with gates, and stationed in it a guard of
soldiers, not because this is the only point at which the Tiber could be
crossed by the enemy (for there are both boats and bridges at many
places along the river), but because he wished the enemy to have to
spend more time in the journey, since he was expecting another army from
the emperor, and also in order that the Romans might bring in still more
provisions. For if the barbarians, repulsed at that point, should try to
cross on a bridge somewhere else, he thought that not less than twenty
days would be consumed by them, and if they wished to launch boats in
the Tiber to the necessary number, a still longer time would probably be
wasted by them. These, then, were the considerations which led him to
establish the garrison at that point; and the Goths bivouacked there
that day, being at a loss and supposing that they would be obliged to
storm the tower on the following day; but twenty-two deserters came to
them, men who were barbarians by race but Roman soldiers, from the
cavalry troop commanded by Innocentius.[88] Just at that time it
occurred to Belisarius to establish a camp near the Tiber River, in
order that they might hinder still more the crossing of the enemy and
make some kind of a display of their own daring to their opponents. But
all the soldiers who, as has been stated, were keeping guard at the
bridge, being overcome with terror at the throng of Goths and quailing
at the magnitude of their danger, abandoned by night the tower they were
guarding and rushed off in flight. But thinking that they could not
enter Rome, they stealthily marched off toward Campania, either because
they were afraid of the punishment the general would inflict or because
they were ashamed to appear before their comrades.

DATE:
[W]Feb. 21, 537 A.D.

FOOTNOTES:

[87] The Mulvian Bridge.

[88] Cf. chap. v. 3.

XVIII

On the following day the Goths destroyed the gates of the tower with no
trouble and made the crossing, since no one tried to oppose them. But
Belisarius, who had not as yet learned what had happened to the
garrison, was bringing up a thousand horsemen to the bridge over the
river, in order to look over the ground and decide where it would be
best for his forces to make camp. But when they had come rather close,
they met the enemy already across the river, and not at all willingly
they engaged with some of them. And the battle was carried on by
horsemen on both sides. Then Belisarius, though he was safe before,
would no longer keep the general's post, but began to fight in the front
ranks like a soldier; and consequently the cause of the Romans was
thrown into great danger, for the whole decision of the war rested with
him. But it happened that the horse he was riding at that time was
unusually experienced in warfare and knew well how to save his rider;
and his whole body was dark grey, except that his face from the top of
his head to the nostrils was the purest white. Such a horse the Greeks
call "phalius"[89] and the barbarians "balan." And it so happened that
the most of the Goths threw their javelins and other missiles at him and
at Belisarius for the following reason. Those deserters who on the
previous day had come to the Goths, when they saw Belisarius fighting in
the front ranks, knowing well that, if he should fall, the cause of the
Romans would be ruined instantly, cried aloud urging them to "shoot at
the white-faced horse." Consequently this saying was passed around and
reached the whole Gothic army, and they did not question it at all,
since they were in a great tumult of fighting, nor did they know clearly
that it referred to Belisarius. But conjecturing that it was not by mere
accident that the saying had gained such currency as to reach all, the
most of them, neglecting all others, began to shoot at Belisarius. And
every man among them who laid any claim to valour was immediately
possessed with a great eagerness to win honour, and getting as close as
possible they kept trying to lay hold of him and in a great fury kept
striking with their spears and swords. But Belisarius himself, turning
from side to side, kept killing as they came those who encountered him,
and he also profited very greatly by the loyalty of his own spearmen and
guards in this moment of danger. For they all surrounded him and made a
display of valour such, I imagine, as has never been shewn by any man in
the world to this day; for, holding out their shields in defence of both
the general and his horse, they not only received all the missiles, but
also forced back and beat off those who from time to time assailed him.
And thus the whole engagement was centred about the body of one man. In
this struggle there fell among the Goths no fewer than a thousand, and
they were men who fought in the front ranks; and of the household of
Belisarius many of the noblest were slain, and Maxentius, the spearman,
after making a display of great exploits against the enemy. But by some
chance Belisarius was neither wounded nor hit by a missile on that day,
although the battle was waged around him alone.

Finally by their valour the Romans turned the enemy to flight, and an
exceedingly great multitude of barbarians fled until they reached their
main army. For there the Gothic infantry, being entirely fresh,
withstood their enemy and forced them back without any trouble. And when
another body of cavalry in turn reinforced the Goths, the Romans fled at
top speed until they reached a certain hill, which they climbed, and
there held their position. But the enemy's horsemen were upon them
directly, and a second cavalry battle took place. There Valentinus, the
groom of Photius, the son of Antonina, made a remarkable exhibition of
valour. For by leaping alone into the throng of the enemy he opposed
himself to the onrush of the Goths and thus saved his companions. In
this way the Romans escaped, and arrived at the fortifications of Rome,
and the barbarians in pursuit pressed upon them as far as the wall by
the gate which has been named the Salarian Gate.[90] But the people of
Rome, fearing lest the enemy should rush in together with the fugitives
and thus get inside the fortifications, were quite unwilling to open the
gates, although Belisarius urged them again and again and called upon
them with threats to do so. For, on the one hand, those who peered out
of the tower were unable to recognise the man, for his face and his
whole head were covered with gore and dust, and at the same time no one
was able to see very clearly, either; for it was late in the day, about
sunset. Moreover, the Romans had no reason to suppose that the general
survived; for those who had come in flight from the rout which had taken
place earlier reported that Belisarius had died fighting bravely in the
front ranks. So the throng of the enemy, which had rushed up in strength
and possessed with great fury, were purposing to cross the moat
straightway and attack the fugitives there; and the Romans, finding
themselves massed along the wall, after they had come inside the moat,
and so close together that they touched one another, were being crowded
into a small space. Those inside the fortifications, however, since they
were without a general and altogether unprepared, and being in a panic
of fear for themselves and for the city, were quite unable to defend
their own men, although these were now in so perilous a situation.

Then a daring thought came to Belisarius, which unexpectedly saved the
day for the Romans. For urging on all his men he suddenly fell upon the
enemy. And they, even before this, had been in great disorder because
of the darkness and the fact that they were making a pursuit, and now
when, much to their surprise, they saw the fugitives attacking them,
they supposed that another army also had come to their assistance from
the city, and so were thrown into a great panic and all fled immediately
at top speed. But Belisarius by no means rushed out to pursue them, but
returned straightway to the wall. And at this the Romans took courage
and received him and all his men into the city. So narrowly did
Belisarius and the emperor's cause escape peril; and the battle which
had begun early in the morning did not end until night. And those who
distinguished themselves above all others by their valour in this battle
were, among the Romans, Belisarius, and among the Goths, Visandus
Vandalarius, who had fallen upon Belisarius at the first when the battle
took place about him, and did not desist until he had received thirteen
wounds on his body and fell. And since he was supposed to have died
immediately, he was not cared for by his companions, although they were
victorious, and he lay there with the dead. But on the third day, when
the barbarians had made camp hard by the circuit-wall of Rome and had
sent some men in order to bury their dead and to perform the customary
rites of burial, those who were searching out the bodies of the fallen
found Visandus Vandalarius with life still in him, and one of his
companions entreated him to speak some word to him. But he could not do
even this, for the inside of his body was on fire because of the lack of
food and the thirst caused by his suffering, and so he nodded to him to
put water into his mouth. Then when he had drunk and become himself
again, they lifted and carried him to the camp. And Visandus Vandalarius
won a great name for this deed among the Goths, and he lived on a very
considerable time, enjoying the greatest renown. This, then, took place
on the third day after the battle.

But at that time Belisarius, after reaching safety with his followers,
gathered the soldiers and almost the whole Roman populace to the wall,
and commanded them to burn many fires and keep watch throughout the
whole night. And going about the circuit of the fortifications, he set
everything in order and put one of his commanders in charge of each
gate. But Bessas, who took command of the guard at the gate called the
Praenestine,[91] sent a messenger to Belisarius with orders to say that
the city was held by the enemy, who had broken in through another gate
which is across the Tiber River[92] and bears the name of Pancratius, a
holy man. And all those who were in the company of Belisarius, upon
hearing this, urged him to save himself as quickly as possible through
some other gate. He, however, neither became panic-stricken, nor did he
hesitate to declare that the report was false. And he also sent some of
his horsemen across the Tiber with all speed, and they, after looking
over the ground there, brought back word that no hostile attack had been
made on the city in that quarter. He therefore sent immediately to each
gate and instructed the commanders everywhere that, whenever they heard
that the enemy had broken in at any other part of the fortifications,
they should not try to assist in the defence nor abandon their post, but
should remain quiet; for he himself would take care of such matters. And
he did this in order that they might not be thrown into disorder a
second time by a rumour which was not true.

But Vittigis, while the Romans were still in great confusion, sent to
the Salarian Gate[93] one of his commanders, Vacis by name, a man of no
mean station. And when he had arrived there, he began to reproach the
Romans for their faithlessness to the Goths and upbraided them for the
treason which he said they had committed against both their fatherland
and themselves, for they had exchanged the power of the Goths for Greeks
who were not able to defend them, although they had never before seen
any men of the Greek race come to Italy except actors of tragedy and
mimes and thieving sailors.[94] Such words and many like them were
spoken by Vacis, but since no one replied to him, he returned to the
Goths and Vittigis. As for Belisarius, he brought upon himself much
ridicule on the part of the Romans, for though he had barely escaped
from the enemy, he bade them take courage thenceforth and look with
contempt upon the barbarians; for he knew well, he said, that he would
conquer them decisively. Now the manner in which he had come to know
this with certainty will be told in the following narrative.[95] At
length, when it was well on in the night, Belisarius, who had been
fasting up to this time, was with difficulty compelled by his wife and
those of his friends who were present to taste a very little bread.
Thus, then, the two armies passed this night.

[Illustration: Based upon the plan in Hodgkin's "Italy and her
Invaders." Edward Stanford Ltd. London]

FOOTNOTES:

[89] Having a white spot, "White-face."

[90] See plan opposite p. 185.

[91] See plan opposite p. 185.

[92] For Procopius' description of the wall "across the Tiber," see
chap. xix. 6-10.

[93] See plan opposite p. 185.

[94] Cf. Book IV. xxvii. 38, note.

[95] Chap. xxvii. 25-29.

XIX

But on the following day they arrayed themselves for the struggle, the
Goths thinking to capture Rome by siege without any trouble on account
of the great size of the city, and the Romans defending it. Now the wall
of the city has fourteen large gates and several smaller ones. And the
Goths, being unable with their entire army to envelop the wall on every
side, made six fortified camps from which they harassed the portion of
the wall containing five gates, from the Flaminian as far as the one
called the Praenestine Gate; and all these camps were made by them on
the left bank of the Tiber River. Wherefore the barbarians feared lest
their enemy, by destroying the bridge which bears the name of Mulvius,
should render inaccessible to them all the land on the right bank of the
river as far as the sea, and in this way have not the slightest
experience of the evils of a siege, and so they fixed a seventh camp
across the Tiber in the Plain of Nero, in order that the bridge might be
between their two armies. So in this way two other gates came to be
exposed to the attacks of the enemy, the Aurelian[96] (which is now
named after Peter, the chief of the Apostles of Christ, since he lies
not far from there[97]) and the Transtiburtine Gate.[98] Thus the Goths
surrounded only about one-half of the wall with their army, but since
they were in no direction wholly shut off from the wall by the river,
they made attacks upon it throughout its whole extent whenever they
wished.

Now the way the Romans came to build the city-wall on both sides of the
river I shall now proceed to tell. In ancient times the Tiber used to
flow alongside the circuit-wall for a considerable distance, even at the
place where it is now enclosed. But this ground, on which the wall rises
along the stream of the river, is flat and very accessible. And opposite
this flat ground, across the Tiber, it happens that there is a great
hill[99] where all the mills of the city have been built from of old,
because much water is brought by an aqueduct to the crest of the hill,
and rushes thence down the incline with great force. For this reason the
ancient Romans[100] determined to surround the hill and the river bank
near it with a wall, so that it might never be possible for an enemy to
destroy the mills, and crossing the river, to carry on operations with
ease against the circuit-wall of the city. So they decided to span the
river at this point with a bridge, and to attach it to the wall; and by
building many houses in the district across the river they caused the
stream of the Tiber to be in the middle of the city. So much then for
this.

And the Goths dug deep trenches about all their camps, and heaped up the
earth, which they took out from them, on the inner side of the trenches,
making this bank exceedingly high, and they planted great numbers of
sharp stakes on the top, thus making all their camps in no way inferior
to fortified strongholds. And the camp in the Plain of Nero was
commanded by Marcias (for he had by now arrived from Gaul with his
followers, with whom he was encamped there), and the rest of the camps
were commanded by Vittigis with five others; for there was one commander
for each camp. So the Goths, having taken their positions in this way,
tore open all the aqueducts, so that no water at all might enter the
city from them. Now the aqueducts of Rome are fourteen in number, and
were made of baked brick by the men of old, being of such breadth and
height that it is possible for a man on horseback to ride in them.[101]
And Belisarius arranged for the defence of the city in the following
manner. He himself held the small Pincian Gate and the gate next to this
on the right, which is named the Salarian. For at these gates the
circuit-wall was assailable, and at the same time it was possible for
the Romans to go out from them against the enemy. The Praenestine Gate
he gave to Bessas. And at the Flaminian, which is on the other side of
the Pincian, he put Constantinus in command, having previously closed
the gates and blocked them up most securely by building a wall of great
stones on the inside, so that it might be impossible for anyone to open
them. For since one of the camps was very near, he feared least some
secret plot against the city should be made there by the enemy. And the
remaining gates he ordered the commanders of the infantry forces to keep
under guard. And he closed each of the aqueducts as securely as possible
by filling their channels with masonry for a considerable distance, to
prevent anyone from entering through them from the outside to do
mischief.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17