attention: the xml file included in this set has the following warning about the folio file (900-n.nfo): do not download !!! see #892 for html format, #733 for plain text. the folio format is obsolete. you won't be able to display the file. if you are tempted to try and download it anyway, you may expect your computer to crash! these files are being retained in the project gutenberg collection as examples of the obsolete formats of the early days. dw ======================================================================= directions: double click on the "more files" option at the bottom of the pg catalog page listing to find the "files" directory. double click on this to open the directory of the audio files. ======================================================================== preface to the initial project gutenberg edition of the audio reading of edward gibbon's decline and fall of the roman empire. or a first venue of excuses, denials, and disclaimers. let me say at the outset that those who expect this complete audio rendering of gibbon's historical and literary masterpiece to be an epitome of perfect, pear-shaped, dropped -"r" oxbridge english may be disappointed. i believe there is such an "audiobook" edition available commercially, but it isn't free. experimenting some years ago with the text-to-speech software then available, i thought it would be very funny, the private joke of a modern american barbarian, to have the "little stuffed voices" rendering, in their innocent and patient way, the imposing yet effervescent bulk of gibbon's magnificent and immortal marble-pillared prose. to my amazement, if not to the credit of my taste, i've found this shotgun wedding of sound and sense quite harmonious, vital, and durable through many years of repeated listening. i find that the voices, unembodied and wooden at first audit, but softer, incarnate, personalized by acclimatization, pack more expression and clarity of diction into a few megabytes of software than is exhibited by most humans i hear these days, except for trained entertainment professionals and seasoned barroom raconteurs. i propose that the relentless yet measured deadpan delivery, the ironic contrast of unwitting voice and worldly wise content, is a plausible fit to the objective, slightly distant facade of gibbon's dense and rational, waste-no-word, 18th century style; a foil to his balanced tone, restrained despite dudgeon, covering a tale that is, face it, in its majority, a mordant chronicle, incarnadined--my favorite period bon mot--by battle, gore, and treachery. of itself gibbon's voluminous tragedy--the framework imposed by historians of his time--allows us only the occasional adrenal or comic relief by means of an essay on the basics of roman jurisprudence, the topography of arabia, or the absurdities and impossibilities of early christian theology, not to mention the priceless vituperation against the "greeks" at the end of chapter 53. perhaps the jest went too far. i wound up producing the entirety of the work, consuming much more time and energy than if i, or some other carbon-based unit, had simply armed ourselves with microphone and recorder, then intrepidly hacked our way toward throat cancer, through all 120-odd hours of the reading. but that's water under the bridge. i took the (immense) trouble to teach the well-meaning but naive programs improved pronunciations of over 4.000 words, mostly proper names, british spellings, and 18th century archaisms. having some background in catholic church latin, and two years of (forced) latin in high school, but no classical scholar, i can only vouch that i did the best i could within my hobbyist limitations. in cases of extremely obscure items such as "goisvintha"--a gothic queen; or "geougen"--a collective noun, like "herd" or "squad", to describe a certain group of tartaric barbarians, i've settled for what sounded, to my part-time poet's ear, euphonious and consistent with the flow of the line. i've heard tapes of classical scholars rendering academically correct latin, but, to venture arrogance, neither they nor the church ever convinced me that anyone except prelates, scholars, and perhaps an affected upper crust ever actually spoke that way. how else explain french? i'd give a lot to bounce through latium once per century from 600 b.c through the first millennium of our era in order to hear authentic village or "street" latin. one notices that at chapter 39 a different voice takes over through to the end of the work. for this there are two major reasons. firstly, the product of the original voice required some extensive, and excruciatingly time-consuming digital audio processing to remove crudities of the speech engine, such as a harsh rasp, which even yet breaks through on occasion. secondly, the production of all six volumes occupied the occasional parts of three or four years, during which time a much improved speech engine became available. back then i did not envision a public audience for the work, and so was not hobbled by considerations of consistency. the new voice was smoother, endowed with a much more "intelligent" engine, and did not crash every twenty minutes! for those interested, the softwares are the two final versions of monologue, created by first byte software. i do not believe it is any more available to the market. there are various types of flaws in this rendering, some correctible, some not--at least not very easily or conveniently. certain errors persist because i recall they exist, but not where. now, i don't have the time or inclination to reaudit all 120 hours of the reading in order to flush them out. you are welcome to try, or even to email me, at the address below, their nature and whereabouts. i will collect such reports and maybe someday repair the faults. better yet, do it yourself (see below)! there are a very, very few errors of garbled audio that arose during the conversion to .mp3. i do not believe they inhibit understanding of the contextual passage. but once again, you tell me. other errors arise because the programs were not smart enough to recognize and discriminate among some of the tricky ambiguities and homonymic mimeses of english. sometimes "lives" is pronounced incorrectly relative to context, noun versus verb. other examples in this category are "minute", "rebel(s)", "lead", "read", and "present". there are occasional renderings of "...part i" -(roman numeral one) as "...part eye". i tried to eliminate that by reformatting the source text, but obviously missed in some cases. the historian procopius' name is occasionally rendered "procompanyius" because of an obstinacy about expanding abbreviations i could not completely--gibbon's favorite term--extirpate. in some few other cases there are obviously erroneous or awkward pronunciations of words, especially of french proper and place names. frankly, i'm proud the little beasts do as well as they do in the continental tongue. let me say that although i tried assiduously, and even systematically to eliminate errors (having written a program that scanned the source text for words "new" to the speech software), the product of gibbon's twenty year labor is in itself an empire of english, in which i have yet to travel every byway. each successive chapter contained literally many hundreds of new words that had not appeared even in his own previous chapters! finally, some deep errors arise because the source text itself, project gutenberg's gibbon, contains some flaws. in sum, what began in levity, then developed into a protracted, private, and informal labor of love, is now offered to the public as a first draft, a gutenberg "xxxxx10.mp3", mostly correct, of that rare entertainment, dramatic scholarship, rendered into the charismatic medium of the spoken word. the justification of its unredeemed state is that for now, granting the superiority of perfection, if available, there is yet much value in any reasonably integral creation especially if the alternative is nothing. to anyone who reads this, listens to the material, finds blemishes, and cares, i will be happy to send you, in your thousands, the software, gratis save cost of materials and shipping, enabling you to make your own corrections, which you can then share with us all. david ceponis berkeley, california september 05, 2002 post-processor; the pg online distributed proofreaders team [transcriber's note: macrons (straight line above a vowel) are indicated in this text by surrounding square brackets and an = sign. for example, [=e] indicates an e-macron] the secret history of the court of justinian procopius _literally and completely translated from the greek for the first time athens: privately printed for the athenian society: mdcccxcvi_ preface procopius, the most important of the byzantine historians, was born at caesarea in palestine towards the beginning of the sixth century of the christian era. after having for some time practised as a "rhetorician," that is, advocate or jurist, in his native land, he seems to have migrated early to byzantium or constantinople. there he gave lessons in elocution, and acted as counsel in several law-cases. his talents soon attracted attention, and he was promoted to official duties in the service of the state. he was commissioned to accompany the famous belisarius during his command of the army in the east, in the capacity of counsellor or assessor: it is not easy to define exactly the meaning of the greek term, and the functions it embraced. the term "judge-advocate" has been suggested[1], a legal adviser who had a measure of judicial as well as administrative power. from his vivid description of the early years of justinian's reign, we may conclude that he spent some considerable time at the byzantine court before setting out for the east, at any rate, until the year 532, when belisarius returned to the capital: he would thus have been an eye-witness of the "nika" sedition, which, had it not been for the courage and firmness displayed by theodora, would probably have resulted in the flight of justinian, and a change of dynasty. in 533 he accompanied belisarius on his expedition to africa. on the way, he was intrusted with an important mission to sicily. he appears to have returned to byzantium with belisarius in 535. he is heard of again, in 536, as charged with another mission in the neighbourhood of rome, which shows that, at the end of 535, he had accompanied belisarius, who had been despatched to italy and sicily to conquer the territory in the occupation of the goths. this expedition terminated successfully by the surrender of vitiges and his captivity at byzantium in 540. as the reward of his services, justinian bestowed upon him the title of "illustrious" (_illustris_), given to the highest class of public officials, raised him to the rank of a senator, and, finally, appointed him praefect of byzantium in 562. he does not, however, seem to have been altogether satisfied: he complains of having been ill-paid for his labours; for several years he was even without employment. this is all that is known of his life. he died shortly before or after the end of the reign of justinian (565), when he would have been over sixty years of age. his career seems to have been as satisfactory as could be reasonably expected, all things being taken into consideration; but the violent hatred displayed by him against justinian in the "anecdota" or "secret history"--if the work be really his[2]--appears to show that he must have had some real or imaginary grounds of complaint; but history throws no light upon these incidents of his political career. another question which has been much discussed by the commentators is: "what were the religious opinions of procopius?" his own writings do not decide the question; he seems to shew a leaning towards heathenism and christianity alternately. the truth seems to be that, being of a sceptical turn of mind, he was indifferent; but that, living under an orthodox emperor, he affected the forms and language of christianity. had he been an open and avowed adherent of paganism, he would scarcely have been admitted to the senate or appointed to the important official position of praefect of byzantium. his description of the plague of 543, which is exceedingly minute in its details, has given rise to the idea that he was a physician, but there is no proof of this. the same thing might have been with equal justice said of thucydides; or we might assert that procopius was an architect, on the strength of his having written the "buildings." procopius, holding a position in a period of transition between classical greek and byzantine literature, is the first and most talented of byzantine historians. his writings are characterized by an energetic combination of the attic models of the affected, but often picturesque style employed by the byzantine writers. although he is not free from errors of taste, he expresses his ideas with great vigour, and his thoughts are often worthy of a better age. the information which he has given us is exceedingly valuable. he had ample opportunities of observation, and his works present us with the best picture of the reign of justinian, so important in greco-roman annals. his chief work is the "histories," in eight books: two on the persian wars (408-553), two on the vandal wars (395-545), and four[3] on the gothic wars, bringing down the narrative to the beginning of 559. the whole work is very interesting; the descriptions are excellent: in the matter of ethnographical details, procopius may be said to be without a rival among ancient historians. he shews equal descriptive talent in his work on the "buildings" of justinian, a curious and useful work, but spoiled by excessive adulation of the emperor. gibbon is of opinion that it was written with the object of conciliating justinian, who had been dissatisfied with the too independent judgment of the "histories." if this be the case, we can understand why the historian avenged himself in the "secret history," which is a veritable _chronique scandaleuse_ of the byzantine court from 549-562. justinian and theodora, belisarius and his wife antonina, are painted in the blackest colours. belisarius, who is treated with the least severity, is nevertheless represented as weak and avaricious, capable of any meanness in order to retain the favour of the court and his military commands, which afforded him the opportunity of amassing enormous wealth. as for antonina and theodora, the revelations of the "secret history" exhibit a mixture of crime and debauchery not less hideous than that displayed by messalina. justinian is represented as a monstrous tyrant, at once cunning and stupid, "like an ass," in the the words of the historian, and as the wickedest man that ever lived. the author declares that he and his wife are spirits or demons, who have assumed the form of human beings in order to inflict the greatest possible evils upon mankind. these accusations seem to be founded sometimes upon fact, sometimes upon vague rumours and blind gossip. generally speaking, the author of the "secret history" seems sincere, but at the same time he shows a narrowness by confounding all justinian's acts in one sweeping censure, and in attributing to him the most incredible refinements of political perversity. critics have asked the question whether the author of such a work can be procopius of caesarea, the impartial historian of the wars. direct proofs of authenticity are wanting, since the most ancient authors who attribute it to him--suidas and nicephorus callistus--lived centuries later.[4] but it is easy to understand that a work of this kind could not be acknowledged by its author, or published during the lifetime of justinian. in later times, it circulated privately, until the lapse of time had rendered the byzantine court indifferent to the hideous picture of the vices of a previous age. the work is evidently that of a contemporary of justinian; it can only have been written by a functionary familiar with the ins and outs of court intrigue, who had private grievances of his own to avenge. it is true that it sheds little lustre upon the character of procopius, since it exhibits him as defaming the character of the masters whom he had formerly served and flattered. but this kind of inconsistency is not uncommon in writers of memoirs, who often revenge themselves posthumously by blackening the reputation of their former masters. although the author writes under the influence of the most violent resentment, there seems no reason to doubt that, although details may be exaggerated, the work on the whole gives a faithful picture of the byzantine court of the period. the following sketch of the "character and histories of procopius" from gibbon,[5] although modern authorities have taken exception to it in certain points, will be read with interest: "the events of justinian's reign, which excite our curious attention by their number, variety, and importance, are diligently related by the secretary of belisarius, a rhetorician, whom eloquence had promoted to the rank of senator and praefect of constantinople. according to the vicissitudes of courage or servitude, of favour or disgrace, procopius successively composed the _history_, the _panegyric_, and the _satire_ of his own times. the eight books of the persian, vandalic, and gothic wars, which are continued in the five books of agathias, deserve our esteem as a laborious and successful imitation of the attic, or at least of the asiatic, writers of ancient greece. his facts are collected from the personal experience and free conversations of a soldier, a statesman, and a traveller; his style continually aspires, and often attains, to the merit of strength and elegance; his reflections, more especially in the speeches which he too frequently inserts, contain a rich fund of political knowledge; and the historian, excited by the generous ambition of pleasing and instructing posterity, appears to disdain the prejudices of the people and the flattery of courts. the writings of procopius were read and applauded by his contemporaries; but, although he respectfully laid them at the foot of the throne, the pride of justinian must have been wounded by the praise of an hero who perpetually eclipses the glory of his inactive sovereign. the conscious dignity of independence was subdued by the hopes and fears of a slave, and the secretary of belisarius laboured for pardon and reward in the six books of imperial _edifices._[6] he had dexterously chosen a subject of apparent splendour, in which he could loudly celebrate the genius, the magnificence, and the piety of a prince, who, both as a conqueror and legislator, had surpassed the puerile virtues of cyrus and themistocles. disappointment might urge the flatterer to secret revenge, and the first glance of favour might again tempt him to suspend and suppress a libel, in which the roman cyrus is degraded into an odious and contemptible tyrant, in which both the emperor and his consort theodora are seriously represented as two demons, who had assumed a human form for the destruction of mankind. such base inconsistency must doubtless sully the reputation and detract from the credit of procopius; yet, after the venom of his malignity has been suffered to exhale, the residue of the 'anecdotes,' even the most disgraceful facts, some of which had been tenderly hinted in his public history, are established by their internal evidence, or the authentic monuments of the times."[7] it remains to add that in some passages, owing to imperfections in the text or the involved nature of the sentences, it is difficult to feel sure as to the meaning. in these the translator can only hope to have given a rendering which harmonises with the context and is generally intelligible, even if the greek does not seem to have been strictly followed. for a clear and succinct account of the reign of justinian, the four chapters in gibbon (xl.-xliv.), which are generally admitted to be the most successful in his great work, should be read. contents introduction arrangement of the work--the manner in which it has been drawn up--the causes of events omitted in previous writings--the duty of the historian towards posterity--lessons necessary to tyrants--semiramis, sardanapalus, and nero--facts relating to belisarius, justinian, and theodora. chapter i birth and character of antonina--her marriage with belisarius--her adulterous amours--services rendered by her to the empress theodora--her passion for the thracian theodosius--adoption of the latter--the lovers surprised by belisarius--his weakness--revelation made by the slave macedonia--flight of theodosius--vengeance of antonina upon macedonia, and upon constantine, who had spoken insultingly of her--theodosius refuses to return to her until the departure of her son photius--retirement of photius--demands of theodosius--his return--infatuation of belisarius--his return to byzantium--theodosius enters a cloister at ephesus--despair of antonina--she causes him to be recalled--his resistance--his secret return. chapter ii departure of belisarius, accompanied by the "consular" photius, for the war against chosroes, king of persia--antonina remains at byzantium--her intrigues against photius--the latter denounces her adulterous intimacy with theodosius--indignation of belisarius--his agreement with photius--his vengeance postponed--entry of the roman army into persia--downfall of john the cappadocian--antonina's perjuries--she sets out for the army--theodosius sent back to ephesus--capture of sisauranum--arrival of antonina--retirement of belisarius--arethas and the saracens--colchis or lazica invaded by chosroes--capture of petra--reverse sustained by chosroes--the huns defeated by valerian--insurrectionist movement amongst the persians--letter of theodora to zaberganes--return of chosroes to persia. chapter iii arrest of antonina--hesitation of belisarius--photius repairs to ephesus, and extorts from calligonus a confession of his mistress's secrets--theodosius, having taken refuge in a temple, is given up by andreas the bishop--intervention of theodora--photius removes theodosius, and puts him away in cilicia--the latter and calligonus set free--the empress hands over antonina's enemies to her--her vengeance--punishment of the senator theodosius--forced reconciliation between belisarius and his wife--arrest of photius: his firmness under torture--calligonus restored to antonina--theodosius restored to her arms--the empress's favours--she promises him a high military command--his death from dysentery--long imprisonment of photius--sacred asylums violated--weakness displayed by the priests--deliverance of photius, who enters a convent at jerusalem--perjury of belisarius--his punishment--failure of the third expedition against chosroes--capture of callinikus--roman prisoners--belisarius accused of treachery and cowardice. chapter iv illness of justinian--resolutions of the army consequent upon his supposed death--peter and john the glutton denounce belisarius and buzes--the latter put away and tortured--disgrace of belisarius--he is superseded by martin in the command of the army of the east--his treasures carried away by theodora--his friendship for antonina--his letter to belisarius--submission of the latter to his wife--division of his fortune--betrothal of joannina, his daughter, to anastasius, grandson of theodora--belisarius appointed count of the royal stable and again commander of the army in italy--comparison of the two expeditions. chapter v conduct of belisarius in italy--his greed--defection of herodianus--loss of spoletum--success of totila and his goths--rupture with john--betrothal of the latter to justina, daughter of germanus--recall of belisarius--perusia taken by the goths--the marriage between joannina and anastasius consummated by a trick on the part of the dying empress--return of antonina, who separates the young pair--belisarius despised for his weakness--sergius causes the loss of the roman army in africa--murder of pegasius by solomon--the vengeance of heaven. chapter vi history of justin and his two brothers, poor illyrian husbandmen--their enrolment in the army--their admission into the palace guards, in the reign of leo--justin condemned to death, during the reign of anastasius, by the general john kyrtus, for some breach of discipline--his escape by divine intervention--he becomes praefect of the praetorian guards--in spite of his ignorance, he is proclaimed emperor--the way in which he was assisted to sign imperial documents--the empress lupicina-euphemia--justinian, the nephew of justin, the real master of the empire--his cruelty, his avarice, his inconsistency in regard to the laws--he oppresses italy, africa, and the rest of the empire--amantius condemned, to avenge an outrage upon the bishop john--perjury towards vitalianus. chapter vii byzantium divided between two factions: the blues and the greens--justinian puts himself at the head of the former--the empire entirely upset by the quarrels between these factions--the blues dress their hair after the manner of the huns--their general attire--their excesses--behaviour of the greens--corruption of the morals of young men--murder committed with impunity--inaction on the part of the authorities--acts of violence committed upon both sexes--a woman throws herself into the sea to save her virtue--culpability of justinian--his partiality for the oppressors, upon whom he bestows favours and dignities. chapter viii calamities in the provinces--justinian's apathy--waste of the public money during his reign--useless presents of money made to the huns--extravagance in buildings on the sea-shore--attack upon the fortunes of private individuals--description of justinian's personal appearance--his resemblance to domitian--domitian's wife--alterations in established institutions. chapter ix the bear-keeper acacius, theodora's father--his widow loses her place in the amphitheatre of the greens and takes another in that of the blues--her daughters--the beginning of theodora's career--her precocious immorality--her accomplishments--her debaucheries--her intercourse with hecebolus, governor of pentapolis--her return from the east--justinian, enamoured of her, wishes to marry her--assassination of hypatius--the praefect theodotus colocynthius--punishment of malefactors--his exile and death. chapter x the empress euphemia--her opposition to the marriage of justinian and theodora--justin repeals the law prohibiting the marriage of a patrician with a stage-performer--justinian and theodora colleagues on the throne--death of justin--effect of the marriage--adulation of the senate, clergy, people, and army--general feeling of discouragement--personal advantages of theodora--pretended antagonism between her and justinian--theodora deceives the christians and the factions--consolidation of despotism. chapter xi legislative innovations--avarice and cruelty of justinian--barbarian invasions provoked--exorbitant subsidies to the chiefs of the huns and chosroes king of persia, followed by disturbances and violation of truce--saracens, slavs, antes, and other barbarous peoples--desolation of the provinces--religious persecutions and confiscation of church property--montanists, sabbatians, arians, and samaritans--pretended conversions--manicheans and polytheists--caesarea, the author's birthplace--revolt of the peasants under julian--hellenism--law against paederasty--persecution of astrologers--continuous emigration. chapter xii downfall and death of zeno, grandson of anthemius, emperor of the west--robbery of tatian, demosthenes, the wealthy hilara, dionysus of libanus and john of edessa--forged wills--theodora and justinian evil spirits, not simple human beings--justinian the putative son of sabbatius--his mother's intimate relations with a spirit--the adventure of a monk--justinian's temperate manner of living--his fondness for women--theodora's intercourse with a spirit--reputation of macedonia during justin's time--her prediction to theodora--dream of her marriage with the prince of the demons. chapter xiii justinian's qualities--his accessibility--his partiality for the clergy--his gifts to the churches--his passion for blood and money, shared by him with theodora--flattery of tribonianus--justinian's fickleness and ill-faith--venality of justice--corruption of officials--justinian's fasting and temperate mode of life. chapter xiv abolition of various old customs--the attributes of the quaestor and imperial secretaries--the senate a mere cipher--corruption of the "referendaries"--guilty conduct of zeno, the cilician. chapter xv cruelty of theodora--her voluptuous life--her ambition--her character and justinian's compared--her harshness towards persons of rank--their servility--pretended mildness of justinian--theodora's eagerness for vengeance--her partiality--the insult offered by her to a patrician--her stay at heraeum, on the sea-shore. chapter xvi assassination of amalasunta, queen of the goths, by peter, theodora's agent--the secretary, priscus, obliged to enter a cloister--justinian's hypocrisy--disgrace of areobindus, theodora's lover--her way of getting rid of persons of rank--punishment of basianus--false accusation against diogenes, a member of the municipal council--suborning of witnesses--theodora's courage. chapter xvii murder of callinicus, governor of cilicia--his property confiscated by justinian--theodora's severe measures against prostitutes--she compels two girls of noble birth to marry--her frequent abortions--disappearance of her natural son, john--corrupt morals of the ladies of the capital--theodora disposes of ecclesiastical dignities--takes upon herself the general superintendence of marriages--adventure of saturninus--persecution of john of cappadocia. chapter xviii justinian, a devil in the form of a man, causes the destruction of millions of men--his policy towards the vandals, goths, and other barbarians--chosroes and the persians--invasion of the huns, saracens, and others--justinian's theological studies--religious persecution--divine anger--inundations, earthquakes, and the plague. chapter xix a dream relating to justinian's avarice--the vast treasures of anastasius squandered by justinian--he makes himself master of the fortunes of private individuals by false accusations, and squanders them in presents of money to the barbarians, who plunder the empire--fulfilment of the dream. chapter xx justinian impoverishes private individuals by "monopolies"--two new magistrates appointed at constantinople--praetor of the people to judge cases of robbery--legislation in regard to paederasty and female morality--establishment of an inquisition against heretics--condemnations and confiscations--degradation of the quaestorship in the hands of junilus and constantine--their venality. chapter xxi the impost called "aerikon"--exactions authorised by justinian--the property of john the cappadocian confiscated--the farming of the taxes entrusted to salaried commissioners--increased spoliation--oath taken against venality--increasing corruption of officials--the thracians and illyrians at first check the depredations of the huns, goths, and other barbarians, and then, in turn, take to plundering themselves. chapter xxii john of cappadocia replaced by theodotus, and theodotus by peter barsyames, the syrian, an old usurer--his greed--he suppresses the gratuities to the soldiers--traffic in every kind of employment--speculation in wheat--scarcity of provisions at byzantium--discontent--barsyames upheld by theodora and his own sorceries--his connection with the manicheans--their influence over justinian--barsyames supersedes john of palestine as treasury minister--he abolishes the assistance rendered to the unfortunate. chapter xxiii ruin of private properties--abolition of the remission of arrears of taxes, even in the case of cities taken by the barbarians--the imposts called syn[=o]n[=e], epibol[=e], and diagraph[=e]--soldiers billeted in private houses. chapter xxiv oppression of the soldiers by the logothetes--division of the soldiers into three classes--their promotion suspended--their pay diverted to other purposes--the diminishing army--praetorian soldiers disbanded--alexander the logothete in italy--the general's aides-de-camp--the frontier garrisons abandoned--palace guards, scholares, and supernumeraries--armenians--peter, the master of offices, the murderer of amalasunta--palace officials, domestics, and protectors--suppression of the quinquennial gratuity--the imperial officers and dignitaries. chapter xxv unjust treatment of merchants, mariners, and artisans--the straits of the bosphorus and the hellespont burdened with custom-house dues--enormous dues levied by addeus in the port of byzantium--change in the silver coinage: its depreciation--monopoly of the silk trade--ruin of berytus and tyre--malversations of peter barsyames and his successors--tyranny of theodora and avarice of justinian. chapter xxvi destruction of city decorations and ornaments--advocates deprived of their fees by the institution of arbitrators--physicians and professors deprived of their pensions--public spectacles discontinued--the consulship suppressed--scarcity of corn and water at byzantium, rome, and alexandria--generosity of theodoric, the conqueror of italy--greed of alexander forficula--disbanding of the garrison of thermopylae--spoliation of athens and other greek cities--hephaestus and diocletian. chapter xxvii conduct of justinian and theodora in regard to the clergy and council of chalcedon--arsenius the samaritan persecutes the christians of scythopolis with impunity--paul, archbishop of alexandria, has the deacon psoes put to death--rhodon, the governor, by his orders, tortures him: but he is dismissed, and then put to death, together with arsenius, through the influence of theodora--liberius, the new governor, and pelagius, legate of pope vigilius at alexandria, depose paul, who buys back the favour of justinian--resistance of vigilius--faustinus, governor of palestine, denounced by the christians as a samaritan--his condemnation by the senate--the sentence annulled by justinian--outrages upon the christians. chapter xxviii laws changed for money considerations--affair of the church of emesa--priscus the forger--a hundred years' prescription granted to the churches--mission of longinus--persecution of the jews at the passover--justinian's intolerance. chapter xxix justinian's hypocrisy--letters sent to both liberius and john laxarion, confirming them as governors of egypt--intervention of pelagius and eudaemon--murder of john--liberius acquitted by the senate--fine inflicted by justinian--confiscation of the inheritances of eudaemon, euphratas, and irenaeus--new law as to the inheritances of municipal councillors--spoliation of the daughter of anatolia and ascalon, the widow of mamilianus--affair of tarsus--malthanes and the blues of cilicia--unpunished assassinations--justinian's corruptness--leo the referendary. chapter xxx the "posts" and "spies"--rapidity of the imperial couriers--their chief routes--superiority of the persians--reverses of the romans in lazica at the hands of chosroes--the army commissariat--spoliation of the lawyer evangelius--justinian's sarcasm--he and theodora required their feet to be kissed by those who had audience of them--their titles of "master" and "mistress"--the palace crowded by applicants for audiences--the death of justinian alone will show how the vast wealth of the empire has been spent. introduction i have thus described the fortunes of the romans in their wars up to the present day, as far as possible assigning the description of events to their proper times and places. what follows will not be arranged with the same exactness, but everything shall be written down as it took place throughout the whole extent of the roman empire. my reason for this is, that it would not have been expedient for me to describe these events fully while those who were their authors were still alive; for, had i done so, i could neither have escaped the notice of the multitude of spies, nor, had i been detected, could i have avoided a most horrible death; for i could not even have relied upon my nearest relatives with confidence. indeed, i have been forced to conceal the real causes of many of the events recounted in my former books. it will now be my duty, in this part of my history, to tell what has hitherto remained untold, and to state the real motives and origin of the actions which i have already recounted. but, when undertaking this new task, how painful and hard will it be, to be obliged to falter and contradict myself as to what i have said about the lives of justinian and theodora: and particularly so, when i reflect that what i am about to write will not appear to future generations either credible or probable, especially when a long lapse of years shall have made them old stories; for which reason i fear that i may be looked upon as a romancer, and reckoned among playwrights. however, i shall have the courage not to shrink from this important work, because my story will not lack witnesses; for the men of to-day, who are the best informed witnesses of these facts, will hand on trustworthy testimony of their truth to posterity. yet, when i was about to undertake this work, another objection often presented itself to my mind, and for a long time held me in suspense. i doubted whether it would be right to hand down these events to posterity; for the wickedest actions had better remain unknown to future times than come to the ears of tyrants, and be imitated by them. for most rulers are easily led by lack of knowledge into imitating the evil deeds of their predecessors, and find it their easiest plan to walk in the evil ways of their forefathers. later, however, i was urged to record these matters, by the reflection that those who hereafter may wish to play the tyrant will clearly see, in the first place, that it is probable that retribution will fall upon them for the evil that they may do, seeing that this was what befell these people; and, secondly, that their actions and habits of life will be published abroad for all time, and therefore they will perhaps be less ready to transgress. who, among posterity, would have known of the licentious life of semiramis, or of the madness of sardanapalus or nero, if no memorials of them had been left to us by contemporary writers? the description of such things, too, will not be entirely without value to such as hereafter may be so treated by tyrants; for unhappy people are wont to console themselves by the thought that they are not the only persons who have so suffered. for these reasons, i shall first give a description of the evil wrought by belisarius, and afterwards i shall describe the misdeeds of justinian and theodora. chapter i the wife of belisarius, whom i have spoken of in my previous writings, was the daughter and grand-daughter of chariot-drivers, men who had practised their art in the circus at byzantium and at thessalonica. her mother was one of the prostitutes of the theatre. she herself at first lived a lewd life, giving herself up to unbridled debauchery; besides this, she devoted herself to the study of the drugs which had long been used in her family, and learned the properties of those which were essential for carrying out her plans. at last she was betrothed and married to belisarius, although she had already borne many children. she formed adulterous connections as soon as she was married, but took pains to conceal the fact, by making use of familiar artifices, not out of any respect for her husband (for she never felt any shame at any crime whatever, and hoodwinked him by enchantments), but because she dreaded the vengeance of the empress; for theodora was very bitter against her, and had already shown her teeth. but, after she had made theodora her humble friend by helping her when in the greatest difficulties, first of all by making away with silverius, as shall be told hereafter, and afterwards by ruining john of cappadocia, as i have already described, she became less timid, and, scorning all concealment, shrank from no kind of wickedness. there was a thracian youth, named theodosius, in the household of belisarius, who by descent was of the eunomian faith. on the eve of his departure for libya, belisarius held the youth over the font, received him into his arms after baptism, and thenceforth made him a member of his household, with the consent of his wife, according to the christian rite of adoption. antonina therefore received theodosius as a son consecrated by religion, and in consequence loved him, paid him especial attention, and obtained complete dominion over him. afterwards, during this voyage, she became madly enamoured of him, and, being beside herself with passion, cast away all fear of everything human or divine, together with all traces of modesty, and enjoyed him at first in secret, afterwards even in the presence of her servants and handmaidens; for she was by this time so mad with lust, that she disregarded everything that stood in the way of her passion. once, when they were at carthage, belisarius caught her in the act, but permitted himself to be deceived by his wife. he found them both together in an underground chamber, and was furiously enraged at the sight; but she showed no sign of fear or a desire to avoid him, and said, "i came to this place with this youth, to hide the most precious part of our plunder, that the emperor might not come to know of it." this she said by way of an excuse, and he, pretending to be convinced, let it pass, although he saw that the belt which held theodosius's drawers over his private parts was undone; for he was so overpowered by his love for the creature that he preferred not to believe his own eyes. however, antonina's debauchery went on from bad to worse, till it reached a shameful pitch. all who beheld it were silent, except one slave woman, named macedonia, who, when belisarius was at syracuse after the conquest of sicily, first made her master swear the most solemn oaths that he never would betray her to her mistress, and then told him the whole story, bringing as her witnesses two boys who attended on antonina's bed-chamber. when belisarius heard this, he told some of his guards to make away with theodosius, but the latter, being warned in time, fled to ephesus: for the greater part of belisarius's followers, influenced by the natural weakness of his character, were at more pains to please his wife than to show their devotion to him; and this was why they disclosed to her the orders they had received concerning theodosius. when constantine saw belisarius's sorrow at what had befallen him, he sympathized with him, but was so imprudent as to add: "for my own part, i would have killed the woman rather than the youth." this having been reported to antonina, she conceived a secret hatred for him, until she could make him feel the weight of her resentment; for she was like a scorpion, and knew how to hide her venom. not long afterwards, either by enchantments or by caresses, she persuaded her husband that the accusation brought against her was false; whereupon, without any hesitation, he sent for theodosius, and promised to deliver up to his wife macedonia and the boys, which he afterwards did. it is said that she first cut out their tongues, and then ordered them to be hewn in pieces, put into sacks and thrown into the sea. in this bloody deed she was assisted by one of her slaves named eugenius, who had also been one of those who perpetrated the outrage on silverius. shortly afterwards, belisarius was persuaded by his wife to kill constantine. what i have already recounted about praesidius and his daggers belongs to this period. belisarius would have let him go, but antonina would not rest until she had exacted vengeance for the words which i have just repeated. this murder stirred up a great hatred against belisarius on the part of the emperor and of the chief nobles of the empire. such was the course of events. meanwhile, theodosius refused to return to italy, where belisarius and antonina were then staying, unless photius were sent out of the way; for photius was naturally disposed to show his spite against anyone who supplanted him in another's good graces; but he was quite right in feeling jealous of theodosius, because he himself, although antonina's son, was quite neglected, whereas the other was exceedingly powerful and had amassed great riches. they say that he had taken treasure amounting to a hundred centenars of gold [about â£400,000] from the treasure-houses of the two cities of carthage and ravenna, since he had obtained sole and absolute control of the management of them. when antonina heard this determination of theodosius, she never ceased to lay traps for her son and to concoct unnatural plots against him, until she made him see that he must leave her and retire to byzantium; for he could no longer endure the designs against his life. at the same time she made theodosius return to italy, where she enjoyed to the full the society of her lover, thanks to the easy good-nature of her husband. later on, she returned to byzantium in company with both of them. it was there that theodosius became alarmed lest their intimacy should become known, and was greatly embarrassed, not knowing what to do. that it could remain undetected to the end he felt was impossible, for he saw that the woman was no longer able to conceal her passion, and indulge it in secret, but was an open and avowed adulteress, and did not blush to be called so. for this reason he returned to ephesus, and after having submitted to the tonsure, joined the monastic order. at this antonina entirely lost her reason, showed her distress by putting on mourning and by her general behaviour, and roamed about the house, wailing and lamenting (even in the presence of her husband) the good friend she had lost--so faithful, so pleasant, so tender a companion, so prompt in action. at last she even won over her husband, who began to utter the same lamentations. the poor fool kept calling for the return of his well-beloved theodosius, and afterwards went to the emperor and besought him and the empress, till he prevailed upon them to send for theodosius, as a man whose services always had been and always would be indispensable in the household. theodosius, however, refused to obey, declaring that it was his fixed determination to remain in the cloister and embrace the monastic life. but this language was by no means sincere, for it was his intention, as soon as belisarius left the country, to rejoin antonina by stealth at byzantium, as, in fact, he did. chapter ii shortly afterwards belisarius was sent by the emperor to conduct the war against chosroes, and photius accompanied him. antonina remained behind, contrary to her usual custom; for, before this, she had always desired to accompany her husband on all his travels wherever he went, for fear that, when he was by himself, he might return to his senses, and, despising her enchantments, form a true estimate of her character. but now, in order that theodosius might have free access to her, antonina began to intrigue in order to get photius out of her way. she induced some of belisarius's suite to lose no opportunity of provoking and insulting him, while she herself wrote letters almost every day, in which she continually slandered her son and set every one against him. driven to bay, the young man was forced to accuse his mother, and, when a witness arrived from byzantium who told him of theodosius's secret commerce with antonina, photius led him straightway into the presence of belisarius and ordered him to reveal the whole story. when belisarius learned this, he flew into a furious rage, fell at photius's feet, and besought him to avenge him for the cruel wrongs which he had received at the hands of those who should have been the last to treat him in such a manner. "my dearest boy," he exclaimed, "you have never known your father, whoever he may have been, for he ended his life while you were still in your nurse's arms; his property has been of little or no assistance to you, for he was by no means wealthy. bred under my care, though i was but your stepfather, you have now reached an age when you are capable of assisting me to avenge the wrongs from which i suffer. i have raised you to the consulship, and have heaped riches upon you, so that i may justly be regarded by you as your father, your mother, and your whole family; for it is not by the ties of blood but by deeds that men are accustomed to measure their attachment to each other. the hour has now come when you must not remain an indifferent spectator of the ruin of my house and of the loss with which i am threatened, of so large a sum of money, nor of the immeasurable shame which your mother has incurred in the sight of all men. remember that the sins of women reflect disgrace not only on their husbands, but also upon their children, whose honour suffers all the more because of their natural likeness to their mothers. "be well assured that, for my own part, i love my wife with all my heart; and should it be granted to me to punish the dishonourer of my house, i will do her no hurt; but, as long as theodosius remains alive, i cannot condone her misconduct." on hearing these words photius replied that he would do all that he could to aid his stepfather, but, at the same time, he feared that he himself might come to some harm by so doing; for he was unable to feel any confidence in belisarius, because of his weakness of character, especially where his wife was concerned. he dreaded the fate of macedonia, and of many other victims. for this reason he insisted that belisarius should swear fidelity to him by the most sacred oaths known to christians, and they bound themselves never to abandon each other, even at the cost of their lives. for the present, they both agreed that it would be unwise to make any attempt; and they resolved to wait until antonina had left byzantium to join them, and theodosius had returned to ephesus, which would give photius the opportunity of going thither and easily disposing of both theodosius and his fortune. they had just invaded the persian territory with all their forces, and during this time the ruin of john of cappadocia was accomplished at byzantium, as i have told in the former books of my history. i have there only been silent, through fear, on one point, that it was not by mere hazard that antonina succeeded in deceiving john and his daughter, but by numerous oaths, sworn on all that christians deem most holy, she made them believe that she intended to do them no harm. after this, having risen greatly in favour with the empress, she sent theodosius to ephesus, and herself, foreseeing no trouble, set out for the east. belisarius had just captured the fortress of sisauranum, when he was told of his wife's arrival; whereupon he immediately ordered his army to turn back, disregarding the interests of the empire for the sake of his private feelings. certain matters had indeed happened, as i have already set forth, which made a retreat advisable, but his wife's presence hastened it considerably. but, as i said at the beginning, i did not then think it safe to describe the real motives of men's actions. belisarius was reproached by all the romans for having sacrificed the interests of his country to his domestic affairs. the reason was that, in his first transport of passion against his wife, he could not bring himself to go far away from roman territory; for he felt that the nearer he was, the easier it would be for him to take vengeance upon theodosius, as soon as he heard of the arrival of antonina. he therefore ordered arethas and his people to cross the river tigris, and they returned home, without having performed anything worthy of record, while he himself took care not to retire more than an hour's journey from the roman frontier. the fortress of sisauranum, indeed, for an active man, is not more than a day's journey from the frontier by way of nisibis, and only half that distance if one goes by another route. but had he chosen to cross the river tigris at first with all his host, i have no doubt that he would have been able to carry off all the riches of assyria, and extend his conquests as far as the city of ctesiphon, without meeting with any opposition. he might even have secured the release of the antiochians, and all the other romans who were there in captivity, before returning home. furthermore, he was chiefly to blame for the extreme ease with which chosroes led his army home from colchis. i will now relate how this came to pass. when chosroes, the son of cabades, invaded colchis, with the result which i have recounted elsewhere, and took petra, the medes nevertheless sustained severe losses, both in battle and owing to the difficulties of the country; for, as i have said already, lazica is a country almost inaccessible, owing to its rocks and precipices. they had at the same time been attacked by pestilence, which carried off the greater part of the troops, and many died from want of food and necessaries. it was at this crisis of affairs that certain men from persia came into that country, bringing the news that belisarius had beaten nabedes in a battle near the city of nisibis, and was pressing forward; that he had taken the fortress of sisauranum, and had made prisoners of bleschames and eight hundred persian lancers; that another corps of romans under arethas, the chief of the saracens, had been detached to cross the tigris, and ravage the land to the east of that river, which up to that time had remained free from invasion. it happened also that the army of huns, whom chosroes had sent into roman armenia, in order, by this diversion, to prevent the romans from hindering his expedition against the lazi, had fallen in with and been defeated by valerian, at the head of a roman army, and almost annihilated. when this news was brought to the persians, having been reduced to desperate straits by their ill success at lazica, they feared that, if an army should cut them off in their critical position, they might all die of hunger amidst the crags and precipices of that inaccessible country. they feared, too, for their children, their wives and their country; and all the flower of chosroes' army railed bitterly at him for having broken his plighted word and violated the common law of nations, by invading a roman state in a most unwarrantable manner, in time of peace, and for having insulted an ancient and most powerful state which he would not be able to conquer in war. the soldiers were on the point of breaking out into revolt, had not chosroes, alarmed at the state of affairs, discovered a remedy for it. he read to them a letter which the empress had just written to zaberganes, in the following terms: "you must know, o zaberganes, since you were ambassador at our court not long ago, that we are well disposed towards you, and that we do not doubt that you have our interests at heart. you will easily realise the good opinion which i have formed of you, if you will persuade king chosroes to maintain peaceful relations with our empire. i promise you, in that case, the fullest recompense on the part of my husband, who never does anything without my advice." when chosroes had read this, he reproachfully asked the spokesmen of the persians whether they thought that that was an empire which was managed by a woman, and thus managed to quell their impetuosity; but, nevertheless, he retired from his position in alarm, expecting that his retreat would be cut off by belisarius and his forces; but, as he found himself unopposed on his march, he gladly made his way home. chapter iii when belisarius entered roman territory, he found that his wife had arrived from byzantium. he kept her in custody in disgrace, and was frequently minded to put her to death, but had not the heart to do so, being overpowered, i believe, by the ardour of his love. others, however, say that his mind and resolution were destroyed by the enchantments which his wife employed against him. meanwhile, photius arrived in a state of fury at ephesus, having taken with him in chains calligonus, a eunuch and pander of antonina, whom, by frequently flogging him during the journey, he forced to tell all his mistress's secrets. theodosius, however, was warned in time, and took sanctuary in the temple of st. john the apostle, which is revered in that town as a most sacred spot; but andrew, the bishop of ephesus, was bribed into delivering him up into the hands of photius. meanwhile, theodora was very anxious about antonina, when she heard what had befallen her. she summoned both belisarius and his wife to byzantium: on hearing this, photius sent theodosius away to cilicia, where his own spearmen were in winter quarters, giving orders to his escort to take the man thither as secretly as possible, and, when they arrived at cilicia, to guard him with exceeding strictness, and not to let anyone know in what part of the world he was. he himself, with calligonus and theodosius's treasures, which were very considerable, repaired to byzantium. at that juncture, the empress clearly proved to all that she knew how to recompense the murderous services which antonina had rendered her, by even greater crimes committed to further her plans. indeed, antonina had only betrayed one man to her by her wiles, her enemy john of cappadocia, but the empress caused the death of a large number of innocent persons, whom she sacrificed to the vengeance of antonina. the intimates of belisarius and photius were some of them flogged, although the only charge against them was their friendship for these two persons; and no one, to the present day, knows what afterwards became of them; while she sent others into exile, who were accused of the same crime--friendship for photius and belisarius. one of those who accompanied photius to ephesus, theodosius by name, although he had attained the rank of senator, was deprived of all his property, and imprisoned by theodora in an underground dungeon, where she kept him fastened to a kind of manger by a rope round his neck, which was so short that it was always quite tense and never slack. the wretched man was always forced to stand upright at this manger, and there to eat and sleep, and do all his other needs; there was no difference between him and an ass, save that he did not bray. no less than four months were passed by him in this condition, until he was seized with melancholy and became violently mad, upon which he was released from his prison and soon afterwards died. as for belisarius, she forced him against his will to become reconciled to his wife antonina. photius, by her orders, was tortured like a slave, and was beaten with rods upon the back and shoulders, and ordered to disclose where theodosius and the pander eunuch were. but he, although cruelly tortured, kept the oath which he had sworn inviolate; and although he was naturally weak and delicate, and had always been forced to take care of his health, and had never had any experience of ill-treatment or discomfort of any kind, yet he never revealed any of belisarius's secrets. but afterwards all that had hitherto been kept secret came to light. theodora discovered the whereabouts of calligonus, and restored him to antonina. she also found where theodosius was, and had him conveyed to byzantium, and, on his arrival, concealed him straightway in the palace. on the morrow she sent for antonina, and said to her, "dearest lady, a pearl fell into my hands yesterday, so beautiful that i think no one has ever seen its like. if you would like to see it, i will not grudge you the sight of it, but will gladly show it to you." antonina, who did not understand what was going on, begged eagerly to be shown the pearl, whereupon theodora led theodosius by the hand out of the chamber of one of her eunuchs and displayed him to her. antonina was at first speechless through excess of joy, and when she had recovered herself, warmly protested her gratitude to theodora, whom she called her saviour, her benefactress, and truly her mistress. theodora kept theodosius in her palace, treated him with every luxury, and even boasted that, before long, she would appoint him generalissimo of the roman armies. but divine justice, which carried him off through dysentery, prevented this. theodora had at her disposal secret and absolutely secluded dungeons, so solitary and so dark that it was impossible to distinguish between night and day. in one of these she kept photius imprisoned for a long time. he managed, however, to escape, not only once, but twice. the first time he took sanctuary in the church of the mother of god, which is one of the most sacred and famous churches in byzantium, wherein he sat as a suppliant at the holy table; but she ordered him to be removed by main force and again imprisoned. the second time he fled to the church of st. sophia, and suddenly took refuge in the holy font, which is held in reverence by christians above all other places; but the woman was able to drag him even from thence, for to her no place ever was sacred or unassailable; and she thought nothing of violating the holiest of sanctuaries. the christian priests and people were struck with horror at her impiety, but nevertheless yielded and submitted to her in everything. photius had lived in this condition for nearly three years, when the prophet zacharias appeared to him in a dream, commanded him to escape, and promised his assistance. relying upon this vision, he rose, escaped from his prison, and made his way to jerusalem in disguise; though tens of thousands must have seen the youth, yet none recognised him. there he shaved off all his hair, assumed the monastic habit, and in this manner escaped the tortures which theodora would have inflicted upon him. belisarius took no account of the oaths which he had sworn, and made no effort to avenge photius's sufferings, in spite of the solemn vows which he had made to do so. hereafter, probably by god's will, all his warlike enterprises failed. some time afterwards he was dispatched against the medes and chosroes, who had for the third time invaded the roman empire, and fell under suspicion of treachery, although he was considered to have performed a notable achievement in driving the enemy away from the frontier; but when chosroes, after crossing the euphrates, took the populous city of callinikus without a blow, and made slaves of tens of thousands of romans, belisarius remained quiet, and never so much as offered to attack the enemy, whereby he incurred the reproach of either treachery or cowardice. chapter iv about this time belisarius underwent another disgrace. the people of byzantium were ravaged by the pestilence of which i have already spoken. the emperor justinian was attacked by it so severely that it was reported that he had died. rumour spread these tidings abroad till they reached the roman camp, whereupon some of the chief officers said that, if the romans set up any other emperor in byzantium, they would not acknowledge him. shortly after this, the emperor recovered from his malady, whereupon the chiefs of the army accused one another of having used this language. the general peter, and john, surnamed "the glutton," declared that belisarius and buzes had used the words which i have just quoted. the empress theodora, thinking that these words applied to herself, was greatly enraged. she straightway summoned all the commanders to byzantium to make an inquiry into the matter, and suddenly sent for buzes to come into her private apartments, on the pretext of discussing important matters of business with him. there was in the palace an underground building, which was securely fastened, and as complicated as a labyrinth, and which might be compared to the nether world, wherein she kept imprisoned most of those who had offended her. into this pit she cast buzes; and although he was of a consular family, nothing was known for certain concerning him; as he sat in the darkness, he could not tell day from night; nor could he ask, for he who flung him his daily food never spoke, but acted like one dumb beast with another. all thought him dead, but none dared to mention him or allude to him. two years and four months afterwards, theodora relented and released him, and he appeared in the world like one raised from the dead; but ever afterwards he was short-sighted and diseased in body. such was the fate of buzes. belisarius, although none of the charges brought against him could be proved, was removed by the emperor, at the instance of theodora, from the command of the army in the east, which was given to martinus. the command of the doryphori[8] and hypaspitã¦[9] of belisarius, and of those of his servants who had distinguished themselves in war, was by his orders divided amongst the generals and certain of the palace eunuchs. they cast lots for these soldiers, together with their arms, and divided them amongst themselves as the lot fell. as for his friends and the many people who had before served under him, justinian forbade them to visit him. thus was seen in the city a piteous spectacle which men could scarce believe to be real, that of belisarius simply a private individual, almost alone, gloomy and thoughtful, ever dreading to be set upon and assassinated. when the empress learned that he had amassed much treasure in the east; she sent one of the palace eunuchs to fetch it away to the court. antonina, as i have already said, was now at variance with her husband, and the nearest and dearest friend of the empress, because she had just destroyed john of cappadocia. to please antonina, the empress arranged everything in such a fashion that she appeared to have pleaded for her husband's pardon, and to have saved him from these great disasters; whereby the unhappy man not only became finally reconciled to her, but her absolute slave, as though he had been preserved by her from death. this was brought about as follows: one day belisarius came early to the palace as usual, accompanied by a small and miserable retinue. he was ungraciously received by the emperor and empress, and even insulted in their presence by low-born villains. he went home towards evening, often turning himself about, and looking in every direction for those whom he expected to set upon him. in this state of dread, he went up to his chamber, and sat down alone upon his couch, without a brave man's spirit, and scarce remembering that he had ever been a man, but bathed with sweat, his head dizzy, trembling and despairing, racked by slavish fears and utterly unmanly thoughts. antonina, who knew nothing of what was going on, and was far from expecting what was about to come to pass, kept walking up and down the hall, on pretence of suffering from heartburn; for they still regarded each other with suspicion. meanwhile, an officer of the palace, named quadratus, came just after sunset, passed through the court, and suddenly appeared at the door of the men's apartments, saying that he brought a message from the empress. belisarius, on hearing him approach, drew up his hands and feet on to the bed, and lay on his back in the readiest posture to receive the final stroke, so completely had he lost his courage. quadratus, before entering, showed him the empress' letter. it ran as follows: "you are not ignorant, my good sir, of all your offences against me; but i owe so much to your wife, that i have determined to pardon all your offences for her sake, and i make her a present of your life. for the future you may be of good cheer as regards your life and fortune: we shall know by your future conduct what sort of husband you will be to your wife!" when belisarius read this, he was greatly excited with joy, and, as he wished at the same time to give some present proof of his gratitude, he straightway rose, and fell on his face at his wife's feet. he embraced her legs with either hand, and kissed the woman's ankles and the soles of her feet, declaring that it was to her that he owed his life and safety, and that hereafter he would be her faithful slave, and no longer her husband. the empress divided belisarius's fortune into two parts; she gave thirty centenars of gold to the emperor, and allowed belisarius to keep the rest. such was the fortune of the general belisarius, into whose hands fate had not long before given gelimer and vitiges as prisoners of war. the man's wealth had for a long time excited the jealousy of justinian and theodora, who considered it too great, and fit only for a king. they declared that he had secretly embezzled most of the property of gelimer and vitiges, which belonged to the state, and that he had restored a small part alone, and one hardly worthy of an emperor's acceptance. but, when they thought of what great things the man had done, and how they would raise unpopular clamour against themselves, especially as they had no ground whatever for accusing him of peculation, they desisted; but, on this occasion, the empress, having surprised him at a time when he was quite unmanned by fear, managed at one stroke to become mistress of his entire fortune; for she straightway established a relationship between them, betrothing joannina, belisarius's only daughter, to her grandson anastasius. belisarius now asked to be restored to his command, and to be nominated general of the army of the east, in order to conduct the war against chosroes and the medes, but antonina would not permit this; she declared that she had been insulted by her husband in those countries, and never wished to see them again. for this reason belisarius was appointed constable,[10] and was sent for a second time into italy, with the understanding, they say, with the emperor, that he should not ask for any money to defray the cost of this war, but should pay all its expenses out of his own private purse. everyone imagined that belisarius made these arrangements with his wife and with the emperor in order that he might get away from byzantium, and, as soon as he was outside the city walls, straightway take up arms and do some brave and manly deed against his wife and his oppressors. but he made light of all that had passed, forgot the oaths which he had sworn to photius and his other intimates, and followed his wife in a strange ecstasy of passion for her, though she was already sixty years of age. when he arrived in italy, things went wrong with him daily, for he had clearly incurred the enmity of heaven. in his former campaign against theodatus and vitiges, the tactics which he had adopted as general, though they were not thought to be suitable to the circumstances, yet, as a rule, turned out prosperously: in this second campaign, he gained the credit of having laid his plans better, as was to be expected from his greater experience in the art of war; but, as matters for the most part turned out ill, people began to have a poor opinion of him and his judgment. so true it is that human affairs are guided, not by men's counsel, but by the influence of heaven, which we commonly call fortune, because we see how events happen, but know not the cause which determines them. therefore, to that which seems to come to pass without reason is given the name of "chance." but this is a subject upon which everyone must form his own opinion. chapter v at the end of belisarius's second expedition to italy, he was obliged to retire in disgrace; for, as i have told already, he was unable for a space of five years to effect a landing on the continent, because he had no stronghold there, but spent the whole time in hovering off the coast. totila was very eager to meet him in the open field, but never found an opportunity, for both the roman general and all the army were afraid to fight. for this reason he recovered nothing of all that had been lost, but even lost rome as well, and pretty nearly everything else. during this time he became exceedingly avaricious and greedy for ignoble gain. because he had received no funds from the emperor, he plundered all the italian peoples of ravenna and sicily, and the rest of italy without mercy, by way of exacting vengeance for irregularities in their past lives. thus he fell upon herodianus, and asked him for money with the most dreadful threats; whereupon he, in his rage, threw off his allegiance to rome and went over with his troops to totila and the goths, and handed over to them the town of spoletum. i will now tell how belisarius fell out with john, the nephew of vitalianus, a matter which was exceedingly prejudicial to the interests of rome. the empress was so violently incensed against germanus, and showed her dislike of him so plainly, that no one dared to connect himself with him by marriage, although he was the emperor's nephew, and his children remained unmarried as long as she lived, while his daughter justina was also without a husband at the age of eighteen. for this reason, when john was sent by belisarius on a mission to byzantium, germanus was forced to enter upon negotiations with him with a view to marriage with his daughter, although such an alliance was far beneath him. when both had settled the matter to their satisfaction, they bound each other by the most solemn oaths, to use their best endeavours to bring about this alliance; for neither of them trusted the other, as john knew that he was seeking an alliance above his station, and germanus despaired of finding another husband for his daughter. the empress was beside herself at this, and endeavoured to thwart them in every possible way; but as her threats had no effect upon either, she openly threatened to put john to death. after this, john was ordered to return to italy, and, fearing antonina's designs upon him, held no further communication with belisarius until her departure for byzantium; for he had good reason to suspect that the empress had sent instructions to antonina to have him murdered; and when he considered the character of antonina and belisarius's infatuation for his wife, which made him yield to her in everything, he was greatly alarmed. from this time forth the power of rome, which had long been unstable, utterly fell to the ground for want of capable support. such were the fortunes of belisarius in the gothic war. after this, despairing of success, he begged the emperor to allow him to leave italy with all speed. when he heard that his prayer had been granted, he joyfully retired, bidding a long farewell to the roman army and the italians. he left the greater part of italy in the enemy's power and perusia in the last agonies of a terrible siege: while he was on his road home, it was taken, and endured all the miseries of a city taken by assault, as i have already related. in addition to his ill-success abroad, he also had to submit to a domestic misfortune, which came about as follows:--the empress theodora was eager to bring about the marriage of her grandson, anastasius, with belisarius's daughter, and wearied her parents with frequent letters on the subject; but they, not being desirous of contracting this alliance, put off the marriage until they could appear in person at byzantium, and when the empress sent for them, made the excuse that they could not leave italy. but she persisted in her determination to make her grandson master of belisarius's fortune, for she knew that the girl would be his heiress, as he had no other children. she did not, however, trust antonina's character, and feared lest, after her own death, antonina might prove unfaithful to her house, although she had found her so helpful in emergencies, and might break the compact. these considerations prompted her to a most abominable act. she made the boy and girl live together without any marriage ceremony, in violation of the laws. it is said that the girl was unwilling to cohabit with him, and that the empress had her secretly forced to do so, that the marriage might be consummated by the dishonour of the bride, and so the emperor might not be able to oppose it. after this had taken place, anastasius and the girl fell passionately in love with each other, and lived together in this manner for eight months. immediately after the empress's death, antonina came to byzantium. she found it easy to ignore the outrage which theodora had committed upon her, and, without considering that, if she united the girl to another, she would be no better than a harlot, she drove away theodora's grandson with insults, and forcibly separated her daughter from the man whom she loved. this action caused her to be regarded as one of the most heartless women upon earth, but nevertheless the mother obtained, without any difficulty, belisarius's approval of her conduct, on his return home. thus did this man's true character reveal itself. although he had sworn a solemn oath to photius and to several of his intimates and broken it, yet all men readily forgave him, because they suspected that the reason of his faithlessness was not the dominion of his wife over him, but his fear of theodora; but now that theodora was dead, as i have told you, he thought nothing about photius or any of his intimates, but entirely submitted to the sway of his wife, and her pander calligonus. then at last all men ceased to believe in him, scorned and flouted him, and railed at him for an idiot. such were the offences of belisarius, about which i have been obliged to speak freely in this place. in its proper place, i have said enough about the shortcomings of sergius, the son of bacchus, in libya. i have told how he was the chief cause of the ruin of the roman power in that country, how he broke the oath which he swore to the levathae on the gospels, and how he, without excuse, put to death the eighty ambassadors. i need only add in this place, that these men did not come to sergius with any treacherous intent, and that sergius had not the slightest reason for suspecting them, but having invited them to a banquet and taken an oath not to harm them, he cruelly butchered them. solomon, the roman army, and all the libyans were lost owing to this crime; for, in consequence of what he had done, especially after solomon's death, no officer or soldier would expose himself to the dangers of war. john, the son of sisinniolus, was especially averse to taking the field, out of the hatred which he bore to sergius, until areobindus arrived in libya. sergius was effeminate and unwarlike, very young both in years and in mind, excessively jealous and insolent to all men, luxurious in his habits, and inflated with pride. however, after he had become the accepted husband of the niece of antonina, belisarius's wife, the empress would not permit him to be punished in any way or removed from his office, although she saw distinctly that the state of affairs in libya threatened its utter ruin; and she even induced the emperor to pardon solomon, sergius's brother, for the murder of pegasius. how this came to pass i will now explain. after pegasius had ransomed solomon from captivity among the levathae, and the barbarians had returned home, solomon and pegasius, who had ransomed him, set out, accompanied by a few soldiers, to carthage. on the way pegasius reproached solomon with the wrong he had done, and bade him remember that heaven had only just rescued him from the enemy. solomon, enraged at being taunted with his captivity, straightway slew pegasius, and thus requited him for having ransomed him. but when solomon reached byzantium, the emperor absolved him from the guilt of murder, on the pretext that he had slain a traitor to the roman empire, and gave him letters of acquittal. solomon, having thus escaped all punishment for his crime, departed gladly for the east, to visit his own country and his family; but the vengeance of god fell upon him on the way, and removed him from amongst mankind. this is what happened in regard to solomon and pegasius. chapter vi i now come to the description of the private life and character of justinian and theodora, and of the manner in which they rent the roman empire asunder. at the time when leo occupied the imperial throne, three young husbandmen, of illyrian birth, named zimarchus, ditybistus, and justin of bederiane, in order to escape from their utter poverty at home, determined to enlist in the army. they made their way to byzantium on foot, with knapsacks of goat's-hair on their shoulders, containing nothing but a few biscuits which they had brought from home. on their arrival they were enrolled in the army, and chosen by the emperor amongst the palace guards, being all three very handsome young men. afterwards, when anastasius succeeded to the throne, war broke out with the isaurians who had rebelled against him. he sent a considerable army against them, under the command of john, surnamed "the hunchback." this john arrested justin for some offence and imprisoned him, and on the following day would have put him to death, had not a vision which he beheld in his sleep prevented him. he said that, in his dream, a man of great stature, and in every way more than human, bade him release the man whom he had that day cast into prison. when he awoke, he made light of this vision; and, although he saw again the same vision and heard the same words on the following night, not even then would he obey the command. but the vision appeared for the third time, and threatened him terribly if he did not do what he was commanded, and warned him that he would thereafter stand in great need of this man and his family when his wrath should fall upon him. thus did justin escape death. as time went on, this justin rose to great power. the emperor anastasius appointed him commander of the palace guard, and when that prince died, he, by the influence of his position, seized the throne. he was by this time an old man with one foot in the grave, so utterly ignorant of letters, that one may say that he did not know the alphabet--a thing which had never happened before amongst the romans. it had been customary for the emperor to sign the decrees which were issued by him with his own hand, whereas he neither made decrees, nor was capable of conducting affairs; but proclus, who acted as his quaestor and colleague, arranged everything at his own pleasure. however, in order that the emperor's signature might appear in public documents, his officers invented the following device. they had the shapes of four latin letters cut in a thin piece of wood, and then, having dipped the pen in the imperial ink used by the emperors in writing, they put it in the emperor's hand, and laying the piece of wood on the paper to be signed, they guided the emperor's hand and pen round the outline of the four letters, making it follow all the convolutions cut in the wood, and then retired with the result as the emperor's signature. this was how the affairs of the empire were managed under justin. his wife was named lupicina; she was a slave and a barbarian, whom he had bought for his mistress, and at the close of his life she ascended the throne with him. justin was not strong enough to do his subjects either good or harm; he was utterly simple, a very poor speaker, and a complete boor. justinian was his sister's son, who, when quite a young man, practically governed the state, and brought more woe upon the romans than anyone we have ever heard of before. he was ever ready to commit unrighteous murders and rob men of their estates, and thought nothing of making away with tens of thousands of men who had given him no cause for doing so. he had no respect for established institutions, but loved innovations in everything, and was, in short, the greatest destroyer of all the best of his country's institutions. as for the plague, of which i have made mention in the former books of my history, although it ravaged the whole earth, yet as many men escaped it as perished by it, some of them never taking the contagion, and others recovering from it. but no human being in all the roman empire could escape from this man, for he was like some second plague sent down from heaven to prey upon the whole human race, which left no man untouched. some he slew without cause, others he reduced to a struggle with poverty, so that their case was more piteous than that of the dead, and they prayed daily to be relieved from their misery even by the most cruel death, while he robbed others of their lives and their property at the same time. not content with ruining the roman empire, he carried out the conquest of italy and africa, merely that he might treat them in the same way, and destroy the inhabitants, together with those who were already his subjects. he had not been in authority ten days before he put to death amantius, the chief of the palace eunuchs, with several others. he had no complaint whatever against the man beyond that he had said something offensive about john the archbishop of the city. owing to this, he became the most dreaded of all men in the world. immediately afterwards he sent for the usurper vitalianus, to whom he had given the most solemn pledges for his safety, and had partaken of the christian sacrament with him. shortly afterwards, he conceived some suspicion of him, and made away with him and his companions in the palace, for no reason whatever, thus showing that he scorned to observe even the most solemn oaths. chapter vii in the former part of my history i have explained how the people had long been divided into two factions. justinian associated himself with one of these, the blues, which had previously favoured him, and was thus enabled to upset everything and throw all into disorder. thereby the roman constitution was beaten to its knees. however, all the blues did not agree to follow his views, but only those who were inclined to revolutionary measures. yet, as the evil spread, these very men came to be regarded as the most moderate of mankind, for they used their opportunities of doing wrong less than they might have done. nor did the revolutionists of the green faction remain idle, but they also, as far as they were able, continually perpetrated all kinds of excesses, although individuals of their number were continually being punished. this only made them bolder, for men, when they are treated harshly, usually become desperate. at this time justinian, by openly encouraging and provoking the blue faction, shook the roman empire to its foundation, like an earthquake or a flood, or as though each city had been taken by the enemy. everything was everywhere thrown into disorder; nothing was left alone. the laws and the whole fabric of the state were altogether upset, and became the very opposite of what they had been. first of all, the revolutionists altered the fashion of wearing the hair, for they cut it short, in a manner quite different to that of the rest of the romans. they never touched the moustache and beard, but let them grow like the persians: but they shaved the hair off the front part of their heads as far as the temples, and let it hang down long and in disorder behind, like the massagetae. wherefore they called this the hunnic fashion of wearing the hair. in the next place they all chose to wear richly-embroidered dresses, far finer than became their several stations in life, but they were able to pay for them out of their illicit gains. the sleeves of their tunics were made as tight as possible at the wrists, but from thence to the shoulder were of an astounding width, and whenever they moved their hands, in applauding in the theatre or the hippodrome, or encouraging the competitors, this part of the tunic was waved aloft, to convey to the ignorant the impression that they were so beautifully made and so strong that they were obliged to wear such robes as these to cover their muscles. they did not perceive that the empty width of their sleeves only made their bodies appear even more stunted than they were. the cloaks, drawers and shoes which they mostly affected were called after the huns, and made in their fashion. at first they almost all openly went about armed at night, but by day hid short two-edged swords upon their thighs under their cloaks. they gathered together in gangs as soon as it became dusk, and robbed respectable people in the market-place and in the narrow lanes, knocking men down and taking their cloaks, belts, gold buckles, and anything else that they had in their hands. some they murdered as well as robbed, that they might not tell others what had befallen them. these acts roused the indignation of all men, even the least disaffected members of the blue faction; but as they began not to spare even these, the greater part began to wear brazen belts and buckles and much smaller cloaks than became their station, lest their fine clothes should be their death, and, before the sun set, they went home and hid themselves. but the evil spread, and as the authorities in charge of the people did nothing to punish the criminals, these men became very daring; for crime, when encouraged to manifest itself openly, always increases enormously, seeing that even when punished it cannot be entirely suppressed. indeed, most men are naturally inclined to evil-doing. such was the behaviour of the blues. as for the opposite faction, some of them joined the bands of their opponents, hoping thus to be able to avenge themselves upon the party which had ill-used them; some fled secretly to other lands, while many were caught on the spot and killed by their adversaries, or by order of the government. a number of young men also joined this party without having previously taken any interest in such matters, being attracted by the power and the licence which it gave them to do evil. indeed, there was no sort of villany known amongst men which was not committed at this time unpunished. in the beginning men put away their own opponents, but, as time went on, they murdered men who had done them no hurt. many bribed the blues to kill their personal enemies, whom they straightway slew, and declared that they were greens, though they might never have seen them before. and these things were not done in the dark or by stealth, but at all hours of the day and in every part of the city, before the eyes, as it might be, of the chief men of the state; for they no longer needed to conceal their crimes, because they had no fear of punishment; but to kill an unarmed passer-by with one blow was a sort of claim to public esteem, and a means of proving one's strength and courage. life became so uncertain that people lost all expectation of security, for everyone continually had death before his eyes, and no place or time seemed to offer any hope of safety, seeing that men were slain indiscriminately in the holiest churches, and even during divine service. no one could trust friends or relations, for many were slain at the instance of their nearest of kin. no inquiry took place into such occurrences, but these blows fell unexpectedly upon everyone, and no one helped the fallen. laws and contracts, which were considered confirmed, had no longer any force; everything was thrown into confusion and settled by violence. the government resembled a despotism, not a securely established one, but one which was changed almost daily, and was ever beginning afresh. the minds of the chief magistrates seemed stricken with consternation, and their spirits cowed by fear of one single man. the judges gave sentence on disputed points not according to what they thought to be lawful and right, but according as each of the litigants was a friend or an enemy of the ruling faction; for any judge who disregarded their instructions was punished with death. many creditors also were compelled by main force to restore their bills to their debtors without having received anything of what was owing them, and many, against their will, had to bestow freedom upon their slaves. it is said that some ladies were forced to submit to the embraces of their own slaves; and the sons of leading men who had been mixed up with these youths, forced their fathers to hand over their property to them, and to do many other things against their will. many boys, with their fathers' knowledge, were forced to undergo dishonour at the hands of the blues, and women living with their own husbands were forced to submit to the like treatment. we are told that a woman, who was not over-well dressed, was sailing with her husband in a boat towards the suburb across the strait; they met on their way some men of this faction, who took her away from her husband with threats, and placed her in their own boat. when she entered the boat together with these young men, she secretly told her husband to take courage, and not to fear any evil for her. "never," said she, "will i permit myself to be outraged;" and while her husband was gazing on her with the greatest sorrow, she sprang into the sea, and was never seen again. such were the outrages which the people of this faction dared to commit in byzantium. yet all this did not so much gall the victims as justinian's offences against the state; for those who suffer most cruelly from evil-doers are in great part consoled by the expectation that the law and the authorities will avenge them. if they have any hope for the future, men bear their present sufferings with a much lighter heart; but when they are outraged by the established government, they are naturally much more hurt by the evil which befalls them, and the improbability of redress drives them to despair. justinian's fault was, not only that he turned a deaf ear to the complaints of the injured, but did not even disdain to behave himself as the avowed chief of this party; that he gave great sums of money to these youths, and kept many of them in his own retinue; that he even went so far as to appoint some of them to governments and other official posts. chapter viii these excesses took place not only in byzantium, but in every city of the empire: for these disorders were like bodily diseases, and spread from thence over the whole roman empire. but the emperor cared not at all for what was going on, although he daily beheld what took place in the hippodrome, for he was exceedingly stupid, very much like a dull-witted ass, which follows whoever holds its bridle, shaking its ears the while. this behaviour on the part of justinian ruined everything. as soon as he found himself the head of his uncle's empire, he at once did his utmost to squander the public treasure over which he now had control. for he lavished wealth extravagantly upon the huns who from time to time came across and, ever afterwards, the roman provinces were subjected to constant incursions; for these barbarians, having once tasted our wealth, could not tear themselves away from the road which led to it. justinian also threw away great sums upon the construction of large moles, as if he thought to restrain the force of the never-resting waves. he ran out stone breakwaters from the beach far into the water to divert the currents of the ocean, and, as it were, to match his wealth against the power of the sea. as for the private fortunes of individual romans, he confiscated them for his own use in all parts of the empire, either by accusing their possessors of some crime of which they were innocent, or by distorting their words into a free gift of their property to him. many were convicted on these charges of murder and other crimes, and in order to escape paying the penalty for them, gave him all that they had. some who were engaged in making frivolous claims to land belonging to their neighbours, when they found that they had no chance of winning their cause, as the law was against them, would make him a present of the land in dispute, and so get out of the difficulty. thus they gained his favour by a gift that cost them nothing, and got the better of their adversaries by the most illegal means. it will not be out of place, i think, to describe his personal appearance. he was neither tall nor too short, but of a medium height, not thin, but inclined to be fat. his face was round and not ill-favoured, and showed colour, even after a two days' fast. in a word, he greatly resembled domitian, vespasian's son, more than anybody else. this was the emperor whom the romans detested so much that they could not slake their hatred for him, even when they had torn him to pieces, but a decree of the senate was passed to remove his name from all documents, and that all statues of him should be destroyed; wherefore his name has been erased from every inscription at rome and everywhere else, except where it occurs in a list together with other emperors, and no statue of him is to be found in the roman empire, save one only, the history of which is as follows: domitian had married a lady of noble birth and admirable conduct, who never harmed anyone, and always disapproved of her husband's evil deeds. as she was so much beloved, the senate sent for her, after the death of domitian, and bade her ask whatever favour she pleased. all that she asked was to receive domitian's body for burial, and permission to erect a bronze statue to him in whatever place she might choose. the senate consented, and domitian's wife, not wishing to leave to posterity a memorial of the brutality of those who had butchered her husband, adopted the following plan. she collected the pieces of his body, pieced them accurately together, joined them properly, and sewed the body together again. she then sent for the statuaries, and bade them reproduce this pitiable object in a brazen statue. the workmen straightway made the statue, and his wife, having received it from them, set it up in the street which leads up to the capitol from the forum, on the right hand side, where to this day one may see domitian's statue, showing the marks of his tragic end. one may say that the whole of justinian's person, his expression, and all his features can be traced in this statue. such was his portrait; but it would be exceedingly difficult to give an accurate estimate of his character; he was an evil-doer, and yet easily led by the nose, being, in common parlance, a fool as well as a knave. he never was truthful with anyone, but always spoke and acted cunningly, yet any who chose could easily outwit him. his character was a sorry mixture of folly and bad principles. one may say of him what one of the peripatetic philosophers of old said long ago, that in men, as in the mixing of colours, the most opposite qualities combine. i will therefore only describe his disposition as far as i have been able to fathom it. this prince was deceitful, fond of crooked ways, artificial, given to hiding his wrath, double-faced, and cruel, exceedingly clever in concealing his thoughts, and never moved to tears either by joy or grief, but capable of weeping if the occasion required it. he was always a liar not merely on the spur of the moment; he drew up documents and swore the most solemn oaths to respect the covenants which he made with his subjects; then he would straightway break his plighted word and his oath, like the vilest of slaves, who perjure themselves and are only driven to confess through fear of torture. he was a faithless friend, an inexorable foe, and mad for murder and plunder; quarrelsome and revolutionary, easily led to do evil, never persuaded to act rightly, he was quick to contrive and carry out what was evil, but loathed even to hear of good actions. how could any man fully describe justinian's character? he had all these vices and other even greater ones, in larger proportion than any man; indeed, nature seemed to have taken away all other men's vices and to have implanted them all in this man's breast. besides all this, he was ever disposed to give ear to accusations, and quick to punish. he never tried a case before deciding it, but as soon as he had heard the plaintiff he straightway pronounced his judgment upon it. he wrote decrees, without the slightest hesitation, for the capture of fortresses, the burning of cities, the enslaving of whole races of men for no crime whatever, so that, if anyone were to reckon all the calamities of this nature which have befallen the roman people before his time, and weigh them against those which were brought about by him, i imagine that it would be found that this man was guilty of far more bloodshed than any ruler of previous times. he had no hesitation in coolly appropriating people's property, and did not even trouble himself to put forward any pretext or colourable legal ground for taking another man's goods; and, when he had got it, he was quite ready to squander it in foolish munificence or to spend it in unreasonable largesses to the barbarians. in fine, he neither had any property himself, nor would he suffer anyone else of all his subjects to have any; so that he did not seem to be so much governed by avarice as by jealousy of those who possessed wealth. he carelessly drove all the wealth of the romans out of the country, and was the cause of general impoverishment. such was the character of justinian, as far as i am able to describe it. chapter ix as for justinian's wife, i shall now describe her birth, how she was brought up, how she married him, and how in conjunction with him she utterly ruined the roman empire. there was one acacius at byzantium, of the green faction, who was keeper of the wild beasts used in the amphitheatre, and was called the bear-keeper. this man died of some malady during the reign of anastasius, and left three daughters, comito, theodora and anastasia, the eldest of whom was not yet seven years of age. his widow married her husband's successor in his house and profession; but the chief dancer of the green faction, named asterius, was easily bribed into taking away the office from this man and giving it to one who paid him for it: for the dancers had the power to manage these matters as they pleased. when theodora's mother saw the whole populace assembled in the amphitheatre to see the show of the wild beasts, she placed fillets on her daughters' heads and hands, and made them sit in the attitude of suppliants. the greens regarded their appeal with indifference, but the blues, who had lately lost their own bear-keeper, bestowed the office upon them. as the children grew up, their mother straightway sent them on the stage, for they were handsome girls. she did not send them on all at once, but as each one arrived at a fit age so to do. the eldest girl, comito, had already become one of the most celebrated prostitutes of her time. theodora, the next eldest, was dressed in a little sleeved tunic, such as a slave-girl would wear, and waited on her sister, carrying on her shoulders the stool in which she was wont to sit in public. theodora was still too young to have intercourse with a man after the manner of women, but she satisfied the unnatural passions of certain wretches, even the vilest slaves, who followed their masters to the theatre and amused their leisure by this infamy. she remained for some time also in a brothel, where she practised this hateful form of vice. as soon, however, as she reached the age of puberty, as she was handsome, her mother sent her into the theatrical troupe, and she straightway became a simple harlot, as old-fashioned people called it; for she was neither a musician nor a dancer, but merely prostituted herself to everyone whom she met, giving up every part of her body to debauchery. she associated chiefly with the theatrical "pantomimes," and took part in their performances, playing in comic scenes, for she was exceedingly witty and amusing; so that she soon became well known by her acting. she had no shame whatever, and no one ever saw her put out of countenance, but she lent herself to scandalous purposes without the least hesitation. she excelled in raising a laugh by being slapped on her puffed-out cheeks, and used to uncover herself so far as to show the spectators everything before and behind which decency forbids to be shown to men. she stimulated her lovers by lascivious jests, and continually invented new postures of coition, by which means she completely won the hearts of all libertines; for she did not wait to be solicited by anyone whom she met, but herself, with joke and gestures, invited everyone whom she fell in with, especially beardless boys. she never succumbed to these transports; for she often went to a supper at which each one paid his share, with ten or more young men, in the full vigour of their age and practised in debauchery, and would pass the whole night with all of them. when they were all exhausted, she would go to their servants, thirty in number, it may be, and fornicate with each one of them; and yet not even so did she quench her lust. once she went to the house of some great man, and while the guests were drinking pulled up her clothes on the edge of the couch and did not blush to exhibit her wantonness without reserve. though she received the male in three orifices she nevertheless complained of nature for not having made the passage of her breasts wider, that she might contrive a new form of coition in that part of her person also. she frequently became pregnant, but as she employed all known remedies without delay, she promptly procured abortion. often, even on the stage, she stripped before the eyes of all the people, and stood naked in their midst, wearing only a girdle about her private parts and groin; not because she had any modesty about showing that also to the people, but because no one was allowed to go on the stage without a girdle about those parts. in this attitude she would throw herself down on the floor, and lie on her back. slaves, whose duty it was, would then pour grains of barley upon her girdle, which trained geese would then pick up with their beaks one by one and eat. she did not blush or rise up, but appeared to glory in this performance; for she was not only without shame, but especially fond of encouraging others to be shameless, and often would strip naked in the midst of the actors, and swing herself backwards and forwards, explaining to those who had already enjoyed her and those who had not, the peculiar excellences of that exercise. she proceeded to such extremities of abuse as to make her face become what most women's private parts are: wherefore her lovers became known at once by their unnatural tastes, and any respectable man who met her in the public streets turned away, and made haste to avoid her, lest his clothes should be soiled by contact with such an abandoned creature, for she was a bird of ill-omen, especially for those who saw her early in the day. as for her fellow-actresses, she always abused them most savagely, for she was exceedingly jealous. afterwards she accompanied hecebolus, who had received the appointment of governor of pentapolis, to that country, to serve his basest passions, but quarrelled with him, and was straightway sent out of the country. in consequence of this she fell into want of common necessaries, with which she hereafter provided herself by prostitution, as she had been accustomed to do. she first went to alexandria, and afterwards wandered all through the east, until she reached byzantium, plying her trade in every city on her way--a trade which, i imagine, heaven will not pardon a man for calling by its right name--as if the powers of evil would not allow any place on earth to be free from the debaucheries of theodora. such was the birth, and such the training of this woman, and her name became better known than that of any other prostitute of her time. on her return to byzantium, justinian became excessively enamoured of her. at first he had intercourse with her merely as her lover, although he raised her to the position of a patrician. by this means theodora was straightway enabled to gain very great influence and to amass considerable sums of money. she charmed justinian beyond all the world, and, like most infatuated lovers, he delighted to show her all the favour and give her all the money that he could. this lavishness added fuel to the flame of passion. in concert with her he plundered the people more than ever, not only in the capital, but throughout the roman empire; for, as both of them had for a long time been members of the blue faction, they had placed unlimited power in its hands, although the evil was subsequently somewhat checked, in the manner which i will now relate. justinian had for some time suffered from a dangerous illness; in fact, it was even reported that he was dead. the blue faction were committing the crimes of which i have spoken, and slew hypatius, a person of consequence, in the church of st. sophia, in broad daylight. when the murderer had accomplished his work, clamour was raised which reached the emperor's ears, and all his courtiers seized upon the opportunity of pointing out the outrageous character of the offence which, owing to justinian's absence from public affairs, the murderer had been enabled to perpetrate, and enumerated all the crimes that had been committed from the outset. hereupon the emperor gave orders to the prefect of the city to punish these crimes. this man was named theodotus, nick-named colocynthius.[11] he instituted an inquiry into the whole matter, and had the courage to seize and put to death, according to the law, many of the malefactors, several of whom, however, hid themselves and so escaped, being destined to perish afterwards together with the roman empire. justinian, who miraculously recovered, straightway began to plan the destruction of theodotus, on the pretext that he was a magician and used philtres. however, as he found no proofs on which the man could be condemned, he flogged and tortured some of his intimates until he forced them to make most unfounded accusations against him. when no one dared to oppose justinian, but silently bewailed the plot against theodotus, proclus, the quaestor, alone declared that the man was innocent and did not deserve to die. theodotus was therefore sentenced by the emperor to banishment to jerusalem. but, learning that certain men had been sent thither to assassinate him, he took sanctuary in the temple, where he spent the rest of his life in concealment until he died. such was the end of theodotus. from this time forth, however, the blue party behaved with the greatest moderation; they did not venture to perpetrate such crimes, although they had it in their power to abuse their authority more outrageously and with greater impunity than before. here is a proof of this; when a few of them afterwards showed the same audacity in evil-doing, they were not punished in any way; for those who had the power to punish always gave malefactors an opportunity to escape, and by this indulgence encouraged them to trample upon the laws. chapter x as long as the empress euphemia was alive, justinian could not contrive to marry theodora. though she did not oppose him on any other point, she obstinately refused her consent to this one thing. she was altogether free from vice, although she was a homely person and of barbarian descent, as i have already said. she never cultivated any active virtues, but remained utterly ignorant of state affairs. she did not bear her own name, which was a ridiculous one, when she came to the palace, but was re-named euphemia. soon afterwards, however, she died. justin was in his second childhood and so sunk in senility that he was the laughing-stock of his subjects. all despised him utterly, and disregarded him because he was incompetent to control state affairs, but they paid their court to justinian with awe, for he terrified them all by his love of disturbance and reckless innovations. he then resolved to bring about his marriage with theodora. it was forbidden by the most ancient laws of the state that anyone of the senatorial order should marry a courtesan; so he prevailed upon the emperor to repeal the existing law and introduce a new one, whereby he was allowed to live with theodora as his legitimate wife, and it became possible for anyone else to marry a courtesan. he also straightway assumed the demeanour of absolute despot, veiling his forcible seizure of power under the pretext of reasons of state. he was proclaimed emperor of the romans, as his uncle's colleague. whether this was legal or not may be doubted, since he owed his election to the terror with which he inspired those who gave him their votes. so justinian and theodora ascended the imperial throne three days before easter, at a time when it is forbidden to make visits or even to greet one's friends. a few days later justin was carried off by disease, after a reign of nine years, and justinian and theodora reigned alone. thus did theodora, as i have told you, in spite of her birth and bringing-up, reach the throne without finding any obstacle in her way. justinian felt no shame at having wedded her, although he might have chosen the best born, the best educated, the most modest and virtuously nurtured virgin in all the roman empire, with outstanding breasts, as the saying is; whereas he preferred to take to himself the common refuse of all mankind, and without a thought of all that has been told, married a woman stained with the shame of many abortions and many other crimes. nothing more, i conceive, need be said about this creature's character, for all the vices of his heart are thoroughly displayed in the fact of so unworthy a marriage. when a man feels no shame at an act of this kind, and braves the loathing of the world, there is thereafter no path of wickedness which may not be trodden by him, but, with a face incapable of blushing, he plunges, utterly devoid of scruple, into the deepest baseness. however, no one in the senate had the courage to show dissatisfaction at seeing the state fasten this disgrace upon itself, but all were ready to worship theodora as if she had been a goddess. neither did any of the clergy show any indignation, but bestowed upon her the title of "lady." the people who had formerly seen her upon the stage now declared themselves, with uplifted hands, to be her slaves, and made no secret of the name. none of the army showed irritation at having to face the dangers of war in the service of theodora, nor did anyone of all mankind offer her the least opposition. all, i suppose, yielded to circumstances, and suffered this disgraceful act to take place, as though fortune had wished to display her power by disposing human affairs so that events came about in utter defiance of reason, and human counsel seemed to have no share in directing them. fortune does thus raise men suddenly to great heights of power, by means in which reason has no share, in spite of all obstacles that may bar the way, for nothing can check her course, but she proceeds straight on towards her goal, and everything makes way for her. but let all this be, and be represented as it pleases god. theodora was at this time handsome and of a graceful figure, but she was short, without much colour, but rather of a pale complexion, and with brilliant and piercing eyes. it would take a life-time to tell of all her adventures during her theatrical life, but i think what little i have selected above will be sufficient to give an indication of her character. we must now briefly set forth what she and her husband did, for during their married life neither ever did anything without the other. for a long time they appeared to all to be at variance both in their characters and in their actions; but afterwards this disagreement was seen to have been purposely arranged between them, in order that their subjects might not come to an agreement and rise against them, but might all be divided in their opinion. first, they split up the christians into two parties and brought them to ruin, as i shall tell you hereafter, by this plan of pretending to take different sides. next they created divisions amongst the state factions. theodora feigned to be an eager partisan of the blues, and gave them permission to commit the greatest atrocities and deeds of violence against the opposite faction, while justinian pretended to be grieved and annoyed in his secret soul, as though he could not oppose his wife's orders; and often they would pretend to act in opposition. the one would declare that the blues must be punished because they were evil-doers, while the other pretended to be enraged, and angrily declared that she was overruled by her husband against her will. yet, as i have said, the blue faction seemed wondrously quiet, for they did not outrage their neighbours as much as they might have done. in legal disputes, each of them would pretend to favour one of the litigants, and of necessity made the man with the worse case win; by this means they plundered both the parties of most of the disputed property. the emperor received many persons into his intimacy, and gave them appointments with liberty to do what they pleased in the way of violent injustice and fraud against the state; but when they were seen to have amassed a considerable amount of wealth, they straightway fell into disgrace for having offended the empress. at first justinian would take upon himself to inquire kindly into their case, but soon he would drop the pretence of good-will, and his zeal on their behalf would throw the whole matter into confusion. upon this, theodora would treat them in the most shameful way, while he, pretending not to understand what was going on, would shamelessly confiscate their entire property. they used to carry on these machinations by appearing to be at variance, while really playing into each other's hands, and were thus able to set their subjects by their ears and firmly establish their own power. chapter xi when justinian came to the throne, he straightway succeeded in upsetting everything. what had previously been forbidden by the laws he introduced, while he abolished all existing institutions, as though he had assumed the imperial robe for no other purpose than to alter completely the form of government. he did away with existing offices, and established other new ones for the management of affairs. he acted in the same manner in regard to the laws and the army; not that he was led to do so by any love of justice or the public advantage, but merely in order that all institutions might be new and might bear his name; if there was any institution that he was unable to abolish at once, he gave it his name, that at least it might appear new. he could never satisfy his insatiable desire, either of money or blood; but after he had plundered one wealthy house, he would seek for another to rob, and straightway squander the plunder upon subsidies to barbarians, or senseless extravagance in building. after he had destroyed his victims by tens of thousands, he immediately began to lay plots against even greater numbers. as the roman empire was at peace with foreign nations, his impatience of quiet led him, out of uncontrollable love of bloodshed, to set the barbarians fighting with one another. sending for the chieftains of the huns for no reason whatever, he took a pride in lavishing great sums of money upon them, under the pretext of securing their friendship, just as he did in the time of the emperor justin, as i have already told you. these huns, when they had got the money, sent to some of their fellow-chieftains with their retainers, and bade them make inroads into the emperor's territory, that they also might make a bargain with him for the peace which he was so ready to purchase. these men straightway subjugated the empire, and nevertheless remained in the emperor's pay; and, following their examples, others straightway began to harass the wretched romans, and, after they had secured their booty, were graciously rewarded by the emperor for their invasion. thus the whole hunnish nation, one tribe after another, never ceased at any time to lay waste and plunder the empire; for these barbarians are under several independent chieftains, and the war, having once begun through his foolish generosity, never came to an end, but always kept beginning anew; so that, during this time, there was no mountain, no cave, no spot whatever in the roman empire that remained unravaged, and many countries were harried and plundered by the enemy more than five several times. these calamities, and those which were brought upon the empire by the medes, the saracens, the sclavonians, the antes, and other barbarians, i have described in the previous books of my history; but, as i have said at the beginning of this story, i was here obliged to explain the causes which led thereto. justinian paid chosroes many centenars in order to secure peace, and then, with unreasonable arbitrariness, did more than anyone to break the truce, by employing every effort to bring alamundur and his huns over to his own side, as i have already set forth in plain terms in my history. while he was stirring up all this strife and war to plague the romans, he also endeavoured, by various devices, to drench the earth in human blood, to carry off more riches for himself, and to murder many of his subjects. he proceeded as follows. there prevail in the roman empire many christian doctrines which are known as heresies, such as those of the montanists and sabbatians and all the others by which men's minds are led astray. justinian ordered all these beliefs to be abandoned in favour of the old religion, and threatened the recusants with legal disability to transmit their property to their wives and children by will. the churches of these so-called heretics--especially those belonging to the arian heresy--were rich beyond belief. neither the whole of the senate, or any other of the greatest corporations in the roman empire, could be compared with these churches in wealth. they had gold and silver plate and jewels more than any man could count or describe; they owned many mansions and villages, and large estates everywhere, and everything else which is reckoned and called wealth among men. as none of the previous emperors had interfered with them, many people, even of the orthodox faith, procured, through this wealth, work and the means of livelihood. but the emperor justinian first of all sequestrated all the property of these churches, and suddenly took away all that they possessed, by which many people lost the means of subsistence. many agents were straightway sent out to all parts of the empire to force whomsoever they met to change the faith of his forefathers. these homely people, considering this an act of impiety, decided to oppose the emperor's agents. hereupon many were put to death by the persecuting faction, and many made an end of themselves, thinking, in their superstitious folly, that this course best satisfied the claims of religion; but the greater part of them voluntarily quitted the land of their forefathers, and went into exile. the montanists, who were settled in phrygia, shut themselves up in their churches, set them on fire, and perished in the flames; and, from this time forth, nothing was to be seen in the roman empire except massacres and flight. justinian straightway passed a similar law with regard to the samaritans, which produced a riot in palestine. in my own city of caesarea and other cities, the people, thinking that it was a foolish thing to suffer for a mere senseless dogma, adopted, in place of the name which they had hitherto borne, the appellation of "christians," and so avoided the danger with which they were threatened by this law. such of them as had any claims to reason and who belonged to the better class, thought it their duty to remain stedfast to their new faith; but the greater part, as though out of pique at having been forced against their will by the law to abandon the faith of their fathers, adopted the belief of the manicheans, or what is known as polytheism. but all the country people met together in a body and determined to take up arms against the emperor. they chose a leader of their own, named julian, the son of sabarus, and for some time held their own in the struggle with the imperial troops, but were at last defeated and cut to pieces, together with their leader. it is said that one hundred thousand men fell in this engagement, and the most fertile country on the earth has ever since been without cultivators. this did great harm to the christian landowners in that country, for, although they received nothing from their property, yet they were forced to pay heavy taxes yearly to the emperor for the rest of their lives, and no abatement or relief from this burden was granted to them. after this he began to persecute those who were called gentiles, torturing their persons and plundering their property. all of these people, who decided to adopt the christian faith nominally, saved themselves for the time, but not long afterwards most of them were caught offering libations and sacrifices and performing other unholy rites. how he treated the christians i will subsequently relate. next he forbade paederasty by law, and he made this law apply not only to those who transgressed it after it had been passed, but even to those who had practised this wickedness long before. the law was applied to these persons in the loosest fashion, the testimony of one man or boy, who possibly might be a slave unwilling to bear witness against his master, was held to be sound evidence. those who were convicted were carried through the city, after having had their genitals cut off. this cruelty was not at first practised against any except those who belonged to the green faction or were thought to be very rich, or had otherwise offended. justinian and theodora also dealt very harshly with the astrologers, so that the officers appointed to punish thieves proceeded against these men for no other cause than that they were astrologers, dealt many stripes on their backs, and paraded them on camels through the city; yet they were old and respectable men, against whom no reproach could be brought except that they dwelt in byzantium and were learned about the stars. there was a continual stream of emigration, not only to the lands of the barbarians, but also to the nations most remote from rome; and one saw a very great number of foreigners both in the country and in each city of the empire, for men lightly exchanged their native land for another, as though their own country had been captured by an enemy. chapter xii those who were considered the wealthiest persons in byzantium and the other cities of the empire, next after members of the senate, were robbed of their wealth by justinian and theodora in the manner which i have described above. i shall now describe how they managed to take away all the property of members of the senate. there was at constantinople one zeno, the grandson of that anthemius who formerly had been emperor of the west. they sent this man to egypt as governor. he delayed his departure, while he loaded his ship with precious valuables; for he had silver beyond any man's counting, and gold plate set with pearls and emeralds, and with other like precious stones. but justinian and theodora bribed some of those who passed for his most faithful servants, to take everything out of the ship as fast as they could, set it on fire in the hold, and then go and tell zeno that his ship had taken fire of its own accord, and that all his property was lost. some time after this zeno died suddenly, and they took possession of his property as his heirs, producing a will which, it is currently reported, was never made by him. in like manner they made themselves the heirs of tatian, of demosthenes, and of hilara, persons who at that time held the first rank in the roman senate. they obtained other persons' fortunes by the production, not of formal wills, but of counterfeit conveyances. this was how they became the heirs of dionysius, who dwelt in libanus, and of john the son of basil, who was the leading man in edessa, and had been delivered up to the persians as a hostage against his will by belisarius, as i have told already. chosroes kept this john a prisoner, and refused to let him go, declaring that the romans had not performed all the terms of the treaty for which john had been given in pledge by belisarius, but he was prepared to let him be ransomed as a prisoner of war. his grandmother, who was still alive, got together the money for his ransom, not less than two thousand pounds of silver, and would have ransomed her grandson; but when this money arrived at dara, the emperor heard of the transaction and forbade it, that the wealth of romans might not be conveyed to barbarians. not long after this john fell ill and died; whereupon the governor of the city forged a letter which he said john had written to him as a friend not long before, to the effect that he desired the emperor to succeed to his property. i could not give the list of all the other people whose heirs justinian and theodora became by the free will of the testators. however, up to the time of the insurrection called nika, they only plundered rich men of their property one by one; but when this broke out, as i have described in my former works, they then sequestrated nearly all the property of the senate. they laid their hands upon all movables and the finest parts of the estates, but set apart such lands as were burdened with grievous imposts, and, under pretence of kindness, restored them to their former possessors. so these people, oppressed by the tax-gatherers, and tormented by the never-ceasing interest to be paid upon their debts, became weary of their lives. for the reasons which i have stated, i, and many of my position, never believed that they were really two human beings, but evil demons, and what the poets call scourges of mankind, who laid their heads together to see how they could fastest and most easily destroy the race and the works of man, but who had assumed human forms, and become something between men and demons, and thus convulsed the whole world. one can find proofs of this theory more particularly in the superhuman power with which they acted. there is a wide distinction between the human and the supernatural. many men have been born in every age who, either by circumstances or their own character, have shown themselves terrible beings, who became the ruin of cities, countries, and whatever else fell into their hands; but to destroy all men and to ruin the whole earth has been granted to none save these two, who have been helped by fortune in their schemes to destroy the whole human race. for, about this time, much ruin was caused by earthquakes, pestilences and inundations of rivers, as i shall immediately tell you. thus it was not by mere human power, but by something greater, that they were enabled to work their evil will. it is said that justinian's mother told some of her intimates that justinian was not the son of sabbatius, her husband, or of any human being; but that, at the time when she became pregnant, an unseen demon companied with her, whom she only felt as when a man has connection with a woman, and who then vanished away as in a dream. some who have been in justinian's company in the palace very late at night, men with a clear conscience, have thought that in his place they have beheld a strange and devilish form. one of them said that justinian suddenly arose from his royal throne and walked about (although, indeed, he never could sit still for long), and that at that moment his head disappeared, while the rest of his body still seemed to move to and fro. the man who beheld this stood trembling and troubled in mind, not knowing how to believe his eyes. afterwards the head joined the body again, and united itself to the parts from which it had so strangely been severed. another declared that he stood beside justinian as he sat, and of a sudden his face turned into a shapeless mass of flesh, without either eyebrows or eyes in their proper places, or anything else which makes a man recognisable; but after a while he saw the form of his face come back again. what i write here i did not see myself, but i heard it told by men who were positive that they had seen it. they say, too, that a certain monk, highly in favour with god, was sent to byzantium by those who dwelt with him in the desert, to beg that favour might be shown to their neighbours, who had been wronged and outraged beyond endurance. when he arrived at byzantium, he straightway obtained an audience of the emperor; but just as he was about to enter his apartment, he started back, and, turning round, suddenly withdrew. the eunuch, who was escorting him, and also the bystanders, besought him earnestly to go forward, but he made no answer, but like one who has had a stroke of the palsy, made his way back to his lodging. when those who had come with him asked why he acted thus, they say that he distinctly stated that he saw the chief of the devils sitting on his throne in the midst of the palace, and he would not meet him or ask anything of him. how can one believe this man to have been anything but an evil demon, who never took his fill of drink, food, or sleep, but snatched at the meals which were set before him anyhow, and roamed about the palace at untimely hours of the night, and yet was so passionately addicted to venery. some of theodora's lovers, when she was still on the stage, declare that a demon had fallen upon them and driven them out of her bedchamber that it might pass the night with her. there was a dancer named macedonia, who belonged to the blue faction at antioch, and had very great influence with justinian. this woman used to write letters to him while justin was still on the throne, and thus easily made away with any great man in the east whom she chose, and caused their property to be confiscated for the public use. they say that this macedonia once greeted theodora, when she saw her very much troubled and cast down at the ill-treatment which she had received at the hands of hecebolius, and at the loss of her money on her journey, and encouraged and cheered her, bidding her remember the fickleness of fortune, which might again grant her great possessions. they say that theodora used to tell how, that night, she had a dream which bade her take no thought about money, for that when she came to byzantium, she would share the bed of the chief of the demons; that she must manage by all means to become his wedded wife, and that afterwards she would have all the wealth of the world at her disposal. this was the common report in regard to these matters. chapter xiii although justinian's character was such as i have already explained, he was easy of access, and affable to those whom he met. no one was ever denied an audience, and he never was angry even with those who did not behave or speak properly in his presence. but, on the other hand, he never felt ashamed of any of the murders which he committed. however, he never displayed any anger or pettishness against those who offended him, but preserved a mild countenance and an unruffled brow, and with a gentle voice would order tens of thousands of innocent men to be put to death, cities to be taken by storm, and property to be confiscated. one would think, from his manner, that he had the character of a sheep; but if anyone, pitying his victims, were to endeavour, by prayers and supplications, to make him relent, he would straightway become savage, show his teeth, and vent his rage upon his subjects. as for the priests, he let them override their neighbours with impunity, and delighted to see them plunder those round about them, thinking that in this manner he was showing piety. whenever he had to decide any lawsuit of this sort, he thought that righteous judgment consisted in letting the priest win his cause and leave the court in triumph with some plunder to which he had no right whatever; for, to him, justice meant the success of the priest's cause. he himself, when by malpractices he had obtained possession of the property of people, alive or dead, would straightway present his plunder to one of the churches, by which means he would hide his rapacity under the cloak of piety, and render it impossible for his victims ever to recover their possessions. indeed, he committed numberless murders through his notion of piety; for, in his zeal to bring all men to agree in one form of christian doctrine, he recklessly murdered all who dissented therefrom, under the pretext of piety, for he did not think that it was murder, if those whom he slew were not of the same belief as himself. thus, his thoughts were always fixed upon slaughter, and, together with his wife, he neglected no excuse which could bring it about; for both of these beings had for the most part the same passions, but sometimes they played a part which was not natural to them; for each of them was thoroughly wicked, and by their pretended differences of opinion, brought their subjects to ruin. justinian's character was weaker than water, and anyone could lead him whither he would, provided it was not to commit any act of kindness or incur the loss of money. he especially delighted in flattery, so that his flatterers could easily make him believe that he should soar aloft and tread upon the clouds. once indeed, tribonianus, when sitting by him, declared that he was afraid that some day justinian would be caught up into heaven because of his righteousness, and would be lost to men. such praises, or rather sneers, as these he constantly bore in mind; yet, if he admired any man for his goodness, he would shortly afterwards upbraid him for a villain, and after having railed at one of his subjects without any cause, he would suddenly take to praising him, having changed his mind on no grounds whatever; for what he really thought was always the opposite of what he said, and wished to appear to think. how he was affected by emotions of love or hate i think i have sufficiently indicated by what i have said concerning his actions. as an enemy, he was obstinate and relentless; as a friend, inconstant; for he made away with many of his strongest partisans, but never became the friend of anyone whom he had once disliked. those whom he appeared to consider his nearest and dearest friends he would in a short time deliver up to ruin to please his wife or anyone else, although he knew well that they died only because of devotion for him; for he was untrustworthy in all things save cruelty and avarice, from which nothing could restrain him. whenever his wife could not persuade him to do a thing, she used to suggest that great gain was likely to result from it, and this enabled her to lead him into any course of action against his will. he did not blush to make laws and afterwards repeal them, that he might make some infamous profit thereby. nor did he give judgment according to the laws which he himself had made, but in favour of the side which promised him the biggest and most splendid bribe. he thought it no disgrace to steal away the property of his subjects, little by little, in cases where he had no grounds for taking it away all at one swoop, either by some unexpected charge or a forged will. while he was emperor of the romans neither faith in god nor religion was secure, no law continued in force, no action, no contract was binding. when he intrusted any business to his officials, if they put to death numbers of those who fell into their hands and carried off great wealth as plunder, they were looked upon as faithful servants of the emperor, and were spoken of as men who had accurately carried out his instructions; but, if they came back after having shown any mercy, he took a dislike to them and was their enemy for life, and never again would employ them, being disgusted with their old-fashioned ways. for this reason many men were anxious to prove to him that they were villains, although they really were not such. he would often make men repeated promises, and confirm his promise by an oath or by writing, and then purposely forget all about it, and think that such an action did him credit. justinian behaved in this manner not only towards his own subjects, but also towards many of his enemies, as i have already told. as a rule he dispensed with both rest and sleep, and never took his fill of either food or drink, but merely picked up a morsel to taste with the tips of his fingers, and then left his dinner, as if eating had been a bye-work imposed upon him by nature. he would often go without food for two days and nights, especially when fasting was enjoined, on the eve of the feast of easter, when he would often fast for two days, taking no sustenance beyond a little water and a few wild herbs, and sleeping, as it might be, for one hour only, passing the rest of the time in walking to and fro. had he spent all this time in useful works, the state would have nourished exceedingly; but, as it was, he used his natural powers to work the ruin of the romans, and succeeded in thoroughly disorganizing the constitution. his constant wakefulness, his privations, and his labour were undergone for no other purpose than to make the sufferings of his subjects every day more grievous; for, as i have said before, he was especially quick in devising crimes, and swift to carry them out, so that even his good qualities seemed to have been so largely bestowed upon him merely for the affliction of his people. chapter xiv everything was done at the wrong time, and nothing that was established was allowed to continue. to prevent my narrative being interminable, i will merely mention a few instances, and pass over the remainder in silence. in the first place, justinian neither possessed in himself the appearance of imperial dignity, nor demanded that it should be respected by others, but imitated the barbarians in language, appearance, and ideas. when he had to issue an imperial decree, he did not intrust it to the quaestor in the usual way, but for the most part delivered it himself by word of mouth, although he spoke his own language like a foreigner; or else he left it in the hands of one of those by whom he was surrounded, so that those who had been injured by such resolutions did not know to whom to apply. those who were called a secretis,[12] and had from very ancient times fulfilled the duty of writing the secret dispatches of the emperor, were no longer allowed to retain their privileges; for he himself wrote them nearly all, even the sentences of the municipal magistrates, no one throughout the roman world being permitted to administer justice with a free hand. he took everything upon himself with unreasoning arrogance, and so managed cases that were to be decided, that, after he had heard one of the litigants, he immediately pronounced his verdict and obliged them to submit to it, acting in accordance with no law or principle of justice, but being evidently overpowered by shameful greed. for the emperor was not ashamed to take bribes, since his avarice had deprived him of all feelings of shame. it frequently happened that the decrees of the senate and the edicts of the emperor were opposed to each other; for the senate was as it were but an empty shadow, without the power of giving its vote or of keeping up its dignity; it was assembled merely for form's sake and in order to keep up an ancient custom, for none of its members were allowed to utter a single word. but the emperor and his consort took upon themselves the consideration of questions that were to be discussed, and whatever resolutions they came to between themselves prevailed. if he whose cause had been victorious had any doubt as to the legality of his success, all he had to do was to make a present of gold to the emperor, who immediately promulgated a law contrary to all those formerly in force. if, again, anyone else desired the revival of the law that had been repealed, the autocrat did not disdain to revoke the existing order of things and to reestablish it. there was nothing stable in his authority, but the balance of justice inclined to one side or the other, according to the weight of gold in either scale. in the market-place there were buildings under the management of palace officials, where traffic was carried on, not only in judicial, but also in legislative decisions. the officers called "referendars" (or mediators) found it difficult to present the requests of petitioners to the emperor, and still more difficult to bring before the council in the usual manner the answer proper to be made to each of them; but, gathering together from all quarters worthless and false testimony, they deceived justinian, who was naturally a fit subject for deception, by fallacious reports and misleading statements. then, immediately going out to the contending parties, without acquainting them with the conversation that had taken place, they extorted from them as much money as they required, without anyone venturing to oppose them. even the soldiers of the praetorian guard, whose duty it was to attend the judges in the court of the palace, forced from them whatsoever judgments they pleased. all, so to speak, abandoned their own sphere of duty, and followed the paths that pleased them, however difficult or untrodden they had previously been. everything was out of gear; offices were degraded, not even their names being preserved. in a word, the empire resembled a queen over boys at play. but i must pass over the rest, as i hinted at the commencement of this work. i will now say something about the man who first taught the emperor to traffic in the administration of justice. his name was leo; he was a native of cilicia, and passionately eager to enrich himself. he was the most utterly shameless of flatterers, and most apt in ingratiating himself with the ignorant, and with the emperor, whose folly he made use of in order to ruin his subjects. it was this leo who first persuaded justinian to barter justice for money. when this man had once discovered these means of plunder, he never stopped. the evil spread and reached such a height that, if anyone desired to come off victorious in an unjust cause against an honest man, he immediately repaired to leo, and, promising to give half of his claim to be divided between the latter and the emperor, left the palace, having already gained his cause, contrary to all principles of right and justice. in this manner leo acquired a vast fortune, and a great quantity of land, and became the chief cause of the ruin of the state. there was no longer any security in contracts, in law, in oaths, in written documents, in any penalty agreed upon, or in any other security, unless money had been previously given to leo and the emperor. nor was even this method certain, for justinian would accept bribes from both parties; and, after having drained the pockets of both of those who had put confidence in him, he was not ashamed to cheat one or other of them (no matter which), for, in his eyes, there was nothing disgraceful in playing a double part, provided only that it turned out profitable for him. such a man was justinian. chapter xv as for theodora, her disposition was governed by the most hardened and inveterate cruelty. she never did anything either under persuasion or compulsion, but employed all her self-willed efforts to carry out her resolutions, and no one ventured to intercede in favour of those who fell in her way. neither length of time, nor fulness of punishment, nor carefully drawn-up prayers, nor the fear of death, nor the vengeance of heaven, by awe of which the whole human race is impressed, could persuade her to abate her wrath. in a word, no one ever saw theodora reconciled to one who had offended her, either during his lifetime or after his death; for the children of the deceased father inherited the hatred of the empress, as if it were part of his patrimony; and, when he died, left it in turn to his sons. her mind was ever most readily stirred to the destruction of men, and was incapable of being checked. she bestowed upon her person greater care than necessity demanded, but less than her desire prompted her to. she entered the bath very early in the morning; and, having spent a long time over her ablutions, went to breakfast, and afterwards again retired to rest. at dinner and supper she partook of every kind of food and drink. she slept a great deal: during the day, till nightfall, and, during the night, till sunrise. and, although she thus abandoned herself to every intemperance, she considered that the little time she had left was sufficient for the conduct of the affairs of the roman empire. if the emperor intrusted anyone with a commission without having previously consulted theodora, the unfortunate man soon found himself deprived of his office, in the deepest disgrace, and perished by a most dishonourable death. justinian was speedy in the conduct of business of all kinds, not only owing to his continual sleeplessness (as has been mentioned before), but also by reason of his easiness of temper, and, above all, his affability. for he allowed people to approach him, although they were altogether obscure and unknown; and the interview was not limited to mere admission to the presence of the emperor, but he permitted them to converse and associate with him on confidential terms. with the empress the case was different; even the highest officials were not admitted until they had waited a long time, and after a great deal of trouble. they all waited patiently every day, like so many slaves, in a body, in a narrow and stifling room; for the risk they ran if they absented themselves was most serious. there they remained standing all the time on tip-toe, each trying to keep his face above his fellow's, that the eunuchs, as they came out, might see them. some were invited to her presence, but rarely, and after several days of attendance; when at last they were admitted, they merely did obeisance to her, kissed both her feet, and then hastily retired in great awe; for they were not allowed to address her or to prefer any request except at her bidding; so slavishly had the spirit of roman society degenerated under the instruction of theodora, and to such a state of decay had the affairs of the empire sunk, partly in consequence of the too great apparent easiness of the emperor, partly owing to the harsh and peevish nature of theodora; for the easiness of the one was uncertain, while the peevishness of the other hindered the transaction of public business. there was this difference in their disposition and manner of life; but, in their love of money, thirst of blood, and aversion to truth, they were in perfect accord. they were, both of them, exceedingly clever inventors of falsehoods; if any one of those who had incurred the displeasure of theodora was accused of any offence, however trivial and unimportant, she immediately trumped up against him charges with which he was in no way concerned, and greatly aggravated the matter. a number of accusations were heard, and a court was immediately appointed to put down and plunder the subjects; judges were called together by her, who would compete amongst themselves to see which of them might best be able to accommodate his decision to the cruelty of theodora. the property of the accused was immediately confiscated, after he had first been cruelly flogged by her orders (although he might be descended from an illustrious family), nor had she any scruples about banishing, or even putting him to death. on the other hand, if any of her favourites were found guilty of murder or any other great crime, she pulled to pieces and scoffed at the efforts of the accusers, and forced them, against their will, to abandon proceedings. whenever it pleased her, she turned affairs of the greatest importance into ridicule, as if they were taking place upon the stage of the theatre. a certain patrician, of advanced age, and who had for a long time held office (whose name is known to me, although i will not disclose it, in order to avoid bringing infinite disgrace upon him), being unable to recover a large sum of money which was owing to him from one of theodora's attendants, applied to her, intending to press his claim against the debtor, and to beg her to assist him in obtaining his rights. having heard of this beforehand, theodora ordered her eunuchs to surround the patrician in a body on his arrival, and to listen to what was said by her, so that they might reply in a set form of words previously suggested by her. when the patrician entered her chamber, he prostrated himself at her feet in the usual manner, and, with tears in his eyes, thus addressed her: "o sovereign lady! it is hard for a patrician to be in want of money; for that which in the case of others excites pity and compassion, becomes, in the case of a person of rank, a calamity and a disgrace. when any ordinary individual is in great straits, and informs his creditors, this immediately affords him relief from his trouble; but a patrician, when unable to pay his creditors, would, in the first place, be ashamed to own it; and, if he did so, he would never make them believe it, since the world is firmly convinced that poverty can never be associated with our class; even if he _should_ persuade them to believe it, it would be the greatest blow to his dignity and reputation that could happen. well, my lady, i owe money to some, while others owe money to me. out of respect for my rank, i cannot cheat my creditors, who are pressing me sorely, whereas my debtors, not being patricians, have recourse to cruel subterfuges. wherefore, i beg and entreat and implore your majesty to assist me to gain my rights, and to deliver me from my present misfortunes!" such were his words. theodora then commenced to sing, "o patrician," and the eunuchs took up her words and joined in chorus, "you have a large tumour." when he again entreated her, and added a few words to the same effect as before, her only answer was the same refrain, which was taken up by the chorus of eunuchs. at length the unhappy man, tired of the whole affair, did reverence to the empress in the usual manner, and returned home. during the greater part of the year, theodora resided in the suburbs on the coast, chiefly in the heraeum, where her numerous retinue and attendants suffered great inconvenience, for they were short of the necessaries of life, and were exposed to the perils of the sea, of sudden storms, or the attacks of sea-monsters. however, they regarded the greatest misfortunes as of no importance, if only they had the means of enjoying the pleasures of the court. chapter xvi i will now relate how theodora treated those who had offended her, merely giving a few details, that i may not seem to have undertaken a task without end. when amalasunta, as i have narrated in the earlier books, desiring to abandon her connection with the affairs of the goths, resolved to change her manner of life, and to retire to byzantium, theodora, considering that she was of illustrious descent and a princess, that she was of singular beauty, and exceedingly active in forming plans to carry out her wishes, was seized with suspicion of her distinguished qualities and eminent courage, and at the same time with apprehensions on account of her husband's fickleness. this made her exceedingly jealous; and she determined to compass the death of her rival by intrigue. she immediately persuaded the emperor to send a man named peter, by himself, to italy, as ambassador to her. on his setting out, the emperor gave him the instructions which i have mentioned in the proper place, where it was impossible for me to inform my readers of the truth, for fear of the empress. the only order she gave the ambassador was to compass the death of amalasunta with all possible despatch, having bribed him with the promise of great rewards if he successfully carried out his instructions. this man, expecting either preferment or large sums of money (for under such circumstances men are not slow to commit an unjust murder), when he reached italy, by some arguments or other persuaded theodatus to make away with amalasunta. after this, peter was advanced to the dignity of "master of offices," and attained to the highest influence, in spite of the detestation with which he was universally regarded. such was the end of the unhappy amalasunta. justinian had a secretary named priscus, a paphlagonian by birth, a man distinguished in every kind of villainy, a likely person to please the humour of his master, to whom he was exceedingly devoted, and from whom he expected to receive similar consideration; and by these means, in a short time, he unjustly amassed great wealth. theodora, unable to endure his insolence and opposition, accused him to the emperor. at first she was unsuccessful, but, shortly afterwards, she put him on board a ship, sent him away to a place she had previously determined upon, and having ordered him to be shaved, forced him to become a priest. in the meantime, justinian, pretending that he knew nothing of what was going on, neither inquired to what part of the world priscus had been banished, nor ever thought of him again afterwards, but remained silent, as if he had fallen into a state of lethargy. however, he seized the small fortune that he had left behind him. theodora had become suspicious of one of her servants named areobindus, a barbarian by birth, but a youth of great comeliness, whom she had appointed her steward. wishing to purge the imagined offence, (although, as was said) she was violently enamoured of him, she caused him to be cruelly beaten with rods, for no apparent reason. what became of him afterwards we do not know; nor has anyone seen him up to the present day. for when theodora desired to keep any of her actions secret, she took care to prevent their being talked about or remembered. none of those who were privy to them were permitted to disclose them even to their nearest relations, or to any who desired to obtain information on the subject, however curious they might be. no tyrant had ever yet inspired such fear, since it was impossible for any word or deed of her opponents to pass unnoticed. for she had a number of spies in her employ who informed her of everything that was said and done in public places and private houses. when she desired to punish anyone who had offended her, she adopted the following plan. if he were a patrician, she sent for him privately, and handed him over to one of her confidential attendants, with instructions to carry him to the furthest boundaries of the empire. in the dead of night, her agent, having bound the unfortunate man and muffled his face, put him on board a ship, and, having accompanied him to the place whither he had been instructed to convey him, departed, having first delivered him secretly to another who was experienced in this kind of service, with orders that he was to be kept under the strictest watch, and that no one should be informed of it, until either the empress took pity upon the unfortunate man, or, worn out by his sufferings, he at length succumbed and died a miserable death. a youth of distinguished family, belonging to the green faction, named basianus, had incurred the empress's displeasure by speaking of her in sarcastic terms. hearing that she was incensed against him, he fled for refuge to the church of st. michael the archangel. theodora immediately sent the praetor of the people to seize him, bidding him charge him, however, not with insolence towards herself, but with the crime of sodomy. the magistrate, having dragged him from the church, subjected him to such intolerable torments, that the whole assembled people, deeply moved at seeing a person of such noble mien, and one who had been so delicately brought up, exposed to such shameful treatment, immediately commiserated his sufferings, and cried out with loud lamentations that reached the heavens, imploring pardon for the young man. but theodora persisted in her work of punishment, and caused his death by ordering him to be castrated, although he had been neither tried nor condemned. his property was confiscated by the emperor. thus this woman, when infuriated, respected neither the sanctuary of the church, nor the prohibitive authority of the laws, nor the intercession of the people, nor any other obstacle whatsoever. nothing was able to save from her vengeance anyone who had given her offence. she conceived a hatred, on the ground of his belonging to the green faction, for a certain diogenes, a native of constantinople, an agreeable person, who was liked by the emperor and everyone else. in her wrath, she accused him, in like manner, of sodomy, and, having suborned two of his servants, put them up to give evidence against and to accuse their master. but, as he was not tried secretly and in private, as was the usual custom, but in public, owing to the reputation he enjoyed, a number of distinguished persons were selected as judges, and they, scrupulous in the discharge of their duties, rejected the testimony of his servants as insufficient, especially on the ground of their not being of legal age. the empress thereupon caused one of the intimate friends of diogenes, named theodorus, to be shut up in one of her ordinary prisons, and endeavoured to win him over, at one time by flattery, at another by ill-treatment. when none of these measures proved successful, she ordered a cord of ox-hide to be bound round his head, over his forehead and ears and then to be twisted and tightened. she expected that, under this treatment, his eyes would have started from their sockets, and that he would have lost his sight. but theodorus refused to tell a lie. the judges, for want of proof, acquitted him; and his acquittal was made the occasion of public rejoicing. such was the manner in which theodorus was treated. chapter xvii as for the manner in which she treated belisarius, photius, and buzes, i have already spoken of it at the commencement of this work. two cilicians, belonging to the blue faction, during a mutiny, laid violent hands upon callinicus, governor of the second cilicia, and slew his groom, who was standing near him, and endeavoured to defend his master, in the presence of the governor and all the people. callinicus condemned them to death, since they had been convicted of several other murders besides this. when theodora heard of this, in order to show her devotion to the party of the blues, she ordered that the governor, while he still held office, should be crucified in the place where the two offenders had been executed, although he had committed no crime. the emperor, pretending that he bitterly lamented his loss, remained at home, grumbling and threatening all kinds of vengeance upon the perpetrators of the deed. he did nothing, however; but, without scruple, appropriated the property of the dead man to his own use. theodora likewise devoted her attention to punishing those women who prostituted their persons. she collected more than five hundred harlots, who sold themselves for three obols in the market-place, thereby securing a bare subsistence, and transported them to the other side of the bosphorus, where she shut them up in the monastery of repentance, with the object of forcing them to change their manner of life. some of them, however, threw themselves from the walls during the night, and in this manner escaped a change of life so contrary to their inclinations. there were at byzantium two young sisters, illustrious not only by the consulships of their father and grandfather, but by a long descent of nobility, and belonging to one of the chief families of the senate. they had married early and lost their husbands. theodora, charging them with living an immoral life, selected two debauchees from the common people and designed to make them their husbands. the young widows, fearing that they might be forced to obey, took refuge in the church of st. sophia, and, approaching the sacred bath, clung closely to the font. but the empress inflicted such privations and cruel treatment upon them, that they preferred marriage in order to escape from their immediate distress. in this manner theodora showed that she regarded no sanctuary as inviolable, no spot as sacred. although suitors of noble birth were ready to espouse these ladies, they were married against their will to two men, poor and outcast, and far below them in rank. their mother, who was a widow like themselves, was present at the marriage, but did not venture to cry out or express her sorrow at this atrocious act. afterwards, theodora, repenting of what she had done, endeavoured to console them by promoting their husbands to high offices to the public detriment. but even this was no consolation to these young women, for their husbands inflicted incurable and insupportable woes upon almost all their subjects, as i will describe later; for theodora paid no heed to the dignity of the office, the interests of the state, or any other consideration, provided only she could accomplish her wishes. while still on the stage, she became with child by one of her friends, but did not perceive her misfortune until it was too late. she tried all the means she had formerly employed to procure abortion, but she was unable prematurely to destroy the living creature by any means whatsoever, since it had nearly assumed the form of a human being. therefore, finding her remedies unsuccessful, she abandoned the attempt, and was obliged to bring forth the child. its father, seeing that theodora was at a loss what to do, and was indignant because, now that she had become a mother, she was no longer able to traffic with her person as before, and being with good reason in fear for the child's life, took it up, named it john, and carried it away with him to arabia, whither he had resolved to retire. the father, just before his death, gave john, who was now grown up, full information concerning his mother. john, having performed the last offices for his dead father, some time afterwards repaired to byzantium, and explained the state of affairs to those who were charged with the duty of arranging admission to an audience with the empress. they, not suspecting that she would conceive any inhuman designs against him, announced to the mother the arrival of her son. she, fearing that the report might reach the ears of the emperor, ordered her son to be brought to her. when she saw him approaching, she went to meet him and handed him over to one of her confidants, whom she always intrusted with commissions of this kind. in what manner the unfortunate youth disappeared i cannot say. he has never been seen to this day--not even after his mother's death. at that time the morals of women were almost without exception corrupt. they were faithless to their husbands with absolute licence, since the crime of adultery brought neither danger nor harm upon them. when convicted of the offence, they escaped punishment, thanks to the empress, to whom they immediately applied. then, getting the verdict quashed on the ground that the charges were not proved, they in turn accused their husbands, who, although not convicted, were condemned to refund twice the amount of the dower, and, for the most part, were flogged and led away to prison, where they were permitted to look upon their adulterous wives again, decked out in fine garments and in the act of committing adultery without the slightest shame with their lovers, many of whom, by way of recompense, received offices and rewards. this was the reason why most husbands afterwards put up with unholy outrages on the part of their wives, and gladly endured them in silence in order to escape the lash. they even afforded them every opportunity to avoid being surprised. theodora claimed complete control of the state at her sole discretion. she appointed magistrates and ecclesiastical dignitaries. her only care and anxiety was--and as to this she made the most careful investigation--to prevent any office being given to a good and honourable man, who might be prevented by his conscience from assisting her in her nefarious designs. she ordered all marriages as it were by a kind of divine authority; men never made a voluntary agreement before marriage. a wife was found for each without any previous notice, not because she pleased him (as is generally the case even amongst the barbarians) but because theodora so desired it. brides also had to put up with the same treatment, and were obliged to marry husbands whom they did not desire. she often turned the bride out of bed herself, and, without any reason, dismissed the bridegroom before the marriage had been consummated, merely saying, in great anger, that she disapproved of her. amongst others whom she treated in this manner was leontius the "referendary," and saturninus, the son of hermogenes the late master of offices, whom she deprived of their wives. this saturninus had a young maiden cousin of an age to marry, free-born and modest, whom cyrillus, her father, had betrothed to him after the death of hermogenes. after the bridal chamber had been made ready and everything prepared, theodora imprisoned the youthful bridegroom, who was afterwards conducted to another chamber, and forced, in spite of his violent lamentations and tears, to wed the daughter of chrysomallo. this chrysomallo had formerly been a dancer and a common prostitute, and at that time lived with another woman like her, and with indaro, in the palace, where, instead of devoting themselves to phallic worship and theatrical amusements, they occupied themselves with affairs of state together with theodora. saturninus, having lain with his new wife and discovered that she had already lost her maidenhead, informed one of his friends that his wife was no virgin. when this reached the ears of theodora, she ordered the servants to hoist him up, like a boy at school, upbraiding him with having behaved too saucily and having taken an unbecoming oath. she then had him severely flogged on the bare back, and advised him to restrain his talkative tongue for the future. in my former writings i have already related her treatment of john of cappadocia, which was due to a desire to avenge personal injuries, not to punish him for offences against the state, as is proved by the fact that she did nothing of the kind in the case of those who committed far greater cruelties against their subjects. the real cause of her hatred was, that he ventured to oppose her designs and accused her to the emperor, so that they nearly came to open hostilities. i mention this here because, as i have already stated, in this work i am bound to state the real causes of events. when, after having inflicted upon him the sufferings i have related, she had confined him in egypt, she was not even then satisfied with his punishment, but was incessantly on the look out to find false witnesses against him. four years afterwards, she succeeded in finding two of the green faction who had taken part in the sedition at cyzicus, and were accused of having been accessory to the assault upon the bishop. these she attacked with flattery, promises, and threats. one of them, alarmed and inveigled by her promises, accused john of the foul crime of murder, but the other refused to utter falsehoods, although he was so cruelly tortured that he seemed likely to die on the spot. she was, therefore, unable to compass the death of john on this pretext, but she caused the young men's right hands to be chopped off--that of the one because he refused to bear false witness; that of the other, to prevent her intrigue becoming universally known, for she endeavoured to keep secret from others those things which were done in the open market-place. chapter xviii that justinian was not a man, but a demon in human shape, as i have already said, may be abundantly proved by considering the enormity of the evils which he inflicted upon mankind, for the power of the acting cause is manifested in the excessive atrocity of his actions. i think that god alone could accurately reckon the number of those who were destroyed by him, and it would be easier for a man to count the grains of sand on the sea-shore than the number of his victims. considering generally the extent of country which was depopulated by him, i assert that more than two millions of people perished. he so devastated the vast tract of libya that a traveller, during a long journey, considered it a remarkable thing to meet a single man; and yet there were eighty thousand vandals who bore arms, besides women, children and servants without number. in addition to these, who amongst men could enumerate the ancient inhabitants who dwelt in the cities, tilled the land, and traded on the coast, of whom i myself have seen vast numbers with my own eyes? the natives of mauretania were even still more numerous, and they were all exterminated, together with their wives and children. this country also proved the tomb of numbers of roman soldiers and of their auxiliaries from byzantium. therefore, if one were to assert that five millions perished in that country, i do not feel sure that he would not under-estimate the number. the reason of this was that justinian, immediately after the defeat of the vandals, did not take measures to strengthen his hold upon the country, and showed no anxiety to protect his interests by securing the goodwill of his subjects, but immediately recalled belisarius on a charge of aspiring to royal power (which would by no means have suited him) in order that he might manage the affairs of the country at his own discretion, and ravage and plunder the whole of libya. he sent commissioners to value the province, and imposed new and most harsh taxes upon the inhabitants. he seized the best and most fertile estates, and prohibited the arians from exercising the rites of their religion. he was dilatory in keeping his army well supplied and in an effective condition, while in other respects he was a severe martinet, so that disturbances arose which ended in great loss. he was unable to abide by what was established, but was by nature prone to throw everything into a state of confusion and disturbance. italy, which was three times larger than libya, was depopulated far more than the latter throughout its whole extent, whence a computation may be made of the number of those who perished there, for i have already spoken of the origin of the events that took place in italy. all his crimes in africa were repeated in italy; having despatched logothetae to this country also, he immediately overthrew and ruined everything. before the italian war, the empire of the goths extended from the territory of the gauls to the boundaries of dacia, and the city of sirmium; but, when the roman army arrived in italy, the greater part of cisalpine gaul and of the territory of the venetians was in the occupation of the germans. sirmium and the adjacent country was in the hands of the gepidae. the entire tract of country, however, was utterly depopulated; war and its attendant evils, disease and famine, had exterminated the inhabitants. illyria and the whole of thrace, that is to say, the countries between the ionian gulf and the suburbs of byzantium, including hellas and the chersonese, were overrun nearly every year after the accession of justinian by the huns, slavs and antes, who inflicted intolerable sufferings upon the inhabitants. i believe that, on the occasion of each of these inroads, more than two hundred thousand romans were either slain or carried away into slavery, so that the solitude of scythia overspread these provinces. such were the results of the wars in libya and europe. during all this time, the saracens also made perpetual inroads upon the eastern romans, from egypt to the persian frontiers, and harassed them so persistently, that those districts gradually became depopulated. i believe it would be impossible for anyone to estimate correctly the number of men who perished there. the persians under chosroes thrice invaded the rest of the roman territory, destroyed the cities, slew or carried off those whom they found in the captured towns in each district, and depopulated the country wherever they attacked it. from the time they entered colchis, the losses were divided between themselves, the lazes, and the romans, as up to the present day. however, neither persians, saracens, huns, slavs, nor any other barbarians were themselves able to evacuate roman territory without considerable loss, for, in their inroads, and still more in their sieges and engagements, they often met with numerous reverses which inflicted equal disasters upon them. thus not only the romans, but almost all the barbarians, felt the bloodthirstiness of justinian. chosroes (as i have stated in the proper place) was certainly a man of depraved character, but it was justinian who always took the initiative in bringing about war with this prince, for he took no care to adapt his policy to circumstances, but did everything at the wrong moment. in time of peace or truce, his thoughts were ever craftily engaged in endeavouring to find pretexts for war against his neighbours. in war, he lost heart without reason, and, owing to his meanness, he never made his preparations in good time; and, instead of devoting his earnest attention to such matters, he busied himself with the investigation of heavenly phenomena and with curious researches into the nature of god. nevertheless, he would not abandon war, being by nature tyrannical and bloodthirsty, although he was unable to overcome his enemies, since his meanness prevented him from making the necessary preparations. thus, during the reign of this prince, the whole world was deluged with the blood of nearly all the romans and barbarians. such were the events that took place, during the wars abroad, throughout the whole of the roman empire; but the disturbances in byzantium and every other city caused equal bloodshed; for, since no regard was had to justice or impartiality in meting out punishment for offences, each faction being eager to gain the favour of the emperor, neither party was able to keep quiet. they alternately abandoned themselves to the madness of despair or presumptuous vanity, according as they failed or succeeded in ingratiating themselves with him. sometimes they attacked one another _en masse_, sometimes in small bands, sometimes in single combat, or set ambuscades for each other at every opportunity. for thirty-two years without intermission they inflicted horrible cruelties upon one another. they were frequently put to death by the praefect of the city, although punishment for offences fell most heavily upon the green faction. the punishment of the samaritans also, and other so-called heretics, deluged the roman empire with blood. let it suffice, on the present occasion, to recall briefly what i have already narrated in greater detail. these calamities, which afflicted the whole world, took place during the reign of this demon in the form of a man, for which he himself, when emperor, was responsible. i will now proceed to relate the evils he wrought by some hidden force and demoniacal power. during his control of the empire, numerous disasters of various kinds occurred, which some attributed to the presence and artifices of his evil genius, while others declared that the divinity, in detestation of his works, having turned away in disgust from the roman empire, had given permission to the avenging deities to inflict these misfortunes. the river scirtus overflowed edessa, and brought the most grievous calamities upon the inhabitants of the district, as i have already related. the nile, having overflown its banks as usual, did not subside at the ordinary time, and caused great suffering among the people. the cydnus was swollen, and nearly the whole of tarsus lay for several days under water; and it did not subside until it had wrought irreparable damage to the city. several cities were destroyed by earth-quake--antioch, the chief city of the east, seleucia, and anazarbus, the most famous town in cilicia. who could calculate the numbers of those who were thereby destroyed? to these cities we may add ibora, amasea (the chief city of pontus), polybotus in phrygia (called polymede by the pisidians), lychnidus in epirus, and corinth, cities which from ancient times had been thickly populated. all these cities were overthrown at that time by an earthquake, during which nearly all their inhabitants perished. afterwards the plague (which i have spoken of before) began to rage, and swept away nearly half the survivors. such were the disasters that afflicted mankind, from the day when justinian first commenced to manage the affairs of the kingdom to the time, and after he had ascended the imperial throne. chapter xix i will now relate the manner in which he got possession of the wealth of the world, after i have first mentioned a vision which was seen in a dream by a person of distinction at the commencement of his reign. he thought he was standing on the coast at byzantium, opposite chalcedon, and saw justinian standing in the midst of the channel. the latter drank up all the water of the sea, so that it seemed as if he were standing on dry land, since the water no longer filled the strait. after this, other streams of water, full of filth and rubbish, flowing in from the underground sewers on either side, covered the dry land. justinian again swallowed these, and the bed of the channel again became dry. such was the vision this person beheld in his dream. this justinian, when his uncle justin succeeded to the throne, found the treasury well filled, for anastasius, the most provident and economical of all the emperors, fearing (what actually happened) that his successor, if he found himself in want of money, would probably plunder his subjects, filled the treasure-houses with vast stores of gold before his death. justinian exhausted all this wealth in a very short time, partly by senseless buildings on the coast, partly by presents to the barbarians, although one would have imagined that a successor, however profligate and extravagant, would have been unable to have spent it in a hundred years; for the superintendents of the treasures and other royal possessions asserted that anastasius, during his reign of more than twenty-seven years, had without any difficulty accumulated 320,000 centenars, of which absolutely nothing remained, it having all been spent by this man during the lifetime of his uncle, as i have related above. it is impossible to describe or estimate the vast sums which he appropriated to himself during his lifetime by illegal means and wasted in extravagance; for he swallowed up the fortunes of his subjects like an ever-flowing river, daily absorbing them in order to disgorge them amongst the barbarians. having thus squandered the wealth of the state, he cast his eyes upon his private subjects. most of them he immediately deprived of their possessions with unbounded rapacity and violence, at the same time bringing against the wealthy inhabitants of byzantium, and those of other cities who were reputed to be so, charges utterly without foundation. some were accused of polytheism, others of heresy; some of sodomy, others of amours with holy women; some of unlawful intercourse, others of attempts at sedition; some of favouring the green faction, others of high treason, or any other charge that could be brought against them. on his own responsibility he made himself heir not only of the dead, but also of the living, as opportunity offered. in such matters he showed himself an accomplished diplomatist. i have already mentioned above how he profited by the sedition named nika which was directed against him, and immediately made himself heir of all the members of the senate, and how, shortly before the sedition broke out, he obtained possession of the fortunes of private individuals. on every occasion he bestowed handsome presents upon all the barbarians alike, those of east and west, and north and south, as far as the inhabitants of the british islands and of the whole world, nations of whom we had not even heard before, and whose names we did not know, until we became acquainted with them through their ambassadors. when these nations found out justinian's disposition, they flocked to byzantium from all parts of the world to present themselves to him. he, without any hesitation, overjoyed at the occurrence, and regarding it as a great piece of good luck to be able to drain the roman treasury and fling its wealth to barbarians or the waves of the sea, dismissed them every day loaded with handsome presents. in this manner the barbarians became absolute masters of the wealth of the romans, either by the donations which they received from the emperor, their pillaging of the empire, the ransom of their prisoners, or their trafficking in truces. this was the signification of the dream which i have mentioned above. chapter xx besides this, justinian found other means of contriving to plunder his subjects, not _en masse_ and at once, but by degrees and individually. these methods i will now proceed to describe as well as i am able. first of all he appointed a new magistrate, who had the right of conferring upon all those who kept shops the privilege of selling their wares at whatever price they pleased, on payment of a yearly rent to the emperor. the citizens were compelled to make their purchases in the market, where they paid three times as much as elsewhere; nor, although he suffered severe loss, was the purchaser allowed to claim damages from anyone, for part of the profit went to the emperor, and part to increase the salary of these officials. purchasers were equally cheated by the magistrates' servants, who took part in these disgraceful transactions, while the shopkeepers, who were allowed to put themselves beyond reach of the law, inflicted great hardships upon their customers--not merely by raising their prices many times over, but by being guilty of unheard-of frauds in regard to their wares. afterwards, justinian instituted several "monopolies," as they were called, and sold the liberty of the subject to any who were willing to undertake this disgraceful traffic, after having settled with them the price that was to be paid. this done, he allowed those with whom he had made the bargain to carry out the management of the affair in whatever way they thought fit. he made these disgraceful arrangements, without any attempt at concealment, with all the other magistrates, who plundered their subjects with less apprehension, either themselves or through their agents, since some part of the profits of the plunder always fell to the share of the emperor. under the pretence that the former magistrates were insufficient to carry out these arrangements (although the city prefect had previously been able to deal with all criminal charges) he created two new ones. his object in this was, that he might have at his disposal a larger number of informers, and that he might the more easily inflict punishment and torture upon the innocent. one of these was called praetor of the people, whose nominal duty it was to deal with thieves; the second was called the commissioner, whose function it was to punish all cases of paederasty, buggery, superstition and heresy. if the praetor found any articles of value amongst stolen goods, he handed them over to the emperor, declaring that no owner could be found for them, and in this manner justinian every day got possession of something of very great value. the commissioner, after he had condemned offenders, confiscated what he pleased out of their estates and bestowed it upon the emperor, who thus, in defiance of the law, enriched himself out of the fortunes of others; for the servants of these magistrates did not even take the trouble at the commencement of the trial to bring forward accusers or to produce any witnesses to the offences, but, during the whole of this period, without intermission, unexamined and unconvicted, the accused were secretly punished by death and the confiscation of their property by the emperor. afterwards, this accursed wretch ordered both these magistrates and the city prefect to deal with all criminal affairs indifferently, bidding them enter into rivalry to see which of them could destroy the greatest number of citizens in the shortest time. it is said that, when one of them asked him which of them should have the decision if anyone was accused before all three, he replied, "whichever of you has anticipated the others." he debased the office of quaestor, which almost all the preceding emperors had held in especial regard, so that it was only filled by men of wisdom and experience, who above all were learned in the law and free from all suspicion of corruptibility, for it was felt that it would unavoidably be disastrous to the state if it were to be filled by men without experience or who were the slaves of avarice. this emperor first bestowed it upon tribonianus, whose character and misdeeds i have sufficiently described elsewhere. after his death, justinian seized part of his estate, although he had left a son and several relatives who survived him. he then appointed junilus (a libyan by birth), a man who had not so much as a hearsay knowledge of law, for he had not even studied it in the public schools. although he had a knowledge of latin, he had never had any tuition in greek, and was unable to speak the language. frequently, when he attempted to say a few words in greek, he was laughed at by his own servants. he was so mad after filthy lucre, that he had not the least scruple in publicly selling letters of office signed by the emperor, and was never ashamed to stretch out his hand to those who had to do with him for a stater of gold. for no less than seven years the state dured the shame and ridicule brought upon it by this officer. on the death of junilus, justinian elevated to this office constantine, who was not unacquainted with law, but was very young and had never yet taken part in a trial; besides which, he was the most abandoned thief and braggart in the world. justinian entertained the highest regard for him and showed him very great favour, condescending to make him the chief instrument of his extortion and sole arbiter in legal decisions. by this means constantine in a short time amassed great wealth, but his insolence was outrageous, and his pride led him to treat everyone with contempt. even those who were desirous of making him considerable presents were obliged to intrust them to those who seemed to be most in his confidence, for no one was permitted to approach or converse with him, except when he was hurrying to or returning from the emperor. even then he did not slacken his pace, but walked on hastily, for fear that those who approached him might waste his time without paying for it. such was the manner in which justinian dealt with the quaestorship. chapter xxi the praefect of the supreme tribunals, besides the public tax, annually paid to the emperor more than thirty centenars of gold. this sum was called the "aerial tribute," doubtless because it was no regular or usual one, but seemed to have fallen as it were by chance from heaven, whereas it ought rather to have been called "the impost of his wickedness," for it served as a pretext to those functionaries, who were invested with high power, to plunder their subjects incessantly without fear of punishment. they pretended that they had to hand over the tribute to the emperor, and they themselves, without any difficulty, acquired sufficient sums to secure regal affluence for themselves. justinian allowed them to go on unchecked and unheeded, waiting until they had amassed great wealth, when it was his practice to bring against them some charge from which they could not readily clear themselves, and to confiscate the whole of their property, as he had treated john of cappadocia. all those who held this office during his reign became wealthy to an extraordinary degree, and suddenly, with two exceptions. one of these was phocas, of whom i have spoken in my previous writings--a man in the highest degree observant of integrity and honesty; who, during his tenure of office, was free from all suspicion of illegal gain. the other was bassus, who was appointed later. neither of them enjoyed their dignity for a year. at the end of a few months they were deprived of it as being incapable and unsuited to the times. but, not to go into details in every case, which would be endless, i will merely say that it was the same with all the other magistrates of byzantium. in all the cities throughout the empire, justinian selected for the highest offices the most abandoned persons he could find, and sold to them for vast sums the positions which they degraded. in fact, no honest man, possessed of the least common sense, would ever have thought of risking his own fortune in order to plunder those who had committed no offence. when justinian had received the money from those with whom he made the bargain, he gave them full authority to deal with their subjects as they pleased, so that, by the destruction of provinces and populations, they might enrich themselves in the future; for, since they had borrowed large sums from the bankers at heavy rates of interest to purchase their magistracies, and had paid the sum due to him who sold them, when they arrived in the cities, they treated their subjects with every kind of tyranny, paying heed to nothing save how they might fulfil their engagements with their creditors and lay up great wealth for themselves. they had no apprehension that their conduct would bring upon them the risk of punishment; on the contrary, they expected that the greater number of those whom they plundered put to death without cause, the greater the reputation they would attain, for the name of murderer and robber was regarded as a proof of activity. but when justinian learned that they had amassed considerable wealth during office, he entangled them in his net, and on some pretence or other deprived them of all their riches in a moment. he had published an edict that candidates for offices should swear that they would keep themselves free from extortion, that they would neither give nor receive anything for their offices, and uttered against those who transgressed the law the most violent curses of ancient times. the law had not been in force a year when, forgetting its terms and the malediction which had been pronounced, he shamelessly put up these offices for sale, not secretly, but publicly in the market-place, and those who purchased them, in spite of their oaths to the contrary plundered and ravaged with greater audacity than before. he afterwards thought of another contrivance, which may seem incredible. he resolved no longer to put up for sale, as before, the offices which he believed to be of greatest repute in byzantium and other cities, but sought out a number of hired persons, whom he appointed at a fixed salary, and ordered to bring all the revenues to himself. these men, having received their salary, shamelessly got together from every country and carried off everything that they could. the stipendiary commission went from one place to another, plundering the subjects of the empire in the name of their office. thus the emperor exercised in every case the greatest care in the selection of these agents of his, who were truly the greatest scoundrels in the world; nor were his efforts and industry in this detestable business unsuccessful. when he advanced the first of his wicked agents to high offices, and the licence of authority revealed their corruption, we were astounded to think how the nature of man could be capable of such enormity. but when those who succeeded them far outdid them, men were at a loss to understand how their predecessors could have appeared the most wicked of mankind, since, in comparison with their successors, who had surpassed them in evil-doing, they might be considered good and honest men. but the third set and their successors so far outstripped the second in every kind of villainy, and in their cleverness in inventing new accusations, that they secured for their predecessors a certain reputation and a good name. as the misfortunes of the state increased, all learned by experience that there is no limit to the innate wickedness of man, and that, when it is supported by the knowledge of precedents, and encouraged by the power in its hands to torment its victims, no man can tell how far it will extend, but only the thoughts of the oppressed are capable of estimating it. such was the state of affairs in regard to the magistrates. the hostile armies of the huns had often reduced to slavery and plundered the inhabitants of the empire. the thracian and illyrian generals resolved to attack them on their retreat, but turned back when they were shown letters from the emperor forbidding them to attack the barbarians, on pretence that their help was necessary to the romans against the goths and other enemies of the empire. making use of this opportunity, these barbarians plundered the country like enemies, and carried away the inhabitants into slavery; and in this manner these pretended friends and allies of the romans returned home with their plunder and a number of prisoners. frequently, some of the peasants in those parts, urged on by a longing for their wives and children who had been carried away into slavery, formed themselves into bands, marched against the barbarians, slew a number of them, and succeeded in capturing their horses together with their plunder. this success, however, proved very unfortunate for them; for agents were sent from byzantium, who had no hesitation in beating and wounding them and seizing their property, until they had restored all the horses that they had taken from the barbarians. chapter xxii after the emperor and empress had destroyed john of cappadocia, they were desirous of appointing someone else to his office, and agreed to search for a man even more vicious than he. they looked around to find this instrument of tyranny, and examined the dispositions of all, in order that they might the more speedily be able to ruin their subjects. they temporarily conferred the office upon theodotus, who, though certainly not an honourable man, was not sufficiently wicked to satisfy them. they continued their search in all directions, and at last by accident found a banker named peter, a syrian by birth, surnamed barsyames. he had long sat at the copper money-changer's counter, and had amassed large sums by his disgraceful malpractices. he was exceedingly cunning at thieving obols, ever deceiving his customers by the quickness of his fingers. he was very clever at filching without ado what fell into his hands, and, when detected, he swore that it was the fault of his hands, and made use of most impudent language in order to conceal his guilt. this barsyames, having been enrolled in the praetorian guard, behaved so outrageously that he approved himself beyond all others to theodora, and was selected by her to assist in carrying out those of her nefarious schemes which required the most inventive genius. for this reason justinian and theodora immediately deprived theodotus of the dignity bestowed upon him as the successor of the cappadocian, and appointed peter in his stead, who in every respect acted in accordance with their wishes. he not only, without the least fear or shame, cheated the soldiers of their pay, but offered commands and offices for sale to a greater extent than before. having thus degraded them, he sold them to persons who were not ashamed to engage in this unholy traffic, giving express permission to the purchasers to deal as they pleased with the lives and properties of those who were subject to their authority; for barsyames claimed for himself and granted to anyone who had paid down the price of a province the right of plundering and ravaging it at pleasure. it was from the chief of the state that this traffic in lives proceeded, and agreements were entered into for the ruin of the cities. in the chief courts and in the public market-place the legalised brigand went round about, who was called "collector" from his duty of collecting the money paid for the purchase of dignities, which they exacted from the oppressed, who had no hope of redress. of all those who were promoted to his service, although several were men of repute, barsyames always preferred such as were of depraved character. he was not the only offender in this respect; all his predecessors and successors were equally guilty. the "master of offices" did the same, likewise the officials of the imperial treasury, and those who had the duty of superintending the emperor's private and personal estate--in a word, all who held public appointments in byzantium and other cities. in fact, from the time that this tyrant had the management of affairs, either he or his minister claimed the subsidies suitable to each office, and those who served their superiors, suffering extreme poverty, were compelled to submit to be treated as if they were the most worthless slaves. the greater part of the corn that had been imported to byzantium was kept until it rotted; but, although it was not fit for human consumption, he forced the cities of the east to purchase it in proportion to their importance, and he demanded payment, not at the price paid even for the best corn, but at a far higher rate; and the poor people, who had been forced to purchase it at an outrageously heavy price, were compelled to throw it into the sea or the drains. that which was sound and not yet spoilt, of which there was great abundance in the capital, the emperor determined to sell to those cities which were scantily supplied. in this manner he realised twice the amount that had formerly been obtained by the receivers of the public tribute in the provinces. the next year the supply of corn was not so abundant, and the transports did not bring a sufficient quantity to supply the needs of the capital. peter, disconcerted at the state of affairs, conceived the idea of buying up a great quantity of corn from bithynia, phrygia and thrace. the inhabitants of those provinces were forced to bring it down to the coasts themselves (a work of great labour), and to convey it at considerable risk to byzantium, where they had to be satisfied with an absurdly low price. their losses were so considerable, that they would have preferred to have given the corn gratuitously to the public granaries, and even to have paid twice as much. this burdensome duty was called syn=on=e, or provisioning the capital with corn from the provinces. but, as even then the supply of corn was not sufficient for the needs of the city, many complaints were made to the emperor. at the same time the soldiers, hardly any of whom had as yet received their pay, assembled and created a great disturbance in the city. the emperor appeared greatly irritated against peter, and resolved to deprive him of his office, both for the reasons stated and also because it was reported to him that he had amassed extraordinary wealth, which he kept hidden away, by robbing the public treasury; and this in fact was the case. but theodora opposed her husband's intention, being exceedingly enamoured of barsyames, apparently on account of his evil character and the remarkable cruelty with which he treated his subjects; for, being herself exceedingly cruel and utterly inhuman, she was anxious that the character of her agents should be in conformity with her own. it is also said that theodora, against her will, had been forced by the enchantments of barsyames to become his friend; for this man had devoted great attention to sorcerers and supernatural beings, admired the manichaeans, and was not ashamed openly to profess himself their supporter. although the empress was not ignorant of this, she did not withdraw her favour, but resolved on this account to show even greater interest and regard for him than before, for she herself also, from her earliest years, had associated with sorcerers and magicians, since her character and pursuits inclined her towards them. she had great faith in their arts, and placed the greatest confidence in them. it is even said that she did not render justinian susceptible to her influence so much by her flatteries as by the irresistible power of evil spirits; for justinian was not sufficiently kindly, or just, or persistent in well-doing to be superior to such secret influence, but was manifestly dominated by a thirst for blood and riches, and fell an easy prey to those who deceived and flattered him. in undertakings which needed the greatest attention, he changed his plans without any reason and showed himself as light as the dust swept before the wind. thus none of his kinsmen or friends had the least confidence in his stability, but, in the execution of his purpose, his opinion perpetually changed with the greatest rapidity. being, as i have said, an easy object of attack for the sorcerers, he in like manner readily fell a victim to theodora, who, for this reason, entertained the highest affection for peter as one devoted to the study of these arts. the emperor only succeeded with great difficulty in depriving him of his office, and, at the pressing entreaty of theodora, soon afterwards appointed him chief of the treasury, and deprived john of these functions, although he had only been invested with them a few months previously. this john was a native of palestine, a good and gentle man, who did not even know how to find out the means of increasing his private fortune, and had never done injury to a single individual. the more decided the affection of the people for him, the less he met with the approval of justinian and his partner, who, as soon as they found amongst their agents, contrary to expectation, a good and honourable man, were quite dumbfounded, showed their indignation, and endeavoured by every possible means to get rid of him with the least delay. thus peter succeeded john as chief of the royal treasury, and was one of the chief causes of great misery to all the inhabitants of the empire. he embezzled the greater part of the fund, which, in accordance with an ancient custom, was annually distributed by the emperor to a number of families by way of assisting them. part of this public money he sent to the emperor, and kept part for himself, whereby he acquired ill-gotten wealth. those who were thus deprived of this money lived in a pitiable state. he did not even coin the same amount of gold as before, but less--a thing which had never been done before. such was the manner in which justinian dealt with the magistracies. chapter xxiii i will now relate how he everywhere ruined the possessors of estates, although, to show their misery, it would really be sufficient to refer to what has been said, just before this, concerning the governors dispatched to all the provinces and cities, for it was they who plundered those who possessed landed estates, as before related. it had long been an established custom that the roman emperor should, not only once, but on several occasions, remit to his subjects all the arrears that were owing to the treasury, so that those who were in difficulties and had no means of settling these arrears might not be continually pressed, and that the tax collectors might not have an excuse for vexatiously attempting to exact money from those liable to tribute, where in many cases it was not due. justinian, however, for thirty-two years made no concession of the kind to his subjects, the result of which was that the poor people were forced to quit the country without any hope of return. the more honest were perpetually harassed by these false accusers, who threatened to charge them with having paid less than the amount at which they were rated. these unhappy individuals were less afraid of the imposition of new taxes than of the insupportable weight of the unjust exactions which for many years they had been compelled to pay, whereupon many of them abandoned their property to their accusers or to the rise. the medes and saracens had ravaged the greater part of asia, and the huns and slavs had plundered the whole of europe. cities had been razed to the ground or subjected to severe exactions; the inhabitants had been carried away into slavery with all they possessed, and every district had been deserted by its inhabitants in consequence of the daily inroads. justinian, however, remitted no tax or impost to any one of them, except in the case of cities that had been taken by the enemy, and then only for a year, although, had he granted them exemption for seven years, as the emperor anastasius had done, i do not think that even then he would have done enough: for cabades retired after having inflicted but little damage upon the buildings, but chosroes, by ravaging the country with fire and sword and razing all its dwellings to the ground, brought greater calamities upon the inhabitants. justinian only granted this absurd remission of tribute to these people and to others who had several times submitted to an invasion of the medes and the continuous depredations of the huns and saracen barbarians in the east, while the romans, settled in the different parts of europe, who had equally suffered by the attacks of the barbarians, found justinian more cruel than any of their foreign foes; for, immediately after the enemy withdrew, the proprietors of estates found themselves overwhelmed with requisitions for provisions,[13] impositions,[14] and edicts[15] of various kinds, the meaning of which i will now explain. those who possessed landed property were obliged to furnish provisions for the soldiers in proportion to the amount imposed upon each, and these dues were fixed, not in consideration of the necessities of the moment, but according to an authorised imperial assessment; and, if at any time they had not a sufficient supply upon their lands for the needs of the horses and soldiers, these unhappy persons were forced to purchase them even at a price far above their proper value, and to convey them in many cases from a considerable distance to the place where the troops were encamped, and to distribute them to the adjutants in what quantity and at what rate the latter pleased, not at a fair and reasonable price. this import was called "the import of victualling," which, as it were, cut the sinews of all the landed proprietors; for they had to pay an annual tribute ten times greater than before, and were obliged not only to furnish supplies the soldiers, but on several occasions to convey corn to byzantium. barsyames was not the only man who had the audacity to introduce this cursed exaction, john of cappadocia had set the example, and the successors of barsyames in his office followed it. such was the nature of the syn[=o]n[=e], as it was called. the "epibol[=e]" was a kind of unforeseen ruin, which suddenly attacked the landed proprietors and utterly deprived them of the hope of subsistence; for, in the case of estates that were deserted and unproductive, the owners or tenants of which had either died or abandoned their country and hidden themselves after the misfortunes they had undergone, justinian did not hesitate to impose a tax. such were these "impositions," which were of frequent occurrence during that time. a few words will suffice for the impost called "diagraph[=e]." at this time especially, the cities were afflicted with heavy losses, the causes and extent of which i will say nothing about, for it would be an endless tale. these losses had to be repaired by the landed proprietors in proportion to the rate at which they were assessed. their misery, however, did not stop there, but, although pestilence had attacked the whole world, and, especially, the roman empire; although most of the farmers had fallen victims, and their properties had become deserted, justinian did not show the least clemency towards the owners. he continued to exact the yearly tribute from them, not only their own proportion, but that of their neighbours who had died of the plague.[16] further, they were obliged to treat the soldiers with the greatest civility, and to allow them to take up their quarters in their finest and richest apartments, while they themselves all the time had to content themselves with the poorest and meanest rooms. such were the calamities that without intermission befell mankind during the reign of justinian and theodora, for there was no cessation of war or any other most terrible calamities. since i have mentioned the word "quarters," i must not forget to say that at one time there were 70,000 barbarians at constantinople, whom house owners were obliged to quarter, being thus shut out from all enjoyment of their own, and in many other ways inconvenienced. chapter xxiv i must not, however, omit to mention the manner in which justinian treated the soldiers. he appointed commissioners, called logothetae,[17] with directions to squeeze as much money as they could out of them, a twelfth part of the sum thus obtained being assured to them. the following was their mode of operation every year. it was an established custom that the soldiers should not all have the same pay. those who were young, and had just joined, received less than those who had undergone hardships in the field and were already half-way up the list; while the veterans, whose term of service was all but over, received a more considerable sum, that they might have sufficient to live upon as private individuals, and, after their death, might be able to leave a small inheritance by way of consolation to their families. thus, in course of time, the soldiers gradually rose in rank, according as their comrades died or retired from the service, and their pay from the public funds was regulated in accordance with their seniority. but these commissioners would not allow the names of those who had died or fallen in battle to be struck out, or the vacancies to be filled, until a long interval had elapsed. the result was, that the army was short of men, and the survivors, after the death of the veterans, were kept in a position far inferior to their merits, and received less pay than they ought to have done, while in the meantime the commissioners handed over to justinian the money they thus purloined from the soldiers. in addition, they harassed the soldiers with several other kinds of injustices, by way of recompense for the dangers they had undergone in the field; they were taunted with the name of greeks, as if greece could never produce a brave soldier; others were cashiered, as not having been ordered by the emperor to serve, although they showed their commissions, the genuineness of which the logothetae did not hesitate to call in question; others, again, were disbanded for having absented themselves a short time from their quarters. afterwards, some of the palace guards were sent into every part of the empire to take an exact inventory of the soldiers who were or were not fit for service. some were deprived of their belts, as being useless and too old, and for the future were obliged to solicit alms from the charitable in the open market-place--a sad and melancholy spectacle to all beholders. the rest were reduced to such a state of terror that, in order to avoid similar treatment, they offered large sums of money to buy themselves out, so that the soldiers, being thus rendered destitute and in many ways enfeebled, conceived an utter aversion to the service. this endangered the authority of the romans, especially in italy. alexander, who was sent thither as commissioner, unhesitatingly reproached the soldiers for this. he also exacted large sums of money from the italians, under the pretence of punishing them for their negotiations with theoderic and the goths. the soldiers were not the only persons who were reduced to poverty and privation by the commissioners; but those who had accompanied the generals in different capacities and had formerly enjoyed a high reputation, found themselves in great distress, as they had no means of procuring the ordinary necessaries. since i am speaking of the soldiers, i will give a few additional details. preceding emperors had, for a very long time past, carefully posted upon all the frontiers of the empire a large military force to protect its boundaries, and particularly, in the eastern provinces, in order to repel the inroads of the persians and saracens, they had established garrisons called "frontier troops." justinian at first treated these troops with such shameful neglect that their pay was four, or even five years in arrear; and, when peace was concluded between rome and persia, these unhappy individuals, who expected to enjoy the advantages of peace, were obliged to make a present to the treasury of the money due to them; and the emperor finally disbanded them most unjustly. thus the frontiers of the roman empire remained ungarrisoned, and the troops had nothing to subsist upon except the benevolence of the charitable. there was a certain body of soldiers, about 3,500 in number, called "scholares," who had been originally appointed as an imperial palace-guard, and received a larger pay from the imperial treasury than the rest of the army. they were first chosen according to merit from the armenians; but, from the reign of zeno, anyone, however cowardly and unwarlike, was allowed to enter this body. in course of time, even slaves, on payment of a sum of money, were admitted to their ranks. when justin succeeded to the throne, justinian enrolled a large number on payment of considerable sums of money. when the list was filled up, he added about 2,000 more who were called "supernumeraries," but disbanded them, when he himself came to the throne, without any reimbursement. in regard to these "scholares," he invented the following plan: whenever it was probable that an expedition would be despatched to italy, libya, or persia, he ordered them to make ready to take part in the campaign, although he knew that they were utterly unfit for war; and they, being afraid of this, surrendered their salaries to the emperor. this was a frequent occurrence. when peter was "master of offices," he daily harassed them with monstrous thefts. this man, although he was of a mild and by no means overbearing disposition, was the greatest thief in the world and an absolute slave to sordid avarice. he it was who (as i have related) contrived the murder of amalasunta, the daughter of theodoric. there are in the imperial household other officers of much higher rank, who, having purchased their positions for a larger sum, receive better pay in proportion. these are called "domestics" and "protectors." they have always been exempt from military service, and are only reckoned members of the palace on account of their dignity and rank. some of them are constantly in byzantium, while others have long been established in galatia or other provinces. justinian frightened these in the same manner into abandoning their salaries to him. in conclusion, it was the custom that, every five years, the emperor should present each of the soldiers with a fixed sum in gold. accordingly, every five years, commissioners were despatched to all parts of the empire, to bestow five staters of gold upon every soldier as a gift from the emperor. this had long been an established and inviolable practice. but, from the day that justinian assumed the management of affairs, he did nothing of the kind, and showed no intention of doing so during the thirty-two years of his reign, so that the custom was almost completely forgotten. chapter xxv i will now proceed to mention another mode in which he plundered his subjects. those who, at byzantium, serve the emperor or magistrates, either as secretaries, or in a military or any other capacity, are placed last upon the list of officials. as time goes on, they are gradually promoted to the place of those who have died or retired, until they reach the highest rank and supreme dignity. those who had attained to this honour, in accordance with an ancient institution, had the right to the enjoyment of a fund of not less than 100 centenars of gold yearly, so that they might have a comfortable means of subsistence for their old age, and might be able to assist others as much as possible; and this was of great influence in bringing about a successful administration of the affairs of state. but justinian deprived them of all their privileges, and did great harm, not only to them, but to many others besides, for the poverty which attacked them extended to all those who formerly shared their prosperity. if anyone were to calculate the sums of which they were thus deprived during these thirty-two years, he would find that the amount was very considerable. such was the shameful manner in which the tyrant treated his soldiers. i will now relate how he behaved towards merchants, mariners, artisans, shopkeepers and others. there are two narrow straits on either side of byzantium, the one in the hellespont, between sestos and abydos, the other at the mouth of the euxine sea, close to the chapel of the holy mother. in the strait upon the hellespont, there was no public custom-house, but an officer was sent by the emperor to abydos, to see that no ship loaded with arms should pass on the way to byzantium without the emperor's leave, and also that no person should put out to sea from byzantium without letters of licence signed by the proper official, no ship being allowed to leave the city without the permission of the secretaries of the master of offices. the amount which the praetor exacted from the shipmasters under the name of toll was so insignificant that it was disregarded. a praetor was also sent to the other strait, who received his salary regularly from the emperor, and whose duties were the same--to take care that no one transported to the barbarians on the euxine any wares, the export of which to hostile countries was forbidden; but he was not allowed to exact any duties from these navigators. but, from the day that justinian succeeded to the government of affairs, he established a custom-house on both straits, and sent thither two officials to collect the dues at a fixed salary, who were ordered to get in as much money as they could. these officials, who desired nothing better than to show their devotion to him, extorted duty upon all kinds of merchandise. in regard to the port of byzantium, he made the following arrangement:--he put it in charge of one of his confidants, a syrian by birth, named addeus, whom he ordered to exact duty from all vessels which put in there. this addeus would not allow those ships which had been any length of time in the harbour to leave it, until the masters had paid a sum of money to free them, or else he compelled them to take on board a freight for libya or italy. some, resolved not to take in a return cargo or to remain at sea any longer, burned their ships and thus escaped all anxiety, to their great rejoicing. but all those who were obliged to continue their profession in order to live, for the future demanded three times the usual amount from merchants for the hire of the ships, and thus the merchants had no means of covering their losses except by requiring a higher price from purchasers; and thus, by every possible contrivance, the romans were reduced to the danger of starvation. such was the general state of affairs. i must not, however, omit to state the manner in which the rulers dealt with the small coinage. the money-changers had formerly been accustomed to give 210 obols (called pholes) for a single gold stater. justinian and theodora, for their own private gain, ordered that only 180 obols should be given for the stater, and by this means deprived the public of a sixth part of each piece of gold. having established "monopolies" upon most wares, they incessantly harassed would-be purchasers. the only thing left free from duty was clothes, but, in regard to these also, the imperial pair contrived to extort money. silken garments had for a long time been made in berytus and tyre, cities of phoenicia. the merchants and workmen connected with the trade had been settled there from very early times, and from thence the business had spread throughout the world. during the reign of justinian, those who lived in byzantium and other cities raised the price of their silks, on the plea that at the present time they were dearer in persia, and that the import tithes were higher. the emperor pretended to be exceedingly indignant at this, and subsequently published an edict forbidding a pound of silk to be sold for more than eight gold pieces; anyone who disobeyed the edict was to be punished by the confiscation of his property. this measure appeared altogether impracticable and absurd. for it was not possible for the merchants, who had bought their wares at a much higher price, to sell it to customers at a lower rate. they accordingly resolved to give up this business, and secretly and without delay disposed of their remaining wares to certain well-known persons, who took delight in wasting their money upon such adornments, and to whom it had become in a manner an absolute necessity. theodora heard of this from certain persons who whispered it confidentially, and, without taking the trouble to verify the report, she immediately deprived these persons of their wares, and, in addition, inflicted upon them a fine of a centenar of gold. at the present time, the imperial treasurer is charged with the superintendence of this trade. when peter barsyames held the office, they soon allowed him all manner of licence in carrying out his nefarious practices. he demanded that all the rest should carefully observe the law, and compelled those who were engaged in the silk factories to work for himself alone. without taking any trouble to conceal it, he sold an ounce of any ordinary coloured silk in the public market-place for six pieces of gold, but if it was of the royal dye, called holovere, he asked more than four-and-twenty for it. in this manner he procured vast sums of money for the emperor, and even larger sums, which he kept privately for himself; and this practice, begun by him, continued. the grand treasurer is at this moment avowedly the only silk merchant and sole controller of the market. all those who formerly carried on this business, either in byzantium or any other city, workers on sea or land, felt the loss severely. nearly the whole population of the cities which existed by such manufactories were reduced to begging. artisans and mechanics were forced to struggle against hunger, and many of them, quitting their country, fled to persia. none but the chief treasurer was allowed to have anything to do with that branch of industry, and, while he handed over part of his gains to the emperor, he kept the greater part for himself, and thus grew wealthy at the expense of the unfortunate public. chapter xxvi i must now relate how he robbed byzantium and other cities of their ornaments. in the first place he resolved to humiliate the lawyers. he deprived them of all the fees, which, after they had finished their case, were considerable, and enriched them and increased their distinction. he ordered that litigants should come to an agreement upon oath, which brought the lawyers into contempt and insignificance. after he had seized the estates of the senators and other families reputed wealthy, in byzantium and throughout the empire, the profession had little to do, for the citizens no longer possessed property worth disputing about. thus, of the numerous and famous orators who once composed this order there remained only a few, who were everywhere despised and lived in the greatest poverty, finding that their profession brought them nothing but insult. he also caused physicians and professors of the liberal arts to be deprived of the necessaries of life. he cut off from them all the supplies which former emperors had attached to these professions, and which were paid out of the state funds. further, he had no scruple about transferring to the public funds all the revenues which the inhabitants of the cities had devoted either to public purposes or for providing entertainments. from that time no attention was paid to physicians or professors; no one ventured to trouble himself about the public buildings; there were no public lights in the cities, or any enjoyments for the inhabitants; the performances in the theatres and hippodromes and the combats of wild beasts, in which theodora had been bred and brought up, were entirely discontinued. he afterwards suppressed public exhibitions in byzantium, to save the usual state contribution, to the ruin of an almost countless multitude who found their means of support in these entertainments. their life, both in public and private, became sad and dejected and utterly joyless, as if some misfortune had fallen upon them from heaven. nothing was spoken of in conversation at home, in the streets, or in the churches, except misfortune and suffering. such was the state of the cities. i have still something important to mention. every year two consuls were appointed--one at rome, the other at byzantium. whoever was advanced to that dignity was expected to expend more than twenty centenars of gold upon the public. this sum was to a small extent furnished by the consuls themselves, while the greater part was due to the liberality of the emperor. this money was distributed amongst those whom i have mentioned, above all to the most necessitous, and principally to those employed upon the stage, which materially increased the comfort of the citizens. but, since the accession of justinian, the elections never took place at the proper time; sometimes one consul remained in office for several years, and at last people never even dreamed of a fresh appointment. this reduced all to the greatest distress; since the emperor no longer granted the usual assistance to his subjects, and at the same time deprived them of what they had by every means in his power. i think i have given a sufficient account of the manner in which this destroyer swallowed up the property of the members of the senate and deprived them all of their substance, whether publicly or privately. i also think that i have said enough concerning the fraudulent accusations which he made use of, in order to get possession of the property of other families which were reputed to be wealthy. lastly, i have described the wrongs he inflicted upon the soldiers and servants of those in authority and the militia in the palace; upon countrymen, the possessors and proprietors of estates, and professors of the arts and sciences; upon merchants, shipmasters and sailors; mechanics, artisans, and retail dealers; those who gained their livelihood by performing upon the stage; in a word, upon all who were affected by the misery of these. i must now speak of his treatment of the poor, the lower classes, the indigent, and the sick and infirm. i will then go on to speak of his treatment of the priests. at first, as has been said, he got all the shops into his own hands, and having established monopolies of all the most necessary articles of life, exacted from his subjects more than three times their value. but if i were to enter into the details of all these monopolies, i should never finish my narrative, for they are innumerable. he imposed a perpetual and most severe tax upon bread, which the artisans, the poor, and infirm were compelled to purchase. he demanded from this commodity a revenue of three centenars of gold every year, and those poor wretches were obliged to support themselves upon bread full of dust, for the emperor did not blush to carry his avarice to this extent. seizing upon this as an excuse, the superintendents of the markets, eager to fill their own pockets, in a short time acquired great wealth, and, in spite of the cheapness of food, reduced the poor to a state of artificial and unexpected famine; for they were not allowed to import corn from any other parts, but were obliged to eat bread purchased in the city. one of the city aqueducts had broken, and a considerable portion of the water destined for the use of the inhabitants was lost. justinian, however, took no notice of it, being unwilling to incur any expense for repairs, although a great crowd continually thronged round the fountains, and all the baths had been shut. nevertheless, he expended vast sums without any reason or sense upon buildings on the seashore, and also built everywhere throughout the suburbs, as if the palaces, in which their predecessors had always been content to live, were no longer suitable for himself and theodora; so that it was not merely parsimony, but a desire for the destruction of human life, that prevented him from repairing the aqueduct, for no one, from most ancient times, had ever shown himself more eager than justinian to amass wealth, and at the same time to spend it in a most wasteful and extravagant manner. thus this emperor struck at the poorest and most miserable of his subjects through two most necessary articles of food--bread and water, by making the one difficult to procure, and the other too dear for them to buy. it was not only the poor of byzantium, however, that he harassed in this manner, but, as i will presently mention, the inhabitants of several other cities. when theodoric had made himself master of italy, in order to preserve some trace of the old constitution, he permitted the praetorian guards to remain in the palace and continued their daily allowance. these soldiers were very numerous. there were the silentiarii, the domestici, and the scholares, about whom there was nothing military except the name, and their salary was hardly sufficient to live upon. theodoric also ordered that their children and descendants should have the reversion of this. to the poor, who lived near the church of peter the apostle, he distributed every year 3,000 bushels of corn out of the public stores. all continued to receive these donations until the arrival of alexander forficula[18] in italy. he resolved to deprive them of it immediately; and, when the emperor was informed of this, he approved of his conduct, and treated alexander with still greater honour. during his journey, alexander treated the greeks in the following manner:--the peasants of the district near the pass of thermopylae had long manned the fortress, and, each in turn, mounted guard over the wall which blocks the pass, whenever there seemed any likelihood of an invasion of the barbarians. but alexander, on his arrival, pretended that it was to the interest of the peloponnesians not to leave the protection of the pass to the peasants. he established a garrison of about 2,000 soldiers, who were not paid out of the public funds, but by each of the cities in greece. on this pretext, he transferred to the public treasury all the revenues of these towns which were intended for public purposes or to cover the expenses of shows and entertainments. he pretended that it was to be employed for the support of the soldiers, and in consequence, from that time, no public buildings or other objects of utility were erected or promoted either in athens or throughout greece. justinian, however, hastened to give his sanction to all the acts of forficula. we must now speak of the poor of alexandria. amongst the lawyers of that city was one hephaestus, who, having been appointed governor, suppressed popular disturbances by the terror he inspired, but at the same time reduced the citizens to the greatest distress. he immediately established a monopoly of all wares, which he forbade other merchants to sell. he reserved everything for himself alone, sold everything himself, and fixed the price by the capricious exercise of his authority. consequently, the city was in the greatest distress from want of provisions; the poor no longer had a sufficient supply of what was formerly sold at a low rate, and especially felt the difficulty of obtaining bread; for the governor alone bought up all the corn that came from egypt, and did not allow anyone else to purchase even so much as a bushel; and in this manner, he taxed the loaves and put upon them what price he pleased. by this means he amassed an enormous fortune, and was likewise careful to satisfy the greed of the emperor. so great was the terror inspired by hephaestus, that the people of alexandria endured their ill-treatment in silence; and the emperor, out of gratitude for the money which flowed into his exchequer from that quarter, conceived a great affection for hephaestus. the latter, in order to secure in a still greater degree the favour of the emperor, carried out the following plan. when diocletian became emperor of the romans, he ordered a yearly distribution of corn to be made to the necessitous poor of alexandria; and the people, settling its distribution amongst themselves, transmitted the right to their descendants. hephaestus deprived the necessitous of 2,000,000 bushels yearly, and deposited it in the imperial granaries, declaring, in his despatch to the emperor, that this grant of corn had previously been made in a manner that was neither just nor in conformity with the interests of the state. the emperor approved of his conduct and became more attached to him than ever. the alexandrians, whose hopes of existence depended upon this distribution, felt the cruelty bitterly, especially at the time of their distress. chapter xxvii the evil deeds of justinian were so numerous, that time would fail me if i were to attempt to relate them all. it will therefore be sufficient, if i select some of those which will exhibit his whole character to posterity, and which clearly show his dissimulation, his neglect of god, the priesthood, the laws, and the people which showed itself devoted to him. he was utterly without shame; he had no care for the interests or advantage of the state, and did not trouble himself about excusing his misdeeds, or, in fact, about anything else but how he might plunder and appropriate the wealth of the whole world. to begin with, he appointed paul bishop of alexandria, at the time when rhodon, a phoenician by birth, was governor of the city. he ordered him to show the greatest deference to the bishop, and to execute all his instructions; for by this means he hoped to prevail upon the chief persons of the city to support the council of chalcedon. there was also a certain arsenius, a native of palestine, who had made himself most necessary to the empress, and, in consequence of her favour and the great wealth he had amassed, had attained the rank of a senator, although he was a man of most abandoned character. he belonged to the samaritan sect, but, in order to preserve his authority, he assumed the name of christian. his father and brother, who lived in scythopolis, relying upon his authority and following his advice, bitterly persecuted the christians in that city. whereupon the citizens rose up against them, and put them to death most cruelly, which afterwards proved the cause of much misery to the inhabitants of palestine. on that occasion neither justinian nor the empress inflicted any punishment upon arsenius, although he was the principal cause of all those troubles. they contented themselves with forbidding him to appear at court, in order to satisfy the continued complaints that were preferred against him by the christians. this arsenius, thinking to gratify the emperor, set out with paul to alexandria to assist him generally, and, above all, to do his utmost to aid him in securing the favour of the inhabitants; for, during the time of his exclusion from the palace, he affirmed that he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with all the doctrines of christianity. this displeased theodora, who pretended to hold a different opinion to the emperor in religious matters, as i have already stated. when they arrived at alexandria, paul delivered over the deacon psoes to the governor to be put to death, asserting that he was the only obstacle in the way of the realisation of the emperor's desires. the governor, urged on by despatches from the emperor, which frequently arrived and were couched in pressing terms, ordered psoes to be flogged, and he died under the torture. when the news of this reached the emperor, at the earnest entreaty of theodora, he expressed great indignation against paul, rhodon, and arsenius, as if he had forgotten the orders he himself had given them. he appointed liberius, a roman patrician, governor of alexandria, and sent some priests of high repute to investigate the matter. amongst them was pelagius, archdeacon of rome, who was commissioned by pope vigilius to act as his agent. paul, being convicted of murder, was deprived of his bishopric; rhodon, who had fled to byzantium, was executed by order of justinian, and his estate confiscated, although he produced thirteen despatches, in which the emperor expressly ordered and insisted that he should in everything act in accordance with paul's orders, and never oppose him, that he might have liberty to act as he pleased in matters of religion. arsenius was crucified by liberius, in accordance with instructions from theodora; his estate was confiscated by the emperor, although he had no cause of complaint against him except his intimacy with paul. whether in this he acted justly or not, i cannot say; but i will afterwards state the reason why i have mentioned this affair. some time afterwards paul went to byzantium, and, by the offer of seven centenars of gold, endeavoured to persuade the emperor to reinstate him in his office, of which he said he had been unjustly deprived. justinian received the money affably, treated him with respect, and promised to reinstate him as soon as possible, although another at present held the office, as if he did not know that he himself had put to death two of his best friends and supporters, and confiscated their estates. the emperor exerted all his efforts in this direction, and there did not appear to be the least doubt that paul would be reinstated. but vigilius, who at the time was in byzantium, resolved not to submit to the emperor's orders in this matter, and declared that it was impossible for him to annul by his own decision a sentence which pelagius had given in his name. so that, in everything, justinian's only object was to get money by any means whatsoever. the following is a similar case. there was a samaritan by birth, a native of palestine, who, having been compelled by the law to change his religion, had become a christian and taken the name of faustinus. this faustinus became a member of the senate and governor of palestine; and when his time of office had expired, on his return to byzantium he was accused by certain priests of favouring the religion and customs of the samaritans and of having been guilty of great cruelties towards the christians in palestine. justinian appeared to be very angry and expressed his indignation that, during his reign, anyone should have the audacity to insult the name of christian. the members of the senate met to examine into the matter, and, at the instance of the emperor, faustinus was banished. but justinian, having received large presents of money from him, immediately annulled the sentence. faustinus, restored to his former authority and the confidence of the emperor, was appointed steward of the imperial domains in palestine and phoenicia, and was allowed to act in every respect exactly as he pleased. these few instances are sufficient to show how justinian protected the christian ordinances. chapter xxviii i must now briefly relate how he unhesitatingly abolished the laws when money was in question. there was in emesa a man named priscus, who was an expert forger and very clever in his art. the church of emesa, many years before, had been instituted sole heir to the property of one of the most distinguished inhabitants named mammianus, a patrician of noble birth and of great wealth. during the reign of justinian, priscus made a list of all the families of the town, taking care to notice which were wealthy and able to disburse large sums. he carefully hunted up the names of their ancestors, and, having found some old documents in their handwriting, forged a number of acknowledgments, in which they confessed that they were largely indebted to mammianus in sums of money which had been left with them by him as a deposit. the amount of these forged acknowledgments was no less than a hundred centenars of gold. he also imitated in a marvellous manner the handwriting of a public notary, a man of conspicuous honesty and virtue, who during the lifetime of mammianus used to draw up all their documents for the citizens, sealing them with his own hand, and delivered these forged documents to those who managed the ecclesiastical affairs of emesa, on condition that he should receive part of the money which might be obtained in this manner. but, since there was a law which limited all legal processes to a period of thirty years, except in cases of mortgage and certain others, in which the prescription extended to forty years, they resolved to go to byzantium and, offering a large sum of money to the emperor, to beg him to assist them in their project of ruining their fellow-citizens. the emperor accepted the money, and immediately published a decree which ordained that affairs relating to the church should not be restricted to the ordinary prescription, but that anything might be recovered, if claimed within a hundred years: which regulation was to be observed not only in emesa, but throughout the whole of the roman empire. in order to see that the new rule was put into execution, he sent longinus to emesa, a man of great vigour and bodily strength, who was afterwards made praefect of byzantium. those who had the management of the affairs of the church of emesa, acting upon the forged documents, sued some of the citizens for two centenars of gold, which they were condemned to pay, being unable to raise any objection, by reason of the length of time elapsed and their ignorance of the facts. all the inhabitants, and especially the principal citizens, were in great distress and highly incensed against their accusers. when ruin already threatened the majority of the citizens, providence came to their assistance in a most unexpected manner. longinus ordered priscus, the contriver of this detestable invention, to bring him all the acknowledgments; and, when he showed himself unwilling to do so, he dealt him a violent blow in the face. priscus, unable to resist the blow dealt by a man of such bodily strength, fell backwards upon the ground, trembling and affrighted. believing that longinus had discovered the whole affair, he confessed; and, the whole trick being thus brought to light, the suits were stopped. justinian, not content with subverting the laws of the roman empire every day, exerted himself in like manner to do away with those of the jews; for, if easter came sooner in their calendar than in that of the christians, he did not allow them to celebrate the passover on their own proper day or to make their offerings to god, or to perform any of their usual solemnities. the magistrates even inflicted heavy fines upon several of them, upon information that they had eaten the paschal lamb during that time, as if it were an infraction of the laws of the state. although i could mention countless acts of this nature committed by justinian, i will not do so, for i must draw my narrative to a close. what i have said will be sufficient to indicate the character of the man. chapter xxix i will, however, mention two instances of his falsehood and hypocrisy. after having deprived liberius (of whom i have spoken above) of his office, he put in his place john, an egyptian by birth, surnamed laxarion. when pelagius, who was a particular friend of liberius, heard of this, he inquired of justinian whether what he had heard was true. the emperor immediately denied it, and protested that he had done nothing of the kind. he then gave pelagius a letter in which liberius was ordered to hold fast to his government and by no means to give it up, and added that he had no present intention of removing liberius. at that time there resided in byzantium an uncle of john named eudaemon, a man of consular rank and great wealth, who had the management of the imperial estates. having been informed of what had taken place, he also inquired of the emperor whether his nephew was assured in his government. justinian, saying nothing about his letter to liberius, sent john positive orders to hold fast to his government, since his views were still the same concerning it. trusting to this, john ordered liberius to quit the governor's palace, as having been deprived of his office. liberius refused, placing equal reliance in the emperor's despatch. john, having armed his followers, marched against liberius, who defended himself with his guards. an engagement took place, in which several were slain, and amongst them john, the new governor. at the earnest entreaty of eudaemon, liberius was immediately summoned to byzantium. the matter was investigated before the senate, and liberius was acquitted, as being only guilty of justifiable homicide in self-defence. justinian, however, did not let him escape, until he had forced him to give him a considerable sum of money privately. such was the great respect justinian showed for the truth, and such was the faithfulness with which he kept his promises. i will here permit myself a brief digression, which may not be irrelevant. this eudaemon died shortly afterwards, leaving behind him a large number of relatives, but no will, either written or verbal. about the same time, the chief eunuch of the court, named euphratas, also died intestate; he left behind him a nephew, who would naturally have succeeded to his property, which was considerable. the emperor took possession of both fortunes, appointing himself sole heir, not even leaving so much as a three-obol piece to the legal inheritors. such was the respect justinian showed for the laws and the kinsmen of his intimate friends. in the same manner, without having the least claim to it, he seized the fortune of irenaeus, who had died some time before. another event which took place about this time i cannot omit. there lived at ascalon a man named anatolius, the most distinguished member of the senate. his daughter, his only child and heiress, was married to a citizen of caesarea, named mamilianus, a man of distinguished family. there was an ancient statute which provided that, whenever a senator died without male issue, the fourth part of his estate should go to the senate of the town, and the rest to the heirs-at-law. on this occasion justinian gave a striking proof of his character. he had recently made a law which reversed this,--that, when a senator died without male issue, the fourth part only should go to the heirs, the three other parts being divided between the senate and the public treasury, although it had never happened before that the estate of any senator had been shared between the public treasury and the emperor. anatolius died while this law was in force. his daughter was preparing to divide her inheritance with the public treasury and the senate of the town in accordance with the law, when she received letters from the senate of ascalon and from the emperor himself, in which they resigned all claim to the money, as if they had received their due. afterwards mamilianus (the son-in-law of anatolius) died, leaving one daughter, the legal heiress to his estate. the daughter soon afterwards died, during her mother's lifetime, after having been married to a person of distinction, by whom, however, she had no issue, either male or female. justinian then immediately seized the whole estate, giving utterance to the strange opinion, that it would be a monstrous thing that the daughter of anatolius, in her old age, should be enriched by the property of both her husband and father. however, to keep her from want, he ordered that she should receive a stater of gold a day, as long as she lived; and, in the decree whereby he deprived her of all her property, he declared that he bestowed this stater upon her for the sake of religion, seeing that he was always in the habit of acting with piety and virtue. i will now show that he cared nothing even for the blue faction, which showed itself devoted to him, when it was a question of money. there was amongst the cilicians a certain malthanes, the son-in-law of that leo who had held the office of "referendary," whom justinian commissioned to put down seditious movements in the country. on this pretext, malthanes treated most of the inhabitants with great cruelty. he robbed them of their wealth, sent part to the emperor, and claimed the rest for himself. some endured their grievances in silence; but the inhabitants of tarsus who belonged to the blue faction, confident of the protection of the empress, assembled in the market-place and abused malthanes, who at the time was not present. when he heard of it, he immediately set out with a body of soldiers, reached tarsus by night, sent his soldiers into the houses at daybreak, and ordered them to put the inhabitants to death. the blues, imagining that it was an attack from a foreign foe, defended themselves as best they could. during the dark, amongst other misfortunes, damianus, a member of the senate and president of the blues in tarsus, was slain by an arrow. when the news reached byzantium, the blues assembled in the streets with loud murmurs of indignation, and bitterly complained to the emperor of the affair, uttering the most violent threats against leo and malthanes. the emperor pretended to be as enraged as they were, and immediately ordered an inquiry to be made into the conduct of the latter. but leo, by the present of a considerable sum of money, appeased him, so that the process was stopped, and the emperor ceased to show favour to the blues. although the affair remained uninvestigated, the emperor received malthanes, who came to byzantium to pay his respects, with great kindness and treated him with honour. but, as he was leaving the emperor's presence, the blues, who had been on the watch, attacked him in the palace, and would certainly have slain him, had not some of their own party, bribed by leo, prevented them. who would not consider that state to be in a most pitiable condition, in which the sovereign allows himself to be bribed to leave charges uninvestigated, and in which malcontents venture without hesitation to attack one of the magistrates within the precincts of the palace, and to lay violent hands upon him? however, no punishment was inflicted either upon malthanes or his assailants, which is a sufficient proof of the character of justinian. chapter xxx his regulations as to the public "posts" and "spies" will show how much he cared for the interests of the state. the earlier emperors, in order to gain the most speedy information concerning the movements of the enemy in each territory, seditions or unforeseen accidents in individual towns, and the actions of the governors and other officials in all parts of the empire, and also in order that those who conveyed the yearly tribute might do so without danger or delay, had established a rapid service of public couriers according to the following system:--as a day's journey for an active man, they settled eight stages, sometimes fewer, but never less than five. there were forty horses in each stage and a number of grooms in proportion. the couriers who were intrusted with this duty, by making use of relays of excellent horses, frequently covered as much ground in one day by this means as they would otherwise have covered in ten, when carrying out the above commissions. in addition, the landed proprietors in each country, especially those whose estates were in the interior, reaped great benefit from these posts; for, by selling their surplus corn and fruit every year to the state for the support of the horses and grooms, they gained considerable revenue. by this means the state received, without interruption, the tribute due from each, and, in turn, reimbursed those who furnished it, and thus everything was to the advantage of the state. such was the old system. but justinian, having commenced by suppressing the post between chalcedon and dakibiza, compelled the couriers to carry all despatches from byzantium to helenopolis by sea. they unwillingly obeyed; for, being obliged to embark upon small skiffs, such as were generally used for crossing the strait, they ran great risk of being shipwrecked, if they met with stormy weather. for, since great speed was enjoined upon them, they were unable to wait for a favourable opportunity for putting out to sea, when the weather was calm. it is true that he maintained the primitive system on the road to persia, but for the rest of the east, as far as egypt, he reduced the number of posts to one, for a day's journey, and substituted a few asses for the horses, so that the report of what was taking place in each district only reached byzantium with difficulty and long after the events had occurred, when it was too late to apply any remedy; and, on the other hand, the owners of estates found no benefit from their products, which were either spoilt or lay idle. the spies were organized in the following manner:--a number of men used to be supported at the state's expense, whose business it was to visit hostile countries, especially the court of persia, on pretence of business or some other excuse, and to observe accurately what was going on; and by this means, on their return, they were able to report to the emperors all the secret plans of their enemies, and the former, being warned in advance, took precautions and were never surprised. this system had long been in vogue amongst the medes. chosroes, by giving larger salaries to his spies, none of whom were born romans, reaped great benefit from this precaution. justinian, having discontinued this practice, lost considerable territory, especially the country of the lazes, which was taken by the enemy, since the romans had no information where the king and his army were. the state also formerly kept a large number of camels, which carried the baggage on the occasion of an expedition into an hostile country. by this means the peasants were relieved from the necessity of carrying burdens, and the soldiers were well supplied with necessaries. justinian, however, did away with nearly all the camels, so that, when the army is marching against an enemy, everything is in an unsatisfactory condition. such was the care he took of the most important state institutions. it will not be out of place to mention one of his ridiculous acts. there was at caesarea a lawyer named evangelius, a person of distinction, who, by the favour of fortune, had amassed great riches and considerable landed estates. he afterwards purchased, for three centenars of gold, a village on the coast named porphyreon. when justinian heard of this, he immediately took it from him, only returning him a small portion of the price he had paid for it, at the same time declaring that it was unseemly that such a village should belong to evangelius the lawyer. but enough of this. it remains to speak of certain innovations introduced by justinian and theodora. formerly, when the senate had audience of the emperor, it paid him homage in the following manner:--every patrician kissed him on the right breast, and the emperor, having kissed him on the head, dismissed him; all the rest bent the right knee before the emperor and retired. as for the empress, it was not customary to do homage to her. but those who were admitted to the presence of this royal pair, even those of patrician rank, were obliged to prostrate themselves upon their face, with hands and feet stretched out; and, after having kissed both his feet, they rose up and withdrew. nor did theodora refuse this honour. she received the ambassadors of the persians and other barbarian nations and (a thing which had never been done before) bestowed magnificent presents upon them, as if she had been absolute mistress of the empire. formerly, those who associated with the emperor called him imperator and the empress imperatrix, and the other officials according to their rank. but if anyone addressed either justinian or theodora without the addition of the title sovereign lord or sovereign lady, or without calling himself their slave, he was looked upon as ignorant and insolent in his language, and, as if he had committed a very grave offence and insulted those whom it least became him, he was dismissed. formerly, only a few were granted admission to the palace, and that with difficulty; but, from the time of the accession of justinian and theodora, the magistrates and all other persons were continually in the palace. the reason was, that formerly the magistrates freely administered justice and laws independently, and executed the customary sentences at their own residences, and the subjects, seeing and hearing that no injustice would be done to them, had little reason to trouble the emperor. but this pair, taking control of all business to themselves in order that they might ruin their subjects, forced them to humiliate themselves before them in a most servile manner. thus the courts of justice were empty nearly every day, and hardly a person was to be seen in them, while in the palace there were crowds of men pushing and abusing one another, all endeavouring to be foremost in showing their servility. those who were on the most intimate terms with the imperial pair remained the whole day and a great part of the night, without food or sleep, until they were worn out, and this apparent good fortune was their only reward. others, who were free from all these cares and anxieties, were puzzled to think what had become of the wealth and treasures of the empire. some declared that it had all fallen into the hands of the barbarians, while others asserted that the emperor kept it locked up in secret hiding-places of his own. when justinian--whether he be man or devil--shall have departed this life, those who are then living will be able to learn the truth. notes [1: by mr. hodgkin, "italy and her invaders," vol. iii., p. 638.] [2: the best modern authorities are agreed that he was really the author.] [3: or, rather, three, the fourth being only a kind of supplement.] [4: as internal evidence in favour of the identity of the author of the "secret history," and the "wars" and "buildings," the few following points, amongst many, may be noticed. the reference in the preface to the "history of the wars," that the author was born at caesarea, is more closely defined by the statement in the "secret history" that he was from caesarea in palestine; in both works an account of the relations of justinian to the church is promised, but the promise is not fulfilled. the "secret history" refers to the extravagant "building" mania of the emperor. in all three works we meet with a constant recurrence of the same ideas, the same outspoken language, greatly embittered in the "secret history," the same fanatical pragmatism, the same association of luck, destiny, and divinity, of guilt and expiation, the same superstition in the forms of demonology, belief in dreams and miracles, and lastly the same commonplaces, expressions, and isolated words.] [5: "decline and fall," chap. xl.] [6: the ã�dificia, or "buildings," of justinian.] [7: the article on _procopius_ in the "encyclopaedia britannica" (9th edition) by professor bryce should also be consulted.] [8: spearmen, lancers.] [9: shield-bearers.] [10: or "count," master of the royal stables.] [11: pumpkin.] [12: private secretaries.] [13: syn[=o]n[=e].] [14: epibol[=e].] [15: diagraph[=e].] [16: here the text is corrupt.] [17: chancellors, or, commissioners.] [18: shears, scissors.] this ebook was produced by norm wolcott. geoffrey de villehardouin [b.c.1160-d.c.1213]: memoirs or chronicle of the fourth crusade and the conquest of constantinople geoffrey de villehardouin [b.c.1160-d.c.1213]: memoirs or chronicle of the fourth crusade and the conquest of constantinople, trans. frank t. marzials, (london: j.m. dent, 1908) the first preaching of the crusade 1 be it known to you that eleven hundred and ninety-seven years after the incarnation of our lord jesus christ, in the time of innocent pope of rome, and philip king of france, and richard king of england, there was in france a holy man named fulk of neuilly which neuilly is between lagni-sur-marne and paris and he was a priest and held the cure of the village. and this said fulk began to speak of god throughout the isle-de-france, and the other countries round about; and you must know that by him the lord wrought many miracles. be it known to you further, that the fame of this holy man so spread, that it reached the pope of rome, innocent*; and the pope sent to france, and ordered the right worthy man to preach the cross (the crusade) by his authority. and afterwards the pope sent a cardinal of his, master peter of capua, who himself had taken the cross, to proclaim the indulgence of which i now tell you, viz., that all who should take the cross and serve in the host for one year, would be de[note: innocent iii, elected pope on the 8th january 1198, at the early age of thirty seven, innocent iii was one of the leading spirits of his time-in every sense a strong man and great pope. from the beginning of his pontificate he turned his thoughts and policy to the recovery of jerusalem. ] 2 livered from all the sins they had committed, and acknowledged in confession. and because this indulgence was so great, the hearts of men were much moved, and many took the cross for the greatness of the pardon. of those who took the cross the other year after that right worthy man fulk had so spoken of god, there was held a tourney in champagne, at a castle called ecri, and by god's grace it so happened that thibaut, count of champagne and brie, took the cross, and the count louis of blois and chartres likewise; and this was at the beginning of advent (28th november 1199). now you must know that this count thibaut was but a young man, and not more than twenty-two years of age, and the count louis not more than twenty-seven. these two counts were nephews and cousins-german to the king of france, and, on the other part, nephews to the king of england. with these two counts there took the cross two very high and puissant barons of france, simon of montfort*, and renaud of montmirail. great was the fame thereof throughout the land when these two high and puissant men took the cross. [note: simon de monfort the same one who later crushed the albigensians and the father of the "english" simon de montfort who defeated the royal army at lewes and was killed at evesham in 1265]. in the land of count thibaut of champagne took the cross garnier, bishop of troyes, count walter of brienne, geoffry of joinville*, who was seneschal of the land, robert his brother, walter of vignory, walter of montbéliard, eustace of conflans, guy of plessis his brother, henry of arzilliéres, oger of saint-chéron, villain of neuilly, geoffry of villhardouin, marshal of champagne, geoffry his nephew, william of nully, walter of fuligny, everard of montigny, manasses of l'isle, macaire of sainte-menehould, miles the brabant, guy of chappes, clerembaud his nephew, renaud of dampierre, john foisnous, and many other right worthy men whom this book does not here mention by name. [note: geoffry de joinville the father of the chronicler joinville.] with count louis took the cross gervais of châtel hervée his son john of virsin, oliver of rochefort, henry of mont3 reuil, payen of orléans, peter of bracietix, hugh his brother, william of sains, john of frialze, walter of gaudonville, hugh of cormeray, geoffry his brother, hervée of beauvoir, robert of frouville, peter his brother, orri of l'isle, robert of quartier, and many more whom this book does not here mention by name. in the isle-de-france took the cross nevelon, bishop of soissons, matthew of montmorency, guy the castellan of coucy, his nephew, robert of ronsoi, ferri of yerres, john his brother, walter of saint-denis, henry his brother, william of aunoi, robert mauvoisin, dreux of crcssonsacq, bernard of moreuil, enguerrand of boves, robert his brother, and many more right worthy men with regard to whose names this book is here silent. at the beginning of the following lent, on the day when folk are marked with ashes (23rd february 1200), the cross was taken at bruges by count baldwin of flanders and hainault, and by the countess mary his wife, who was sister to the count thibaut of champagne. afterwards took the cross, henry his brother, thierri his nephew, who was the son of count philip of flanders, william the advocate of béthune, conon his brother, john of nê1e castellan of bruges, renier of trit, reginald his son, matthew of wallincourt, james of avesnes, baldwin of beauvoir, hugh of beaumetz, gérard of mancicourt, odo of ham, william of gommegnies, dreux of beaurain, roger of marck, eustace of saubruic, francis of colemi, walter of bousies, reginald of mons, walter of tombes, bernard of somergen, and many more right worthy men in great number, with regard to whom this book does not speak further. afterwards took the cross, count hugh of st. paul. with him took the cross, peter of amiens his nephew, eustace of canteleu, nicholas of mailly, anscau of cayeaux, guy of houdain, walter of nê1e, peter his brother, and many other men who are unknown to us. directly afterwards took the cross geoffry of perche, stephen his brother, rotrou of montfort, ives of la jaille, aimery of villeroi, geoffry of beaumont, and many others whose names i do not know. 4 the crusaders send six envoys to venice afterwards the barons held a parliament at soissons, to settle when they should start, and whither they should wend. but they could come to no agreement, because it did not seem to them that enough people had taken the cross. so during all that year (1200) no two months passed without assemblings in parliament at compiègne. there met all the counts and barons who had taken the cross. many were the opinions given and considered; but in the end it was agreed that envoys should be sent, the best that could be found, with full powers, as if they were the lords in person, to settle such matters as needed settlement. of these envoys, thibaut, count of champagne and brie, sent two; baldwin, count of flanders and hainault, two; and louis, count of blois and chartres, two. the envoys of the count thibaut were geoffry of villehardouin, marshal of champagne, and miles the brabant; the envoys of count baldwin were conon of béthune' and alard maquereau, and the envoys of count louis were john of friaise, and walter of gaudonville. to these six envoys the business in hand was fully committed, all the barons delivering to them valid charters, with seals attached, to the effect that they would undertake to maintain and carry out whatever conventions and agreements the envoys might enter into, in all sea ports, and whithersoever else the envoys might fare. thus were the six envoys despatched, as you have been told; and they took counsel among themselves, and this was their conclusion: that in venice they might expect to find a greater number of vessels than in any other port. so they journeyed day by day, till they came thither in the first week of lent (february 1201). the envoys arrive in venice, and proffer their request the doge of venice, whose name was henry dandolo* and [note: that henry dandolo was a very old man is certain, but there is doubt as to his precise age, as also as to the cause of his blindness. according to one account he had been blinded, or all but blinded, by the greeks, and in a treacherous manner, when sent, at an earlier date, on an embassy to constaritinople-whence his bitter hostility to the greek empire. i agree, however, with sir rennell rodd that, if this had been so, villehardouin would scarcely have refrained from mentioning such an act of perfidy on the part of the wicked greeks. (see p. 41 of vol 1of sir rennell rodd's princes of achaia.) it is hardly to be imagined that he would keep the matter dark because, if he mentioned it, people would think dandolo acted throughout from motives of personal vengeance. this would be to regard villehardouin aa very astute controversial historian indeed.] 5 who was very wise and very valiant, did them great honour, both he and the other folk, and entertained them right willingly, marvelling, however, when the envoys had delivered their letters, what might be the matter of import that had brought them to that country. for the letters were letters of credence only, and declared no more than that the bearers were to be accredited as if they were the counts in person, and that the said counts would make good whatever the six envoys should undertake. so the doge replied: " signors, i have seen your letters; well do we know that of men uncrowned your lords are the greatest, and they advise us to put faith in what you tell us, and that they will maintain whatsoever you undertake. now, therefore, speak, and let us know what is your pleasure." and the envoys answered: " sire, we would that you should assemble your council; and before your council we will declare the wishes of our lords; and let this be tomorrow, if it so pleases you." and the doge replied asking for respite till the fourth day, when he would assemble his council, so that the envoys might state their requirements. the envoys waited then till the fourth day, as had been appointed them, and entered the palace, which was passing rich and beautiful; and found the doge and his council in a chamber. there they delivered their message after this manner: " sire, we come to thee on the part of the high barons of france, who have taken the sign of the cross to avenge the shame done to jesus christ, and to reconquer jerusalem, if so be that god -will suffer it. and because they know that no people have such great power to help them as you and your people, therefore we pray you by god that you take pity on the land overseas and the shame of christ, and use diligence that our lords 'have ships for transport and battle." " and after what manner should we use diligence? 6 said the doge. " after all manners that you may advise and propose," rejoined the envoys, " in so far as what you propose may be within our means." " certes," said the doge, " it is a great thing that your lords require of us, and well it seems that they have in view a high enterprise. we will give you our answer eight days from to-day. and marvel not if the term be long, for it is meet that so great a matter be fully pondered." conditions proposed by the doge when the term appointed by the doge was ended, the envoys returned to the palace. many were the words then spoken which i cannot now rehearse. but this was the conclusion of that parliament: " signors," said the doge, " we will tell you the conclusions at which we have arrived, if so be that we can induce our great council and the commons of the land to allow of them; and you, on your part, must consult and see if you can accept them and carry them through. " we will build transports* to carry four thousand five hundred horses, and nine thousand squires, and ships for four thousand five hundred knights, and twenty thousand sergeants of foot. and we will agree also to purvey food for these horses and people during nine months. this is what we undertake to do at the least, on condition that you pay us for each horse four marks, and for each man two marks. [note: the old french term is vuissiers, and denotes a kind of vessel, flat-bottomed, with large ports, specially constructed for the transport of horses. t. smith translates "palanders," but i don't know that " palander" conveys any very clear idea to the english reader.] "and the covenants we are now explaining to you, we undertake to keep, wheresoever we may be, for a year, reckoning from the day on which we sail from the port of venice in the service of god and of christendom. now the sum total of the expenses above named amounts to 85,000 marks. "and this will we do moreover. for the love of god, we will add to the fleet fifty armed galleys on condition that, so long as we act in company, of all conquests in land or money, whether at sea or on dry ground, we shall have the half, and you the other half. now consult together to see if you, on your parts, can accept and fulfil these covenants." 7 the envoys then departed, and said that they would consult together and give their answer on the morrow. they consulted, and talked together that night, and agreed to accept the terms offered. so the next day they appeared before the doge, and said: " sire, we are ready to ratify this covenant." the doge thereon said he would speak of the matter to his people, and, as he found them affected, so would he let the envoys know the issue. on the morning of the third day, the doge, who was very wise and valiant, assembled his great council, and the council was of forty men of the wisest that were in the land. and the doge, by his wisdom and wit, that were very clear and very good, brought them to agreement and approval. thus he wrought with them; and then with a hundred others, then two hundred, then a thousand, so that at last all consented and approved. then he assembled well ten thousand of the people in the church of st. mark, the most beautiful church that there is, and bade them hear a mass of the holy ghost, and pray to god for counsel on the request and messages that had been addressed to them. and the people did so right willingly. conclusion of the treaty, and return of the envoys when mass had been said, the doge desired the envoys to humbly ask the people to assent to the proposed covenant. the envoys came into the church. curiously were they looked upon by many who had not before had sight of them. geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne, by will and consent of the other envoys, acted as spokesman and said unto them: " lords, the barons of france, most high and puissant, have sent us to you; and they cry to you for mercy, that you take pity on jerusalem, which is in bondage to the turks, and that, for god's sake, you help to avenge the shame of christ jesus. and for this end they have elected to come to you, because they know full well that there is none other people having so great power on the seas, as you and your people. and they commanded us to fall at your feet, and not to rise till you consent to take pity on the holy land which is beyond the seas." 8 then the six envoys knelt at the feet of the people, weeping many tears. and the doge and all the others burst into tears of pity and compassion, and cried with one voice, and lifted up their hands, saying: " we consent, we consent i " then was there so great a noise and tumult that it seemed as if the earth itself were falling to pieces. and when this great tumult and passion of pity greater did never any man see-were appeased, the good doge of venice, who was very wise and valiant, went up into the reading-desk, and spoke to the people, and said to them: "signors, behold the honour that god has done you; for the best people in the world have set aside all other people, and chosen you to join them in so high an enterprise as the deliverance of our lord! all the good and beautiful words that the doge then spoke, i cannot repeat to you. but the end of the matter was, that the covenants were to be made on the following day; and made they were, and devised accordingly. when they were concluded, it was notified to the council that we should go to babylon (cairo), because the turks could better be destroyed in babylon than in any other land; but to the folk at large it was only told that we were bound to go overseass. we were then in lent (march 1201), and by st. john's day, in the following year-which would be twelve hundred and two years after the incarnation of jesus christ-the barons and pilgrims were to be in venice, and the ships ready against their coming. when the treaties were duly indited and sealed, they were brought to the doge in the grand palace, where had been assembled the great and the little council. and when the doge delivered the treaties to the envoys, he knelt greatly weeping, and swore on holy relics faithfully to observe the conditions thereof, and so did all his council, which numbered fifty-six persons. and the envoys, on their side, swore to observe the treaties, and in all good faith to maintain their oaths and the oaths of their lords; and be it known to you that for great pity many a tear was there shed. and forthwith were messengers sent to rome, to the pope innocent, that he might confirm this covenant-the which he did right willingly. then did the envoys borrow five thousand marks of silver, and gave them to the doge so that the building of the ships 9 might be begun. and taking leave to return to their own land, they journeyed day by day till they came to placentia in lombardy. there they parted. geoffry, the marshal of champagne and alard maquereau went straight to france, and the others went to genoa and pisa to learn what help might there be had for the land overseass when geoffry, the marshal of champagne., passed over mont cenis, he came in with walter of brienne, going into apulia, to conquer the land of his wife, whom he had married since he took the cross, and who was the daughter of king tancred. with him went walter of montbéliard, and eustace of conflans, robert of joinville, and a great part of the people of worth in champagne who had taken the cross. and when he told them the news how the envoys had fared, great was their joy, and much did they prize the arrangements made. and they said, " we are already on our way; and when you come, you will find us ready." but events fall out as god wills, and never had they power to join the host. this was much to our loss; for they were of great prowess and valiant. and thus they parted, and each went on his way. so rode geoffry the marshal, day by day, that he came to troyes in champagne, and found his lord the count thibaut sick and languishing, and right glad was the count of his coming. and when he had told the count how he had fared, the count was so rejoiced that he said he would mount horse, a thing he had not done of a long time. so he rose from his bed and rode forth. but alas, how great the pity! for never again did he bestride horse but that once. his sickness waxed and grew worse, so that at the last he made his will and testament, and divided the money which he would have taken with him on pilgrimage among his followers and companions, of whom he had many that were very good men and true-no one at that time had more. and he ordered that each one, on receiving his money, should swear on holy relics, to join the host at venice, according as he had promised. many there were who kept that oath badly, and so incurred great blame. the count ordered that another portion of his treasure should be retained, and taken to the host, and there expended as might seem best. thus died the count; and no man in this world made a better end. and there were present at that time a very 10 great assemblage of men of his lineage and of his vassals. but of the mourning and funeral pomp it is unmeet that i should here speak. never was more honour paid to any man. and right well that it was so, for never was man of his age more beloved by his own men, nor by other folk. buried he was beside his father in the church of our lord st. stephen at troyes. he left behind him the countess, ws wife, whose name was blanche, very fair, very good, the daughter of the king of navarre. she had borne him a little daughter, and was then about to bear a son. the crusaders look for another chief when the count was buried, matthew of montmorency, simon of montfort, geoffry of joinville who was seneschal, and geoffry the marshal, went to odo, duke of burgundy, and said to him, " sire, your cousin is dead. you see what evil has befallen the land overseass we pray you by god that you take the cross, and succour the land overseas in his stead. and we will cause you to have all his treasure, and will swear on holy relics, and make the others swear also, to serve you in all good faith, even as we should have served him." such was his pleasure that he refused. and be it known to you that he might have done much better. the envoys charged geoffry of joinville to make the self-same offer to the count of bar-le-duc, thibaut, who was cousin to the dead count, and he refused also. very great was the discomfort of the pilgrims, and of all who were about to go on god's service, at the death of count thibaut of champagne; and they held a parliament, at the beginning, of the month, at soissons, to determine what they should do. there were present count baldwin of flanders and hainault, the count louis of blois and chartres, the count geoffry of perche, the count hugh of saintpaul, and many other men of worth. geoffry the marshal spake to them and told them of the offer made to the duke of burgundy, and to the count of bar-le-duc, and how they had refused it. " my lords," said he, " listen, i will advise you of somewhat if you will 11 consent thereto. the marquis of montferrat* is very worthy and valiant, and one of the most highly prized of living men. if you asked him to come here, and take the sign of the cross and put himself in place of the count of champagne, and you gave him the lordship of the host, full soon would he accept thereof." [note: boniface, marquis of montferrat, was one of the most accomplished men of the time, and an approved soldier. his little court at montferrat was the resort of artist and troubadour. his family was a family of crusaders. the father, william of montferrat, had gone overseass and fought valiantly against the infidel. boniface's eldest brother, william of the long sword, married a daughter of the titular king of jerusalem, and their son became titular king in turn. another brother, conrad, starting for the holy land, stopped at constantinople, and did there such good service that the greek emperor gave his sister to him in marriage; but afterwards fearing the perfidy of his brother-in-law, conrad fled to syria, and there battled against saladin. yet another brother, renier, also served in the greek empire, married an emperor's daughter, and received for guerdon of his deeds the kingdom of salonika. boniface himself had fought valiantly against saladin, been made prisoner, and afterwards liberated on exchange. it was no mean and nameless knight that villehardouin was proposing as chief to the assembled crusaders, but a princely noble, the patron of poets, verrsed in state affairs, and possessing personal experience of eastern warfare. i extract these details from m. bouchet's notice]. many were the words spoken for and against; but in the end all agreed, both small and great. so were letters written, and envoys chosen, and the marquis was sent for. and he came, on the day appointed, through champagne and the isle-de-france, where he received much honour, and specially from the king of france, who was his cousin. boniface, marquis of montferrat, becomes chief of the crusade new crusaders death of geoffry count of perche so he came to a parliament assembled at soissons; and the main part of the counts and barons and of the other crusaders were there assembled. when they heard that the marquis was coming, they went out to meet him, and did him much honour. in the morning the parliament was held in an orchard belonging to the abbey of our lady of soissons. there they besought the marquis to do as they had desired of him, and prayed him, for the love of god, to take the cross, and accept the leadership of the host, and stand in the place of thibaut count of champagne, and accept of his money 12 and of his men. and they fell at his feet, with many tears; and he, on his part, fell at their feet, and said he would do it right willingly. thus did the marquis consent to their prayers, and receive the lordship of the host. whereupon the bishop of soissons, and master fulk, the holy man, and two white monks whom the marquis had brought with him from ws own land, led him into the church of notre dame, and attached the cross to his shoulder. thus ended this parliament, and the next day he took leave to return to his own land and settle his own affairs-telling them all to settle their own affairs likewise, for that he would meet them at venice. thence did the marquis go to attend the chapter at citeaux, which is held on holy cross day in september (14th september 1241). there he found a great number of abbots, barons and other people of burgundy; and master fulk went thither to preach the crusade. and at that place took the cross odo the champenois of champlitte, and william his brother, richard of dampierre, odo his brother, guy of pesmes, edmund his brother, guy of conflans, and many other good men of burgundy, whose names are not recorded. afterwards took the cross the bishop of autun, guignes count of forez, hugh of bergi (father and son), hugh of colemi. further on in provence took the cross peter bromont, and many others whose names are unknown to us. thus did the pilgrims make ready in all lands. alas! a great mischance befell them in the following lent (march 1202) before they had started, for the count geoffry of perche fell sick, and made his will in such fashion that he directed that stephen, his brother, should have his goods, and lead his men in the host. of this exchange the pilgrims would willingly have been quit, had god so ordered. thus did the count make an end and die; and much evil ensued, for he was a baron high and honoured, and a good knight. greatly was he mourned throughout all his lands. first starting of the pilgrims for venice, and of some who went not thither after easter and towards whitsuntide (june 1202) began the pilgrims to leave their own country. and you must know that at their departure many were the tears shed for 13 pity and sorrow, by their own people and by their friends. so they journeyed through burgundy, and by the mountains of mont-joux (? jura) by mont cenis, and through lombardy, and began to assemble at venice, where they were lodged on an island which is called st. nicholas in the port. at that time started from flanders a fleet that carried a great number of good men-at-arms. of this fleet were captains john of nêle, castellan of bruges, thierri, who was the son of count philip of flanders, and nicholas of mailly. and these promised count baldwin, and swore on holy relics, that they would go through the straits of morocco, and join themselves to him, and to the host of venice, at whatsoever place they might hear that the count was faring. and for this reason the count of flanders and henry his brother had confided to them certain ships loaded with cloth and food and other wares. very fair was this fleet, and rich, and great was the reliance that the count of flanders and the pilgrims placed upon it, because very many of their good sergeants were journeying therein. but ill did these keep the faith they had sworn to the count, they and others like them, because they and such others of the same sort became fearful of the great perils that the host of venice had undertaken. thus did the bishop of autun fail us, and guignes the count of forez, and peter bromont, and many people besides, who were greatly blamed therein; and of little worth were the exploits they performed there where they did go. and of the french failed us bernard of moreuil, hugh of chaumont, henry of araines, john of villers, walter of saint-denis, hugh his brother, and many others, who avoided the passage to venice because of the danger, and went instead to marseilles-whereof they received shame, and much were they blamed-and great were the mishaps that afterwards befell them. of the pilgrims who came to venice, and of those who went to apulia now let us for this present speak of them no further, but speak of the pilgrims, of whom a great part had already come to venice. count baldwin of flanders had already arrived there, and many others, and thither were tidings brought to 14 them that many of the pilgrims were travelling by other ways, and from other ports. this troubled them greatly, because they would thus be unable to fulfil the promise made to the venetians, and find the moneys that were due. so they took counsel together, and agreed to send good envoys to meet the pilgrims, and to meet count louis of blois and chartres, who had not yet arrived, and to put them in good heart, and beseech them to have pity of the holy land beyond the sea, and show them that no other passage, save that from venice, could be of profit. for this embassy they made choice of count hugh of saint-paul and geoffry the marshal of champagne, and these rode till they came to pavia in lombardy. there they found count louis with a great many knights and men of note and worth; and by encouragements and prayers prevailed on many to proceed to venice who would otherwise have fared from other ports, and by other ways. nevertheless from placentia many men of note proceeded by other ways to apulia. among them were villain of neuilly, who was one of the best knights in the world, henry of arzilliéres, renaud of dampierre, henry of longchamp, and giles of trasegnies, liegeman to count baldwin of flanders and hainault, who had given him, out of his own purse, five hundred livres to accompany him on this journey. with these went a great company of knights and sergeants, whose names are not recorded. thus was the host of those who went by venice greatly weakened; and much evil befell them therefrom, as you shall shortly hear. the pilgrims lack money wherewith to pay the venetians thus did count louis and the other barons wend their way to venice; and they were there received with feasting and joyfully, and took lodging in the island of st. nicholas with those who had come before. goodly was the host, and right worthy were the men. never did man see goodlier or worthier. and the venetians held a market, rich and abundant, of all things needful for horses and men. and the fleet they had got ready was so goodly and fine that never did christian man see one goodlier or finer; as well galleys 15 as transports, and sufficient for at least three times as many men as were in the host. ah ! the grievous harm and loss when those who should have come thither sailed instead from other ports! right well if they had kept their tryst, would christendom have been exalted, and the land of the turks abased! the venetians had fulfilled all their undertakings, and above measure, and they now summoned the barons and counts to fulfil theirs and make payment, since they were ready to start. the cost of each man's passage was now levied throughout the host; and there were people enough who said they could not pay for their passage, and the barons took from them such moneys as they had. so each man paid what he could. when the barons had thus claimed the cost of the passages, and when the payments had been collected, the moneys came to less than the sum due-yea, by more than one half. then the barons met together and said: "lords, the venetians have well fulfilled all their undertakings, and above measure. but we cannot fulfil ours in paying for our passages, seeing we are too few in number; and this is the fault of those who have journeyed by other ports. for god's sake therefore let each contribute all that he has, so that we may fulfil our covenant; for better is it that we should give all that we have, than lose what we have already paid, and prove false to our covenants; for if this host remains here, the rescue of the land overseas comes to naught." great was then the dissension among the main part of the barons and the other folk, and they said: " we have paid for our passages, and if they will take us, we shall go willingly; but if not, we shall inquire and look for other means of passage." and they spoke thus because they wished that the host should fall to pieces and each return to his own land. but the other party said, " much rather would we give all that we have and go penniless with the host, than that the host should fall to pieces and fail; for god will doubtless repay us when it so pleases him." then the count of flanders began to give all that he had and all that he could borrow, and so did count louis, and the marquis, and the count of saint-paul, and those who were of their party. then might you have seen many a fine vessel of gold and silver borne in payment to the palace of the doge. and when all had been brought together, there 16 was still wanting, of the sum required, 34,000 marks of silver. then those who had kept back their possessions and not brought them into the common stock, were right glad, for they thought now surely the host must fail and go to pieces. but god, who advises those who have been ill-advised, would not so suffer it. the crusaders obtain a respite by promising to help the venetians against zara then the doge spoke to his people, and said unto them: signors, these people cannot pay more; and in so far as they have paid at all, we have benefited by an agreement which they cannot now fulfil. but our right to keep this money would not everywhere be acknowledged; and if we so kept it we should be greatly blamed, both us and our land. let us therefore offer them terms. "the king of hungary has taken from us zara in sclavonia, which is one of the strongest places in the world; and never shall we recover it with all the power that we possess, save with the help of these people. let us therefore ask them to help us to reconquer it, and we will remit the payment of the debt of 34,000 marks of silver, until such time as it shall please god to allow us to gain the moneys by conquest, we and they together." thus was agreement made. much was it contested by those who wished that the host should be broken up. nevertheless the agreement was accepted and ratified. the doge and a number of venetians take the cross then, on a sunday, was assemblage held in the church of st. mark. it was a very high festival, and the people of the land were there, and the most part of the barons and pilgrims. before the beginning of high mass, the doge of venice, who bore the name of henry dandolo, went up into the reading-desk, and spoke to the people, and said to them:" signors, you are associated with the most worthy people in the world, and for the highest enterprise ever undertaken; and i am a man old and feeble, who should have need of rest, and i am sick in body; but i see that no one could command 17 and lead,you like myself, who am your lord. if you will consent that i take the sign of the cross to guard and direct you, and that my son remain in my place to guard the land, then shall i go to five or die with you and with the pilgrims." and when they had heard him, they cried with one voice: "we pray you by god that you consent, and do it, and that you come with us! " very great was then the pity and compassion on the part of the people of the land and of the pil-rims; and many were the tears shed, because that worthy 0and good man would have had so much reason to remain behind, for he was an old man, and albeit his eyes were unclouded, yet he saw naught, having lost his sight through a wound in the head. he was of a great heart. ah! how little like him were those who had gone to other ports to escape the danger. thus he came down from the reading-desk, and went before the altar, and knelt upon his knees greatly weeping. and they sewed the cross on to a great cotton hat, which he wore, in front, because he wished that all men should see it. and the venetians began to take the cross in great numbers, a great multitude, for up to that day very few had taken the cross. our pilgrims had much joy in the cross that the doge took, and were greatly moved, because of the wisdom and the valour that were in him. thus did the doge take the cross, as you have heard. then the venetians began to deliver the ships, the galleys, and the transports to the barons, for departure; but so much time had already been spent since the appointed term, that september drew near (1202). message of alexius, the son of isaac, the dethroned emperor of constantinople -death of fulk of neuilly arrival of the germans now give ear to one of the greatest marvels, and most wonderful adventures that you have ever heard tell of. at that time there was an emperor in constantinople, whose name was isaac, and he had a brothor, alexius by name, whom he had ransomed from captivity among the turks. this alexius took his brother the emperor, tore the eyes out of his head, and made himself emperor by the aforesaid 18 treachery. he kept isaac a long time in prison, together with a son whose name was alexius. this son escaped from prison, and fled in a ship to a city on the sea, which is called ancona. thence he departed to go to king philip of germany, who had his sister for wife; and he came to verona in lombardy, and lodged in the town, and found there a number of pilgrims and other people who were on their way to join the host. and those who had helped him to escape, and were with him, said: " sire, here is an army in venice, quite near to us, the best and most valiant people and knights that are in the world, and they are going overseass cry to them therefore for mercy, that they have pity on thee and on thy father, who have been so wrongfully dispossessed. and if they be willing to help thee, thou shalt be guided by them. perchance they will take pity on thy estate." and alexius said he would do this right willingly, and that the advice was good. thus he appointed envoys, and sent them to the marquis boniface of montferrat, who was chief of the host, and to the other barons. and when the barons saw them, they marvelled greatly, and said to the envoys: " we understand right well what you tell us. we will send an envoy with the prince to king philip, whither he is going. if the prince will help to recover the land overseass we will help him to recover his own land, for we know that it has been wrested from him and from his father wrongfully." so were envoys sent into germany, both to the heir of constantinople and to king philip of germany. before this happened, of which i have just told you, there came news to the host which greatly saddened the barons and the other folk, viz., that fulk, the good man, the holy man, who first preached the crusade, had made an end and was dead. and after this adventure, there came to the host a company of very good and worthy people from the empire of germany, of whose arrival they of the host were full fain. there came the bishop of halberstadt, count berthold of katzenelenbogen, gamier of borland, thierri of loos, henry of orme, thierri of diest, roger of suitre, alexander of villers, ulric of tone, and many other good folk, whose names are not recorded in this book. 19 the crusaders leave venice to besiege zara then were the ships and transports apportioned by the barons. ah, god i what fine war-horses were put therein. and when the ships were fulfilled with arms and provisions, and knights and sergeants, the shields were ranged round the bulwarks and castles of the ships, and the banners displayed, many and fair. and be it known to you that the vessels carried more than three hundred petraries and mangonels, and all such engines as are needed for the taking of cities, in great plenty. never did finer fleet sail from any0port. and this was in the octave of the feast of st. remigius (october) in the year of the incarnation of jesus christ twelve hundred and two. thus did they sail from the port of venice, as you have been told. on the eve of st. martin (10th november) they came before zara in sclavonia, and beheld the city enclosed by high walls and high towers; and vainly would you have sought for a fairer city, or one of greater strength, or richer. and when the pilgrims saw it, they marvelled greatly, and said one to another, " how could such a city be taken by force, save by the help of god himself? " the first ships that came before the city cast anchor, and waited for the others; and in the morning the day was very fine and very clear, and all the galleys came up with the transports, and the other ships which were behind; and they took the port by force, and broke the chain that defended it and was very strong and well-wrought; and they landed in such sort that the port was between them and the town. then might you have seen many a knight and many a sergeant swarming out of the ships, and taking from the transports many a good war-horse, and many a rich tent and many a pavilion. thus did the host encamp. and zara was besieged on st. martin's day (11th november 1202). at this time all the barons had not yet arrived. thus the marquis of montferrat had remained behind for some business that detained him. and stephen of perche had remained at venice sick, and matthew of montmorency. when they were healed of their sickness matthew of montmorency came to rejoin the host at zara; but stephen of perche dealt less worthily, for he abandoned the host, and 20 went to sojourn in apulia. with him went rotrou of montfort and ives of la jaille, and many others, who were much blamed therein; and they journeyed to syria in the following spring.* [note: literally, "in the passaae of march," i.e. among the pilgrims who periodically started for the (,,y land in march.] the inhabitants of zara offer to capitulate, and then draw back zara is taken on the day following the feast of st. martin, certain of the people of zara came forth, and spoke to the doge of venice, who was in his pavilion, and said to him that they would yield up the city and all their goods-their lives being spared-to his mercy. and the doge replied that he would not accept these conditions, nor any conditions, save by consent of the counts and barons, with whom he would go and confer. while he went to confer with the counts and barons, that party, of whom you have already heard, who wished to disperse the host, spoke to the envoys and said, " why should you surrender your city? the pilgrims will not attack you -have no care of them. if you can defend yourselves against the venetians, you will be safe enough." and they chose one of themselves, whose name was robert of boves, who went to the walls of the city, and spoke the same words. therefore the envoys returned to the city, and the negotiations were broken off. the doge of venice, when he came to the counts and barons, said to them: "signors, the people who are therein desire to yield the city to my mercy, on condition only that their lives are spared. but i will enter into no agreement with them-neither this nor any other-save with your consent." and the barons answered: " sire, we advise you to accept these conditions, and we even beg of you so to do." he said he would do so; and they all returned together to the pavilion of the doge to make the agreement, and found that the envoys had gone away by the advice of those who wished to disperse the host. then rose the abbot of vaux, of the order of the cistercians, and said to them: " lords, i forbid you, on the part of the pope of rome, to attack this city; for those within it 21 are christians, and you are pilgrims." when the doge heard this, he was very wroth, and much disturbed, and he said to the counts and barons: "signors, i had this city, by their own agreement, at my mercy, and your people have broken that agreement; you have covenanted to help me to conquer it, and i summon you to do so." whereon the counts and barons all spoke at once, together with those who were of their party, and said: " great is the outrage of those who have caused this agreement to be broken, and never a day has passed that they have not tried to break up the host. now are we shamed if we do not help to take the city." and they came to the doge, and said: " sire, we will help you to take the city in despite of those who would let and hinder us." thus was the decision taken. the next morning the host encamped before the gates of the city, and set up their petraries and manoonels, and other engines of war, which they had in plenty, and on the side of the sea they raised ladders from the ships. then they began to throw stones at the walls of the city and at the towers. so did the assault last for about five days. then were the sappers set to mine one of the towers, and began to sap the wall. when those within the city saw this, they proposed an agreement, such as they had before refused by the advice of those who wished to break up the host. the crusaders establish themselves in the cityaffray between the venetians and the franks thus did the city surrender to the mercy of the doge, on condition only that all lives should be spared. then came the doge to the counts and barons, and said to them: " signors, we have taken this city by the grace of god, and your own. it is now winter, and we cannot stir hence till eastertide; for we should find no market in any other place; and this city is very rich, and well furnished with all supplies. let us therefore divide it in the midst, and we will take one half, and you the other." as he had spoken, so was it done. the venetians took the part of the city towards the port, where were the ships, and the franks took the other part. there were quarters 22 assigned to each, according as was right and convenient. and the host raised the camp, and went to lodge in the city. on the third day after they were all lodged, there befell a great misadventure in the host, at about the hour of vespers; for there began a fray, exceeding fell and fierce, between the venetians and the franks, and they ran to arms from all sides. and the fray was so fierce that there were but few streets in which battle did not rage with swords and lances and cross-bows and darts; and many people were killed and wounded. but the venetians could not abide the combat, and they began to suffer great losses. then the men of mark, who did not want this evil to befall, came fully armed into the strife, and began to separate the combatants; and when they had separated them in one place, they began again in another. this lasted the better part of the night. nevertheless with great labour and endurance at last they were separated. and be it known to you that this was the greatest misfortune that ever befell a host, and little did it lack that the host was not lost utterly. but god would not suffer it. great was the loss on either side. there was slain a high lord of flanders, whose name was giles of landas: he was struck in the eye, and with that stroke he died in the fray; and many another of whom less was spoken. the doge of venice and the barons laboured much, during the whole of that week, to appease the fray, and they laboured so effectually that peace was made. god be thanked therefor. on what conditions alexius proposes to obtain the help of the crusaders for the conquest of constantinople a fortnight after came to zara the marquis boniface of montferrat, who had not yet joined, and matthew of montmorency, and peter of bracieux, and many another man of note. and after another fortnight came also the envoys from germany, sent by king philip and the heir of constantinople. then the barons, and the doge of venice assembled in a palace where the doge was lodged. and the envoys addressed them and said: " lords, king philip sends us to you, as does also the brother of the king's wife, the son of the emperor of constantinople. 23 "`lords,' says the king, ' i will send you the brother of my wife; and i commit him into the hands of god-may he keep him from death! and into your hands. and because you have fared forth for god, and for right, and for justice, therefore you are bound, in so far as you are able, to restore to their own inheritance those who have been unrighteously despoiled. and my wife's brother will make with you the best terms ever offered to any people, and give you the most puissant help for the recovery of the land overseass " ' and first, if god grant that you restore him to his inheritance, he will place the whole empire of roumania in obedience to rome, from which it has long been separated. further, he knows that you have spent of your substance, and that you are poor, and he will give you 200,000 marks of silver, and food for all those of the host, both small and great. and he, of his own person, will go with you into the land of babylon, or, if you hold that that will be better, send thither 10,000 men, at his own charges. and this service he will perform for one year. and all the days of his life he will maintain, at his own charges, five hundred knights in the land overseass to guard that land.' " " lords, we have full power," said the envoys, " to conclude this agreement, if you are willing to conclude it on your parts. and be it known to you, that so favourable an agreement has never before been offered to any one; and that he that would refuse it can have but small desire of glory and conquest." the barons and the doge said they would talk this over; and a parliament was called for the morrow. when all were assembled, the matter was laid before them. discord among the crusaders of those who accept the proposals of the young alexius then arose much debate. the abbot of vaux, of the order of the cistercians, spoke, and that party that wished for the dispersal of the host; and they said they would never consent: that it was not to fall on christians that they had left their homes, and that they would go to syria. and the other party replied: "fair lords, in syria you will be able to do nothing; and that you may right well perceive by considering how those have fared who abandoned us, and 24 sailed from other ports. and be it known to you that it is only by way of babylon, or of greece, that the land overseas can be recovered, if so be that it ever is recovered. and if we reject this covenant we shall be shamed to all time." there was discord in the host, as you hear. nor need you be surprised if there was discord among the laymen, for the white monks of the order of citeaux were also at issue among themselves in the host. the abbot of loos, who was a holy man and a man of note, and other abbots who held with him, prayed and besought the people, for pity's sake and the sake of god, to keep the host together, and agree to the proposed convention, in that " it afforded the best means by which the land overseas might be recovered; " while the abbot of vaux, on the other hand, and those who held with him, preached full oft, and declared that all this was naught, and that the host ought to go to the land of syria, and there do what they could. then came the marquis of montferrat, and baldwin count of flanders and hainault, and count louis, and count hugh of st. paul, and those who held with them, and they declared that they would enter into the proposed covenant, for that they should be shamed if they refused. so they went to the doge's hostel, and the envoys were summoned, and the covenant, in such terms as you have already heard, was confirmed by oath, and by charters with seals appended. and the book tells you that only twelve persons took the oaths on the side of the franks, for more (of sufficient note) could not be found. among the twelve were first the marquis of montferrat, the count baldwin of flanders, the count louis of blois and of chartres, and the count of st. paul, and eight others who held with them. thus was the agreement made, and the charters prepared, and a term fixed for the arrival of the heir of constantinople; and the term so fixed was the fifteenth day after the following easter. of those who separated themselves from the host to go to syria, and of the fleet of the count of flanders thus did the host sojourn at zara all that winter (1202-1203) in the face of the king of hungary. and be it known to you that the hearts of the people were not at peace, for 25 the one party used all efforts to break up the host, and the other to make it hold together. many of the lesser folk escaped in the vessels of the merchants. in one ship escaped well nigh five hundred, and they were all drowned, and so lost. another company escaped by land, and thought to pass through sclavonia; and the peasants of that land fell upon them, and killed many, so that the remainder came back flying to the host. thus did the host go greatly dwindling day by day. at that time a great lord of the host, who was from germany, garnier of borland by name, so wrought that he escaped in a merchant vessel, and abandoned the host, whereby he incurred great blame. not long afterwards, a great baron of france, renaud of monmirail by name, besought so earnestly, with the countenance of count louis, that he was sent to syria on an embassy in one of the vessels of the fleet; and he swore with his right hand on holy relics, he and all the knights who went with him, that within fifteen days after they had arrived in syria, and delivered their message, they would return to the host. on this condition he left the host, and with him hervée of chitel, his nephew, william the vidame of chartres, geoffry of beaumont, john of frouville, peter his brother, and many others. and the oaths that they swore were not kept; for they did not rejoin the host. then came to the host news that was heard right willingly, viz., that the fleet from flanders, of which mention has been made above, had arrived at marseilles. and john of nêle, castellan of bruges, who was captain of that host, and thierri, who was the son of count philip of flanders, and nicholas of mailly, advised the count of flanders, their lord, that they would winter at marseilles, and asked him to let them know what was his will, and said that whatever was his will, that they would do. and he told them, by the advice of the doge of venice and the other barons, that they should sail at the end of the following march, and come to meet him at the port of modon in roumania. alas! they acted very evilly, for never did they keep their word, but went to syria, where, as they well knew, they would achieve nothing. now be it known to you, lords, that if god had not loved the host, it could never have held together, seeing how many people wished evil to it! 26 the crusaders obtain the pope's absolution for the capture of zara then the barons spoke together and said that they would send to rome, to the pope, because he had taken the capture of zara in evil part. and they chose as envoys such as they knew were fitted for this office, two knights, and two clerks. of the two clerks one was nevelon, bishop of soissons, and the other master john of noyon, who was chancellor to count baldwin of flanders; and of the knights one was john of friaize, the other robert of boves. these swore on holy relics that they would perform their embassy loyally and in good faith, and that they would come back to the host. three kept their oath right well, and the fourth evilly, and this one was robert of boves. for he executed his office as badly as he could, and perjured himself, and went away to syria as others had done. but the remaining three executed their office right well, and delivered their message as the barons had directed, and said to the pope: " the barons cry mercy to you for the capture of zara, for they acted as people who could do no better, owing to the default of those who had gone to other ports, and because, had they not acted as they did, they could not have held the host together. and as to this they refer themselves to you, as to their good father, that you should tell them what are your commands, which they are ready to perform." and the pope said to the envoys that he knew full well that it was through the default of others that the host had been impelled to do this great mischief, and that he had them in great pity. and then he notified to the barons and pilgrims that he sent them his blessing, and absolved them as his sons, and commanded and besought them to hold the host together, inasmuch as he well knew that without that host god's service could not be done. and he gave full powers to nevelon, bishop of soissons, and master john of noyon, to bind and to unloose the pilgrims until the cardinal joined the host. 27 departure of the crusaders for corfu arrival of the young alexius capture of duras so much time had passed that it was now lent, and the host prepared their fleet to sail at easter. when the ships were laden on the day after easter (7th april 1203), the pilgrims encamped by the port, and the venetians destroyed the city, and the walls and the towers. then there befell an adventure which weighed heavily upon the host; for one of the great barons of the host, by name simon of montfort, had made private covenant with the king of hungary, who was at enmity with those of the host, and went to him, abandoning the host. with him went guy of montfort his brother, simon of nauphle and robert mauvoisin, and dreux of cressonsacq, and the abbot of vaux, who was a monk of the order of the cistercians, and many others. and not long after another great lord of the host, called enguerrand of boves, joined the king of hungary, together with hugh, enguerrand's brother, and such of the other people of their country as they could lead away. these left the host, as you have just heard; and this was a great misfortune to the host, and to such as left it a great disgrace. then the ships and transports began to depart; and it was settled that they should take port at corfu, an island of roumania, and that the first to arrive should wait for the last; and so it was done. before the doge, the marquis, and the galleys left zara, alexius, the son of the emperor isaac of constantinople, had arrived together. he was sent by the king philip of germany, and received with great joy and great honour; and the doge gave mm as many galleys and ships as he required. so they left the port of zara, and had a fair wind, and sailed onwards till they took port at duras. and those of the land, when they saw their lord, yielded up the city right willingly and sware fealty to mm. and. they departed thence and came to corfu, and found there the host encamped before the city; and those of the host had spread their tents and pavilions, and taken the horses out of the transports for ease and refreshment. when they heard that the son of the emperor of constantinople 28 had arrived in the port, then might you have seen many a good knight and many a good sergeant leading many a good war-horse and going to meet him. thus they received him with very great joy, and much high honour. and he had his tent pitched in the midst of the host; and quite near was pitched the tent of the marquis of montferrat, to whose ward he had been commended by king philip, who had his sister to wife. how the chiefs of the crusaders held back those who wanted to abandon the host the host sojourned thus for three weeks in that island, which was very rich and plenteous. and while they sojoumed, there happened a misadventure fell and grievous. for a great part of those who wished to break up the host, and had aforetime been hostile to it, spoke together and said that the adventure to be undertaken seemed very long and very perilous, and that they, for their part, would remain in the island, suffering the host to depart, and that-when the host had so departed-they would, through the people of corfu, send to count walter of brienne, who then held brandis, so that he might send ships to take them thither. i cannot tell you the names of all those who wrought in this matter, but i will name some among the most notable of the chiefs, viz., odo of champlitte, of champagne, james of avesnes, peter of amiens, guy the castellan of coucy, oger of saint-chéron, guy of chappes and clerembaud his nephew, william of aunoi, peter coiseau, guy of pesmes and edmund his brother, guy of conflans, richard of dampierre, odo his brother, and many more who had promised privily to be of their party, but who dared not for shame openly so to avow themselves; in such sort that the book testifies that more than half the host were in this mind. and when the marquis of montferrat heard thereof, and count baldwin of flanders, and count louis, and the count of st. paul, and the barons who held with them, they were greatly troubled, and said: " lords, we are in evil case. if these people depart from us, after so many who have departed from us aforetime, our host is doomed, and we shall make no conquests. let us then go to them, and fall at their feet, and cry to them for mercy, and for god's sake to have compas29 sion upon themselves and upon us, and not to dishonour themselves, and ravish from us the deliverance of the land overseass thus did the council decide; and they went, all together, to a valley where those of the other part were holding their parliament; and they took with them the son of the emperor of constantinople, and all the bishops and all the abbots of the host. and when they had come to the place they dismounted and went forward, and the barons fell at the feet of those of the other part, greatly weeping, and said they would not stir till those of the other part had promised not to depart from them. and when those of the other part saw this, they were filled with very great compassion; and they wept very bitterly at seeing their lords, and their kinsmen, and their friends, thus lying at their feet. so they said they would consult together, and drew somewhat apart, and there communed. and the sum of their communing was this: that they would remain with the host till michaelmas, on condition that the other part would swear, loyally, on holy relics, that from that day and thenceforward, at whatever hour they might be summoned to do so, they would in all good faith, and without guile, within fifteen days, furnish ships wherein the non-contents might betake themselves to syria. thus was covenant made and sworn to; and then was there great joy throughout all the host. and all gat themselves to the ships, and the horses were put into the transports. departure from corfu-capture of andros and abydos then did they sail from the port of corfu on the eve of pentecost (24th may), which was twelve hundred and three years after the incarnation of our lord jesus christ. and there were all the ships assembled, and all the transports, and all the galleys of the host, and many other ships of merchants that fared with them. and the day was fine and clear, and the wind soft and favourable, and they unfurled all their sails to the breeze. and geoffry, the marshal of champagne, who dictates this work, and has never lied therein by one word to his know30 ledge, and who was moreover present at all the councils held -he bears witness that never was yet seen so fair a sight. and well might it appear that such a fleet would conquer and gain lands, for, far as the eye could reach, there was no space without sails, and ships, and vessels, so that the hearts of men rejoiced greatly. thus they sailed over the sea till they came to malea, to straits that are by the sea. and there they met two ships with pilgrims, and knights and sergeants returning from syria, and they were of the parties that had gone to syria by marseilles. and when these saw our fleet so rich and well appointed, they conceived such shame that they dared not show themselves. and count baldwin of flanders sent a boat from ws ship to ask what people they were; and they said who they were. and a sergeant let himself down from his ship into the boat, and said to those in the ship, " i cry quits to you for any goods of mine that may remain in the ship, for i am going with these people, for well i deem that they will conquer lands. "much did we make of the sergeant, and gladly was he received in the host. for well may it be said, that even after following a thousand crooked ways a man may find his way right in the end. the host fared forward till it came to nigra (negropont). nigra is a very fair island, and there is on it a very good city called negropont. here the barons took council. then went forward the marquis boniface of montferrat, and count baldwin of flanders and hainault, with a great part of the transports and galleys, taking with them the son of the emperor isaac of constantinople; and they came to an island called andros, and there landed. the knights took their arms, and over-rode the country; and the people of the land came to crave mercy of the son of the emperor of constantinople, and gave so much of their goods that they made peace with wm. then they returned to the ships, and sailed over the sea; when a great mishap befell, for a great lord of the host, whose name was guy, castellan of coucy, died, and was cast into the sea. the other ships, which had not sailed thitherward, had entered the passage of abydos, and it is there that the straits of st. george (the dardanelles) open into the great 31 sea. and they sailed up the straits to a city called abydos, which lies on the straits of st. george, towards turkey, and is very fair, and well situate. there they took port and landed, and those of the city came to meet them, and surrendered the city, as men without stomach to defend themselves. and such guard was established that those of the city lost not one stiver current. they sojoumed there eight days to wait for the ships transports and galleys that had not yet come up. and while they thus sojourned, they took corn from the land, for it was the season of harvest, and great was their need thereof, for before they had but little. and within those eight days all the ships and barons had come up. god gave them fair weather. arrival at st. stephen deliberation as to plan of attack all started from the port of abydos together. then might you have seen the straits of st. george (as it were) in flower with ships and galleys sailing upwards, and the beauty thereof was a great marvel to behold. thus they sailed up the straits of st. george till they came, on st. john the baptist's eve, in june (23rd june 1203) to st. stephen, an abbey that lay three leagues from constantinople. there had those on board the ships and galleys and transports full sight of constantinople; and they took port and anchored their vessels. now you may know that those who had never before seen constantinople looked upon it very earnestly, for they never thought there could be in all the world so rich a city; and they marked the high walls and strong towers that enclosed it round about, and the rich palaces, and mighty churches of which there were so many that no one would have believed it who had not seen it with his eyes-and the height and the length of that city which above all others was sovereign. and be it known to you, that no man there was of such hardihood but his flesh trembled: and it was no wonder, for never was so great an enterprise undertaken by any people since the creation of the world. then landed the counts and barons and the doge of venice, and a parliament was held in the church of st. 32 stephen. there were many opinions set forth, this way and that. all the words then spoken shall not be recorded in this book; but in the end the doge rose on his feet and said: "signors, i know the state of this land better than you do, for i have been here erewhile. we have undertaken the greatest enterprise, and the most perilous, that ever people have undertaken. therefore it behoves us to go to work warily. be it known to you that if we go on dry ground, the land is great and large, and our people are poor and ill-provided. thus they will disperse to look for food; and the people of the land are in great multitude, and we cannot keep such good watch but that some of ours will be lost. nor are we in case to lose any, for our people are but few indeed for the work in hand. "now there are islands close by which you can see from here, and these are inhabited, and produce corn, and food, and other things. let us take port there, and gather the corn and provisions of the land. and when we have collected our supplies, let us go before the city, and do as our lord shall provide. for he that has supplies, wages war with more certainty than he that has none. "to this counsel the lords and barons agreed, and all went back to their ships and vessels. the crusaders land at chalcedon and scutari they rested thus that night. and in the morning, on the day of the feast of our lord st. john the baptist in june (24th june 1203), the banners and pennants were flown on the castles of the ships, and the coverings taken from the shields, and the bulwarks of the ships garnished. every one looked to his antis, such as he should use, for well each man knew that full soon he would have need of them. the sailors weighed the anchors, and spread the sails to the wind, and god gave them a good wind, such as was convenient to them. thus they passed before constantinople, and so near to the walls and towers that we shot at many of their vessels. there were so many people on the walls and towers that it seemed as if there could be no more people (in the world). then did god our lord set to naught the counsel of the day before, and keep us from sailing to the islands: that counsel 33 fell to naught as if none had ever heard thereof. for lo, our ships made for the mainland as straight as ever they could, and took port before a palace of the emperor alexius, at a place called chalcedon. this was in face of constantinople, on the other side of the straits,. towards turkey. the palace was one of the most beautiful and delectable that ever eyes could see, with every delight therein that the heart of man could desire, and convenient for the house of a prince. the counts and barons landed and lodged themselves in the palace; and in the city round about, the main part pitched their tents. then were the horses taken out of the transports, and the knights and sergeants got to land with all their arms, so that none remained in the ships save the mariners only. the country was fair, and rich) and well supplied with all good things, and the sheaves of corn (which had been reaped) were in the fields, so that all-and they stood in no small need-might take thereof. thev soioumed thus in that palace the following day; and on the third day god gave them a good wind, and the mariners raised their anchors, and spread their sails to the wind. they went thus up the straits, a good league above constantinople, to a palace that belonged to the emperor alexius, and was called scutari. there the ships anchored, and the transports, and all the galleys. the horsemen who had lodged in the palace of chalcedon went along the shore by land. the host of the french encamped thus on the straits of st. george, at scutari, and above it. and when the emperor alexius saw this, he caused his host to issue from constantinople, and encamp over against us on the other side of the straits, and there pitched his tents, so that we might not take land against him by force. the host of the french sojourned thus for nine days, and those obtained supplies who needed them, and that was every one in the host. the foragers defeat the greeks during this time, a company of good and trustworthy men issued (from the camp) to guard the host, for fear it should be attacked, and the foragers searched the country. in the said company were odo of champlitte, of champagne, and william his brother, and oger of saint-chéron, and 34 manasses of l'isle, and count girard, a count of lombardy, a retainer of the marquis of montferrat; and they had with them at least eighty knights who were good men and true. and they espied, at the foot of a mountain, some three leagues distant from the host, certain tents belonging to the grand duke of the emperor of constantinople, who had with him at least five hundred greek knights. when our people saw them, they formed their men into four battalions, and decided to attack. and when the greeks saw this, they formed their battalions, and arrayed themselves in rank before their tents, and waited. and our people went forward and fell upon them right vigorously. by the help of god our lord, this fight lasted but a little while, and the greeks turned their backs. they were discomfited at the first onset, and our people pursued them for a full great league. there they won plenty of horses and stallions, and palfreys, and mules, and tents and pavilions, and such spoil as is usual in such case. so they returned to the host, where they were right well received, and their spoils were divided, as was fit. message of the emperor alexius-reply of the crusaders the next day after, the emperor alexius sent an envoy with letters to the counts and to the barons. this envoy was called nicholas roux, and he was a native of lombardy. he found the barons in the rich palace of scutari, where they were holding council and he saluted them on the part of the emperor alexius of constantinople, and tendered his letters to the marquis of montferrat-who received them. and the letters were read before all the barons; and there were in them words, written after various manners, which the book does not (here) relate, and at the end of the other words so written, came words of credit, accrediting the bearer of the letters, whose name was nicholas roux. "fair sir," said the barons, "we have seen your letters, and they tell us that we are to give credit to what you say, and we credit you right well. now speak as it pleases you." and the envoy was standing before the barons, and spoke thus: "lords," said he, "the emperor alexius would have you know that he is well aware that you are the best people 35 uncrowned, and come from the best land on earth. and he marvels much why, and for what purpose, you have come into his land and kingdom. for you are christians, and he is a christian, and well he knows that you are on your way to deliver the holy land overseass and the holy cross, and the sepulchre. if you are poor and in want, he will right willmgly give you of his food and substance, provided you depart out of his land. neither would he otherwise wish to do you any hurt, though he has full power therein, seeing that if you were twenty times as numerous as you are, you would not be able to get away without utter discomfiture if so be that he wished to harm you." by agreement and desire of the other barons, and of the doge of venice, then rose to his feet conon of béthune, who was a good knight, and wise, and very eloquent, and he replied to the envoy: " fair sir, you have told us that your lord marvels much why our signors and barons should have entered into ms kingdom and land. into his land they have not entered, for he holds this land wrongfully and wickedly, and against god and against reason. it belongs to ws nephew, who sits upon a throne among us, and is the son of his brother, the emperor isaac. but if he is willing to throw himself on the mercy of his nephew, and to give mm back his crown and empire, then we will pray his nephew to forgive him, and bestow upon him as much as will enable him to live wealthily. and if you come not as the bearer of such a message, then be not so bold as to come here again." so the envoy departed and went back to constantinople, to the emperor alexius. the crusaders show the young alexius to the people of constantinople, and prepare for the battle the barons consulted together on the morrow, and said that they would show the young alexius, the son of the emperor of constantinople, to the people of the city. so they assembled all the galleys. the doge of venice and the marquis of montferrat entered into one, and took with them alexius, the son of the emperor isaac; and into the other galleys entered the knights and barons, as many as would. they went thus quite close to the walls of constantinople and showed the youth to the people of the greeks, and said, 36 "behold your natural lord; and be it known to you that we have not come to do you harm, but have come to guard and defend you, if so be that you return to your duty. for he whom you now obey as your lord holds rule by wrong and wickedness, against god and reason. and you know full well that he has dealt treasonably with him who is your lord and his brother, that he has blinded his eyes and reft from him his empire by wrong and wickedness. now behold the rightful heir. if you hold with him, you will be doing as you ought; and if not we will do to you the very worst that we can." but for fear and terror of the emperor alexius, not one person on the land or in the city made show as if he held for the prince. so all went back to the host, and each sought his quarters. on the morrow, when they had heard mass, they assembled in parliament, and the parliament was held on horseback in the midst of the fields. there might you have seen many a fine war-horse, and many a good knight thereon. and the council was held to discuss the order of the battalions, how many they should have, and of what strength. many were the words said on one side and the other. but in the end it was settled that the advanced guard should be given to baldwin of flanders, because he had a very great number of good men, and archers and crossbowmen, more than any other chief that was in the host. and after, it was settled that henry his brother, and matthew of wallincourt, and baldwin of beauvoir, and many other good knights of their land and country, should form the second division. the third division was formed by count hugh of st. paul, peter of amiens his nephew, eustace of canteleu, anseau of cayeux, and many good knights of their land and country. the fourth division was formed by count louis of blois and chartres, and was very numerous and rich and redoubtable; for he had placed therein a great number of good knights and men of worth. the fifth division was formed by matthew of montmorency and the men of champagne. geoffry the marshal of champagne formed part of it, and oger of saint-chéron, manasses of l'isle, miles the brabant, macaire of sainte-menehould, john foisnous, guy of chappes, clerembaud his nephew, robert of ronsoi; all these people formed part of the fifth 37 division. be it known to you that there was many a good knight therein. the sixth division was formed by the people of burgundy. in this division were odo the champenois of champlitte, william his brother, guy of pesmes, edmund his brother, otho of la roche, richard of dampierre, odo his brother, guy of conflans, and the people of their land and country. the seventh division, which was very large, was under the command of the marquis of montferrat. in it were the lombards and tuscans and the germans, and all the people who were from beyond mont cenis to lyons on the rhone. all these formed part of the division under the marquis, and it was settled that they should form the rearguard. the crusaders seize the port the day was fixed on which the host should embark on the ships and transports to take the land by force, and either live or die. and be it known to you that the enterprise to be achieved was one of the most redoubtable ever attempted. then did the bishops and clergy speak to the people, and tell them how they must confess, and make each one his testament, seeing that no one knew what might be the will of god concerning him. and this was done right willingly throughout the host, and very piously. the term fixed was now come; and the knights went on board the transports with their war-horses; and they were fully armed, with their helmets laced, and the horses covered with their housings, and saddled. all the other folk, who were of less consequence in battle, were on the great ships; and the galleys were fully armed and made ready. the morning was fair a little after the rising of the sun; and the emperor alexius stood waiting for them on the other side, with great forces, and everything in order. and the trumpets sound, and every galley takes a transport in tow, so as to reach the other side more readily. none ask who shall go first, but each makes the land as soon as he can. the knights issue from the transports, and leap into the sea up to their waists, fully armed, with helmets laced, and lances in hand; and the good archers, and the good sergeants, and the good crossbowmen, each in his company, land so soon as they touch ground. 38 the greeks made a goodly show of resistance; but when it came to the lowering of the lances, they turned their backs, and went away flying, and abandoned the shore. and be it known to you that never was port more proudly taken. then began the mariners to open the ports of the transports, and let down the bridges, and take out the horses; and the knights began to mount, and they began to marshal the divisions of the host in due order. capture of the tower of galata count baldwin of flanders and hainault, with the advanced guard, rode forward, and the other divisions of the host after him, each in due order of march; and they came to where the emperor alexius had been encamped. but he had turned back towards constantinople, and left his tents and pavilions standing. and there our people had much spoil. our barons were minded to encamp by the port before the tower of galata, where the chain was fixed that closed the port of constantinople. and be it known to you, that any one must perforce pass that chain before he could enter into the port. well did our barons then perceive that if they did not take the tower, and break the chain, they were but as dead men, and in very evil case. so they lodged that night before the tower, and in the jewry that is called stenon, where there was a good city, and very rich. well did they keep guard during the night; and on the morrow, at the hour of tierce, those who were in the tower of galata made a sortie, and those who were in constantinople came to their help in barges; and our people ran to arms. there came first to the onset james of avesnes and his men on foot; and be it known to you that he was fiercely charged, and wounded by a lance in the face, and in peril of death. and one of his knights, whose name was nicholas of jenlain, gat to horse, and came to his lord's rescue, and succoured him right well, and so won great honour. then a cry was raised in the host, and our people ran together from all sides, and drove back the foe with great fury, so that many were slain and taken. and some of them did not go back to the tower, but ran to the barges by which they had come, and there many were drowned, and some escaped. 39 as to those who went back to the tower, the men of our host pressed them so hard that they could not shut the gate. then a terrible fight began again at the gate, and our people took it by force, and made prisoners of all those in the tower. many were there killed and taken. attack on the city by land and sea so was the tower of galata taken, and the port of constantinople won by force. much were those of the host comforted thereby, and much did they praise the lord god; and greatly were those of the city discomforted. and on the next day, the ships, the vessels, the galleys and the transports were drawn into the port. then did those of the host take council together to settle what thing they should do, and whether they should attack the city by sea or by land. the venetians were firmly minded that the scaling ladders ought to be planted on the ships, and all the attack made from the side by the sea. the french, on the other hand, said that they did not know so well how to help themselves on sea as on land, but that when they had their horses and their arms they could help themselves on land right well. so in the end it was devised that the venetians should attack by sea, and the barons and those of the host by land. they sojourned thus for four days. on the fifth day, the whole host were armed, and the divisions advanced on horseback, each in the order appointed, along the harbour, till they came to the palace of blachernae; and the ships drew inside the harbour till they came over against the self-same place, and this was near to the end of the harbour. and there is at that place a river that flows into the sea, and can only be passed by a bridge of stone. the greeks had broken down the bridge, and the barons caused the host to labour all that day and all that night in repairing the bridge. thus was the bridge repaired, and in the morning the divisions were armed, and rode one after the other in the order appointed, and came before the city. and no one came out from the city against them; and this was a great marvel, seeing that for every man that was in the host there were over two hundred men in the city. then did the barons decide that they should quarter them40 selves between the palace of blachernae and the castle of boemond, which was an abbey enclosed with walls. so the tents and pavilions were pitched-which was a right proud thing to look upon; for of constantinople, which had three leagues of front towards the land, the whole host could attack no more than one of the gates. and the venetians lay on the sea, in ships and vessels, and raised their ladders, and mangonels, and petraries, and made order for their assault right well. and the barons for their part made ready their petraries and mangonels on land. and be it known to you that they did not have their time in peace and quiet; for there passed no hour of the night or day but one of the divisions had to stand armed before the gate, to guard the engines, and provide against attack. and, notwithstanding all this, the greeks ceased not to attack them, by this gate and by others, and held them so short that six or seven times a day the whole host was forced to run to arms. nor could they forage for provisions more than four bow-shots' distance from the camp. and their stores were but scanty, save of flour and bacon, and of those they had a little; and of fresh meat none at all, save what they got from the horses that were killed. and be it known to you that there was only food generally in the host for three weeks. thus were they in very perilous case, for never did so few people besiege so many people in any city. first incidents of the assault then did they bethink themselves of a very good device; for they enclosed the whole camp with good lists, and good palisades, and good barriers, and were thus far stronger and much more secure. the greeks meanwhile came on to the attack so frequently that they gave them no rest, and those of the host drove them back with great force; and every time that the greeks issued forth they lost heavily. one day the burgundians were on guard, and the greeks made an attack upon them, with part of the best forces that they had. and the burgundians ran upon the greeks and drove them in very fiercely, and followed so close to the gate that stones of great weight were hurled upon them. there was taken one of the best greeks of the city, whose name was constantine lascaris; william of neuilly took him all 41 mounted upon his horse. and there did william of champlitte have his arm broken with a stone, and great pity it was, for he was very brave and very valiant. i 'cannot tell you of all the good strokes that were there stricken, nor of all the wounded, nor all the dead. but before the fight was over, there came into it a knight of the following of henry, the brother, of count baldwin of flanders and hainault, and his name was eustace of marchais; and he was armed only in padded vest and steel cap, with his shield at his neck; and he did so well in the fray that he won to himself great honour. few were the days on which no sorties were made; but i cannot tell you of them all. so hardly did they hold us, that we could not sleep, nor rest, nor eat, save in arms. yet another sortie was made from a gate further up; and there again did the greeks lose heavily. and there a knight was slain, whose name was william of gi; and there matthew of wallincourt did right well, and lost his horse, which was killed at the drawbridge of the gate; and many others who were in that fight did right well. from this gate, which was beyond the palace of blachernae, the greeks issued most frequently, and there peter of bracieux gat himself more honour than any, because he was quartered the nearest, and so came most often into the fray. assault of the city thus their peril and toil lasted for nearly ten days, until, on a thursday morning (i7th july i203) all things were ready for the assault, and the ladders in trim; the venetians also had made them ready by sea. the order of the assault was so devised, that of the seven divisions, three were to guard the camp outside the city, and other four to give the assault. the marquis boniface of montferrat guarded the camp towards the fields, with the division of the burgundians, the division of the men of champagne, and matthew of montmorency. count baldwin of flanders and hainault went to the assault with his people, and henry his brother; and . count louis of blois and chartres, and count hugh of st. paul, and those who held with them, went also to the assault. they planted two ladders at a barbican near the sea; and the wall was well defended by englishmen and danes; and 42 the attack was stiff and good and fierce. by main strength certain knights and two sergeants got up the ladders and made themselves masters of the wall; and at least fifteen got upon the wall, and fought there, hand to hand, with axes and swords, and those within redoubled their efforts and cast them out in very ugly sort, keeping two as prisoners' and those of our people who had been taken were led before the emperor alexius; much was he pleased thereat. thus did the assault leave matters on the side of the french. many were wounded and many had their bones broken, so that the barons were very wroth. meanwhile the doge of venice had not forgotten to do his part, but had ranged his ships and transports and vessels in line, and that line was well three crossbow-shots in length; and the venetians began to draw near to the part of the shore that lay under the walls and the towers. then might you have seen the mangonels shooting from the -ships and transports, and the crossbow bolts flying, and the bows letting fly their arrows deftly and well; and those within defending the walls and towers very fiercely; and the ladders on the ships coming so near that in many places swords and lances crossed; and the tumult and noise were so great that it seemed as if the very earth and sea were melting together. and be it known to you that the galleys did not dare to come to the shore. capture of twenty-five towers now may you hear of a strange deed of prowess; for the doge of venice, who was an old man, and saw naught (seeing he was blind), stood, fully armed, on the prow of his galley, and had the standard of st. mark before him; and he cried to his people to put him on land, or else that he would do justice upon their bodies with his hands. and so they did, for the galley was run aground, and they leapt therefrom, and bore the standard of st. mark before him on to the land. and when the venetians saw the standard of st. mark on land, and the galley of their lord touching ground before them, each held himself for shamed, and they all gat to the land; and those in the transports leapt forth, and landed; and those in the big ships got into barges, and made for the shore, each and all as best they could. then might you have 43 seen an assault, great and marvellous; and to this bears witness geoffry of villehardouin, who makes this book, that more than forty people told him for sooth that they saw the standard of st. mark of venice at the top of one of the towers, and that no man knew who bore it thither. now hear of a strange miracle: those who are within the city fly and abandon the walls, and the venetians enter in, each as fast and as best he can, and seize twenty-five of the towers, and man them with their people. and the doge takes a boat, and sends messengers to the barons of the host to tell them that lie has taken twenty-five towers, and that they may know for sooth that such towers cannot be retaken. the barons are so overjoyed that they cannot believe their ears; and the venetians begin to send to the host in boats the horses and palfreys they have taken. when the emperor alexius saw that our people had thus entered into the city, he sent his people against them in such numbers that our people saw they would be unable to endure the onset. so they set fire to the buildings between them and the greeks; and the wind blew from our side, and the fire began to wax so great that the greeks could not see our people who retired to the towers they had seized and conquered. the emperor alexius comes out for battle, but retires without attacking then the emperor alexius issued from the city, with all his forces, by other gates which were at least a league from the camp; and so many began to issue forth that it seemed as if the whole world were there assembled. the emperor marshalled his troops in the plain, and they rode towards the camp; and when our frenchmen saw them coming, they ran to arms from all sides. on that day henry, the brother of count baldwin of flanders, was mounting guard over the engines of war before the gate of blachernae, together with matthew of wallincourt, and baldwin of beauvoir, and their followers. against their encampment the emperor alexius had made ready a great number of his people, who were to issue by three gates, while he himself should fall upon the host from another side. then the six divisions issued from our camp as had been 44 devised, and were marshalled in ranks before the palisades: the sergeants and squires on foot behind the horses, and the archers and crossbowmen in front. and there was a division of the knights on foot, for we had at least two hundred who, were without horses. thus they stood still before the palisades. and this showed great good sense, for if they had moved to the attack, the numbers of the enemy were such that they must have been overwhelmed and (as it were) drowned among them. it seemed as if the whole plain was covered with troops, and they advanced slowly and in order. well might we appear in perilous case, for we had but six divisions, while the greeks had full forty, and there was not one of their divisions but was larger than any of ours. but ours were ordered in such sort that none could attack them save in front. and the emperor alexius rode so far for-ward that either side could shoot at the other. and when the doge of venice heard this, he made his people come forth, and leave the towers they had taken, and said he would live or die with the pilgrims. so he came to the camp, and was himself the first to land, and brought with him such of his people as he could. thus, for a long space, the armies of the pilgrims and of the greeks stood one against the other; for the greeks did not dare to throw themselves upon our ranks, and our people would not move from their palisades. and when the emperor alexius saw this, he began to withdraw his people, and when he had rallied them, he turned back. and seeing this, the host of the pilgrims began to march towards him with slow steps, and the greek troops began to move backwards, and retreated to a palace called philopas. and be it known to you, that never did god save any people from such peril as he saved the host that day; and be it known to you further that there was none in the host so hardy but he had great joy thereof. thus did the battle remain for that day. as it pleased god nothing further was done. the emperor alexius returned to the city, and those of the host to their quarters-the latter taking off their armour, for they were weary and overwrought; and they ate and drank little, seeing that their store of food was but scanty. 45 alexius abandons constantinople his brother isaac is replaced on the throne the crusaders send him a message now listen to the miracles of our lord-how gracious are they whithersoever it pleases him to perform them! that very might the emperor alexius of constantinople took of his treasure as much as he could carry, and took with him as many of his people as would go, and so fled and abandoned the city. and those of the city remained astonied, and they drew to the prison in which lay the emperor isaac, whose eyes had been put out. him they clothed imperially, and bore to the great palace of blachernae, and seated on a high throne; and there they did to him obeisance as their lord. then they took messengers, by the advice of the emperor isaac, and sent them to the host, to apprise the son of the emperor isaac, and the barons, that the emperor alexius had fled, and that they had again raised up the emperor isaac as emperor. when the young man knew of this he summoned the marquis boniface of montferrat, and the marquis summoned the barons throughout the host. and when they were met in the pavilion of the emperor isaac's son, he told them the news. and when they heard it, their joy was such as cannot be uttered, for never was greater joy in all this world. and greatly and most devoutly was our lord praised by all, in that he had succoured them within so short a term, and exalted them so high from such a low estate. and therefore well may one say: " him whom god will help can no man injure." then the day began to dawn, and the host to put on their armour; and all gat them to their arms throughout the host, because they did not greatly trust the greeks. and messengers began to come out from the city, two or three together, and told the same tale. the barons and counts, and the doge of venice had agreed to send envoys into the city, to know how matters really stood; and, if that was true which had been reported, to demand of the father that he should ratify the covenants made by the son; and, if he would not, to, declare that they on their part should not suffer the son to enter into the city. so envoys were chosen: one was 46 matthew of montmorency, and geoffry the marshal of champagne was the other, and two venetians on the part of the doge of venice. the envoys were conducted to the gate, and the gate was opened to them, and they dismounted from their horses. the greeks had set englishmen and danes, with their axes, at the gate and right up to the palace of blachernae. thus were the envoys conducted to the great palace. there they found the emperor isaac, so richly clad that you would seek in vain throughout the world for a man more richly apparelled than he, and by his side the empress, his wife, a most fair lady, the sister of the king of hungary; and of great men and great ladies there were so many, that you could not st' ir foot for the press, and the ladies were so richly adomed that richer adornment might not be. and all those who, the day before, had been against the emperor were, on that day, subject in everything to his good pleasure. the emperor isaac ratifies the covenants entered into by his son the envoys came before the emperor isaac, and the emperor and all those about him did them great honour. and the envoys said that they desired to speak to him privily, ,on the part of his son, and of the barons of the host. and he rose and entered into a chamber, and took with him only the empress, and his chancellor, and his dragoman (interpreter) and the four envoys. by consent of the other envoys, geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne, acted as spokesman, and he said to the emperor isaac: " sire, thou seest the service we have rendered to thy son, and how we have kept our covenants with him. but he cannot come hither till he has given us surety for the covenants he has made with us. and he asks of thee, as thy son, to confirm those covenants in the same form, and the same manner, that he has done." " what covenants are they? " said the emperor. " they are such as we shall tell you," replied the envoys: " in the first place to put the whole empire of roumania in obedience to rome, from which it has been separated this long while; further to give 200,000 marks of silver to those of the host, with food for one year for small and great; to send 10,000 men, horse and foot many on 47 foot as we shall devise and as many mounted-in his own ships, and at his own charges, to the land of babylon, and keep them there for a year; and during his lifetime to keep, at his own charges, five hundred knights in the land overseass so that they may guard that land. such is the covenant that your son made with us, and it was confirmed by oath, and charters with seals appended, and by king philip of germany who has your daughter to wife. this covenant we desire you to confirm." certes said the emperor, " this covenant is very onerous, and i do not see how effect can be given to it; nevertheless, you have done us such service, both to my son and to myself, that if we bestowed upon you the whole empire, you would have deserved it well." many words were then spoken in this sense and that, but, in the end, the father confirmed the 'covenants, as his son had confirmed them, by oath and by charters with gold seals appended. these charters were delivered to the envoys. then they took their leave of the emperor isaac, and went back to the host, and told the barons that they had fulfilled their mission. entry of the crusaders into constantinople coronation of the young alexius then did the barons mount their horses, and led the young man, with great rejoicings, into the city, to his father; and the greeks opened the gate to him, and received him with very much rejoicing and great feasting. the joy of the father and of the son was very great, because of a long time they had not seen one another, and because, by god's help and that of the pilgrims, they had passed from so great poverty and ruin to such high estate. therefore the joy was great inside constantinople; and also without, among the host of the pilgrims, because of the honour and victory that god had given them. and on the morrow the emperor and his son also besought the counts and the barons, for god's sake, to go and quarter themselves on the other side of the straits, toward estanor and galata; for, if they quartered themselves in the city, it was to be feared that quarrels would ensue between them and the greeks, and it might well chance that the city would be destroyed. and the counts and barons said that they had 48 already served him in so many ways that they would not now refuse any request of his. so they went and quartered themselves on the other side, and sojoumed there in peace and quiet, and with great store of good provisions. now you must know that many of those in the host went to see constantinople, and the rich palaces and great churches, of which there were many, and all the great wealth of the city-for never was there city that possessed so much. of relics it does not behove me to speak, for at that day there were as many there as in all the rest of the world. thus did the greeks and french live in good fellowship in all things, both as regards trafficking and other matters. by common consent of franks and greeks it was settled that the new emperor should be crowned on the feast of our lord st. peter (1st august 1203). so was it settled, and so it was done. he was crowned full worthily and with honour according to the use for greek emperors at that time. afterwards he began to pay the moneys due to the host; and such moneys were divided among the host, and each repaid what had been advanced in venice for his passage. alexius begs the crusaders to prolong their stay the new emperor went oft to see the barons in the camp, and did them great honour, as much as he could; and this was but fitting, seeing that they had served him right well. and one day he came to the camp, to see the barons privily in the quarters of count baldwin of hainault and flanders. thither were summoned the doge of venice, and the great barons, and he spoke to them and said: " lords, i am emperor by god's grace and yours, and you have done me the highest service that ever yet was done by any people to christian man. now be it known to you that there are folk enough who show me a fair seeming, and yet love me not; and the greeks are full of despite because it is by your help that i have entered into my inheritance. now the term of your departure is nigh, and your fellowship with the venetians is timed only to last till the feast of st. michael. and within so short a term i cannot fulfil our covenant. be it known to you therefore, that, if you abandon me, the greeks hate me because of you: i shall losemy land, and they will kill me. but now do this thing that 49 i ask of you: remain here till march, and i will entertain your ships for one year from the feast of st. michael, and bear the cost of the venetians, and will give you such things as you may stand in need of till easter. and within that term i shall have placed my land in such case that i cannot lose it again; and your covenant will be fulfilled, for i shall have paid such moneys as are due to you, obtaining them from all mi lands; and i shall be ready also with ships either to go with you myself, or to send others, as i have covenanted; and you will have the summer from end to end in which to carry on the war against the saracens." the barons thereupon said they would consult together apart; knowing full well that what the young man said was sooth, and that it would be better, both for the emperor and for themselves, to consent unto him. but they replied that they could not so consent save with the common agreement of the host, and that they would therefore lay the matter before the host, and then give such answer as might be devised. so the emperor alexius departed from them, and went back to constantinople. and they remained in the camp and assembled a parliament the next day. to this parliament were summoned all the barons and the chieftains of the host, and of the knights the greater part; and in their hearing were repeated all the words that the emperor had spoken. debate among the crusaders death of matthew of montmorency then was there much discord in the host, as had been oft times before on the part of those who wished that the host should break up; for to them it seemed to be holding together too long. and the party that had raised the discord at corfu reminded the others of their oaths, and said: " give us ships as you swore to us, for we purpose to go to syria." and the others cried to them for pity and said: " lords, for god's sake, let us not bring to naught the great honour that god has given us. if we go to syria at this present, we shall come thither at the beginning of winter and so not be able to make war, and the lord's work will thus remain undone. but if we wait till march, we shall leave this emperor in good estate, and go hence rich in goods and in food. thus 50 shall we go to syria, and over-run the land of babylon. and the fleet will remain with us till michaelmas, yes, and onwards from michaelmas to easter, seeing it will be unable to leave us because of the winter. so shall the land overseas fall into our hands." those who wished the host to be broken up, cared not for reasons good or bad so long as the host fell to pieces. but those who wished to keep the host together, wrought so effectually, with the help of god, that in the end the venetians made a new covenant to maintain the fleet for a year, reckoning from michaelmas, the emperor alexius paying them for so doing; and the pilgrims, on their side, made a new covenant to remain in the same fellowship as theretofore, and for the same term. thus were peace and concord established in the host. then there befell a very great mischance in the host; for matthew of montmorency, who was one of the best knights in the kingdom of france, and of the most prized and most honoured, took to his bed for sickness, and his sickness so increased upon him that he died. and much dole was made for him, for great was the loss-one of the greatest that had befallen the host by any man's death. he was buried in a church of my lord st. john, of the hospital of jerusalem. progress of the young alexius through the empire afterwards, by the advice of the greeks and the french the emperor alexius issued from constantinople, with a very great company, purposing to quiet the empire and subject it to his will. with him went a great part of the barons; and the others remained to guard the camp. the marquis boniface of montferrat went with him, and count hugh of st. paul, and henry, brother to count baldwin of flanders and hainault, and james of avesnes, and william of champlitte, and hugh of colerni, and many others whom the book does not here mention by name. in the camp remained count baldwin of flanders and hainault, and count louis of blois and chartres, and the greater part of the pilgrims of lesser note. and you must know that during this progress all the greeks, on either side of the straits, came to the emperor 51 alexius, to do his will and commandment, and did him fealty and homage as to their lord-all except john, who was king of wallachia and bulgaria. this john was a wallachian, who had rebelled against. his father and uncle, and had warred against them for twenty years, and had won from them so much land that he had become a very wealthy king. -and be it known to you, that of the land lying on the west side of the straits of st. george, he had conquered very nearly the half. this john did not come to do the will of the emperor, nor to submit himself to him. conflict between the greeks and latins in constantinople-burning of the city while the emperor alexius was away on this progress, there befell a very grievous misadventure; for a conflict arose between the greeks and the latins who inhabited constantinople, and of these last there were many. and certain people-who they were i know not-out of malice, set fire to the city; and the fire waxed so great and horrible that no man could put it out or abate it. and when the barons of the host, who were quartered on the other side of the port, saw this, they were sore grieved and filled with pity-seeing the great churches and the rich palaces melting and falling in, and the great streets filled with merchandise burning in the flames; but they could do nothing. thus did the fire prevail, and win across the port, even to the densest part of the city, and to the sea on the other side, quite near to the church of st. sophia. it lasted two days and two nights, nor could it be put out by the hand of man. and the front of the fire, as it went flaming, was well over half a league broad. what was the damage then done, what the possessions and riches swallowed up, could no man tell-nor what the number of men and women and children who perished-for many were burned. all the latins, to whatever land they might belong, who were lodged in constantinople, dared no longer to remain therein; but they took their wives and their children, and such of their possessions as they could save from the fire, and entered into boats and vessels, and passed over the port and came to the camp of the pilgrims. nor were they few in number, for there were of them some fifteen thousand, small 52 and great; and afterwards it proved to be of advantage to the pilgrims that these should have crossed over to them. thus was there division between the greeks and the franks; nor were they ever again as much at one as they had been before, for neither side knew on whom to cast the blame for the fire; and this rankled in men's hearts upon either side. at that time did a thing befall whereby the barons and those of the host were greatly saddened; for the abbot of loos died, who was a holy man and a worthy, and had wished well to the host. he was a monk of the order of the cistercians. the young alexius returns to constantinoplizhe fails in his promises to the crusaders the emperor alexius remained for a long time on progress, till st. martin's day, and then he returned to constantinople. great was the joy at his home-coming, and the greeks and ladies of constantinople went out to meet their friends in great cavalcades, and the pilgrims went out to meet their friends, and had great joy of them. so did the emperor re-enter constantinople and the palace of blachernae; and the marquis of montferrat and the other barons returned to the camp. the emperor, who had managed his affairs right well and thought he had now the upper hand, was filled with arrogance towards the barons and those who had done so much for him, and never came to see them in the camp, as he had done aforetime. and they sent to him and begged him to pay them the moneys due, as he had covenanted. but he led them on from delay to delay, making them, at one time and another, payments small and poor; and in the end the payments ceased and came to naught. the marquis boniface of montferrat, who had done more for him than any other, and stood better in his regard, went to him oftentimes, and showed him what great services the crusaders had rendered him, and that greater services had never been rendered to any one. and the emperor still entertained them with delays, and never carried out such things as he had promised, so that at last they saw and knew clearly that his intent was wholly evil. then the barons of the host held a parliament with the 53 doge of venice, and they said that they now knew that the emperor would fulfil no covenant, nor ever speak sooth to them; and they decided to send good envoys to demand the fulfilment of their covenant, and to show what services they had done him; and if he would now do what was required, they were to be satisfied; but, if not, they were to defy him, and right well might he rest assured that the barons would by all means recover their due. the crusaders defy the emperors for this embassy were chosen conon of béthune and geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne, and miles the brabant of provins; and the doge also sent three chief men of his council. so these envoys mounted their horses, and, with swords girt, rode together till they came to the palace of blachernae. and be it known to you that, by reason of the treachery of the greeks, they went in great peril, and on a hard adventure. they dismounted at the gate and entered the palace, and found the emperor alexius and the emperor isaac seated on two thrones, side by side. and near them was seated the empress, who was the wife of the father, and stepmother of the son, and sister to the king of hungary-a lady both fair and good. and there were with them a great company of people of note and rank, so that well did the court seem the court of a rich and mighty prince. by desire of the other envoys conon of béthune, who was very wise and eloquent of speech, acted as spokesman: "sire, we have come to thee on the part of the barons of the host and of the doge of venice. they would put thee in mind of the great service they have done to thee-a service known to the people and manifest to all men. thou hast swom, thou and thy father, to fulfil the promised covenants, and they have your charters in hand. but you have not fulfilled those covenants well, as you should have done. many times have they called upon you to do so, and now again we call upon you, in the presence of all your barons, to fulfil the covenants that are between you and them. should you do so, it shall be well. if not, be it known to you that from this day forth they will not hold you as lord or friend, but will endeavour to obtain their due by all the means in their 54 power. and of this they now give you warning, seeing that they would not injure you, nor any one, without first defiance given; for never have they acted treacherously, nor in their land is it customary to do so. you have heard what we have said. it is for you to take counsel thereon according to your pleasure." much were the greeks amazed and greatly outraged by this open defiance; and they said that never had any one been so hardy as to dare defy the emperor of constantinople in his own hall. very evil were the looks now cast on the envoys by the emperor alexius and by all the greeks, who aforetime were wont to regard them very favourably. great was the tumult there within, and the envoys turned about and came to the gate and mounted their horses. when they got outside the gate, there was not one of them but felt glad at heart; nor is that to be marvelled at, for they had escaped from very great peril, and it held to very little that they were not all killed or taken. so they returned to the camp, and told the barons how they had fared. the war begins the greeks endeavour to set fire to the fleet of the crusaders thus did the war begin; and each side did to the other as much harm as they could, by sea and by land. the franks and the greeks fought often; but never did they fight, let god be praised therefor i that the greeks did not lose more than the franks. so the war lasted a long space, till the heart of the winter. then the greeks bethought themselves of a very great device, for they took seven large ships, and filled them full of big logs, and shavings, and tow, and resin, and barrels, and then waited until such time as the wind should blow strongly from their side of the straits. and one night, at midnight, they set fire to the ships, and unfurled their sails to the wind. and the flames blazed up high, so that it seemed as if the whole world were a-fire. thus did the burning ships come towards the fleet of the pilgrims; and a great cry arose in the host, and all sprang to arms on every side. the venetians ran to their ships, and so did all those who had ships in possession, and they began to draw them away out of the flames very vigorously. 55 and to this bears witness geoffry the marshal of champagne, who dictates this work, that never did people help themselves better at sea than the venetians did that night; for they sprang into the galleys and boats belonging to the ships, and seized upon the fire ships, all burning as they were, with hooks, and dragged them by main force before their enemies, outside the port, and set them into the current of the straits, and left them to go burning down the straits. so many of the greeks had come down to the shore that they were without end and innumerable, and their cries were so great that it seemed as if the earth and sea would melt together. they got into barges and boats, and shot at those on our side who were battling with the flames, so that some were wounded. all the knights of the host, as soon as they heard the clamour, armed themselves; and the battalions marched out into the plain, each according to the order in which they had been quartered, for they feared lest the greeks should also attack them on land. they endured thus in labour and anguish till daylight; but by god's help those on our side lost nothing, save a pisan ship, which was full of merchandise, and was burned with fire. deadly was the peril in which we stood that night, for if the fleet had been consumed, all would have been lost, and we should never have been able to get away by land or sea. such was the guerdon which the emperor alexius would have bestowed upon us in return for our services. mourzuphles usurps the empire isaac dies, and the young alexius is strangled then the greeks, being thus embroiled with the franks, saw that there was no hope of peace; so they privily took counsel together to betray their lord. now there was a greek who stood higher in his favour than all others, and had done more to make him embroil himself with the franks than any other. this greek was named mourzuphles. with the advice and consent of the others, one night towards midnight, when the emperor alexius was asleep in his chamber, those who ought to have been guarding him and specially mourzuphles-took him in his bed and threw him into a dungeon in prison. then mourzuphles assumed 56 the scarlet buskins with the help and by the counsel of the other greeks (january 1204). so he made himself emperor. afterwards they crowned him at st. sophia. now see if. ever people were guilty of such horrible treachery! when the emperor isaac heard that his son was taken and mourzuphles crowned, great fear came upon him, and he fell into a sickness that lasted no long time. so he died. and the emperor mourzuphles caused the son, whom he had in prison, to be poisoned two or three times; but it did not please god that he should thus die. afterwards the emperor went and strangled him, and when he had strangled him, he caused it to be reported everywhere that he had died a natural death, and had him mourned for, and buried honourably and as an emperor, and made great show of grief. but murder cannot be hid. soon was it clearly known, both to the greeks and to the french, that this murder had been committed, as has just been told to you. then did the barons of the host and the doge of venice assemble in parliament, and with them met the bishops and the clergy. and all the clergy, including those who had powers from the pope, showed to the barons and to the pilgrims that any one guilty of such a murder had no right to hold lands, and that those who consented thereto were abettors of the murder; and beyond all this, that the greeks had withdrawn themselves from obedience to rome. "wherefore we tell you," said the clergy, " that this war is lawful and just, and that if you have a right intention in conquering this land, to bring it into the roman obedience, all those who die after confession shall have part in the indulgence granted by the pope." and you must know that by this the barons and pilgrims were greatly comforted. the crusaders continue the war defeat of mourzuphles dire was the war between the franks and the greeks, for it abated not, but rather increased and waxed fiercer, so that few were the days on which there was not fighting by sea or land. then henry, the brother of count baldwin of flanders rode forth, and took with him a great part of the good men in the host. with him went james of avesnes, and baldwin of beauvoir, odo of champagne of champlitte, 57 william his brother, and the people of their country. they started at vesper time and rode all night, and on the morrow, when it was full day, they came to a good city, called phile, and took it; and they had great gain, beasts, and prisoners, and clothing, and food, which they sent in boats down the straits to the camp, for the city lies on the sea of russia. so they sojoumed two days in that city, with food in great plenty, enough and to spare. the third day they departed with the beasts and the booty, and rode back towards the camp. now the emperor mourzuphles heard tell how they had issued from the camp, and he left constantinople by night, with a great part of his people, and set himself in ambush at a place by which they must needs pass. and he watched them pass with their beasts and their booty, each division, the one after the other, till it came to the rearguard. the rear-guard was under the command of henry, the brother of count baldwin of flanders, and formed of his people, and the emperor mourzuphles fell upon them at the entrance to a wood; whereupon they turned against him. very fiercely did the battle rage there. by god's help the emperor mourzuphles was discomfited, and came near to being taken captive; and he lost his imperial banner and an eikon that was home before him, in which he and the other greeks had great confidence-it was an ikon that figured our lady-and he lost at least twenty knights of the best people that he had. thus was discomfited the emperor mourzuphles, as you have just heard and fiercely did the war rage between him and the franks; and by this time a great part of the winter had already passed, and it was near candlemas (2nd february 1204), and lent was approaching. of the pilgrims who had gone to syria now we will leave off speaking of the host before constantinople, and speak of those who sailed from other ports than venice, and of the ships of flanders that had sojoumed during the winter at marseilles, and had all gone over in the summer to the land of syria; and these were far more in number than the host before constantinople. listen now, and you shall hear what a great mischance it was that they 58 had not joined themselves to the host, for in that case would christendom have been for ever exalted. but because of their sins, god would not so have it, for some died of the sickness of the land, and some turned back to their own homes. nor did they perform any great deeds, or achieve aught of good, in the land overseass and there started also a company of very good men to go to antioch, to join boemond, prince of antioch and count of tripoli, who was at war with king leon, the lord of the armenians. this company was going to the prince to be in his pay; and the turks of the land knew of it, and made an ambuscade there where the men of the company needs must pass. and they came thither, and fought, and the franks were discomfited, so that not one escaped that was not killed or taken. there were slain villain of neuilly, who was one of the best knights in the world, and giles of trasegnies, and many others; and were taken bernard of moreuil, and renaud of dampierre, and john of villers, and william of neuilly. and you must know that eightty knights were in this company, and every one was either killed or taken. and well does this book bear witness, that of those who avoided the host of venice, there was not one but suffered harm or shame. he therefore must be accounted wise who holds to the better course. agreement between the franks and venetians before attacking constantinople now let us leave speaking of those who avoided the host, and speak of those before constantinople. well had these prepared all their engines, and mounted their petraries, and mangonels on the ships and on the transports, and got ready all such engines of war as are needful for the taking of a city, and raised ladders from the yards and masts of the vessels, so high that they were a marvel to behold.* [note: this passage is obscure in the original.] and when the greeks saw this, they began, on their side, to strengthen the defences of the city which was enclosed with high walls and high towers. nor was any tower so high that they did not raise thereon two or three stages of wood to heighten it still more. never was city so well fortified. 59 thus did the greeks and the franks bestir themselves on the one side and the other during the greater part of lent. then those of the host spoke together, and took counsel what they should do. much was advanced this way and that, but in the end, they devised that if god granted them entry into the city by force, all the booty taken was to be brought together, and fittingly distributed; and further, if the city fell into their power, six men should be taken from among the franks, and six from among the venetians, and these twelve should swear, on holy relics, to elect as emperor the man who, as they deemed, would rule with most profit to the land. and whosoever was thus elected emperor, would have one quarter of whatever was captured, whether within the city or without, and moreover would possess the palace of bucoleon and that of blachernae; and the remaining three parts would be divided into two, and one of the halves awarded to the venetians and the other to those of the host. and there should be taken twelve of the wisest and most experienced men among the host of the pilgrims, and twelve among the venetians, and those twenty-four would divide fiefs and honours, and appoint the service to be done therefor to the emperor. this covenant was made sure and sworn to on the one side and the other b' the franks and the venetians; with provision that at the end of march, a year thence, any who so desired might depart hence and go their way, but that those who remained in the land would be held to the service of the emperor in such mariner as might be ordained. thus was the covenant devised and made sure; and such as should not observe it were excommunicated by the clergy. attack of the crusaders repulsed they make ready for another assault the fleet was very well prepared and armed, and provisions were got together for the pilgrims. on the thursday after mid-lent (8th april 1204), all entered into the vessels, and put their horses into the transports. each division had its own ships, and all were ranged side by side; and the ships were separated from the galleys and transports. a marvellous sight it was to see; and well does this book bear 60 witness that the attack, as it had been devised, extended over full half a french league. on the friday morning the ships and the galleys and the other vessels drew near to the city in due order, and then began an assault most fell and fierce. in many places the pilgrims landed and went up to the walls, and in many places the scaling ladders on the ships approached so close, that those on the towers and on the walls and those on the ladders crossed lances, hand to hand. thus lasted the assault, in more than a hundred places, very fierce, and very dour, and very proud, till near upon the hour of nones. but, for our sins, the pilgrims were repulsed in that assault, and those who had landed from the galleys and transports were driven back into them by main force. and you must know that on that day those of the host lost more than the greeks, and much were the greeks rejoiced thereat. and some there were who drew back from the assault, with the ships in which they were. and some remained with their ships at anchor so near to the city that from either side they shot at one another with petraries and mangonels. then, at vesper time, those of the host and the doge of venice called together a parliament, and assembled in a church on the other side of the straits-on the side where they had been quartered. there were many opinions given and discussed; and much were those of the host moved for the mischief that had that day befallen them. and many advised that they should attack the city on another side the side where it was not so well fortified. but the venetians, who had fuller knowledge of the sea, said that if they went to that other side, the current would carry them down the straits, and that they would be unable to stop their ships. and you must know that there were those who would have been well pleased if the current had home them down the straits, or the wind, they cared not whither, so long -as they left that land behind, and went on their way. nor is this to be wondered at, for they were in sore peril. enough was there spoken, this way and in that; but the conclusion of their deliberation was this: that they would repair and refit on the following day, which was saturday, and during the whole of sunday, and that on the monday they would return to the assault; and they devised further that the ships that carried the scaling ladders should be 61 bound together, two and two, so that two ships should be in case to attack one tower; for they had perceived that day how only one ship had attacked each tower, and that this had been too heavy a task for the ship, seeing that those in the tower were more in number than those on the ladder. for this reason was it well seen that two ships would attack each tower with greater effect than one. as had been settled, so was it done, and they waited thus during the saturday and sunday. the crusaders take a part of the city before the assault the emperor mourzuphles had come to encamp, with all his power, in an open space, and had there pitched his scarlet tents. thus matters remained till the monday morning, when those on the ships, transports, and galleys were all armed. and those of the city stood in much less fear of them than they did at the beginning, and were in such good spirits that on the walls and towers you could see nothing but people. then began an assault proud and marvellous, and every ship went straight before it to the attack. the noise of the battle was so great that it seemed to read the earth. thus did the assault last for a long while, till our lord raised a wind called boreas which drove the ships and vessels further up on to the shore. and two ships that were bound together, of which the one was called the pilgrim and the other the paradise, approached so near to a tower, the one on the one side and the other on the other-so as god and the wind drove them-that the ladder of the pilgrim joined on to the tower. immediately a venetian, and a knight of france, whose name was andrew of urboise, entered into the tower, and other people benan to enter after them, and those in the tower were discomfited and fled.* [note [pp. 61-63]: i should like to quote here another feat of arms related by robert of clari, one of those feats that serve to explain how the crusaders obtained mastery the mastery of perfect fearlessness over the greeks. robert of clari, then, relates how a small body of the besiegers, ten knights and nine sergeants, had come before a postem which had been newly bricked up. "now there was there a clerk, aleaume of clari by name, who had shown his courage whenever there was need, and was always first in any assault at which he might be present; and when the tower of galata was taken, this same clerk had performed more deeds of prowess with his body, man for man, than any one in the host, save only the lord peter of bracuel; for the lord peter it was who surpassed all others, whether of high or low degree, so that there was none other that performed such feats of arms, or acts of prowess with his body, as the lord peter of bracuel. so when they came to the postern they began to hew and pick at it very hardily; but the bolts flew at them so thick, and so many stones were hurled at them from the wall, that it seemed as if they would be buried beneath the stones-sucb was the mass of quarries and stones thrown from above. and those who were below held up targes and shields to cover those who were picking and hewing underneath; and those above threw down pots of boiling pitch, and greek fire, and large rocks, so that it was one of god's miracles that the assailants were not utterly confounded; for my lord peter and his men suffered more than enough of blows and grievous danger. however, so did they hack at the postern, both above and below, with their axes and good swords, that they made a great bole therein; and when the postern was broken through, they all swarmed to the aperture, but saw so many people above and below, that it seemed as if half the world were there, and they dared not be so bold as to enter. "now when aleaume, the clerk, saw that no one dared to go in, be sprang forward, and said that go in he would. and there was there present a knight, a brother to the clerk (the knight's name was robert ofclari),who-forbade him,and said he should not go in. and the clerk said he would, and scrambled in on his hands and feet. and when the knight saw this, he took hold upon him, by the foot, and began to drag him back. but in his brother's despite, and whether his brother would or not, the clerk went in. and when he was within, many were the greeks who ran upon him, and those on the walls cast big stones upon him. and the clerk drew his knife, and ran at them; and he drave them before him as if they had been cattle, and cried to those who were without, to the lord peter of amiens and his folk, 'sire, come in boldly, i see that they are falling back discomfited and flying.' when my lord peter heard this, he and his people who were without, they entered in; and there were no more than ten knights with him, but there were some sixty sergeants, and they were all on foot. and when those who were on the wall at that place saw them, they had such fear that thev did not dare to remain there, but avoided a great space on the wall, and fled helter-skelter. "now the emperor mourzuphles, the traitor, was near by, at less than a stone's throw of distance, and he caused the silver horns to be sounded, and the cymbals, and a great noise to be made. and when he saw my lord peter, and his people, who bad entered in on foot, he made a great show of falling upon them, and spurring forward, came about half-way to where they stood. but mv lord peter, when he saw him coming, began to encourage his people, and to say: 'now, lord god, grant that we may do well, and the battle is ours. here comes the emperor! let no one dare to think of retreat, but each bethink himself to do well' then mourzuphles, seeing that they would in no wise give way, stayed where he was, and then turned back to his tents." after this, according to robert of clari, lord peter's men break open a gate, and.the crusaders enter into the city. see li estoires de chiaus qus conquisent constantinoble. de robert de clari en aminois, chevalier, pp. 60-62. the volume in the british museum is undated, and there is this note in the catalogue, " no more printed." the volume itself is noteless, though there are printed marks here and there which would suggest that notes were intended. the chronicle of robert of clari win also be found in hopf's chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues, etc., pp. 1-85, berlin, 1873.] 62 when the knights see this, who are in the transports, they land, and raise their ladders against the wall, and scale the top of the wall by main force, and so take four of the towers. and all begin to leap out of the ships and transports and galleys, helter-skelter, each as best he can; and they break in some three of the gates and enter in; and they draw the horses out of the transports; and the knights mount and ride straight to the quarters of the emperor mourzuphles. he had his battalions arrayed before his tents, and when his men see the mounted knights coming, they lose heart and fly; and so goes the emperor flying through the streets to the castle of bucoleon. then might you have seen the greeks beaten down; and horses and palfreys captured, and mules, and other booty. of killed and wounded there was neither end nor measure. a great part of the greek lords had fled towards the gate of 63 blachernae. and vesper-time was already past, and those of the host were wear of the battle and of the slaying,. and they began to assemble in a great open space that was in constantinople, and decided that they would take up their quarters near the walls and towers they had captured. never had they thought that in a whole month they should be able to take the city, with its great churches, and great palaces, and the people that were in it. flight of mourzuphles second fire in constantinople as they had settled, so was it done, and they encamped before the walls and before the towers by their ships. count baldwin of flanders and hainault quartered himself in the scarlet tents that the emperor mourzuphles had left standing, and henry his brother before the palace of blachernae; and boniface, marquis of montferrat, he and his men, towards the thickest part of the city. so were the host encamped as you have heard, and constantinople taken on the monday after palm sunday (12th april 1204). now count louis of blois and chartres had languished all the winter with a q ' uartan fever, and could not bear his armour. and you must know that this was a great misfor64 tune to the host, seeing he was a good knight of his body; and he lay in one of the transports. thus did those of the host, who were very weary, rest that night. but the emperor mourzuphles rested not, for he assembled all his people, and said he would go and attack the franks. nevertheless he did not do as he had said, for he rode along other streets, as far as he could from those held by the host, and came to a gate which is called the golden gate, whereby he escaped, and avoided the city; and afterwards all who could fled also. and of all this those of the host knew nothing. during that night, towards the quarters of boniface marquis of montfcrrat, certain people, whose names are unknown to me, being in fear lest the greeks should attack them, set fire to the buildings between themselves and the greeks. and the city began to take fire, and to burn very direfully; and it burned all that night and all the next day, till vesper-time. and this was the third fire there had been in constantinople since the franks arrived in the land; and more houses had been burned in the city than there are houses in any three of the greatest cities in the kingdom of france. that night passed and the next day came, which was a tuesday morning (13th april 1204); and all armed themselves throughout the host, both knights and sergeants, and each repaired to his post. then they issued from their quarters, and thought to find a sorer battle than the day before, for no word had come to them that the emperor had fled during the night. but they found none to oppose them. the crusaders occupy the city the marquis boniface of montferrat rode all along the shore to the palace of bucoleon, and when he arrived there it surrendered, on condition that the lives of all therein should be spared. at bucoleon were found the larger number of the great ladies who had fled to the castle, for there were found the sister [agnes, sister of philip augustus, married successively to alexius ii., to andronicus, and to theodore branas] of the king of france, who had been empress, and the sister [margaret, sister of emeric, king of hungary, married to the emperor isaac, and afterwards to the marquis of montferrat.] of the king of hungary, who 65 had also been empress, and other ladies very many. of the treasure that was found in that palace i cannot well speak, for there was so much that it was beyond end or counting. at the same time that this palace was surrendered to the marquis boniface of montferrat, did the palace of blachernae surrender to henry, the brother of count baldwin of flanders, on condition that no hurt should be done to the bodies of those who were therein. there too was found much treasure, not less than in the palace of bucoleon. each garrisoned with his own people the castle that had been surrendered to him, and set a auard over the treasure. and the other people, spread abroad throughout the city, also gained much booty. the booty gained was so great that none could tell you the end of it: gold and silver, and vessels and precious stones, and samite, and cloth of silk, and robes vair and grey, and ermine, and every choicest thing found upon the earth. and well does geoffry of villehardouin the marshal of champagne, bear witness, that never, since the world was created, had so much booty been won in any city. every one took quarters where he pleased and of lodgings there was no stint. so the host of the pilgrims and of the venetians found quarters, and greatly did they rejoice and give thanks because of the victory god had vouchsafed to them-for those who before had been poor were now in wealth and luxury. thus they celebrated palm sunday and the easter day following (25th april 1204) in the joy and honour that god had bestowed upon them. and well miaht they praise our lord, since in all the host there were no more than twenty thousand armed men, one with another, and with the help of god they had conquered four hundred thousand men, or more, and in the strongest city in all the world yea, a great city and very well fortified. division of the spoil then was it proclaimed throughout the host by the marquis boniface of montferrat, who was lord of the host, and by the barons, and by the doge of venice, that all the booty should be collected and brou-ht together, as had been covenanted under oath and pain of excommunication. three churches were appointed for the receiving of the 66 spoils, and guards were set to have them in charge, both franks and venetians, the most upright that could be found. then each began to bring in such booty as he had taken, and to collect it together. and some brought in loyally, and some in evil sort, because covetousness, which is the root of all evil, let and hindered them. so from that time forth the covetous began to keep things back, and our lord began to love them less. ah god! how loyally they had borne themselves up to now! and well had the lord god shown them that in all things he was ready to honour and exalt them above all people. but full oft do the good suffer for the sins of the wicked. the spoils and booty were collected together, and you must know that all was not brought into the common stock, for not a few kept thin-s back, maugre the excommunication of the pope. that which was brought to the churches was collected together and divided, in equal parts, between the franks and the venetians, according to the sworn covenant. and you must know further that the pilgrims, after the division had been made, paid out of their share fifty thousand marks of silver to the venetians, and then divided at least one hundred thousand marks between themselves, among their own people. and shall i tell you in what wise? two sergeants on foot counted as one mounted, and two sergeants mounted as one knight. and you must know that no man received more, either on account of his rank or because of his deeds, than that which had been so settled and orderedsave in so far as he may have stolen it. and as to theft, and those who were convicted thereof, you must know that stem justice was meted out to such as were found guilty, and not a few were hung. the count of st. paul hung one of his knights, who had kept back certain spoils, with his shield to his neck; but many there were, both great and small, who kept back part of the spoils, and it was never known. well may you be assured that the spoil wavery great, for if it had not been for what was stoletand for the part given to the venetians, there would if have been at least four hundred thousand marks of silver and at least ten thousand horses-one with another. thus were divided the spoils of constantinople, as you have heard. 67 baldwin, count of flanders, elected emperor then a parliament assembled, and the commons of the host declared that an emperor must be elected, as had been settled aforetime. and they parliamented so long that the matter was adjourned to another day, and on that day would they choose the twelve electors who were to make the election. nor was it possible that there should be lack of candidates, or of men covetous, seeing that so great an honour was in question as the imperial throne of constantinople. but the greatest discord that arose was the discord concerning count baldwin of flanders and hainault and the marquis boniface of montferrat; for all the people said that either of those two should be elected. and when the chief men of the host saw that all held either for count baldwin or for the marquis of montferrat, they conferred together and said: " lords, if we elect one of these two great men, the other will be so filled with envy that he will take away with him all his people. and then the land that we have won may be lost, just as the land of jerusalem came nigh to be lost when, after it had been conquered, godfrey of bouillon was elected king, and the count of st. giles became so fulfilled with envy that he enticed the other barons, and whomsoever he could, to abandon the host. then did many people depart, and there remained so few that, if god had not sustained them, the land of jerusalem wouldhavebeenlost. letusthereforebewarelestthesame mischance befall us also, and rather bethink ourselves how we may keep both these lords in the host. let the one on whom god shall bestow the empire so devise that the other is well content; let him grant to that other all the land on the further side of the straits, towards turkey, and the isle of greece, and that other shall be his liegeman. thus shall we keep both lords in the host." as had been proposed, so was it settled, and both consented right willingly. then came the day for the parliament, and the parliament assembled. and the twelve electors were chosen, six on one side and six on the other; and they swore on holy relics to elect, duly, and in good faith, whomsoever would best meet the needs of the host, and bear rule over the empire most worthily. 68 thus were the twelve chosen, and a day appointed for the election of the emperor; and on the appointed day the twelve electors met at a rich palace, one of the fairest in the world, where the doge of venice had his quarters. great and marvellous was the concourse, for every one wished to see who should be elected. then were the twelve electors called, and set in a very rich chapel within the palace, and the door was shut, so that no one remained with them. the barons and knights stayed without in a great palace. the council lasted till they were agreed; and by consent' of all they appointed nevelon, bishop of soissons, who was one of the twelve, to act as spokesman. then they came out to the place where all the barons were assembled, and the doge of venice. now you must know that many set eyes upon them, to know how the election had turned. and the bishop, lifting up his voice-while all listened intentlyspoke as he had been charged, and said: " lords, we are agreed, let god be thanked! upon the choice of an emperor; and you have all sworn that he whom we shall elect as ern,,)eror shall be held by you to be emperor indeed, and that it any one gainsay him, you will be his helpers. and we name him now at the self-same hour when god was born, the count baldwin of flanders and hainault! " a cry of joy was raised in the palace, and they bore the count out of the palace, and the marquis boniface of montferrat bore him on one side to the church, and showed him all the honour he could. so was the count baldwin of flanders and hainault elected emperor, and a day appointed for his coronation, three weeks after easter (16th may 1204). and you must know that many a rich robe was made for the coronation; nor did they want for the wherewithal. boniface weds isaac's widow, and after baldwin's coronation obtains the kingdom of salonika before the time appointed for the coronation, the marquis boniface of montferrat espoused the empress who had been the wife of the emperor isaac, and was sister to the king of hungary. and within that time also did one of the most noble barons of the host, who bore the name of odo of champlitte of champagne, make an end and die. much was he mourned and bewept by william his brother, and by his 69 other friends; and he was buried in the church of the apostles with great honour. the time for the coronation drew near, and the emperor baldwin was crowned with great joy and great honour in the church of st. sophia, in the year of the incarnation of jesus christ one thousand twelve hundred and four. of the rejoicings and feasting there is no need to speak further, for the barons and knights did all they could; and the marquis boniface of montferrat and count louis of blois and chartres did homage to the emperor as their lord. after the great rejoicings and ceremonies of the coronation, he was taken in great pomp, and with a great procession, to the rich palace of bucoleon. and when the feastings were over he began to discuss his affairs. boniface the marquis of montferrat called upon him to carry out the covenant made, and give him, as he was bound to do, the land on the other side of the straits towards turkey and the isle of greece. and the emperor acknowledged that he was bound so to do, and said he would do it right willingly. and when the marquis of montferrat saw that the emperor was willing to carry out this covenant so debonairly, he besought him, in exchange for this land, to bestow upon him the kingdom of salonika, because it lay near the land of the king of hungary, whose sister he had taken to wife. much was this matter debated in various ways; but in the end the emperor granted the land of salonika to the marquis, and the marquis did homage therefor. and at this there was much joy thr oughout , the host, because the marquis was one of the knights most highly prized in all the world, and one whom the knights most loved, inasmuch as no one dealt with them more liberally than he. thus the marquis remained in the land, as you have heard. baldwin marches against mourzuphles the emperor mourzuphles had not yet removed more than four days' journey from constantinople; and he had taken with him the empress who had been the wife of the emperor alexius, who aforetime had fled, and his daughter. this emperor alexius was in a city called messinopolis, with all his people, and still held a great part of the land. and at that 70 time the men of note in greece departed, and a large number passed over the straits towards turkey; and each one, for his own advantage, made himself master of such lands as he could lay hands upon; and the same thing happened also throughout the other parts of the empire. the emperor mourzuphles made no long tarrying before he took a city which had surrendered to my lord the emperor baldwin, a city called tchorlu. so he took it and sacked it, and seized whatever he found there. when the news thereof came to the emperor baldwin, he took counsel with the barons, and with the doge of venice, and they agreed to this, that he should issue forth, with all his host, to make conquest of the land, and leave a garrison in constantinople to keep it sure, seeing that the city had been newly taken and was peopled with the greeks. so did they decide, and the host was called together, and decision made as to who should remain in constantinople, and who should go in the host with the emperor baldwin. in constantinople remained count louis of blois and chartres, who had been sick, and was not yet recovered, and the doge of venice. and conon of béthune remained in the palaces of blachemoe and bucoleon to keep the city; and with him geoffry the marshal of champagne, and miles the brabant of provins, and manasses of l'isle, and all their people. all the rest made ready to go in the host with the emperor. before the emperor baldwin left constantinople, his brother henry departed thence, by his command, with a hundred very good knights; and he rode from city to city, and in every city to which he came the people swore fealty to the emperor. so he fared forward till he came to adrianople, which was a good city, and wealthy; and those of the city received him right willingly and swore fealty to the emperor. then he lodged in the city, he and his people, and sojoumed there till the emperor baldwin came thither. mourzuphles takes refuge with alexius, the brother of isaac, who puts out his eyes the emperor mourzuphles, when he heard that they thus advanced against him, did not dare to abide their coming, but remained always two or three days' march in advance. 71 so he fared forward till he came near messinopolis, where the emperor alexius was sojourning, and he sent on messengers, telling alexius that he would give him help, and do all his behests. and the emperor alexius answered that he should be as welcome as if he were his own son, and that he would give him his daughter to wife, and make of him his son. so the emperor mourzuphles encamped before messinopolis, and pitched his tents and pavilions, and alexius was quartere within the city. so they conferred together, and alexius gave him his daughter to wife, and they entered into alliance, and said they should be as one. they sojourned thus for i know not how many days, the one in the camp and the other in the city, and then did the emperor alexius invite the emperor mourzupwes to come and eat with him, and to go with him to the baths. so were matters settled. the emperor mourzuphles came privately, and with few people, and when he was within the house, the emperor alexius called him into a privy chamber, and had him thrown on to the ground, and the eyes drawn out of his head. and this was done in such treacherous wise as you have heard. now say whether this people, who wrought such cruelty one to another, were fit to have lands in possession i and when the host of the emperor mourzuphles heard what had been done, they scattered, and fled this way and that; and some joined themselves to the emperor alexius, and obeyed him as their lord, and remained with him. baldwin marches against alexius-he is joined by boniface then the emperor baldwin moved from constantinople, with all his host, and rode forward till he came to adrianople. there he found henry his brother, and the men with him. all the people whithersoever the emperor passed, came to him, and put themselves at his mercy and under his rule. and while they were at adrianople, they heard the news that the emperor alexius had pulled out the eyes of the emperor mourzuphles. of this there was much talk among them; and well did all say that those who betrayed one another so disloyally and treacherously had no right to hold land in possession. then was the emperor baldwin minded to ride straight to 72 messinopolis, where the emperor alexius was. and the greeks of adrianople besought him, as their lord, to leave a garrison in their city because of johannizza, king of wallachia and bulgaria, who ofttimes made war upon them. and the' emperor baldwin left there eustace of saubruic, who was a knight of flanders, very worthy and very valiant, together with forty right good knights, and a hundred mounted sergeants. so departed the emperor baldwin from adrianople, and rode towards messinopolis, where he thought to find the emperor alexius. all the people of the lands through which he passed put themselves under his rule and at his mercyand when the emperor alexius saw this, he avoided messl-' nopolis and fled. and the emperor baldwin rode on till he came before messinopolis; and those of the city went out to meet him and surrendered the city to his commandment. then the emperor baldwin said he would sojourn there, wafting for the arrival of boniface, marquis of montferrat, who had not yet joined the host, seeing he could not move as fast as the emperor, because he was bringing with him the empress, his wife. however, he also rode forward till he came to messinopolis, by the river, and there encamped, and pitched his tents and pavilions. and on the morrow he went to speak to the emperor baldwin, and to see him, and reminded him of his promise. "sire," said he, "tidings have come to me from salonika that the people of the land would have me know that they are ready to receive me willingly as their lord. and i am your liegeman, and hold the land from you. therefore, i pray you, let me go thither; and when i am in possession of my land and of my city, i will bring you out such supplies as you may need, and come ready prepared to do your behests. but do not go and ruin my land. let us rather, if it so pleases you, march against johannizz', the king of wallachia and bulgaria, who holds a great part of the land wrongfully." rupture between baldwin and b0niface the one marches on salonika, the other on demotica i know not by whose counsel it was that the emperor replied that he was determined to march towards salonika, 73 and would afterwards attend to his other affairs. sire," said boniface, marquis of montferrat, " i pray thee, since i am able without thee to get possession of my land, that thou wilt not enter therein; but if thou dost enter therein, i shall deem that thou art not acting for my good. and be it known to thee that i shall not go with thee, but depart from among you." and the emperor baldwin replied that, notwithstanding all this, he should most certainly go. alas! how ill-advised were they, both the one and the other, and how great was the sin of those who caused this quarrel! for if god had not taken pity upon them, now would they have lost all the conquests they had made, and christendom been in danger of ruin. so by ill fortune was there division between the emperor baldwin of constantinople and boniface, marquis of montferrat,-and by illadvice. . the emperor bal dwin rode towards salonika, as he devised, with all his people, and with all his power. and boniface, the marquis of montferrat, went back, and he took with him a great number of right worthy people. with him went james of avesnes, william of champlitte, hugh of colemi, count berthold of katzenellenbogen, and the greater part of those who came from the empire of germany and held with the marquis. thus did the marquis ride back till he came to a castle, very goodly, very strong, and very rich, which is called demotica; and it was surrendered by a greek of the city, and when the marquis had entered therein he garrisoned it. then because of their knowledge of the empress (his wife), the greeks began to turn towards him, and to surrender to his rule from all the country round about, within a day or two's journey. the emperor baldwin rode straight on to salonika, and came to a castle called christopolis, one of the strongest in the world. and it surrendered, and those of the city did homage to him. afterwards he came to another place called blache, which was very strong and very rich, and this too surrendered, and the people did homage. next he came to cetros, a city strong and rich, and it also came to his rule and order, and did homage. then he rode to salonika, and encamped before the city, and was there for three days. and those within surrendered the city, which was one of the best and wealthiest in christendom at that day, on condition that 74 he would maintain the uses and customs theretofore observed by the greek emperor. message of the crusaders to boniface he suspends the siege of adrianople while the emperor baldwin was thus at salonika, and the land surrendering to his good pleasure and commandment, the marquis boniface of montferrat, with all his people and a great quantity of greeks who held to his side, marched to adrianople and besieged it, and pitched his tents and pavilions round about. now eustace of saubruic was therein, with the people whom the emperor had left there, and they mounted the walls and towers and made ready to defend themselves. then took eustace of saubruic two messengers and sent them, riding night and day, to constantinople. and they came to the doge of venice, and to count louis, and to those who had been left in the city by the emperor baldwin, and told them that eustace of saubruic would have them know that the emperor and the marquis were embroiled together, and that the marquis had seized demotica, which was one of the strongest castles in roumania, and one of the richest, and that he was besieging them in adrianople. and when those in constantinople heard this they were moved with anger, for they thought most surely that all their conquests would be lost. then assembled in the palace of blachernae the doge of venice, and count louis of blois and chartres, and the other barons that were in constantinople; and much were they distraught, and greatly were they angered, and fiercely did they complain of those who had put enmity between the emperor and the marquis. at the prayer of the doge of venice and of count louis, geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne, was enjoined to go to the siege of adrianople, and appease the war, if he could, because he was well in favour with the marquis, and therefore they thought he would have more influence than any other. and he, because of their prayers, and of their great need, said he would go willingly; and he took with him manasses of l'isle, who was one of the good knights of the host, and one of the most honoured. 75 so they departed from constantinople, and rode day by day till they came to adrianople, where the siege was going on. and when the marquis heard thereof, he came out of the camp and went to meet them. with him came james of avesnes, and william of champlitte, and hugh of colemi, and otho of la roche, who were the chief counsellors of the marquis. and when he saw the envoys, he did them much honour and showed them much fair seeming. geoffry the marshal, with whom he was on very good terms, spoke to him very sharply, reproaching him with the fashion in which he had taken the land of the emperor and besieged the emperor's people in adrianople, and that without apprising those in constantinople, who surely would have obtained such redress as was due if the emperor had done him any wrong. and the marquis disculpated himself much, and said it was because of the wrong the emperor had done him that he had acted in such sort. so wrought geoffry, the marshal of champagne, with the help of god, and of the barons who were in the confidence of the marquis, and who loved the said geoffry well, that the marquis assured him he would leave the matter in the hands of the doge of venice, and of count louis of blois and chartres, and of conon of béthune, and of geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal-all of whom well knew what was the covenant made between himself and the emperor. so was a truce established between those in the camp and those in the city. and you must know that geoffry the marshal, and manasses of l'isle, were right joyously looked upon, both by those in the camp and those in the city, for very strongly did either side wish for peace. and in such measure as the franks rejoiced, so were the greeks dolent, because right willingly would they have seen the franks quarrelling and at war. thus was the siege of adrianople raised, and the marquis returned with all his people to demotica, where was the empress his wife. message of the crusaders to baldwin death of several knights the envoys returned to constantinople, and told what they had done. greatly did the doge of venice, and count louis 76 of blois, and all besides, then rejoice that to these envoys had been committed the negotiations for a peace; and they chose good messengers, and wrote a letter, and sent it to the emperor baldwin, tellinhim that the marquis had referred himself to them, with assurances that he would accept their arbitration, and that he (the emperor) was even more strongly bound to do the same, and that they besought him to do so-for they would in no wise countenance war-and promise to accept their arbitration, as the marquis had done. while this was in progress the emperor baldwin had settled matters at salonika and departed thence, garrisoning it with his people, and had left there as chief renier of mons, who was a good knight and a valiant. and tidings had come to him that the marquis had taken demotica, and established himself therein, an(f conquered a great part of the land lying round about, and besieged the emperor's people in adrianople. greatly enraged was the emperor baldwin when these tidings came to him, and much did he hasten so as to raise the siege of adrianople, and do to the marquis all the -harm that he could. ah god! what mischief their discord might have caused! if god had not seen to it, christendom would have been undone. so did the emperor baldwin journey day by day. and a very great mischance had befallen those who were before salonika, for many people of the host were stricken down with sickness. many who could not be moved had to remain in the castles by which the emperor passed, and many were brought along in litters, journeying in sore pain; and many there were who died at cetros (la serre). among those who so died at cetros was master ' john of noyon, chancellor to the emperor baldwin. he was a good clerk, and very wise, and much had he comforted the host by the word of god, which he well knew how to preach. and you must know that by his death the good men of the host were much discomforted. nor was it long ere another great misfortune befell the host, for peter of amiens died, who was a man rich and noble, and a good and brave knight, and great dole was made for him by hugh of st. paul, who was his cousin-german; and heavily did his death weigh upon the host. shortly after died gerard of mancicourt, who was a knight much 77 prized, and giles of annoy, and many other good people. forty knights died during this expedition, and by their death was the host greatly enfeebled. baldwin's reply to the message of the crusaders the emperor baldwin journeyed so day by day that he met the messengers sent by those of constantinople. one of the messengers was a knight belonging to the land of count louis of blois, and the count's liegeman; his name was bègue of fransures, and he was wise and eloquent. he spoke the message of his lord and the other barons right manfully, and said: " sire, the doge of venice, and count louis, my lord, and the other barons who are in constantinople send you health and greeting as to their lord, and they complain to god and to you of those who have raised discord between you and the marquis of montferrat, whereby it failed but little that christendom was not undone; and they tell you that you did very ill when you listened to such counsellors. now they apprise you that the marquis has referred to them the quarrel that there is between him and you, and they pray you, as their lord, to refer that quarrel to them likewise, and to promise to abide by their ruling. and be it known to you that they will in no wise, nor on any ground, suffer that you should go to war." the emperor baldwin went to confer with his council, and said he would reply anon. many there were in the emperor's council who had helped to cause the quarrel, and they were greatly outraged by the declaration sent by those at constantinople, and they said: " sire, you hear what they declare to you, that they will not suffer you to take vengeance of your enemy. truly it seems that if you will not do as they order, they will set themselves against you." very many big words were then spoken; but, in the end, the council agreed that the emperor had no wish to lose the friendship of the doge of venice, and count louis, and the others who were in constantinople; and the emperor replied to the envoys: " i will not promise to refer the quarrel to those who sent you, but i will go to constantinople without doing aught to injure the marquis." so the emperor baldwin journeyed day by day till he came to constantinople, and 78 the barons, and the other people, went to meet him, and received him as their lord with great honour. reconciliation of baldwin and boniface on the fourth day the emperor knew clearly that he had been ill-advised to quarrel with the marquis, and then the doge of venice and count louis came to speak to him and said: "sire, we would pray you to refer this matter to us, as the marquis has done." and the emperor said he would do so right willingly. then were envoys chosen to fetch the marquis, and bring him thither. of them envoys one was gervais of chatel, and the second renier of trit, and geoffry, marshal of champagne the third, and the doge of venice sent two of his people. the envoys rode day by day till they came to demotica, and they found the marquis with the empress his wife, and a great number of right worthy people, and they told him how they had come to fetch him. then did geoffry the marshal desire him to come to constantinople, as he had promised, and make peace in such wise as might be settled by those in whose hands he had remitted his cause; and they promised him safe conduct, as also to those who might go with him. the marquis took counsel with his men. some there were who agreed that he should go, and some who advised that he should not go. but the end of the debate was such that he went with the envoys to constantinople, and took full a hundred knights with him; and they rode day by day till they came to constantinople. very gladly were they received in the city; and count louis of blois and chartres, and the doge of venice went out to meet the marquis, together with many other right worthy people, for he was much loved in the host. then was a parliament assembled, and the covenants were rehearsed between the emperor baldwin and the marquis boniface; and salonika was restored to boniface, with the land, he placing demotica, which he had seized, in the hands of geoffry the marshal of champagne, who undertook to keep it till he heard, by accredited messenger, or letters duly sealed, that the marquis was seized of salonika, when he would give back demotica to the emperor, or to whomsoever the emperor might appoint. thus was peace made between the emperor and the marquis, as you have heard. and great was the joy 79 thereof throughout the host, for out of this quarrel might very great evil have arisen. the kingdom of salonika is restored to boniface division of the land between the crusaders the marquis then took leave, and went towards salonika with his people, and with his wife; and with him rode the envoys of the emperor; and as they went from castle to castle, each, with all its lordship, was restored to the marquis on the part of the emperor. so they came to salonika, and those who held the place for the emperor surrendered it. now the governor, whom the emperor had left there, and whose name was renier of mons, had died; he was a man most worthy, and his death a great mischance. then the land and country began to surrender to the marquis, and a great part thereof to come under his rule. but a greek, a man of great rank, whose name was leon sgure, would in no wise come under the rule of the marquis, for he had seized corinth and napoli, two cities that lie upon the sea, and are among the strongest cities under heaven. he then refused to surrender, but began to make war against the marquis, and a very great many of the greeks held with him. and another greek, whose name was michael, and who had come with the marquis from constantinople, and was thought by the marquis to be his friend, he departed, without any word said, and went to a city called arthe (? durazzo) and took to wife the daughter of a rich greek, who held the land from the emperor, and seized the land, and began to make war on the marquis. now the land from constantinople to salonika was quiet and at peace, for the ways were so safe that all could come and go at their pleasure, and from the one city to the other there were full twelve long days' journey. and so much time had now passed that we were at the beginning of september (1204). and the emperor baldwin was in constantinople, and the land at peace, and under his rule. then died two right good knights in constantinople, eustace of canteleu, and aimery of villeroi, whereof their friends had great sorrow. then did they begin to divide the land. the venetians had their part,and the pilgrims the other. and when each 80 one was able to go to his own land, the covetousness of this world, which has worked so great evil, suffered them not to be at peace, for each began to deal wickedly in his land, some more, and some less, and the greeks began to hate them and to nourish a bitter heart. then did the emperor baldwin bestow on count louis the duchy of nice, which was one of the greatest lordships in the land of roumania, and situate on the other side of the straits, towards turkey. now all the land on the other side of the straits had not surrendered to the emperor, but was against him. then afterwards he gave the duchy of philippopolis to renier of trit. so count louis sent his men to conquer his land-some h.undred and twenty knights. and over them were set peter of bracieux and payen of orleans. they left constantinople on all saints day (1st november 1204), and passed over the straits of st. george on ship-board, and came to piga, a city that lies on the sea, and is inhabited by latins. and they began to war against the greeks. execution of mourzuphles and imprisonment of alexius in those days it happened that the emperor mourzuphles, whose eyes had been put out-the same who had murdered his lord, the emperor isaac's son, the emperor alexius, whom the pilgrims had brought with them to that land-it happened, i say, that the emperor mourzuphles fled privily, and with but few people, and took refuge beyond the straits. but thierri of loos heard of it, for mourzuphles' flight was revealed to him, and he took mourzuphles and brought him to the emperor baldwin at constantinople,. and the emperor baldwin rejoiced thereat, and took counsel with his men what he should do with a man who had been guilty of such a murder upon his lord. and the council agreed to this: there was in constantinople, towards the middle of the city, a column, one of the highest and the most finely wrought in marble that eye had ever seen; and mourzuphles should be taken to the top of that column and made to leap down, in the sight of all the people, because it was fit that an act of justice so notable should be seen of the whole world. so they led the emperor 81 mourzuphles to the column, and took him to the top, and all the people in the city ran together to behold the event. then they cast him down, and he fell from such a height that when he came to the earth he was all shattered and broken. now hear of a great marvel! on that column from which he fell were images of divers kinds, wrought in the marble. and among these images was one, worked in the shape of an emperor, falling headlong; for of a long time it had been prophesied that from that column an emperor of constantinople should be cast down. so did the semblance and the prophecy come true. it came to pass, at this time also, that the marquis boniface of montferrat, who was near salonika, took prisoner the emperor alexius-the same who had put out the eyes of the emperor isaac-and the empress his wife with him. and he sent the scarlet buskins, and the imperial vestments, to the emperor baldwin, his lord, at constantinople, and the emperor took the act in very good part. shortly after the marquis sent the emperor alexius and the empress his wife, to montferrat, there to be imprisoned. capture of abydos, of philippopolis, and of nicomedia theodore lascaris pretends to the empire at the feast of st. martin after this (11th november 1204), henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, went forth from constantinople, and marched down by the straits to the mouth of abydos; and he took with him some hundred and twenty good knights. he crossed the straits near a city which is called abydos, and found it well furnished with good things, with corn and meats, and with all things of which man has need. so he seized the city, and lodged therein, and then began to war with the greeks who were before him. and the armenians of the land, of whom there were many, began to turn towards him, for they greatly hated the greeks. at that time renier of trit left constantinople, and went towards philippopolis, which the emperor had given him; and he took with him some hundred and twenty very good knights, and rode day by day till he passed beyond adrianople, and came to philippopolis. and the people of the land received him, and obeyed him as their lord, for they beheld his coming very willingly. and they stood in great 82 need of succour, for johannizza, the king of wallachia, had mightily oppressed them with war. so renier helped them right well, and held a great part of the land, and most of those who had sided with johannizza, now turned to him. in those parts the war with johannizza raged fiercely. tle emperor had sent some hundred knights over the straits of saint george opposite constantinople. macaire of saintemen,ehould was in command, and with him went matthew of wallincourt, and robert of ronsoi. they rode to a city called nicomedia, which lies on a gulf of the sea, and is well two days' journey from constantinople. when the greeks saw them coming, they avoided the city, and went away; so the pilgrims lodged therein, and garrisoned it, and enclosed it with walls, and began to wage war before them, on that side also. the land on the other side of the straits had for lord a greek named theodore lascaris. he had for wife the daughter of the emperor alexius, through whom he laid claim to the land this was the alexius whom the franks had driven from constantinople, and who had put out his brother's eyes. the same lascaris maintained the war against the franks on the other side of the straits, in whatsoever part they might be. in constantinople remained the emperor baldwin and count louis, with but few people, and the count of st. paul, who was grievously sick with gout, that held him by the knees and feet; and the doge of venice, who saw naught. reinforcements from syria death of mary, the wife of baldwin after this time came from the land of syria a great company of those who had abandoned the host, and gone thither from other ports than venice. with this company came stephen of perche, and renaud of montmirail, who was cousin to count louis, and they were by him much honoured, for he was very glad of their coming. and the emperor baldwin, and the rest of the people also received them very gladly, for they were of high rank, and very rich, and brouaht very many good people with them. from the land of syria came hugh of tabarie, and raoul his brother, and thierri of tenremonde, and very many people of the land, knights and light horsemen, and sergeants. 83 and the emperor baldwin gave to stephen of perche the duchy of philadelphia. among other tidings came news at this time to the emperor baldwin whereby he was made very sorrowful; for the countess mary [she was the daughter of henry count of champagne and of mary, daughter of philip augustus, king of france] his wife, whom he had left in flanders, seeing she could not go with him because she was with childhe was then but count-had brought forth a daughter-and afterwards, on her recovery, she started to go to her lord overseass and passed to the port of marseilles, and coming to acre, she had but just landed, when the tidings came to her from constantinople-told by the messengers whom her lord had sent-that constantinople was taken, and her lord made emperor, to the great joy of all christendom. on hearing this the lady was minded to come to him forthwith. then a sickness took her, and she made an end and died, whereof there was great dole throughout all christendom, for she was a gracious and virtuous lady and greatly honoured. and those who came in this company brought the tidings of her death, whereof the emperor baldwin had sore affliction, as also the barons of the land, for much did they desire to have her for their lady. defeat of theodore and constantine lascaris at that time those who had gone to the city of piga peter of bracieux and payen of orléans being the chiefs fortified a castle called palormo; and they left therein a garrison of their people, and rode forward to conquer the land. theodore lascaris had collected all the people he could, and on the day of the feast,of our lord st. nicholas (6th december 1204), which is before the nativity, he joined battle in the plain before a castle called poemaninon. the battle was engaged with great disadvantage to our people, for those of the other part were in such numbers as was marvellous; and on our side there were but one hundred and forty knights, without counting the mounted sergeants. but our lord orders battles as it pleases him. by his grace and by his will, the franks vanquished the greeks and discomfited them, so that they suff ered very great loss. and within the week, they surrendered a very large part of the land. they surrendered poemaninon, which was a very 84 strong castle, and lopadium, which was one of the best cities of the land, and polychna, which is seated on a lake of fresh water, and is one of the strongest and best castles that can be found. and you must know that our people fared very excellently, and by god's help had their will of that land. shortly after-, by the advice of the armenians, henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin of constantinople, started from the city of abydos, leaving therein a garrison of his people, and rode to a city called adramittium, which lies on the sea, a two days' journey from abydos. this city yielded to him, and he lodged therein, and a great part of the land surrendered; for the city was well supplied with corn and meats, and other goods. then he maintained the war in those parts against the greeks. theodore lascaris, who had been discomfited at poemaninon, collected as many people as he could, and assembled a very great army, and gave the command thereof to constantine, his brother, who was one of the best greeks in roumania, and then rode straight towards adramittium. and henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, had knowledge, through the armenians, that a great host was marching against him, so he made ready to meet them, and set his battalions in order; and he had with him some very good men, as baldwin of beauvoir, and nicholas of mailly, and anseau of cayeux, and thierri of loos, and thierri of tenremonde. so it happened that on the saturday which is before mid lent (19th march 1205), came constantine lascaris with his great host, before adramittium. and henry, when he knew of his coming, took counsel, and said he would not suff er himself to be shut up in the city, but would issue forth. and those of the other part came on with all their host, in great companies of horse and foot, and those on our part went out to meet them, and began the onslaught. then was there a dour battle and fighting hand to hand; but by god's help the franks prevailed, and discomfited their foes, so that many were killed and taken captive, and there was much booty. then were the franks at ease, and very rich, so that the people of the land turned to them, and began to bring in their rents. 85 boniface attacks leon sgure; he is joined by geoffry of villehardouin, the nephew now let us leave speaking further (for the nonce), of those at constantinople, and return to the marquis boniface of montferrat. the marquis had gone, as you have heard, towards salonika, and then ridden forth against leon sgure, who held napoli and corinth, two of the strongest cities in the world. boniface besieged both cities at once. james of avesnes, with many other good men, remained before corinth, and the rest encamped before napoli, and laid siege to it. then befell a certain adventure in the land. for geoffry of villehardouin, who was nephew to geofiry of villehardouin, marshal of roumania and champagne, being his brother's son, was moved to leave syria with the company that came to constantinople. but wind and chance carried him to the port of modon, and there his ship was injured, so that, of necessity, it behoved him to winter in that country. and a greek, who was a great lord of the land, knew of it, and came to him, and did him much honour, and said: " fair sir, the franks have conquered constantinople, and elected an emperor. if thou wilt make alliance with me, i will deal with thee in all good faith, and we together will conquer much land." so they made alliance on oath, the greek and geoffry of villehardouin, and conquered together a great part of the country, and geoffry of villehardouin found much good faith in the greek. but adventures happen as god wills, and sickness laid hold of the greek, and he made an end and died. and the greek's son rebelled against geoffry of vihehardouin, and betrayed him, and the castles in which geoffry had set a garrison turned against him. now he heard tell that the marquis was besieging napoli, so he went towards him with as many men as he could collect, and rode through the land for some six days in very great peril, and thus came to the carnp, where he was received right willingly, and much honoured by the marquis and all who were there. and this was but right, seeing he was very honourable and valiant, and a good knight. 86 exploits of william of champlitte and geoffry of villehardouin, the nephew, in morea the marquis would have given him land and possessions so that he might remain with him, but he would not, and spoke to william of champlitte, who was his friend, and said: " sir, i come from a land that is very rich, and is called morea. take as many men as you can collect, and leave this host, and let us go and conquer that land by the help of god. and that which you will give me out of our conquests, i will hold from you, and i will be your liegeman." knd william of champlitte, who greatly trusted and loved him, went to the marquis, and told him of the matter, and the marquis allowed of their going. so william of champlitte and geoffry of villehardouin (the nephew) departed from the host, and took with them about a hundred knights, and a great number of mounted sergeants, and entered into the land of morea, and rode onwards till they came to the city of modon. michael heard that they were in the land with so few people, and he collected together a great number of people, a number that was marvellous, and he rode after them as one thinking they were all no better than prisoners, and in his hand. and when they heard'tell that he was coming, they refortified modon, where the defences had long since been pulled down, and there left their baggage, and the lesser folk. then they rode out a day's march, and ordered their array with as many people as they had. but the odds seemed too great, for they had no more than five hundred men mounted, whereas on the other part there were well over five thousand. but events happen as god pleases; for our people fought with the greeks ' and discomfited and conquered them. and the greeks lost very heavily, while those on our side gained horses and arms enough, and other goods in very great plenty, and so returned very happy, and very joyously, to the city of modon. afterwards they rode to a city called coron, on the sea, and besieged it. and they had not besieged it long before it surrendered, and william gave it to geoffry of villehardouin (the nephew) and he became his liegeman, and set therein a garrison of his men. next they went to a castle called chale87 mate which was very strong and fair, and besieged it. this castle troubled them for a very long space, but they remained before it till it was taken. then did more of the greeks of that land surrender than had done aforetiine. siege of napoli and corinth; alliance between the greeks and johannizza the marquis of montferrat besieged napoli, but he could there do nothing, for the place was too strong, and his men suffered greatly. james of avesnes, meanwhile, continued to besiege corinth, where he had been left by the marquis. leon sgure, who was in corinth, and very wise and wily, saw that james had not many people with him, and did not keep good watch. so one morning, at the break of day, he issued from the city in force, and got as far as the tents, and killed many before they could get to their armour. . there was killed dreux of estruen, who was very honourable and valiant, and greatly was he lamented. and james of avesnes, who was in command, waxed very wroth at the death of his knight, and did not leave the fray till he was wounded in the leg right grievously. and well did those who were present bear witness that it was to his doughtiness that they owed their safety; for you must know that they came very near to being all lost. but by god's help they drove the greeks back into the castle by force. now the greeks, who were very disloyal, still nourished treachery in their hearts. they perceived at that time that the franks were so scattered over the land that each had his own matters to attend to. so they thought they could the more easily betray them. they took envoys therefore privily, from all the cities in the land, and sent them to johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, who was still at war with them as he had been aforetime. and they told johannizza they would make him emperor, and give themselves wholly to him, and slay all the franks. so they swore that they would obey him as their lord, and he swore that he would defend them as though they were his own people. such was the oath sworn. 88 uprising of the greeks at demotica and adrianople; their defeat at arcadiopolis at that time there happened a great misfortune at constantinople, for count hugh of st. paul, who had long been in bed, sick of the gout, made an end and died; and this caused great sorrow, and was a great mishap, and much was he bewept by his men and by his friends. he was buried with great honour in the church of our lord st. george of mangana. now count hugh in his lifetime had held a castle called demotica, which was very strong and rich, and he had therein some of his knights and sergeants. the greeks, who had made oath to the king of wallachia that they would kill and betray the franks, betrayed them in that castle, and slaughtered many and took many captive. few escaped, and those who escaped went flying to a city called adrianople, which the venetians held at that time. not long after the greeks in adrianople rose in arms; and such of our men as were therein, and had been set to guard it, came out in great peril, and left the city. tidings thereof came to the emperor baldwin of constantinople, who had but few men with him, he and count louis of blois. much were they then troubled and dismayed. and thenceforth, from day to day, did evil tidings begin to come to them, that everywhere the greeks were rising, and that wherever the greeks found franks occupying the land, they killed them. and those who had left adrianople, the venetians and the others who were there, came to a city called tzurulum, that belonged to the emperor baldwin. there they found william of blanvel, who kept the place for the emperor. by the help and comfort that he gave them, and because he accompanied them with as many men as he could, they turned back to a city, some twelve lea-ues distant, called arcadiopolis, which belonged to the venetians, and they found it empty. so they entered in, and put a garrison there. on the third day the greeks of the land gathered together, and came at the break of dawn before arcadiopohs; and then began, from all sides, an assault, great and marvellous. the franks defended themselves right well, and opened their 89 gates, and issued forth, attacking vigorously. as was god's will, the greeks were discomfited, and those on our side began to cut them down and to slay them, and then chased them for a league, and killed many, and captured many horses and much other spoil. so the franks returned with great joy to arcadiopolis, and sent tidings of their victory to the emperor baldwin, in constantinople, who was much rejoiced tliereat. nevertheless they dared not hold the city of arcadiopolis, but left it on the morrow, and abandoned it, and returned to the city of tzurulum. here they remained in very great doubt, for they misdoubted the greeks who were in the city as much as those who were without, because the greeks in the city had also taken part in the oath sworn to the king of wallachia, and were bound to betray the franks. and manv there were who did not dare to abide in tzurulum, but made their way back to constantinople. the crusaders on the other side of the straits are recalled to march on adrianople expedition of geoffry of villehardouin then the emperor baldwin and the doge of venice, and count louis took counsel together, for they saw they were losing the whole land. and they settled that the emperor should tell his brother henry, who was at adramittium, to abandon whatsoever conquests he had made, and come to their succour. count louis, on his side, sent to payen of orléans and peter of bracieux, who were at lopadium, and to all the people that were with them, telling them to leave whatsoever conquests they had made, save pioa only, that lay on the sea, where they were to set a garrison the smallest they could and that the remainder were to come to their succour. the emperor directed macaire of sainte-menchould, and matthew of wallincourt, and robert of ronsoi, who had some hundred knights with them in nicomedia, to leave nicomedia and come to their succour. by command of the emperor baldwin, geoffry of villehardouin, marshal of champagne and of roumania, issued from constantinople, with manasses of l'isle, and nvith as many men as they could corect, and these were few enough, seeing 90 that all the land was being lost. and they rode to the city of tzurulum, which is distant a three days' journey. there they found william of blanvel, and those that were with him, in very great fear, and much were these reassured at their coming. at that place they remained four days. the emperor baldwin sent after geoffry the marshal as many as he could, of such people as were coming into constantinople, so that on the fourth day there were at tzurulum eighty knights. then did geoffry the marshal move forward, and manasses of l'isle, and their people, and they rode on, and came to the city of arcadiopolis, and quartered themselves therein. there they remained a day, and then moved to a city called bulgaropolis. the greeks had avoided this city and the franks quartered themselves therein. the following day they rode to a city called neguise, which was very fair and strong, and well furnished with all good things. and they found that the greeks had abandoned it, and were all gone to adrianople. now adrianople was distant nine french leagues, and therein were gathered all the great multitude of the greeks. and the franks decided that they should wait where they were till the coming of the emperor baldwin. renier of trit abandoned at philippopolis by his son and the greater part of his people now does this book relate a great marvel: for renier of trit, who was at philippopolis, a good nine days' journey from constantinople, with at least one hundred and twenty knights, was deserted by reginald his son, and giles his brother, and james of bondies, who was his nephew, and achard of verdun, who had his daughter to wife. and they had taken some thirty of his knights, and thought to come to constantinople; and they had left him, you must know, in great peril. but they found the country raised against them, and were discomfited; and the greeks took them, and afterwards handed them over to the king of wallachia, who had their heads cut off. and you must know that they were but little pitied by the people, because they had behaved in such evil sort to one whom they were bound to treat quite otherwise. and when the other knights of renier de trit saw that he 91 was thus abandoned by those who were much more bound to him than themselves, they felt the less shame, and some eighty together left him, and departed by another way. so renier of trit remained among the greeks with very few men, for he had not more than fifteen knights at philippopolis and stanimac-which is a very strong castle which he held, and where he was for a long time besieged. baldwin undertakes the siege of adrianople we will speak no further now of renier of trit but return to the emperor baldwin, who is in constantinople, with but very few people, and greatly angered and much distracted. he was waiting for henry his brother, and all the people on the other side of the straits, and the first who came to him from the other side of the straits came from nicomedia, viz.: macaire of sainte-menehould, and matthew of wallincourt, and robert of ronsoi, and with them full a hundred knights. when the emperor saw them, he was right glad, and he consulted with count louis, who was count of blois and chartres. and they settled to go forth, with as many men as they had, to follow geoffry the marshal of champagne, who had gone before. alas 1 what a pity it was they did not wait till all had joined them who were on the other side of the straits, seeing how few people they had, and how perilous the adventure on which they were bound. so they started from constantinople, some one hundred and forty knights, and rode from day to day till they came to the castle of neguise, where geoffry the marshal was quartered. that night they took counsel together, and the decision to which they came was, that on the morrow they should go before adrianople, and lay siege to it. so they ordered their battalions, and did for the best with such people as they had. when the morning came, and full daylight, they rode as had been arranged, and came before adrianople. and they found it very well defended, and saw the flags of johannizza, king of wallachia and bulgaria, on the walls and towers; and the city was very strong and very rich, and very full of people. then they made an assault, with very few people, before two of the gates, and this was on the tuesday of 92 palmtide (29th march i205). so did they remain before the city for three days, in great discomfort, and but few in number. the siege of adrianople continued without result then came henry dandolo, the doge of venice, who was' an old man and saw naught. and he brought with him as many people as he had, and these were quite as many as the emperor baldwin and count louis had brought, and he encamped before one of the gates. on the morrow they were joined by a troop of mounted sergeants, but these might well have been better men than they proved themselves to be. and the host [note: meaning here a little obscure. i think, however, the intention of the origin'd is to state that the host, and not only the sergeants, lacked supplies] had small store of provisions, because the merchants could not come with them; nor could they go foraginc, because of the many greeks that were spread throughout the land. johannizza, king of wallachia, was coming to succour adrianople with a very great host; for he brought with him wallachians and bulgarians, and full fourteen thousand comans who had never been baptised. now because of the dearth of provisions, count louis of blois and chartres went foraging on palm sunday. with him went stephen of perche, brother of count geoffry of perche, and renaud of montmirail, who was brother of count hervée of nevers, and gervais of châtel, and more than half of the host. they went to a castle called peutace, and found it well garrisoned with greeks, and assailed it with great force and fury; but they were able to achieve nothing, and so retreated without taking anv spoils. thus they remained during the week of the two'easters (palm sunday to easter day), and fashioned engines of divers sorts, and set such miners as they had to work underground and so undermine the wall. and thus did they celebrate easter (10th april) before adrianople, being but few in number and scant of provisions. 93 johannizza, king of wallachia, comes to relieve adrianople then came tidings that johannizza, king of wallachia, was coming upon them to relieve the city. so they set their affairs in order, and it was arranged that geoffry the marshal, and manasses of l'isle should guard the camp, and that the emperor baldwin and all the remainder of the host should issue from the camp if so be that johanizza came and offered battle. thus they remained till the wednesday of easter week, and johannizza had by that time approached so near that he encamped at about five leagues from us. and he sent his comans running before our camp, and a cry was raised throughout the camp, and our men issued therefrom helterskelter, and pursued the comans for a full league very foolishly; for when they wished to return, the comans began to shoot at them in grievous wise, and wounded a good many of their horses. so our men returned to the camp, and the barons were summoned to the quarters of the emperor baldwin. and they took counsel, and all said that they had dealt foolishly in thus pursuing people who were so lightly armed. and in the end they settled that if johannizza came on again, they would issue forth, and set themselves in array of battle before the camp, and there wait for him, and not move from thence. and they had it proclaimed throughout the host that none should be so rash as to disregard this order, and move from his post for any cry or tumult that might come to his ears. and it was settled that geoffry the marshal should keep guard on the side of the city, with manasses of l'isle. so they passed that night till the thursday morning in easter week, when they heard mass and ate their dinner. and the comans ran up to their tents, and a cry arose, and they ran to arms, and issued from the camp with all their battalions in array, as had afore been devised. 94 defeat of the crusaders-baldwin taken prisoner count louis went out first with his battalion, and began to follow after the comans, and sent to urge the emperor to come after him. alas! how ill did they keep to what had been settled the night before! for they ran in pursuit of the comans for at least two leagues, and joined issue with them, and chased them a long space. and then the comans turned back upon them, and began to cry out and to shoot. on our side there were battalions made up of other people than knights, people having too little knowledge of arms, and they began to wax afraid and be discomfited. and count louis, who had been the first to attack, was wounded in two places full sorely; and the comans and wallachians began to invade our ranks; and the count had fallen, and one of his knights, whose name was john of friaise, dismounted, and set him on his horse. many were count louis' people who said: "sir, get you hence, for you are too sorely wounded, and in two places." and he said: "the lord god forbid that ever i should be reproached with flying from the field, and abandoning the emperor." the emperor, who was in great straits on his side, recalled his people, and he told them that he would not fly, and that they were to remain with him: and well do those who were there present bear witness that never did knight defend himself better with his hands than did the emperor. this combat lasted a long time. some were there who did well, and some were there who fled. in the end, for so god suffers misadventures to occur, they were discomfited. there on the field remained the emperor baldwin, who never would fly, and count louis; the emperor baldwin was taken alive and count louis was slain. alas! how woful was our loss! there was lost the bishop peter of bethlehem, and stephen of perche, brother to count geoffry, and renaud of montmirail, brother of the count of nevers, and matthew of wallincourt, and robert of ronsoi, john of friaise, walter of neuilli, ferri of yerres, john his brother, eustace of heumont, john his brother, baldwin of neuville, and many more of whom the book does 95 not here make mention. those who were able to escape, they came back flying to the camp. the crusaders raise the siege of adrianople when geoffry the marshal of champagne, who was keeping guard at one of the gates of the cityo , saw this he issued from the camp as soon as he could, with all the men that were with him, and gave command to manasses of lisle, who was on guard at another gate, that he should follow after him. and he rode forth with all his force at full speed, and in full array, to meet the fugitives, and the fugitives all rallied round him. and manasses of l'isle followed as soon as he was able, with his men, and joined himself to him, so that together they formed a very strong body; and all those who came out of the rout, and whom they could stop, were taken into their ranks. the rout was thus stayed between nones and vespers. but the most part of the fugitives were so afeared that they fled right before them till they came to the tents and quarters. thus was the rout stayed, as you have heard; and the comans, with the wallachians and greeks, who were in full chace, ceased their pursuit. but these still galled our force with their bows and arrows, and the men of our force kept still with their faces turned towards them. thus did both sides remain till nightfall, when the comans and wallachians began to retire. then did geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne and roumania, summon to the camp the doge of venice, who was an old man and saw naught, but very wise and brave and vigorous; and he asked the doge to come to him there where he stood with his men, holding the field; and the doge did so. and when the marshal saw him, he called him into council, aside, all alone, and said to him: "lord, you see the misadventure that has befallen us. we have lost the emperor baldwin and count louis, and the larger part of our people, and of the best. now let us bethink ourselves how to save what is left. for if god does not take pity of them, we are but lost." and in the end they settled it thus: that the doge would return to the camp, and put heart into the people, and order that every one should arm and remain quiet in his tent or 96 pavilion; and that geoffry the marshal would remain in full order of battle before the camp till it was night, so that their enemies might not see the host move; and that when it was night all would move from before the city; the doge of venice would go before, and geoffry the marshal would form the rear-guard, with those who were with him. retreat of the crusaders thus they waited till it was night; and when it was night the doge of venice left the camp, as had been arranged, and geoffry the marshal formed the rear-guard. and they departed at foot pace, and took with them all their people mounted and dismounted, the wounded as well those who were whole-they left not one behind. and they journeyed towards a city that lies upon the sea, called rodosto, and that was full three days' journey distant. so they departed from adrianople, as you have heard; and this adventure befell in the year of the incarnation of jesus christ twelve hundred and five. and in the night that the host left adrianople, it happened that a company started to get to constantinople earlier, and by a more direct way; and they were greatly blamed therefor. in this company was a certain count from lombardy named gerard, who came from the land of the marquis, and odo of ham, who was lord of a castle called ham in vermandois, and john of maseroles, and many others to the number of twenty-five knights, whom the book does not name. and they went away so fast after the discomfiture, which had taken place on the thursday evening, that they came to constantinople on the saturday night, though it was ordinarilyagoodfivedays'journey. andtheytoldthenews to the cardinal peter of capua, who was there by the authority of innocent pope of rome, and to conon of béthune, who guarded the city, and to miles the brabant, and to the other good men in the city. and you must know that these were greatly affeared, and thought of a certainty that all the rest, who had been left before adrianople, were lost, for they had no news of them. 97 peter of bracieux and payen of orleans meet the retreating host now will we say no more about those at constantinople, who were in sore trouble, but go back to the doge of venice and geoffry the marshal, who marched all the night that they left adrianople, till the dawn of the following day; and then they came to a city called pamphyle. now listen and you shall hear how adventures befall as god wills: for in that city had lain during the night, peter of bracieux and payen of orldans, and all the men belonging to the land of count louis, at least a hundred very good knights and one hundred and forty mounted sergeants, and they were coming from the other side of the straits to join the host at adrianople. when they saw the host coming, they ran to their arms nght nimbly, for they thought we were the greeks. so they armed themselves, and sent to know what people we were, when their messengers discovered that we were the host retreating after our discomfiture. so the messengers went back, and told them that the emperor baldwin was lost, and their lord count louis, of whose land and country they were, and of whose following. sadder news could they not have heard. there might you have seen many tears wept, and many hands wrung for sorrow and pity. and they went on, all an-ned as they were, till they came to where geoffry, the marshal of champagne, was keeping guard in the rear, in very great anxiety and misease. for johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, had come at the point of day before adrianople with all his host, and found that we had departed, and so ridden after us till it was full day; and when he found us not, he was full of grief; and well was it that he found us not, for if he had found us we must all have been lost beyond recovery. "sir," said peter of bracieux and payen of orléans to geoffry the marshal, "what would you have us do? we will do whatever you wish." and he answered them: " you see how matters stand with us. you are fresh and unwearied, and your horses also; therefore do you keep guard in the rear, and i will go forward and hold in hand our people, who are greatly dismayed and in sore need of comfort." to this they consented right willingly. so they 98 established the rearguard duly and efficiently, and as men who well knew how, for they were good knights and honourable. the host reaches rodosto geoffry the marshal rode before and led the host, and rode till he came to a city called cariopolis. then he saw that the horses were weary with marching all night, and entered into the city, and put them up till noon. and they gave food to their horses, and ate themselves of what they could find, and that was but little. so they remained all the day in that city until night. and johannizza, the king of wallachia, had followed them all the day with all his powers, and encamped about two leaaues from them. and when it was night, those in the city all armed themselves and departed. geoffry the marshal led the van, and those formed the rear-guard who had formed it during the day. so they rode through that night, and the following day (16th april) in great fear and much hardship, till they came to the city of rodosto, a city very rich and very strong, and inhabited by greeks. these greeks did not dare to defend themselves, so our people entered in and took quarters; so at last were they in safety. thus did the host escape from adrianople, as you have heard. then was a council held in the city of rodosto; and it seemed to the council that constantinople was in greater jeopardy than they were. so they took messengers, and sent them by sea, telling them to travel night and day, and to advise those in the city not to be anxious about them-for they had escaped-and that they would repair back to constantinople as soon as they could. seven thousand pilgrims leave the crusaders at the time when the messengers arrived, there were in constantinople five ships of venice, very large and very good, laden with pilgrims, and knights and sergeants, who were leaving the land and returning to their own countries. there were at least seven thousand men at arms in the ships, and one was william the advocate of béthune, and there were besides baldwin of aubigny, and john of virsin, who be99 longed to the land of count louis, and was his liegeman, and at least one hundred other knights, whom the book does not here name. master peter of capua, who was cardinal from the pope of rome, innocent, and conon of béthune, who commanded in constantinople, and miles the brabant, and a great number of other men of mark, went to the five ships, and prayed those who were in them, with sighs and tears, to have mercy and pity upon christendom, and upon their liege lords who had been lost in battle, and to remain for the love of god. but they would not listen to a single word, and left the port. they spread their sails, and went their way, as god ordained, in such sort that the wind took them to the port of rodosto; and this was on the day following that on which those who had escaped from the discomfiture came thither. the same prayers, with tears and weeping, that had been addressed to them at constantinople-those same prayers were now addressed to them at rodosto; and geoffry the marshal, and those who were with him, besought them to have mercy and pity on the land, and remain, for never would they be able to succour any land in such dire need. they replied that they would consult together, and give an answer on the morrow. and now listen to the adventure which befell that night in the city. there was a knight from the land of count louis, called peter of frouville, who was held in honour, and of great name. the same fled by night, and left all his baggage and his people, and gat himself to the ship of john of virsin, who was from the land of count louis of blois and chartres. and those on board the five ships, who in the morning were to give their answer to geoffry the marshal and to the doge of venice, so soon as they saw the day, they spread their sails, and went their way without word said to any one. much and great blame did they receive, both in the land whither they went, and in the land they had left; and he who received most blame of all was peter of frouville. for well has it been said that he is but ill-advised who, through fear of death, does what will be a reproach to him for ever. 100 meeting of many of the crusaders-henry, the brother of baldwin, is made regent now let us speak of these last no farther, but speak of henry, brother to the emperor baldwin of constantinople, who had left adramittium, which he had conquered, and passed the straits at the city of abydos, and was coming towards adrianople to succour the emperor baldwin, his brother. and with him had come the armenians of the land, who had helped him against the greeks-some twenty thousand with all their wives and children-for they dared not remain behind. then came to him the news, by certain greeks, who had escaped from the discomfiture, that his brother the emperor baldwin was lost, and count louis, and the other barons. afterwards came the news of those who had escaped and were at rodosto; and these asked him to make all the haste he could, and come to them. and because he wanted to hasten as much as he could, and reach them earlier, he left behind the armenians, who travelled on foot, and had with them chariots, and their wives and children; and inasmuch as these could not come on so fast, and he thought they would travel safely and without hurt, he went forward and encamped in a village called cartopolis. on that very day came thither the nephew of geoffry the marshal, anseau of courcelles, whom geoffry had summoned from the parts of macre, trajanopolis, and the baie, lands that had been bestowed upon him; and with anseau came the people from philippopolis, who had left renier of trit. this company held full a hundred good knights, and full five hundred mounted sergeants, who all were on their way to adrianople to succour the emperor baldwin. but tidings had come to them, as to the others, that the emperor had been defeated, so they turned to go to rodosto, and came to encamp at cartopolis, the village where henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, was then encamped. and when baldwin's men saw them coming, they ran to arms, for they thought they were greeks, and the others thought the same of baldwin's men. and so they advanced till they became known to one another, and each was right glad of the other's 101 coming, and felt all the safer; and they quartered themselves in the village that night until the morrow. on the morrow they left, and rode straight towards rodosto, and came that night to the city; and there they found the doge of venice and geoffry the marshal, and all who had escaped from the late discomfiture; and right glad were these to see them. then were many tears shed for sorrow by those who had lost their friends. ah, god! what pity it was that those men now assembled had not been at adrianople with the emperor baldwin, for in that case would nothing have been lost. but such was not god's pleasure. so they sojoumed there on the following day, and the day after, and arranged matters; and henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, was received into lordship, as regent of the empire, in lieu of his brother. and then misfortune came upon the armenians, who were coming after henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, for the people of the land gathered together and discomfited the armenians, so that they were all taken, killed or lost. return to constantinople appeals for help sent to the pope, and to france and to other lands death of the doge johannizza., king of wallachia and bulgaria, had with him all his power, and he occupied the whole land; and the country, and the cities, and the castles held for him; and his comans over-ran the land as far as constantinople. henry the regent of the empire, and the doge of venice, and geoffry the marshal, were still at rodosto, which is a three days' journey from constantinople. and they took council, and the doge of venice set a garrison of venetians in rodosto -for it was theirs. and on the morrow they put their forces in array, and rode, day by day, towards constantinople. when they reached selymbria, a city which is two days' journey from constantinople, and belonged to the emperor baldwin, henry his brother set there a garrison of his people, and they rode with the rest to constantinople, where they were received right willingly, for the people were in great terror. nor is that to be wondered at, for they had lost so much of the country, that outside constantinople they only held rodosto and selymbria; the whole of the rest of the 102 country being held by johannizza, king of wallachia and bulgaria. and on the other side of the straits of st. george, they held no more than the castle of piga, while the rest of the land was in the hands of theodore lascaris. then the barons decided to send to the apostle of rome, innocent, and to france and flanders, and to other lands, to ask for succour. and for this purpose were chosen as envoys nevelon, bishop of soissons, and nicholas of mailly, and john bliaud. the rest remained in constantinople, in great distress, as men who stood in fear of losing the land. so they remained till pentecost (29th may 1205). and within this time a very great misfortune happened to the host, for henry dandolo was taken sick; so he made an end and died, and was buried with great honour in the church of st. sophia. when pentecost had come, johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, had pretty well had his will of the land; and he could no longer hold his comans to-ether, because they were unable to keep the field during the summer; so the comans departed to their own country. and he, with all his host of bulgarians and greeks, marched against the marquis towards salonika. and the marquis, who had heard the news of the discomfiture of the emperor baldwin, raised the siege of napoli, and went to salonika with as many men as he could collect, and garrisoned it. the regent obtains certain advantages over the greeks henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin of constantinople, with as many people as he could gather, marched against the greeks to a city called tzurulum, which is a three days' journey from constantinople. this city surrendered, and the greeks swore fealty to him-an oath which at that time men observed badly. from thence he marched to arcadiopolis, and found it void, for the greeks did not dare to await his coming. and from thence again he rode to the city of bizye, which was very strong, and well garrisoned with greeks; and this city too surrendered. aferwards he rode to the city of napoli (apros) which also remained well garrisoned with greeks. as our people were preparing for an assault, the greeks within the city asked to negotiate for capitulation. but 103 while they thus negotiated, the men of the host effected an entrance into the city on another side, and henry the regent of the empire and those who were negotiating knew nothing of it. and this proved very disastrous to the greeks. for the franks, who had effected an entrance, began to slaughter them, and to seize their goods, and to take all that they had. so were many killed and taken captive. in this wise was napoli (apros) captured; and the host remained there three days. and the greeks were so terrified by this slaughter, that they abandoned all the cities and castles of the land, and fled for refuge to adrianople and demotica, which were very strong and good cities. seres surrenders to johannizza he forfeits his word at that time it happened that johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, with all his host, marched against the marquis, towards a city called seres. and the marquis had set a strong garrison of his people in the city, for he had set there hugh of colemi, who was a very good knight, and hi,h in rank, and william of arles, who was his marshal, and great part of his best men. and johannizza, the king of wallachia besieged them; nor had he been there long before he took the burgh by force. and at the taking of the burgh a great misfortune befell, for hugh of colemi was killed; he was struck through the eye. when he was killed, who was the best of them all, the rest of the garrison were greatly afeared. they drew back into the castle, which was very strong; and johannizza besieged them, and erected his petraries and mangonels. nor had he besieged them long before they began to talk about surrendering, for which they were afterwards blamed, and incurred great reproach. and they agreed to yield up the castle to johannizza, and johannizza on his side caused twenty-five of the men of highest rank that he had to swear to them that they should be taken, safe and sound, with all their horses, and all their arms, and all their baggage, to salonika, or constantinople, or hungary-wmchever of the three it liked them best. in this manner was seres surrendered, and johannizza caused the besieged to come forth from the castle and en104 camp near him in the fields; and he treated them with much fair seeming, and sent them presents. so he kept them for three days, and then he lied and foreswore his promises; for he had them taken, and spoiled of their goods, and led away to wallachia, naked, and unshod, and on foot. the poor and the mean people, who were of little worth, he sent into hungary; and as for the others, he caused their heads to be cut off. of such mortal treachery was the kinl, of wallachia guilty, as you have heard. here'did the host suffer grievous loss, one of the most dolorous that ever it suffered. and johannizza had the castle and city razed, and went on after the marquis. the regent besieges adrianople in vain henry, the regent of the empire, with all his power, rode towards adrianople, and laid siege to it; and he was in great peril, for there were many, both within and without the city who so hemmed him in, he and his people, that they could scantl buy provisions, or go foraging. therefore they enclosed their camp with palisades and barriers, and told off part of their men to keep guard within the palisades and barriers, while the others attacked the city. and they devised machines of divers kinds, and scaling ladders, and many other engines, and wrought diligently to take the city. but they could not take it, for the city was very strong and well furnished for defence. so matters went ill with them, and many of their people were wounded; and one of their good knights, peter of bracieux, was struck on the forehead from a mangonel, and brought near to death; but he recovered, by the will of god, and was taken away in a litter. when they saw that they could in no wise prevail against the city, henry the regent of the empire, and the french host departed. and greatly were they harassed by the people of the land and by the greeks; and they rode -from day to day till they came to a city called pamphyle, and lodged there, and sojourned in it for two months. and they made thence many forays towards demotica and the country round about, where they captured much cattle, and other booty. so the host remained in those parts till the beginning of winter; and supplies came to them from rodosto, and from the sea. 105 destruction of philippopolis by johannizza now let us leave speaking of henry, the regent of the empire, and speak of johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, who had taken seres, as you have already heard, and killed by treachery those who had surrendered to him. afterwards he had ridden towards salonika, and sojoumed thereby a long while, and wasted a great part of tfle land. the marquis boniface of montferrat was at salonika, very wroth, and sorrowing greatly for the loss of his lord the emperor baldwin, and for the other barons, and for his castle of seres that he had lost, and for his men. and when johannizza saw that he could do nothing more, he retired towards his own land, with all his force. and the people in philippopolis-which belonged to renier of trit, for the emperor baldwin had bestowed it upon him-heard tell how the emperor baldwin was lost, and many of his barons, and that the marquis had lost seres; and they saw that the relatives of renier of trit, and his own son and his nephew, had abandoned him, and that he had with him but very few people; and they deemed that the franks would never be in power again. so a great part of the people, who were paulicians, [note: an eastem sect. they believed, among other things, that all matter is evfl, and that christ suffered in appearance only.] betook themselves to johannizza, and surrendered themselves to him, and said: " sire, ride to philippopolis, or send thither thy host, and we will deliver the whole city into thy hands." when renier of trit, who was in the city, knew of this, he doubted not that they would yield up the city to johannizza. so he issued forth with as many people as he could collect, and left at the point of day, and came to one of the outlying quarters of the city where dwelt the paulicians who had repaired to johannizza, and he set fire to that quarter of the city, and burned a great part of it. then he went to the castle of stanimac, which was at three leagues' distance, and garrisoned by his people, and entered therein. and in this castle he lay besieged for a long while, some thirteen months, in great distress and great poverty, so that for famine they ate their horses. he was distant a nine 106 days' journey from constantinople, and could neither obtain tidings therefrom, nor send tidings thither. then did johannizza send his host before philippopolis; nor had he been there long before those who were in the city surrendered it to him, and he promised to spare their lives. and after he had promised to spare their lives, he first caused the archbishop of the city to be slain, and the men of rank to be flayed alive, and certain others to be burned, and certain others to have their heads cut off, and the rest he caused to be driven away in chains. and the city he caused to be pulled down, with its towers and walls; and the high palaces and rich houses to be burned and utterly destroyed. thus was destroyed the noble city of philippopolis, one of the three finest cities in the empire of constantinople. the regent sets garrisons in such places as he still held now let us leave off speaking of those who were at philippopolis, and of renier of trit, who is shut up in stanimac, and return to henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, who had sojourned at pamphyle till the beginning of winter. then he took council with his men and with his barons; and they decided to set a garrison in a city called rusium, which was situate at a place rich and fertile in the middle of the land; and the chiefs placed over this garrison were thierri of loos, who was seneschal, and thierri of tenremonde, who was constable. and henry,,the regent of the empire, gave to them at least seven score knights, and a great many mounted sergeants, and ordered them to maintain the war against the greeks, and to guard the marches. and he himself went with the rest of his people to the city of bizye, and placed a garrison there; and left in command anseau of cayeux, and confided to him at least six score knights, and a great many mounted sergeants. another city, called arcadiopolis was garrisoned by the venetians. and the city of napoli was restored by the brother of the emperor baldwin to vemas, who had to wife the sister [agnes, sister to philip augustus, king of france] of the king of france, and was a greek who sided with us; and except he, no other greek was on our part. and those who were in these cities maintained the war against the greeks, 107 and made many forays. henry himself returned to constantinople with the rest of his men. now johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, though rich and of great possessions, never forgat his own interests, but raised a great force of comans and wallachians. and when it came to three weeks after christmas, he sent these men into the land of roumania to help those at adrianople and demotica; and the latter, being now in force, grew bolder and rode abroad with the greater assurance. defeat of the franks near rusium thierri of tenremonde, who was chief and constable, made a foray on the fourth day before the feast of st. mary candlemas (30th january 1206); and he rode all night, having six score knights with him, and left rusium with but a small garrison. when it was dawn, he came to a village where the comans and wallachians were encamped, and surprised them in such sort that those who were in the village were unaware of their coming. they killed a good many of the comans and wallachians, and captured some forty of their horses; and when they had done this execution, they turned back towards rusium. and on that very night the comans and wallachians had ridden forth to do us hurt; and there were some seven thousand of them. they came in the morning before rusium, and were there a lono, space; and the garrison, which was but small, closed the gates, and mounted the walls; and the comans and wallachians turned back. they had not gone more than a league and a half from the city, when they met the company of the french under the command of thierri of tenremonde. so soon as the french saw them advancing, they formed into their four battalions, with intent to draw into rusium in slow time; for they knew that if, by god's grace, they could come thither, they would then be in safety. the comans, and the wallachians, and the greeks of the land rode towards them, for they were in very great force. and they came upon the rear-guard, and began to harass it full sorely. now the rear-guard was formed of the men of thierri of loos, who was seneschal, and had returned to constantinople, and his brother villain was now in command. 108 and the comans and wallachians and greeks pressed them very hard, and wounded many of their horses. loud were the cries and fierce the onslaught, so that by main force and pure distress they drove the rear-guard back on the battalion of andrew of urboise and john of choisy; and in this manner the franks retreated, suffering greatly. the enemy renewed their onslaught so fiercely that they drove the franks who were nearest to them back on the battalion of thierri of tenremonde, the constable. nor was it long before they drove them back still further on to the battalions led by charles of the frêne. and now the franks had retreated, sore harassed, till they were within half a mile of rusium. and the others ever pressed upon them more hardily; and the battle went sore against them, and many were wounded, and of their horses. so, as god will suffer misadventures, they could endure no further, but were discomfited; for they were heavily armed, and their enemies lightly; and the latter began to slaughter them. alas! well might christendom rue that day! for of all those six score knights did not more than ten escape who were not killed or taken; and those who escaped came flying into rusiiim, and rejoined their own people. there was slain thierri of tenremonde, the constable, orri of l'isle, who was a good knight and highly esteemed, and john of pompone, andrew of urboise, john of choisy, guy of conflans, charles of the frêne, villain the brother of thierri the seneschal. nor can this book tell the names of all who were then killed or taken. on that day happened one of the greatest mishaps, and the most grievous that ever befell to the christendom of the land of roumania, and one of the most pitiful. he comans and greeks and wallachians retired, having done according to their will in the land, and won many good horses and good hawberks. and this misadventure happened on the day before the eve of our lady st. mary candlemas (31st january 1206). and the remnant who had escaped from the discomfiture, together with those who had been in rusium. escaped from the city, so soon as it was night, and went all night flying, and came on the morrow to the city of rodosto. 109 new invasion of johannizza; ruin of napoli this dolorous news came to henry the regent of the empire, while he was going in procession to the shrine of our lady of blachemae, on the day of the feast of our lady st. mary candlemas. and you must know that many were then dismayed in constantinople, and they thought of a truth that the land was but lost. and henry, the regent of the empire, decided that he would place a garrison in selymbria, which was a two days' journey from constantinople, and he sent thither macaire of sainte-menehould, with fifty knights to garrison the city. now when tidings came to johannizza, king of wallachia. as to how his people had fared, he was very greatly rejoiced'; for they had killed or taken a very great part of the best men in the french host. so he sent throughout all his lands to collect as many people as he could, and raised a great host of comans, and greeks and wallachians, and entered into roumania. and the greater part of the cities held for him, and all the castles; and he had so large a host that it was a marvel. when the venetians heard tell that he was coming with so great a force, they abandoned arcadiopolis. and johannizza rode with all his hosts till he came to napoli, which was garrisoned by greeks and latins, and belonged to vemas, who had to wife the empress, the sister of the king of france; and of the latins was chief bègue of fransures, a knight of the land of the beauvaisais. and johannizza, the king of wallachia, caused the city to be assaulted, and took it by force. there was so great a slaughter of people killed, that it was a marvel. and bègue of fransures was taken before johannizza, who had him killed incontinently, together with all, whether greek or latin, who were of any account; and all the meaner folk, and women and children, he caused to, be led away captive to wallachia. then did he cause all the city-which was verv good and very rich, and in a good land, to be cast down and utterly destroyed. thus was the city of napoli rased to the ground as you have heard. 110 destruction of rodosto twelve leagues thence lay the city of rodosto, on the sea. tt was very strong, and rich, and large, and very well garrisoned by venetians, and besides all this, there had come thither a body of sergeants, some two thousand strong, and they had also come to guard the city. when they heard that napoli had been taken by force, and that johannizza had caused all the people that were therein to be put to death, they fell in to such terror that they were utterly confounded and foredone. as god suffers misadventures to fall upon men, so the venetians rushed to their ships, helter-skelter, pell-mell, and in such sort that they almost drowned one another; and the mounted sergeants, who came from france and flanders, and other countries, went flying through the land. now listen and hear how little this served them, and what a misadventure was their flight; for the city was so strong, and so well enclosed by good walls and good towers, that no one would ever have ventured to assault it, and that johannizza had no thought of going thither. but when johannizza, who was full half a day's journey distant, heard tell that they had fled, he rode thither. the greeks who had remained in the city, surrendered, and he incontinently caused them to be taken, small and great-save those who escaped-and led captive into wallachia; and the city he ordered to be destroyed and rased to the ground. ah! the loss and dar.,iage! for the city was one of the best in roumania, and of the best situated. johannizza continues his conquests and ravages near there was another citv called panedor, which surrendered to him; and he caused it to be utterly destroyed, and the people to be led captive to wallachia like the people of rodosto. afterwards he rode to the city of heraclea, that lay by a good seaport, and belonged to the venetians, who had left in it but a weak garrison; so he assaulted it, and took it by force. there aain was a mighty slaughter, and the remnant that escaped the slaughter he caused to be led captive to wallachia, while the city itself he destroyed, as lie had destroyed the others. 111 thence he marched to the city of daonium, which was very strong and fine; and the people did not dare to defend it. so he caused it to be destroyed and rased to the ground. then he marched to the city of tzurulum, which had already surrendered to him, and caused it to be destroyed and rased to the ground, and the people to be led away captive. and thus he dealt with every castle and city that surrendered; even though he had promised them safety, he caused the buildings to be destroyed, and the men and women to be led away captive; and no covenant that he made did he ever keep. then the comans and wallachians scoured the land up to the gates of constantinople, where henry the regent then was, with as many men as he could command; and very dolorous was he and very wroth, because he could not get men enough to defend his land. so the comans seized the cattle off the land, and took captive men, women, and children, and destroyed the cities and castles, and caused such ruin and desolation that never has man heard tell of greater. so they came to a city called athyra, which was twelve leagues from constantinople, and had been given to payen of orléans by henry, the emperor's brother. this city held a very great number of people, for the dwellers in the country round about had fled thither; and the comans assaulted it, and took it by force. there the slaughter was so great, that there had been none such in any city where they had been. and you must know that all the castles and all the cities that surrendered to johannizza under promise of safety were destroyed and rased to the ground, and the people led away captive to wallachia in such manner as you have heard. and you must know that within five days' journey from constantinople there remained nothing to destroy save only the city of bizye, and the city of selymbria, which were garrisoned by the french. and in bizye abode anseau of cayeux, with six score knights, and in salymbria abode macaire of sainte-menehould with fifty knights; and henry the brother of the emperor baldwin remained in constantinople with the remainder of the host. and you may know that their fortunes were at the lowest, seeing that outside of constantinople they had kepl& possession of no more than these two cities. 112 the greeks are reconciled to the crusaders johannizza desieges demotica when the greeks who were in the host with johannizza the same who had yielded themselves up to him, and rebelled against the franks when they saw how he destroyed their castles and cities, and kept no covenant with them, they held themselves to be but dead men, and betrayed. they spoke one to another, and said that as johannizza had dealt with other cities, so would he deal with adrianople and demotica, when he returned thither, and that if these two cities were destroyed, then was roumania for ever lost. so they took messengers privily, and sent them to vernas in constantinople. and they besought vernas to cry for pity to henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin, and to the venetians, so that they might make peace with them; and they themselves, in turn, would restore adrianople and demotica to the franks; and the greeks would all turn to henry; and the greeks and franks dwell together in good accord. so a council was held, and many words were spoken this way and that, but in the end it was settled that adrianople and demotica, with all their appurtenances, should be bestowed on vernas and the empress his wife, who was sister to the king philip of france, and that they should do service therefor to the emperor and to the empire. such was the convention made and concluded, and so was peace established between the greeks and the franks. johanizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, who had sojourned long in roumania, and wasted the country during the whole of lent, and for a good while after easter (2nd april 1206), now retired towards adrianople and demotica, and had it in mind to deal with those cities as he had dealt with the other cities of the land. and when the greeks who were with him saw that he turned towards adrianople, they began to steal away, both by day and by night, some twenty, thirty, forty, a hundred, at a time. when he came to adrianople, he required of those that were within that they should let him enter, as he had entered elsewhere. but they said they would not, and spoke thus: "sire, when we surrendered to thee, and rebelled against the 113 franks, thou didst swear to protect us in all good faith, and to keep us in safety. thou hast not done so, but hast utterly ruined roumania; and we know full well that thou wilt do unto us as thou hast done unto others." and when johannizza heard this, he laid siege to demotica, and erected round it sixteen large petraries, and began to construct engines of every kind for the siege, and to waste all the country round. then did those in adrianople and demotica take messengers, and send them to constantinople, to henry, the regent of the empire, and to vemas, and prayed them, for god's sake, to rescue demotica, which was being besieged. and when those at constantinople heard these tidings, they decided to succour demotica. but some there were who did not dare to advise that our people should issue from constantinople, and so place in jeopardy the few christian folk that remained. nevertheless, in the end, as you have heard, it was decided to issue forth, and move on selymbria. the cardinal, who was there as legate on the part of the pope of rome, preached thereon to the people, and promised a full indulgence to all such as should go forth, and lose their lives on the way. so henry issued from constantinople with as many men as he could collect, and marched to the city of selyrnbria; and he encamped before the city for full eight days. and from day to day came messengers from adrianople praying him to have mercy upon them, and come to their relief, for if he did not come to their relief, they were but lost. the crusaders march to the relief of demotica then did henry take council with his barons, and their decision was that they would go to the city of bizve, which was a fair city, and strong. so they did as they had devised, and came to bizye, and encamped before the city on the eve of the feast of our lord st. john the baptist, in june (23rd june 1206). and on the day that they so encamped came messengers from adrianople, and said to henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin: "sire, be it known to thee that if thou dost not relieve the city of demotica, it cannot hold out more than eight days, for johannizza's petraries have breached the walls in four places, and his men have twice got on to the walls." 114 then he asked for counsel as to what he should do. many were the words spoken, to and fro; but in the end they said: " lord, we have come so far that we shall be for ever shamed if we do not succour demotica. let every man now confess and receive the communion; and then let us set our forces in array." and it was reckoned that they had with them about four hundred knights, and of a certainty no more. so they summoned the messengers who had come from adrianople, and asked them how matters stood, and what number of men johannizza had with him. and the messengers answered that he had with him at least forty thousand men-at-arms, not reckoning those on foot, of whom they had no count. ah god! what a perilous battle-so few against so many 1 in the morning, on the day of the feast of our lord st. john the baptist, all confessed and received the communion, and on the following day they marched forward. the van was commanded by geoffry, the marshal of roumania and champagne, and with him was macaire of sainte-menehould. the second division was under conon of béthune and miles the brabant; the third under payen of orléans and peter of bracieux; the fourth was under anseau of cayeux; the fifth under baldwin of beauvoir; the sixth under hugh of beaumetz; the seventh under henry, brother of the emperor baldwin; the eighth, with the flemings, under walter of escornai; thierri of loos, who was seneschal, commanded the rear-guard. so they rode for three days, all in order; nor did any host ever advance seeking battle so perilously. for they were in peril on two accounts; first because they were so few, and those they were about to attack so many; and secondly, because they did not believe the greeks, with whom they had just made peace, would help them heartily. for they stood in fear lest, when need arose, the greeks would go over to johannizza, who, as you have already heard, had been so near to taking demotica. johannizza retreats, followed by the crusaders when johannizza heard that the franks were coming, he did not dare to abide, but burned his engines of war, and broke up his camp. so he departed from demotica; and you must know that this was accounted by all the world as a 115 great miracle. and henry, the regent of the empire, came on the fourth day (28th june) before adrianople, and pitched his cainp near the river of adrianople, in the fairest meadows in the world. when those who were within the city saw his host coming, they issued forth, bearing all their crosses, and in procession, and showed such joy as had never been seen. and well might they rejoice for they had been in evil case. then came tidings to the host that johannizza was lodged at a castle called rodosto. so in the morning they set forth and marched to those parts to seek battle; and johannizza broke up his,camp, and marched back towards his own land. the host followed after him for five days, and he as constantly retired before them. on the fifth day they encamped at a very fair and pleasant place by a castle called fraim; and there they sojoumed three days. and at this place there was a division in the host, and a company of valiant men separated themselves therefrom because of a quarrel that they had with henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin. of this company baldwin of beauvoir was chief; and hugh of beaumetz went with him, and william of gommegnies and dreux of beaurain. there were some fifty knights who departed together in that company; and they never thought the rest would dare to remain in the land in the midst of their enemies. renier of trit relieved and delivered then did henry, the regent of the empire, take council with the barons that were with him; and they decided to ride forward. so they rode forward for two days, and encamped in a very fair valley, near a castle called moniac. the castle yielded itself to them, and they remained there five days; and then said they would go and relieve renier of trit, who was besieged in stanimac, and had been shut up therein for thirteen months. so henry the regent of the empire, remained in the camp, with a great part of the host, and the remainder went forward to relieve renier of trit at stanimac. and you must know that those who went forward went in very great peril, and that any rescue so full of danger has but seldom been undertaken, seeing that they rode for three days through the land of their enemies. in this rescue took part 116 conon of béthune, and geoffry of villehardouin, marshal of roumania and champagne, and macaire of sainte-menehould, and miles the brabant, and peter of bracieux, and payen of orléans, and anseau of cayeux, and thierri of loos, and william of perchoi, and a body of venetians under command of andrew valère. so they rode forward till they came to the castle of stanimac, and approached so near that they could now see it. renier of trit was on the walls, and he perceived the advanced guard, which was under geoffry the marshal, and the other battalions, approaching in very good order; and he knew not what people they might be. and no wonder that he was in doubt, for of a long time he had heard no tidings of us ; and he thought we were greeks coming to besiege him. geoffry the marshal of roumania and champagne took certain turcoples [soldiers born of a turkish father atid a greek mother] and mounted cross-bowmen and sent them forward to see if they could learn the condition of the castle; for they knew not if those within it were alive or dead, seeing that of a long time they had heard no tidings of them. and when these came before the castle, renier of trit and his men knew them; and you may well think what joy they had 1 they issued forth and came to meet their friends, and all made great joy of each other. the barons quartered themselves in a very good city that lay at the foot of the castle, and had aforetime besieged the castle. then said the barons that they had often heard tell that the emperor baldwin had died in johannizza's prison, but that they did not believe it. renier of trit, however, told them of a truth that the emperor was dead, and then they believed it. greatly did many then grieve; alas i if only their grief had not been beyond remedy i so they lay that night in the city; and on the morrow they departed, and abandoned stanimac. they rode for two days., and on the third they came to the camp, below the castle of moniac, that lies on the river arta, where henry, the emperor's brother, was waiting for them. greatly did those of the host rejoice over renier of trit, who had thus been rescued from durance, and great was the credit given to those who had brought him back, for they had gone for him in great peril. 117 henry crowned emperor johannizza ravages the country again the emperor marches against him the barons now resolved that they would go to constantinople, and crown henry, the brother of the emperor baldwin as emperor, and leave in the country vemas, and all the greeks of the land, together with forty knights, whom henry, the regent of the empire, would leave with him. so henry, the regent of the empire, and the other barons, went towards constantinople, and they rode from day to day till they came thither, and right well were they received. they crowned henry as emperor with great joy and great honour in the church of st. sophia, on the sunday (20th august) after the festival of our lady st. mary, in august. and this was in the year of the incarnation of our lord jesus christ twelve hundred and six. now when johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria, heard that the emperor had been crowned in constantinople, and that vemas had remained in the land of adrianople and demotica, he collected together as large a force as he could. and vemas had not rebuilt the walls of demotica where they had been breached by johannizza with his petraries and mangonels, and he had set but a weak garrison therein. so johannizza marched on demotica, and took it, and destroyed it, and rased the walls to the ground, and overran the whole country, and took men, women, and children for a prey, and wrought devastation. then did those in adrianople beseech the emperor henry to succour them, seeing that demotica had been lost in such cruel sort. then did the emperor henry summon as many people as he could, and issued from constantinople, and rode day by day towards adrianople, with all his forces in order. and johannizza, the king of wallachia, who was in the land, when he heard that the emperor was coming, drew back into his own land. and the emperor henry rode forward till he came to adrianople, and he encamped outside the city in a meadow. then came the greeks of the land, and told him that johanriizza, the king of wallachia, was carrying off men and women and cattle, and that he had destroyed demotica, and wasted the country round; and that he was still within a 118 day's march. the emperor settled that he would follow after, and do battle-if so be that johannizza would abide his coming-and deliver the men and women who were being led away captive. so he rode after johannizza, and johannizza retired as the emperor advanced, and the emperor followed him for four days. then they came to a city called veroi. when those who were in the city saw the host of the emperor henry approaching, they fled into the mountains and abandoned the city. and the emperor came with all his host, and encamped before the city, and found it well furnished with corn and meat, and such other things as were needful. so they sojourned there for two days, and the emperor caused his men to overrun the surrounding country, and they obtained a large booty in beeves and cows and buffaloes, and otl-ler beasts in very great plenty. then he departed from veroi with all his booty, and rode to another city, a day's journey distant, called blisnon. and as the other greeks had abandoned veroi, so did the dwellers in blisnon abandon their city; and he found it furnished with all things necessary, and quartered himself there. the emperor meets johannizza, and recaptures his prisoners then came tidings that in a certain valley, three leagues distant from the host, were the men and women whom ohannizza was leading away captive, together with 9.11 his plunder, and all his chariots. then did henry appoint that the greeks from adrianople and demotica should go and recover the captives and the plunder, two battalions of knights going with them; and as had been arranged, so was this done on the morrow. the command of the one battalion was given to eustace, the brother of the emperor henry of constantinople, and the command of the other to macaire of sainte-menehould. so they rode, they and the greeks, till they came to the valley of which they had been told; and there they found the captives. and johannizza's men engaged the emperor henry's men, and men and horses were killed and wounded on either side; but by the goodness of god, the franks had 119 the advantage, and rescued the captives, and caused them to turn again, and brought them away. and you must know that this was a mighty deliverance; for the captives numbered full twenty thousand men, women, and children; and there were full three thousand chariots laden with their clothes and baggage, to say nothing of other booty in good quantity. the line of the captives, as they came to the camp, was two great leagues in length, and they reached the camp that night. then was the emperor henry greatly rejoiced, and all the other barons; and they had the captives lodged apart, and well guarded, with their goods, so that they lost not one pennyworth of what they possessed. on the morrow the emperor henry rested for the sake of the people he had delivered. and on the day after he left that country, and rode day by day till he came to adrianople. there he set free the men and women he had rescued; and each one went whithersoever he listed, to the land where he was bom, or to any other place. the booty, of which he had great plenty, was divided in due shares among the host. so the emperor henry sojoumed there five days, and then rode to the city of demotica, to see how far it had been destroyed, and whether it could again be fortified. he encamped before the city, and saw, both he and his barons, that in the state in which it then was, it were not well to refortify it. projected marriage between the emperor and the daughter of boniface the crusaders ravage the lands of johannizza then came to the camp, as envoy, a baron, otho of la roche by name, belonging to the marquis boniface of montferrat. he came to speak of a marriage that had been spoken of aforetime between the daughter of boniface, the marquis of montferrat, and the emperor henry; and brought tidings that the lady had come from lombardy, whence her father had sent to summon her, and that she was now at salonika. then did the emperor take council, and it was decided that the marriage should be ratified on either side. so the envoy, otho of la roche, returned to salonika. the emperor had reassembled his men, who had gone to place in safe holding the booty taken at veroi. and he marched day by day from adrianople till he came to the land 120 of johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria. they came to a city called ferme, and took it, and entered in, and won much booty. they remained there for three days, and overran all the land, got very much spoil, and destroyed a city called aquilo. on the fourth day they departed from ferme, which was a city fair and well situated, with hot water springs for bathing, the finest in the world; and the emperor caused the city to be burned and destroyed, and they carried away much spoil, in cattle and goods. then they rode day by day till they came back to the city of adrianople; and thev sojoumed in the land till the feast of all saints (1st november 1206), when they could no longer carry on the war because of the winter. so henry and all his barons, who were much aweary of campaigning, turned their faces towards constantinople; and he left at adrianople, among the greeks, a man of his named peter of radinghem, with ten knights. the emperor resumes the war against theodore lascaris at that time theodore lascaris, who held the land on the other side of the straits towards turkey, was at truce with the emperor henry; but that truce he had not kept well, having broken and violated it. so the emperor held council, and sent to the other side of the straits, to the city of piga, peter of bracieux, to whom land had been assigned in those parts, and with him payen of orléans, and anseau of cayeux, and eustace, the emperor's brother, and a great part of his best men to the number of seven score knights. these began to make war in very grim and earnest fashion against theodore lascaris, and greatly wasted his land. they marched to a land called skiza, which was surrounded by the sea except on one side. and in old days the way of entry had been defended with walls and towers, and moats, but these were now decayed. so the host of the french entered in, and peter of bracieux, to whom the land had been devised, began to restore the defences, and built two castles, and made two fortified ways of entry. from thence they overran the land of lascaris, and gained much booty and cattle, and brought such booty and cattle into their island: theodore lascaris, on the other hand, harked back upon 121 skiza, so that there were frequent battles and skirmishes, and losses on the one side and on the other; and the war in those parts was fierce and perilous. now let us leave speaking of those who were at skiza, and speak of thierri of loos, who was seneschal, and to whom nicomedia should have belonged; and nicomedia lay a day's journey from nice the great, the capital of the land of theodore lascaris. thierri then went thither, with a great body of the emperor's men, and found that the castle had been destroyed. so he enclosed and fortified the church of st. sophia, which was very large and fair, and maintained the war in that place. advantages obtained by boniface marriage of his daughter with the emperor at that time the marquis boniface of montferrat departed from salonika, and went to seres, which johannizza had destroyed; and he rebuilt it; and afterwards rebuilt a castle called drama in the valley of philippi. all the country round about surrendered to him, and came under his rule; and he wintered in the land. meanwhile, so much time had gone by, that christmas was now past. then came messengers from the marquis to the emperor at constantinople to say that the marquis had sent his daughter in a galley to the city of abydos. so the emperor henry sent geoffry the marshal of roumania and champagne, and miles the brabant, to bring the lady; and these rode day by day till they came to abydos. they found the lady, who was very good and fair, and saluted her on behalf of their lord henry, the emperor, and brought her to constantinople in great honour. so the emperor henry was wedded to her in the church of st. sophia, on the sunday after the feast of our lady st. mary candlemas (4th february i207), with great joy and in great pomp; and they both wore a crown; and high were the marriage-feastings in the palace of bucoleon. thus, as you have just heard, was the marriage celebrated between the emperor and the daughter of the marquis boniface, agnes the empress by name. theodore lascaris forms an alliance with johannizza theodore lascaris, who was warring against the emperor henry, took messengers and sent them to johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria. and he advised johannizza that all the forces of the emperor henry were fighting against him (lascaris) on the other side of the straits towards turkey; that the emperor was in constantinople with but very few people; and that now was the time for vengeance, inasmuch as he himself would be attacking the emperor on the one side, and johannizza on the other, and the emperor had so few men that he would not be able to defend himself against both. now johannizza had already engaged a great host of comans, who were on their way to join his host; and had collected together as large a force of wallachians and bulgarians as ever he could. and so much time had now gone by, that it was the beginning of lent (7th march 1207). macaire of sainte-menehould had begun to build a castle at charax, which lies on a gulf of the sea, six leagues from nicomedia, towards constantinople. and william of sains began to build another castle at cibotos, that lies on the gulf of nicomedia, on the other side, towards nice. and you must know that the emperor henry had as much as he could do near constantinople; as also the barons who were in the land. and well does geoffry of villehardouin, the marshal of champagne and roumania, who is dictating this work, bear witness, that never at any time were people so distracted and oppressed by war; this was by reason that the host were scattered in so many places. siege of adrianople by johannizza siege of skiza and cibotos by lascaris then johannizza left wallachia with all his hosts, and with a great host of comans who joined themselves to him, and entered roumania. and the comans overran the country up to the gates of constantinople; and he himself besieged adrianople, and erected there thirty-three great petraries, which hurled stones against the walls and the towers. and inside adrianople were only the greeks and 123 peter of radinghem, who had been set there by the emperor, with ten knights. then the greeks and the latins together sent to tell the emperor henry how johannizza had besieged them, and prayed for succour. much was the emperor distraught when he heard this; for his forces on the other side of the straits were so scattered, and were everywhere so hard pressed that they could do no more than they were doing, while he himself had but few men in constantinople. none the less he undertook to take the field with as many men as he could collect, in the easter fortnight; and he sent word to skiza, where most of his people were, that they should come to him. so these began to come to him by sea; eustace, the brother of the emperor henry, and anseau of cayeux, and the main part of their men, and thus only peter of bracieux, and payen of orléans, with but few men, remained in skiza. when theodore lascaris heard tidings that adrianople was besieged, and that the emperor henry, through utter need, was recalling his people, and did not know which way to tum-whether to this side or to that-so heavily was he oppressed by the war, then did lascaris with the greater zeal gather together all the people he could,, and pitched his tents and pavilions before the gates of skiza; and many were the battles fought before skiza, some lost and some won. and when theodore lascaris saw that there were few people remaining in the city, he took a great part of his host, and such ships as he could collect on the sea, and sent them to the castle of cibotos, which william of sains was fortifying; and they set siege to the castle by sea and land, on the saturday in mid-lent (31st march 1207). within were forty knights, very good men, and macaire of sainte-menehould was their chief; and their castle was as yet but little fortified, so that their foes could come at them with swords and lances. the enemy attacked them by land and by sea very fiercely; and the assault lasted during the whole of saturday, and our people defended themselves very well. and this book bears witness that never did fifty knights defend themselves at greater disadvantage against such odds. and well may this appear, for of the knights that were there, all were wounded save five only; and one was killed, who was nephew to miles the brabant, and his name was giles. 124 the emperor attacks the fleet of theodore lascaris, and rescues cibotos before this assault began, on the saturday morning, there came a messenger flying to constantinople. he found the emperor henry in the palace of blachernae, sitting at meat, and spoke to him thus: "sire, be it known to you that those at cibotos are being attacked by land and sea; and if you do not speedily deliver them, they will be taken, and but dead men." with the emperor were conon of béthune, and geoffry the marshal of champagne, and miles the brabant, and but very few people. and they held a council, and the council was but short, and the emperor went down to the shore, and entered into a galleon; and each one was to take ship such as he could find. and it was proclaimed throughout the city that all were to follow the emperor in the utter need wherein he stood, to go and rescue his men, seeing that without help they were but lost. then might you have seen the whole city of constantinople all a-swarrn with venetians and pisans and other seafaring folk, running to their ships, helterskelter and pell-mell; and with them entered into the ships the knights, fully armed; and whosoever was first ready, he first left port to go after the emperor. so they went rowing hard all the evening, as long as the light lasted, and all through the night till the dawn of the following day. and the emperor had used such diligence, that a little after sun-rising he came in sight of cibotos, and of the host surrounding it by sea and land. and those who were within the castle had not slept that night, but had kept guard through the whole night, however sick or wounded they might be, as men who expected nothing but death. the emperor saw that the greeks were close to the walls and about to assault the city. now he himself had but few of his people with him-among them were geoffry the marshal in another ship, and miles the brabant, and certain pisans, and other knights, so that he had some sixteen ships great and small, while on the other side there were full sixty. nevertheless they saw that if they waited for their people, and suffered the greeks to assault cibotos, then those within 125 must be all killed or taken; and when they saw this they decided to sail against the enemy's ships. they sailed thitherward therefore in line; and all those on board the ships were fully armed, and with their helms laced. and when the greeks, who were about to attack the castle, saw us coming, they perceived that help was at hand for the besieged, and they avoided the castle, and came to meet us; and all this great host, both horse and foot, drew up on the shore. and the greeks on ship-board [the meaning here is a little obscure in the original ] when they saw that the emperor and his people meant to attack them in any case, drew back towards those on shore, so that the latter might give them help with bows and darts. so the emperor held them close with his seventeen ships, till the shouts of those coming from constantinople began to reach him; and when the night fell so many had come up that the franks were everywhere in force upon the sea; and they lay all armed during the night, and cast anchor. and they settled that as soon as they saw the day, they would go and do battle with the enemy on the shore, and also seize their ships. but when it came to about midnight, the greeks dragged all their ships to land, and set fire to them, and burned them all, and broke up their camp, and went away flying. the emperor henry and his host were right glad of the victory that god had given them,,and that they had thus been able to succour their people. and when it came to be morning, the emperor and his barons went to the castle of cibotos, and found those who were therein very sick, and for the most part sore wounded. and the emperor and his people looked at the castle, and saw that it was so weak as not to be worth the holding. so they gathered all their people into the ships, and left the castle and abandoned it. thus did the emperor henry return to constantinople. johannizza raises the siege of adrianople johannizza, the king of wallachia, who had besieged adrianople, gave himself no rest, for his petraries, of which he had many, cast stones night and day against the walls and towers, and damaed the walls and towers very greatly. and he set his sappers to mine the walls, and made many 126 assaults. and well did those who were within, both greeks and latins, maintain themselves, and often did they beg the emperor henry to succour them, and wam him that, if he did not succour them, they were utterly undone. the emperor was much distraught; for when he wished to go and succour his people at adrianople on the one side, then theodore lascaris pressed upon him so straitly on the other side, that of necessity he was forced to draw back. so johannizza remained during the whole month of april (1207) before adrianople; and he came so near to taking it that in two places he beat down the walls and towers to the ground, and his men fought hand to hand, with swords and lances, against those who were within. also he made assaults in force, and the besieged defended themselves well; and there were many killed and wounded on one side and on the other. as it pleases god that adventures should be ordered, so it befell that the comans who had overrun the land, and gained much booty, and returned to the camp before adrianople, with all their spoils, now said they would remain with johannizza no longer, but go back to their own land. thus the comans abandoned johannizza. and without them he dared not remain before adrianople. so he departed from before the city, and left it. and you must know that this was held to be a great miracle: that the siege of a city so near to the taking should be abandoned, and by a man possessed of such power. but as god wills, so do events befall. those in adrianople made no delay in begging the emperor, for the love of god, to come to them as soon as he could; for sooth it was that if johannizza, the king of wallachia returned, they would all be killed or taken. skiza again besieged by theodore lascaris the emperor delivers the city the emperor, with as many men as he possessed, had prepared to go to adrianople, when tidings came, very grievous, that escurion, who was admiral of the galleys of theodore lascaris, had entered with seventeen galleys into the straits of abydos, in the channel of st. george, and come before skiza, where peter of bracieux then was, and payen of 127 orléans; and that the said escurion was besieging the city by sea, while theodore lascaris was besieging it by land. moreover, the people of the land of skiza had rebelled against peter of bracieux, as also those of marmora, and had wrought him great harm, and killed many of his people. when these tidi . ngs came to constantinople, they were greatly dismayed. then did the emperor henry take council with his men, and his barons, and the venetians also; and they said that if they did not succour peter of bracieux, and payen of orléans, they were but dead men, and the land would be lost. so they armed fourteen galleys in all diligence, and set in them the venetians of most note, and all the barons of the emperor. in one galley entered conon of béthune and his people; in another geoffry of villehardouin and his people; in the third macaire of sainte-menehould and his people; in the fourth miles the brabant in the fifth anscau of cayeux; in the sixth thierri of loos, who was seneschal of roumania; m the seventh william of perchoi; and in the eighth eustace the emperor's brother. thus did the emperor henry put into all these galleys the best people that he had; and when they left the port of constantinople, well did all say that never had galleys been better armed, nor manned with better men. and thus, for this time, the march on adrianople was again put off. those who were in the galleys sailed down the straits, right towards skiza. how escurion, the admiral of theodore lascaris' galleys, heard of it, i know not; but he abandoned skiza, and went away, and fled down the straits. and the others chased him two days and two nights, beyond the straits of abydos, forty miles. and when they saw they could not come up with him, they turned back, and came to skiza, and found there peter of bracieux and payen of orléans; and theodore lascaris had dislodged from before the city and repaired to his own land. thus was skiza relieved, as you have just heard; and those in the galleys turned back to constantinople, and prepared once more to march on adrianople. 128 the emperor twice delivers nicomedia, besieged by theodore lascaris theodore lascaris sent the most part of his force into the land of nicomedia. and the people of thierri of loos, who had fortified the church of st. sophia, and were therein, besought their lord and the emperor to come to their relief; for if they received no help they could not hold out, especially as they had no provisions. through sheer distress and sore need, the emperor henry and his people agreed that they must once more abandon thought of going to adrianople, and cross the straits of st. george, to the turkish side, with as many people as they could collect, and succour nicomedia. and when the people of theodore lascaris heard that the emperor was coming, they avoided the land, and retreated towards nice the great. and when the emperor knew of it, he took council, and it was decided that thierri of loos, the seneschal of roumania, should abide in nicomedia, with all his knights, and all his sergeants, to guard the land; and macaire of sainte-menehould should abide at charax, and william of perchoi in skiza; and each defend the land where he abode. then did the emperor henry, and the remainder of his people return to constantinople, and prepare once again to go towards adrianople. and while he was so preparing, thierri of loos the seneschal, who was in nicomedia, and william of perchoi, and all their people, went out foraging on a certain day. and the people of theodore lascaris knew of it, and surprised them, and fell upon them. now the people of theodore lascaris were very many, and our people very few. so the battle began, and they fought hand to hand, and before very long the few were not able to stand against the many. thierri of loos did right well, as also his people; he was twice struck down, and by main strength his men remounted him. and william of perchoi was also struck down, and remounted and rescued. but numbers hemmed them in too sore, and the franks were discomfited. there was taken thierri of loos, wounded in the face, and in peril of death. there, too, were most of his people taken, for few escaped. william of perchoi fled on a hackney, wounded in the hand. 129 those that escaped from the discomfiture rallied in the church of st. sophia. he who dictates this history heard blame attached in this affair-whether rightly or wrongly he knows not-to a certain knight named anseau of remi, who was liegeman of thierri of loos the seneschal, and chief of his men; and who abandoned him in the fray. then did those who had returned to the church of st. sophia in nicomedia, viz. william of perchoi and anseau of remi, take a messenger, and send him flying to constantinople, to the emperor henry; and they told the emperor what had befallen, how the seneschal had been taken with his men; how they themselves were besieged in the church of st. sophia, in nicomedia, and how they had food for no more than five days; and they told him he must know of a certainty that if he did not succour them they must be killed or taken. the emperor, as one hearing a cry of distress, passed over the straits of st. george, he and his people, each as best he could, and pell-mell, to go to the relief of those in nicomedia. and so the march to adrianople was put off once more. when the emperor had passed over the straits of st. george, he set his troops in array, and rode day by day till he came to nicomedia. when the people of theodore lascaris, and his brothers, who formed the host, heard thereof, they drew back, and passed over the mountain on the other side, towards nice. and the emperor encamped by nicomedia in a very fair field that lay beside the river on this side of the mountain. he had his tents and pavilions pitched; and caused his men to overrun and harry the land, because the people had rebelled when they heard that thierri of loos, the seneschal, was taken; and the emperor's men captured much cattle and many prisoners. truce with theodore lascaris the emperor invades the lands of johannizza the emperor henry sojoumed after this manner for five days in the meadow by nicomedia. and while he was thus sojourning, theodore lascaris took messengers, and sent them to him, asking him to make a truce for two years, on condition that the emperor would suffer him to demolish 130 skiza and the fortress of the church of st. sophia of nicomedia, while he, on his side, would yield up all the prisoners taken in the last victory, or at other times of whom he had a great many in his land. now the emperor took council with his people; and they said that they could not maintain two wars at the same time, and that it was better to suffer loss as proposed than suffer the loss of adrianople, and the land on the other side of the straits; and moreover that they.would (by agreeing to this truce) cause division between their enemies, viz. johannizza, the king of wallachia and bulgaria and theodore lascaris who were now friends, and helped one another in the war. the matter was thus settled and agreed to. then the emperor henry summoned peter of bracieux from skiza; and he came to him; and the emperor henry so wrought with him that he gave up skiza into his hands, and the emperor delivered it to theodore lascaris to be demolished, as also the church of st. sophia of nicomedia. so was the truce established, and so were the fortresses demolished. thierri of loos was given up, and all the other prisoners. then the emperor henry repaired to constantinople, and undertook once more to go to adrianople with as many men as he could collect. he assembled his host at selymbria; and so much time had already passed that this did not take place till after the feast of st. john, in june (1207). and he rode day by day till he came to adrianople, and encamped in the fields before the city. and those within the city, who had greatly desired his coming, went out to meet him in procession, and received him very gladly.. and all the greeks of the land came with them. the emperor remained only one day before the city to see all the damage that johannizza had done to the walls and towers, with mines and petraries; and these had worked great havoc to the city. and on the morrow he departed', and marched towards the country of johannizza, and so marched for four days. on the fifth day he came to the foot of the mountain of wallachia, to a city called euloi, which johannizza had newly repeopled with his folk. and when the people of the land saw the host coming, they abandoned the city, and fled into the mountains. 131 the e mperor's foragers suffer loss the emperor henry and the host of the french encamped before the city; and the foraging parties overran the land and captured oxen, and cows, and beeves in great plenty and other beasts. and those from adrianople, who had brought their chariots with them, and were poor and illfurnished with food, loaded their chariots with corn and other grain; and they found also provisions in plenty and loaded with them, in great quantities, the other chariots that they had captured. so the host sojoumed there for three days; and every day the foraging parties went foraging throughout the land; but the land was full of mountains, and strong defiles, and the host lost many foragers, who adventured themselves madly. in the end, the emperor henry sent anscau of cayeux to guard the foragers, and eustace his brother, and thierri of flanders, his nephew, and walter of escomai, and john bliaud. their four battalions went to guard the foragers, and entered into a land rough and mountainous. and when their people had overrun the land, and wished to return, they found the defiles very well guarded. for the wallachians of the country had assembled, and fought against them, and did them great hurt, both to men and horses. hardly were our men put to it to escape discomfiture; and the knights had, of necessity, to dismount and go on foot. but by god's help they returned to the camp, though not without great loss and damage. on the morrow the emperor henry, and the host of the french departed thence, and marched day by day till they came to adrianople; and they stored therein the corn and other provisions that they brought with them. the emperor sojourned in the field before the city some fifteen days. homage rendered by boniface to the emperor, and by geoffry of villehardouin to boniface at that time boniface, the marquis of montferrat, who was at seres, which he had fortified, rode forth as far as messinopolis, and all the land surrendered to his will. then he took messengers, and sent them to the emperor henry, and told him that he would right willingly speak with him 132 by the river that runs below cypsela. now they two had never been able to speak together face to face since the conquest of the land, for so many enemies lay between them that the one had never been able to come to the other. and when the emperor and those of his councilheardthat themarquis boniface was at messinopolis, they rejoiced greatly; and the emperor sent back word by the messengers that he would speak with the marquis on the day appointed. so the emperor went thitherward, and he left conon of bethune to guard the land near adrianople, with one hundred knights. and they came on the set day to the place of meeting in a very fair field, near the city of cypsela. the emperor came from one side, and the marquis from the other, and they met with very great joy; nor is that to be wondered at, seeing they had not, of a long time, beheld one another. and the marquis asked the emperor for tidings of his daughter agnes; and the emperor told him she was with child, and the marquis was glad thereof and rejoiced. then did the marquis become liegeman to the emperor, and held from him his land, as he had done from the emperor baldwin, his brother. and the marquis gave to geoffry of villehardouin, marshal of roumania and champagne, the city of messinopolis, and all its appurtenances, or else that of seres, whichever he liked best; and the marshal became his liegeman, save in so far as he owed fealty to the emperor of constantinople. they sojourned thus in that field for two days, in great joy, and said that, as god had granted that they should come together, so might they yet again defeat their enemies. and they made agreement to meet at the end of the summer, in the month of october, with all their forces, in the meadow before the city of adrianople, and make war against the king of wallachia. so they separated joyous and well content. the marquis went to messinopolis, and the emperor henry towards constantinople. boniface is killed in a battle against the bulgarians when the marquis had come to messinopolis, he did not remain there more than five days before he rode forth, by the advice of the greeks of the land, on an expedition to the mountain of messinopolis, which was distant a long day's 133 journey. and when he had been through the land, and was about to depart, the bulgarians of the land collected and saw that the marquis had but a small force with him. so they came from all parts and attacked the rear-guard. and when the marquis heard the shouting, he leapt on a horse, all unarmed as he was, with a lance in his hand. and when he came together, where the bulgarians were fighting with the rear-guard, hand to hand, he ran in upon them, and drove them a great way back. then was the marquis boniface of montferrat wounded with an arrow, in the thick of the arm, beneath the shoulder, mortally, and he began to lose blood. and when his men saw it, they began to be dismayed, and to lose heart, and to bear themselves badly. those who were round the marquis held him up, and he was losing much blood; and he began to faint. and when his men perceived that he could give them no farther help, they were the more dismayed, and began to desert him. so were they discomfited by misadventure; and those who remained by him-and they were but few-were killed. the head of the marquis boniface of montferrat was cut off, and the people of the land sent it to johannizza; and that was one of the greatest joys that ever johannizza had. alas! what a dolorous mishap for the emperor henry, and for all the latins of the land of roumania, to lose such a man by such a misadventure-one of the best barons and most liberal, and one of the best knights in the world! and this misadventure befell in the year of the incarnation of jesus christ, twelve hundred and seven. end procopius with an english translation by h.b. dewing in seven volumes iii history of the wars, books v and vi london william heinemann ltd cambridge, massachusetts harvard university press _first printed_ 1919 _printed in great britain_ contents page history of the wars- book v.--the gothic war 1 book vi.--the gothic war (_continued_) 287 index 427 * * * * * plan of walls and gates of rome _facing_ 185 procopius of caesarea history of the wars: book v the gothic war i such, then, were the fortunes of the romans in libya. i shall now proceed to the gothic war, first telling all that befell the goths and italians before this war. during the reign of zeno[a] in byzantium the power in the west was held by augustus, whom the romans used to call by the diminutive name augustulus because he took over the empire while still a lad,[b] his father orestes, a man of the greatest discretion, administering it as regent for him. now it happened that the romans a short time before had induced the sciri and alani and certain other gothic nations to form an alliance with them; and from that time on it was their fortune to suffer at the hand of alaric and attila those things which have been told in the previous narrative.[1] and in proportion as the barbarian element among them became strong, just so did the prestige of the roman soldiers forthwith decline, and under the fair name of alliance they were more and more tyrannized over by the intruders and oppressed by them; so that the barbarians ruthlessly forced many other measures upon the romans much against their will and finally demanded that they should divide with them the entire land of italy. and indeed they commanded orestes to give them the third part of this, and when he would by no means agree to do so, they killed him immediately.[c] now there was a certain man among the romans named odoacer, one of the bodyguards of the emperor, and he at that time agreed to carry out their commands, on condition that they should set him upon the throne. and when he had received the supreme power in this way, [d] he did the emperor no further harm, but allowed him to live thenceforth as a private citizen. and by giving the third part of the land to the barbarians, and in this way gaining their allegiance most firmly, he held the supreme power securely for ten years.[2] dates: [a]474-491 a.d. [b]july 31, 475 a.d. [c]july 28, 476 a.d. [d]july 28, 476 a.d. it was at about this same time that the goths also, who were dwelling in thrace with the permission of the emperor, took up arms against the romans under the leadership of theoderic, a man who was of patrician rank and had attained the consular office in byzantium. but the emperor zeno, who understood how to settle to his advantage any situation in which he found himself, advised theoderic to proceed to italy, attack odoacer, and win for himself and the goths the western dominion. for it was better for him, he said, especially as he had attained the senatorial dignity, to force out a usurper and be ruler over all the romans and italians than to incur the great risk of a decisive struggle with the emperor. now theoderic was pleased with the suggestion and went to italy, and he was followed by the gothic host, who placed in their waggons the women and children and such of their chattels as they were able to take with them. and when they came near the ionian gulf,[3] they were quite unable to cross over it, since they had no ships at hand; and so they made the journey around the gulf, advancing through the land of the taulantii and the other nations of that region. here the forces of odoacer encountered them, but after being defeated in many battles, they shut themselves up with their leader in ravenna and such other towns as were especially strong. [e] and the goths laid siege to these places and captured them all, in one way or another, as it chanced in each case, except that they were unable to capture, either by surrender or by storm, the fortress of caesena,[4] which is three hundred stades distant from ravenna, and ravenna itself, where odoacer happened to be. for this city of ravenna lies in a level plain at the extremity of the ionian gulf, lacking two stades of being on the sea, and it is so situated as not to be easily approached either by ships or by a land army. ships cannot possibly put in to shore there because the sea itself prevents them by forming shoals for not less than thirty stades; consequently the beach at ravenna, although to the eye of mariners it is very near at hand, is in reality very far away by reason of the great extent of the shoal-water. and a land army cannot approach it at all; for the river po, also called the eridanus, which flows past ravenna, coming from the boundaries of celtica, and other navigable rivers together with some marshes, encircle it on all sides and so cause the city to be surrounded by water. in that place a very wonderful thing takes place every day. for early in the morning the sea forms a kind of river and comes up over the land for the distance of a day's journey for an unencumbered traveller and becomes navigable in the midst of the mainland, and then in the late afternoon it turns back again, causing the inlet to disappear, and gathers the stream to itself.[5] all those, therefore, who have to convey provisions into the city or carry them out from there for trade or for any other reason, place their cargoes in boats, and drawing them down to the place where the inlet is regularly formed, they await the inflow of the water. and when this comes, the boats are lifted little by little from the ground and float, and the sailors on them set to work and from that time on are seafaring men. and this is not the only place where this happens, but it is the regular occurrence along the whole coast in this region as far as the city of aquileia. however, it does not always take place in the same way at every time, but when the light of the moon is faint, the advance of the sea is not strong either, but from the first[6] half-moon until the second the inflow has a tendency to be greater. so much for this matter. dates: [e] 489 a.d. but when the third year had already been spent by the goths and theoderic in their siege of ravenna, the goths, who were weary of the siege, and the followers of odoacer, who were hard pressed by the lack of provisions, came to an agreement with each other through the mediation of the priest of ravenna, the understanding being that both theoderic and odoacer should reside in ravenna on terms of complete equality. and for some time they observed the agreement; but afterward theoderic caught odoacer, as they say, plotting against him, and bidding him to a feast with treacherous intent slew him,[7] and in this way, after gaining the adherence of such of the hostile barbarians as chanced to survive, he himself secured the supremacy over both goths and italians. and though he did not claim the right to assume either the garb or the name of emperor of the romans, but was called "rex" to the end of his life (for thus the barbarians are accustomed to call their leaders),[8] still, in governing his own subjects, he invested himself with all the qualities which appropriately belong to one who is by birth an emperor. for he was exceedingly careful to observe justice, he preserved the laws on a sure basis, he protected the land and kept it safe from the barbarians dwelling round about, and attained the highest possible degree of wisdom and manliness. and he himself committed scarcely a single act of injustice against his subjects, nor would he brook such conduct on the part of anyone else who attempted it, except, indeed, that the goths distributed among themselves the portion of the lands which odoacer had given to his own partisans. and although in name theoderic was a usurper, yet in fact he was as truly an emperor as any who have distinguished themselves in this office from the beginning; and love for him among both goths and italians grew to be great, and that too contrary to the ordinary habits of men. for in all states men's preferences are divergent, with the result that the government in power pleases for the moment only those with whom its acts find favour, but offends those whose judgment it violates. but theoderic reigned for thirty-seven years, and when he died, he had not only made himself an object of terror to all his enemies, but he also left to his subjects a keen sense of bereavement at his loss. and he died in the following manner.[f] date: [f] 526 a.d. symmachus and his son-in-law boetius were men of noble and ancient lineage, and both had been leading men[9] in the roman senate and had been consuls. but because they practised philosophy and were mindful of justice in a manner surpassed by no other men, relieving the destitution of both citizens and strangers by generous gifts of money, they attained great fame and thus led men of the basest sort to envy them. now such persons slandered them to theoderic, and he, believing their slanders, put these two men to death, on the ground that they were setting about a revolution, and made their property confiscate to the public treasury. and a few days later, while he was dining, the servants set before him the head of a great fish. this seemed to theoderic to be the head of symmachus newly slain. indeed, with its teeth set in its lower lip and its eyes looking at him with a grim and insane stare, it did resemble exceedingly a person threatening him. and becoming greatly frightened at the extraordinary prodigy and shivering excessively, he retired running to his own chamber, and bidding them place many covers upon him, remained quiet. but afterwards he disclosed to his physician elpidius all that had happened and wept for the wrong he had done symmachus and boetius. then, having lamented and grieved exceedingly over the unfortunate occurrence, he died not long afterward. this was the first and last act of injustice which he committed toward his subjects, and the cause of it was that he had not made a thorough investigation, as he was accustomed to do, before passing judgment on the two men. footnotes: [1] book iii. ii. 7 ff., iv. 29 ff. [2] odoacer was defeated and shut up in ravenna by theoderic in 489, surrendered to him in 493, and was put to death in the same year. his independent rule ([greek: tyrannis]) therefore lasted thirteen years. [3] meaning the whole adriatic; cf. chap. xv. 16, note. [4] modern cesena. [5] he means that an estuary ([greek: porthmos]) is formed by the rising tide in the morning, and the water flows out again as the tide falls in the evening. [6] from the first until the third quarter. [7] see note in bury's edition of gibbon, vol. iv. p. 180, for an interesting account of this event. [8] this is a general observation; the title "rex" was current among the barbarians to indicate a position inferior to that of a [greek: basileus] or "imperator"; cf. vi. xiv. 38. [9] probably a reminiscence of the "princeps senatus" of classical times. ii after his death[g] the kingdom was taken over by atalaric, the son of theoderic's daughter; he had reached the age of eight years and was being reared under the care of his mother amalasuntha. for his father had already departed from among men. and not long afterward justinian succeeded to the imperial power in byzantium. [h]now amalasuntha, as guardian of her child, administered the government, and she proved to be endowed with wisdom and regard for justice in the highest degree, displaying to a great extent the masculine temper. as long as she stood at the head of the government she inflicted punishment upon no roman in any case either by touching his person or by imposing a fine. furthermore, she did not give way to the goths in their mad desire to wrong them, but she even restored to the children of symmachus and boetius their fathers' estates. now amalasuntha wished to make her son resemble the roman princes in his manner of life, and was already compelling him to attend the school of a teacher of letters. and she chose out three among the old men of the goths whom she knew to be prudent and refined above all the others, and bade them live with atalaric. but the goths were by no means pleased with this. for because of their eagerness to wrong their subjects they wished to be ruled by him more after the barbarian fashion. on one occasion the mother, finding the boy doing some wrong in his chamber, chastised him; and he in tears went off thence to the men's apartments. and some goths who met him made a great to-do about this, and reviling amalasuntha insisted that she wished to put the boy out of the world as quickly as possible, in order that she might marry a second husband and with him rule over the goths and italians. and all the notable men among them gathered together, and coming before amalasuntha made the charge that their king was not being educated correctly from their point of view nor to his own advantage. for letters, they said, are far removed from manliness, and the teaching of old men results for the most part in a cowardly and submissive spirit. therefore the man who is to shew daring in any work and be great in renown ought to be freed from the timidity which teachers inspire and to take his training in arms. they added that even theoderic would never allow any of the goths to send their children to school; for he used to say to them all that, if the fear of the strap once came over them, they would never have the resolution to despise sword or spear. and they asked her to reflect that her father theoderic before he died had become master of all this territory and had invested himself with a kingdom which was his by no sort of right, although he had not so much as heard of letters. "therefore, o queen," they said, "have done with these tutors now, and do you give to atalaric some men of his own age to be his companions, who will pass through the period of youth with him and thus give him an impulse toward that excellence which is in keeping with the custom of barbarians." dates: [g]526 a.d. [h]527 a.d. when amalasuntha heard this, although she did not approve, yet because she feared the plotting of these men, she made it appear that their words found favour with her, and granted everything the barbarians desired of her. and when the old men had left atalaric, he was given the company of some boys who were to share his daily life,--lads who had not yet come of age but were only a little in advance of him in years; and these boys, as soon as he came of age, by enticing him to drunkenness and to intercourse with women, made him an exceptionally depraved youth, and of such stupid folly that he was disinclined to follow his mother's advice. consequently he utterly refused to champion her cause, although the barbarians were by now openly leaguing together against her; for they were boldly commanding the woman to withdraw from the palace. but amalasuntha neither became frightened at the plotting of the goths nor did she, womanlike, weakly give way, but still displaying the dignity befitting a queen, she chose out three men who were the most notable among the barbarians and at the same time the most responsible for the sedition against her, and bade them go to the limits of italy, not together, however, but as far apart as possible from one another; but it was made to appear that they were being sent in order to guard the land against the enemy's attack. but nevertheless these men by the help of their friends and relations, who were all still in communication with them, even travelling a long journey for the purpose, continued to make ready the details of their plot against amalasuntha. and the woman, being unable to endure these things any longer, devised the following plan. sending to byzantium she enquired of the emperor justinian whether it was his wish that amalasuntha, the daughter of theoderic, should come to him; for she wished to depart from italy as quickly as possible. and the emperor, being pleased by the suggestion, bade her come and sent orders that the finest of the houses in epidamnus should be put in readiness, in order that when amalasuntha should come there, she might lodge in it and after spending such time there as she wished might then betake herself to byzantium. when amalasuntha learned this, she chose out certain goths who were energetic men and especially devoted to her and sent them to kill the three whom i have just mentioned, as having been chiefly responsible for the sedition against her. and she herself placed all her possessions, including four hundred centenaria[10] of gold, in a single ship and embarked on it some of those most faithful to her and bade them sail to epidamnus, and, upon arriving there, to anchor in its harbour, but to discharge from the ship nothing whatever of its cargo until she herself should send orders. and she did this in order that, if she should learn that the three men had been destroyed, she might remain there and summon the ship back, having no further fear from her enemies; but if it should chance that any one of them was left alive, no good hope being left her, she purposed to sail with all speed and find safety for herself and her possessions in the emperor's land. such was the purpose with which amalasuntha was sending the ship to epidamnus; and when it arrived at the harbour of that city, those who had the money carried out her orders. but a little later, when the murders had been accomplished as she wished, amalasuntha summoned the ship back and remaining at ravenna strengthened her rule and made it as secure as might be. footnote: [10] see book i. xxii. 4; iii. vi. 2 and note. iii there was among the goths one theodatus by name, son of amalafrida, the sister of theoderic, a man already of mature years, versed in the latin literature and the teachings of plato, but without any experience whatever in war and taking no part in active life, and yet extraordinarily devoted to the pursuit of money. this theodatus had gained possession of most of the lands in tuscany, and he was eager by violent methods to wrest the remainder from their owners. for to have a neighbour seemed to theodatus a kind of misfortune. now amalasuntha was exerting herself to curb this desire of his, and consequently he was always vexed with her and resentful. he formed the plan, therefore, of handing over tuscany to the emperor justinian, in order that, upon receiving from him a great sum of money and the senatorial dignity, he might pass the rest of his life in byzantium. after theodatus had formed this plan, there came from byzantium to the chief priest of rome two envoys, hypatius, the priest of ephesus, and demetrius, from philippi in macedonia, to confer about a tenet of faith, which is a subject of disagreement and controversy among the christians. as for the points in dispute, although i know them well, i shall by no means make mention of them; for i consider it a sort of insane folly to investigate the nature of god, enquiring of what sort it is. for man cannot, i think, apprehend even human affairs with accuracy, much less those things which pertain to the nature of god. as for me, therefore, i shall maintain a discreet silence concerning these matters, with the sole object that old and venerable beliefs may not be discredited. for i, for my part, will say nothing whatever about god save that he is altogether good and has all things in his power. but let each one say whatever he thinks he knows about these matters, both priest and layman. as for theodatus, he met these envoys secretly and directed them to report to the emperor justinian what he had planned, explaining what has just been set forth by me. but at this juncture atalaric, having plunged into a drunken revel which passed all bounds, was seized with a wasting disease. wherefore amalasuntha was in great perplexity; for, on the one hand, she had no confidence in the loyalty of her son, now that he had gone so far in his depravity, and, on the other, she thought that if atalaric also should be removed from among men, her life would not be safe thereafter, since she had given offence to the most notable of the goths. for this reason she was desirous of handing over the power of the goths and italians to the emperor justinian, in order that she herself might be saved. and it happened that alexander, a man of the senate, together with demetrius and hypatius, had come to ravenna. for when the emperor had heard that amalasuntha's boat was anchored in the harbour of epidamnus, but that she herself was still tarrying, although much time had passed, he had sent alexander to investigate and report to him the whole situation with regard to amalasuntha; but it was given out that the emperor had sent alexander as an envoy to her because he was greatly disturbed by the events at lilybaeum which have been set forth by me in the preceding narrative,[11] and because ten huns from the army in libya had taken flight and reached campania, and uliaris, who was guarding naples, had received them not at all against the will of amalasuntha, and also because the goths, in making war on the gepaedes about sirmium,[12] had treated the city of gratiana, situated at the extremity of illyricum, as a hostile town. so by way of protesting to amalasuntha with regard to these things, he wrote a letter and sent alexander. and when alexander arrived in rome, he left there the priests busied with the matters for which they had come, and he himself, journeying on to ravenna and coming before amalasuntha, reported the emperor's message secretly, and openly delivered the letter to her. and the purport of the writing was as follows: "the fortress of lilybaeum, which is ours, you have taken by force and are now holding, and barbarians, slaves of mine who have run away, you have received and have not even yet decided to restore them to me, and besides all this you have treated outrageously my city of gratiana, though it belongs to you in no way whatever. wherefore it is time for you to consider what the end of these things will some day be." and when this letter had been delivered to her and she had read it, she replied in the following words: "one may reasonably expect an emperor who is great and lays claim to virtue to assist an orphan child who does not in the least comprehend what is being done, rather than for no cause at all to quarrel with him. for unless a struggle be waged on even terms, even the victory it gains brings no honour. but thou dost threaten atalaric on account of lilybaeum, and ten runaways, and a mistake, made by soldiers in going against their enemies, which through some misapprehension chanced to affect a friendly city. nay! do not thus; do not thou thus, o emperor, but call to mind that when them wast making war upon the vandals, we not only refrained from hindering thee, but quite zealously even gave thee free passage against the enemy and provided a market in which to buy the indispensable supplies,[13] furnishing especially the multitude of horses to which thy final mastery over the enemy was chiefly due. and yet it is not merely the man who offers an alliance of arms to his neighbours that would in justice be called their ally and friend, but also the man who actually is found assisting another in war in regard to his every need. and consider that at that time thy fleet had no other place at which to put in from the sea except sicily, and that without the supplies bought there it could not go on to libya. therefore thou art indebted to us for the chief cause of thy victory; for the one who provides a solution for a difficult situation is justly entitled also to the credit for the results which flow from his help. and what could be sweeter for a man, o emperor, than gaining the mastery over his enemies? and yet in our case the outcome is that we suffer no slight disadvantage, in that we do not, in accordance with the custom of war, enjoy our share of the spoils. and now thou art also claiming the right to despoil us of lilybaeum in sicily, which has belonged to the goths from ancient times, a lone rock, o emperor, worth not so much as a piece of silver, which, had it happened to belong to thy kingdom from ancient times, thou mightest in equity at least have granted to atalaric as a reward for his services, since he lent thee assistance in the times of thy most pressing necessity." such was the message which amalasuntha wrote openly to the emperor; but secretly she agreed to put the whole of italy into his hands. and the envoys, returning to byzantium, reported everything to the emperor justinian, alexander telling him the course which had been decided upon by amalasuntha, and demetrius and hypatius all that they had heard theodatus say, adding that theodatus enjoyed great power in tuscany, where he had become owner of the most of the land and consequently would be able with no trouble at all to carry his agreement into effect. and the emperor, overjoyed at this situation, immediately sent to italy peter, an illyrian by birth, but a citizen of thessalonica, a man who was one of the trained speakers in byzantium, a discreet and gentle person withal and fitted by nature to persuade men. footnotes: [11] book iv. v. 11 ff. [12] near modern mitrowitz. [13] cf. book iii. xiv. 5, 6. iv but while these things were going on as i have explained, theodatus was denounced before amalasuntha by many tuscans, who stated that he had done violence to all the people of tuscany and had without cause seized their estates, taking not only all private estates but especially those belonging to the royal household, which the romans are accustomed to call "patrimonium." for this reason the woman called theodatus to an investigation, and when, being confronted by his denouncers, he had been proved guilty without any question, she compelled him to pay back everything which he had wrongfully seized and then dismissed him. and since in this way she had given the greatest offence to the man, from that time she was on hostile terms with him, exceedingly vexed as he was by reason of his fondness for money, because he was unable to continue his unlawful and violent practices. at about this same time[i] atalaric, being quite wasted away by the disease, came to his end, having lived eight years in office. as for amalasuntha, since it was fated that she should fare ill, she took no account of the nature of theodatus and of what she had recently done to him, and supposed that she would suffer no unpleasant treatment at his hands if she should do the man some rather unusual favour. she accordingly summoned him, and when he came, set out to cajole him, saying that for some time she had known well that it was to be expected that her son would soon die; for she had heard the opinion of all the physicians, who agreed in their judgment, and had herself perceived that the body of atalaric continued to waste away. and since she saw that both goths and italians had an unfavourable opinion regarding theodatus, who had now come to represent the race of theoderic, she had conceived the desire to clear him of this evil name, in order that it might not stand in his way if he were called to the throne. but at the same time, she explained, the question of justice disturbed her, at the thought that those who claimed to have been wronged by him already should find that they had no one to whom they might report what had befallen them, but that they now had their enemy as their master. for these reasons, then, although she invited him to the throne after his name should have been cleared in this way, yet it was necessary, she said, that he should be bound by the most solemn oaths that while the title of the office should be conferred upon theodatus, she herself should in fact hold the power no less than before. when theodatus heard this, although he swore to all the conditions which amalasuntha wished, he entered into the agreement with treacherous intent, remembering all that she had previously done to him. thus amalasuntha, being deceived by her own judgment and the oaths of theodatus, established him in the office. and sending some goths as envoys to byzantium, she made this known to the emperor justinian. date: [i]oct. 10, 534 a.d. but theodatus, upon receiving the supreme power, began to act in all things contrary to the hopes she had entertained and to the promises he had made. and after winning the adherence of the relatives of the goths who had been slain by her--and they were both numerous and men of very high standing among the goths--he suddenly put to death some of the connections of amalasuntha and imprisoned her, the envoys not having as yet reached byzantium. now there is a certain lake in tuscany called vulsina,[14] within which rises an island,[15] exceedingly small but having a strong fortress upon it. there theodatus confined amalasuntha and kept her under guard.[j] but fearing that by this act he had given offence to the emperor, as actually proved to be the case, he sent some men of the roman senate, liberius and opilio and certain others, directing them to excuse his conduct to the emperor with all their power by assuring him that amalasuntha had met with no harsh treatment at his hands, although she had perpetrated irreparable outrages upon him before. and he himself wrote in this sense to the emperor, and also compelled amalasuntha, much against her will, to write the same thing. date: [j]apr. 30, 535 a.d. such was the course of these events. but peter had already been despatched by the emperor on an embassy to italy with instructions to meet theodatus without the knowledge of any others, and after theodatus had given pledges by an oath that none of their dealings should be divulged, he was then to make a secure settlement with him regarding tuscany; and meeting amalasuntha stealthily he was to make such an arrangement with her regarding the whole of italy as would be to the profit of either party. but openly his mission was to negotiate with regard to lilybaeum and the other matters which i have lately mentioned. for as yet the emperor had heard nothing about the death of atalaric or the succession of theodatus to the throne, or the fate which had befallen amalasuntha. and peter was already on his way when he met the envoys of amalasuntha and learned, in the first place, that theodatus had come to the throne; and a little later, upon reaching the city of aulon,[16] which lies on the ionian gulf, he met there the company of liberius and opilio, and learned everything which had taken place, and reporting this to the emperor he remained there. and when the emperor justinian heard these things, he formed the purpose of throwing the goths and theodatus into confusion; accordingly he wrote a letter to amalasuntha, stating that he was eager to give her every possible support, and at the same time he directed peter by no means to conceal this message, but to make it known to theodatus himself and to all the goths. and when the envoys from italy arrived in byzantium, they all, with a single exception, reported the whole matter to the emperor, and especially liberius; for he was a man unusually upright and honourable, and one who knew well how to shew regard for the truth; but opilio alone declared with the greatest persistence that theodatus had committed no offence against amalasuntha. now when peter arrived in italy, it so happened that amalasuntha had been removed from among men. for the relatives of the goths who had been slain by her came before theodatus declaring that neither his life nor theirs was secure unless amalasuntha should be put out of their way as quickly as possible. and as soon as he gave in to them, they went to the island and killed amalasuntha,--an act which grieved exceedingly all the italians and the goths as well. for the woman had the strictest regard for every kind of virtue, as has been stated by me a little earlier.[17] now peter protested openly[18] to theodatus and the other goths that because this base deed had been committed by them, there would be war without truce between the emperor and themselves. but theodatus, such was his stupid folly, while still holding the slayers of amalasuntha in honour and favour kept trying to persuade peter and the emperor that this unholy deed had been committed by the goths by no means with his approval, but decidedly against his will. footnotes: [14] modern bolsena. [15] marta; "now entirely uninhabited, but with a few steps cut in the rock which are said to have led to the prison of amalasuntha."--hodgkin. [16] modern avlona in albania. [17] chap. ii. 3. [18] see gibbon's note (chap. xli.), amplified in bury's edition, vol. iv. p. 304, for additional light on the part played by justinian and peter in this affair. v meanwhile it happened that belisarius had distinguished himself by the defeat of gelimer and the vandals. and the emperor, upon learning what had befallen amalasuntha, immediately entered upon the war, being in the ninth year of his reign. and he first commanded mundus, the general of illyricum, to go to dalmatia, which was subject to the goths, and make trial of salones.[19] now mundus was by birth a barbarian, but exceedingly loyal to the cause of the emperor and an able warrior. then he sent belisarius by sea with four thousand soldiers from the regular troops and the foederati,[20] and about three thousand of the isaurians. and the commanders were men of note: constantinus and bessas from the land of thrace, and peranius from iberia[21] which is hard by media, a man who was by birth a member of the royal family of the iberians, but had before this time come as a deserter to the romans through enmity toward the persians; and the levies of cavalry were commanded by valentinus, magnus, and innocentius, and the infantry by herodian, paulus, demetrius, and ursicinus, while the leader of the isaurians was ennes. and there were also two hundred huns as allies and three hundred moors. but the general in supreme command over all was belisarius, and he had with him many notable men as spearmen and guards. and he was accompanied also by photius, the son of his wife antonina by a previous marriage; he was still a young man wearing his first beard, but possessed the greatest discretion and shewed a strength of character beyond his years. and the emperor instructed belisarius to give out that his destination was carthage, but as soon as they should arrive at sicily, they were to disembark there as it obliged for some reason to do so, and make trial of the island. and if it should be possible to reduce it to subjection without any trouble, they were to take possession and not let it go again; but if they should meet with any obstacle, they were to sail with all speed to libya, giving no one an opportunity to perceive what their intention was. and he also sent a letter to the leaders of the franks as follows: "the goths, having seized by violence italy, which was ours, have not only refused absolutely to give it back, but have committed further acts of injustice against us which are unendurable and pass beyond all bounds. for this reason we have been compelled to take the field against them, and it is proper that you should join with us in waging this war, which is rendered yours as well as ours not only by the orthodox faith, which rejects the opinion of the arians, but also by the enmity we both feel toward the goths." such was the emperor's letter; and making a gift of money to them, he agreed to give more as soon as they should take an active part. and they with all zeal promised to fight in alliance with him. now mundus and the army under his command entered dalmatia, and engaging with the goths who encountered them there, defeated them in the battle and took possession of salones. as for belisarius, he put in at sicily and took catana. and making that place his base of operations, he took over syracuse and the other cities by surrender without any trouble; except, indeed, that the goths who were keeping guard in panormus,[22] having confidence in the fortifications of the place, which was a strong one, were quite unwilling to yield to belisarius and ordered him to lead his army away from there with all speed. but belisarius, considering that it was impossible to capture the place from the landward side, ordered the fleet to sail into the harbour, which extended right up to the wall. for it was outside the circuit-wall and entirely without defenders. now when the ships had anchored there, it was seen that the masts were higher than the parapet. straightway, therefore, he filled all the small boats of the ships with bowmen and hoisted them to the tops of the masts. and when from these boats the enemy were shot at from above, they fell into such an irresistible fear that they immediately delivered panormus to belisarius by surrender. as a result of this the emperor held all sicily subject and tributary to himself. and at that time it so happened that there fell to belisarius a piece of good fortune beyond the power of words to describe. for, having received the dignity of the consulship because of his victory over the vandals, while he was still holding this honour, and after he had won the whole of sicily, on the last day of his consulship,[k] he marched into syracuse, loudly applauded by the army and by the sicilians and throwing golden coins to all. this coincidence, however, was not intentionally arranged by him, but it was a happy chance which befell the man, that after having recovered the whole of the island for the romans he marched into syracuse on that particular day; and so it was not in the senate house in byzantium, as was customary, but there that he laid down the office of the consuls and so became an ex-consul. thus, then, did good fortune attend belisarius. date: [k]dec. 31, 535 a.d. footnotes: [19] or salona, near modern spalato. [20] auxiliaries; see book iii. xi. 3, 4, and note. [21] corresponding roughly to modern georgia, just south of the caucasus. [22] modern palermo. vi and when peter learned of the conquest of sicily, he was still more insistent in his efforts to frighten theodatus and would not let him go. but he, turning coward and reduced to speechlessness no less than if he himself had become a captive with gelimer,[23] entered into negotiations with peter without the knowledge of any others, and between them they formed an agreement, providing that theodatus should retire from all sicily in favour of the emperor justinian, and should send him also a golden crown every year weighing three hundred litrae,[24] and gothic warriors to the number of three thousand whenever he should wish; and that theodatus himself should have no authority to kill any priest or senator, or to confiscate his property for the public treasury except by the decision of the emperor; and that if theodatus wished to advance any of his subjects to the patrician or some other senatorial rank this honour should not be bestowed by him, but he should ask the emperor to bestow it; and that the roman populace, in acclaiming their sovereign, should always shout the name of the emperor first, and afterward that of theodatus, both in the theatres and in the hippodromes and wherever else it should be necessary for such a thing to be done; furthermore, that no statue of bronze nor of any other material should ever be set up to theodatus alone, but statues must always be made for both, and they must stand thus: on the right that of the emperor, and on the other side that of theodatus. and after theodatus had written in confirmation of this agreement he dismissed the ambassador. but, a little later, terror laid hold upon the man's soul and brought him into fears which knew no bound and tortured his mind, filling him with dread at the name of war, and reminding him that if the agreement drawn up by peter and himself did not please the emperor at all, war would straightway come upon him. once more, therefore, he summoned peter, who had already reached albani,[25] for a secret conference, and enquired of the man whether he thought that the agreement would be pleasing to the emperor. and he replied that he supposed it would. "but if," said theodatus, "these things do not please the man at all, what will happen then?" and peter replied "after that you will have to wage war, most noble sir." "but what is this," he said; "is it just, my dear ambassador?" and peter, immediately taking him up, said "and how is it not just, my good sir, that the pursuits appropriate to each man's nature should be preserved?" "what, pray, may this mean?" asked theodatus. "it means," was the reply, "that your great interest is to philosophize, while justinian's is to be a worthy emperor of the romans. and there is this difference, that for one who has practised philosophy it would never be seemly to bring about the death of men, especially in such great numbers, and it should be added that this view accords with the teachings of plato, which you have evidently espoused, and hence it is unholy for you not to be free from all bloodshed; but for him it is not at all inappropriate to seek to acquire a land which has belonged from of old to the realm which is his own." thereupon theodatus, being convinced by this advice, agreed to retire from the kingship in favour of the emperor justinian, and both he and his wife took an oath to this effect. he then bound peter by oaths that he would not divulge this agreement until he should see that the emperor would not accept the former convention. and he sent with him rusticus, a priest who was especially devoted to him and a roman citizen, to negotiate on the basis of this agreement. and he also entrusted a letter to these men. so peter and rusticus, upon reaching byzantium, reported the first decision to the emperor, just as theodatus had directed them to do. but when the emperor was quite unwilling to accept the proposal, they revealed the plan which had been committed to writing afterwards. this was to the following effect: "i am no stranger to royal courts, but it was my fortune to have been born in the house of my uncle while he was king and to have been reared in a manner worthy of my race; and yet i have had little experience of wars and of the turmoils which wars entail. for since from my earliest years i have been passionately addicted to scholarly disputations and have always devoted my time to this sort of thing, i have consequently been up to the present time very far removed from the confusion of battles. therefore it is utterly absurd that i should aspire to the honours which royalty confers and thus lead a life fraught with danger, when it is possible for me to avoid them both. for neither one of these is a pleasure to me; the first, because it is liable to satiety, for it is a surfeit of all sweet things, and the second, because lack of familiarity with such a life throws one into confusion. but as for me, if estates should be provided me which yielded an annual income of no less than twelve centenaria,[26] i should regard the kingdom as of less account than them, and i shall hand over to thee forthwith the power of the goths and italians. for i should find more pleasure in being a farmer free from all cares than in passing my life amid a king's anxieties, attended as they are by danger after danger. pray send a man as quickly as possible into whose hands i may fittingly deliver italy and the affairs of the kingdom." such was the purport of the letter of theodatus. and the emperor, being exceedingly pleased, replied as follows: "from of old have i heard by report that you were a man of discretion, but now, taught by experience, i know it by the decision you have reached not to await the issue of the war. for certain men who in the past have followed such a course have been completely undone. and you will never repent having made us friends instead of enemies. but you will not only have this that you ask at our hands, but you will also have the distinction of being enrolled in the highest honours of the romans. now for the present i have sent athanasius and peter, so that each party may have surety by some agreement. and almost immediately belisarius also will visit you to complete all the arrangements which have been agreed upon between us." after writing this the emperor sent athanasius, the brother of alexander, who had previously gone on an embassy to atalaric, as has been said,[27] and for the second time peter the orator, whom i have mentioned above,[28] enjoining upon them to assign to theodatus the estates of the royal household, which they call "patrimonium"; and not until after they had drawn up a written document and had secured oaths to fortify the agreement were they to summon belisarius from sicily, in order that he might take over the palace and all italy and hold them under guard. and he wrote to belisarius that as soon as they should summon him he should go thither with all speed. footnotes: [23] the captivity of gelimer is described in book iv. vii. 12-17; ix. 11-14. [24] at present values "worth about â£12,000."--hodgkin. [25] modern albano; on the appian way. cf. book vi. iv. 8. [26] see book i. xxii. 4; iii. vi. 2, note. [27] chap. iii. 13. [28] chap. iii. 30, iv. 17 ff. vii but meantime, while the emperor was engaged in these negotiations and these envoys were travelling to italy, the goths, under command of asinarius and gripas and some others, had come with a great army into dalmatia. and when they had reached the neighbourhood of salones, mauricius, the son of mundus, who was not marching out for battle but, with a few men, was on a scouting expedition, encountered them. a violent engagement ensued in which the goths lost their foremost and noblest men, but the romans almost their whole company, including their general mauricius. and when mundus heard of this, being overcome with grief at the misfortune and by this time dominated by a mighty fury, he went against the enemy without the least delay and regardless of order. the battle which took place was stubbornly contested, and the result was a cadmean victory[29] for the romans. for although the most of the enemy fell there and their rout had been decisive, mundus, who went on killing and following up the enemy wherever he chanced to find them and was quite unable to restrain his mind because of the misfortune of his son, was wounded by some fugitive or other and fell. thereupon the pursuit ended and the two armies separated. and at that time the romans recalled the verse of the sibyl, which had been pronounced in earlier times and seemed to them a portent. for the words of the saying were that when africa should be held, the "world" would perish together with its offspring. this, however, was not the real meaning of the oracle, but after intimating that libya would be once more subject to the romans, it added this statement also, that when that time came mundus would perish together with his son. for it runs as follows: "africa capta mundus cum nato peribit."[30] but since "mundus" in the latin tongue has the force of "world," they thought that the saying had reference to the world. so much, then, for this. as for salones, it was not entered by anyone. for the romans went back home, since they were left altogether without a commander, and the goths, seeing that not one of their nobles was left them, fell into fear and took possession of the strongholds in the neighbourhood; for they had no confidence in the defences of salones, and, besides, the romans who lived there were not very well disposed towards them. when theodatus heard this, he took no account of the envoys who by now had come to him. for he was by nature much given to distrust, and he by no means kept his mind steadfast, but the present fortune always reduced him now to a state of terror which knew no measure, and this contrary to reason and the proper understanding of the situation, and again brought him to the opposite extreme of unspeakable boldness. and so at that time, when he heard of the death of mundus and mauricius, he was lifted up exceedingly and in a manner altogether unjustified by what had happened, and he saw fit to taunt the envoys when they at length appeared before him. and when peter on one occasion remonstrated with him because he had transgressed his agreement with the emperor, theodatus called both of them publicly and spoke as follows: "the position of envoys is a proud one and in general has come to be held in honour among all men; but envoys preserve for themselves these their prerogatives only so long as they guard the dignity of their embassy by the propriety of their own conduct. for men have sanctioned as just the killing of an envoy whenever he is either found to have insulted a sovereign or has had knowledge of a woman who is the wife of another." such were the words with which theodatus inveighed against peter, not because he had approached a woman, but, apparently, in order to make good his claim that there were charges which might lead to the death of an ambassador. but the envoys replied as follows: "the facts are not, o ruler of the goths, as thou hast stated them, nor canst thou, under cover of flimsy pretexts, wantonly perpetrate unholy deeds upon men who are envoys. for it is not possible for an ambassador, even if he wishes it, to become an adulterer, since it is not easy for him even to partake of water except by the will of those who guard him. and as for the proposals which he has received from the lips of him who has sent him and then delivers, he himself cannot reasonably incur the blame which arises from them, in case they be not good, but he who has given the command would justly bear this charge, while the sole responsibility of the ambassador is to have discharged his mission. we, therefore, shall say all that we were instructed by the emperor to say when we were sent, and do thou hear us quietly; for if thou art stirred to excitement, all thou canst do will be to wrong men who are ambassadors. it is time, therefore, for thee of thine own free will to perform all that thou didst promise the emperor. this, indeed, is the purpose for which we have come. and the letter which he wrote to thee thou hast already received, but as for the writing which he sent to the foremost of the goths, to no others shall we give it than to them." when the leading men of the barbarians, who were present, heard this speech of the envoys, they bade them give to theodatus what had been written to them. and it ran as follows: "it has been the object of our care to receive you back into our state, whereat you may well be pleased. for you will come to us, not in order to be made of less consequence, but that you may be more honoured. and, besides, we are not bidding the goths enter into strange or alien customs, but into those of a people with whom you were once familiar, though you have by chance been separated from them for a season. for these reasons athanasius and peter have been sent to you, and you ought to assist them in all things." such was the purport of this letter. but after theodatus had read everything, he not only decided not to perform in deed the promises he had made to the emperor, but also put the envoys under a strict guard. but when the emperor justinian heard these things and what had taken place in dalmatia, he sent constantianus, who commanded the royal grooms, into illyricum, bidding him gather an army from there and make an attempt on salones, in whatever manner he might be able; and he commanded belisarius to enter italy with all speed and to treat the goths as enemies. so constantianus came to epidamnus and spent some time there gathering an army. but in the meantime the goths, under the leadership of gripas, came with another army into dalmatia and took possession of salones; and constantianus, when all his preparations were as complete as possible, departed from epidamnus with his whole force and cast anchor at epidaurus[31] which is on the right as one sails into the ionian gulf. now it so happened that some men were there whom gripas had sent out as spies. and when they took note of the ships and the army of constantianus it seemed to them that both the sea and the whole land were full of soldiers, and returning to gripas they declared that constantianus was bringing against them an army of men numbering many tens of thousands. and he, being plunged into great fear, thought it inexpedient to meet their attack, and at the same time he was quite unwilling to be besieged by the emperor's army, since it so completely commanded the sea; but he was disturbed most of all by the fortifications of salones (since the greater part of them had already fallen down), and by the exceedingly suspicious attitude on the part of the inhabitants of the place toward the goths. and for this reason he departed thence with his whole army as quickly as possible and made camp in the plain which is between salones and the city of scardon.[32] and constantianus, sailing with all his ships from epidaurus, put in at lysina,[33] which is an island in the gulf. thence he sent forward some of his men, in order that they might make enquiry concerning the plans of gripas and report them to him. then, after learning from them the whole situation, he sailed straight for salones with all speed. and when he had put in at a place close to the city, he disembarked his army on the mainland and himself remained quiet there; but he selected five hundred from the army, and setting over them as commander siphilas, one of his own bodyguards, he commanded them to seize the narrow pass[34] which, as he had been informed, was in the outskirts of the city. and this siphilas did. and constantianus and his whole land army entered salones on the following day, and the fleet anchored close by. then constantianus proceeded to look after the fortifications of the city, building up in haste all such parts of them as had fallen down; and gripas, with the gothic army, on the seventh day after the romans had taken possession of salones, departed from there and betook themselves to ravenna; and thus constantianus gained possession of all dalmatia and liburnia, bringing over to his side all the goths who were settled there. such were the events in dalmatia. and the winter drew to a close, and thus ended the first year of this war, the history of which procopius has written. footnotes: [29] proverbial for a victory in which the victor is slain; probably from the story of the theban, or "cadmean," heroes eteocles and polynices. [30] see bury's edition of gibbon, vol. iv. app. 15, for a discussion of this oracle. [31] modern ragusa vecchia. [32] near sebenico. [33] modern lesina. [34] an important approach to the city from the west. viii and belisarius, leaving guards in syracuse and panormus, crossed with the rest of the army from messana to rhegium (where the myths of the poets say scylla and charybdis were), and every day the people of that region kept coming over to him. for since their towns had from of old been without walls, they had no means at all of guarding them, and because of their hostility toward the goths they were, as was natural, greatly dissatisfied with their present government. and ebrimous came over to belisarius as a deserter from the goths, together with all his followers; this man was the son-in-law of theodatus, being married to theodenanthe, his daughter. and he was straightway sent to the emperor and received many gifts of honour and in particular attained the patrician dignity. and the army of belisarius marched from rhegium through bruttium and lucania, and the fleet of ships accompanied it, sailing close to the mainland. but when they reached campania, they came upon a city on the sea, naples by name, which was strong not only because of the nature of its site, but also because it contained a numerous garrison of goths. and belisarius commanded the ships to anchor in the harbour, which was beyond the range of missiles, while he himself made his camp near the city. he then first took possession by surrender of the fort which is in the suburb, and afterwards permitted the inhabitants of the city at their own request to send some of their notables into his camp, in order that they might tell what their wish was and, after receiving his reply, report to the populace. straightway, therefore, the neapolitans sent stephanus. and he, upon coming before belisarius, spoke as follows: "you are not acting justly, o general, in taking the field against men who are romans and have done no wrong, who inhabit but a small city and have over us a guard of barbarians as masters, so that it does not even lie in our power, if we desire to do so, to oppose them. but it so happens that even these guards had to leave their wives and children, and their most precious possessions in the hands of theodatus before they came to keep guard over us. therefore, if they treat with you at all, they will plainly be betraying, not the city, but themselves. and if one must speak the truth with no concealment, you have not counselled to your advantage, either, in coming against us. for if you capture rome, naples will be subject to you without any further trouble, whereas if you are repulsed from there, it is probable that you will not be able to hold even this city securely. consequently the time you spend on this siege will be spent to no purpose." so spoke stephanus. and belisarius replied as follows: "whether we have acted wisely or foolishly in coming here is not a question which we propose to submit to the neapolitans. but we desire that you first weigh carefully such matters as are appropriate to your deliberations and then act solely in accordance with your own interests. receive into your city, therefore, the emperor's army, which has come to secure your freedom and that of the other italians, and do not choose the course which will bring upon you the most grievous misfortunes. for those who, in order to rid themselves of slavery or any other shameful thing, go into war, such men, if they fare well in the struggle, have double good fortune, because along with their victory they have also acquired freedom from their troubles, and if defeated they gain some consolation for themselves, in that, they have not of their own free will chosen to follow the worse fortune. but as for those who have the opportunity to be free without fighting, but yet enter into a struggle in order to make their condition of slavery permanent, such men, even if it so happens that they conquer, have failed in the most vital point, and if in the battle they fare less happily than they wished, they will have, along with their general ill-fortune, also the calamity of defeat. as for the neapolitans, then, let these words suffice. but as for these goths who are present, we give them the choice, either to array themselves hereafter on our side under the great emperor, or to go to their homes altogether immune from harm. because, if both you and they, disregarding all these considerations, dare to raise arms against us, it will be necessary for us also, if god so wills, to treat whomever we meet as an enemy. if, however, it is the will of the neapolitans to choose the cause of the emperor and thus to be rid of so cruel a slavery, i take it upon myself, giving you pledges, to promise that you will receive at our hands those benefits which the sicilians lately hoped for, and with regard to which they were unable to say that we had sworn falsely." such was the message which belisarius bade stephanus take back to the people. but privately he promised him large rewards if he should inspire the neapolitans with good-will toward the emperor. and stephanus, upon coming into the city, reported the words of belisarius and expressed his own opinion that it was inexpedient to fight against the emperor. and he was assisted in his efforts by antiochus, a man of syria, but long resident in naples for the purpose of carrying on a shipping business, who had a great reputation there for wisdom and justice. but there were two men, pastor and asclepiodotus, trained speakers and very notable men among the neapolitans, who were exceedingly friendly toward the goths, and quite unwilling to have any change made in the present state of affairs. these two men, planning how they might block the negotiations, induced the multitude to demand many serious concessions, and to try to force belisarius to promise on oath that they should forthwith obtain what they asked for. and after writing down in a document such demands as nobody would have supposed that belisarius would accept, they gave it to stephanus. and he, returning to the emperor's army, shewed the writing to the general, and enquired of him whether he was willing to carry out all the proposals which the neapolitans made and to take an oath concerning them. and belisarius promised that they should all be fulfilled for them and so sent him back. now when the neapolitans heard this, they were in favour of accepting the general's assurances at once and began to urge that the emperor's army be received into the city with all speed. for he declared that nothing unpleasant would befall them, if the case of the sicilians was sufficient evidence for anyone to judge by, since, as he pointed out, it had only recently been their lot, after they had exchanged their barbarian tyrants for the sovereignty of justinian, to be, not only free men, but also immune from all difficulties. and swayed by great excitement they were about to go to the gates with the purpose of throwing them open. and though the goths were not pleased with what they were doing, still, since they were unable to prevent it, they stood out of the way. but pastor and asclepiodotus called together the people and all the goths in one place, and spoke as follows: "it is not at all unnatural that the populace of a city should abandon themselves and their own safety, especially if, without consulting any of their notables, they make an independent decision regarding their all. but it is necessary for us, who are on the very point of perishing together with you, to offer as a last contribution to the fatherland this advice. we see, then, fellow citizens, that you are intent upon betraying both yourselves and the city to belisarius, who promises to confer many benefits upon you and to swear the most solemn oaths in confirmation of his promises. now if he is able to promise you this also, that to him will come the victory in the war, no one could deny that the course you are taking is to your advantage. for it is great folly not to gratify every whim of him who is to become master. but if this outcome lies in uncertainty, and no man in the world is competent to guarantee the decision of fortune, consider what sort of misfortunes your haste is seeking to attain. for if the goths overcome their adversaries in the war, they will punish you as enemies and as having done them the foulest wrong. for you are resorting to this act of treason, not under constraint of necessity, but out of deliberate cowardice. so that even to belisarius, if he wins the victory over his enemies, we shall perhaps appear faithless and betrayers of our rulers, and having proved ourselves deserters, we shall in all probability have a guard set over us permanently by the emperor. for though he who has found a traitor is pleased at the moment of victory by the service rendered, yet afterwards, moved by suspicion based upon the traitor's past, he hates and fears his benefactor, since he himself has in his own possession the evidences of the other's faithlessness. if, however, we shew ourselves faithful to the goths at the present time, manfully submitting to the danger, they will give us great rewards in case they win the mastery over the enemy, and belisarius, if it should so happen that he is the victor, will be prone to forgive. for loyalty which fails is punished by no man unless he be lacking in understanding. but what has happened to you that you are in terror of being besieged by the enemy, you who have no lack of provisions, have not been deprived by blockade of any of the necessities of life, and hence may sit at home, confident in the fortifications and in your garrison here?[35] and in our opinion even belisarius would not have consented to this agreement with us if he had any hope of capturing the city by force. and yet if what he desired were that which is just and that which will be to our advantage, he ought not to be trying to frighten the neapolitans or to establish his own power by means of an act of injustice on our part toward the goths; but he should do battle with theodatus and the goths, so that without danger to us or treason on our part the city might come into the power of the victors." when they had finished speaking, pastor and asclepiodotus brought forward the jews, who promised that the city should be in want of none of the necessities, and the goths on their part promised that they would guard the circuit-wall safely. and the neapolitans, moved by these arguments, bade belisarius depart thence with all speed. he, however, began the siege. and he made many attempts upon the circuit-wall, but was always repulsed, losing many of his soldiers, and especially those who laid some claim to valour. for the wall of naples was inaccessible, on one side by reason of the sea, and on the other because of some difficult country, and those who planned to attack it could gain entrance at no point, not only because of its general situation, but also because the ground sloped steeply. however, belisarius cut the aqueduct which brought water into the city; but he did not in this way seriously disturb the neapolitans, since there were wells inside the circuit-wall which sufficed for their needs and kept them from feeling too keenly the loss of the aqueduct. footnote: [35] _i.e._ the goths; cf. ⧠5 above. ix so the besieged, without the knowledge of the enemy, sent to theodatus in rome begging him to come to their help with all speed. but theodatus was not making the least preparation for war, being by nature unmanly, as has been said before.[36] and they say that something else happened to him, which terrified him exceedingly and reduced him to still greater anxiety. i, for my part, do not credit this report, but even so it shall be told. theodatus even before this time had been prone to make enquiries of those who professed to foretell the future, and on the present occasion he was at a loss what to do in the situation which confronted him--a state which more than anything else is accustomed to drive men to seek prophecies; so he enquired of one of the hebrews, who had a great reputation for prophecy, what sort of an outcome the present war would have. the hebrew commanded him to confine three groups of ten swine each in three huts, and after giving them respectively the names of goths, romans, and the soldiers of the emperor, to wait quietly for a certain number of days. and theodatus did as he was told. and when the appointed day had come, they both went into the huts and looked at the swine; and they found that of those which had been given the name of goths all save two were dead, whereas all except a few were living of those which had received the name of the emperor's soldiers; and as for those which had been called romans, it so happened that, although the hair of all of them had fallen out, yet about half of them survived. when theodatus beheld this and divined the outcome of the war, a great fear, they say, came upon him, since he knew well that it would certainly be the fate of the romans to die to half their number and be deprived of their possessions, but that the goths would be defeated and their race reduced to a few, and that to the emperor would come, with the loss of but a few of his soldiers, the victory in the war. and for this reason, they say, theodatus felt no impulse to enter into a struggle with belisarius. as for this story, then, let each one express his views according to the belief or disbelief which he feels regarding it. but belisarius, as he besieged the neapolitans both by land and by sea, was beginning to be vexed. for he was coming to think that they would never yield to him, and, furthermore, he could not hope that the city would be captured, since he was finding that the difficulty of its position was proving to be a very serious obstacle. and the loss of the time which was being spent there distressed him, for he was making his calculations so as to avoid being compelled to go against theodatus and rome in the winter season. indeed he had already even given orders to the army to pack up, his intention being to depart from there as quickly as possible. but while he was in the greatest perplexity, it came to pass that he met with the following good fortune. one of the isaurians was seized with the desire to observe the construction of the aqueduct, and to discover in what manner it provided the supply of water to the city. so he entered it at a place far distant from the city, where belisarius had broken it open, and proceeded to walk along it, finding no difficulty, since the water had stopped running because the aqueduct had been broken open. but when he reached a point near the circuit-wall, he came upon a large rock, not placed there by the hand of man, but a part of the natural formation of the place. and those who had built the aqueduct many years before, after they had attached the masonry to this rock, proceeded to make a tunnel from that point on, not sufficiently large, however, for a man to pass through, but large enough to furnish a passage for the water. and for this reason it came about that the channel of the aqueduct was not everywhere of the same breadth, but one was confronted by a narrow place at that rock, impassable for a man, especially if he wore armour or carried a shield. and when the isaurian observed this, it seemed to him not impossible for the army to penetrate into the city, if they should make the tunnel at that point broader by a little. but since he himself was a humble person, and never had come into conversation with any of the commanders, he brought the matter before paucaris, an isaurian, who had distinguished himself among the guards of belisarius. so paucaris immediately reported the whole matter to the general. and belisarius, being pleased by the report, took new courage, and by promising to reward the man with great sums of money induced him to attempt the undertaking, and commanded him to associate with himself some of the isaurians and cut out a passage in the rock as quickly as possible, taking care to allow no one to become aware of what they were doing. paucaris then selected some isaurians who were thoroughly suitable for the work, and secretly got inside the aqueduct with them. and coming to the place where the rock caused the passage to be narrow, they began their work, not cutting the rock with picks or mattocks, lest by their blows they should reveal to the enemy what they were doing, but scraping it very persistently with sharp instruments of iron. and in a short time the work was done, so that a man wearing a corselet and carrying a shield was able to go through at that point. but when all his arrangements were at length in complete readiness, the thought occurred to belisarius that if he should by act of war make his entry into naples with the army, the result would be that lives would be lost and that all the other things would happen which usually attend the capture of a city by an enemy. and straightway summoning stephanus, he spoke as follows: "many times have i witnessed the capture of cities and i am well acquainted with what takes place at such a time. for they slay all the men of every age, and as for the women, though they beg to die, they are not granted the boon of death, but are carried off for outrage and are made to suffer treatment that is abominable and most pitiable. and the children, who are thus deprived of their proper maintenance and education, are forced to be slaves, and that, too, of the men who are the most odious of all--those on whose hands they see the blood of their fathers. and this is not all, my dear stephanus, for i make no mention of the conflagration which destroys all the property and blots out the beauty of the city. when i see, as in the mirror of the cities which have been captured in times past, this city of naples falling victim to such a fate, i am moved to pity both it and you its inhabitants. for such means have now been perfected by me against the city that its capture is inevitable. but i pray that an ancient city, which has for ages been inhabited by both christians and romans, may not meet with such a fortune, especially at my hands as commander of roman troops, not least because in my army are a multitude of barbarians, who have lost brothers or relatives before the wall of this town; for the fury of these men i should be unable to control, if they should capture the city by act of war. while, therefore, it is still within your power to choose and to put into effect that which will be to your advantage, adopt the better course and escape misfortune; for when it falls upon you, as it probably will, you will not justly blame fortune but your own judgment." with these words belisarius dismissed stephanus. and he went before the people of naples weeping and reporting with bitter lamentations all that he had heard belisarius say. but they, since it was not fated that the neapolitans should become subjects of the emperor without chastisement, neither became afraid nor did they decide to yield to belisarius. footnote: [36] chap. iii. 1. x then at length belisarius, on his part, made his preparations to enter the city as follows. selecting at nightfall about four hundred men and appointing as commander over them magnus, who led a detachment of cavalry, and ennes, the leader of the isaurians, he commanded them all to put on their corselets, take in hand their shields and swords, and remain quiet until he himself should give the signal. and he summoned bessas[37] and gave him orders to stay with him, for he wished to consult with him concerning a certain matter pertaining to the army. and when it was well on in the night, he explained to magnus and ennes the task before them, pointed out the place where he had previously broken open the aqueduct, and ordered them to lead the four hundred men into the city, taking lights with them and he sent with them two men skilled in the use of the trumpet, so that as soon as they should get inside the circuit-wall, they might be able both to throw the city into confusion and to notify their own men what they were doing. and he himself was holding in readiness a very great number of ladders which had been constructed previously. so these men entered the aqueduct and were proceeding toward the city, while he with bessas and photius[38] remained at his post and with their help was attending to all details. and he also sent to the camp, commanding the men to remain awake and to keep their arms in their hands. at the same time he kept near him a large force--men whom he considered most courageous. now of the men who were on their way to the city above half became terrified at the danger and turned back. and since magnus could not persuade them to follow him, although he urged them again and again, he returned with them to the general. and belisarius, after reviling these men, selected two hundred of the troops at hand, and ordered them to go with magnus. and photius also, wishing to lead them, leaped into the channel of the aqueduct, but belisarius prevented him. then those who were fleeing from the danger, put to shame by the railings of the general and of photius, took heart to face it once more and followed with the others. and belisarius, fearing lest their operations should be perceived by some of the enemy, who were maintaining a guard on the tower which happened to be nearest to the aqueduct, went to that place and commanded bessas to carry on a conversation in the gothic tongue with the barbarians there, his purpose being to prevent any clanging of the weapons from being audible to them. and so bessas shouted to them in a loud voice, urging the goths to yield to belisarius and promising that they should have many rewards. but they jeered at him, indulging in many insults directed at both belisarius and the emperor. belisarius and bessas, then, were thus occupied. now the aqueduct of naples is not only covered until it reaches the wall, but remains covered as it extends to a great distance inside the city, being carried on a high arch of baked brick. consequently, when the men under the command of magnus and ennes had got inside the fortifications, they were one and all unable even to conjecture where in the world they were. furthermore, they could not leave the aqueduct at any point until the foremost of them came to a place where the aqueduct chanced to be without a roof and where stood a building which had entirely fallen into neglect. inside this building a certain woman had her dwelling, living alone with utter poverty as her only companion; and an olive tree had grown out over the aqueduct. so when these men saw the sky and perceived that they were in the midst of the city, they began to plan how they might get out, but they had no means of leaving the aqueduct either with or without their arms. for the structure happened to be very high at that point and, besides, offered no means of climbing to the top. but as the soldiers were in a state of great perplexity and were beginning to crowd each other greatly as they collected there (for already, as the men in the rear kept coming up, a great throng was beginning to gather), the thought occurred to one of them to make trial of the ascent. he immediately therefore laid down his arms, and forcing his way up with hands and feet, reached the woman's house. and seeing her there, he threatened to kill her unless she should remain silent. and she was terror-stricken and remained speechless. he then fastened to the trunk of the olive tree a strong strap, and threw the other end of it into the aqueduct. so the soldiers, laying hold of it one at a time, managed with difficulty to make the ascent. and after all had come up and a fourth part of the night still remained, they proceeded toward the wall; and they slew the garrison of two of the towers before the men in them had an inkling of the trouble. these towers were on the northern portion of the circuit-wall, where belisarius was stationed with bessas and photius, anxiously awaiting the progress of events. so while the trumpeters were summoning the army to the wall, belisarius was placing the ladders against the fortifications and commanding the soldiers to mount them. but it so happened that not one of the ladders reached as far as the parapet. for since the workmen had not made them in sight of the wall, they had not been able to arrive at the proper measure. for this reason they bound two together, and it was only by using both of them for the ascent that the soldiers got above the level of the parapet. such was the progress of these events where belisarius was engaged. but on the side of the circuit-wall which faces the sea, where the forces on guard were not barbarians, but jews, the soldiers were unable either to use the ladders or to scale the wall. for the jews had already given offence to their enemy by having opposed their efforts to capture the city without a fight, and for this reason they had no hope if they should fall into their hands; so they kept fighting stubbornly, although they could see that the city had already been captured, and held out beyond all expectation against the assaults of their opponents. but when day came and some of those who had mounted the wall marched against them, then at last they also, now that they were being shot at from behind, took to flight, and naples was captured by storm. by this time the gates were thrown open and the whole roman army came in. [l] but those who were stationed about the gates which fronted the east, since, as it happened, they had no ladders at hand, set fire to these gates, which were altogether unguarded; for that part of the wall had been deserted, the guards having taken to flight. and then a great slaughter took place; for all of them were possessed with fury, especially those who had chanced to have a brother or other relative slain in the fighting at the wall. and they kept killing all whom they encountered, sparing neither old nor young, and dashing into the houses they made slaves of the women and children and secured the valuables as plunder; and in this the massagetae outdid all the rest, for they did not even withhold their hand from the sanctuaries, but slew many of those who had taken refuge in them, until belisarius, visiting every part of the city, put a stop to this, and calling all together, spoke as follows: date: [l] 536 a.d. "inasmuch as god has given us the victory and has permitted us to attain the greatest height of glory, by putting under our hand a city which has never been captured before, it behooves us on our part to shew ourselves not unworthy of his grace, but by our humane treatment of the vanquished, to make it plain that we have conquered these men justly. do not, therefore, hate the neapolitans with a boundless hatred, and do not allow your hostility toward them to continue beyond the limits of the war. for when men have been vanquished, their victors never hate them any longer. and by killing them you will not be ridding yourselves of enemies for the future, but you will be suffering a loss through the death of your subjects. therefore, do these men no further harm, nor continue to give way wholly to anger. for it is a disgrace to prevail over the enemy and then to shew yourselves vanquished by passion. so let all the possessions of these men suffice for you as the rewards of your valour, but let their wives, together with the children, be given back to the men. and let the conquered learn by experience what kind of friends they have forfeited by reason of foolish counsel." after speaking thus, belisarius released to the neapolitans their women and children and the slaves, one and all, no insult having been experienced by them, and he reconciled the soldiers to the citizens. and thus it came to pass for the neapolitans that on that day they both became captives and regained their liberty, and that they recovered the most precious of their possessions. for those of them who happened to have gold or anything else of value had previously concealed it by burying it in the earth, and in this way they succeeded in hiding from the enemy the fact that in getting back their houses they were recovering their money also. and the siege, which had lasted about twenty days, ended thus. as for the goths who were captured in the city, not less than eight hundred in number, belisarius put them under guard and kept them from all harm, holding them in no less honour than his own soldiers. and pastor, who had been leading the people upon a course of folly, as has been previously[39] set forth by me, upon seeing the city captured, fell into a fit of apoplexy and died suddenly, though he had neither been ill before nor suffered any harm from anyone. but asclepiodotus, who was engaged in this intrigue with him, came before belisarius with those of the notables who survived. and stephanus mocked and reviled him with these words: "see, o basest of all men, what evils you have brought to your fatherland, by selling the safety of the citizens for loyalty to the goths. and furthermore, if things had gone well for the barbarians, you would have claimed the right to be yourself a hireling in their service and to bring to court on the charge of trying to betray the city to the romans each one of us who have given the better counsel. but now that the emperor has captured the city, and we have been saved by the uprightness of this man, and you even so have had the hardihood recklessly to come into the presence of the general as if you had done no harm to the neapolitans or to the emperor's army, you will meet with the punishment you deserve." such were the words which stephanus, who was deeply grieved by the misfortune of the city, hurled against asclepiodotus. and asclepiodotus replied to him as follows: "quite unwittingly, noble sir, you have been heaping praise upon us, when you reproach us for our loyalty to the goths. for no one could ever be loyal to his masters when they are in danger, except it be by firm conviction. as for me, then, the victors will have in me as true a guardian of the state as they lately found in me an enemy, since he whom nature has endowed with the quality of fidelity does not change his conviction when he changes his fortune. but you, should their fortunes not continue to prosper as before, would readily listen to the overtures of their assailants. for he who has the disease of inconstancy of mind no sooner takes fright than he denies his pledge to those most dear." such were the words of asclepiodotus. but the populace of the neapolitans, when they saw him returning from belisarius, gathered in a body and began to charge him with responsibility for all that had befallen them. and they did not leave him until they had killed him and torn his body into small pieces. after that they came to the house of pastor, seeking for the man. and when the servants insisted that pastor was dead, they were quite unwilling to believe them until they were shown the man's body. and the neapolitans impaled him in the outskirts of the town. then they begged belisarius to pardon them for what they had done while moved with just anger, and receiving his forgiveness, they dispersed. such was the fate of the neapolitans. footnotes: [37] cf. chap. v. 3. [38] cf. chap. v. 5. [39] chap. viii. 22. xi but the goths who were at rome and in the country round about had even before this regarded with great amazement the inactivity of theodatus, because, though the enemy was in his neighbourhood, he was unwilling to engage them in battle, and they felt among themselves much suspicion toward him, believing that he was betraying the cause of the goths to the emperor justinian of his own free will, and cared for nothing else than that he himself might live in quiet, possessed of as much money as possible. accordingly, when they heard that naples had been captured, they began immediately to make all these charges against him openly and gathered at a place two hundred and eighty stades distant from rome, which the romans call regata.[40] and it seemed best to them to make camp in that place; for there are extensive plains there which furnish pasture for horses. and a river also flows by the place, which the inhabitants call decennovium[41] in the latin tongue, because it flows past nineteen milestones, a distance which amounts to one hundred and thirteen stades, before it empties into the sea near the city of taracina; and very near that place is mt. circaeum, where they say odysseus met circe, though the story seems to me untrustworthy, for homer declares that the habitation of circe was on an island. this, however, i am able to say, that this mt. circaeum, extending as it does far into the sea, resembles an island, so that both to those who sail close to it and to those who walk to the shore in the neighbourhood it has every appearance of being an island. and only when a man gets on it does he realize that he was deceived in his former opinion. and for this reason homer perhaps called the place an island. but i shall return to the previous narrative. the goths, after gathering at regata, chose as king over them and the italians vittigis, a man who, though not of a conspicuous house, had previously won great renown in the battles about sirmium, when theoderic was carrying on the war against the gepaedes.[42] theodatus, therefore, upon hearing this, rushed off in flight and took the road to ravenna. but vittigis quickly sent optaris, a goth, instructing him to bring theodatus alive or dead. now it happened that this optaris was hostile to theodatus for the following cause. optaris was wooing a certain young woman who was an heiress and also exceedingly beautiful to look upon. but theodatus, being bribed to do so, took the woman he was wooing from him, and betrothed her to another. and so, since he was not only satisfying his own rage, but rendering a service to vittigis as well, he pursued theodatus with great eagerness and enthusiasm, stopping neither day nor night. and he overtook him while still on his way, laid him on his back on the ground, and slew him like a victim for sacrifice. such was the end of theodatus' life and of his rule, which had reached the third year.[m] date: [m]dec. 536 a.d. and vittigis, together with the goths who were with him, marched to rome. and when he learned what had befallen theodatus, he was pleased and put theodatus' son theodegisclus under guard. but it seemed to him that the preparations of the goths were by no means complete, and for this reason he thought it better first to go to ravenna, and after making everything ready there in the best possible way, then at length to enter upon the war. he therefore called all the goths together and spoke as follows: "the success of the greatest enterprises, fellow-soldiers, generally depends, not upon hasty action at critical moments, but upon careful planning. for many a time a policy of delay adopted at the opportune moment has brought more benefit than the opposite course, and haste displayed at an unseasonable time has upset for many men their hope of success. for in most cases those who are unprepared, though they fight on equal terms so far as their forces are concerned, are more easily conquered than those who, with less strength, enter the struggle with the best possible preparation. let us not, therefore, be so lifted up by the desire to win momentary honour as to do ourselves irreparable harm; for it is better to suffer shame for a short time and by so doing gain an undying glory, than to escape insult for the moment and thereby, as would probably be the case, be left in obscurity for all after time. and yet you doubtless know as well as i that the great body of the goths and practically our whole equipment of arms is in gaul and venetia and the most distant lands. furthermore, we are carrying on against the nations of the franks a war which is no less important than this one, and it is great folly for us to proceed to another war without first settling that one satisfactorily. for it is natural that those who become exposed to attack on two sides and do not confine their attention to a single enemy should be worsted by their opponents. but i say that we must now go straight from here to ravenna, and after bringing the war against the franks to an end and settling all our other affairs as well as possible, then with the whole army of the goths we must fight it out with belisarius. and let no one of you, i say, try to dissemble regarding this withdrawal, nor hesitate to call it flight. for the title of coward, fittingly applied, has saved many, while the reputation for bravery which some men have gained at the wrong time, has afterward led them to defeat. for it is not the names of things, but the advantage which comes from what is done, that is worth seeking after. for a man's worth is revealed by his deeds, not at their commencement, but at their end. and those do not flee before the enemy who, when they have increased their preparation, forthwith go against them, but those who are so anxious to save their own lives for ever that they deliberately stand aside. and regarding the capture of this city, let no fear come to any one of you. for if, on the one hand, the romans are loyal to us, they will guard the city in security for the goths, and they will not experience any hardship, for we shall return to them in a short time. and if, on the other hand, they harbour any suspicions toward us, they will harm us less by receiving the enemy into the city; for it is better to fight in the open against one's enemies. none the less i shall take care that nothing of this sort shall happen. for we shall leave behind many men and a most discreet leader, and they will be sufficient to guard rome so effectively that not only will the situation here be favourable for us, but also that no harm may possibly come from this withdrawal of ours." thus spoke vittigis. and all the goths expressed approval and prepared for the journey. after this vittigis exhorted at length silverius, the priest[43] of the city, and the senate and people of the romans, reminding them of the rule of theoderic, and he urged upon all to be loyal to the nation of the goths, binding them by the most solemn oaths to do so; and he chose out no fewer than four thousand men, and set in command over them leuderis, a man of mature years who enjoyed a great reputation for discretion, that they might guard rome for the goths. then he set out for ravenna with the rest of the army, keeping the most of the senators with him as hostages. and when he had reached that place, he made matasuntha, the daughter of amalasuntha, who was a maiden now of marriageable age, his wedded wife, much against her will, in order that he might make his rule more secure by marrying into the family of theoderic. after this he began to gather all the goths from every side and to organize and equip them, duly distributing arms and horses to each one; and only the goths who were engaged in garrison duty in gaul he was unable to summon, through fear of the franks. these franks were called "germani" in ancient times. and the manner in which they first got a foothold in gaul, and where they had lived before that, and how they became hostile to the goths, i shall now proceed to relate. footnotes: [40] near terracina. [41] the name is made from _decem_ and _novem_, "nineteen,"--apparently a late formation. the "river" was in reality a canal, extending from appii forum to terracina. [42] chap. iii. 15. [43] silverius was pope 536-537 a.d. xii as one sails from the ocean into the mediterranean at gadira, the land on the left, as was stated in the preceding narrative,[44] is named europe, while the land opposite to this is called libya, and, farther on, asia. now as to the region beyond libya[45] i am unable to speak with accuracy;[46] for it is almost wholly destitute of men, and for this reason the first source of the nile, which they say flows from that land toward egypt, is quite unknown. but europe at its very beginning is exceedingly like the peloponnesus, and fronts the sea on either side. and the land which is first toward the ocean and the west is named spain, extending as far as the alps of the pyrenees range. for the men of this country are accustomed to call a narrow, shut-in pass "alps." and the land from there on as far as the boundaries of liguria is called gaul. and in that place other alps separate the gauls and the ligurians. gaul, however, is much broader than spain, and naturally so, because europe, beginning with a narrow peninsula, gradually widens as one advances until it attains an extraordinary breadth. and this land is bounded by water on either side, being washed on the north by the ocean, and having on the south the sea called the tuscan sea. and in gaul there flow numerous rivers, among which are the rhone and the rhine. but the course of these two being in opposite directions, the one empties into the tuscan sea, while the rhine empties into the ocean. and there are many lakes[47] in that region, and this is where the germans lived of old, a barbarous nation, not of much consequence in the beginning, who are now called franks. next to these lived the arborychi,[48] who, together with all the rest of gaul, and, indeed, spain also, were subjects of the romans from of old. and beyond them toward the east were settled the thuringian barbarians, augustus, the first emperor, having given them this country.[49] and the burgundians lived not far from them toward the south,[50] and the suevi[51] also lived beyond the thuringians, and the alamani,[52] powerful nations. all these were settled there as independent peoples in earlier times. but as time went on, the visigoths forced their way into the roman empire and seized all spain and the portion of gaul lying beyond[53] the rhone river and made them subject and tributary to themselves. by that time it so happened that the arborychi had become soldiers of the romans. and the germans, wishing to make this people subject to themselves, since their territory adjoined their own and they had changed the government under which they had lived from of old, began to plunder their land and, being eager to make war, marched against them with their whole people. but the arborychi proved their valour and loyalty to the romans and shewed themselves brave men in this war, and since the germans were not able to overcome them by force, they wished to win them over and make the two peoples kin by intermarriage. this suggestion the arborychi received not at all unwillingly; for both, as it happened, were christians. and in this way they were united into one people, and came to have great power. now other roman soldiers, also, had been stationed at the frontiers of gaul to serve as guards. and these soldiers, having no means of returning to rome, and at the same time being unwilling to yield to their enemy[54] who were arians, gave themselves, together with their military standards and the land which they had long been guarding for the romans, to the arborychi and germans; and they handed down to their offspring all the customs of their fathers, which were thus preserved, and this people has held them in sufficient reverence to guard them even up to my time. for even at the present day they are clearly recognized as belonging to the legions to which they were assigned when they served in ancient times, and they always carry their own standards when they enter battle, and always follow the customs of their fathers. and they preserve the dress of the romans in every particular, even as regards their shoes. now as long as the roman polity remained unchanged,[55] the emperor held all gaul as far as the rhone river; but when odoacer changed the government into a tyranny, [n] then, since the tyrant yielded to them, the visigoths took possession of all gaul as far as the alps which mark the boundary between gaul and liguria. [o]but after the fall of odoacer, the thuringians and the visigoths began to fear the power of the germans, which was now growing greater (for their country had become exceedingly populous and they were forcing into subjection without any concealment those who from time to time came in their way), and so they were eager to win the alliance of the goths and theoderic. and since theoderic wished to attach these peoples to himself, he did not refuse to intermarry with them. accordingly he betrothed to alaric the younger, who was then leader of the visigoths, his own unmarried daughter theodichusa, and to hermenefridus, the ruler of the thuringians, amalaberga, the daughter of his sister amalafrida. as a result of this the franks refrained from violence against these peoples through fear of theoderic, but they began a war against the burgundians. but later on the franks and the goths entered into an offensive alliance against the burgundians, agreeing that each of the two should send an army against them; and it was further agreed that if either army should be absent when the other took the field against the nation of the burgundians and overthrew them and gained the land which they had, then the victors should receive as a penalty from those who had not joined in the expedition a fixed sum of gold, and that only on these terms should the conquered land belong to both peoples in common. so the germans went against the burgundians with a great army according to the agreement between themselves and the goths; but theoderic was still engaged with his preparations, as he said, and purposely kept putting off the departure of the army to the following day, and waiting for what would come to pass. finally, however, he sent the army, but commanded the generals to march in a leisurely fashion, and if they should hear that the franks had been victorious, they were thenceforth to go quickly, but if they should learn that any adversity had befallen them, they were to proceed no farther, but remain where they were. so they proceeded to carry out the commands of theoderic, but meanwhile the germans joined battle alone with the burgundians.[p] the battle was stubbornly contested and a great slaughter took place on both sides, for the struggle was very evenly matched; but finally the franks routed their enemy and drove them to the borders of the land which they inhabited at that time, where they had many strongholds, while the franks took possession of all the rest. and the goths, upon hearing this, were quickly at hand. and when they were bitterly reproached by their allies, they blamed the difficulty of the country, and laying down the amount of the penalty, they divided the land with the victors according to the agreement made. and thus the foresight of theoderic was revealed more clearly than ever, because, without losing a single one of his subjects, he had with a little gold acquired half of the land of his enemy. thus it was that the goths and germans in the beginning got possession of a certain part of gaul. 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. 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, ⧠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. but after the aqueducts had been broken open, as i have stated, the water no longer worked the mills, and the romans were quite unable to operate them with any kind of animals owing to the scarcity of all food in time of siege; indeed they were scarcely able to provide for the horses which were indispensable to them. and so belisarius hit upon the following device. just below the bridge[102] which i lately mentioned as being connected with the circuit-wall, he fastened ropes from the two banks of the river and stretched them as tight as he could, and then attached to them two boats side by side and two feet apart, where the flow of the water comes down from the arch of the bridge with the greatest force, and placing two mills on either boat, he hung between them the mechanism by which mills are customarily turned. and below these he fastened other boats, each attached to the one next behind in order, and he set the water-wheels between them in the same manner for a great distance. so by the force of the flowing water all the wheels, one after the other, were made to revolve independently, and thus they worked the mills with which they were connected and ground sufficient flour for the city. now when the enemy learned this from the deserters, they destroyed the wheels in the following manner. they gathered large trees and bodies of romans newly slain and kept throwing them into the river; and the most of these were carried with the current between the boats and broke off the mill-wheels. but belisarius, observing what was being done, contrived the following device against it. he fastened above the bridge long iron chains, which reached completely across the tiber. all the objects which the river brought down struck upon these chains, and gathered there and went no farther. and those to whom this work was assigned kept pulling out these objects as they came and bore them to the land. and belisarius did this, not so much on account of the mills, as because he began to think with alarm that the enemy might get inside the bridge at this point with many boats and be in the middle of the city before their presence became known. thus the barbarians abandoned the attempt, since they met with no success in it. and thereafter the romans continued to use these mills; but they were entirely excluded from the baths because of the scarcity of water. however, they had sufficient water to drink, since even for those who lived very far from the river it was possible to draw water from wells. but as for the sewers, which carry out from the city whatever is unclean, belisarius was not forced to devise any plan of safety, for they all discharge into the tiber river, and therefore it was impossible for any plot to be made against the city by the enemy in connection with them. footnotes: [96] this is an error. procopius means the porta cornelia. [97] according to tradition the basilica of st. peter was built over the grave of the apostle. [98] the aurelian. [99] the janiculum. [100] the wall described was a part of the wall of aurelian. [101] this is an exaggeration; the channels vary from four to eight feet in height. [102] the pons aurelius. see section 10 of this chapter. xx thus, then, did belisarius make his arrangements for the siege. and among the samnites a large company of children, who were pasturing flocks in their own country, chose out two among them who were well favoured in strength of body, and calling one of them by the name of belisarius, and naming the other vittigis, bade them wrestle. and they entered into the struggle with the greatest vehemence and it so fell out that the one who impersonated vittigis was thrown. then the crowd of boys in play hung him to a tree. but a wolf by some chance appeared there, whereupon the boys all fled, and the one called vittigis, who was suspended from the tree, remained for some time suffering this punishment and then died. and when this became known to the samnites, they did not inflict any punishment upon these children, but divining the meaning of the incident declared that belisarius would conquer decisively. so much for this. but the populace of rome were entirely unacquainted with the evils of war and siege. when, therefore, they began to be distressed by their inability to bathe and the scarcity of provisions, and found themselves obliged to forgo sleep in guarding the circuit-wall, and suspected that the city would be captured at no distant date; and when, at the same time, they saw the enemy plundering their fields and other possessions, they began to be dissatisfied and indignant that they, who had done no wrong, should suffer siege and be brought into peril of such magnitude. and gathering in groups by themselves, they railed openly against belisarius, on the ground that he had dared to take the field against the goths before he had received an adequate force from the emperor. and these reproaches against belisarius were secretly indulged in also by the members of the council which they call the senate. and vittigis, hearing all this from the deserters and desiring to embroil them with one another still more, and thinking that in this way the affairs of the romans would be thrown into great confusion, sent to belisarius some envoys, among whom was albis. and when these men came before belisarius, they spoke as follows in the presence of the roman senators and all the commanders of the army: "from of old, general, mankind has made true and proper distinctions in the names they give to things; and one of these distinctions is this--rashness is different from bravery. for rashness, when it takes possession of a man, brings him into danger with discredit, but bravery bestows upon him an adequate prize in reputation for valour. now one of these two has brought you against us, but which it is you will straightway make clear. for if, on the one hand, you placed your confidence in bravery when you took the field against the goths, there is ample opportunity, noble sir, for you to do the deeds of a brave man, since you have only to look down from your wall to see the army of the enemy; but if, on the other hand, it was because you were possessed by rashness that you came to attack us, certainly you now repent you of the reckless undertaking. for the opinions of those who have made a desperate venture are wont to undergo a change whenever they find themselves in serious straits. now, therefore, do not cause the sufferings of these romans to be prolonged any further, men whom theoderic fostered in a life not only of soft luxury but also of freedom, and cease your resistance to him who is the master both of the goths and of the italians. is it not monstrous that you should sit in rome hemmed in as you are and in abject terror of the enemy, while the king of this city passes his time in a fortified camp and inflicts the evils of war upon his own subjects? but we shall give both you and your followers an opportunity to take your departure forthwith in security, retaining all your possessions. for to trample upon those who have learned to take a new view of prudence we consider neither holy nor worthy of the ways of men. and, further, we should gladly ask these romans what complaints they could have had against the goths that they betrayed both us and themselves, seeing that up to this time they have enjoyed our kindness, and now are acquainted by experience with the assistance to be expected from you." thus spoke the envoys. and belisarius replied as follows: "it is not to rest with you to choose the moment for conference. for men are by no means wont to wage war according to the judgment of their enemies, but it is customary for each one to arrange his own affairs for himself, in whatever manner seems to him best. but i say to you that there will come a time when you will want to hide your heads under the thistles but will find no shelter anywhere. as for rome, moreover, which we have captured, in holding it we hold nothing which belongs to others, but it was you who trespassed upon this city in former times, though it did not belong to you at all, and now you have given it back, however unwillingly, to its ancient possessors. and whoever of you has hopes of setting foot in rome without a fight is mistaken in his judgment. for as long as belisarius lives, it is impossible for him to relinquish this city." such were the words of belisarius. but the romans, being overcome by a great fear, sat in silence, and, even though they were abused by the envoys at length for their treason to the goths, dared make no reply to them, except, indeed, that fidelius saw fit to taunt them. this man was then praetorian prefect, having been appointed to the office by belisarius, and for this reason he seemed above all others to be well disposed toward the emperor. xxi the envoys then betook themselves to their own army. and when vittigis enquired of them what manner of man belisarius was and how his purpose stood with regard to the question of withdrawing from rome, they replied that the goths were hoping for vain things if they supposed that they would frighten belisarius in any way whatsoever. and when vittigis heard this, he began in great earnest to plan an assault upon the wall, and the preparations he made for the attempt upon the fortifications were as follows. he constructed wooden towers equal in height to the enemy's wall, and he discovered its true measure by making many calculations based upon the courses of stone. and wheels were attached to the floor of these towers under each corner, which were intended, as they turned, to move the towers to any point the attacking army might wish at a given time, and the towers were drawn by oxen yoked together. after this he made ready a great number of ladders, that would reach as far as the parapet, and four engines which are called rams. now this engine is of the following sort. four upright wooden beams, equal in length, are set up opposite one another. to these beams they fit eight horizontal timbers, four above and an equal number at the base, thus binding them together. after they have thus made the frame of a four-sided building, they surround it on all sides, not with walls of wood or stone, but with a covering of hides, in order that the engine may be light for those who draw it and that those within may still be in the least possible danger of being shot by their opponents. and on the inside they hang another horizontal beam from the top by means of chains which swing free, and they keep it at about the middle of the interior. they then sharpen the end of this beam and cover it with a large iron head, precisely as they cover the round point of a missile, or they sometimes make the iron head square like an anvil. and the whole structure is raised upon four wheels, one being attached to each upright beam, and men to the number of no fewer than fifty to each ram move it from the inside. then when they apply it to the wall, they draw back the beam which i have just mentioned by turning a certain mechanism, and then they let it swing forward with great force against the wall. and this beam by frequent blows is able quite easily to batter down and tear open a wall wherever it strikes, and it is for this reason that the engine has the name it bears, because the striking end of the beam, projecting as it does, is accustomed to butt against whatever it may encounter, precisely as do the males among sheep. such, then, are the rams used by the assailants of a wall. and the goths were holding in readiness an exceedingly great number of bundles of faggots, which they had made of pieces of wood and reeds, in order that by throwing them into the moat they might make the ground level, and that their engines might not be prevented from crossing it. now after the goths had made their preparations in this manner, they were eager to make an assault upon the wall. but belisarius placed upon the towers engines which they call "ballistae."[103] now these engines have the form of a bow, but on the under side of them a grooved wooden shaft projects; this shaft is so fitted to the bow that it is free to move, and rests upon a straight iron bed. so when men wish to shoot at the enemy with this, they make the parts of the bow which form the ends bend toward one another by means of a short rope fastened to them, and they place in the grooved shaft the arrow, which is about one half the length of the ordinary missiles which they shoot from bows, but about four times as wide. however, it does not have feathers of the usual sort attached to it, but by inserting thin pieces of wood in place of feathers, they give it in all respects the form of an arrow, making the point which they put on very large and in keeping with its thickness. and the men who stand on either side wind it up tight by means of certain appliances, and then the grooved shaft shoots forward and stops, but the missile is discharged from the shaft,[104] and with such force that it attains the distance of not less than two bow-shots, and that, when it hits a tree or a rock, it pierces it easily. such is the engine which bears this name, being so called because it shoots with very great force.[105] and they fixed other engines along the parapet of the wall adapted for throwing stones. now these resemble slings and are called "wild asses."[106] and outside the gates they placed "wolves,"[107] which they make in the following manner. they set up two timbers which reach from the ground to the battlements; then they fit together beams which have been mortised to one another, placing some upright and others crosswise, so that the spaces between the intersections appear as a succession of holes. and from every joint there projects a kind of beak, which resembles very closely a thick goad. then they fasten the cross-beams to the two upright timbers, beginning at the top and letting them extend half way down, and then lean the timbers back against the gates. and whenever the enemy come up near them, those above lay hold of the ends of the timbers and push, and these, falling suddenly upon the assailants, easily kill with the projecting beaks as many as they may catch. so belisarius was thus engaged. footnotes: [103] cf. the description of the ballista and other engines of war in ammianus marcellinus, xxii. iv. the engine here described by procopius is the catapult of earlier times; the ballista hurled stones, not arrows. see the classical dictionaries for illustrations. [104] the "shaft" is a holder for the missile, and it (not the missile) is driven by the bowstring. when the holder stops, the missile goes on. [105] a popular etymology of [greek: bã¡llistra], a corrupted form of [greek: bã¡llista]; the point is in the greek words [greek: bã¡llo] + [greek: mã¡lista], an etymology correct only as far as [greek: bã¡llo] is concerned. [106] called also "scorpions"; described by ammianus, _l.c._ [107] this contrivance was not one familiar to classical times. the "lupi" of livy xxviii. iii. were hooks; vegetius, _de re militari_, ii. 25 and iv. 23, mentions "lupi" (also hooks), used to put a battering-ram out of action. xxii on the eighteenth day from the beginning of the siege the goths moved against the fortifications at about sunrise under the leadership of vittigis in order to assault the wall, and all the romans were struck with consternation at the sight of the advancing towers and rams, with which they were altogether unfamiliar. but belisarius, seeing the ranks of the enemy as they advanced with the engines, began to laugh, and commanded the soldiers to remain quiet and under no circumstances to begin fighting until he himself should give the signal. now the reason why he laughed he did not reveal at the moment, but later it became known. the romans, however, supposing him to be hiding his real feelings by a jest, abused him and called him shameless, and were indignant that he did not try to check the enemy as they came forward. but when the goths came near the moat, the general first of all stretched his bow and with a lucky aim hit in the neck and killed one of the men in armour who were leading the army on. and he fell on his back mortally wounded, while the whole roman army raised an extraordinary shout such as was never heard before, thinking that they had received an excellent omen. and twice did belisarius send forth his bolt, and the very same thing happened again a second time, and the shouting rose still louder from the circuit-wall, and the romans thought that the enemy were conquered already. then belisarius gave the signal for the whole army to put their bows into action, but those near himself he commanded to shoot only at the oxen. and all the oxen fell immediately, so that the enemy could neither move the towers further nor in their perplexity do anything to meet the emergency while the fighting was in progress. in this way the forethought of belisarius in not trying to check the enemy while still at a great distance came to be understood, as well as the reason why he had laughed at the simplicity of the barbarians, who had been so thoughtless as to hope to bring oxen up to the enemy's wall. now all this took place at the salarian gate. but vittigis, repulsed at this point, left there a large force of goths, making of them a very deep phalanx and instructing the commanders on no condition to make an assault upon the fortifications, but remaining in position to shoot rapidly at the parapet, and give belisarius no opportunity whatever to take reinforcements to any other part of the wall which he himself might propose to attack with a superior force; he then went to the praenestine gate with a great force, to a part of the fortifications which the romans call the "vivarium,"[108] where the wall was most assailable. now it so happened that engines of war were already there, including towers and rams and a great number of ladders. but in the meantime another gothic assault was being made at the aurelian gate[109] in the following manner. the tomb of the roman emperor hadrian[110] stands outside the aurelian gate, removed about a stone's throw from the fortifications, a very noteworthy sight. for it is made of parian marble, and the stones fit closely one upon the other, having nothing at all[111] between them. and it has four sides which are all equal, each being about a stone's throw in length, while their height exceeds that of the city wall; and above there are statues of the same marble, representing men and horses, of wonderful workmanship.[112] but since this tomb seemed to the men of ancient times a fortress threatening the city, they enclosed it by two walls, which extend to it from the circuit-wall,[113] and thus made it a part of the wall. and, indeed, it gives the appearance of a high tower built as a bulwark before the gate there. so the fortifications at that point were most adequate. now constantinus, as it happened, had been appointed by belisarius to have charge of the garrison at this tomb. and he had instructed him also to attend to the guarding of the adjoining wall, which had a small and inconsiderable garrison. for, since that part of the circuit-wall was the least assailable of all, because the river flows along it, he supposed that no assault would be made there, and so stationed an insignificant garrison at that place, and, since the soldiers he had were few, he assigned the great majority to the positions where there was most need of them. for the emperor's army gathered in rome at the beginning of this siege amounted at most to only five thousand men. but since it was reported to constantinus that the enemy were attempting the crossing of the tiber, he became fearful for that part of the fortifications and went thither himself with all speed, accompanied by some few men to lend assistance, commanding the greater part of his men to attend to the guarding of the gate and the tomb. but meanwhile the goths began an assault upon the aurelian gate and the tower of hadrian, and though they had no engines of war, they brought up a great quantity of ladders, and thought that by shooting a vast number of arrows they would very easily reduce the enemy to a state of helplessness and overpower the garrison there without any trouble on account of its small numbers. and as they advanced, they held before them shields no smaller than the long shields used by the persians, and they succeeded in getting very close to their opponents without being perceived by them. for they came hidden under the colonnade which extends[114] to the church of the apostle peter. from that shelter they suddenly appeared and began the attack, so that the guards were neither able to use the engine called the ballista (for these engines do not send their missiles except straight out), nor, indeed, could they ward off their assailants with their arrows, since the situation was against them on account of the large shields. but the goths kept pressing vigorously upon them, shooting many missiles at the battlements, and they were already about to set their ladders against the wall, having practically surrounded those who were fighting from the tomb; for whenever the goths advanced they always got in the rear of the romans on both flanks[115]; and for a short time consternation fell upon the romans, who knew not what means of defence they should employ to save themselves, but afterwards by common agreement they broke in pieces the most of the statues, which were very large, and taking up great numbers of stones thus secured, threw them with both hands down upon the heads of the enemy, who gave way before this shower of missiles. and as they retreated a little way, the romans, having by now the advantage, plucked up courage, and with a mighty shout began to drive back their assailants by using their bows and hurling stones at them. and putting their hands to the engines, they reduced their opponents to great fear, and their assault was quickly ended. and by this time constantinus also was present, having frightened back those who had tried the river and easily driven them off, because they did not find the wall there entirely unguarded, as they had supposed they would. and thus safety was restored at the aurelian gate.[116] footnotes: [108] see chap. xxiii. 15-17 and note. [109] procopius errs again (cf. chap. xix. 4). he means the porta cornelia. [110] now called castello di sant' angelo. [111] _i.e._ no mortar or other binding material. [112] the square structure was the base of the monument, each side measuring 300 roman feet in length and 85 feet in height. above this rose a cylindrical drum, surrounded by columns and carrying the statues, and perhaps capped by a second drum. for details see jordan, _topographie der stadt rom_, iii. 663 ff. [113] procopius neglects to say that the tomb was across the river from the circuit-wall at this point, at the end of a bridge (pons aelius) which faced the gate (porta cornelia) which he calls the aurelian gate. [114] from the pons aelius. [115] because of the quadrangular shape of the building the goths were able to take their enemy in flank and in rear by advancing beyond the corners. [116] _i.e._ the cornelian. xxiii but at the gate beyond the tiber river, which is called the pancratian gate, a force of the enemy came, but accomplished nothing worth mentioning because of the strength of the place; for the fortifications of the city at this point are on a steep elevation and are not favourably situated for assaults. paulus was keeping guard there with an infantry detachment which he commanded in person. in like manner they made no attempt on the flaminian gate, because it is situated on a precipitous slope and is not very easy of access. the "reges,"[117] an infantry detachment, were keeping guard there with ursicinus, who commanded them. and between this gate and the small gate next on the right, which is called the pincian, a certain portion of the wall had split open of its own accord in ancient times, not clear to the ground, however, but about half way down, but still it had not fallen or been otherwise destroyed, though it leaned so to either side that one part of it appeared outside the rest of the wall and the other inside. and from this circumstance the romans from ancient times have called the place "broken wall"[118] in their own tongue. but when belisarius in the beginning undertook to tear down this portion and rebuild it, the romans prevented him, declaring that the apostle peter had promised them that he would care for the guarding of the wall there. this apostle is reverenced by the romans and held in awe above all others. and the outcome of events at this place was in all respects what the romans contemplated and expected. for neither on that day nor throughout the whole time during which the goths were besieging rome did any hostile force come to that place, nor did any disturbance occur there. and we marvelled indeed that it never occurred to us nor to the enemy to remember this portion of the fortifications during the whole time, either while they were making their assaults or carrying out their designs against the wall by night; and yet many such attempts were made. it was for this reason, in fact, that at a later time also no one ventured to rebuild this part of the defences, but up to the present day the wall there is split open in this way. so much, then, for this. and at the salarian gate a goth of goodly stature and a capable warrior, wearing a corselet and having a helmet on his head, a man who was of no mean station in the gothic nation, refused to remain in the ranks with his comrades, but stood by a tree and kept shooting many missiles at the parapet. but this man by some chance was hit by a missile from an engine which was on a tower at his left. and passing through the corselet and the body of the man, the missile sank more than half its length into the tree, and pinning him to the spot where it entered the tree, it suspended him there a corpse. and when this was seen by the goths they fell into great fear, and getting outside the range of missiles, they still remained in line, but no longer harassed those on the wall. but bessas and peranius summoned belisarius, since vittigis was pressing most vigorously upon them at the vivarium. and he was fearful concerning the wall there (for it was most assailable at that point, as has been said[119]), and so came to the rescue himself with all speed, leaving one of his friends at the salarian gate. and finding that the soldiers in the vivarium dreaded the attack of the enemy, which was being pressed with great vigour and by very large numbers, he bade them look with contempt upon the enemy and thus restored their confidence. now the ground there[120] was very level, and consequently the place lay open to the attacks of any assailant. and for some reason the wall at that point had crumbled a great deal, and to such an extent that the binding of the bricks did not hold together very well. consequently the ancient romans had built another wall of short length outside of it and encircling it, not for the sake of safety (for it was neither strengthened with towers, nor indeed was there any battlement built upon it, nor any other means by which it would have been possible to repulse an enemy's assault upon the fortifications), but in order to provide for an unseemly kind of luxury, namely, that they might confine and keep there lions and other wild animals. and it is for this reason that this place has been named the vivarium; for thus the romans call a place where untamed animals are regularly cared for. so vittigis began to make ready various engines at different places along the wall and commanded the goths to mine the outside wall, thinking that, if they should get inside that, they would have no trouble in capturing the main wall, which he knew to be by no means strong. but belisarius, seeing that the enemy was undermining the vivarium and assaulting the fortifications at many places, neither allowed the soldiers to defend the wall nor to remain at the battlement, except a very few, although he had with him whatever men of distinction the army contained. but he held them all in readiness below about the gates, with their corselets on and carrying only swords in their hands. and when the goths, after making a breach in the wall, got inside the vivarium, he quickly sent cyprian with some others into the enclosure against them, commanding them to set to work. and they slew all who had broken in, for these made no defence and at the same time were being destroyed by one another in the cramped space about the exit. and since the enemy were thrown into dismay by the sudden turn of events and were not drawn up in order, but were rushing one in one direction and one in another, belisarius suddenly opened the gates of the circuit-wall and sent out his entire army against his opponents. and the goths had not the least thought of resistance, but rushed off in flight in any and every direction, while the romans, following them up, found no difficulty in killing all whom they fell in with, and the pursuit proved a long one, since the goths, in assaulting the wall at that place, were far away from their own camps. then belisarius gave the order to burn the enemy's engines, and the flames, rising to a great height, naturally increased the consternation of the fugitives. meanwhile it chanced that the same thing happened at the salarian gate also. for the romans suddenly opened the gates and fell unexpectedly upon the barbarians, and, as these made no resistance but turned their backs, slew them; and they burned the engines of war which were within their reach. and the flames at many parts of the wall rose to a great height, and the goths were already being forced to retire from the whole circuit-wall; and the shouting on both sides was exceedingly loud, as the men on the wall urged on the pursuers, and those in the camps bewailed the overwhelming calamity they had suffered. among the goths there perished on that day thirty thousand, as their leaders declared, and a larger number were wounded; for since they were massed in great numbers, those fighting from the battlement generally hit somebody when they shot at them, and at the same time those who made the sallies destroyed an extraordinary number of terrified and fleeing men. and the fighting at the wall, which had commenced early in the morning, did not end until late in the afternoon. during that night, then, both armies bivouacked where they were, the romans singing the song of victory on the fortifications and lauding belisarius to the skies, having with them the spoils stripped from the fallen, while the goths cared for their wounded and bewailed their dead. footnotes: [117] "no doubt these are the same as the _regii_, one of the seventeen 'auxilia palatina' under the command of the magister militum praesentalis, mentioned in the _notitia orientis_, chap. v."--hodgkin. [118] murus ruptus. "here, to this day, notwithstanding some lamentable and perfectly unnecessary 'restorations' of recent years, may be seen some portions of the muro torto, a twisted, bulging, overhanging mass of _opus reticulatum_."--hodgkin. [119] chap. xxii. 10. [120] the exact location is hard to determine; the majority of the authorities agree on the location given in the plan (opposite p. 185), near the porta labicana. xxiv and belisarius wrote a letter to the emperor of the following purport: "we have arrived in italy, as thou didst command, and we have made ourselves masters of much territory in it and have taken possession of rome also, after driving out the barbarians who were here, whose leader, leuderis, i have recently sent to you. but since we have stationed a great number of soldiers both in sicily and in italy to guard the strongholds which we have proved able to capture, our army has in consequence been reduced to only five thousand men. but the enemy have come against us, gathered together to the number of one hundred and fifty thousand. and first of all, when we went out to spy upon their forces along the tiber river and were compelled, contrary to our intention, to engage with them, we lacked only a little of being buried under a multitude of spears. and after this, when the barbarians attacked the wall with their whole army and assaulted the fortifications at every point with sundry engines of war, they came within a little of capturing both us and the city at the first onset, and they would have succeeded had not some chance snatched us from ruin. for achievements which transcend the nature of things may not properly and fittingly be ascribed to man's valour, but to a stronger power. now all that has been achieved by us hitherto, whether it has been due to some kind fortune or to valour, is for the best; but as to our prospects from now on, i could wish better things for thy cause. however, i shall never hide from you anything that it is my duty to say and yours to do, knowing that while human affairs follow whatever course may be in accordance with god's will, yet those who are in charge of any enterprise always win praise or blame according to their own deeds. therefore let both arms and soldiers be sent to us in such numbers that from now on we may engage with the enemy in this war with an equality of strength. for one ought not to trust everything to fortune, since fortune, on its part, is not given to following the same course forever. but do thou, o emperor, take this thought to heart, that if at this time the barbarians win the victory over us, we shall be cast out of italy which is thine and shall lose the army in addition, and besides all this we shall have to bear the shame, however great it may be, that attaches to our conduct. for i refrain from saying that we should also be regarded as having ruined the romans, men who have held their safety more lightly than their loyalty to thy kingdom. consequently, if this should happen, the result for us will be that the successes we have won thus far will in the end prove to have been but a prelude to calamities. for if it had so happened that we had been repulsed from rome and campania and, at a much earlier time, from sicily, we should only be feeling the sting of the lightest of all misfortunes, that of having found ourselves unable to grow wealthy on the possessions of others. and again, this too is worthy of consideration by you, that it has never been possible even for many times ten thousand men to guard rome for any considerable length of time, since the city embraces a large territory, and, because it is not on the sea, is shut off from all supplies. and although at the present time the romans are well disposed toward us, yet when their troubles are prolonged, they will probably not hesitate to choose the course which is better for their own interests. for when men have entered into friendship with others on the spur of the moment, it is not while they are in evil fortune, but while they prosper, that they are accustomed to keep faith with them. furthermore, the romans will be compelled by hunger to do many things they would prefer not to do. now as for me, i know i am bound even to die for thy kingdom, and for this reason no man will ever be able to remove me from this city while i live; but i beg thee to consider what kind of a fame such an end of belisarius would bring thee." such was the letter written by belisarius. and the emperor, greatly distressed, began in haste to gather an army and ships, and sent orders to the troops of valerian and martinus[121] to proceed with all speed. for they had been sent, as it happened, with another army at about the winter solstice, with instructions to sail to italy. but they had sailed as far as greece, and since they were unable to force their way any farther, they were passing the winter in the land of aetolia and acarnania. and the emperor justinian sent word of all this to belisarius, and thus filled him and all the romans with still greater courage and confirmed their zeal. at this time it so happened that the following event took place in naples. there was in the market-place a picture of theoderic, the ruler of the goths, made by means of sundry stones which were exceedingly small and tinted with nearly every colour. at one time during the life of theoderic it had come to pass that the head of this picture fell apart, the stones as they had been set having become disarranged without having been touched by anyone, and by a coincidence theoderic finished his life forthwith. and eight years later the stones which formed the body of the picture fell apart suddenly, and atalaric, the grandson of theoderic, immediately died. and after the passage of a short time, the stones about the groin fell to the ground, and amalasuntha, the child of theoderic, passed from the world. now these things had already happened as described. but when the goths began the siege of rome, as chance would have it, the portion of the picture from the thighs to the tips of the feet fell into ruin, and thus the whole picture disappeared from the wall. and the romans, divining the meaning of the incident, maintained that the emperor's army would be victorious in the war, thinking that the feet of theoderic were nothing else than the gothic people whom he ruled, and, in consequence, they became still more hopeful. in rome, moreover, some of the patricians brought out the sibylline oracles,[122] declaring that the danger which had come to the city would continue only up till the month of july. for it was fated that at that time someone should be appointed king over the romans, and thenceforth rome should have no longer any getic peril to fear; for they say that the goths are of the getic race. and the oracle was as follows: "in the fifth (quintilis) month . . . under . . . as king nothing getic longer. . . ." and they declared that the "fifth month" was july, some because the siege began on the first day of march, from which july is the fifth month, others because march was considered the first month until the reign of numa, the full year before that time containing ten months and our july for this reason having its name quintilis. but after all, none of these predictions came true. for neither was a king appointed over the romans at that time, nor was the siege destined to be broken up until a year later, and rome was again to come into similar perils in the reign of totila, ruler of the goths, as will be told by me in the subsequent narrative.[123] for it seems to me that the oracle does not indicate this present attack of the barbarians, but some other attack which has either happened already or will come at some later time. indeed, in my opinion, it is impossible for a mortal man to discover the meaning of the sibyl's oracles before the actual event. the reason for this i shall now set forth, having read all the oracles in question. the sibyl does not invariably mention events in their order, much less construct a well-arranged narrative, but after uttering some verse or other concerning the troubles in libya she leaps straightway to the land of persia, thence proceeds to mention the romans, and then transfers the narrative to the assyrians. and again, while uttering prophecies about the romans, she foretells the misfortunes of the britons. for this reason it is impossible for any man soever to comprehend the oracles of the sibyl before the event, and it is only time itself, after the event has already come to pass and the words can be tested by experience, that can shew itself an accurate interpreter of her sayings. but as for these things, let each one reason as he desires. but i shall return to the point from which i have strayed. footnotes: [121] leaders of foederati; see book iii. xi. 4-6; they had been recalled from africa to byzantium, cf. book iv. xix. 2. [122] the story of the origin of these oracles is given in dionysius of halicarnassus, _ant. rom._ iv. lxii. they were burned with the capitol in 83 b.c. the second collection was burned by stilicho in 405 a.d. the oracles procopius saw (cf. ⧠35 of this chapter) were therefore a third collection. [123] book vii. xx. xxv when the goths had been repulsed in the fight at the wall, each army bivouacked that night in the manner already described.[124] but on the following day belisarius commanded all the romans to remove their women and children to naples, and also such of their domestics as they thought would not be needed by them for the guarding of the wall, his purpose being, naturally, to forestall a scarcity of provisions. and he issued orders to the soldiers to do the same thing, in case anyone had a male or female attendant. for, he went on to say, he was no longer able while besieged to provide them with food to the customary amount, but they would have to accept one half their daily ration in actual supplies, taking the remainder in silver. so they proceeded to carry out his instructions. and immediately a great throng set out for campania. now some, who had the good fortune to secure such boats as were lying at anchor in the harbour[125] of rome, secured passage, but the rest went on foot by the road which is called the appian way. and no danger or fear, as far as the besiegers were concerned, arose to disturb either those who travelled this way on foot or those who set out from the harbour. for, on the one hand, the enemy were unable to surround the whole of rome with their camps on account of the great size of the city, and, on the other, they did not dare to be found far from the camps in small companies, fearing the sallies of their opponents. and on this account abundant opportunity was afforded for some time to the besieged both to move out of the city and to bring provisions into it from outside. and especially at night the barbarians were always in great fear, and so they merely posted guards and remained quietly in their camps. for parties were continually issuing from the city, and especially moors in great numbers, and whenever they found their enemies either asleep or walking about in small companies (as is accustomed to happen often in a large army, the men going out not only to attend to the needs of nature, but also to pasture horses and mules and such animals as are suitable for food), they would kill them and speedily strip them, and if perchance a larger number of the enemy should fall upon them, they would retire on the run, being men swift of foot by nature and lightly equipped, and always distancing their pursuers in the flight. consequently, the great majority were able to withdraw from rome, and some went to campania, some to sicily, and others wherever they thought it was easier or better to go. but belisarius saw that the number of soldiers at his command was by no means sufficient for the whole circuit of the wall, for they were few, as i have previously stated,[126] and the same men could not keep guard constantly without sleeping, but some would naturally be taking their sleep while others were stationed on guard. at the same time he saw that the greatest part of the populace were hard pressed by poverty and in want of the necessities of life; for since they were men who worked with their hands, and all they had was what they got from day to day, and since they had been compelled to be idle on account of the siege, they had no means of procuring provisions. for these reasons belisarius mingled soldiers and citizens together and distributed them to each post, appointing a certain fixed wage for an unenlisted man for each day. in this way companies were made up which were sufficient for the guarding of the wall, and the duty of keeping guard on the fortifications during a stated night was assigned to each company, and the members of the companies all took turns in standing guard. in this manner, then, belisarius did away with the distress of both soldiers and citizens. but a suspicion arose against silverius, the chief priest of the city, that he was engaged in treasonable negotiations with the goths, and belisarius sent him immediately to greece, and a little later appointed another man, vigilius by name, to the office of chief priest. and he banished from rome on the same charge some of the senators, but later, when the enemy had abandoned the siege and retired, he restored them again to their homes. among these was maximus, whose ancestor maximus[127] had committed the crime against the emperor valentinian. and fearing lest the guards at the gates should become involved in a plot, and lest someone should gain access from the outside with intent to corrupt them with money, twice in each month he destroyed all the keys and had new ones made, each time of a different design, and he also changed the guards to other posts which were far removed from those they had formerly occupied, and every night he set different men in charge of those who were doing guard-duty on the fortifications. and it was the duty of these officers to make the rounds of a section of the wall, taking turns in this work, and to write down the names of the guards, and if anyone was missing from that section, they put another man on duty in his stead for the moment, and on the morrow reported the missing man to belisarius himself, whoever he might be, in order that the fitting punishment might be given him. and he ordered musicians to play their instruments on the fortifications at night, and he continually sent detachments of soldiers, especially moors, outside the walls, whose duty it was always to pass the night about the moat, and he sent dogs with them in order that no one might approach the fortifications, even at a distance, without being detected. at that time some of the romans attempted secretly to force open the doors of the temple of janus. this janus was the first of the ancient gods whom the romans call in their own tongue "penates."[128] and he has his temple in that part of the forum in front of the senate-house which lies a little above the "tria fata"[129]; for thus the romans are accustomed to call the moirai.[130] and the temple is entirely of bronze and was erected in the form of a square, but it is only large enough to cover the statue of janus. now this statue, is of bronze, and not less than five cubits high; in all other respects it resembles a man, but its head has two faces, one of which is turned toward the east and the other toward the west. and there are brazen doors fronting each face, which the romans in olden times were accustomed to close in time of peace and prosperity, but when they had war they opened them. but when the romans came to honour, as truly as any others, the teachings of the christians, they gave up the custom of opening these doors, even when they were at war. during this siege, however, some, i suppose, who had in mind the old belief, attempted secretly to open them, but they did not succeed entirely, and moved the doors only so far that they did not close tightly against one another as formerly. and those who had attempted to do this escaped detection; and no investigation of the act was made, as was natural in a time of great confusion, since it did not become known to the commanders, nor did it reach the ears of the multitude, except of a very few. footnotes: [124] chap. xxiii. 27. [125] at this time the town of portus, on the north side of the tiber's mouths, ostia, on the south side, having been long neglected. cf. chap. xxvi. 7, 8. [126] five thousand; cf. chap. xxiv. 2. [127] book iii. iv. 36. [128] janus was an old italian divinity, whose worship was said to have been introduced by romulus. we are not told by anyone else that he was included among the penates, but the statement is doubtless true. [129] "this temple of janus--the most celebrated, but not the only one in rome--must have stood a little to the right of the arch of septimius severus (as one looks toward the capitol) and a little in front of the mamertine prison."--hodgkin. the "tria fata" were three ancient statues of sibyls which stood by the rostra. [130] _i.e._ the fates. xxvi now vittigis, in his anger and perplexity, first sent some of his bodyguards to ravenna with orders to kill all the roman senators whom he had taken there at the beginning of this war. and some of them, learning of this beforehand, succeeded in making their escape, among them being vergentinus and reparatus, the brother of vigilius, the chief priest of rome, both of whom betook themselves into liguria and remained there; but all the rest were destroyed. after this vittigis, seeing that the enemy were enjoying a large degree of freedom, not only in taking out of the city whatever they wished, but also in bringing in provisions both by land and by sea, decided to seize the harbour, which the romans call "portus." this harbour is distant from the city one hundred and twenty-six stades; for rome lacks only so much of being on the sea; and it is situated where the tiber river has its mouth.[131] now as the tiber flows down from rome, and reaches a point rather near the sea, about fifteen stades from it, the stream divides into two parts and makes there the sacred island, as it is called. as the river flows on the island becomes wider, so that the measure of its breadth corresponds to its length, for the two streams have between them a distance of fifteen stades; and the tiber remains navigable on both sides. now the portion of the river on the right empties into the harbour, and beyond the mouth the romans in ancient times built on the shore a city,[132] which is surrounded by an exceedingly strong wall; and it is called, like the harbour, "portus." but on the left at the point where the other part of the tiber empties into the sea is situated the city of ostia, lying beyond the place where the river-bank ends, a place of great consequence in olden times, but now entirely without walls. moreover, the romans at the very beginning made a road leading from portus to rome, which was smooth and presented no difficulty of any kind. and many barges are always anchored in the harbour ready for service, and no small number of oxen stand in readiness close by. now when the merchants reach the harbour with their ships, they unload their cargoes and place them in the barges, and sail by way of the tiber to rome; but they do not use sails or oars at all, for the boats cannot be propelled in the stream by any wind since the river winds about exceedingly and does not follow a straight course, nor can oars be employed, either, since the force of the current is always against them. instead of using such means, therefore, they fasten ropes from the barges to the necks of oxen, and so draw them just like waggons up to rome. but on the other side of the river, as one goes from the city of ostia to rome, the road is shut in by woods and in general lies neglected, and is not even near the bank of the tiber, since there is no towing of barges on that road. so the goths, finding the city at the harbour unguarded, captured it at the first onset and slew many of the romans who lived there, and so took possession of the harbour as well as the city. and they established a thousand of their number there as guards, while the remainder returned to the camps. in consequence of this move it was impossible for the besieged to bring in the goods which came by sea, except by way of ostia, a route which naturally involved great labour and danger besides. for the roman ships were not even able to put in there any longer, but they anchored at anthium,[133] a day's journey distant from ostia. and they found great difficulty in carrying the cargoes thence to rome, the reason for this being the scarcity of men. for belisarius, fearing for the fortifications of rome, had been unable to strengthen the harbour with any garrison at all, though i think that if even three hundred men had been on guard there, the barbarians would never have made an attempt on the place, which is exceedingly strong. footnotes: [131] the northern mouth. [132] the emperor claudius cut the northern channel for the river, in order to prevent inundations of rome, and made the "portus claudii," opening to the sea, near its mouth; a second enclosed harbour, adjoining that of claudius, was built by trajan. [133] _i.e._ antium. xxvii this exploit, then, was accomplished by the goths on the third day after they were repulsed in the assault on the wall. but twenty days after the city and harbour of portus were captured, martinus and valerian arrived, bringing with them sixteen hundred horsemen, the most of whom were huns and sclaveni[134] and antae,[135] who are settled above the ister river not far from its banks. and belisarius was pleased by their coming and thought that thenceforth his army ought to carry the war against the enemy. on the following day, accordingly, he commanded one of his own bodyguards, trajan by name, an impetuous and active fighter, to take two hundred horsemen of the guards and go straight towards the enemy, and as soon as they came near the camps to go up on a high hill (which he pointed out to him) and remain quietly there. and if the enemy should come against them, he was not to allow the battle to come to close quarters, nor to touch sword or spear in any case, but to use bows only, and as soon as he should find that his quiver had no more arrows in it, he was to flee as hard as he could with no thought of shame and retire to the fortifications on the run. having given these instructions, he held in readiness both the engines for shooting arrows and the men skilled in their use. then trajan with the two hundred men went out from the salarian gate against the camp of the enemy. and they, being filled with amazement at the suddenness of the thing, rushed out from the camps, each man equipping himself as well as he could. but the men under trajan galloped to the top of the hill which belisarius had shewn them, and from there began to ward off the barbarians with missiles. and since their shafts fell among a dense throng, they were for the most part successful in hitting a man or a horse. but when all their missiles had at last failed them, they rode off to the rear with all speed, and the goths kept pressing upon them in pursuit. but when they came near the fortifications, the operators of the engines began to shoot arrows from them, and the barbarians became terrified and abandoned the pursuit. and it is said that not less than one thousand goths perished in this action. a few days later belisarius sent mundilas, another of his own bodyguard, and diogenes, both exceptionally capable warriors, with three hundred guardsmen, commanding them to do the same thing as the others had done before. and they acted according to his instructions. then, when the enemy confronted them, the result of the encounter was that no fewer than in the former action, perhaps even more, perished in the same way. and sending even a third time the guardsman oilas with three hundred horsemen, with instructions to handle the enemy in the same way, he accomplished the same result. so in making these three sallies, in the manner told by me, belisarius destroyed about four thousand of his antagonists. but vittigis, failing to take into account the difference between the two armies in point of equipment of arms and of practice in warlike deeds, thought that he too would most easily inflict grave losses upon the enemy, if only he should make his attack upon them with a small force. he therefore sent five hundred horsemen, commanding them to go close to the fortifications, and to make a demonstration against the whole army of the enemy of the very same tactics as had time and again been used against them, to their sorrow, by small bands of the foe. and so, when they came to a high place not far from the city, but just beyond the range of missiles, they took their stand there. but belisarius selected a thousand men, putting bessas in command, and ordered them to engage with the enemy. and this force, by forming a circle around the enemy and always shooting at them from behind, killed a large number, and by pressing hard upon the rest compelled them to descend into the plain. there a hand-to-hand battle took place between forces not evenly matched in strength, and most of the goths were destroyed, though some few with difficulty made their escape and returned to their own camp. and vittigis reviled these men, insisting that cowardice had been the cause of their defeat, and undertaking to find another set of men to retrieve the loss after no long time, he remained quiet for the present; but three days later he selected men from all the camps, five hundred in number, and bade them make a display of valorous deeds against the enemy. now as soon as belisarius saw that these men had come rather near, he sent out against them fifteen hundred men under the commanders martinus and valerian. and a cavalry battle taking place immediately, the romans, being greatly superior to the enemy in numbers, routed them without any trouble and destroyed practically all of them. and to the enemy it seemed in every way a dreadful thing and a proof that fortune stood against them, if, when they were many and the enemy who came against them were few, they were defeated, and when, on the other hand, they in turn went in small numbers against their enemy, they were likewise destroyed. belisarius, however, received a public vote of praise from the romans for his wisdom, at which they not unnaturally marvelled greatly, but in private his friends asked him on what he had based his judgment on that day when he had escaped from the enemy after being so completely defeated,[136] and why he had been confident that he would overcome them decisively in the war. and he said that in engaging with them at the first with only a few men he had noticed just what the difference was between the two armies, so that if he should fight his battles with them with a force which was in strength proportionate to theirs,[137] the multitudes of the enemy could inflict no injury upon the romans by reason of the smallness of their numbers. and the difference was this, that practically all the romans and their allies, the huns, are good mounted bowmen, but not a man among the goths has had practice in this branch, for their horsemen are accustomed to use only spears and swords, while their bowmen enter battle on foot and under cover of the heavy-armed men. so the horsemen, unless the engagement is at close quarters, have no means of defending themselves against opponents who use the bow, and therefore can easily be reached by the arrows and destroyed; and as for the foot-soldiers, they can never be strong enough to make sallies against men on horseback. it was for these reasons, belisarius declared, that the barbarians had been defeated by the romans in these last engagements. and the goths, remembering the unexpected outcome of their own experiences, desisted thereafter from assaulting the fortifications of rome in small numbers and also from pursuing the enemy when harassed by them, except only so far as to drive them back from their own camps. footnotes: [134] _i.e._ slavonians, described in book vi. xxvi. and book vii. xiv. ff. [135] a slavic people, described in book vii. xiv. [136] referring to the battle described in chap. xviii. [137] _i.e._ smaller, but equal in strength. xxviii but later on the romans, elated by the good fortune they had already enjoyed, were with one accord eager to do battle with the whole gothic army and thought that they should make war in the open field. belisarius, however, considering that the difference in size of the two armies was still very great, continued to be reluctant to risk a decisive battle with his whole army; and so he busied himself still more with his sallies and kept planning them against the enemy. but when at last he yielded his point because of the abuse heaped upon him by the army and the romans in general, though he was willing to fight with the whole army, yet nevertheless he wished to open the engagement by a sudden sally. and many times he was frustrated when he was on the point of doing this, and was compelled to put off the attack to the following day, because he found to his surprise that the enemy had been previously informed by deserters as to what was to be done and were unexpectedly ready for him. for this reason, then, he was now willing to fight a decisive battle even in the open field, and the barbarians gladly came forth for the encounter. and when both sides had been made ready for the conflict as well as might be, belisarius gathered his whole army and exhorted them as follows: "it is not because i detected any cowardice on your part, fellow-soldiers, nor because i was terrified at the strength of the enemy, that i have shrunk from the engagement with them, but i saw that while we were carrying on the war by making sudden sallies matters stood well with us, and consequently i thought that we ought to adhere permanently to the tactics which were responsible for our success. for i think that when one's present affairs are going to one's satisfaction, it is inexpedient to change to another course of action. but since i see that you are eager for this danger, i am filled with confidence and shall never oppose your ardour. for i know that the greatest factor in the decision of war is always the attitude of the fighting men, and it is generally by their enthusiasm that successes are won. now, therefore, the fact that a few men drawn up for battle with valour on their side are able to overcome a multitude of the enemy, is well known by every man of you, not by hearsay, but by daily experience of fighting. and it will rest with you not to bring shame upon the former glories of my career as general, nor upon the hope which this enthusiasm of yours inspires. for the whole of what has already been accomplished by us in this war must of necessity be judged in accordance with the issue of the present day. and i see that the present moment is also in our favour, for it will, in all probability, make it easier for us to gain the mastery over the enemy, because their spirit has been enslaved by what has gone before. for when men have often met with misfortune, their hearts are no longer wont to thrill even slightly with manly valour. and let no one of you spare horse or bow or any weapon. for i will immediately provide you with others in place of all that are destroyed in the battle." after speaking these words of exhortation, belisarius led out his army through the small pincian gate and the salarian gate, and commanded some few men to go through the aurelian gate into the plain of nero. these he put under the command of valentinus, a commander of a cavalry detachment, and he directed him not to begin any fighting, or to go too close to the camp of the enemy, but constantly to give the appearance of being about to attack immediately, so that none of the enemy in that quarter might be able to cross the neighbouring bridge and come to the assistance of the soldiers from the other camps. for since, as i have previously stated,[138] the barbarians encamped in the plain of nero were many, it seemed to him sufficient if these should all be prevented from taking part in the engagement and be kept separated from the rest of the army. and when some of the roman populace took up arms and followed as volunteers, he would not allow them to be drawn up for battle along with the regular troops, fearing lest, when they came to actual fighting, they should become terrified at the danger and throw the entire army into confusion, since they were labouring men and altogether unpractised in war. but outside the pancratian gate, which is beyond the tiber river, he ordered them to form a phalanx and remain quiet until he himself should give the signal, reasoning, as actually proved to be the case, that if the enemy in the plain of nero should see both them and the men under valentinus, they would never dare leave their camp and enter battle with the rest of the gothic army against his own forces. and he considered it a stroke of good luck and a very important advantage that such a large number of men should be kept apart from the army of his opponents. such being the situation, he wished on that day to engage in a cavalry battle only; and indeed most of the regular infantry were now unwilling to remain in their accustomed condition, but, since they had captured horses as booty from the enemy and had become not unpractised in horsemanship, they were now mounted. and since the infantry were few in number and unable even to make a phalanx of any consequence, and had never had the courage to engage with the barbarians, but always turned to flight at the first onset, he considered it unsafe to draw them up at a distance from the fortifications, but thought it best that they should remain in position where they were, close by the moat, his purpose being that, if it should so happen that the roman horsemen were routed, they should be able to receive the fugitives and, as a fresh body of men, help them to ward off the enemy. but there were two men among his bodyguards, a certain principius, who was a man of note and a pisidian by birth, and tarmutus, an isaurian, brother of ennes who was commander of the isaurians. these men came before belisarius and spoke as follows: "most excellent of generals, we beg you neither to decide that your army, small as it is and about to fight with many tens of thousands of barbarians, be cut off from the phalanx of the infantry, nor to think that one ought to treat with contumely the infantry of the romans, by means of which, as we hear, the power of the ancient romans was brought to its present greatness. for if it so happens that they have done nothing of consequence in this war, this is no evidence of the cowardice of the soldiers, but it is the commanders of the infantry who would justly bear the blame, for they alone ride on horseback in the battle-line and are not willing to consider the fortunes of war as shared by all, but as a general thing each one of them by himself takes to flight before the struggle begins. but do you keep all the commanders of infantry, since you see that they have become cavalry and that they are quite unwilling to take their stand beside their subordinates, and include them with the rest of the cavalry and so enter this battle, but permit us to lead the infantry into the combat. for since we also are unmounted, as are these troops, we shall do our part in helping them to support the attack of the multitude of barbarians, full of hope that we shall inflict upon the enemy whatever chastisement god shall permit." when belisarius heard this request, at first he did not assent to it; for he was exceedingly fond of these two men, who were fighters of marked excellence, and he was unwilling to have a small body of infantry take such a risk. but finally, overborne by the eagerness of the men, he consented to leave only a small number of their soldiers, in company with the roman populace, to man the gates and the battlement along the top of the wall where the engines of war were, and to put the rest under command of principius and tarmutus, ordering them to take position in the rear in regular formation. his purpose in this was, in the first place, to keep these troops from throwing the rest of the army into confusion if they themselves should become panic-stricken at the danger, and, in the second place, in case any division of the cavalry should be routed at any time, to prevent the retreat from extending to an indefinite distance, but to allow the cavalry simply to fall back upon the infantry and make it possible for them, with the infantry's help, to ward off the pursuers. footnote: [138] chap. xix. 12, xiii. 15. xxix in this fashion the romans had made their preparations for the encounter. as for vittigis, he had armed all the goths, leaving not a man behind in the camps, except those unfit for fighting. and he commanded the men under marcias to remain in the plain of nero, and to attend to the guarding of the bridge, that the enemy might not attack his men from that direction. he himself then called together the rest of the army and spoke as follows: "it may perhaps seem to some of you that i am fearful about my sovereignty, and that this is the motive which has led me, in the past, to shew a friendly spirit toward you and, on the present occasion, to address you with seductive words in order to inspire you with courage. and such reasoning is not out of accord with the ways of men. for unenlightened men are accustomed to shew gentleness toward those whom they want to make use of, even though these happen to be in a much humbler station than they, but to be difficult of access to others whose assistance they do not desire. as for me, however, i care neither for the end of life nor for the loss of power. nay, i should even pray that i might put off this purple to-day, if a goth were to put it on. and i have always regarded the end of theodatus as one of the most fortunate, in that he was privileged to lose both his sovereignty and his life at the hands of men of his own nation. for a calamity which falls upon an individual without involving his nation also in destruction does not lack an element of consolation, in the view, at least, of men who are not wanting in wisdom. but when i reflect upon the fate of the vandals and the end of gelimer, the thoughts which come to my mind are of no ordinary kind; nay, i seem to see the goths and their children reduced to slavery, your wives ministering in the most shameful of all ways to the most hateful of men, and myself and the granddaughter[139] of theoderic led wherever it suits the pleasure of those who are now our enemies; and i would have you also enter this battle fearing lest this fate befall us. for if you do this, on the field of battle you will count the end of life as more to be desired than safety after defeat. for noble men consider that there is only one misfortune--to survive defeat at the hands of their enemy. but as for death, and especially death which comes quickly, it always brings happiness to those who were before not blest by fortune. it is very clear that if you keep these thoughts in mind as you go through the present engagement, you will not only conquer your opponents most easily, few as they are and greeks,[140] but will also punish them forthwith for the injustice and insolence with which they, without provocation, have treated us. for although we boast that we are their superiors in valour, in numbers, and in every other respect, the boldness which they feel in confronting us is due merely to elation at our misfortunes; and the only asset they have is the indifference we have shewn. for their self-confidence is fed by their undeserved good fortune." with these words of exhortation vittigis proceeded to array his army for battle, stationing the infantry in the centre and the cavalry on the two wings. he did not, however, draw up his phalanx far from the camps, but very near them, in order that, as soon as the rout should take place, the enemy might easily be overtaken and killed, there being abundance of room for the pursuit. for he expected that if the struggle should become a pitched battle in the plain, they would not withstand him even a short time; since he judged by the great disparity of numbers that the army of the enemy was no match for his own. so the soldiers on both sides, beginning in the early morning, opened battle; and vittigis and belisarius were in the rear urging on both armies and inciting them to fortitude. and at first the roman arms prevailed, and the barbarians kept falling in great numbers before their archery, but no pursuit of them was made. for since the gothic cavalry stood in dense masses, other men very easily stepped into the places of those who were killed, and so the loss of those who fell among them was in no way apparent. and the romans evidently were satisfied, in view of their very small number, that the struggle should have such a result for them. so after they had by midday carried the battle as far as the camps of their opponents, and had already slain many of the enemy, they were anxious to return to the city if any pretext should present itself to them. in this part of the action three among the romans proved themselves brave men above all others, athenodorus, an isaurian, a man of fair fame among the guards of belisarius, and theodoriscus and george, spearmen of martinus and cappadocians by birth. for they constantly kept going out beyond the front of the phalanx, and there despatched many of the barbarians with their spears. such was the course of events here. but in the plain of nero the two armies remained for a long time facing one another, and the moors, by making constant sallies and hurling their javelins among the enemy, kept harrying the goths. for the goths were quite unwilling to go out against them through fear of the forces of the roman populace which were not far away, thinking, of course, that they were soldiers and were remaining quiet because they had in mind some sort of an ambush against themselves with the object of getting in their rear, exposing them to attack on both sides, and thus destroying them. but when it was now the middle of the day, the roman army suddenly made a rush against the enemy, and the goths were unexpectedly routed, being paralyzed by the suddenness of the attack. and they did not succeed even in fleeing to their camp, but climbed the hills near by and remained quiet. now the romans, though many in number, were not all soldiers, but were for the most part a throng of men without defensive armour. for inasmuch as the general was elsewhere, many sailors and servants in the roman camp, in their eagerness to have a share in the war, mingled with that part of the army. and although by their mere numbers they did fill the barbarians with consternation and turn them to flight, as has been said, yet by reason of their lack of order they lost the day for the romans. for the intermixture of the above-mentioned men caused the soldiers to be thrown into great disorder, and although valentinus kept constantly shouting orders to them, they could not hear his commands at all. for this reason they did not even follow up the fugitives or kill a man, but allowed them to stand at rest on the hills and in security to view what was going on. nor did they take thought to destroy the bridge there, and thus prevent the city from being afterwards besieged on both sides; for, had they done so, the barbarians would have been unable to encamp any longer on the farther side of the tiber river. furthermore, they did not even cross the bridge and get in the rear of their opponents who were fighting there with the troops of belisarius. and if this had been done, the goths, i think, would no longer have thought of resistance, but they would have turned instantly to flight, each man as he could. but as it was, they took possession of the enemy's camp and turned to plundering his goods, and they set to work carrying thence many vessels of silver and many other valuables. meanwhile the barbarians for some time remained quietly where they were and observed what was going on, but finally by common consent they advanced against their opponents with great fury and shouting. and finding men in complete disorder engaged in plundering their property, they slew many and quickly drove out the rest. for all who were caught inside the camp and escaped slaughter were glad to cast their plunder from their shoulders and take to flight. while these things were taking place in the plain of nero, meantime the rest of the barbarian army stayed very near their camps and, protecting themselves with their shields, vigorously warded off their opponents, destroying many men and a much larger number of horses. but on the roman side, when those who had been wounded and those whose horses had been killed left the ranks, then, in an army which had been small even before, the smallness of their numbers was still more evident, and the difference between them and the gothic host was manifestly great. finally the horsemen of the barbarians who were on the right wing, taking note of this, advanced at a gallop against the enemy opposite them. and the romans there, unable to withstand their spears, rushed off in flight and came to the infantry phalanx. however, the infantry also were unable to hold their ground against the oncoming horsemen, and most of them began to join the cavalry in flight. and immediately the rest of the roman army also began to retire, the enemy pressing upon their heels, and the rout became decisive. but principius and tarmutus with some few of the infantry of their command made a display of valorous deeds against the goths. for as they continued to fight and disdained to turn to flight with the others, most of the goths were so amazed that they halted. and consequently the rest of the infantry and most of the horsemen made their escape in greater security. now principius fell where he stood, his whole body hacked to pieces, and around him fell forty-two foot-soldiers. but tarmutus, holding two isaurian javelins, one in each hand, continued to thrust them into his assailants as he turned from side to side, until, finally, he desisted because his body was covered with wounds; but when his brother ennes came to the rescue with a detachment of cavalry, he revived, and running swiftly, covered as he was with gore and wounds, he made for the fortifications without throwing down either of his javelins. and being fleet of foot by nature, he succeeded in making his escape, in spite of the plight of his body, and did not fall until he had just reached the pincian gate. and some of his comrades, supposing him to be dead, lifted him on a shield and carried him. but he lived on two days before he died, leaving a high reputation both among the isaurians and in the rest of the army. the romans, meanwhile, being by now thoroughly frightened, attended to the guarding of the wall, and shutting the gates they refused, in their great excitement, to receive the fugitives into the city, fearing that the enemy would rush in with them. and such of the fugitives as had not already got inside the fortifications, crossed the moat, and standing with their backs braced against the wall were trembling with fear, and stood there forgetful of all valour and utterly unable to ward off the barbarians, although they were pressing upon them and were about to cross the moat to attack them. and the reason was that most of them had lost their spears, which had been broken in the engagement and during the flight, and they were not able to use their bows because they were huddled so closely together. now so long as not many defenders were seen at the battlement, the goths kept pressing on, having hopes of destroying all those who had been shut out and of overpowering the men who held the circuit-wall. but when they saw a very great number both of soldiers and of the roman populace at the battlements defending the wall, they immediately abandoned their purpose and rode off thence to the rear, heaping much abuse upon their opponents. and the battle, having begun at the camps of the barbarians, ended at the moat and the wall of the city. footnotes: [139] matasuntha. [140] cf. book iv. xxvii. 38, note. history of the wars: book vi the gothic war (_continued_) i after this the romans no longer dared risk a battle with their whole army; but they engaged in cavalry battles, making sudden sallies in the same manner as before, and were generally victorious over the barbarians. foot-soldiers also went out from both sides, not, however, arrayed in a phalanx, but accompanying the horsemen. and once bessas in the first rush dashed in among the enemy carrying his spear and killed three of their best horsemen and turned the rest to flight. and another time, when constantinus had led out the huns in the plain of nero in the late afternoon, and saw that they were being overpowered by the superior numbers of their opponents, he took the following measures. there has been in that place from of old a great stadium[141] where the gladiators of the city used to fight in former times, and the men of old built many other buildings round about this stadium; consequently there are, as one would expect, narrow passages all about this place. now on the occasion in question, since constantinus could neither overcome the throng of the goths nor flee without great danger, he caused all the huns to dismount from their horses, and on foot, in company with them, took his stand in one of the narrow passages there. then by shooting from that safe position they slew large numbers of the enemy. and for some time the goths withstood their missiles. for they hoped, as soon as the supply of missiles in the quivers of the huns should be exhausted, to be able to surround them without any trouble, take them prisoners, and lead them back to their camp. but since the massagetae, who were not only good bowmen but also had a dense throng to shoot into, hit an enemy with practically every shot, the goths perceived that above half their number had perished, and since the sun was about to set, they knew not what to do and so rushed off in flight. then indeed many of them fell; for the massagetae followed them up, and since they know how to shoot the bow with the greatest accuracy even when running at great speed, they continued to discharge their arrows no less than before, shooting at their backs, and kept up the slaughter. and thus constantinus with his huns came back to rome at night. and when peranius, not many days later, led some of the romans through the salarian gate against the enemy, the goths, indeed, fled as hard as they could, but about sunset a counter-pursuit was made suddenly, and a roman foot-soldier, becoming greatly confused, fell into a deep hole, many of which were made there by the men of old, for the storage of grain, i suppose. and he did not dare to cry out, supposing that the enemy were encamped near by, and was not able in any way whatever to get out of the pit, for it afforded no means of climbing up; he was therefore compelled to pass the night there. now on the next day, when the barbarians had again been put to flight, one of the goths fell into the same hole. and there the two men were reconciled to mutual friendship and good-will, brought together as they were by their necessity, and they exchanged solemn pledges, each that he would work earnestly for the salvation of the other; and then both of them began shouting with loud and frantic cries. now the goths, following the sound, came and peered over the edge of the hole, and enquired who it was who shouted. at this, the roman, in accordance with the plan decided upon by the two men, kept silence, and the goth in his native tongue said that he had just recently fallen in there during the rout which had taken place, and asked them to let down a rope that he might come up. and they as quickly as possible threw down the ends of ropes, and, as they thought, were pulling up the goth, but the roman laid hold of the ropes and was pulled up, saying only that if he should go up first the goths would never abandon their comrade, but if they should learn that merely one of the enemy was there they would take no account of him. so saying, he went up. and when the goths saw him, they wondered and were in great perplexity, but upon hearing the whole story from him they drew up his comrade next, and he told them of the agreement they had made and of the pledges both had given. so he went off with his companions, and the roman was released unharmed and permitted to return to the city. after this horsemen in no great numbers armed themselves many times for battle, but the struggles always ended in single combats, and the romans were victorious in all of them. such, then, was the course of these events. a little after this an engagement took place in the plain of nero, wherein various small groups of horsemen were engaged in pursuing their opponents in various directions; in one group was chorsamantis, a man of note among the guards of belisarius, by birth a massagete, who with some others was pursuing seventy of the enemy. and when he had got well out in the plain the other romans rode back, but chorsamantis went on with the pursuit alone. as soon as the goths perceived this, they turned their horses about and came against him. and he advanced into their midst, killed one of the best of them with his spear, and then went after the others, but they again turned and rushed off in flight. but they were ashamed before their comrades in the camp, who, they suspected, could already see them, and wished to attack him again. they had, however, precisely the same experience as before and lost one of their best men, and so turned to flight in spite of their shame, and after chorsamantis had pursued them as far as their stockade he returned alone. and a little later, in another battle, this man was wounded in the left shin, and it was his opinion that the weapon had merely grazed the bone. however, he was rendered unfit for fighting for a certain number of days by reason of this wound, and since he was a barbarian he did not endure this patiently, but threatened that he would right speedily have vengeance upon the goths for this insult to his leg. so when not long afterwards he had recovered and was drunk at lunch time, as was his custom, he purposed to go alone against the enemy and avenge the insult to his leg; and when he had come to the small pincian gate he stated that he was sent by belisarius to the enemy's camp. and the guards at the gate, who could not doubt the word of a man who was the best of the guards of belisarius, opened the gates and allowed him to go wherever he would. and when the enemy spied him, they thought at first that some deserter was coming over to them, but when he came near and put his hand to his bow, twenty men, not knowing who he might be, went out against him. these he easily drove off, and then began to ride back at a walk, and when more goths came against him he did not flee. but when a great throng gathered about him and he still insisted upon fighting them, the romans, watching the sight from the towers, suspected that the man was crazy, but they did not yet know that it was chorsamantis. at length, after making a display of great and very noteworthy deeds, he found himself surrounded by the army of the enemy, and paid the penalty for his unreasonable daring. and when belisarius and the roman army learned this, they mourned greatly, lamenting that the hope which all placed in the man had come to naught. footnotes: [141] perhaps the stadium of caligula. ii now a certain euthalius, at about the spring equinox, came to taracina from byzantium with the money which the emperor owed the soldiers. and fearing lest the enemy should come upon him on the road and both rob him of the money and kill him, he wrote to belisarius requesting him to make the journey to rome safe for him. belisarius accordingly selected one hundred men of note from among his own bodyguards and sent them with two spearmen to taracina to assist him in bringing the money. and at the same time he kept trying to make the barbarians believe that he was about to fight with his whole army, his purpose being to prevent any of the enemy from leaving the vicinity, either to bring in provisions or for any other purpose. but when he found out that euthalius and his men would arrive on the morrow, he arrayed his army and set it in order for battle, and the barbarians were in readiness. now throughout the whole forenoon he merely held his soldiers near the gates; for he knew that euthalius and those who accompanied him would arrive at night. then, at midday, he commanded the army to take their lunch, and the goths did the same thing, supposing that he was putting off the engagement to the following day. a little later, however, belisarius sent martinus and valerian to the plain of nero with the troops under their command, directing them to throw the enemy's camp into the greatest possible confusion. and from the small pincian gate he sent out six hundred horsemen against the camps of the barbarians, placing them under command of three of his own spearmen, artasires, a persian, and bochas, of the race of the massagetae, and cutilas, a thracian. and many of the enemy came out to meet them. for a long time, however, the battle did not come to close quarters, but each side kept retreating when the other advanced and making pursuits in which they quickly turned back, until it looked as if they intended to spend the rest of the day at this sort of thing. but as they continued, they began at last to be filled with rage against each other. the battle then settled down to a fierce struggle in which many of the best men on both sides fell, and support came up for each of the two armies, both from the city and from the camps. and when these fresh troops were mingled with the fighters the struggle became still greater. and the shouting which filled the city and the camps terrified the combatants. but finally the romans by their valour forced back the enemy and routed them. in this action cutilas was struck in the middle of the head by a javelin, and he kept on pursuing with the javelin still embedded in his head. and after the rout had taken place, he rode into the city at about sunset together with the other survivors, the javelin in his head waving about, a most extraordinary sight. during the same encounter arzes, one of the guards of belisarius, was hit by one of the gothic archers between the nose and the right eye. and the point of the arrow penetrated as far as the neck behind, but it did not shew through, and the rest of the shaft projected from his face and shook as the man rode. and when the romans saw him and cutilas they marvelled greatly that both men continued to ride, paying no heed to their hurt. such, then, was the course of events in that quarter. but in the plain of nero the barbarians had the upper hand. for the men of valerian and martinus, fighting with a great multitude of the enemy, withstood them stoutly, to be sure, but suffered most terribly, and came into exceedingly great danger. and then belisarius commanded bochas to take his troops, which had returned from the engagement unwearied, men as well as horses, and go to the plain of nero. now it was already late in the day. and when the men under bochas had come to the assistance of the romans, suddenly the barbarians were turned to flight, and bochas, who had impetuously followed the pursuit to a great distance, came to be surrounded by twelve of the enemy, who carried spears. and they all struck him at once with their spears. but his corselet withstood the other blows, which therefore did not hurt him much; but one of the goths succeeded in hitting him from behind, at a place where his body was uncovered, above the right armpit, very close to the shoulder, and smote the youth, though not with a mortal stroke, nor even one which brought him into danger of death. but another goth struck him in front and pierced his left thigh, and cut the muscles there; it was not a straight blow, however, but only a slanting cut. but valerian and martinus saw what was happening, and coming to his rescue as quickly as possible, they routed the enemy, and both took hold of the bridle of bochas' horse, and so came into the city. then night came on and euthalius entered the city with the money. and when all had returned to the city, they attended to the wounded men. now in the case of arzes, though the physicians wished to draw the weapon from his face, they were for some time reluctant to do so, not so much on account of the eye, which they supposed could not possibly be saved, but for fear lest, by the cutting of membranes and tissues such as are very numerous in that region, they should cause the death of a man who was one of the best of the household of belisarius. but afterwards one of the physicians, theoctistus by name, pressed on the back of his neck and asked whether he felt much pain. and when the man said that he did feel pain, he said, "then both you yourself will be saved and your sight will not be injured." and he made this declaration because he inferred that the barb of the weapon had penetrated to a point not far from the skin. accordingly he cut off that part of the shaft which shewed outside and threw it away, and cutting open the skin at the back of the head, at the place where the man felt the most pain, he easily drew toward him the barb, which with its three sharp points now stuck out behind and brought with it the remaining portion of the weapon. thus arzes remained entirely free from serious harm, and not even a trace of his wound was left on his face. but as for cutilas, when the javelin was drawn rather violently from his head (for it was very deeply embedded), he fell into a swoon. and since the membranes about the wound began to be inflamed, he fell a victim to phrenitis[142] and died not long afterwards. bochas, however, immediately had a very severe hemorrhage in the thigh, and seemed like one who was presently to die. and the reason for the hemorrhage, according to what the physicians said, was that the blow had severed the muscle, not directly from the front, but by a slanting cut. in any event he died three days later. because of these things, then, the romans spent that whole night in deep grief; while from the gothic camps were heard many sounds of wailing and loud lamentation. and the romans indeed wondered, because they thought that no calamity of any consequence had befallen the enemy on the previous day, except, to be sure, that no small number of them had perished in the encounters. this had happened to them before in no less degree, perhaps even to a greater degree, but it had not greatly distressed them, so great were their numbers. however, it was learned on the following day that men of the greatest note from the camp in the plain of nero were being bewailed by the goths, men whom bochas had killed in his first charge. and other encounters also, though of no great importance, took place, which it has seemed to me unnecessary to chronicle. this, however, i will state, that altogether sixty-seven encounters occurred during this siege, besides two final ones which will be described in the following narrative. and at that time the winter drew to its close, and thus ended the second year of this war, the history of which procopius has written. footnote: [142] inflammation of the brain. iii but at the beginning of the spring equinox famine and pestilence together fell upon the inhabitants of the city. there was still, it is true, some grain for the soldiers, though no other kind of provisions, but the grain-supply of the rest of the romans had been exhausted, and actual famine as well as pestilence was pressing hard upon them. and the goths, perceiving this, no longer cared to risk a decisive battle with their enemy, but they kept guard that nothing in future should be brought in to them. now there are two aqueducts between the latin and the appian ways, exceedingly high and carried on arches for a great distance. these two aqueducts meet at a place fifty stades distant from rome[143] and cross each other, so that for a little space they reverse their relative position. for the one which previously lay to the right from then on continues on the left side. and again coming together, they resume their former places, and thereafter remain apart. consequently the space between them, enclosed, as it is, by the aqueducts, comes to be a fortress. and the barbarians walled up the lower arches of the aqueducts here with stones and mud and in this way gave it the form of a fort, and encamping there to the number of no fewer than seven thousand men, they kept guard that no provisions should thereafter be brought into the city by the enemy. then indeed every hope of better things abandoned the romans, and every form of evil encompassed them round about. as long as there was ripe grain, however, the most daring of the soldiers, led on by lust of money, went by night to the grain-fields not far from the city mounted on horses and leading other horses after them. then they cut off the heads of grain, and putting them on the horses which they led, would carry them into the city without being seen by the enemy and sell them at a great price to such of the romans as were wealthy. but the other inhabitants lived on various herbs such as grow in abundance not only in the outskirts but also inside the fortifications. for the land of the romans is never lacking in herbs either in winter or at any other season, but they always flourish and grow luxuriantly at all times. wherefore the besieged also pastured their horses in those places. and some too made sausages of the mules that died in rome and secretly sold them. but when the corn-lands had no more grain and all the romans had come into an exceedingly evil plight, they surrounded belisarius and tried to compel him to stake everything on a single battle with the enemy, promising that not one of the romans would be absent from the engagement. and when he was at a loss what to do in that situation and greatly distressed, some of the populace spoke to him as follows: "general, we were not prepared for the fortune which has overtaken us at the present time; on the contrary, what has happened has been altogether the opposite of our expectations. for after achieving what we had formerly set our hearts upon, we have now come into the present misfortune, and we realize at length that our previous opinion that we did well to crave the emperor's watchful care was but folly and the beginning of the greatest evils. indeed, this course has brought us to such straits that at the present time we have taken courage to use force once more and to arm ourselves against the barbarians. and while we may claim forgiveness if we boldly come into the presence of belisarius--for the belly knows not shame when it lacks its necessities--our plight must be the apology for our rashness; for it will be readily agreed that there is no plight more intolerable for men than a life prolonged amid the adversities of fortune. and as to the fortune which has fallen upon us, you cannot fail to see our distress. these fields and the whole country have fallen under the hand of the enemy; and this city has been shut off from all good things for we know not how long a time. and as for the romans, some already lie in death, and it has not been their portion to be hidden in the earth, and we who survive, to put all our terrible misfortunes in a word, only pray to be placed beside those who lie thus. for starvation shews to those upon whom it comes that all other evils can be endured, and wherever it appears it is attended by oblivion of all other sufferings, and causes all other forms of death, except that which proceeds from itself, to seem pleasant to men. now, therefore, before the evil has yet mastered us, grant us leave on our own behalf to take up the struggle, which will result either in our overcoming the enemy or in deliverance from our troubles. for when delay brings men hope of safety, it would be great folly for them prematurely to enter into a danger which involves their all, but when tarrying makes the struggle more difficult, to put off action even for a little time is more reprehensible than immediate and precipitate haste." so spoke the romans. and belisarius replied as follows: "well, as for me, i have been quite prepared for your conduct in every respect, and nothing that has happened has been contrary to my expectation. for long have i known that a populace is a most unreasoning thing, and that by its very nature it cannot endure the present or provide for the future, but only knows how rashly in every case to attempt the impossible and recklessly to destroy itself. but as for me, i shall never, willingly at least, be led by your carelessness either to destroy you or to involve the emperor's cause in ruin with you. for war is wont to be brought to a successful issue, not by unreasoning haste, but by the use of good counsel and forethought in estimating the turn of the scale at decisive moments. you, however, act as though you were playing at dice, and want to risk all on a single cast; but it is not my custom to choose the short course in preference to the advantageous one. in the second place, you promise that you will help us do battle against the enemy; but when have you ever taken training in war? or who that has learned such things by the use of arms does not know that battle affords no room for experiment? nor does the enemy, on his part, give opportunity, while the struggle is on, to practise on him. this time, indeed, i admire your zeal and forgive you for making this disturbance; but that you have taken this action at an unseasonable time and that the policy of waiting which we are following is prudent, i shall now make clear. the emperor has gathered for us from the whole earth and despatched an army too great to number, and a fleet such as was never brought together by the romans now covers the shore of campania and the greater part of the ionian gulf. and within a few days these reinforcements will come to us and bring with them all kinds of provisions, to put an end to our destitution and to bury the camps of the barbarians under a multitude of missiles. i have therefore reasoned that it was better to put off the time of conflict until they are present, and thus gain the victory in the war with safety, than to make a show of daring in unreasoning haste and thus throw away the salvation of our whole cause. to secure their immediate arrival and to prevent their loitering longer shall be my concern." footnote: [143] torre fiscale; but it is only about thirty stades from rome. iv with these words belisarius encouraged the roman populace and then dismissed them; and procopius, who wrote this history, he immediately commanded to go to naples. for a rumour was going about that the emperor had sent an army there. and he commissioned him to load as many ships as possible with grain, to gather all the soldiers who at the moment had arrived from byzantium, or had been left about naples in charge of horses or for any other purpose whatever--for he had heard that many such were coming to the various places in campania--and to withdraw some of the men from the garrisons there, and then to come back with them, convoying the grain to ostia, where the harbour of the romans was. and procopius, accompanied by mundilas the guardsman and a few horsemen, passed out by night through the gate which bears the name of the apostle paul,[144] eluding the enemy's camp which had been established very close to the appian way to keep guard over it. and when mundilas and his men, returning to rome, announced that procopius had already arrived in campania without meeting any of the barbarians,--for at night, they said, the enemy never went outside their camp,--everybody became hopeful, and belisarius, now emboldened, devised the following plan. he sent out many of his horsemen to the neighbouring strongholds, directing them, in case any of the enemy should come that way in order to bring provisions into their camps, that they should constantly make sallies upon them from their positions and lay ambushes everywhere about this region, and thus keep them from succeeding; on the contrary, they should with all their might hedge them in, so that the city might be in less distress than formerly through lack of provisions, and also that the barbarians might seem to be besieged rather than to be themselves besieging the romans. so he commanded martinus and trajan with a thousand men to go to taracina. and with them he sent also his wife antonina, commanding that she be sent with a few men to naples, there to await in safety the fortune which would befall the romans. and he sent magnus and sinthues the guardsman, who took with them about five hundred men, to the fortress of tibur, one hundred and forty stades distant from rome. but to the town of albani,[145] which was situated on the appian way at the same distance from the city, he had already, as it happened, sent gontharis with a number of eruli, and these the goths had driven out from there by force not long afterward. now there is a certain church of the apostle paul,[146] fourteen stades distant from the fortifications of rome, and the tiber river flows beside it. in that place there is no fortification, but a colonnade extends all the way from the city to the church, and many other buildings which are round about it render the place not easy of access. but the goths shew a certain degree of actual respect for sanctuaries such as this. and indeed during the whole time of the war no harm came to either church of the two apostles[147] at their hands, but all the rites were performed in them by the priests in the usual manner. at this spot, then, belisarius commanded valerian to take all the huns and make a stockade by the bank of the tiber, in order that their horses might be kept in greater security and that the goths might be still further checked from going at their pleasure to great distances from their camps. and valerian acted accordingly. then, after the huns had made their camp in the place where the general directed, he rode back to the city. so belisarius, having accomplished this, remained quiet, not offering battle, but eager to carry on the defence from the wall, if anyone should advance against it from outside with evil intent. and he also furnished grain to some of the roman populace. but martinus and trajan passed by night between the camps of the enemy, and after reaching taracina sent antonina with a few men into campania; and they themselves took possession of the fortified places in that district, and using them as their bases of operations and making thence their sudden attacks, they checked such of the goths as were moving about in that region. as for magnus and sinthues, in a short time they rebuilt such parts of the fortress[148] as had fallen into ruin, and as soon as they had put themselves in safety, they began immediately to make more trouble for the enemy, whose fortress was not far away, not only by making frequent raids upon them, but also by keeping such of the barbarians as were escorting provision-trains in a constant state of terror by the unexpectedness of their movements; but finally sinthues was wounded in his right hand by a spear in a certain battle, and since the sinews were severed, he became thereafter unfit for fighting. and the huns likewise, after they had made their camp near by, as i have said, were on their part causing the goths no less trouble, so that these as well as the romans were now feeling the pressure of famine, since they no longer had freedom to bring in their food-supplies as formerly. and pestilence too fell upon them and was destroying many, and especially in the camp which they had last made, close by the appian way, as i have previously stated.[149] and the few of their number who had not perished withdrew from that camp to the other camps. the huns also suffered in the same way, and so returned to rome. such was the course of events here. but as for procopius, when he reached campania, he collected not fewer than five hundred soldiers there, loaded a great number of ships with grain, and held them in readiness. and he was joined not long afterwards by antonina, who immediately assisted him in making arrangements for the fleet. at that time the mountain of vesuvius rumbled, and though it did not break forth in eruption, still because of the rumbling it led people to expect with great certainty that there would be an eruption. and for this reason it came to pass that the inhabitants fell into great terror. now this mountain is seventy stades distant from naples and lies to the north[150] of it--an exceedingly steep mountain, whose lower parts spread out wide on all sides, while its upper portion is precipitous and exceedingly difficult of ascent. but on the summit of vesuvius and at about the centre of it appears a cavern of such depth that one would judge that it extends all the way to the bottom of the mountain. and it is possible to see fire there, if one should dare to peer over the edge, and although the flames as a rule merely twist and turn upon one another, occasioning no trouble to the inhabitants of that region, yet, when the mountain gives forth a rumbling sound which resembles bellowing, it generally sends up not long afterward a great quantity of ashes. and if anyone travelling on the road is caught by this terrible shower, he cannot possibly survive, and if it falls upon houses, they too fall under the weight of the great quantity of ashes. but whenever it so happens that a strong wind comes on, the ashes rise to a great height, so that they are no longer visible to the eye, and are borne wherever the wind which drives them goes, falling on lands exceedingly far away. and once, they say, they fell in byzantium[151] and so terrified the people there, that from that time up to the present the whole city has seen fit to propitiate god with prayers every year; and at another time they fell on tripolis in libya. formerly this rumbling took place, they say, once in a hundred years or even more,[152] but in later times it has happened much more frequently. this, however, they declare emphatically, that whenever vesuvius belches forth these ashes, the country round about is bound to flourish with an abundance of all crops. furthermore, the air on this mountain is very light and by its nature the most favourable to health in the world. and indeed those who are attacked by consumption have been sent to this place by physicians from remote times. so much, then, may be said regarding vesuvius. footnotes: [144] the porta ostiensis. [145] see book v. vi. 7, note. [146] the basilica of st. paul stood south of the city, outside the porta ostiensis which is still called porta s. paolo. [147] st. peter and st. paul. [148] tibur. [149] chap. iii. 7. [150] this is an error on the part of procopius. in point of fact it lies to the south-east of naples. [151] during the eruption of 472 a.d. [152] since the great eruption of 79 a.d.--the first in historical times--eruptions have succeeded one another at intervals varying from one to more than one hundred years. v at this time another army also arrived by sea from byzantium, three thousand isaurians who put in at the harbour of naples, led by paulus and conon, and eight hundred thracian horsemen who landed at dryus, led by john, the nephew of the vitalian who had formerly been tyrant, and with them a thousand other soldiers of the regular cavalry, under various commanders, among whom were alexander and marcentius. and it happened that zeno with three hundred horsemen had already reached rome by way of samnium and the latin way. and when john with all the others came to campania, provided with many waggons by the inhabitants of calabria, his troops were joined by five hundred men who, as i have said, had been collected in campania. these set out by the coast road with the waggons, having in mind, if any hostile force should confront them, to make a circle of the waggons in the form of a stockade and thus to ward off the enemy; and they commanded the men under paulus and conon to sail with all speed and join them at ostia, the harbour of rome[153]; and they put sufficient grain in the waggons and loaded all the ships, not only with grain, but also with wine and all kinds of provisions. and they, indeed, expected to find the forces of martinus and trajan in the neighbourhood of taracina and to have their company from that point on, but when they approached taracina, they learned that these forces had recently been recalled and had retired to rome. but belisarius, learning that the forces of john were approaching and fearing that the enemy might confront them in greatly superior numbers and destroy them, took the following measures. it so happened that the enemy had encamped very close to the flaminian gate; this gate belisarius himself had blocked up at the beginning of this war by a structure of stone, as has been told by me in the previous narrative,[154] his purpose of course being to make it difficult for the enemy either to force their way in or to make any attempt upon the city at that point. consequently no engagement had taken place at this gate, and the barbarians had no suspicion that there would be any attack upon them from there. now belisarius tore down by night the masonry which blocked this gate, without giving notice to anyone at all, and made ready the greatest part of the army there. and at daybreak he sent trajan and diogenes with a thousand horsemen through the pincian gate, commanding them to shoot missiles into the camps, and as soon as their opponents came against them, to flee without the least shame and to ride up to the fortifications at full speed. and he also stationed some men inside this gate. so the men under trajan began to harass the barbarians, as belisarius had directed them to do, and the goths, gathering from all the camps, began to defend themselves. and both armies began to move as fast as they could toward the fortifications of the city, the one giving the appearance of fleeing, and the other supposing that they were pursuing the enemy. but as soon as belisarius saw the enemy take up the pursuit, he opened the flaminian gate and sent his army out against the barbarians, who were thus taken unawares. now it so happened that one of the gothic camps was on the road near this gate, and in front of it there was a narrow passage between steep banks which was exceedingly difficult of access. and one of the barbarians, a man of splendid physique and clad in a corselet, when he saw the enemy advancing, reached this place before them and took his stand there, at the same time calling his comrades and urging them to help in guarding the narrow passage. but before any move could be made mundilas slew him and thereafter allowed none of the barbarians to go into this passage. the romans therefore passed through it without encountering opposition, and some of them, arriving at the gothic camp near by, for a short time tried to take it, but were unable to do so because of the strength of the stockade, although not many barbarians had been left behind in it. for the trench had been dug to an extraordinary depth, and since the earth taken from it had invariably been placed along its inner side, this reached a great height and so served as a wall[155]; and it was abundantly supplied with stakes, which were very sharp and close together, thus making a palisade. these defences so emboldened the barbarians that they began to repel the enemy vigorously. but one of the guards of belisarius, aquilinus by name, an exceedingly active man, seized a horse by the bridle and, bestriding it, leaped from the trench into the middle of the camp, where he slew some of the enemy. and when his opponents gathered about him and hurled great numbers of missiles, the horse was wounded and fell, but he himself unexpectedly made his escape through the midst of the enemy. so he went on foot with his companions toward the pincian gate. and overtaking the barbarians, who were still engaged in pursuing roman horsemen,[156] they began to shoot at them from behind and killed some of them. now when trajan and his men perceived this, since they had meanwhile been reinforced by the horsemen who had been standing near by in readiness, they charged at full speed against their pursuers. then at length the goths, being now outgeneraled and unexpectedly caught between the forces of their enemy, began to be killed indiscriminately. and there was great slaughter of them, and very few escaped to their camps, and that with difficulty; meanwhile the others, fearing for the safety of all their strongholds, shut themselves in and remained in them thereafter, thinking that the romans would come against them without the least delay. in this action one of the barbarians shot trajan in the face, above the right eye and not far from the nose. and the whole of the iron point, penetrated the head and disappeared entirely, although the barb on it was large and exceedingly long, but the remainder of the arrow immediately fell to the ground without the application of force by anyone, in my opinion because the iron point had never been securely fastened to the shaft. trajan, however, paid no heed to this at all, but continued none the less killing and pursuing the enemy. but in the fifth year afterward the tip of the iron of its own accord began to project visibly from his face. and this is now the third year since it has been slowly but steadily coming out. it is to be expected, therefore, that the whole barb will eventually come out, though not for a long time. but it has not been an impediment to the man in any way. so much then for these matters. footnotes: [153] the regular harbour, portus, was held by the goths. [154] book v. xix. 6. [155] cf. book v. xix. 11. [156] these were the forces of trajan and diogenes. vi now the barbarians straightway began to despair of winning the war and were considering how they might withdraw from rome, inasmuch as they had suffered the ravages both of the pestilence and of the enemy, and were now reduced from many tens of thousands to a few men; and, not least of all, they were in a state of distress by reason of the famine, and while in name they were carrying on a siege, they were in fact being besieged by their opponents and were shut off from all necessities. and when they learned that still another army had come to their enemy from byzantium both by land and by sea--not being informed as to its actual size, but supposing it to be as large as the free play of rumour was able to make it,--they became terrified at the danger and began to plan for their departure. they accordingly sent three envoys to rome, one of whom was a roman of note among the goths, and he, coming before belisarius, spoke as follows: "that the war has not turned out to the advantage of either side each of us knows well, since we both have had actual experience of its hardships. for why should anyone in either army deny facts of which neither now remains in ignorance. and no one, i think, could deny, at least no one who does not lack understanding, that it is only senseless men who choose to go on suffering indefinitely merely to satisfy the contentious spirit which moves them for the moment, and refuse to find a solution of the troubles which harass them. and whenever this situation arises, it is the duty of the commanders on both sides not to sacrifice the lives of their subjects to their own glory, but to choose the course which is just and expedient, not for themselves alone, but also for their opponents, and thus to put an end to present hardships. for moderation in one's demands affords a way out of all difficulties, but it is the very nature of contentiousness that it cannot accomplish any of the objects which are essential. now we, on our part, have deliberated concerning the conclusion of this war and have come before you with proposals which are of advantage to both sides, wherein we waive, as we think, some portion even of our rights. and see to it that you likewise in your deliberations do not yield to a spirit of contentiousness respecting us and thus destroy yourselves as well as us, in preference to choosing the course which will be of advantage to yourselves. and it is fitting that both sides should state their case, not in continuous speech, but each interrupting the other on the spur of the moment, if anything that is said shall seem inappropriate. for in this way each side will be able to say briefly whatever it is minded to say, and at the same time the essential things will be accomplished." belisarius replied: "there will be nothing to prevent the debate from proceeding in the manner you suggest, only let the words spoken by you be words of peace and of justice." so the ambassadors of the goths in their turn said: "you have done us an injustice, o romans, in taking up arms wrongfully against us, your friends and allies. and what we shall say is, we think, well known to each one of you as well as to ourselves. for the goths did not obtain the land of italy by wresting it from the romans by force, but odoacer in former times dethroned the emperor, changed the government of italy to a tyranny, and so held it.[157] and zeno, who then held the power of the east, though he wished to avenge his partner in the imperial office and to free this land from the usurper, was unable to destroy the authority of odoacer. accordingly he persuaded theoderic, our ruler, although he was on the point of besieging him and byzantium, not only to put an end to his hostility towards himself, in recollection of the honour which theoderic had already received at his hands in having been made a patrician and consul of the romans,[158] but also to punish odoacer for his unjust treatment of augustulus, and thereafter, in company with the goths, to hold sway over the land as its legitimate and rightful rulers. it was in this way, therefore, that we took over the dominion of italy, and we have preserved both the laws and the form of government as strictly as any who have ever been roman emperors, and there is absolutely no law, either written or unwritten, introduced by theoderic or by any of his successors on the throne of the goths. and we have so scrupulously guarded for the romans their practices pertaining to the worship of god and faith in him, that not one of the italians has changed his belief, either willingly or unwillingly, up to the present day, and when goths have changed,[159] we have taken no notice of the matter. and indeed the sanctuaries of the romans have received from us the highest honour; for no one who has taken refuge in any of them has ever been treated with violence by any man; nay, more, the romans themselves have continued to hold all the offices of the state, and not a single goth has had a share in them. let someone come forward and refute us, if he thinks that this statement of ours is not true. and one might add that the goths have conceded that the dignity of the consulship should be conferred upon romans each year by the emperor of the east. such has been the course followed by us; but you, on your side, did not take the part of italy while it was suffering at the hands of the barbarians and odoacer, although it was not for a short time, but for ten years, that he treated the land outrageously; but now you do violence to us who have acquired it legitimately, though you have no business here. do you therefore depart hence out of our way, keeping both that which is your own and whatever you have gained by plunder." and belisarius said: "although your promise gave us to understand that your words would be brief and temperate, yet your discourse has been both long and not far from fraudulent in its pretensions. for theoderic was sent by the emperor zeno in order to make war on odoacer, not in order to hold the dominion of italy for himself. for why should the emperor have been concerned to exchange one tyrant for another? but he sent him in order that italy might be free and obedient to the emperor. and though theoderic disposed of the tyrant in a satisfactory manner, in everything else he shewed an extraordinary lack of proper feeling; for he never thought of restoring the land to its rightful owner. but i, for my part, think that he who robs another by violence and he who of his own will does not restore his neighbour's goods are equal. now, as for me, i shall never surrender the emperor's country to any other. but if there is anything you wish to receive in place of it, i give you leave to speak." and the barbarians said: "that everything which we have said is true no one of you can be unaware. but in order that we may not seem to be contentious, we give up to you sicily, great as it is and of such wealth, seeing that without it you cannot possess libya in security." and belisarius replied: "and we on our side permit the goths to have the whole of britain, which is much larger than sicily and was subject to the romans in early times. for it is only fair to make an equal return to those who first do a good deed or perform a kindness." the barbarians: "well, then, if we should make you a proposal concerning campania also, or about naples itself, will you listen to it?" belisarius: "no, for we are not empowered to administer the emperor's affairs in a way which is not in accord with his wish." the barbarians: "not even if we impose upon ourselves the payment of a fixed sum of money every year?" belisarius: "no, indeed. for we are not empowered to do anything else than guard the land for its owner." the barbarians: "come now, we must send envoys to the emperor and make with him our treaty concerning the whole matter. and a definite time must also be appointed during which the armies will be bound to observe an armistice." belisarius: "very well; let this be done. for never shall i stand in your way when you are making plans for peace." after saying these things they each left the conference, and the envoys of the goths withdrew to their own camp. and during the ensuing days they visited each other frequently and made the arrangements for the armistice, and they agreed that each side should put into the hands of the other some of its notable men as hostages to ensure the keeping of the armistice. footnotes: [157] 476 a.d. cf. book v. i. 6-8 and note. [158] cf. book v. i. 10, 11. [159] the goths were christians, but followed the arian heresy. vii but while these negotiations were in progress at rome, meanwhile the fleet of the isaurians put in at the harbour[160] of the romans and john with his men came to ostia, and not one of the enemy hindered them either while bringing their ships to land or while making their camp. but in order that they might be able to pass the night safe from a sudden attack by the enemy, the isaurians dug a deep trench close to the harbour and kept a constant guard by shifts of men, while john's soldiers made a barricade of their waggons about the camp and remained quiet. and when night came on belisarius went to ostia with a hundred horsemen, and after telling what had taken place in the engagement and the agreement which had been made between the romans and the goths and otherwise encouraging them, he bade them bring their cargoes and come with all zeal to rome. "for," he said, "i shall take care that the journey is free from danger." so he himself at early dawn rode back to the city, and antonina together with the commanders began at daybreak to consider means of transporting the cargoes. but it seemed to them that the task was a hard one and beset with the greatest difficulties. for the oxen could hold out no longer, but all lay half-dead, and, furthermore, it was dangerous to travel over a rather narrow road with the waggons, and impossible to tow the barges on the river, as had formerly been the custom. for the road which is on the left[2] of the river was held by the enemy, as stated by me in the previous narrative,[162] and not available for the use of the romans at that time, while the road on the other side of it is altogether unused, at least that part of it which follows the river-bank. they therefore selected the small boats belonging to the larger ships, put a fence of high planks around them on all sides, in order that the men on board might not be exposed to the enemy's shots, and embarked archers and sailors on them in numbers suitable for each boat. and after they had loaded the boats with all the freight they could carry, they waited for a favouring wind and set sail toward rome by the tiber, and a portion of the army followed them along the right[161] bank of the river to support them. but they left a large number of isaurians to guard the ships. now where the course of the river was straight, they found no trouble in sailing, simply raising the sails of the boats; but where the stream wound about and took a course athwart the wind, and the sails received no impulse from it, the sailors had no slight toil in rowing and forcing the boats against the current. as for the barbarians, they sat in their camps and had no wish to hinder their enemy, either because they were terrified at the danger, or because they thought that the romans would never by such means succeed in bringing in any provisions, and considered it contrary to their own interest, when a matter of no consequence was involved, to frustrate their hope of the armistice which belisarius had already promised. moreover, the goths who were in portus, though they could see their enemy constantly sailing by almost near enough to touch, made no move against them, but sat there wondering in amazement at the plan they had hit upon. and when the romans had made the voyage up the river many times in the same way, and had thus conveyed all the cargoes into the city without interference, the sailors took the ships and withdrew with all speed, for it was already about the time of the winter solstice; and the rest of the army entered rome, except, indeed, that paulus remained in ostia with some of the isaurians. and afterwards they gave hostages to one another to secure the keeping of the armistice, the romans giving zeno, and the goths ulias, a man of no mean station, with the understanding that during three months they should make no attack upon one another, until the envoys should return from byzantium and report the will of the emperor. and even if the one side or the other should initiate offences against their opponents, the envoys were nevertheless to be returned to their own nation. so the envoys of the barbarians went to byzantium escorted by romans, and ildiger, the son-in-law of antonina, came to rome from libya with not a few horsemen. and the goths who were holding the stronghold at portus abandoned the place by the order of vittigis because their supplies were exhausted, and came to the camp in obedience to his summons. whereupon paulus with his isaurians came from ostia and took possession of it and held it. now the chief reason why these barbarians were without provisions was that the romans commanded the sea and did not allow any of the necessary supplies to be brought in to them. and it was for this reason that they also abandoned at about the same time a sea-coast city of great importance, centumcellae[163] by name, that is, because they were short of provisions. this city is large and populous, lying to the west of rome, in tuscany, distant from it about two hundred and eighty stades. and after taking possession of it the romans went on and extended their power still more, for they took also the town of albani, which lies to the east of rome, the enemy having evacuated it at that time for the same reason, and they had already surrounded the barbarians on all sides and now held them between their forces. the goths, therefore, were in a mood to break the agreement and do some harm to the romans. so they sent envoys to belisarius and asserted that they had been unjustly treated during a truce; for when vittigis had summoned the goths who were in portus to perform some service for him, paulus and the isaurians had seized and taken possession of the fort there for no good reason. and they made this same false charge regarding albani and centumcellae, and threatened that, unless he should give these places back to them, they would resent it. but belisarius laughed and sent them away, saying that this charge was but a pretext, and that no one was ignorant of the reason why the goths had abandoned these places. and thereafter the two sides were somewhat suspicious of one another. but later, when belisarius saw that rome was abundantly supplied with soldiers, he sent many horsemen to places far distant from rome, and commanded john, the nephew of vitalian, and the horsemen under his command, eight hundred in number, to pass the winter near the city of alba, which lies in picenum; and with him he sent four hundred of the men of valerian, whom damianus, the nephew of valerian, commanded, and eight hundred men of his own guards who were especially able warriors. and in command of these he put two spearmen, suntas and adegis, and ordered them to follow john wherever he should lead; and he gave john instructions that as long as he saw the enemy was keeping the agreement made between them, he should remain quiet; but whenever he found that the armistice had been violated by them, he should do as follows: with his whole force he was to make a sudden raid and overrun the land of picenum, visiting all the districts of that region and reaching each one before the report of his coming. for in this whole land there was virtually not a single man left, since all, as it appeared, had marched against rome, but everywhere there were women and children of the enemy and money. he was instructed, therefore, to enslave or plunder whatever he found, taking care never to injure any of the romans living there. and if he should happen upon any place which had men and defences, as he probably would, he was to make an attempt upon it with his whole force. and if he was able to capture it, he was to go forward, but if it should so happen that his attempt was unsuccessful, he was to march back or remain there. for if he should go forward and leave such a fortress in his rear, he would be involved in the greatest danger, since his men would never be able to defend themselves easily, if they should be harassed by their opponents. he was also to keep the whole booty intact, in order that it might be divided fairly and properly among the army. then with a laugh he added this also: "for it is not fair that the drones should be destroyed with great labour by one force, while others, without having endured any hardship at all, enjoy the honey." so after giving these instructions, belisarius sent john with his army. and at about the same time datius, the priest of milan, and some notable men among the citizens came to rome and begged belisarius to send them a few guards. for they declared that they were themselves able without any trouble to detach from the goths not only milan, but the whole of liguria also, and to recover them for the emperor. now this city is situated in liguria, and lies about half way between the city of ravenna and the alps on the borders of gaul; for from either one it is a journey of eight days to milan for an unencumbered traveller; and it is the first of the cities of the west, after rome at least, both in size and in population and in general prosperity. and belisarius promised to fulfil their request, but detained them there during the winter season. footnotes: [160] ostia, since the regular harbour, portus, was held by the goths. [161] _i.e._ facing upstream. [162] book iv. xxvi. 14. [163] modern civita vecchia. viii such was the course of these events. but the envy of fortune was already swelling against the romans, when she saw their affairs progressing successfully and well, and wishing to mingle some evil with this good, she inspired a quarrel, on a trifling pretext, between belisarius and constantinus; and how this grew and to what end it came i shall now go on to relate. there was a certain presidius, a roman living at ravenna, and a man of no mean station. this presidius had given offence to the goths at the time when vittigis was about to march against rome, and so he set out with some few of his domestics ostensibly on a hunting expedition, and went into exile; he had communicated his plan to no one and took none of his property with him, except indeed that he himself carried two daggers, the scabbards of which happened to be adorned with much gold and precious stones. and when he came to spolitium, he lodged in a certain temple outside the fortifications. and when constantinus, who happened to be still tarrying there,[164] heard of this, he sent one of his guards, maxentiolus, and took away from him both the daggers for no good reason. the man was deeply offended by what had taken place, and set out for rome with all speed and came to belisarius, and constantinus also arrived there not long afterward; for the gothic army was already reported to be not far away. now as long as the affairs of the romans were critical and in confusion, presidius remained silent; but when he saw that the romans were gaining the upper hand and that the envoys of the goths had been sent to the emperor, as has been told by me above, he frequently approached belisarius reporting the injustice and demanding that he assist him in obtaining his rights. and belisarius reproached constantinus many times himself, and many times through others, urging him to clear himself of the guilt of an unjust deed and of a dishonouring report. but constantinus--for it must needs be that evil befall him--always lightly evaded the charge and taunted the wronged man. but on one occasion presidius met belisarius riding on horseback in the forum, and he laid hold of the horse's bridle, and crying out with a loud voice asked whether the laws of the emperor said that, whenever anyone fleeing from the barbarians comes to them as a suppliant, they should rob him by violence of whatever he may chance to have in his hands. and though many men gathered about and commanded him with threats to let go his hold of the bridle, he did not let go until at last belisarius promised to give him the daggers. on the following day, therefore, belisarius called constantinus and many of the commanders to an apartment in the palace, and after going over what had happened on the previous day urged him even at that late time to restore the daggers. but constantinus refused to do so; nay, he would more gladly throw them into the waters of the tiber than give them to presidius. and belisarius, being by now mastered by anger, enquired whether constantinus did not think that he was subject to his orders. and he agreed to obey him in all other things, for this was the emperor's will; this command, however, which at the present time he was laying upon him, he would never obey. belisarius then commanded his guards to enter, whereupon constantinus said: "in order, plainly, to have them kill me." "by no means," said belisarius, "but to have them compel your bodyguard maxentiolus, who forcibly carried away the daggers for you, to restore to the man what he took from him by violence." but constantinus, thinking that he was to die that very instant, wished to do some great deed before he should suffer anything himself. he accordingly drew the dagger which hung by his thigh and suddenly thrust it at the belly of belisarius. and he in consternation stepped back, and by throwing his arms around bessas, who was standing near, succeeded in escaping the blow. then constantinus, still boiling with anger, made after him; but ildiger and valerian, seeing what was being done, laid hold of his hands, one of the right and the other of the left, and dragged him back. and at this point the guards entered whom belisarius had summoned a moment before, snatched the dagger of constantinus from his hand with great violence, and seized him amid a great uproar. at the moment they did him no harm, out of respect, i suppose, to the officers present, but led him away to another room at the command of belisarius, and at a somewhat later time put him to death. this was the only unholy deed done by belisarius, and it was in no way worthy of the character of the man; for he always shewed great gentleness in his treatment of all others. but it had to be, as i have said, that evil should befall constantinus. footnote: [164] cf. book v. xvi. 1 ff. ix and the goths not long after this wished to strike a blow at the fortifications of rome. and first they sent some men by night into one of the aqueducts, from which they themselves had taken out the water at the beginning of this war.[165] and with lamps and torches in their hands they explored the entrance into the city by this way. now it happened that not far from the small pincian gate an arch of this aqueduct[166] had a sort of crevice in it, and one of the guards saw the light through this and told his companions; but they said that he had seen a wolf passing by his post. for at that point it so happened that the structure of the aqueduct did not rise high above the ground, and they thought that the guard had imagined the wolf's eyes to be fire. so those barbarians who explored the aqueduct, upon reaching the middle of the city, where there was an upward passage built in olden times leading to the palace itself, came upon some masonry there which allowed them neither to advance beyond that point nor to use the ascent at all. this masonry had been put in by belisarius as an act of precaution at the beginning of this siege, as has been set forth by me in the preceding narrative.[167] so they decided first to remove one small stone from the wall and then to go back immediately, and when they returned to vittigis, they displayed the stone and reported the whole situation. and while he was considering his scheme with the best of the goths, the romans who were on guard at the pincian gate recalled among themselves on the following day the suspicion of the wolf. but when the story was passed around and came to belisarius, the general did not treat the matter carelessly, but immediately sent some of the notable men in the army, together with the guardsman diogenes, down into the aqueduct and bade them investigate everything with all speed. and they found all along the aqueduct the lamps of the enemy and the ashes which had dropped from their torches, and after observing the masonry where the stone had been taken out by the goths, they reported to belisarius. for this reason he personally kept the aqueduct under close guard; and the goths, perceiving it, desisted from this attempt. but later on the barbarians went so far as to plan an open attack against the fortifications. so they waited for the time of lunch, and bringing up ladders and fire, when their enemy were least expecting them, made an assault upon the small pincian gate, emboldened by the hope of capturing the city by a sudden attack, since not many soldiers had been left there. but it happened that ildiger and his men were keeping guard at that time; for all were assigned by turns to guard-duty. so when he saw the enemy advancing in disorder, he went out against them before they were yet drawn up in line of battle and while they were advancing in great disarray, and routing those who were opposite him without any trouble he slew many. and a great outcry and commotion arose throughout the city, as was to be expected, and the romans gathered as quickly as possible to all parts of the fortifications; whereupon the barbarians after a short time retired to their camp baffled. but vittigis resorted again to a plot against the wall. now there was a certain part of it that was especially vulnerable, where the bank of the tiber is, because at this place the romans of old, confident in the protection afforded by the stream, had built the wall carelessly, making it low and altogether without towers; vittigis therefore hoped to capture the city rather easily from that quarter. for indeed there was not even any garrison there of any consequence, as it happened. he therefore bribed with money two romans who lived near the church of peter the apostle to pass along by the guards there at about nightfall carrying a skin full of wine, and in some way or other, by making a show of friendship, to give it to them, and then to sit drinking with them well on into the night; and they were to throw into the cup of each guard a sleep-producing drug which vittigis had given them. and he stealthily got ready some skiffs, which he kept at the other bank; as soon as the guards should be overcome by sleep, some of the barbarians, acting in concert, were to cross the river in these, taking ladders with them, and make the assault on the wall. and he made ready the entire army with the intention of capturing the whole city by storm. after these arrangements were all complete, one of the two men who had been prepared by vittigis for this service (for it was not fated that rome should be captured by this army of the goths) came of his own accord to belisarius and revealed everything, and told who the other man was. so this man under torture brought to light all that he was about to do and displayed the drug which vittigis had given him. and belisarius first mutilated his nose and ears and then sent him riding on an ass into the enemy's camp. and when the barbarians saw him, they realised that god would not allow their purposes to have free course, and that therefore the city could never be captured by them. footnotes: [165] book v. xix. 13. [166] the _aqua virgo_. [167] book v. xix. 18. x but while these things were happening, belisarius wrote to john and commanded him to begin operations. and he with his two thousand horsemen began to go about the land of picenum and to plunder everything before him, treating the women and children of the enemy as slaves. and when ulitheus, the uncle of vittigis, confronted him with an army of goths, he defeated them in battle and killed ulitheus himself and almost the whole army of the enemy. for this reason no one dared any longer to engage with him. but when he came to the city of auximus,[168] though he learned that it contained a gothic garrison of inconsiderable size, yet in other respects he observed that the place was strong and impossible to capture. and for this reason he was quite unwilling to lay siege to it, but departing from there as quickly as he could, he moved forward. and he did this same thing at the city of urbinus,[169] but at ariminum,[170] which is one day's journey distant from ravenna, he marched into the city at the invitation of the romans. now all the barbarians who were keeping guard there were very suspicious of the roman inhabitants, and as soon as they learned that this army was approaching, they withdrew and ran until they reached ravenna. and thus john secured ariminum; but he had meanwhile left in his rear a garrison of the enemy both at auximus and at urbinus, not because he had forgotten the commands of belisarius, nor because he was carried away by unreasoning boldness, since he had wisdom as well as energy, but because he reasoned--correctly, as it turned out--that if the goths learned that the roman army was close to ravenna, they would instantly break up the siege of rome because of their fears regarding this place. and in fact his reasoning proved to be true. for as soon as vittigis and the army of the goths heard that ariminum was held by him, they were plunged into great fear regarding ravenna, and abandoning all other considerations, they straightway made their withdrawal, as will be told by me directly. and john won great fame from this deed, though he was renowned even before. for he was a daring and efficient man in the highest degree, unflinching before danger, and in his daily life shewing at all times a certain austerity and ability to endure hardship unsurpassed by any barbarian or common soldier. such a man was john. and matasuntha, the wife of vittigis, who was exceedingly hostile to her husband because he had taken her to wife by violence in the beginning,[171] upon learning that john had come to ariminum was absolutely overcome by joy, and sending a messenger to him opened secret negotiations with him concerning marriage and the betrayal of the city. so these two kept sending messengers to each other without the knowledge of the rest and arranging these matters. but when the goths learned what had happened at ariminum, and when at the same time all their provisions had failed them, and the three months' time had already expired, they began to make their withdrawal, although they had not as yet received any information as far as the envoys were concerned. now it was about the spring equinox, and one year had been spent in the siege and nine days in addition, when the goths, having burned all their camps, set out at daybreak. and the romans, seeing their opponents in flight, were at a loss how to deal with the situation. for it so happened that the majority of the horsemen were not present at that time, since they had been sent to various places, as has been stated by me above,[172] and they did not think that by themselves they were a match for so great a multitude of the enemy. however, belisarius armed all the infantry and cavalry. and when he saw that more than half of the enemy had crossed the bridge, he led the army out through the small pincian gate, and the hand-to-hand battle which ensued proved to be equal to any that had preceded it. at the beginning the barbarians withstood their enemy vigorously, and many on both sides fell in the first encounter; but afterwards the goths turned to flight and brought upon themselves a great and overwhelming calamity; for each man for himself was rushing to cross the bridge first. as a result of this they became very much crowded and suffered most cruelly, for they were being killed both by each other and by the enemy. many, too, fell off the bridge on either side into the tiber, sank with all their arms, and perished. finally, after losing in this way the most of their number, the remainder joined those who had crossed before. and longinus the isaurian and mundilas, the guards of belisarius, made themselves conspicuous for their valour in this battle. but while mundilas, after engaging with four barbarians in turn and killing them all, was himself saved, longinus, having proved himself the chief cause of the rout of the enemy, fell where he fought, leaving the roman army great regret for his loss. footnotes: [168] modern osimo. [169] modern urbino. [170] modern rimini. [171] cf. book v. xi. 27. [172] chap. vii. 25. xi now vittigis with the remainder of his army marched toward ravenna; and he strengthened the fortified places with a great number of guards, leaving in clusium,[173] the city of tuscany, one thousand men and gibimer as commander, and in urviventus[174] an equal number, over whom he set albilas, a goth, as commander. and he left uligisalus in tudera[175] with four hundred men. and in the land of picenum he left in the fortress of petra four hundred men who had lived there previously, and in auximus, which is the largest of all the cities of that country, he left four thousand goths selected for their valour and a very energetic commander, visandus by name, and two thousand men with moras in the city of urbinus. there are also two other fortresses, caesena and monteferetra,[176] in each of which he established a garrison of not less than five hundred men. then he himself with the rest of the army moved straight for ariminum with the purpose of laying siege to it. but it happened that belisarius, as soon as the goths had broken up the siege of rome, had sent ildiger and martinus with a thousand horsemen, in order that by travelling more quickly by another road they might arrive at ariminum first, and he directed them promptly to remove john from the city and all those with him, and to put in their place fully enough men to guard the city, taking them from the fortress which is on the ionian gulf, ancon by name, two days' journey distant from ariminum. for he had already taken possession of it not long before, having sent conon with no small force of isaurians and thracians. it was his hope that if unsupported infantry under commanders of no great note should hold ariminum, the gothic forces would never undertake its siege, but would regard it with contempt and so go at once to ravenna, and that if they should decide to besiege ariminum, the provisions there would suffice for the infantry for a somewhat longer time; and he thought also that two thousand horsemen,[177] attacking from outside with the rest of the army, would in all probability do the enemy great harm and drive them more easily to abandon the siege. it was with this purpose that belisarius gave such orders to martinus and ildiger and their men. and they, by travelling over the flaminian way, arrived long before the barbarians. for since the goths were moving in a great throng, they proceeded in a more leisurely manner, and they were compelled to make certain long detours, both because of the lack of provisions, and because they preferred not to pass close to the fortresses on the flaminian way, narnia and spolitium and perusia, since these were in the hands of the enemy, as has been stated above.[178] when the roman army arrived at petra, they made an attack upon the fortress there, regarding it as an incident of their expedition. now this fortress was not devised by man, but it was made by the nature of the place; for the road passes through an extremely mountainous country at that place. on the right of this road a river descends which no man can ford because of the swiftness of the current, and on the left not far away rises a sheer rock which reaches to such a height that men who might chance to be standing on its summit, as seen by those below, resemble in size the smallest birds. and in olden times there was no passage through as one went forward. for the end of the rock reaches to the very stream of the river, affording no room for those who travel that way to pass by. so the men of ancient times constructed a tunnel at that point, and made there a gate for the place.[179] and they also closed up the greatest part of the other[180] entrance, leaving only enough space for a small gate there also, and thus rendered the place a natural fortress, which they call by the fitting name of petra. so the men of martinus and ildiger first made an attack upon one of the two gates,[181] and shot many missiles, but they accomplished nothing, although the barbarians there made no defence at all; but afterwards they forced their way up the cliff behind the fortress and hurled stones from there upon the heads of the goths. and they, hurriedly and in great confusion, entered their houses and remained quiet. and then the romans, unable to hit any of the enemy with the stones they threw, devised the following plan. they broke off large pieces from the cliff and, many of them pushing together, hurled them down, aiming at the houses. and wherever these in their fall did no more than just graze the building, they yet gave the whole fortress a considerable shock and reduced the barbarians to great fear. consequently the goths stretched out their hands to those who were still about the gate and surrendered themselves and the fort, with the condition that they themselves should remain free from harm, being slaves of the emperor and subject to belisarius. and ildiger and martinus removed the most of them and led them away, putting them on a basis of complete equality with themselves, but some few they left there, together with their wives and children. and they also left something of a garrison of romans. thence they proceeded to ancon, and taking with them many of the infantry in that place on the third day reached ariminum, and announced the will of belisarius. but john was not only unwilling himself to follow them, but also proposed to retain damianus with the four hundred.[182] so they left there the infantry and retired thence with all speed, taking the spearmen and guards of belisarius. footnotes: [173] modern chiusi. [174] urbs vetus, modern orvieto. [175] tuder or tudertum, modern todi. [176] modern montefeltro. [177] _i.e._ the force which john had when he had set out on his raid of picenum (cf. chap. x. 1) and with which he was now holding ariminum. [178] book v. xxix. 3. [179] the tunnel was made by the emperor vespasian, 76 a.d. this gate was at the southern end. [180] _i.e._ northern. [181] the upper, or southern, gate. [182] cf. chap. vii. 26. xii and not long afterward vittigis and his whole army arrived at ariminum, where they established their camp and began the siege. and they immediately constructed a wooden tower higher than the circuit-wall of the city and resting on four wheels, and drew it toward that part of the wall which seemed to them most vulnerable. but in order that they might not have the same experience here which they had before the fortifications of rome, they did not use oxen to draw the tower, but hid themselves within it and thus hauled it forward. and there was a stairway of great breadth inside the tower on which the barbarians in great numbers were to make the ascent easily, for they hoped that as soon as they should place the tower against the fortifications, they would have no trouble in stepping thence to the parapet of the wall; for they had made the tower high with this in view. so when they had come close to the fortifications with this engine of war, they remained quiet for the time, since it was already growing dark, and stationing guards about the tower they all went off to pass the night, supposing that they would meet with no obstacle whatever. and indeed there was nothing in their way, not even a trench between them and the wall, except an exceedingly small one. as for the romans, they passed the night in great fear, supposing that on the morrow they would perish. but john, neither yielding to despair in face of the danger nor being greatly agitated by fear, devised the following plan. leaving the others on guard at their posts, he himself took the isaurians, who carried pickaxes and various other tools of this kind, and went outside the fortifications; it was late in the night and no word had been given beforehand to anyone in the city; and once outside the wall, he commanded his men in silence to dig the trench deeper. so they did as directed, and as they dug they kept putting the earth which they took out of the trench upon the side of it nearer the city-wall, and there it served them as an earthwork. and since they were unobserved for a long time by the enemy, who were sleeping, they soon made the trench both deep and sufficiently wide, at the place where the fortifications were especially vulnerable and where the barbarians were going to make the assault with their engine of war. but far on in the night the enemy, perceiving what was being done, charged at full speed against those who were digging, and john went inside the fortifications with the isaurians, since the trench was now in a most satisfactory condition. but at daybreak vittigis noted what had been accomplished and in his exceeding vexation at the occurrence executed some of the guards; however, he was as eager as before to bring his engine to bear, and so commanded the goths to throw a great number of faggots as quickly as possible into the trench, and then by drawing the tower over them to bring it into position. this they proceeded to do as vittigis commanded, with all zeal, although their opponents kept fighting them back from the wall with the utmost vigour. but when the weight of the tower came upon the faggots they naturally yielded and sank down. for this reason the barbarians were quite unable to go forward with the engine, because the ground became still more steep before them, where the romans had heaped up the earth as i have stated. fearing, therefore, that when night came on the enemy would sally forth and set fire to the engine, they began to draw it back again. this was precisely what john was eager to prevent with all his power, and so he armed his soldiers, called them all together, and exhorted them as follows: "my men, who share this danger common to us all, if it would please any man among you to live and see those whom he has left at home, let him realize that the only hope he has of obtaining these things lies in nothing but his own hands. for when belisarius sent us forth in the beginning, hope and desire for many things made us eager for the task. for we never suspected that we should be besieged in the country along the coast, since the romans command the sea so completely, nor would one have supposed that the emperor's army would so far neglect us. but apart from these considerations, at that time we were prompted to boldness by an opportunity to display our loyalty to the state and by the glory which we should acquire in the sight of all men as the result of our struggles. but as things now stand, we cannot possibly survive save by courage, and we are obliged to undergo this danger with no other end in view than the saving of our own lives. therefore, if any of you perchance lay claim to valour, all such have the opportunity to prove themselves brave men, if any men in the world have, and thereby to cover themselves with glory. for they achieve a fair name, not who overpower those weaker than themselves, but who, though inferior in equipment, still win the victory by the greatness of their souls. and as for those in whom the love of life has been more deeply implanted, it will be of advantage to these especially to be bold, for it is true of all men, as a general thing, that when their fortunes stand on the razor's edge, as is now the case with us, they may be saved only by scorning the danger." with these words john led his army out against the enemy, leaving some few men to guard the battlement. but the enemy withstood them bravely, and the battle became exceedingly fierce. and with great difficulty and late in the day the barbarians succeeded in bringing the tower back to their own camp. however, they lost so great a number of their fighting men that they decided thenceforth to make no further attacks upon the wall, but in despair of succeeding that way, they remained quiet, expecting that their enemy would yield to them under stress of famine. for all their provisions had already failed them completely, since they had not found any place from which they could bring in a sufficient supply. such was the course of events here. but as for belisarius, he sent to the representatives of milan[183] a thousand men, isaurians and thracians. the isaurians were commanded by ennes, the thracians by paulus, while mundilas was set over them all and commanded in person, having as his guard some few of the guardsmen of belisarius. and with them was also fidelius, who had been made praetorian prefect. for since he was a native of milan, he was regarded as a suitable person to go with this army, having as he did some influence in liguria. they set sail, accordingly, from the harbour of rome and put in at genoa, which is the last city in tuscany and well situated as a port of call for the voyage to gaul and to spain. there they left their ships and travelling by land moved forward, placing the boats of the ships on their waggons, in order that nothing might prevent their crossing the river po. it was by this means, in any event, that they made the crossing of the river. and when they reached the city of ticinum,[184] after crossing the po, the goths came out against them and engaged them in battle. and they were not only numerous but also excellent troops, since all the barbarians who lived in that region had deposited the most valuable of their possessions in ticinum, as being a place which had strong defences, and had left there a considerable garrison. so a fierce battle took place, but the romans were victorious, and routing their opponents, they slew a great number and came within a little of capturing the city in the pursuit. for it was only with difficulty that the barbarians succeeded in shutting the gates, so closely did their enemy press upon their heels. and as the romans were marching away, fidelius went into a temple there to pray, and was the last to leave. but by some chance his horse stumbled and he fell. and since he had fallen very near the fortifications, the goths seeing him came out and killed him without being observed by the enemy. wherefore, when this was afterwards discovered by mundilas and the romans, they were greatly distressed. then, leaving ticinum, they arrived at the city of milan and secured this city with the rest of liguria without a battle. when vittigis learned about this, he sent a large army with all speed and uraã¯as, his own nephew, as commander. and theudibert, the leader of the franks, sent him at his request ten thousand men as allies, not of the franks themselves, but burgundians, in order not to appear to be doing injury to the emperor's cause. for it was given out that the burgundians made the expedition willingly and of their own choice, not as obeying the command of theudibert. and the goths, joined by these troops, came to milan, made camp and began a siege when the romans were least expecting them. at any rate the romans, through this action, found it impossible to bring in any kind of provisions, but they were immediately in distress for want of necessities. indeed, even the guarding of the walls was not being maintained by the regular soldiers, for it so happened that mundilas had occupied all the cities near milan which had defences, namely bergomum, comum, and novaria,[185] as well as some other strongholds, and in every place had established a considerable garrison, while he himself with about three hundred men remained in milan, and with him ennes and paulus. consequently and of necessity the inhabitants of the city were regularly keeping guard in turn. such was the progress of events in liguria, and the winter drew to its close, and the third year came to an end in this war, the history of which procopius has written. footnotes: [183] cf. chap. vii. 35. [184] modern pavia. [185] modern bergamo, como, and novara. xiii and belisarius at about the time of the summer solstice marched against vittigis and the gothic army, leaving a few men to act as a garrison in rome, but taking all the others with him. and he sent some men to tudera and clusium, with orders to make fortified camps there, and he was intending to follow them and assist in besieging the barbarians at those places. but when the barbarians learned that the army was approaching, they did not wait to face the danger, but sent envoys to belisarius, promising to surrender both themselves and the two cities, with the condition that they should remain free from harm. and when he came there, they fulfilled their promise. and belisarius removed all the goths from these towns and sent them to sicily and naples, and after establishing a garrison in clusium and in tudera, he led his army forward. but meanwhile vittigis had sent another army, under command of vacimus, to auximus, commanding it to join forces with the goths there, and with them to go against the enemy in ancon and make an attempt upon that fortress. now this ancon is a sort of pointed rock, and indeed it is from this circumstance that it has taken its name; for it is exceedingly like an "elbow." and it is about eighty stades distant from the city of auximus, whose port it is. and the defences of the fortress lie upon the pointed rock in a position of security, but all the buildings outside, though they are many, have been from ancient times unprotected by a wall. now as soon as conon, who was in command of the garrison of the place, heard that the forces of vacimus were coming against him and were already not far away, he made an exhibition of thoughtless folly. for thinking it too small a thing to preserve free from harm merely the fortress and its inhabitants together with the soldiers, he left the fortifications entirely destitute of soldiers, and leading them all out to a distance of about five stades, arrayed them in line of battle, without, however, making the phalanx a deep one at all, but thin enough to surround the entire base of the mountain, as if for a hunt. but when these troops saw that the enemy were greatly superior to them in number, they turned their backs and straightway fled to the fortress. and the barbarians, following close upon them, slew on the spot most of their number--those who did not succeed in getting inside the circuit-wall in time--and then placed ladders against the wall and attempted the ascent. some also began burning the houses outside the fortress. and the romans who resided habitually in the fortress, being terror-stricken at what was taking place, at first opened the small gate and received the soldiers as they fled in complete disorder. but when they saw the barbarians close at hand and pressing upon the fugitives, fearing that they would charge in with them, they closed the gates as quickly as they could, and letting down ropes from the battlement, saved a number by drawing them up, and among them conon himself. but the barbarians scaled the wall by means of their ladders and came within a little of capturing the fortress by storm, and would have succeeded if two men had not made a display of remarkable deeds by valorously pushing off the battlements those who had already got upon the wall; one of these two was a bodyguard of belisarius, a thracian named ulimuth, and the other a bodyguard of valerian, named gouboulgoudou, a massagete by birth. these two men had happened by some chance to come by ship to ancon a little before; and in this struggle, by warding off with their swords those who were scaling the wall, they saved the fortress contrary to expectation, but they themselves were carried from the battlement half dead, their whole bodies hacked with many wounds. at that time it was reported to belisarius that narses had come with a great army from byzantium and was in picenum. now this narses[186] was a eunuch and guardian of the royal treasures, but for the rest keen and more energetic than would be expected of a eunuch. and five thousand soldiers followed him, of whom the several detachments were commanded by different men, among whom were justinus, the general of illyricum, and another narses, who had previously come to the land of the romans as a deserter from the armenians who are subject to the persians; with him had come his brother aratius,[187] who, as it happened, had joined belisarius a little before this with another army. and about two thousand of the erulian nation also followed him, commanded by visandus and aluith and phanitheus. footnotes: [186] he was an armenian of persia; see book i. xv. 31. [187] book i. xv. 31. xiv now as to who in the world the eruli are, and how they entered into alliance with the romans, i shall forthwith explain.[188] they used to dwell beyond the ister[189] river from of old, worshipping a great host of gods, whom it seemed to them holy to appease even by human sacrifices. and they observed many customs which were not in accord with those of other men. for they were not permitted to live either when they grew old or when they fell sick, but as soon as one of them was overtaken by old age or by sickness, it became necessary for him to ask his relatives to remove him from the world as quickly as possible. and these relatives would pile up a quantity of wood to a great height and lay the man on top of the wood, and then they would send one of the eruli, but not a relative of the man, to his side with a dagger; for it was not lawful for a kinsman to be his slayer. and when the slayer of their relative had returned, they would straightway burn the whole pile of wood, beginning at the edges. and after the lire had ceased, they would immediately collect the bones and bury them in the earth. and when a man of the eruli died, it was necessary for his wife, if she laid claim to virtue and wished to leave a fair name behind her, to die not long afterward beside the tomb of her husband by hanging herself with a rope. and if she did not do this, the result was that she was in ill repute thereafter and an offence to the relatives of her husband. such were the customs observed by the eruli in ancient times. but as time went on they became superior to all the barbarians who dwelt about them both in power and in numbers, and, as was natural, they attacked and vanquished them severally and kept plundering their possessions by force. and finally they made the lombards, who were christians, together with several other nations, subject and tributary to themselves, though the barbarians of that region were not accustomed to that sort of thing; but the eruli were led to take this course by love of money and a lawless spirit. [x]when, however, anastasius took over the roman empire, the eruli, having no longer anyone in the world whom they could assail, laid down their arms and remained quiet, and they observed peace in this way for a space of three years. but the people themselves, being exceedingly vexed, began to abuse their leader rodolphus without restraint, and going to him constantly they called him cowardly and effeminate, and railed at him in a most unruly manner, taunting him with certain other names besides. and rodolphus, being quite unable to bear the insult, marched against the lombards, who were doing no wrong, without charging against them any fault or alleging any violation of their agreement, but bringing upon them a war which had no real cause. and when the lombards got word of this, they sent to rodolphus and made enquiry and demanded that he should state the charge on account of which the eruli were coming against them in arms, agreeing that if they had deprived the eruli of any of the tribute, then they would instantly pay it with large interest; and if their grievance was that only a moderate tribute had been imposed upon them, then the lombards would never be reluctant to make it greater. such were the offers which the envoys made, but rodolphus with a threat sent them away and marched forward. and they again sent other envoys to him on the same mission and supplicated him with many entreaties. and when the second envoys had fared in the same way, a third embassy came to him and forbade the eruli on any account to bring upon them a war without excuse. for if they should come against them with such a purpose, they too, not willingly, but under the direst necessity, would array themselves against their assailants, calling upon god as their witness, the slightest breath of whose favour, turning the scales, would be a match for all the strength of men; and he, in all likelihood, would be moved by the causes of the war and would determine the issue of the fight for both sides accordingly. so they spoke, thinking in this way to terrify their assailants, but the eruli, shrinking from nothing whatever, decided to meet the lombards in battle. and when the two armies came close to one another, it so happened that the sky above the lombards was obscured by a sort of cloud, black and very thick, but above the eruli it was exceedingly clear. and judging by this one would have supposed that the eruli were entering the conflict to their own harm; for there ran be no more forbidding portent than this for barbarians as they go into battle. however, the eruli gave no heed even to this, but in absolute disregard of it they advanced against their enemy with utter contempt, estimating the outcome of war by mere superiority of numbers. but when the battle came to close quarters, many of the eruli perished and rodolphus himself also perished, and the rest fled at full speed, forgetting all their courage. and since their enemy followed them up, the most of them fell on the field of battle and only a few succeeded in saving themselves. date: [x]491 a.d. for this reason the eruli were no longer able to tarry in their ancestral homes, but departing from there as quickly as possible they kept moving forward, traversing the whole country which is beyond the ister river, together with their wives and children. but when they reached a land where the rogi dwelt of old, a people who had joined the gothic host and gone to italy, they settled in that place. but since they were pressed by famine, because they were in a barren land, they removed from there not long afterward, and came to a place close to the country of the gepaedes.[190] and at first the gepaedes permitted them to dwell there and be neighbours to them, since they came as suppliants. but afterwards for no good reason the gepaedes began to practise unholy deeds upon them. for they violated their women and seized their cattle and other property, and abstained from no wickedness whatever, and finally began an unjust attack upon them. and the eruli, unable to bear all this any longer, crossed the ister river and decided to live as neighbours to the romans in that region; this was during the reign of the emperor anastasius, who received them with great friendliness and allowed them to settle where they were. but a short time afterwards these barbarians gave him offence by their lawless treatment of the romans there, and for this reason he sent an army against them. and the romans, after defeating them in battle, slew most of their number, and had ample opportunity to destroy them all. but the remainder of them threw themselves upon the mercy of the generals and begged them to spare their lives and to have them as allies and servants of the emperor thereafter. and when anastasius learned this, he was pleased, and consequently a number of the eruli were left; however, they neither became allies of the romans, nor did they do them any good. but when justinian took over the empire,[y] he bestowed upon them good lands and other possessions, and thus completely succeeded in winning their friendship and persuaded them all to become christians. as a result of this they adopted a gentler manner of life and decided to submit themselves wholly to the laws of the christians, and in keeping with the terms of their alliance they are generally arrayed with the romans against their enemies. they are still, however, faithless toward them, and since they are given to avarice, they are eager to do violence to their neighbours, feeling no shame at such conduct. and they mate in an unholy manner, especially men with asses, and they are the basest of all men and utterly abandoned rascals. date: [y]527 a.d. afterwards, although some few of them remained at peace with the romans, as will be told by me in the following narrative,[191] all the rest revolted for the following reason. the eruli, displaying their beastly and fanatical character against their own "rex," one ochus by name, suddenly killed the man for no good reason at all, laying against him no other charge than that they wished to be without a king thereafter. and yet even before this, while their king did have the title, he had practically no advantage over any private citizen whomsoever. but all claimed the right to sit with him and eat with him, and whoever wished insulted him without restraint; for no men in the world are less bound by convention or more unstable than the eruli. now when the evil deed had been accomplished, they were immediately repentant. for they said that they were not able to live without a ruler and without a general; so after much deliberation it seemed to them best in every way to summon one of their royal family from the island of thule. and the reason for this i shall now explain. footnotes: [188] cf. book iv. iv. 30. [189] modern danube. [190] cf. book iii. ii. 2-6, vii. xxiv. 10. [191] book vii. xxxiv. 42. xv when the eruli, being defeated by the lombards in the above-mentioned battle, migrated from their ancestral homes, some of them, as has been told by me above,[192] made their home in the country of illyricum, but the rest were averse to crossing the ister river, but settled at the very extremity of the world; at any rate, these men, led by many of the royal blood, traversed all the nations of the sclaveni one after the other, and after next crossing a large tract of barren country, they came to the varni,[193] as they are called. after these they passed by the nations of the dani,[194] without suffering violence at the hands of the barbarians there. coming thence to the ocean, they took to the sea, and putting in at thule,[195] remained there on the island. now thule is exceedingly large; for it is more than ten times greater than britain. and it lies far distant from it toward the north. on this island the land is for the most part barren, but in the inhabited country thirteen very numerous nations are settled; and there are kings over each nation. in that place a very wonderful thing takes place each year. for the sun at the time of the summer solstice never sets for forty days, but appears constantly during this whole time above the earth. but not less than six months later, at about the time of the winter solstice, the sun is never seen on this island for forty days, but never-ending night envelops it; and as a result of this dejection holds the people there during this whole time, because they are unable by any means to mingle with one another during this interval. and although i was eager to go to this island and become an eye-witness of the things i have told, no opportunity ever presented itself. however, i made enquiry from those who come to us from the island as to how in the world they are able to reckon the length of the days, since the sun never rises nor sets there at the appointed times. and they gave me an account which is true and trustworthy. for they said that the sun during those forty days does not indeed set just as has been stated, but is visible to the people there at one time toward the east, and again toward the west. whenever, therefore, on its return, it reaches the same place on the horizon where they had previously been accustomed to see it rise, they reckon in this way that one day and night have passed. when, however, the time of the nights arrives, they always take note of the courses of the moon and stars and thus reckon the measure of the days. and when a time amounting to thirty-five days has passed in this long night, certain men are sent to the summits of the mountains--for this is the custom among them--and when they are able from that point barely to see the sun, they bring back word to the people below that within five days the sun will shine upon them. and the whole population celebrates a festival at the good news, and that too in the darkness. and this is the greatest festival which the natives of thule have; for, i imagine, these islanders always become terrified, although they see the same thing happen every year, fearing that the sun may at some time fail them entirely. but among the barbarians who are settled in thule, one nation only, who are called the scrithiphini, live a kind of life akin to that of the beasts. for they neither wear garments of cloth nor do they walk with shoes on their feet, nor do they drink wine nor derive anything edible from the earth. for they neither till the land themselves, nor do their women work it for them, but the women regularly join the men in hunting, which is their only pursuit. for the forests, which are exceedingly large, produce for them a great abundance of wild beasts and other animals, as do also the mountains which rise there. and they feed exclusively upon the flesh of the wild beasts slain by them, and clothe themselves in their skins, and since they have neither flax nor any implement with which to sew, they fasten these skins together by the sinews of the animals, and in this way manage to cover the whole body. and indeed not even their infants are nursed in the same way as among the rest of mankind. for the children of the scrithiphini do not feed upon the milk of women nor do they touch their mother's breast, but they are nourished upon the marrow of the animals killed in the hunt, and upon this alone. now as soon as a woman gives birth to a child, she throws it into a skin and straightway hangs it to a tree, and after putting marrow into its mouth she immediately sets out with her husband for the customary hunt. for they do everything in common and likewise engage in this pursuit together. so much for the daily life of these barbarians. but all the other inhabitants of thule, practically speaking, do not differ very much from the rest of men, but they reverence in great numbers gods and demons both of the heavens and of the air, of the earth and of the sea, and sundry other demons which are said to be in the waters of springs and rivers. and they incessantly offer up all kinds of sacrifices, and make oblations to the dead, but the noblest of sacrifices, in their eyes, is the first human being whom they have taken captive in war; for they sacrifice him to ares, whom they regard as the greatest god. and the manner in which they offer up the captive is not by sacrificing him on an altar only, but also by hanging him to a tree, or throwing him among thorns, or killing him by some of the other most cruel forms of death. thus, then, do the inhabitants of thule live. and one of their most numerous nations is the gauti, and it was next to them that the incoming eruli settled at the time in question. on the present occasion,[196] therefore, the eruli who dwelt among the romans, after the murder of their king had been perpetrated by them, sent some of their notables to the island of thule to search out and bring back whomsoever they were able to find there of the royal blood. and when these men reached the island, they found many there of the royal blood, but they selected the one man who pleased them most and set out with him on the return journey. but this man fell sick and died when he had come to the country of the dani. these men therefore went a second time to the island and secured another man, datius by name. and he was followed by his brother aordus and two hundred youths of the eruli in thule. but since much time passed while they were absent on this journey, it occurred to the eruli in the neighbourhood of singidunum that they were not consulting their own interests in importing a leader from thule against the wishes of the emperor justinian. they therefore sent envoys to byzantium, begging the emperor to send them a ruler of his own choice. and he straightway sent them one of the eruli who had long been sojourning in byzantium, suartuas by name. at first the eruli welcomed him and did obeisance to him and rendered the customary obedience to his commands; but not many days later a messenger arrived with the tidings that the men from the island of thule were near at hand. and suartuas commanded them to go out to meet those men, his intention being to destroy them, and the eruli, approving his purpose, immediately went with him. but when the two forces were one day's journey distant from each other, the king's men all abandoned him at night and went over of their own accord to the newcomers, while he himself took to flight and set out unattended for byzantium. thereupon the emperor earnestly undertook with all his power to restore him to his office, and the eruli, fearing the power of the romans, decided to submit themselves to the gepaedes. this, then, was the cause of the revolt of the eruli.[197] footnotes: [192] this has not been stated before by procopius. [193] or varini, a tribe living on the coast near the mouth of the rhine. [194] a group of tribes inhabiting the danish peninsula. [195] probably iceland or the northern portion of the scandinavian peninsula, which was then regarded as an island and called "scanza." the name of thule was familiar from earlier times. it was described by the navigator pytheas in the age of alexander the great, and he claimed to have visited the island. it was variously placed, but always considered the northernmost land in the world--"ultima thule." [196] cf. chap. xiv. 42. [197] chap. xiv. 37 introduces this topic. index acarnania, a roman fleet winters there, v. xxiv. 20 adegis, bodyguard of belisarius, vi. vii. 27 adriatic sea, of which the modern adriatic was an inlet, v. xv. 16 aemilia, district in northern italy, on the right of the po, v. xv. 30 aeneas, son of anchises, meets diomedes at beneventus and receives from him the palladium, v. xv. 9 aeschmanus, a massagete, bodyguard of belisarius, v. xvi. 1 aetolia, a roman fleet winters there, v. xxiv. 20 africa, mentioned in the oracle regarding mundus, v. vii. 6, 7 alamani, barbarian people of gaul, v. xii. 11 alani, a gothic nation, v. i. 3 alaric, leader of the visigoths, v. i. 3; deposited plunder of rome in carcasiana, v. xii. 41 alaric the younger, ruler of the visigoths; betrothed to theodichusa, daughter of theoderic, v. xii. 22; attacked by the franks, v. xii. 33; appeals to theoderic, v. xii. 34; meets the franks in battle and is slain, v. xii. 35-40; father of giselic, v. xii. 43 alba, town in picenum, vi. vii. 25 albani, a people north of liguria, v. xv. 29 albani, town near rome, v. vi. 7; occupied by gontharis, vi. iv. 8, vii. 20, 23 albanum, vi. vii. 23, see albani albilas, gothic commander of urviventus, vi. xi. 1 albis, a goth sent as envoy to belisarius, v. xx. 7 alexander, roman senator, envoy of justinian, v. iii. 13, vi. 26; meets amalasuntha in ravenna, v. iii. 16; his report, v. iii. 29; brother of athanasius, v. vi. 26 alexander, commander of cavalry, vi. v. 1 aluith, erulian commander, vi. xiii. 18 alps, form boundary between gaul and liguria, v. xii. 4, 20; distance from milan, vi. vii. 37, 38; definition of the word "alps," v. xii. 3, 4. amalaberga, daughter of amalafrida, betrothed to hermenefridus, v. xii. 22; sister of theodatus, v. xiii. 2 amalafrida, sister of theoderic and mother of theodatus, v. iii. 1; mother of amalaberga, v. xii. 22 amalaric, grandson of theoderic and son of theodichusa, v. xii. 43, 46; becomes king of the visigoths, with theoderic as regent, v. xii. 46; marries the daughter of the frankish king, and divides gaul with the goths and his cousin atalaric, v. xiii. 4; receives back the treasures of carcasiana, v. xiii. 6; gives offence to theudibert by his treatment of his wife, v. xiii. 9, 10; defeated by him in battle and slain, v. xiii. 11 amalasuntha, daughter of theoderic, v. ii. 23, xxiv. 25; mother of atalaric, v. ii. 1; acts as regent for him, v. ii. 3; her plan for his education frustrated by the goths, v. ii. 6 ff.; allows him to be trained according to the ideas of the goths, v. ii. 18 ff.; her conflict with the gothic nobles, v. ii. 20-22; sends a ship to epidamnus, v. ii. 26 ff., iii. 14; later recalls it, v. ii. 29; her concern at the failing health of atalaric, v. iii. 10, 11; plans to hand over italy to justinian, v. iii. 12; accused by justinian, v. iii. 15-18; meets alexander in ravenna, v. iii. 16; receives justinian's letter, v. iii. 16-18; her reply, v. iii. 19-27; sends envoys agreeing to hand over all italy to justinian, v. iii. 28, 29; hears accusations against theodatus, v. iv. 1; compels him to make restitution, v. iv. 2; attempts to gain his support, v. iv. 4 ff.; deceived by him, v. iv. 10; imprisoned, v. iv. 13-15; compelled by him to write justinian, v. iv. 16; the envoy peter sent to treat with her, v. iv. 18; championed by justinian, v. iv. 22; her death, v. iv. 25-27, 31; her death foreshadowed by the crumbling of a mosaic in naples, v. xxiv. 25; her noble qualities, v. iv. 29; her ability and justice as a ruler, v. ii. 3-5; mother of matasuntha, v. xi. 27 anastasius, roman emperor, vi. xiv. 10; makes alliance with the eruli, vi. xiv. 28, 32 anchises, father of aeneas, v. xv. 9 ancon, fortress on the ionian gulf, vi. xi. 4, 21; its strong position, vi. xiii. 6; taken by belisarius, vi. xi. 5; attacked by the goths, vi. xiii. 5 ff.; port of auximus, vi. xiii. 7; distance from ariminum, vi. xi. 4; and from auximus, vi. xiii. 7 antae, a people settled near the ister river; serve in the roman army, v. xxvii. 2 anthium, used as a harbour by the romans, v. xxvi. 17; distance from ostia, _ibid._ antiochus, a syrian, resident in naples, favours the roman party, v. viii. 21 antonina, wife of belisarius, v. xviii. 43; departs for naples, vi. iv. 6; arriving in taracina, proceeds to campania, vi. iv. 14, where she assists procopius, vi. iv. 20; assists in shipping provisions from ostia to rome, vi. vii. 4 ff.; mother of photius, v. v. 5, xviii. 18; mother-in-law of ildiger, vi. vii. 15 aordus, an erulian, brother of datius, vi. xv. 29 appian way, built by appius, v. xiv. 6; description of the road, v. xiv. 6-11; travelled by refugees from rome, v. xxv. 4; gothic camp near it, vi. iii. 3, iv. 3, 17 appius, roman consul, builder of the appian way, v. xiv. 6-9 apulians, a people of southern italy, v. xv. 21; voluntarily submit to belisarius, v. xv. 3 aquileia, city in northern italy, v. i. 22 aquilinus, bodyguard of belisarius; performs a remarkable feat, vi. v. 18, 19 aratius, commander of armenians, who had deserted from the persians, vi. xiii. 17; joins belisarius in italy with an army, _ibid._ arborychi, barbarians in gaul, formerly subject to the romans, v. xii. 9; become roman soldiers, v. xii. 13; absorbed by the germans, v. xii. 13-15; receive land from roman soldiers, v. xii. 17 ares, worshipped by the inhabitants of thule, vi. xv. 25 argos, diomedes repulsed thence, v. xv. 8 arians, their views not held by the franks, v. v. 9; not trusted by roman soldiers in gaul, v. xii. 17; arian heresy espoused by amalaric, v. xiii. 10 ariminum, city of northern italy, occupied by john, vi. x. 5 ff.; abandoned by the goths, vi. x. 6; besieged by vittigis, vi. xi. 3, xii. 1 ff.; ildiger and martinus sent thither, vi. xi. 4, 21; distance from ravenna, vi. x. 5; from ancon, vi. xi. 4 armenians, narses an armenian, vi. xiii. 17 artasires, a persian, bodyguard of belisarius, vi. ii. 10 arzes, bodyguard of belisarius; his remarkable wound, vi. ii. 16-18; treatment of his wound, vi. ii. 25-29; of the household of belisarius, vi. ii. 25 asclepiodotus, of naples, a trained speaker; with pastor opposes the plan to surrender the city, v. viii. 22 ff.; they address the neapolitans, v. viii. 29-40; bring forward the jews, v. viii. 41; his effrontery after the capture of the city, v. x. 39, 43-45; bitterly accused by stephanus, v. x. 40-42; killed by a mob, v. x. 46 asia, the continent adjoining libya, v. xii. 1 asinarian gate, in rome, v. xiv. 14 asinarius, gothic commander in dalmatia, v. vii. 1, xvi. 8; gathers an army among the suevi, v. xvi. 12, 14; joins uligisalus and proceeds to salones, v. xvi. 15, 16 assyrians, v. xxiv. 36 atalaric, grandson of theoderic; succeeds him as king of the goths, v. ii. 1; reared by his mother amalasuntha, _ibid._; who attempts to educate him, v. ii. 6 ff.; corrupted by the goths, v. ii. 19 ff.; receives the envoy alexander, v. vi. 26; divides gaul with his cousin amalaric, v. xiii. 4, 5; returns the treasures of carcasiana to him, v. xiii. 6; attacked by a wasting disease, v. iii. 10, iv. 5; his death, v. iv. 4, 19; his quaestor fidelius, v. xiv. 5; his death foreshadowed by the crumbling of a mosaic in naples, v. xxiv. 24 athanasius, brother of alexander, v. vi. 26; envoy of justinian, v. vi. 25, vii. 24 athena, her statue stolen from troy, v. xv. 9; given to aeneas, v. xv. 10; different views as to the existence of the statue in the time of procopius, v. xv. 11-14; a copy of it in the temple of fortune in rome, v. xv. 11; greek statues of, v. xv. 13 athenodorus, an isaurian, bodyguard of belisarius, v. xxix. 20, 21 attila, leader of the huns, v. i. 3 augustulus, name given to augustus, emperor of the west, v. i. 2; dethroned by odoacer, v. i. 7, vi. vi. 16 augustus, first emperor of the romans; allowed the thuringians to settle in gaul, v. xii. 10; builder of a great bridge over the narnus, v. xvii. 11 augustus, see augustulus aulon, city on the ionian gulf, v. iv. 21 aurelian gate, in rome, called also the gate of peter, v. xix. 4, xxviii. 15; near the tomb of hadrian, v. xxii. 12 auximus, city in picenum; its strong position, vi. x. 3; strongly garrisoned by the goths, vi. xi. 2; metropolis of picenum, _ibid._; distance from its port ancon, vi. xiii. 7 balan, barbarian name for a white-faced horse, v. xviii. 6, 7 ballista, description of, v. xxi. 14-18; could shoot only straight out, v. xxii. 21 belisarius, his victory over the vandals, v. v. 1; sent by sea against the goths, v. v. 2; commander-in-chief of the army, v. v. 4; sent first to sicily, v. v. 6, 7, xiii. 14; takes catana and the other cities of sicily, except panormus, by surrender, v. v. 12; takes panormus, v. v. 12-16; enjoys great fame, v. v. 17 ff.; lays down the consulship in syracuse, v. v. 18, 19; given power to make settlement with theodatus, v. vi. 25, 26, 27; ordered to hasten to italy, crosses from sicily, v. vii. 27, viii. 1; ebrimous comes over to him as a deserter, v. viii. 3; reaching naples, attempts to bring about its surrender, v. viii. 5 ff.; failing in this, begins a siege, v. viii. 42; does not succeed in storming the walls, v. viii. 43; cuts the aqueduct, v. viii. 45, ix. 12; despairs of success in the siege, v. ix. 8, 10; learns of the possibility of entering naples by the aqueduct, v. ix. 10 ff.; makes necessary preparations for the enterprise, v. ix. 18-21; makes final effort to persuade the neapolitans to surrender, v. ix. 22 ff.; carries out the plan of entering the city by the aqueduct, v. x. 1 ff.; captures the city, v. x. 21 ff.; addresses the army, v. x. 29-34; guards the gothic prisoners from harm, v. x. 37; addressed by asclepiodotus, v. x. 39 ff.; forgives the neapolitans for killing him, v. x. 48; prepares to march on rome, leaving a garrison in naples, v. xiv. 1, 4; garrisons cumae, v. xiv. 2; invited to rome by the citizens, v. xiv. 5; enters rome, v. xiv. 14; sends leuderis and the keys of rome to justinian, v. xiv. 15; repairs and improves the defences of the city, _ibid._; prepares for a siege in spite of the complaints of the citizens, v. xiv. 16, 17; places ballistae and "wild asses" on the wall, v. xxi. 14, 18; guards the gates with "wolves," v. xxi. 19; smallness of his army in rome, v. xxii. 17, xxiv. 2; receives the submission of part of samnium, calabria, and apulia, v. xv. 1-3; in control of all southern italy, v. xv. 15; sends troops to occupy many strongholds north of rome, v. xvi. 1 ff.; vittigis fearful that he would not catch him in rome, v. xvi. 20, 21, xvii. 8; recalls some of his troops from tuscany, v. xvii. 1, 2; fortifies the mulvian bridge, v. xvii. 14; comes thither with troops, v. xviii. 2; unexpectedly engages with the goths and fights a battle, v. xviii. 3 ff.; his excellent horse, v. xviii. 6; shut out of rome by the romans, v. xviii. 20; drives the goths from the moat, v. xviii. 26, 27; enters the city, v. xviii. 28; disposes the guards of the city, v. xviii. 34; receives a false report of the capture of the city, v. xviii. 35-37; provides against a second occurrence of this kind, v. xviii. 38, 39; ridiculed by the romans, v. xviii. 42; persuaded to take a little food late in the night, v. xviii. 43; arranges for the guarding of each gate, v. xix. 14-18; his name given in play to one of the samnite children, v. xx. 1-4; omen of victory for him, v. xx. 4; stops up the aqueducts, v. xix. 18, vi. ix. 6; operates the mills on the tiber, v. xix. 19 ff.; reproached by the citizens, v. xx. 6, 7; receives envoys from vittigis, v. xx. 8; his reply to them, v. xx. 15-18; appoints fidelius praetorian prefect, v. xx. 20; report of the gothic envoys regarding him, v. xxi. 1; as the goths advance against the wall, shoots two of their number with his own bow, v. xxii. 2-5; checks their advance, v. xxii. 7-9; assigns constantinus to the aurelian gate, v. xxii. 15; prevented from rebuilding "broken wall," v. xxiii. 5; summoned to the vivarium, v. xxiii. 13; directs the defence there with signal success, v. xxiii. 14-23; praised by the romans, v. xxiii. 27; writes to the emperor asking for reinforcements, v. xxiv. 1 ff.; receives from him an encouraging reply, v. xxiv. 21; sends women, children, and servants to naples, v. xxv. 2; uses roman artisans as soldiers on the wall, v. xxv. 11, 12; exiles silverius and some senators from rome, v. xxv. 13, 14; precautions against corruption of the guards, v. xxv. 15, 16; against surprise at night, v. xxv. 17; unable to defend portus, v. xxvi. 18; encouraged by the arrival of martinus and valerian, v. xxvii. 2; outwits the goths in three attacks, v. xxvii. 4-14; and likewise when they try his tactics, v. xxvii. 18-23; publicly praised by the romans, v. xxvii. 25; explains his confidence in the superiority of the roman army, v. xxvii. 26-29; compelled by the impetuosity of the romans to risk a pitched battle, v. xxviii. 2, 3; addresses the army, v. xxviii. 5-14; leads out his forces and disposes them for battle, v. xxviii. 15-19; commands in person at the great battle, v. xxix. 16 ff.; grieves at the death of chorsamantis, vi. i. 34; provides safe-conduct of euthalius, vi. ii. 1-24; appealed to by the citizens to fight a decisive battle, vi. iii. 12 ff.; his reply, vi. iii. 23-32; sends procopius to naples, vi. iv. 1; garrisons strongholds near rome, vi. iv. 4 ff.; provides for the safe entry of john's troops into rome, vi. v. 5 ff.; opens the flaminian gate, vi. v. 8; out-generals the goths and wins a decisive victory, vi. v. 9 ff.; his dialogue with the envoys of the goths, vi. vi. 3 ff.; arranges an armistice with the goths, vi. vi. 36, vii. 10; goes to ostia, vi. vii. 3, 4; receives envoys from the goths, vi. vii. 21 ff.; sends out cavalry from rome, vi. vii. 25 ff.; appealed to for help from milan, vi. vii. 35, 38; his disagreement with constantinus, vi. viii. 1 ff.; puts him to death, vi. viii. 17, 18; hearing of the strange lights in the aqueduct makes investigation, vi. ix. 9-11; learns of the stratagem planned by vittigis, vi. ix. 20; punishes his accomplice, vi. ix. 22; writes to john to begin operations in picenum, vi. x. 1, 7; arms his men and attacks the departing goths, vi. x. 14 ff.; sends messengers to john in ariminum, vi. xi. 4-7; sends assistance to milan, vi. xii. 26; moves against vittigis, vi. xiii. 1; takes tudera and clusium by surrender, vi. xiii. 2, 3; garrisons them, vi. xiii. 4; receives reinforcements, vi. xiii. 16-18 beneventus (beneventum), city in samnium, called in ancient times maleventus, v. xv. 4; its strong winds, v. xv. 7; founded by diomedes, v. xv. 8; relics of the caledonian boar preserved in, _ibid._; meeting of diomedes and aeneas at, v. xv. 9 bergomum, city near milan; occupied by mundilas, vi. xii. 40 bessas, of thrace, roman general, v. v. 3; by birth a goth, v. xvi. 2; his ability, v. xvi. 2, 3; at the capture of naples, v. x. 2, 5, 10, 11, 12, 20; sent against narnia, v. xvi. 2; takes narnia by surrender, v. xvi. 3; recalled to rome, v. xvii. 1, 2; returning slowly, meets the goths in battle, v. xvii. 4, 5; arrives in rome, v. xvii. 6; in command of the praenestine gate, sends a false report of the capture of the city, v. xviii. 35, xix. 15; summons belisarius to the vivarium, v. xxiii. 13; sent out against the goths by belisarius, v. xxvii. 18; his remarkable fighting, vi. i. 3; saves belisarius from constantinus, vi. viii. 15 black gulf, modern gulf of saros, v. xv. 18 bochas, a massagete, bodyguard of belisarius, vi. ii. 10; sent to the plain of nero, vi. ii. 20; helps to rout the goths, but is surrounded and wounded, vi. ii. 21-23; after inflicting great losses upon the goths, vi. ii. 36; rescued by valerian and martinus, vi. ii. 24; dies of his wound, vi. ii. 32 boetius, a roman senator, son-in-law of symmachus, v. i. 32; his death, v. i. 34; his children receive from amalasuntha his property, v. ii. 5 britain, compared in size with thule, vi. xv. 4; offered to the goths by belisarius, vi. vi. 28; much larger than sicily, _ibid._ britons, v. xxiv. 36 broken wall, a portion of the defences of rome, v. xxiii. 3, 4; not rebuilt by belisarius, v. xxiii. 5; never attacked by the goths, v. xxiii. 6, 7; never rebuilt, v. xxiii. 8 bruttii, a people of southern italy, v. xv. 22, 23 bruttium, v. viii. 4 burgundians, a barbarian people of gaul, v. xii. 11; attacked by the franks, v. xii. 23; alliance formed against them by the franks and goths, v. xii. 24, 25; driven back by the franks, v. xii. 26, 28-30; and completely subjugated, v. xiii. 3; sent by theudibert as allies to the goths, vi. xii. 38, 39 burnus, town in liburnia, v. xvi. 13, 15 byzantines, their identification of the palladium, v. xv. 14 byzantium, ashes from vesuvius once fell there, vi. iv. 27; senate house of, v. v. 19 cadmean victory, v. vii. 5 caesar, see augustus caesena, fortress in northern italy, v. i. 15; distance from ravenna, _ibid._; garrisoned by vittigis, vi. xi. 3 calabria, in southern italy, vi. v. 2 calabrians, their location, v. xv. 21, 22; voluntarily submit to belisarius, v. xv. 3 calydonian boar, its tusks preserved in beneventus, v. xv. 8 campani, a people of southern italy, v. xv. 22 campania, its cities: naples, v. viii. 5; and cumae, v. xiv. 2; sought by roman fugitives, v. xvii. 20; by refugees from rome, v. xxv. 4, 10; by procopius, vi. ix. 1 ff.; by antonina, vi. iv. 14; roman forces unite there, vi. v. 2; procopius gathers soldiers and provisions in, vi. iv. 19; offered to belisarius by the goths, vi. vi. 30 cappadocians, theodoriscus and george, v. xxix. 20 capua, terminus of the appian way, v. xiv. 6 carcasiana, city in gaul; battle fought near it, v. xii. 35 ff.; besieged by the franks, v. xii. 41; siege raised at the approach of theoderic, v. xii. 44; its treasures conveyed to ravenna, v. xii. 47; later returned to amalaric, v. xiii. 6 carnii, a people of central europe, v. xv. 27 carthage, the ostensible destination of belisarius' expedition, v. v. 6 catana, in sicily; taken by belisarius, v. v. 12 celtica, at the headwaters of the po, v. i. 18 centenarium, a sum of money, v. xiii. 14; cf. book i. xxii. 4 centumcellae, town in italy; occupied by the romans, vi. vii. 23; abandoned by the goths, vi. vii. 18; distance from rome, vi. vii. 19 charybdis, the story of, located at the strait of messana, v. viii. 1 chersonese (thracian), the size of its isthmus, v. xv. 18 chorsamantis, a massagete, bodyguard of belisarius; alone pursues the goths to their camp, vi. i. 21-25; wounded in a second encounter, vi. i. 26, 27; goes out alone against the goths and is killed, vi. i. 28-33 chorsomanus, a massagete, bodyguard of belisarius, v. xvi. 1 christ, his apostle peter, v. xix. 4 christians, their disagreement regarding doctrine, v. iii. 5, 6; the following are mentioned as christians: the neapolitans, v. ix. 27; the arborychi and germans, v. xii. 15; the lombards, vi. xiv. 9; the eruli, vi. xiv. 33, 34; christian teachings held in especial favour by the romans, v. xxv. 23 circaeum, mountain near taracina, v. xi. 2; considered to be named from the homeric circe, _ibid._; its resemblance to an island, v. xi. 3, 4 circe, her meeting with odysseus, v. xi. 2 cloadarius, ruler of the franks; sanctions treaty with theodatus, v. xiii. 27 clusium, city in tuscany; garrisoned by vittigis, vi. xi. 1; surrenders to belisarius, vi. xiii. 2, 3; garrisoned by him, vi. xiii. 4 comum, city near milan; occupied by mundilas, vi. xii. 40 conon, commander of isaurians, vi. v. 1; proceeds to ostia by sea, vi. v. 3; captures ancon, vi. xi. 5; nearly loses it by a blunder, vi. xiii. 8 ff. constantianus, commander of the royal grooms; sent to illyricum, v. vii. 26; his successful campaign in dalmatia, v. vii. 27-36; in control of the territory as far as liburnia, v. xv. 15; prepares to defend salones, v. xvi. 14, 15 constantine i, said to have discovered the palladium in byzantium, v. xv. 14; his forum there, _ibid._ constantinus, of thrace, roman general, v. v. 3; sent into tuscany, v. xvi. 1; takes spolitium and perusia and certain other strongholds, v. xvi. 3; defeats a gothic army and captures the commanders, v. xvi. 6, 7; recalled to rome, v. xvii. 1-3; leaves garrisons in perusia and spolitium, v. xvii. 3; assigned to guard the flaminian gate, v. xix. 16; assigned to the aurelian gate and the adjoining wall, v. xxii. 15, 16; leaves the gate during an attack, v. xxii. 18; returns, v. xxii. 25; leads the huns in a signally successful skirmish, vi. i. 4-10; his disagreement with belisarius, vi. viii. 1 ff.; killed by his order, vi. viii. 17 consul, this office held by romans during the gothic rule, vi. vi. 20; held by appius, v. xiv. 6; by theoderic, vi. vi. 16; by belisarius, v. v. 19 corinth, near the head of the crisaean gulf, v. xv. 17 crisaean gulf (the corinthian gulf), v. xv. 17 croton, city in southern italy, v. xv. 23 cumae, coast city in campania, v. xiv. 3; distance from naples, _ibid._; garrisoned by belisarius, v. xiv. 2; one of the only two fortresses in campania, v. xiv. 2; the home of the sibyl, v. xiv. 3 cutilas, a thracian, bodyguard of belisarius, vi. ii. 10; his remarkable wound, vi. ii. 14, 15, 18; which causes his death, vi. ii. 30, 31 dacians, a people of central europe, v. xv. 27 dalmatia, east of the ionian gulf, adjoining precalis and liburnia, v. xv. 25; counted in the western empire, _ibid._; its strong winds, v. xv. 5, 6; opposite to italy, v. xv. 5, 7; mundus sent thither by justinian, v. v. 2; conquered by him, v. v. 11; invaded by the goths, v. vii. 1 ff.; recovered for the empire by constantianus, v. vii. 27-36; an army sent thither by vittigis, v. xvi. 8, 9 damianus, nephew of valerian; sent from rome with troops, vi. vii. 26; detained in ariminum by john, vi. xi. 22 dani, a barbarian nation in europe, vi. xv. 3, 29 datius, priest of milan; asks aid of belisarius, vi. vii. 35 datius, brought as king from thule by the eruli, vi. xv. 29 december, last month in the roman calendar, v. xiv. 14 decennovium, river near rome, v. xi. 2 demetrius, of philippi, envoy of justinian, v. iii. 5, 13, 29 demetrius, roman commander of infantry, v. v. 3 diogenes, bodyguard of belisarius; sent out against the goths, v. xxvii. 11, 12, vi. v. 9; sent to investigate the aqueduct, vi. ix. 9 diomedes, son of tydeus; founder of beneventus, v. xv. 8; received the tusks of the caledonian boar from his uncle meleager, _ibid._; meets aeneas there, v. xv. 9; gives the palladium to him, v. xv. 9, 10 dryus, city in southern italy, called also hydrus, v. xv. 20; vi. v. 1 ebrimous, son-in-law of theodatus; deserts to the romans, v. viii. 3; honoured by the emperor, _ibid._ egypt, traversed by the nile, v. xii. 2; ancient statues of the aegyptians, v. xv. 13 elpidius, physician of theoderic, v. i. 38 ennes, commander of the isaurians in the roman army, v. v. 3; brother of tarmutus, v. xxviii. 23; at the capture of naples, v. x. 1, 3, 13; saves his brother, v. xxix. 42; sent to milan with isaurians, vi. xii. 27, 40 ephesus, priest of, v. iii. 5 epidamnus, situated on the sea at the limit of epirus, v. ii. 24, xv. 24; amalasuntha sends a ship thither, v. ii. 26, 28, iii. 14; constantianus gathers an army there, v. vii. 27, 28 epidaurus, on the eastern side of the ionian gulf, v. vii. 28, 32 epirotes, a people east of the ionian gulf, adjoining precalis, v. xv. 24 epizephyrian locrians, among the bruttii, v. xv. 23 eridanus, a name sometimes given the po river, v. i. 18 eruli, serving in the roman army, vi. iv. 8, xiii. 18; their wanderings as a nation, alliances, customs, etc., vi. xiv. 1-34; their worthless character, vi. xiv. 35, 36, 41; some of them emigrate to thule, vi. xv. 1 ff.; revolt from the romans, vi. xiv. 37; kill their king and summon another from thule, vi. xiv. 38, 42, xv. 27, 30; their king a figure-head, vi. xiv. 39, 40; decide to ask justinian to nominate a king for them, vi. xv. 30 ff.; welcome suartuas as king, vi. xv. 33; abandon him, vi. xv. 34, 35; submit to the gepaedes, vi. xv. 36 europe, the continent to the left of gibraltar, v. xii. 1; its shape, rivers, population, etc., v. xii. 3 ff. euthalius, comes to taracina with money for the roman soldiers, vi. ii. 1; secures safe-conduct from belisarius, vi. ii. 2 ff.; arrives safely at nightfall, vi. ii. 6, 24 fates, called "fata" by the romans, v. xxv. 19, 20 fidelius, native of milan, v. xiv. 5; previously quaestor to atalaric, _ibid._; envoy of the romans to belisarius, _ibid._; praetorian prefect, sent to milan in company with troops, vi. xii. 27, 28; taunts the gothic envoys, v. xx. 19, 20; killed by the goths, vi. xii. 34, 35 flaminian gate, in rome; the goths pass out through it, v. xiv. 14; threatened by a gothic camp, v. xix. 2; next to the pincian, v. xix. 16, xxiii. 3; held by constantianus, v. xix. 16; closed by belisarius, _ibid._, vi. v. 6; not attacked by the goths, v. xxiii. 2; guarded by ursicinus, v. xxiii. 3; opened by belisarius, vi. v. 8, 12 flaminian way, road leading northward from rome, vi. xi. 8; the strongholds narnia, spolitium, and perusia on it, vi. xi. 9 foederati, auxiliary troops, v. v. 2 fortune, temple of, in rome, v. xv. 11 franks, "modern" name for the germans, v. xi. 29, xii. 8; account of the growth of their kingdom up to the time of procopius, v. xii. 1-xiii. 13; their ruler theudibert, vi. xii. 38; persuaded by justinian to ally themselves with him, v. v. 8-10, xiii. 28; their war with the goths, v. xi. 17, 18, 28; occupy the visigothic portion of gaul, v. xiii. 11, 12; invited to form alliance with theodatus, receiving the gothic portion of gaul, v. xiii. 14; vittigis advises forming of such an alliance with them, v. xiii. 19-24; make the treaty with some reserve, v. xiii. 26-28; send burgundians as allies, vi. xii. 38; have the suevi subject to them, v. xv. 26; the nations north of langovilla subject to them, v. xv. 29 gadira, the strait of gibraltar, v. xii. 1 gaul, extending from the pyrenees to liguria, v. xii. 4; separated from liguria by the alps, v. xii. 4, 20, vi. vii. 37; its great extent, v. xii. 5, 6; its rivers, lakes, and population, v. xii. 7-11; formerly subject to the romans, v. xii. 9; occupied by the goths, v. xi. 16, 28; how the franks became established there, v. xi. 29, xii. 1 ff.; partly occupied by the visigoths, v. xii. 12, 20; guarded by roman soldiers, v. xii. 16; divided between the franks and goths, v. xii. 32, 45; really under the sway of theoderic, v. xii. 47; divided between the goths and visigoths, v. xiii. 4, 5; the visigothic portion taken over by the franks, v. xiii. 12; visigoths retire thence to spain, v. xiii. 13; the gothic portion offered to the franks as the price of alliance with theodatus, v. xiii. 14; held by the goths under marcias, v. xiii. 15, xvi. 7; threatened by the franks, v. xiii. 16; given to them by vittigis, v. xiii. 26, 27 gauti, nation on the island of thule, vi. xv. 26 gelimer, king of the vandals, v. v. 1, vi. 2, xxix. 8 genoa, its location, vi. xii. 29 george, a cappadocian, bodyguard of martinus, conspicuous for his valour, v. xxix. 20, 21 gepaedes, a people of southern europe; their war with the goths, v. iii. 15, xi. 5; their relations with the eruli, vi. xiv. 25-27; who submit to them, vi. xv. 36 germans, called also franks, _q.v._ getic, the "getic peril," v. xxiv. 29, 30; equivalent to "gothic," v. xxiv. 30 gibimer, gothic commander, stationed in clusium, vi. xi. 1 giselic, illegitimate son of alaric; chosen king over the visigoths, v. xii. 43; his death, v. xii. 46 gladiators, vi. i. 5 gontharis, roman commander; occupies albani, vi. iv. 8 goths, used throughout to indicate the ostro-goths; called also "getic," v. xxiv. 30; their fortunes previous to the war with justinian, v. i. 1 ff.; form alliance with the franks against the burgundians, v. xii. 24, 25; their crafty hesitation, v. xii. 26, 27; reproached by their allies, v. xii. 31; secure a portion of gaul, v. xii. 32; mingle with the visigoths, v. xii. 49; divide gaul with the visigoths, v. xiii. 4, 5, 7, 8; remit the tribute imposed by theoderic, v. xiii. 6; ruled formerly over the peoples north of the ionian gulf, v. xv. 28; led into italy by theoderic, v. xvi. 2, vi. xiv. 24; prevented by amalasuntha from injuring the romans, v. ii. 5; their leaders hostile to her, v. iii. 11; oppose her in her effort to educate atalaric, v. ii. 8 ff.; grieve at the death of amalasuntha, v. iv. 28; defeated in dalmatia, v. v. 11; enter dalmatia again, v. vii. 1 ff.; again defeated, v. vii. 27-36; garrison naples strongly, v. viii. 5; lose naples, v. x. 26; dissatisfied with theodatus, declare vittigis king, v. xi. 1, 5; their war with the franks, v. xi. 17, 18, 28; yield gaul to them, v. xiii. 26; withdraw from rome, v. xi. 26, xiv. 12-14; defeat the romans at the mulvian bridge, v. xviii. 3 ff.; establish six camps about rome and begin the siege, v. xix. 2-5, 11, xxiv. 26; cut the aqueducts, v. xix. 13; assault the wall, v. xxi-xxiii.; capture portus, v. xxvi. 14; outwitted in three attacks, v. xxvii. 6-14; again defeated when they try belisarius' tactics, v. xxvii. 15-23; inferiority of their soldiers to the romans, v. xxvii. 27; defeat the romans in a pitched battle, v. xxix. 16 ff.; but suffer great losses in the plain of nero, vi. ii. 19 ff.; respect the church of paul, vi. iv. 10; suffer famine and pestilence, vi. iv. 16, 17; retire from the camp near the appian way, vi. iv. 18; decide to abandon the siege, vi. vi. 1, 2; send envoys to rome, vi. vi. 3; arrange an armistice with belisarius, vi. vi. 36, vii. 13; abandon portus, vi. vii. 16, 22; and centumcellae, vi. vii. 18; and albani, vi. vii. 20; attempt to enter rome by stealth, vi. ix. 1 ff.; assault the pincian gate, vi. ix. 12 ff.; abandon ariminum, vi. x. 6; raise the siege of rome, vi. x. 8, 12, 13; defeated at the mulvian bridge, vi. x. 15 ff.; besiege ariminum, vi. xii. 1 ff.; defeated at ticinum, vi. xii. 31, 33; besiege milan, vi. xii. 39, 40; no new laws made by the gothic kings in italy, vi. vi. 17; tolerant in religious matters, vi. vi. 18; respect the churches, vi. vi. 19; allowed all offices to be filled by romans, _ibid._; gothic language, v. x. 10; a goth makes trouble for the romans at the salarian gate, v. xxiii. 9; killed by a well-directed missile, v. xxiii. 10, 11 gouboulgoudou, a massagete, bodyguard of valerian; renders signal service at ancon, vi. xiii. 14, 15 gratiana, city at the extremity of illyricum, v. iii. 15, 17 greece, v. xxiv. 20, xxv. 13; magna graecia, v. xv. 23 greeks (hellenes), include the epirotes, v. xv. 24; their capture of troy, v. xv. 9; greek statues of athena, v. xv. 13; greek language, v. xviii. 6 greeks, contemptuous term for the eastern romans, v. xviii. 40, xxix. 11 gripas, gothic commander, in dalmatia, v. vii. 1; defeated by constantianus, v. vii. 27-36; retires to ravenna, v. vii. 36 hadrian, tomb of, near the aurelian gate, v. xxii. 12; its excellent construction and decoration, v. xxii. 13, 14; attacked by the goths, v. xxii. 19 ff.; statues thereon torn down by the romans and hurled upon the goths, v. xxii. 22 hebrews, treasures of their king solomon taken from rome by alaric, v. xii. 42; a certain hebrew makes a prophecy to theodatus by the actions of swine, v. ix. 3-6; see also jews hellespont, v. xv. 18 hermenefridus, ruler of the thuringians, betrothed to amalaberga, v. xii. 22; killed by the franks, v. xiii. 1; wife of, escapes to theodatus, v. xiii. 2 herodian, roman commander of infantry, v. v. 3; left in command of the roman garrison in naples, v. xiv. 1 homer, his testimony as to the place where odysseus met circe, v. xi. 2, 4 huns, in the roman army, v. iii. 15, v. 4, xxvii. 2, 27; led by constantinus in a signally successful skirmish, vi. i. 4-10; encamp at the church of paul, vi. iv. 11; harass the goths, vi. iv. 16; return to rome, vi. iv. 18; see also massagetae hydrus, name of dryus in procopius' time, v. xv. 20 hypatius, priest of ephesus; envoy of justinian, v. iii. 5, 13, 29 iberia, home of peranius, v. v. 3 ildibert, ruler of the franks, sanctions treaty with theodatus, v. xiii. 27 ildiger, son-in-law of antonina; comes to rome, vi. vii. 15; with valerian, seizes constantinus, vi. viii. 16; on guard at the pincian gate, vi. ix. 13; meets a gothic attack, vi. ix. 14; sent by belisarius with martinus to ariminum, vi. xi. 4, 8, 21; they capture petra, vi. xi. 10-19; leave ariminum, vi. xi. 22 ilium, capture of, v. xv. 8, 9; entered by diomedes and odysseus as spies, v. xv. 9 illyricum, mundus general of, v. v. 2; constantinus sent to, v. vii. 26; justinus general of, vi. xiii. 17; eruli settled in, vi. xv. 1; the city of gratiana at its extremity, v. iii. 15; home of peter, v. iii. 30 innocentius, roman commander of cavalry, v. v. 3, xvii. 17 ionian gulf, the modern adriatic, v. i. 13, etc.; ends at ravenna, v. xv. 19 isaurians, in the army of belisarius, v. v. 2; commanded by ennes, v. v. 3, x. 1; render signal service at the capture of naples, v. ix. 11 ff., 17-21, x. 1; a force of, reaches naples, vi. v. 1; arrives in the harbour of rome, vi. vii. 1; they fortify a camp, vi. vii. 2; guard ships at ostia, vi. vii. 9; remain in ostia, vi. vii. 12, 16; occupy portus, vi. vii. 16, 22; occupy ancon, vi. xi. 5; with john at ariminum, vi. xii. 6, 9; sent to milan under command of ennes, vi. xii. 26, 27; isaurian javelins, v. xxix. 42 ister river, the modern danube; boundary of pannonia, v. xv. 27, etc.; antae settled near its banks, v. xxvii. 2 istria, adjoining liburnia and venetia, v. xv. 25 italians, often coupled with "goths," v. i. 1, etc.; their love for theoderic, v. i. 29; grieve at the death of amalasuntha, v. iv. 28 italy, its inhabitants enumerated, v. xv. 16, 21-25; claimed by the barbarians, v. i. 4, vi. vi. 15, 17; neglected by the romans until the goths held it, vi. vi. 21; amalasuntha agrees to hand it over to justinian, v. iii. 28, iv. 18; offered to justinian by theodatus, v. vi. 21 janus, his temple in rome, v. xxv. 18, 19; one of the older gods, v. xxv. 19; his double-faced statue, v. xxv. 20, 21 jerusalem, its capture by the romans, v. xii. 42 jews, supporting the gothic party in naples, v. viii. 41; offer stubborn resistance to the romans at its capture, v. x. 24-26; see also hebrews john, nephew of vitalian, commander of thracians, vi. v. 1; reaches campania, vi. v. 2; approaches rome, vi. v. 5; reaches ostia, vi. vii. 1; forms a barricade of wagons, vi. vii. 2; sent out from rome by belisarius, vi. vii. 25 ff.; instructed by belisarius to begin operations, vi. x. 1; defeats and kills ulitheus, vi. x. 2; passes by auximus and urbinus, vi. x. 3-5; enters ariminum, vi. x. 5, 7. 11; wins great fame, vi, x. 9; receives proposal of marriage from matasuntha, vi. x. 11; directed by belisarius to leave ariminum, vi. xi. 4; refuses, vi. xi. 22; prevents the approach of a tower to the wall of ariminum, vi. xii. 6 ff.; addresses his soldiers, vi. xii. 14 ff.; attacks and inflicts severe losses on the goths, vi. xii. 23-25; his excellent qualities, vi. x. 10 july, called "quintilis," as being the fifth month from march, v. xxiv. 31; mentioned in the sibyl's prophecy, v. xxiv. 28, 30, 31 justinian, becomes emperor, v. ii. 2; appealed to by amalasuntha, v. ii. 23; makes a friendly reply, v. ii. 24; theodatus purposes to hand over tuscany to him, v. iii. 4; amalasuntha plans to hand over italy to him, v. iii. 12; sends alexander to learn of amalasuntha's plans, v. iii. 14; but ostensibly to make complaints against the goths, v. iii. 15-17; his letter to amalasuntha v. iii. 16-18; her reply, v. iii. 19-27; sends peter as envoy, v. iii. 30; receives envoys from amalasuntha, v. iv. 11; receives envoys and a letter from theodatus, v. iv. 15, 16; sends peter as envoy to theodatus and amalasuntha, v. iv. 17; champions amalasuntha against theodatus, v. iv. 22; hears the report of the italian envoys, v. iv. 23 ff.; inaugurates the gothic war, v. v. 1 ff.; sends belisarius with a fleet to sicily, v. v. 2, 6, 7; recovers all sicily, v. v. 17; persuades the franks to ally themselves with him, v. v. 8-10, xiii. 28; theodatus proposes an agreement with him, v. vi. 2-13; receives a letter from theodatus, v. vi. 14-21; his reply, v. vi. 22-25; addresses a letter to the gothic nobles, v. vii. 22-24; sends constantianus to illyricum and belisarius to italy, v. vii. 26; honours the deserter ebrimous, v. viii. 3; receives the keys of rome, v. xiv. 15; sends relief to belisarius, v. xxiv. 18; writes encouragingly to belisarius, v. xxiv. 21; wins the friendship of the eruli, vi. xiv. 33; appoints a king over the eruli at their request, vi. xv. 30 ff.; attempts to restore suartuas, vi. xv. 36; year of reign noted, v. v. 1, xiv. 14 justinus, general of illyricum; arrives in italy, vi. xiii. 17 langovilla, home of the albani, north of liguria, v. xv. 29 latin language, v. xi. 2, xv. 4; latin literature, v. iii. 1; latin way, running southward from rome, v. xiv. 6, vi. iii. 3, v. 2 lechaeum, at the head of the crisaean gulf, v. xv. 17 leuderis, a goth; left in command of the garrison in rome, v. xi. 26; his reputation for discretion, _ibid._; remains in rome after the withdrawal of the garrison, v. xiv. 13; sent to the emperor, v. xiv. 15, xxiv. 1 liberius, roman senator; envoy of theodatus, v. iv. 15, 21; makes a true report to justinian, v. iv. 23, 24 liburnia, adjoining dalmatia and istria, v. xv. 25; subdued by constantianus, v. vii. 36; invaded by the goths, v. xvi. 12 libya, the continent to the right of gibraltar, v. xii. 1; character of the country, v. xii. 2; huns escape from the army there, v. iii. 15; ildiger comes thence, vi. vii. 15 liguria, on the boundary of gaul, v. xii. 4; separated from gaul by the cottian alps, v. xii. 20; its chief city milan, vi. vii. 37, 38, v. xiv. 5; bounded by the po, v. xv. 28; occupied by the romans, vi. xii. 36 lilybaeum, in sicily, subject of complaint by justinian, v. iii. 15 ff., iv. 19 locrians, see epizephyrian locrians lombards, a christian people, subjugated by the eruli, vi. xiv. 9; attacked wantonly by rodolphus, vi. xiv. 12 ff.; rout his army and kill him, vi. xiv. 21, 22; defeat the eruli, vi. xv. 1 longinus, an isaurian, bodyguard of belisarius; distinguished for his valour, vi. x. 19, 20 lucani, a people of southern italy, v. xv. 22 lucania, v. viii. 4 lysina, island off the coast of dalmatia, v. vii. 32 macedonia, v. iii. 5 magna graecia, v. xv. 23 magnus, roman commander of cavalry, v. v. 3 at the capture of naples, v. x. 1, 3, 7, 8, 13; sent to tibur with sinthues, vi. iv. 7; repairs the defences, vi. iv. 15 maleventus, ancient name of "beneventus," city in samnium, v. xv. 4 marcentius, commander of cavalry, vi. v. 1 march, the first month in the early roman calendar, v. xxiv. 31 marcias, commands a gothic garrison in gaul, v. xiii. 15; summoned thence by vittigis, v. xiii. 29, xix. 12; his absence prevents vittigis from leaving ravenna, v. xvi. 7; commands a gothic camp in the plain of nero, v. xix. 12, xxix. 2 martinus, roman commander sent to italy, v. xxiv. 18-20; arrives in rome, v. xxvii. 1; sent put against the goths by belisarius, v. xxvii. 22, 23; his bodyguards theodoriscus and george, v. xxix. 20; sent to the plain of nero by belisarius, vi. ii. 8; fights there with varying fortune, vi. ii. 19 ff.; with valerian rescues bochas, vi. ii. 24; sent to taracina, vi. iv. 6, 14; summoned back to rome, vi. v. 4; sent by belisarius with ildiger to ariminum, vi. xi. 4, 8-21; they capture petra, vi. xi. 10-19; leave ariminum, vi. xi. 22 massagetae, in the roman army; their savage conduct at the capture of naples, v. x. 29; see also huns matasuntha, daughter of amalasuntha, wedded by vittigis, v. xi. 27; opens negotiations with john, vi. x. 11 mauricius, roman general, son of mundus; slain in battle, v. vii. 2, 3, 12 maxentiolus, bodyguard of constantinus, vi. viii. 3, 13 maxentius, a bodyguard of the household of belisarius, v. xviii. 14 maximus, slayer of valentinian, v. xxv. 15 maximus, descendant of the above maximus; exiled by belisarius, v. xxv. 15 medes, see persians melas, see black gulf meleager, uncle of diomedes, slayer of the calydonian boar, v. xv. 8 messana, city in sicily, v. viii. 1 milan, chief city of liguria, vi. vii. 37, 38; second only to rome among the cities of the west. _ibid._; receives assistance from belisarius against the goths, vi. xii. 26 ff.; occupied by the romans, vi. xii. 36; besieged by uraã¯as, vi. xii. 39, 40; its priest datius, vi. vii. 35; distance from rome and from the alps, vi. vii. 38 monteferetra, town in italy; garrisoned by vittigis, vi. xi. 3 moors, allies in the roman army, v. v. 4; their night attacks upon the goths, v. xxv. 9; sent outside the walls at night by belisarius, v. xxv. 17; in the battle in the plain of nero, v. xxix. 22 moras, gothic commander in urbinus, vi. xi. 2 mulvian bridge, guarded by the goths, v. xix. 3 mundilas, bodyguard of belisarius; distinguished for his valour, vi. x. 19; sent out against the goths, v. xxvii. 11, 12; accompanies procopius to naples, vi. iv. 3; returns to rome, vi. iv. 4; kills a brave goth, vi. v. 15; sent in command of troops to milan, vi. xii. 27, 36; grieves at the death of fidelius, vi. xii. 35; occupies cities near milan, vi. xii. 40 mundus, a barbarian, general of illyricum; sent against salones, v. v. 2; secures salones, v. v. 11; slain in battle, v. vii. 4, 5, 12; the sibyl's prophecy concerning him, v. vii. 6-8; father of mauricius, v. vii. 6-8 naples, city in campania, on the sea, v. viii. 5; commanded by uliaris, v. iii. 15; strongly garrisoned by the goths, v. viii. 5; belisarius attempts to bring about its surrender, v. viii. 6 ff.; strength of its position, v. viii. 44; besieged by belisarius, v. viii. 43 ff.; its aqueduct cut by belisarius, v. viii. 45; its aqueduct investigated by one of the isaurians, v. ix. 11 ff.; the city captured thereby, v. x. 1-26; slaughter by the soldiers, v. x. 28, 29; garrisoned by belisarius, v. xiv. 1; women, etc., sent thither by belisarius, v. xxv. 2; procopius sent thither, vi. iv. 1; antonina retires thither, vi. iv. 6; isaurian soldiers arrive there from byzantium, vi. v. 1; offered to belisarius by the goths, vi. vi. 30; goths sent thither by belisarius, vi. xiii. 4; one of the only two fortresses in campania, v. xiv. 2; distance from cumae, v. xiv. 3; from vesuvius, vi. iv. 22; its mosaic picture of theoderic, v. xxiv. 22 ff.; its inhabitants romans and christians, v. ix. 27 narnia, strong city in tuscany; bessas sent against it, v. xvi. 2; named from the narnus river, v. xvii. 9; distance from rome, v. xvii. 6; surrenders to bessas, v. xvi. 3; battle fought there, v. xvii. 4, 5; garrisoned by bessas, v. xvii. 6; avoided by vittigis, v. xvii. 8, vi. xi. 9 narnus river, flows by narnia, v. xvii. 9; its great bridge, v. xvii. 10, 11 narses, a eunuch, imperial steward, vi. xiii. 16; arrives in italy, _ibid._ narses, an armenian; deserted to the romans, vi. xiii. 17 neapolitans, send stephanus to belisarius, v. viii. 7; reject proposals of belisarius, v. viii. 42; appeal to theodatus for help, v. ix. 1; belisarius' final appeal to them, v. ix. 22 ff.; their obduracy, v. ix. 30; saved by belisarius from abuse by the romans, v. x. 29, 34-36; kill asclepiodotus, v. x. 46; impale the body of pastor, v. x. 47; forgiven by belisarius, v. x. 48; see also naples nero, plain of, near rome; a gothic camp established there, v. xix. 3, 12, xxviii. 17; troops sent thither by belisarius, v. xxviii. 15 ff.; operations there on the day of the great battle, v. xxix. 22 ff.; marcias ordered by vittigis to remain there, v. xxix. 2; constantinus wins a signal success in, vi. i. 4-10; skirmish in, vi. i. 21; martinus and valerian sent to, vi. ii. 8; goths victorious in, vi. ii. 19 ff.; but with heavy losses, vi. ii. 36; its "stadium," vi. i. 5 nile river, its source unknown, v. xii. 2 norici, a people of central europe, v. xv. 27 novaria, city near milan; occupied by mundilas, vi. xii. 40 numa, early roman king, v. xxiv. 31 ochus, king of the eruli, vi. xiv. 38 odoacer, bodyguard of the emperor, v. i. 6; his tyranny, v. i. 7, 8, xii. 20, vi. vi. 21; divides lands in tuscany among his followers, v. i. 28; allows the visigoths to occupy all of gaul, v. xii. 20; zeno unable to cope with him, vi. vi. 15, 16; theoderic persuaded to attack him, v. i. 10, vi. vi. 23; his troops defeated by theoderic, v. i. 14, v. xii. 21; besieged in ravenna, v. i. 15, 24; his agreement with theoderic, v. i. 24; killed by theoderic, v. i. 25 odysseus, his meeting with circe, v. xi. 2; with diomedes stole the palladium from troy, v. xv. 9 oilas, bodyguard of belisarius, v. xxvii. 13 opilio, roman senator, envoy of theodatus, v. iv. 15, 21; makes a false report to justinian, v. iv. 25 optaris, a goth; his hostility to theodatus, v. xi. 7, 8; pursues and kills him, v. xi. 6, 9 orestes, father of augustus, acts as regent for his son, v. i. 2; his death, v. i. 5 ostia, city at the mouth of the tiber; neglected in procopius' time, v. xxvi. 8; no good road thence to rome, v. xxvi. 13, vi. vii. 6; the only port on the tiber left to rome, v. xxvi. 16, vi. iv. 2; distance from anthium, v. xxvi. 17; paulus and conon sent thither, vi. v. 3; reached by john, vi. vii. 1; provisions brought into rome by way of ostia, vi. vii. 1 ff. pancratian gate, in rome, across the tiber, v. xxviii. 19; false report of its capture, v. xviii. 35; threatened by the goths, v. xxiii. 1; guarded by paulus, v. xxiii. 2 pancratius, a saint; the pancratian gate named from him, v. xviii. 35 pannonians, a people of central europe, v. xv. 27 panormus, city in sicily; goths in, defy belisarius, v. v. 12; taken by him, v. v. 13-16; garrisoned by him, v. viii. 1 parian marble, used in building hadrian's tomb, v. xxii. 13 pastor, of naples, a trained speaker; with asclepiodotus opposes the proposal to surrender the city, v. viii. 22 ff.; they address the neapolitans, v. viii. 29-40; bring forward the jews, v. viii. 41; his death, v. x. 38; his body impaled by the mob, v. x. 47 patrician rank, how conferred, v. vi. 3; some of the patricians consult the sibylline prophecies, v. xxiv. 28 ff.; patrician rank conferred upon theoderic, v. i. 9, vi. vi. 16; upon ebrimous, v. viii. 3 patrimonium, used to denote the lands of the royal house, v. iv. 1 paucaris, an isaurian, bodyguard of belisarius, v. ix. 17; prepares the channel of the aqueduct of naples for the passage of roman troops, v. ix. 19-21 paul the apostle, church of, on the tiber, vi. iv. 9; respected by the goths, vi. iv. 10; its site fortified by valerian, vi. iv. 11; gate of rome named from him, vi. iv. 3 paulus, roman commander of cavalry, v. v. 3; on guard at the pancratian gate, v. xxiii. 2; sent to milan with thracians, vi. xii. 27, 40 paulus, commander of isaurians, vi. v. 1; proceeds to ostia by sea, vi. v. 3; remains in ostia, vi. vii. 12, 16; occupies portus, vi. vii. 16, 22 peloponnesus, its resemblance to spain, v. xii. 3 penates, the ancient gods of rome, v. xxv. 19 peranius, of iberia, roman general, v. v. 3; of the family of the king of iberia, _ibid._; had come as a deserter to the romans, _ibid._; summons belisarius to the vivarium, v. xxiii. 13; leads a sally against the goths, vi. i. 11 persia, adjoining iberia, v. v. 3 persians, frequently referred to, also under the name of medes, v. v. 3, etc.; their long shields, v. xxii. 20; artasires a persian, vi. ii. 10 perusia, the first city of tuscany, v. xvi. 4; submits to constantinus, v. xvi. 4; battle fought near it, v. xvi. 6; garrisoned by constantinus, v. xvii. 3; avoided by vittigis, v. xvii. 7, vi. xi. 9 peter, the apostle, buried near rome; one of the gates of the city named after him, v. xix. 4; his church, v. xxii. 21, vi. ix. 17; his promise to guard "broken wall," v. xxiii. 5; reverenced by the romans above all others, v. xxiii. 5 peter, an illyrian, envoy of justinian to italy, v. iii. 30, iv. 17; his excellent qualities, v. iii. 30; learns of events in italy and waits in aulon, v. iv. 20, 21; sent on with a letter to amalasuntha, v. iv. 22; arrives in italy, v. iv. 25; denounces theodatus, v. iv. 30; who tries to prove his innocence, v. iv. 31; tries to terrify theodatus, v. iv. 1; who suggests to him an agreement with justinian, v. vi. 2-6; recalled and given further instructions, v. vi. 7-13; reports to justinian, v. vi. 14; sent again to italy, v. vi. 25, 26, vii. 24; reproaches theodatus, v. vii. 13; who makes a public speech of warning, v. vii. 14-16; his reply thereto, v. vii. 17-20; delivers a letter from justinian to the gothic nobles, v. vii. 22 petra (pertusa), on the flaminian way; allowed by vittigis to retain its original garrison, vi. xi. 2; attacked and captured by the romans, vi. xi. 10 ff.; its natural position and defences, vi. xi. 10-14 phanitheus, erulian commander, vi. xiii. 18 philippi, in macedonia, home of demetrius, v. iii. 5 photius, step-son of belisarius; accompanies him to italy, v. v. 6; at the capture of naples, v. x. 5, 8, 9, 20; his groom valentinus, v. xviii. 18 piceni, a people of central italy, v. xv. 21 picenum, john sent thither, vi. vii. 28; raided by john, vi. x. 1 ff.; its metropolis auximus, vi. xi. 2; its strongholds: petra, auximus, and urbinus, vi. xi. 2; caesena and monteferetra, vi. xi. 3; its town alba, vi. vii. 25 pincian gate, in rome; next to the flaminian, v. xix. 16, xxiii. 3; held by belisarius, v. xix. 14; often mentioned in the fighting, v. xxviii. 15, etc. pisidian, principius the guardsman, v. xxviii. 23 pissas, gothic commander; sent into tuscany, v. xvi. 5; defeated and captured, v. xvi. 6, 7 pitzas, a goth; surrenders part of samnium to belisarius, v. xv. 1, 2 platonic teachings, espoused by theodatus, v. iii. 1, vi. 10 po river, called also the "eridanus," v. i. 18; boundary of liguria, v. xv. 28; and of aemilia, v. xv. 30; crossed by mundilas, vi. xii. 30, 31 portus, harbour of rome, v. xxvi. 3; its situation, v. xxvi. 4-7; distance from rome, v. xxvi. 4; a good road between it and rome, v. xxvi. 9, vi. vii. 6; captured by the goths and garrisoned by them, v. xxvi. 14, 15, xxvii. 1, vi. vii. 11; strength of its defences, v. xxvi. 7, 19; abandoned by the goths and occupied by paulus, vi. vii. 16, 22 praenestine gate, in rome; commanded by bessas, v. xviii. 35, xix. 15; threatened by a gothic camp, v. xix. 2; near the vivarium, v. xxii. 10 precalis, a district east of the ionian gulf adjoining epirus and dalmatia, v. xv. 25 presidius, a roman of ravenna, vi. viii. 2; escapes to spolitium. _ibid._; robbed of two daggers by constantinus, vi. viii. 3; appeals to belisarius in rome, vi. viii. 4 ff. principius, a pisidian, bodyguard of belisarius; persuades him to allow his infantry troops a share in the fighting, v. xxviii. 23-29; fights valiantly, v. xxix. 39, 40; killed in battle, v. xxix. 41 procopius, writer of the history of the gothic war, v. vii. 37, vi. ii. 38, xii. 41; sent to naples to procure provisions and soldiers, vi. iv. 1 ff.; gathers soldiers and provisions in campania, vi. iv. 19; assisted by antonina, vi. iv. 20; religious views, v. iii. 6-9 pyrenees mountains, on the northern boundary of spain, v. xii. 3 quaestor, office held by fidelius, v. xiv. 5 quintilis, name given early to july as being the fifth month from march, v. xxiv. 31 ram, an engine of war; its construction, v. xxi. 6-11 ravenna, its situation, v. i. 16 ff.; besieged by the goths, v. i. 14, 24; surrendered to theoderic, v. i. 24; treasures of carcasiana brought to, v. xii. 47; occupied by vittigis and the goths, v. xi. 26; roman senators killed there by order of vittigis, v. xxvi. 1; distance from ariminum, vi. x. 5; from caesena, v. i. 15; from milan, vi. vii. 37, 38; from the tuscan sea, v. xv. 19; limit of the picene territory, v. xv. 21; the priest of, v. i. 24 regata, distance from rome, v. xi. 1; goths gather at, v. xi. 1, 5 reges, a body of infantry commanded by ursicinus, v. xxiii. 3 reparatus, brother of vigilius, escapes execution by flight, v. xxvi. 2 rex, title used by barbarian kings, and preserved by theoderic, v. i. 26, vi. xiv. 38 rhegium, city in southern italy, v. viii. 1; belisarius departs thence with his army, v. viii. 4 rhine, one of the rivers of gaul, v. xii. 7 rhone, one of the rivers of gaul, v. xii. 7; boundary of the visigothic power, v. xii. 12, xiii. 5; boundary of roman power, v. xii. 20; boundary between the franks and the goths, v. xii. 45 rodolphus, leader of the eruli, vi. xiv. 11; forced by his people to march against the lombards, vi. xiv. 12 ff. rogi, a barbarian people, allies of the goths, vi. xiv. 24 romans, subjects of the roman empire both in the east and in the west, mentioned constantly throughout; captured jerusalem in ancient times, v. xii. 42; roman senators killed by order of vittigis, v. xxvi. 1; roman dress of ancient times, preserved by descendants of soldiers stationed in gaul, v. xii. 18, 19; roman soldiers, their importance greatly lessened by the addition of barbarians, v. i. 4; superiority of their soldiers to the goths, v. xxvii. 27; small importance of their infantry, v. xxviii. 22 more particularly of the inhabitants of rome: exhorted by vittigis to remain faithful to the goths, v. xi. 26; decide to receive belisarius into the city, v. xiv. 4; admire the forethought of belisarius, but object to his holding the city for a siege, v. xiv. 16; compelled by belisarius to provide their own provisions, v. xiv. 17; deprived of the baths, v. xix. 27; distressed by the labours of the siege, reproach belisarius, v. xx. 5 ff.; applaud his marksmanship, v. xxii. 5; prevent him from rebuilding "broken wall," v. xxiii. 5; their allegiance feared by belisarius, v. xxiv. 14, 16; send women, children, and servants to naples, v. xxv. 2, 10; some of the, attempt to open the doors of the temple of janus, v. xxv. 18-25; praise belisarius publicly, v. xxvii. 25; eager to fight a pitched battle, v. xxviii. 1, 3; many of the populace mingle with the army, v. xxviii. 18, 29, xxix. 23, 25, 26; reduced to despair, vi. iii. 8; resort to unaccustomed foods, vi. iii. 10, 11; try to force belisarius to light a decisive battle, vi. iii. 12 ff.; lived in luxury under theoderic, v. xx. 11; held in especial honour the teachings of the christians, v. xxv. 23 rome, first city of the west, vi. vii. 38; captured by alaric the elder, v. xii. 41; visited by envoys from justinian, v. iii. 5, 16; garrison left therein by vittigis, v. xi. 25, 26; goths withdraw from, v. xi. 26; abandoned by the gothic garrison, v. xiv. 12, 13; entered by belisarius at the same time that the gothic garrison left it, v. xiv. 14; keys of, sent to justinian, v. xiv. 15; its defences repaired and improved by belisarius, v. xiv. 15; ill-situated for a siege, v. xiv. 16; had never sustained a long siege, v. xxiv. 13; its territories secured by belisarius, v. xvi. 1; provisioned for the siege, v. xvii. 14; account of the building of the wall on both sides of the tiber, v. xix. 6-10; its siege begun by the goths, v. xxiv. 26; not entirely shut in by them, v. xxv. 6; mills operated in the tiber by belisarius, v. xix. 19 ff.; visited by famine and pestilence, vi. iii. 1; abandoned by the goths, vi. x. 12 ff.; garrisoned by belisarius, vi. xiii. 1; terminus of the appian way, v. xiv. 6; its boundaries adjoin campania, v. xv. 22; the palace, vi. viii. 10, ix. 5; its aqueducts, vi. iii. 3-7, ix. 1, 2; cut by the goths, v. xix. 13; their number and size, _ibid._; stopped up by belisarius, v. xix. 18; water of one used to turn the mills, v. xix. 8; its chief priest silverius, v. xi. 26, xiv. 4, xxv. 13; vigilius v. xxv. 13, xxvi. 2; its gates fourteen in number, v. xix. 1; the asinarian, v. xiv. 14; the pancratian, v. xviii. 35; the salarian, v. xviii. 39; the flaminian, v. xix. 2; the praenestine, _ibid._; the aurelian, v. xix. 4; the transtiburtine, _ibid._; of peter, _ibid._; of paul, vi. iv. 3; the pincian, v. xix. 14; its church of peter the apostle, vi. ix. 17; its sewers, v. xix. 29; its "stadium" in the plain of nero vi. i. 5; excavations for storage outside the walls, vi. i. 11; its harbour portus, v. xxv. 4, xxvi. 3, 7, 9; ostia, vi. iv. 2; distance from centumcellae, vi. vii. 19; from narnia, v. xvii. 6; from portus and the sea, v. xxvi. 4; from tibur, vi. iv. 7; description of the engines of war used against it by vittigis, v. xxi. 3-12; a priest of, v. xvi. 20 rusticus, a roman priest, sent with peter to justinian, v. vi. 13, 14 sacred island, at the mouth of the tiber, v. xxvi. 5 salarian gate, in rome, v. xviii. 19, etc.; held by belisarius, v. xix. 14; attacked by the goths, v. xxxii. 1-9; goths repulsed from, v. xxiii. 24, 25 salones, city in dalmatia; mundus sent against, v. v. 2; taken by him, v. v. 11; battle near, v. vii. 2 ff.; its inhabitants mistrusted by the goths, v. vii. 10, 31; weakness of its defences, v. vii. 31; occupied by the goths, v. vii. 27; abandoned by them, v. vii. 32; occupied by constantianus, v. vii. 33-36; vittigis sends an army against, v. xvi. 9, 10; strengthened by constantianus, v. xvi. 14, 15; invested by the goths, v. xvi. 16 samnites, a people of central italy, v. xv. 21; children among; their gruesome play, v. xx. 1-4 samnium, vi. v. 2; a portion of, surrendered to belisarius, v. xv. 1, 15; the remainder held by the goths, v. xv. 2 scardon, city in dalmatia, v. vii. 32, xvi. 13 sciri, a gothic nation, v. i. 3 sclaveni, a barbarian nation, vi. xv. 2; in the roman army, v. xxvii. 2 scrithiphini, nation on the island of thule; their manner of life, customs, etc., vi. xv. 16-25 scylla, the story of, located at the strait of messana, v. viii. 1 sibyl, the, her prophecy regarding mundus, v. vii. 6-8; prophecies of, consulted by patricians, v. xxiv. 28; difficulty of understanding them, v. xxiv. 34-37; her cave shewn at cumae, v. xiv. 3 sicilians, applaud belisarius, v. v. 18; find the romans faithful to their promises, v. viii. 18, 27 sicily, belisarius sent thither with a fleet, v. v. 6, xiii. 14; taken by him, v. v. 12 ff., 18; garrisoned by him, v. xxiv. 2; theodatus proposes to withdraw from, v. vi. 2; grain brought thence by belisarius, v. xiv. 17; roman refugees resort to, v. xxv. 10; offered to belisarius by the goths, vi. vi. 27; goths sent thither by belisarius, vi. xiii. 4; smaller than britain, vi. vi. 28 silverius, chief priest of rome, v. xi. 26; influences the citizens to yield to the romans, v. xiv. 4; dismissed by belisarius, v. xxv. 13 singidunum, city in pannonia, v. xv. 27, vi. xv. 30 sinthues, bodyguard of belisarius; sent to tibur with magnus, vi. iv. 7; repairs the defences, vi. iv. 15; wounded in battle, _ibid._ siphilas, bodyguard of constantianus, at the taking of salones, v. vii. 34 sirmium, city of the gepaedes in pannonia, v. iii. 15, xi. 5, xv. 27 siscii, a people of central europe, v. xv. 26 solomon, king of the jews; his treasures taken from rome by alaric, v. xii. 42 spain, first country of europe beginning from gibraltar, v. xii. 3; its size compared with that of gaul, v. xii. 5; formerly subject to the romans, v. xii. 9; occupied by the visigoths, v. xii. 12; really under the sway of theoderic, v. xii. 47; theudis establishes an independent power in, v. xii. 50-54; spanish woman of great wealth married by him, v. xii. 50; visigoths retire to, v. xiii. 13 spaniards, situated beyond gaul, v. xv. 29 spolitium, city in italy; submits to constantinus, v. xvi. 3; garrisoned by him, v. xvi. 4, xvii. 3; avoided by vittigis, v. xvii. 7, vi. xi. 9; presidius takes refuge in, vi. viii. 2 stephanus, a neapolitan; remonstrates with belisarius, v. viii. 7-11; urged by belisarius to win over the neapolitans, v. viii. 19; his attempts to do so, v. viii. 20, 21; assisted by antiochus, v. viii. 21; opposed by pastor and asclepiodotus, v. viii. 22-24; goes again to belisarius, v. viii. 25; summoned once more by belisarius, v. ix. 23; returns to the city, v. ix. 29; bitterly accuses asclepiodotus before belisarius, v. x. 40-43 suartuas, an erulian; appointed king of the eruli by justinian, vi. xv. 32; attempts to destroy the eruli sent to thule, vi. xv. 34; flees to byzantium, vi. xv. 35; justinian attempts to restore him, vi. xv. 36 suevi, barbarian people in gaul, v. xii. 11; in two divisions, v. xv. 26; asinarius gathers an army among them, v. xvi. 9, 12 suntas, bodyguard of belisarius, vi. vii. 27 symmachus, a roman senator and ex-consul, father-in-law of boetius, v. i. 32; his death, v. i. 34; his children receive from amalasuntha his property, v. ii. 5 syracuse, surrenders to belisarius, v. v. 12; entered by him on the last day of his consulship, v. v. 18, 19; garrisoned by him, v. viii. 1 syria, home of antiochus of naples, v. viii. 21 taracina, city near rome, v. xi. 2; at the limit of campania, v. xv. 22; euthalius stops in, vi. ii. 1; belisarius sends a hundred men thither, vi. ii. 3; occupied by martinus and trajan, vi. iv. 6, 14; left by them, vi. v. 4 tarmutus, an isaurian, brother of ennes; persuades belisarius to allow his infantry troops a share in the fighting, v. xxviii. 23-29; fights valiantly, v. xxix. 39, 40; his remarkable escape, v. xxix. 42, 43; his death, v. xxix. 44 taulantii, a people of illyricum, v. i. 13 theoctistus, a physician; his successful treatment of arzes' wound, vi. ii. 26 ff. theodatus, son of amalafrida and nephew of theoderic, v. iii. 1; opposed by amalasuntha in his oppression of the people of tuscany, v. iii. 2, 3; plans to hand over tuscany to justinian, v. iii. 4, 29; meets the envoys of justinian secretly, v. iii. 9; accused by the tuscans, v. iv. 1; compelled by amalasuntha to make restitution, v. iv. 2; her attempts to gain his support, v. iv. 9 ff.; becomes king, v. iv. 10, 19; imprisons amalasuntha, v. iv. 13-15; sends envoys and a letter to justinian, v. iv. 15, 16; receives the envoy peter from justinian, v. iv. 17; opposed by justinian, v. iv. 22; defended by opilio, v. iv. 25; persuaded to kill amalasuntha, v. iv. 26, 27; denounced by peter, v. iv. 30; his excuses, v. iv. 31; terrified by peter, suggests an agreement with justinian, v. vi. 1-5; recalls peter and consults him further, v. vi. 6-13; his letter to justinian, v. vi. 14-21; reply of justinian, v. vi. 22-25; receives envoys from justinian, v. vi. 26; refuses to put his agreement into effect, v. vii. 11, 12; makes a speech regarding rights of envoys, v. vii. 13-16; receives a letter addressed to the gothic nobles, v. vii. 22; guards the envoys peter and athanasius, v. vii. 25; proposes an alliance with the franks, v. xiii. 14, 24; kept the wives and children of the garrison of naples, v. viii. 8; appealed to in vain by the neapolitans, v. ix. 1; the story of the swine whose fortune foreshadowed the outcome of the war, v. ix. 2-7; dethroned by the goths, v. xi. 1; flees toward ravenna, pursued by optaris, v. xi. 6; the cause of optaris' hatred of him, v. xi. 7, 8; killed on the road, v. xi. 9, xiii. 15, xxix. 6; brother of amalaberga, v. xiii. 2; father of theodegisclus, v. xi. 10; father-in-law of ebrimous, v. viii. 3; father of theodenanthe, _ibid._; his unstable character, v. vii. 11; accustomed to seek oracles, v. ix. 3 theodegisclus, son of theodatus; imprisoned by vittigis, v. xi. 10 theodenanthe, daughter of theodatus, wife of ebrimous, v. viii. 3 theoderic, gothic king, patrician and ex-consul in byzantium, v. i. 9, vi. vi. 16; leads the goths in rebellion, v. i. 9; persuaded by zeno to attack odoacer, v. i. 10, vi. vi. 16, 23; leads the gothic people to italy, v. i. 12; not followed from thrace by all the goths, v. xvi. 2; besieges ravenna, v. i. 24; his agreement with odoacer, v. i. 24; kills him, v. i. 25; his war with the gepaedes, v. xi. 5; forms close alliance with the thuringians and visigoths, v. xii. 21, 22; feared by the franks, v. xii. 23; forms an alliance with them, v. xii. 24; craftily refrains from participation in the war against the burgundians and gains part of their land, v. xii. 26-28, 31, 32; disregarded by the franks, v. xii. 33; appealed to by alaric and sends him an army, v. xii. 34; reproached by the visigoths, v. xii. 37; drives the franks from besieging carcasiana, v. xii. 44; recovers eastern gaul, v. xii. 45; makes amalaric king of the visigoths, acting as regent himself, v. xii. 46; sends theudis to spain with an army, v. xii. 50; tolerates his tyranny, v. xii. 51-54; virtual ruler over gaul and spain as well as italy, v. xii. 47-49; imposed a tribute on the visigoths, v. xii. 47, 48, xiii. 6; removed the treasures of carcasiana, v. xiii. 6; kills symmachus and boetius, v. i. 34; terrified thereafter by the appearance of a fish's head, v. i. 35 ff.; his death, v. i. 39, xiii. 1; succeeded by atalaric, v. ii. 1; made no new laws in italy, vi. vi. 17; mosaic picture of, in naples, v. xxiv. 22; kept the romans in luxury, v. xx. 11; did not allow the goths to educate their children, v. ii. 14; his own ignorance of letters, v. ii. 16; his character as a sovereign, v. i. 26 ff., xi. 26; beloved by his subjects, v. i. 29-31; brother of amalafrida, v. iii. 1; father of amalasuntha, v. ii. 23, xxiv. 25; father of theodichusa, v. xii. 22; grandfather of amalaric, v. xii. 43, 46; of atalaric, v. ii. 1, xxiv. 24; of matasuntha, v. xi. 27, xxix. 8; uncle of theodatus, v. iii. 1; the family of, v. iv. 6 theodichusa, daughter of theoderic, betrothed to alaric the younger, v. xii. 22; mother of amalaric, v. xii. 43 theodoriscus, a cappadocian, guardsman of martinus; conspicuous for his valour, v. xxix. 20, 21 thessalonica, home of peter, v. iii. 30 theudibert, king of the franks; gives his sister in marriage to amalaric, v. xiii. 4; appealed to by her, v. xiii. 10; defeats amalaric in battle, v. xiii. 11; takes possession of the visigothic portion of gaul, v. xiii. 12; sanctions treaty with theodatus, v. xiii. 27; sends allies to vittigis, vi. xii. 38, 39 theudis, a goth, marries a woman in spain and sets up an independent power there, v. xii. 50-54; tyrant in spain, v. xiii. 13 thrace, ancient home of the goths, v. xvi. 2; home of constantinus and bessas, v. v. 3; of cutilas, vi. ii. 10; of ulimuth, vi. xiii. 14 thracians, a force of, reaches dryus, vi. v. 1; with the roman army, vi. xi. 5; sent to milan under command of paulus, vi. xii. 26, 27 thule, description of the island, its inhabitants, long nights, etc., vi. xv. 4 ff.; eruli settled there, vi. xv. 29; the eruli send thither for a king, vi. xiv. 42, xv. 27, 30; their messengers return from, vi. xv. 33 thurii, a city in southern italy, v. xv. 23 thuringians, barbarians in gaul, v. xii. 10, 11; form close alliance with theoderic, v. xii. 21, 22; their ruler hermenefridus, v. xii. 22; subjugated by the franks, v. xiii. 1 tiber river, an obstacle to vittigis, v. xvii. 13-15; defended by belisarius, v. xvii. 18, xviii. 2 ff.; crossed by vittigis, v. xviii. 1 ff.; xxiv. 3; crossed by the goths to storm the wall, v. xxii. 18, 25; used by belisarius to turn the mills, v. xix. 19 ff.; romans bring in provisions by it, vi. vii. 8 ff; description of its mouths, v. xxvi. 5-8; navigable, v. xxvi. 6; freight traffic on, v. xxvi. 10-12; its tortuous course, v. xxvi. 11; flowed by the wall near the aurelian gate, v. xxii. 16, vi. ix. 16; sewers of rome discharged into it, v. xix. 29; bridged in building the wall of rome, v. xix. 10; included in the fortifications of rome, v. xix. 6-10; bridge over, distance from rome, v. xvii. 13; fortified by belisarius, v. xvii. 14; abandoned by the garrison, v. xvii. 19 tibur, occupied by sinthues and magnus, vi. iv. 7; distance from rome, _ibid._ ticinum, strongly fortified city, vi. xii. 32; battle fought near, vi. xii. 31, 33 totila, ruler of the goths, v. xxiv. 32 trajan, bodyguard of belisarius; makes a successful attack upon the goths, v. xxvii. 4 ff.; sent to taracina, vi. iv. 6; which he occupies with martinus, vi. iv. 14; summoned back to rome, vi. v. 4; sent against the goths, vi. v. 9, 10; in the battle at the pincian gate, vi. v. 21; his strange wound, vi. v. 24-27 transtiburtine gate, threatened by a gothic camp, v. xix. 4 tria fata, near the temple of janus in rome, v. xxv. 19 tripolis, ashes from vesuvius fell in, vi. iv. 27 troy, a man of troy, v. xv. 10; see also ilium tudera, town in italy, garrisoned by vittigis; vi. xi. 1; surrenders to belisarius, vi. xiii. 2, 3; garrisoned by him, vi. xiii. 4 tuscan sea, south of gaul, v. xii. 6, 7; distance from ravenna, v. xv. 19 tuscans, accuse theodatus before amalasuntha, v. iv. 1; welcome constantinus into their cities, v. xvi. 4 tuscany, extending from aemilia to the boundaries of rome, v. xv. 30; most of its lands owned by theodatus, v. iii. 2, 29; who plans to hand it over to justinian, v. iii. 4, iv. 17; invaded by constantinus, v. xvi. 1 ff.; its cities: genoa, vi. xii. 29; narnia, v. xvi. 2; spolitium and perusia, v. xvi. 3; clusium, vi. xi. 1; centumcellae, vi. vii. 18, 19; its lake vulsina, v. iv. 14 tydeus, father of diomedes, v. xv. 8 uliaris, a goth, in command of naples, v. iii. 15 ulias, a goth, given as a hostage, vi. vii. 13 uligisalus, sent to dalmatia, v. xvi. 8; enters liburnia alone, v. xvi. 12; defeated, retires to burnus, v. xvi. 13; proceeds with asinarius to salones, v. xvi. 16; stationed in tudera, vi. xi. 1 ulimuth, of thrace, bodyguard of belisarius; renders signal service at ancon, vi. xiii. 14, 15 ulitheus, uncle of vittigis, defeated and killed by john, vi. x. 2 unilas, gothic commander; sent into tuscany, v. xvi. 5; defeated and captured, v. xvi. 6, 7 uraã¯as, gothic commander; sent into liguria, vi. xii. 37; nephew of vittigis, _ibid._ urbinus, city in picenum, vi. x. 5; passed by john, vi. x. 5, 7; garrisoned by vittigis, vi. xi. 2 ursicinus, roman commander of infantry, v. v. 3, xxiii. 3 urviventus, town near rome; garrisoned by vittigis, vi. xi. 1 vacimus, gothic commander; sent against ancon, vi. xiii. 5, 8 vacis, a goth, sent to the salarian gate to harangue the romans, v. xviii. 39-41 valentinian, roman emperor; slain by maximus, v. xxv. 15 valentinus, roman commander of cavalry, v. v. 3; sent to the plain of nero by belisarius, v. xxviii. 16, 19; unable to control his troops, v. xxix. 28 valentinus, groom of photius; fights valiantly, v. xviii. 18 valerian, roman commander; sent to italy, v. xxiv. 19; winters in aetolia, v. xxiv. 20; ordered to hasten to rome, v. xxiv. 18; arrives in rome, v. xxvii. 1; sent out against the goths by belisarius, v. xxvii. 22; sent to the plain of nero, vi. ii. 8; fights there with varying fortune, vi. ii. 19 ff.; with martinus rescues bochas, vi. ii. 24; establishes a camp at the church of paul, vi. iv. 11; returns to the city, vi. iv. 12; with ildiger seizes constantinus, vi. viii. 16; uncle of damian, vi. vii. 26; his bodyguard gouboulgoudou, vi. xiii. 14 vandalarius, see visandus vandals in africa; their overthrow, v. iii. 22, v. 1, xxix. 8 varni, a barbarian nation, vi. xv. 2 veneti, their territory adjoining istria, and extending to ravenna, v. xv. 25 venetia, held by the goths, v. xi. 16 vergentinus, roman senator; escapes execution by flight, v. xxvi. 2 vesuvius, threatens an eruption, vi. iv. 21; description of the mountain, vi. iv. 22-24; distance from naples, vi. iv. 22; its heavy ash showers, vi. iv. 25-27; periodicity of its eruptions, vi. iv. 28; its fertility, vi. iv. 29; its salubrious atmosphere, vi. iv. 30 vigilius, appointed chief priest of rome, v. xxv. 13; brother of reparatus, v. xxvi. 2 visandus vandalarius, a goth; distinguished for his bravery at the battle of the mulvian bridge, v. xviii. 29; his unexpected recovery, v. xviii. 30-33; stationed at auximus, vi. xi. 2 visandus, erulian commander, vi. xiii. 18 visigoths, occupy all of spain and part of gaul, v. xii. 12; their ruler alaric the younger, v. xii. 22; form close alliance with theoderic, v. xii. 21, 22; attacked by the franks, v. xii. 33; encamp against them, v. xii. 35; compel alaric to fight, v. xii. 36-38; defeated in battle, v. xii. 40; choose giselic as king, v. xii. 43; amalaric becomes king over them, v. xii. 46; mingle with the goths, v. xii. 49; separate from them, v. xiii. 7, 8; defeated by the franks, v. xiii. 11; withdraw from gaul to spain, v. xiii. 13 vitalian, the tyrant, uncle of john, vi. v. 1, vii. 25 vittigis, chosen king of the goths, v. xi. 5; his good birth and military achievements, _ibid._; sends optaris in pursuit of theodatus, v. xi. 6; imprisons the son of theodatus, v. xi. 10; advises withdrawal to ravenna, v. xi. 11 ff.; withdraws to ravenna, leaving a garrison in rome, v. xi. 26; unable to recall the goths from gaul, v. xiii. 16; addresses the goths, v. xiii. 17-25; forms an alliance with the franks, v. xiii. 26-28; summons marcias from gaul, v. xiii. 29; sends an army against the romans in tuscany, v. xvi. 5; eager to leave ravenna, but prevented by the absence of marcias, v. xvi. 7, 11; sends an army to dalmatia, v. xvi. 8, 9; finally moves against rome, v. xvi. 19; his feverish haste, v. xvi. 20, 21, xvii. 8; refrains from attacking perusia, spolitium, and narnia, v. xvii. 7, 8; advances through sabine territory, v. xvii. 12; halts at the tiber, v. xvii. 13; sends vacis to the salarian gate, v. xviii. 39; commands one gothic camp, v. xix. 12; his name given in play to one of the samnite children, v. xx. 1-4; sends envoys to belisarius, v. xx. 7; hears their report, v. xxi. 1; prepares to storm the wall, v. xxi. 2, 3; constructs engines of war, v. xxi. 4-12; makes a general assault on the wall, v. xxii. 1 ff.; leads an attack on the vivarium, v. xxii. 10 ff.; where he presses the romans hard, v. xxiii. 13; breaks down the outer wall, v. xxiii. 17, 19; his attacking force cut to pieces, v. xxiii. 20-22; kills roman senators, v. xxvi. 1; seizes portus, v. xxvi. 3, 14; tries to use roman tactics on belisarius, v. xxvii. 15-23; prepares for battle and addresses his army, v. xxix. 1-15; commands in person at the great battle, v. xxix. 16 ff.; allows portus to be abandoned, vi. vii. 16, 22; investigates the aqueduct, vi. ix. 1 ff.; tries a new stratagem, vi. ix. 16 ff.; alarmed for ravenna, abandons rome, vi. x. 8, 12, 13; marches to ariminum, leaving garrisons in certain towns vi. xi. 1-3; besieges ariminum, vi. xii. 1 ff.; sends an army into liguria, vi. xii. 37; receives frankish allies, vi. xii. 38; belisarius marches against him, vi. xiii. 1; sends an army against ancon, vi. xiii. 5; uncle of uraã¯as, vi. xii. 37; nephew of ulitheus, vi. x. 2; husband of matasuntha, v. xi. 27, vi. x. 11 vivarium, an enclosure in the walls of rome, v. xxii. 10; built for the keeping of wild animals, v. xxiii. 16; a very vulnerable point in the wall, v. xxiii. 13, 15; attacked by vittigis, v. xxii. 10, 11, xxiii. 13-23; successfully defended under the direction of belisarius, v. xxiii. 14-23 vulsina, lake in tuscany; amalasuntha imprisoned there, v. iv. 14 wild ass, an engine used for throwing stones, v. xxi. 18, 19 wolf, a contrivance used by belisarius for guarding the gates of rome, v. xxi. 19-22 zarter, a massagete, bodyguard of belisarius, sent into tuscany, v. xvi. 1 zeno, emperor of the east, v. i. 2; persuades theoderic to attack odoacer, v. i. 10, vi. vi. 16, 23 zeno, a roman commander of cavalry, vi. v. 2; given as a hostage, vi. vii. 13 transcriber's notes: in this text edition, the dated sidenotes were replaced with lettered footnotes with the references following the paragraph in which they land. obvious punctuation errors repaired. chapter xxiii, footnote 1: "cap." changed to "chap." page 329, "dryous" changed to "dryus". (who landed at dryus) page 438, "seven" changed to "six". (establish six camps) index: the following words were changed so that the index matched what was actually in the text. original changed index to "aclyinus" "aquilinus" "aegypt" "egypt" "peter" "pastor" (under asclepiodotus) "giselicus" "giselic"(under alaric and giselic) "aquilea" "aquileia" "bandalarius" "vandalarius" (under vandalarius and visandus) "chorsomantis" "chorsamantis" "diomed" "diomedes" (twice under beneventus) "messina" "messana" (under charybdis and scylla) "chersonnesus" "chersonese" "rudolphus" "rodolophus"(under lombards) "viselicus" "giselic"(under visigoths) "uraias" "uraã¯as" body-guard used four times in the a section in index changed to bodyguard to conform to text. procopius with an english translation by h. b. dewing in seven volumes ii history of the wars, books iii and iv london william heinemann ltd cambridge, massachusetts harvard university press mcmlxxi first printed 1916 contents history of the wars- page book iii.--the vandalic war 1 book iv.--the vandalic war _(continued)_ 209 index 461 procopius of caesarea history of the wars. book iii the vandalic war i such, then, was the final outcome of the persian war for the emperor justinian; and i shall now proceed to set forth all that he did against the vandals and the moors. but first shall be told whence came the host of the vandals when they descended upon the land of the romans. after theodosius, the roman emperor, had departed from the world, having proved himself one of the most just of men and an able warrior, his kingdom was taken over by his two sons, arcadius, the elder, receiving the eastern portion, and honorius, the younger, the western. [jan. 17, 395 a.d.] but the roman power had been thus divided as far back as the time of constantine and his sons; for he transferred his government to byzantium, and making the city larger and much more renowned, allowed it to be named after him. now the earth is surrounded by a circle of ocean, either entirely or for the most part (for our knowledge is not as yet at all clear in this matter); and it is split into two continents by a sort of outflow from the ocean, a flow which enters at the western part and forms this sea which we know, beginning at gadira[1] and extending all the way to the maeotic lake.[2] of these two continents the one to the right, as one sails into the sea, as far as the lake, has received the name of asia, beginning at gadira and at the southern[3] of the two pillars of heracles. septem[4] is the name given by the natives to the fort at that point, since seven hills appear there; for "septem" has the force of "seven" in the latin tongue. and the whole continent opposite this was named europe. and the strait at that point separates the two continents[5] by about eighty-four stades, but from there on they are kept apart by wide expanses of sea as far as the hellespont. for at this point they again approach each other at sestus and abydus, and once more at byzantium and chalcedon as far as the rocks called in ancient times the "dark blue rocks," where even now is the place called hieron. for at these places the continents are separated from one another by a distance of only ten stades and even less than that. now the distance from one of the pillars of heracles to the other, if one goes along the shore and does not pass around the ionian gulf and the sea called the euxine but crosses from chalcedon[6] to byzantium and from dryous[7] to the opposite mainland,[8] is a journey of two hundred and eighty-five days for an unencumbered traveller. for as to the land about the euxine sea, which extends from byzantium to the lake, it would be impossible to tell everything with precision, since the barbarians beyond the ister river, which they also call the danube, make the shore of that sea quite impossible for the romans to traverse--except, indeed, that from byzantium to the mouth of the ister is a journey of twenty-two days, which should be added to the measure of europe by one making the computation. and on the asiatic side, that is from chalcedon to the phasis river, which, flowing from the country of the colchians, descends into the pontus, the journey is accomplished in forty days. so that the whole roman domain, according to the distance along the sea at least, attains the measure of a three hundred and forty-seven days' journey, if, as has been said, one ferries over the ionian gulf, which extends about eight hundred stades from dryous. for the passage across the gulf[9] amounts to a journey of not less than four days. such, then, was the size of the roman empire in the ancient times. and there fell to him who held the power in the west the most of libya, extending ninety days' journey--for such is the distance from gadira to the boundaries of tripolis in libya; and in europe he received as his portion territory extending seventy-five days' journey--for such is the distance from the northern[10] of the pillars of heracles to the ionian gulf.[11] and one might add also the distance around the gulf. and the emperor of the east received territory extending one hundred and twenty days' journey, from the boundaries of cyrene in libya as far as epidamnus, which lies on the ionian gulf and is called at the present time dyrrachium, as well as that portion of the country about the euxine sea which, as previously stated, is subject to the romans. now one day's journey extends two hundred and ten stades,[12] or as far as from athens to megara. thus, then, the roman emperors divided either continent between them. and among the islands britain, which is outside the pillars of heracles and by far the largest of all islands, was counted, as is natural, with the west; and inside the pillars, ebusa,[13] which lies in the mediterranean in what we may call the propontis, just inside the opening where the ocean enters, about seven days' journey from the opening, and two others near it, majorica and minorica, as they are called by the natives, were also assigned to the western empire. and each of the islands in the sea itself fell to the share of that one of the two emperors within whose boundaries it happened to lie. ii now while honorius was holding the imperial power in the west, barbarians took possession of his land; and i shall tell who they were and in what manner they did so. [395-423 a.d.] there were many gothic nations in earlier times, just as also at the present, but the greatest and most important of all are the goths, vandals, visigoths, and gepaedes. in ancient times, however, they were named sauromatae and melanchlaeni;[14] and there were some too who called these nations getic. all these, while they are distinguished from one another by their names, as has been said, do not differ in anything else at all. for they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon, and they use the same laws and practise a common religion. for they are all of the arian faith, and have one language called gothic; and, as it seems to me, they all came originally from one tribe, and were distinguished later by the names of those who led each group. this people used to dwell above the ister river from of old. later on the gepaedes got possession of the country about singidunum[15] and sirmium,[16] on both sides of the ister river, where they have remained settled even down to my time. but the visigoths, separating from the others, removed from there and at first entered into an alliance with the emperor arcadius, but at a later time (for faith with the romans cannot dwell in barbarians), under the leadership of alaric, they became hostile to both emperors, and, beginning with thrace, treated all europe as an enemy's land. now the emperor honorius had before this time been sitting in rome, with never a thought of war in his mind, but glad, i think, if men allowed him to remain quiet in his palace. but when word was brought that the barbarians with a great army were not far off, but somewhere among the taulantii,[17] he abandoned the palace and fled in disorderly fashion to ravenna, a strong city lying just about at the end of the ionian gulf, while some say that he brought in the barbarians himself, because an uprising had been started against him among his subjects; but this does not seem to me trustworthy, as far, at least, as one can judge of the character of the man. and the barbarians, finding that they had no hostile force to encounter them, became the most cruel of all men. for they destroyed all the cities which they captured, especially those south of the ionian gulf, so completely that nothing has been left to my time to know them by, unless, indeed, it might be one tower or one gate or some such thing which chanced to remain. and they killed all the people, as many as came in their way, both old and young alike, sparing neither women nor children. wherefore even up to the present time italy is sparsely populated. they also gathered as plunder all the money out of all europe, and, most important of all, they left in rome nothing whatever of public or private wealth when they moved on to gaul. but i shall now tell how alaric captured rome. after much time had been spent by him in the siege, and he had not been able either by force or by any other device to capture the place, he formed the following plan. among the youths in the army whose beards had not yet grown, but who had just come of age, he chose out three hundred whom he knew to be of good birth and possessed of valour beyond their years, and told them secretly that he was about to make a present of them to certain of the patricians in rome, pretending that they were slaves. and he instructed them that, as soon as they got inside the houses of those men, they should display much gentleness and moderation and serve them eagerly in whatever tasks should be laid upon them by their owners; and he further directed them that not long afterwards, on an appointed day at about midday, when all those who were to be their masters would most likely be already asleep after their meal, they should all come to the gate called salarian and with a sudden rush kill the guards, who would have no previous knowledge of the plot, and open the gates as quickly as possible. after giving these orders to the youths, alaric straightway sent ambassadors to the members of the senate, stating that he admired them for their loyalty toward their emperor, and that he would trouble them no longer, because of their valour and faithfulness, with which it was plain that they were endowed to a remarkable degree, and in order that tokens of himself might be preserved among men both noble and brave, he wished to present each one of them with some domestics. after making this declaration and sending the youths not long afterwards, he commanded the barbarians to make preparations for the departure, and he let this be known to the romans. and they heard his words gladly, and receiving the gifts began to be exceedingly happy, since they were completely ignorant of the plot of the barbarian. for the youths, by being unusually obedient to their owners, averted suspicion, and in the camp some were already seen moving from their positions and raising the siege, while it seemed that the others were just on the point of doing the very same thing. but when the appointed day had come, alaric armed his whole force for the attack and was holding them in readiness close by the salarian gate; for it happened that he had encamped there at the beginning of the siege. and all the youths at the time of the day agreed upon came to this gate, and, assailing the guards suddenly, put them to death; then they opened the gates and received alaric and the army into the city at their leisure. [aug. 24, 410 a.d.] and they set fire to the houses which were next to the gate, among which was also the house of sallust, who in ancient times wrote the history of the romans, and the greater part of this house has stood half-burned up to my time; and after plundering the whole city and destroying the most of the romans, they moved on. at that time they say that the emperor honorius in ravenna received the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that rome had perished. and he cried out and said, "and yet it has just eaten from my hands!" for he had a very large cock, rome by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city of rome which had perished at the hands of alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: "but i, my good fellow, thought that my fowl rome had perished." so great, they say, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed. but some say that rome was not captured in this way by alaric, but that proba, a woman of very unusual eminence in wealth and in fame among the roman senatorial class, felt pity for the romans who were being destroyed by hunger and the other suffering they endured; for they were already even tasting each other's flesh; and seeing that every good hope had left them, since both the river and the harbour were held by the enemy, she commanded her domestics, they say, to open the gates by night. now when alaric was about to depart from rome, he declared attalus, one of their nobles, emperor of the romans, investing him with the diadem and the purple and whatever else pertains to the imperial dignity. and he did this with the intention of removing honorius from his throne and of giving over the whole power in the west to attalus. with such a purpose, then, both attalus and alaric were going with a great army against ravenna. but this attalus was neither able to think wisely himself, nor to be persuaded by one who had wisdom to offer. so while alaric did not by any means approve the plan, attalus sent commanders to libya without an army. thus, then, were these things going on. and the island of britain revolted from the romans, and the soldiers there chose as their king constantinus, a man of no mean station. [407 a.d.] and he straightway gathered a fleet of ships and a formidable army and invaded both spain and gaul with a great force, thinking to enslave these countries. but honorius was holding ships in readiness and waiting to see what would happen in libya, in order that, if those sent by attalus were repulsed, he might himself sail for libya and keep some portion of his own kingdom, while if matters there should go against him, he might reach theodosius and remain with him. for arcadius had already died long before, and his son theodosius, still a very young child,[18] held the power of the east. [408-450 a.d.] but while honorius was thus anxiously awaiting the outcome of these events and tossed amid the billows of uncertain fortune, it so chanced that some wonderful pieces of good fortune befell him. for god is accustomed to succour those who are neither clever nor able to devise anything of themselves, and to lend them assistance, if they be not wicked, when they are in the last extremity of despair; such a thing, indeed, befell this emperor. for it was suddenly reported from libya that the commanders of attalus had been destroyed, and that a host of ships was at hand from byzantium with a very great number of soldiers who had come to assist him, though he had not expected them, and that alaric, having quarrelled with attalus, had stripped him of the emperor's garb and was now keeping him under guard in the position of a private citizen. [411 a.d.] and afterwards alaric died of disease, and the army of the visigoths under the leadership of adaulphus proceeded into gaul, and constantinus, defeated in battle, died with his sons. however the romans never succeeded in recovering britain, but it remained from that time on under tyrants. and the goths, after making the crossing of the ister, at first occupied pannonia, but afterwards, since the emperor gave them the right, they inhabited the country of thrace. and after spending no great time there they conquered the west. but this will be told in the narrative concerning the goths. iii now the vandals dwelling about the maeotic lake, since they were pressed by hunger, moved to the country of the germans, who are now called franks, and the river rhine, associating with themselves the alani, a gothic people. then from there, under the leadership of godigisclus, they moved and settled in spain, which is the first land of the roman empire on the side of the ocean. at that time honorius made an agreement with godigisclus that they should settle there on condition that it should not be to the detriment of the country. but there was a law among the romans, that if any persons should fail to keep their property in their own possession, and if, meanwhile, a time amounting to thirty years should pass, that these persons should thenceforth not be entitled to proceed against those who had forced them out, but they were excluded by demurrer[19] from access to the court; and in view of this he established a law that whatever time should be spent by the vandals in the roman domain should not by any means be counted toward this thirty-year demurrer. and honorius himself, when the west had been driven by him to this pass, died of disease. [aug. 27, 423 a.d.] now before this, as it happened, the royal power had been shared by honorius with constantius, the husband of placidia, the sister of arcadius and honorius; but he lived to exercise the power only a few days, and then, becoming seriously ill, he died while honorius was still living, [421 a.d.] having never succeeded in saying or in doing anything worth recounting; for the time was not sufficient during which he lived in possession of the royal power. now a son of this constantius, valentinian, a child just weaned, was being reared in the palace of theodosius, but the members of the imperial court in rome chose one of the soldiers there, john by name, as emperor. this man was both gentle and well-endowed with sagacity and thoroughly capable of valorous deeds. at any rate he held the tyranny five years[20] and directed it with moderation, and he neither gave ear to slanderers nor did he do any unjust murder, willingly at least, nor did he set his hand to robbing men of money; but he did not prove able to do anything at all against the barbarians, since his relations with byzantium were hostile. against this john, theodosius, the son of arcadius, sent a great army and aspar and ardaburius, the son of aspar, as generals, and wrested from him the tyranny and gave over the royal power to valentinian, who was still a child. and valentinian took john alive, and he brought him out in the hippodrome of aquileia with one of his hands cut off and caused him to ride in state on an ass, and then after he had suffered much ill treatment from the stage-performers there, both in word and in deed, he put him to death. [426 a.d.] thus valentinian took over the power of the west. but placidia, his mother, had reared this emperor and educated him in an altogether effeminate manner, and in consequence he was filled with wickedness from childhood. for he associated mostly with sorcerers and those who busy themselves with the stars, and, being an extraordinarily zealous pursuer of love affairs with other men's wives, he conducted himself in a most indecent manner, although he was married to a woman of exceptional beauty. [455 a.d.] and not only was this true, but he also failed to recover for the empire anything of what had been wrested from it before, and he both lost libya in addition to the territory previously lost and was himself destroyed. and when he perished, it fell to the lot of his wife and his children to become captives. now the disaster in libya came about as follows. there were two roman generals, aetius and boniface, especially valiant men and in experience of many wars inferior to none of that time at least. these two came to be at variance in regard to matters of state, but they attained to such a degree of highmindedness and excellence in every respect that if one should call either of them "the last of the romans" he would not err, so true was it that all the excellent qualities of the romans were summed up in these two men. one of these, boniface, was appointed by placidia general of all libya. now this was not in accord with the wishes of aetius, but he by no means disclosed the fact that it did not please him. for their hostility had not as yet come to light, but was concealed behind the countenance of each. but when boniface had got out of the way, aetius slandered him to placidia, saying that he was setting up a tyranny and had robbed her and the emperor of all libya, and he said that it was very easy for her to find out the truth; for if she should summon boniface to rome, he would never come. and when the woman heard this, aetius seemed to her to speak well and she acted accordingly. but aetius, anticipating her, wrote to boniface secretly that the mother of the emperor was plotting against him and wished to put him out of the way. and he predicted to him that there would be convincing proof of the plot; for he would be summoned very shortly for no reason at all. such was the announcement of the letter. and boniface did not disregard the message, for as soon as those arrived who were summoning him to the emperor, he refused to give heed to the emperor and his mother, disclosing to no one the warning of aetius. so when placidia heard this, she thought that aetius was exceedingly well-disposed towards the emperor's cause and took under consideration the question of boniface. but boniface, since it did not seem to him that he was able to array himself against the emperor, and since if he returned to rome there was clearly no safety for him, began to lay plans so that, if possible, he might have a defensive alliance with the vandals, who, as previously stated, had established themselves in spain not far from libya. there godigisclus had died and the royal power had fallen to his sons, gontharis, who was born to him from his wedded wife, and gizeric,[21] of illegitimate birth. but the former was still a child and not of very energetic temper, while gizeric had been excellently trained in warfare, and was the cleverest of all men. boniface accordingly sent to spain those who were his own most intimate friends and gained the adherence of each of the sons of godigisclus on terms of complete equality, it being agreed that each one of the three, holding a third part of libya, should rule over his own subjects; but if a foe should come against any one of them to make war, that they should in common ward off the aggressors. on the basis of this agreement the vandals crossed the strait at gadira and came into libya, and the visigoths in later times settled in spain. but in rome the friends of boniface, remembering the character of the man and considering how strange his action was, were greatly astonished to think that boniface was setting up a tyranny, and some of them at the order of placidia went to carthage. there they met boniface, and saw the letter of aetius, and after hearing the whole story they returned to rome as quickly as they could and reported to placidia how boniface stood in relation to her. and though the woman was dumbfounded, she did nothing unpleasant to aetius nor did she upbraid him for what he had done to the emperor's house, for he himself wielded great power and the affairs of the empire were already in an evil plight; but she disclosed to the friends of boniface the advice aetius had given, and, offering oaths and pledges of safety, entreated them to persuade the man, if they could, to return to his fatherland and not to permit the empire of the romans to lie under the hand of barbarians. and when boniface heard this, he repented of his act and of his agreement with the barbarians, and he besought them incessantly, promising them everything, to remove from libya. but since they did not receive his words with favour, but considered that they were being insulted, he was compelled to fight with them, and being defeated in the battle, he retired to hippo[22] regius, a strong city in the portion of numidia that is on the sea. there the vandals made camp under the leadership of gizeric and began a siege; for gontharis had already died. and they say that he perished at the hand of his brother. the vandals, however, do not agree with those who make this statement, but say that gontharis' was captured in battle by germans in spain and impaled, and that gizeric was already sole ruler when he led the vandals into libya. this, indeed, i have heard from the vandals, stated in this way. but after much time had passed by, since they were unable to secure hippo regius either by force or by surrender, and since at the same time they were being pressed by hunger, they raised the siege. and a little later boniface and the romans in libya, since a numerous army had come from both rome and byzantium and aspar with them as general, decided to renew the struggle, and a fierce battle was fought in which they were badly beaten by the enemy, and they made haste to flee as each one could. and aspar betook himself homeward, and boniface, coming before placidia, acquitted himself of the suspicion, showing that it had arisen against him for no true cause. iv so the vandals, having wrested libya from the romans in this way, made it their own. and those of the enemy whom they took alive they reduced to slavery and held under guard. among these happened to be marcian, who later upon the death of theodosius assumed the imperial power. at that time, however, gizeric commanded that the captives be brought into the king's courtyard, in order that it might be possible for him, by looking at them, to know what master each of them might serve without degradation. and when they were gathered under the open sky, about midday, the season being summer, they were distressed by the sun and sat down. and somewhere or other among them marcian, quite neglected, was sleeping. then an eagle flew over him spreading out his wings, as they say, and always remaining in the same place in the air he cast a shadow over marcian alone. and gizeric, upon seeing from the upper storey what was happening, since he was an exceedingly discerning person, suspected that the thing was a divine manifestation, and summoning the man enquired of him who he might be. and he replied that he was a confidential adviser of aspar; such a person the romans call a "domesticus" in their own tongue. and when gizeric heard this and considered first the meaning of the bird's action, and then remembered how great power aspar exercised in byzantium, it became evident to him that the man was being led to royal power. he therefore by no means deemed it right to kill him, reasoning that, if he should remove him from the world, it would be very clear that the thing which the bird had done was nothing (for he would not honour with his shadow a king who was about to die straightway), and he felt, too, that he would be killing him for no good cause; and if, on the other hand, it was fated that in later times the man should become king, it would never be within his power to inflict death upon him; for that which has been decided upon by god could never be prevented by a man's decision. but he bound marcian by oaths that, if it should be in his power, he would never take up arms against the vandals at least. [450 a.d.] thus, then, marcian was released and came to byzantium, and when at a later time theodosius died he received the empire. and in all other respects he proved himself a good emperor, but he paid no attention at all to affairs in libya. but this happened in later times. at that time gizeric, after conquering aspar and boniface in battle, displayed a foresight worth recounting, whereby he made his good fortune most thoroughly secure. for fearing lest, if once again an army should come against him from both rome and byzantium, the vandals might not be able to use the same strength and enjoy the same fortune, (since human affairs are wont to be overturned by heaven and to fail by reason of the weakness of men's bodies), he was not lifted up by the good fortune he had enjoyed, but rather became moderate because of what he feared, and so he made a treaty with the emperor valentinian providing that each year he should pay to the emperor tribute from libya, and he delivered over one of his sons, honoric, as a hostage to make this agreement binding. so gizeric both showed himself a brave man in the battle and guarded the victory as securely as possible, and, since the friendship between the two peoples increased greatly, he received back his son honoric. and at rome placidia had died before this time, and after her, valentinian, her son, also died, having no male offspring, but two daughters had been born to him from eudoxia, the child of theodosius. and i shall now relate in what manner valentinian died. there was a certain maximus, a roman senator, of the house of that maximus[23] who, while usurping the imperial power, was overthrown by the elder theodosius and put to death, and on whose account also the romans celebrate the annual festival named from the defeat of maximus. this younger maximus was married to a woman discreet in her ways and exceedingly famous for her beauty. for this reason a desire came over valentinian to have her to wife. and since it was impossible, much as he wished it, to meet her, he plotted an unholy deed and carried it to fulfilment. for he summoned maximus to the palace and sat down with him to a game of draughts, and a certain sum was set as a penalty for the loser; and the emperor won in this game, and receiving maximus' ring as a pledge for the agreed amount, he sent it to his house, instructing the messenger to tell the wife of maximus that her husband bade her come as quickly as possible to the palace to salute the queen eudoxia. and she, judging by the ring that the message was from maximus, entered her litter and was conveyed to the emperor's court. and she was received by those who had been assigned this service by the emperor, and led into a certain room far removed from the women's apartments, where valentinian met her and forced her, much against her will. and she, after the outrage, went to her husband's house weeping and feeling the deepest possible grief because of her misfortune, and she cast many curses upon maximus as having provided the cause for what had been done. maximus, accordingly, became exceedingly aggrieved at that which had come to pass, and straightway entered into a conspiracy against the emperor; but when he saw that aetius was exceedingly powerful, for he had recently conquered attila, who had invaded the roman domain with a great army of massagetae and the other scythians, the thought occurred to him that aetius would be in the way of his undertaking. and upon considering this matter, it seemed to him that it was the better course to put aetius out of the way first, paying no heed to the fact that the whole hope of the romans centred in him. and since the eunuchs who were in attendance upon the emperor were well-disposed toward him, he persuaded the emperor by their devices that aetius was setting on foot a revolution. and valentinian, judging by nothing else than the power and valour of aetius that the report was true, put the man to death. [sept. 21, 454 a.d.] whereupon a certain roman made himself famous by a saying which he uttered. for when the emperor enquired of him whether he had done well in putting aetius to death, he replied saying that, as to this matter, he was not able to know whether he had done well or perhaps otherwise, but one thing he understood exceedingly well, that he had cut off his own right hand with the other. so after the death of aetius,[24] attila, since no one was a match for him, plundered all europe with no trouble and made both emperors subservient and tributary to himself. for tribute money was sent to him every year by the emperors. at that time, while attila was besieging aquileia, a city of great size and exceedingly populous situated near the sea and above the ionian gulf, they say that the following good fortune befell him. for they tell the story that, when he was able to capture the place neither by force nor by any other means, he gave up the siege in despair, since it had already lasted a long time, and commanded the whole army without any delay to make their preparations for the departure, in order that on the morrow all might move from there at sunrise. and the following day about sunrise, the barbarians had raised the siege and were already beginning the departure, when a single male stork which had a nest on a certain tower of the city wall and was rearing his nestlings there suddenly rose and left the place with his young. and the father stork was flying, but the little storks, since they were not yet quite ready to fly, were at times sharing their father's flight and at times riding upon his back, and thus they flew off and went far away from the city. and when attila saw this (for he was most clever at comprehending and interpreting all things), he commanded the army, they say, to remain still in the same place, adding that the bird would never have gone flying off at random from there with his nestlings, unless he was prophesying that some evil would come to the place at no distant time. thus, they say, the army of the barbarians settled down to the siege once more, and not long after that a portion of the wall--the very part which held the nest of that bird--for no apparent reason suddenly fell down, and it became possible for the enemy to enter the city at that point, and thus aquileia was captured by storm. such is the story touching aquileia. later on maximus slew the emperor with no trouble and secured the tyranny, and he married eudoxia by force. [455 a.d.] for the wife to whom he had been wedded had died not long before. and on one occasion in private he made the statement to eudoxia that it was all for the sake of her love that he had carried out all that he had done. and since she felt a repulsion for maximus even before that time, and had been desirous of exacting vengeance from him for the wrong done valentinian, his words made her swell with rage still more against him, and led her on to carry out her plot, since she had heard maximus say that on account of her the misfortune had befallen her husband. and as soon as day came, she sent to carthage entreating gizeric to avenge valentinian, who had been destroyed by an unholy man, in a manner unworthy both of himself and of his imperial station, and to deliver her, since she was suffering unholy treatment at the hand of the tyrant. and she impressed it upon gizeric that, since he was a friend and ally and so great a calamity had befallen the imperial house, it was not a holy thing to fail to become an avenger. for from byzantium she thought no vengeance would come, since theodosius had already departed from the world and marcian had taken over the empire. [mar. 17, 455 a.d.] v and gizeric, for no other reason than that he suspected that much money would come to him, set sail for italy with a great fleet. and going up to rome, since no one stood in his way, he took possession of the palace. now while maximus was trying to flee, the romans threw stones at him and killed him, and they cut off his head and each of his other members and divided them among themselves. but gizeric took eudoxia captive, together with eudocia and placidia, the children of herself and valentinian, and placing an exceedingly great amount of gold and other imperial treasure[25] in his ships sailed to carthage, having spared neither bronze nor anything else whatsoever in the palace. he plundered also the temple of jupiter capitolinus, and tore off half of the roof. now this roof was of bronze of the finest quality, and since gold was laid over it exceedingly thick, it shone as a magnificent and wonderful spectacle.[26] but of the ships with gizeric, one, which was bearing the statues, was lost, they say, but with all the others the vandals reached port in the harbour of carthage. gizeric then married eudocia to honoric, the elder of his sons; but the other of the two women, being the wife of olybrius, a most distinguished man in the roman senate, he sent to byzantium together with her mother, eudoxia, at the request of the emperor. now the power of the east had by now fallen to leon, who had been set in this position by aspar, since marcian had already passed from the world. [457 a.d.] afterwards gizeric devised the following scheme. he tore down the walls of all the cities in libya except carthage, so that neither the libyans themselves, espousing the cause of the romans, might have a strong base from which to begin a rebellion, nor those sent by the emperor have any ground for hoping to capture a city and by establishing a garrison in it to make trouble for the vandals. now at that time it seemed that he had counselled well and had ensured prosperity for the vandals in the safest possible manner; but in later times when these cities, being without walls, were captured by belisarius all the more easily and with less exertion, gizeric was then condemned to suffer much ridicule, and that which for the time he considered wise counsel turned out for him to be folly. for as fortunes change, men are always accustomed to change with them their judgments regarding what has been planned in the past. and among the libyans all who happened to be men of note and conspicuous for their wealth he handed over as slaves, together with their estates and all their money, to his sons honoric and genzon. for theodorus, the youngest son, had died already, being altogether without offspring, either male or female. and he robbed the rest of the libyans of their estates, which were both very numerous and excellent, and distributed them among the nation of the vandals, and as a result of this these lands have been called "vandals' estates" up to the present time. and it fell to the lot of those who had formerly possessed these lands to be in extreme poverty and to be at the same time free men; and they had the privilege of going away wheresoever they wished. and gizeric commanded that all the lands which he had given over to his sons and to the other vandals should not be subject to any kind of taxation. but as much of the land as did not seem to him good he allowed to remain in the hands of the former owners, but assessed so large a sum to be paid on this land for taxes to the government that nothing whatever remained to those who retained their farms. and many of them were constantly being sent into exile or killed. for charges were brought against them of many sorts, and heavy ones too; but one charge seemed to be the greatest of all, that a man, having money of his own, was hiding it. thus the libyans were visited with every form of misfortune. the vandals and the alani he arranged in companies, appointing over them no less than eighty captains, whom he called "chiliarchs,"[27] making it appear that his host of fighting men in active service amounted to eighty thousand. and yet the number of the vandals and alani was said in former times, at least, to amount to no more than fifty thousand men. however, after that time by their natural increase among themselves and by associating other barbarians with them they came to be an exceedingly numerous people. but the names of the alani and all the other barbarians, except the moors, were united in the name of vandals. at that time, after the death of valentinian, gizeric gained the support of the moors, and every year at the beginning of spring he made invasions into sicily and italy, enslaving some of the cities, razing others to the ground, and plundering everything; and when the land had become destitute of men and of money, he invaded the domain of the emperor of the east. and so he plundered illyricum and the most of the peloponnesus and of the rest of greece and all the islands which lie near it. and again he went off to sicily and italy, and kept plundering and pillaging all places in turn. and one day when he had embarked on his ship in the harbour of carthage, and the sails were already being spread, the pilot asked him, they say, against what men in the world he bade them go. and he in reply said: "plainly against those with whom god is angry." thus without any cause he kept making invasions wherever chance might lead him. vi and the emperor leon, wishing to punish the vandals because of these things, was gathering an army against them; and they say that this army amounted to about one hundred thousand men. and he collected a fleet of ships from the whole of the eastern mediterranean, shewing great generosity to both soldiers and sailors, for he feared lest from a parsimonious policy some obstacle might arise to hinder him in his desire to carry out his punishment of the barbarians. therefore, they say, thirteen hundred centenaria[28] were expended by him to no purpose. but since it was not fated that the vandals should be destroyed by this expedition, he made basiliscus commander-in-chief, the brother of his wife berine, a man who was extraordinarily desirous of the royal power, which he hoped would come to him without a struggle if he won the friendship of aspar. for aspar himself, being an adherent of the arian faith, and having no intention of changing it for another, was unable to enter upon the imperial office, but he was easily strong enough to establish another in it, and it already seemed likely that he would plot against the emperor leon, who had given him offence. so they say that since aspar was then fearful lest, if the vandals were defeated, leon should establish his power most securely, he repeatedly urged upon basiliscus that he should spare the vandals and gizeric. [467 a.d.] now before this time leon had already appointed and sent anthemius, as emperor of the west, a man of the senate of great wealth and high birth, in order that he might assist him in the vandalic war. and yet gizeric kept asking and earnestly entreating that the imperial power be given to olybrius, who was married to placidia, the daughter of valentinian, and on account of his relationship[29] well-disposed toward him, and when he failed in this he was still more angry and kept plundering the whole land of the emperor. now there was in dalmatia a certain marcellianus, one of the acquaintances of aetius and a man of repute, who, after aetius had died in the manner told above,[30] no longer deigned to yield obedience to the emperor, but beginning a revolution and detaching all the others from allegiance, held the power of dalmatia himself, since no one dared encounter him. but the emperor leon at that time won over this marcellianus by very careful wheedling, and bade him go to the island of sardinia, which was then subject to the vandals. and he drove out the vandals and gained possession of it with no great difficulty. and heracleius was sent from byzantium to tripolis in libya, and after conquering the vandals of that district in battle, he easily captured the cities, and leaving his ships there, led his army on foot toward carthage. such, then, was the sequence of events which formed the prelude of the war. but basiliscus with his whole fleet put in at a town distant from carthage no less than two hundred and eighty stades (now it so happened that a temple of hermes had been there from of old, from which fact the place was named mercurium; for the romans call hermes "mercurius"), and if he had not purposely played the coward and hesitated, but had undertaken to go straight for carthage, he would have captured it at the first onset, and he would have reduced the vandals to subjection without their even thinking of resistance; so overcome was gizeric with awe of leon as an invincible emperor, when the report was brought to him that sardinia and tripolis had been captured, and he saw the fleet of basiliscus to be such as the romans were said never to have had before. but, as it was, the general's hesitation, whether caused by cowardice or treachery, prevented this success. and gizeric, profiting by the negligence of basiliscus, did as follows. arming all his subjects in the best way he could, he filled his ships, but not all, for some he kept in readiness empty, and they were the ships which sailed most swiftly. and sending envoys to basiliscus, he begged him to defer the war for the space of five days, in order that in the meantime he might take counsel and do those things which were especially desired by the emperor. they say, too, that he sent also a great amount of gold without the knowledge of the army of basiliscus and thus purchased this armistice. and he did this, thinking, as actually did happen, that a favouring wind would rise for him during this time. and basiliscus, either as doing a favour to aspar in accordance with what he had promised, or selling the moment of opportunity for money, or perhaps thinking it the better course, did as he was requested and remained quietly in the camp, awaiting the moment favourable to the enemy. but the vandals, as soon as the wind had arisen for them which they had been expecting during the time they lay at rest, raised their sails and, taking in tow the boats which, as has been stated above, they had made ready with no men in them, they sailed against the enemy. and when they came near, they set fire to the boats which they were towing, when their sails were bellied by the wind, and let them go against the roman fleet. and since there were a great number of ships there, these boats easily spread fire wherever they struck, and were themselves readily destroyed together with those with which they came in contact. and as the fire advanced in this way the roman fleet was filled with tumult, as was natural, and with a great din that rivalled the noise caused by the wind and the roaring of the flames, as the soldiers together with the sailors shouted orders to one another and pushed off with their poles the fire-boats and their own ships as well, which were being destroyed by one another in complete disorder. and already the vandals too were at hand ramming and sinking the ships, and making booty of such of the soldiers as attempted to escape, and of their arms as well. but there were also some of the romans who proved themselves brave men in this struggle, and most of all john, who was a general under basiliscus and who had no share whatever in his treason. for a great throng having surrounded his ship, he stood on the deck, and turning from side to side kept killing very great numbers of the enemy from there, and when he perceived that the ship was being captured, he leaped with his whole equipment of arms from the deck into the sea. and though genzon, the son of gizeric, entreated him earnestly not to do this, offering pledges and holding out promises of safety, he nevertheless threw himself into the sea, uttering this one word, that john would never come under the hands of dogs. so this war came to an end, and heracleius departed for home; for marcellianus had been destroyed treacherously by one of his fellow-officers. and basiliscus, coming to byzantium, seated himself as a suppliant in the sanctuary of christ the great god ("sophia"[31] the temple is called by the men of byzantium who consider that this designation is especially appropriate to god), and although, by the intercession of berine, the queen, he escaped this danger, he was not able at that time to reach the throne, the thing for the sake of which everything had been done by him. for the emperor leon not long afterwards destroyed both aspar and ardaburius in the palace, because he suspected that they were plotting against his life. [471 a.d.] thus, then, did these events take place. vii [aug. 11, 472 a.d.] now anthemius, the emperor of the west, died at the hand of his son-in-law rhecimer, and olybrius, succeeding to the throne, a short time afterward suffered the same fate. [oct. 10, 472 a.d.] and when leon also had died in byzantium, the imperial office was taken over by the younger leon, the son of zeno and ariadne, the daughter of leon, while he was still only a few days old. and his father having been chosen as partner in the royal power, the child forthwith passed from the world. [474 a.d.] majorinus also deserves mention, who had gained the power of the west before this time. for this majorinus, who surpassed in every virtue all who have ever been emperors of the romans, did not bear lightly the loss of libya, but collected a very considerable army against the vandals and came to liguria, intending himself to lead the army against the enemy. for majorinus never showed the least hesitation before any task and least of all before the dangers of war. but thinking it not inexpedient for him to investigate first the strength of the vandals and the character of gizeric and to discover how the moors and libyans stood with regard to friendship or hostility toward the romans, he decided to trust no eyes other than his own in such a matter. accordingly he set out as if an envoy from the emperor to gizeric, assuming some fictitious name. and fearing lest, by becoming known, he should himself receive some harm and at the same time prevent the success of the enterprise, he devised the following scheme. his hair, which was famous among all men as being so fair as to resemble pure gold, he anointed with some kind of dye, which was especially invented for this purpose, and so succeeded completely in changing it for the time to a dark hue. and when he came before gizeric, the barbarian attempted in many ways to terrify him, and in particular, while treating him with engaging attention, as if a friend, he brought him into the house where all his weapons were stored, a numerous and exceedingly noteworthy array. thereupon they say that the weapons shook of their own accord and gave forth a sound of no ordinary or casual sort, and then it seemed to gizeric that there had been an earthquake, but when he got outside and made enquiries concerning the earthquake, since no one else agreed with him, a great wonder, they say, came over him, but he was not able to comprehend the meaning of what had happened. so majorinus, having accomplished the very things he wished, returned to liguria, and leading his army on foot, came to the pillars of heracles, purposing to cross over the strait at that point, and then to march by land from there against carthage. and when gizeric became aware of this, and perceived that he had been tricked by majorinus in the matter of the embassy, he became alarmed and made his preparations for war. and the romans, basing their confidence on the valour of majorinus, already began to have fair hopes of recovering libya for the empire. [461 a.d.] but meantime majorinus was attacked by the disease of dysentery and died, a man who had shewn himself moderate toward his subjects, and an object of fear to his enemies. [july 24, 474 a.d.] and another emperor, nepos, upon taking over the empire, and living to enjoy it only a few days, died of disease, and glycerius after him entered into this office and suffered a similar fate. [474-475 a.d.] and after him augustus assumed the imperial power. there were, moreover, still other emperors in the west before this time, but though i know their names well, i shall make no mention of them whatever. for it so fell out that they lived only a short time after attaining the office, and as a result of this accomplished nothing worthy of mention. such was the course of events in the west. but in byzantium basiliscus, being no longer able to master his passion for royal power, made an attempt to usurp the throne, and succeeded without difficulty, since zeno, together with his wife, sought refuge in isauria, which was his native home. [471 a.d.] and while he was maintaining his tyranny for a year and eight months he was detested by practically everyone and in particular by the soldiers of the court on account of the greatness of his avarice. and zeno, perceiving this, collected an army and came against him. and basiliscus sent an army under the general harmatus in order to array himself against zeno. but when they had made camp near one another, harmatus surrendered his army to zeno, on the condition that zeno should appoint as caesar harmatus' son basiliscus, who was a very young child, and leave him as successor to the throne upon his death. and basiliscus, deserted by all, fled for refuge to the same sanctuary as formerly. and acacius, the priest of the city, put him into the hands of zeno, charging him with impiety and with having brought great confusion and many innovations into the christian doctrine, having inclined toward the heresy of eutyches. and this was so. and after zeno had thus taken over the empire a second time, he carried out his pledge to harmatus formally by appointing his son basiliscus caesar, but not long afterwards he both stripped him of the office and put harmatus to death. and he sent basiliscus together with his children and his wife into cappadocia in the winter season, commanding that they should be destitute of food and clothes and every kind of care. and there, being hard pressed by both cold and hunger, they took refuge in one another's arms, and embracing their loved ones, perished. and this punishment overtook basiliscus for the policy he had pursued. these things, however, happened in later times. but at that time gizeric was plundering the whole roman domain just as much as before, if not more, circumventing his enemy by craft and driving them out of their possessions by force, as has been previously said, and he continued to do so until the emperor zeno came to an agreement with him and an endless peace was established between them, by which it was provided that the vandals should never in all time perform any hostile act against the romans nor suffer such a thing at their hands. and this peace was preserved by zeno himself and also by his successor in the empire, anastasius and it remained in force until the time of the emperor justinus. but justinian, who was the nephew of justinus, succeeded him in the imperial power, and it was in the reign of this justinian that the war with which we are concerned came to pass, in the manner which will be told in the following narrative. [477 a.d.] gizeric, after living on a short time, died at an advanced age, having made a will in which he enjoined many things upon the vandals and in particular that the royal power among them should always fall to that one who should be the first in years among all the male offspring descended from gizeric himself. so gizeric, having ruled over the vandals thirty-nine years from the time when he captured carthage, died, as i have said. viii and honoric, the eldest of his sons, succeeded to the throne, genzon having already departed from the world. during the time when this honoric ruled the vandals they had no war against anyone at all, except the moors. for through fear of gizeric the moors had remained quiet before that time, but as soon as he was out of their way they both did much harm to the vandals and suffered the same themselves. and honoric shewed himself the most cruel and unjust of all men toward the christians in libya. for he forced them to change over to the arian faith, and as many as he found not readily yielding to him he burned, or destroyed by other forms of death; and he also cut off the tongues of many from the very throat, who even up to my time were going about in byzantium having their speech uninjured, and perceiving not the least effect from this punishment; but two of these, since they saw fit to go in to harlots, were thenceforth no longer able to speak. and after ruling over the vandals eight years he died of disease; and by that time the moors dwelling on mt. aurasium[32] had revolted from the vandals and were independent (this aurasium is a mountain of numidia, about thirteen days' journey distant from carthage and fronting the south); and indeed they never came under the vandals again, since the latter were unable to carry on a war against moors on a mountain difficult of access and exceedingly steep. after the death of honoric the rule of the vandals fell to gundamundus, the son of genzon, the son of gizeric. [485 a.d.] for he, in point of years, was the first of the offspring of gizeric. this gundamundus fought against the moors in numerous encounters, and after subjecting the christians to still greater suffering, he died of disease, being now at about the middle of the twelfth year of his reign. [496 a.d.] and his brother trasamundus took over the kingdom, a man well-favoured in appearance and especially gifted with discretion and highmindedness. however he continued to force the christians to change their ancestral faith, not by torturing their bodies as his predecessors had done, but by seeking to win them with honours and offices and presenting them with great sums of money; and in the case of those who would not be persuaded, he pretended he had not the least knowledge of what manner of men they were.[33] and if he caught any guilty of great crimes which they had committed either by accident or deliberate intent, he would offer such men, as a reward for changing their faith, that they should not be punished for their offences. and when his wife died without becoming the mother of either male or female offspring, wishing to establish the kingdom as securely as possible, he sent to theoderic, the king of the goths, asking him to give him his sister amalafrida to wife, for her husband had just died. and theoderic sent him not only his sister but also a thousand of the notable goths as a bodyguard, who were followed by a host of attendants amounting to about five thousand fighting men. and theoderic also presented his sister with one of the promontories of sicily, which are three in number,--the one which they call lilybaeum,--and as a result of this trasamundus was accounted the strongest and most powerful of all those who had ruled over the vandals. he became also a very special friend of the emperor anastasius. it was during the reign of trasamundus that it came about that the vandals suffered a disaster at the hands of the moors such as had never befallen them before that time. there was a certain cabaon ruling over the moors of tripolis, a man experienced in many wars and exceedingly shrewd. this cabaon, upon learning that the vandals were marching against him, did as follows. first of all he issued orders to his subjects to abstain from all injustice and from all foods tending towards luxury and most of all from association with women; and setting up two palisaded enclosures, he encamped himself with all the men in one, and in the other he shut the women, and he threatened that death would be the penalty if anyone should go to the women's palisade. and after this he sent spies to carthage with the following instructions: whenever the vandals in going forth on the expedition should offer insult to any temple which the christians reverence, they were to look on and see what took place; and when the vandals had passed the place, they were to do the opposite of everything which the vandals had done to the sanctuary before their departure. and they say that he added this also, that he was ignorant of the god whom the christians worshipped, but it was probable that if he was powerful, as he was said to be, he should wreak vengeance upon those who insulted him and defend those who honoured him. so the spies came to carthage and waited quietly, observing the preparation of the vandals; but when the army set out on the march to tripolis, they followed, clothing themselves in humble garb. and the vandals, upon making camp the first day, led their horses and their other animals into the temples of the christians, and sparing no insult, they acted with all the unrestrained lawlessness natural to them, beating as many priests as they caught and lashing them with many blows over the back and commanding them to render such service to the vandals as they were accustomed to assign to the most dishonoured of their domestics. and as soon as they had departed from there, the spies of cabaon did as they had been directed to do; for they straightway cleansed the sanctuaries and took away with great care the filth and whatever other unholy thing lay in them, and they lighted all the lamps and bowed down before the priests with great reverence and saluted them with all friendliness; and after giving pieces of silver to the poor who sat about these sanctuaries, they then followed after the army of the vandals. and from then on along the whole route the vandals continued to commit the same offences and the spies to render the same service. and when they were coming near the moors, the spies anticipated them and reported to cabaon what had been done by the vandals and by themselves to the temples of the christians, and that the enemy were somewhere near by. and cabaon, upon learning this, arranged for the encounter as follows. he marked off a circle in the plain where he was about to make his palisade, and placed his camels turned sideways in a circle as a protection for the camp, making his line fronting the enemy about twelve camels deep. then he placed the children and the women and all those who were unfit for fighting together with their possessions in the middle, while he commanded the host of fighting men to stand between the feet of those animals, covering themselves with their shields.[34] and since the phalanx of the moors was of such a sort, the vandals were at a loss how to handle the situation; for they were neither good with the javelin nor with the bow, nor did they know how to go into battle on foot, but they were all horsemen, and used spears and swords for the most part, so that they were unable to do the enemy any harm at a distance; and their horses, annoyed at the sight of the camels, refused absolutely to be driven against the enemy. and since the moors, by hurling javelins in great numbers among them from their safe position, kept killing both their horses and men without difficulty, because they were a vast throng, they began to flee, and, when the moors came out against them, the most of them were destroyed, while some fell into the hands of the enemy; and an exceedingly small number from this army returned home. such was the fortune which trasamundus suffered at the hands of the moors. and he died at a later time, having ruled over the moors twenty-seven years. ix [523 a.d.] and ilderic, the son of honoric, the son of gizeric, next received the kingdom, a ruler who was easily approached by his subjects and altogether gentle, and he shewed himself harsh neither to the christians nor to anyone else, but in regard to affairs of war he was a weakling and did not wish this thing even to come to his ears. hoamer, accordingly, his nephew and an able warrior, led the armies against any with whom the vandals were at war; he it was whom they called the achilles of the vandals. during the reign of this ilderic the vandals were defeated in byzacium by the moors, who were ruled by antalas, and it so fell out that they became enemies instead of allies and friends to theoderic and the goths in italy. for they put amalafrida in prison and destroyed all the goths, charging them with revolutionary designs against the vandals and ilderic. however, no revenge came from theoderic, for he considered himself unable to gather a great fleet and make an expedition into libya, and ilderic was a very particular friend and guest-friend of justinian, who had not yet come to the throne, but was administering the government according to his pleasure; for his uncle justinus, who was emperor, was very old and not altogether experienced in matters of state. and ilderic and justinian made large presents of money to each other. now there was a certain man in the family of gizeric, gelimer, the son of geilaris, the son of genzon, the son of gizeric, who was of such age as to be second only to ilderic, and for this reason he was expected to come into the kingdom very soon. this man was thought to be the best warrior of his time, but for the rest he was a cunning fellow and base at heart and well versed in undertaking revolutionary enterprises and in laying hold upon the money of others. now this gelimer, when he saw the power coming to him, was not able to live in his accustomed way, but assumed to himself the tasks of a king and usurped the rule, though it was not yet due him; and since ilderic in a spirit of friendliness gave in to him, he was no longer able to restrain his thoughts, but allying with himself all the noblest of the vandals, he persuaded them to wrest the kingdom from ilderic, as being an unwarlike king who had been defeated by the moors, and as betraying the power of the vandals into the hand of the emperor justinus, in order that the kingdom might not come to him, because he was of the other branch of the family; for he asserted slanderously that this was the meaning of ilderic's embassy to byzantium, and that he was giving over the empire of the vandals to justinus. and they, being persuaded, carried out this plan. [530 a.d.] thus gelimer seized the supreme power, and imprisoned ilderic, after he had ruled over the vandals seven years, and also hoamer and his brother euagees. [527 a.d.] but when justinian heard these things, having already received the imperial power, he sent envoys to gelimer in libya with the following letter: "you are not acting in a holy manner nor worthily of the will of gizeric, keeping in prison an old man and a kinsman and the king of the vandals (if the counsels of gizeric are to be of effect), and robbing him of his office by violence, though it would be possible for you to receive it after a short time in a lawful manner. do you therefore do no further wrong and do not exchange the name of king for the title of tyrant, which comes but a short time earlier. but as for this man, whose death may be expected at any moment, allow him to bear in appearance the form of royal power, while you do all the things which it is proper that a king should do; and wait until you can receive from time and the law of gizeric, and from them alone, the name which belongs to the position. for if you do this, the attitude of the almighty will be favourable and at the same time our relations with you will be friendly." such was his message. but gelimer sent the envoys away with nothing accomplished, and he blinded hoamer and also kept ilderic and euagees in closer confinement, charging them with planning flight to byzantium. and when this too was heard by the emperor justinian, he sent envoys a second time and wrote as follows: "we, indeed, supposed that you would never go contrary to our advice when we wrote you the former letter. but since it pleases you to have secured possession of the royal power in the manner in which you have taken and now hold it, get from it whatever heaven grants. but do you send to us ilderic, and hoamer whom you have blinded, and his brother, to receive what comfort they can who have been robbed of a kingdom or of sight; for we shall not let the matter rest if you do not do this. and i speak thus because we are led by the hope which i had based on our friendship. and the treaty with gizeric will not stand as an obstacle for us. for it is not to make war upon him who has succeeded to the kingdom of gizeric that we come, but to avenge gizeric with all our power." when gelimer had read this, he replied as follows: "king gelimer to the emperor justinian. neither have i taken the office by violence nor has anything unholy been done by me to my kinsmen. for ilderic, while planning a revolution against the house of gizeric, was dethroned by the nation of the vandals; and i was called to the kingdom by my years, which gave me the preference, according to the law at least. now it is well for one to administer the kingly office which belongs to him and not to make the concerns of others his own. hence for you also, who have a kingdom, meddling in other's affairs is not just; and if you break the treaty and come against us, we shall oppose you with all our power, calling to witness the oaths which were sworn by zeno, from whom you have received the kingdom which you hold." the emperor justinian, upon receiving this letter, having been angry with gelimer even before then, was still more eager to punish him. and it seemed to him best to put an end to the persian war as soon as possible and then to make an expedition to libya; and since he was quick at forming a plan and prompt in carrying out his decisions, belisarius, the general of the east, was summoned and came to him immediately, no announcement having been made to him nor to anyone else that he was about to lead an army against libya, but it was given out that he had been removed from the office which he held. and straightway the treaty with persia was made, as has been told in the preceding narrative.[35] x and when the emperor justinian considered that the situation was as favourable as possible, both as to domestic affairs and as to his relations with persia, he took under consideration the situation in libya. but when he disclosed to the magistrates that he was gathering an army against the vandals and gelimer, the most of them began immediately to show hostility to the plan, and they lamented it as a misfortune, recalling the expedition of the emperor leon and the disaster of basiliscus, and reciting how many soldiers had perished and how much money the state had lost. but the men who were the most sorrowful of all, and who, by reason of their anxiety, felt the keenest regret, were the pretorian prefect, whom the romans call "praetor," and the administrator of the treasury, and all to whom had been assigned the collection of either public or imperial[36] taxes, for they reasoned that while it would be necessary for them to produce countless sums for the needs of the war, they would be granted neither pardon in case of failure nor extension of time in which to raise these sums. and every one of the generals, supposing that he himself would command the army, was in terror and dread at the greatness of the danger, if it should be necessary for him, if he were preserved from the perils of the sea, to encamp in the enemy's land, and, using his ships as a base, to engage in a struggle against a kingdom both large and formidable. the soldiers, also, having recently returned from a long, hard war, and having not yet tasted to the full the blessings of home, were in despair, both because they were being led into sea-fighting,--a thing which they had not learned even from tradition before then,--and because they were sent from the eastern frontier to the west, in order to risk their lives against vandals and moors. but all the rest, as usually happens in a great throng, wished to be spectators of new adventures while others faced the dangers. but as for saying anything to the emperor to prevent the expedition, no one dared to do this except john the cappadocian, the pretorian prefect, a man of the greatest daring and the cleverest of all men of his time. for this john, while all the others were bewailing in silence the fortune which was upon them, came before the emperor and spoke as follows: "o emperor, the good faith which thou dost shew in dealing with thy subjects enables us to speak frankly regarding anything which will be of advantage to thy government, even though what is said and done may not be agreeable to thee. for thus does thy wisdom temper thy authority with justice, in that thou dost not consider that man only as loyal to thy cause who serves thee under any and all conditions, nor art thou angry with the man who speaks against thee, but by weighing all things by pure reason alone, thou hast often shewn that it involves us in no danger to oppose thy purposes. led by these considerations, o emperor, i have co