Chapter 42 Part 3 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 4. Chapter 42. State of the barbaric world. Part 3. It was the boast of the Colchians that their ancestors had checked the victories of Cestostris, and the defeat of the Egyptian is less incredible than his successful progress as far as the foot of Mount Caucasus. They sunk, without any memorable effort, under the arms of Cyrus, followed in distant wars the standard of the Great King, and presented him every fifth year with one hundred boys and as many virgins, the fairest produce of the land. Yet he accepted this gift, like the gold and ebony of India, the frankincense of the Arabs, or the negroes and ivory of Ethiopia. The Colchians were not subject to the dominion of Asatrap, and they continued to enjoy the name as well as substance of national independence. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Mithridates, King of Pontus, added Colchios to the wide circle of his dominions on the Uxen, and when the natives presumed to request that his son might reign over them, he bound the ambitious youth in chains of gold and delegated a servant in his place. In pursuit of Mithridates, the Romans advanced to the banks of the Faces, and their galleys ascended the river till they reached the camp of Pompey and his legions. But the senate, and afterwards the emperors, disdained to reduce that distant and useless conquest into the form of a province. The family of a Greek retorician was permitted to reign in Colchios and the adjacent kingdoms, from the time of Mark Antony to that of Nero, and after the race of Palamio was extinct, the eastern Pontus, which preserved his name, extended no farther than a neighbourhood of Trebizond. Beyond these limits the fortifications of Hissus, of Apsaris, of the Faces, of Diascurius, or Sebastopolis, and of Piteus were guarded by sufficient detachments of horse and foot, and six princes of Colchios received their diadems from the lieutenants of Caesar. One of these lieutenants, the eloquent and philosophic Arian, surveyed and has described the Uxene coast under the reign of Hadrian. The garrison which he reviewed at the mouth of the Faces consisted of four hundred chosen legionaries, the brick walls and towers, the double ditch, and the military engines on the rampart rendered this place inaccessible to the barbarians. But the new suburbs which had been built by the merchants and veterans required in the opinion of Arian some external defence. As the strength of the empire was gradually impaired, the Romans stationed on the Faces were neither withdrawn nor expelled, and the tribe of the Lazy, whose posterity speak of foreign dialect and inhabit the sea coast of Trebizond, imposed their name and dominion on the ancient kingdom of Colchios. Their independence was soon invaded by a formidable neighbour, who had acquired, by arms and treaties, the sovereignty of Iberia. The dependent king of Lazyca received his scepter at the hands of the Persian monarch, and the successors of Constantine acquiesced in this injurious claim which was proudly urged as a rite of immemorial prescription. In the beginning of the sixth century, their influence was restored by the introduction of Christianity, which the Mingrelians still profess with becoming zeal, without understanding the doctrines or observing the precepts of their religion. After the decease of his father, Zathas was exalted to the regal dignity by the favour of the great king. But the pious youth aboard the ceremonies of the Meiji, and sought, in the place of Constantinople, an orthodox baptism, a noble wife, and the alliance of the emperor Justin. The king of Lazyca was solemnly invested with Diadem, and his cloak and tunic of white silk, with a gold border, displayed in rich embroidery the figure of his new patron, who soothed the jealousy of the Persian court, and excused the revolt of Colchios by the venerable names of hospitality and religion. The common interest of both empires imposed on the Colchians the duty of guarding the passes of Mount Caucasus, where a wall of sixty miles is now defended by the monthly service of the musketeers of Mingrelia. But this honourable connection was soon corrupted by the avarice and ambition of the Romans. Degraded from the rank of allies, the Lazy were incessantly reminded by words and actions of their dependent state. At the distance of a day's journey beyond the Apsaris, they beheld the rising fortress of Petra, which commanded the maritime country to the south of the Faces. Instead of being protected by the valour, Colchios was insulted by the licentiousness of foreign mercenaries. The benefits of commerce were converted into base and vexatious monopoly, and Gubaises, the native prince, was reduced to a pageant of royalty by the superior influence of the officers of Justinian. Disappointed in their expectations of Christian virtue, the indignant Lazy reposed some confidence in the justice of an unbeliever. After a private assurance that their ambassadors should not be delivered to the Romans, they publicly solicited the friendship and aid of Chosrose. The sagacious monarch instantly discerned the use and importance of Colchios, and meditated a plan of conquest, which was renewed at the end of a thousand years by Char Abbas, the wisest and most powerful of his successors. His ambition was fired by the hope of launching a Persian army from the Faces, of commanding the trade and navigation of the Uxene Sea, of desolating the coast of Pontus and Bithynia, of distressing, perhaps of attacking Constantinople, and of persuading the barbarians of Europe to second his arms and councils against the common enemy of mankind, under the pretense of a Skythean war. He silently led his troops to the frontiers of Iberia. The Colchian guides were prepared to conduct them through the woods and along the precipices of Mount Caucasus, and a narrow path was laboriously formed into a safe and spacious highway, for the march of cavalry and even of elephants. Gubaises laid his person and diadem at the feet of the King of Persia. His Colchians imitated the submission of their prince, and after the walls of Petra had been shaken, the Roman garrison prevented by a capitulation the impending fury of the last assault. But the Lazis soon discovered that their impatience had urged them to choose an evil more intolerable than the calamities which they strove to escape. The monopoly of salt and corn was effectually removed by the loss of those valuable commodities. The authority of a Roman legislator was succeeded by the pride of an Oriental despot, who beheld with equal disdain the slaves whom he had exalted, and the kings whom he had humbled before the footstool of his throne. The adoration of fire was introduced into Colchios by the zeal of the Magi. Their intolerant spirit provoked the fervour of a Christian people, and the prejudice of nature or education was wounded by the impious practice of exposing the dead bodies of their parents on the summit of a lofty tower to the crows and vultures of the air. Conscious of the increasing hatred which retarded the execution of his great designs, the just Nashirvan had secretly given orders to assassinate the king of the Lazii, to transplant the people into some distant land, and to fix a faithful and warlike colony on the banks of the Faces. The watchful jealousy of the Colchians foresaw and diverted the approaching ruin. Their repentance was accepted at Constantinople by the Prudence, rather than Clemency, of Justinian, and he commanded Dagestius, with seven thousand Romans and one thousand of the Zanni, to expel the Persians from the coast of the Eucscene. The Siege of Petra, which the Roman general, with the aid of the Lazii, immediately undertook, is one of the most remarkable actions of the age. The city was seated on a craggy rock, which hung over the sea, and communicated by a steep and narrow path with the land. Since the approach was difficult, the attack might be deemed impossible. The Persian conqueror had strengthened the fortifications of Justinian, and the places least inaccessible were covered by additional bulwarks. In this important fortress, the vigilance of Chosrose, had deposited a magazine of offensive and defensive arms, sufficient for five times the number, not only of the garrison, but of the besiegers themselves. The stock of flour and salt provisions was adequate to the consumption of five years, the want of wine was supplied by vinegar, and of grain, from whence a strong liquor was extracted, and a triple aqueduct eluded the diligence and even the suspicions of the enemy. But the firmest defence of Petra was placed in the valour of fifteen hundred Persians, who resisted the assaults of the Romans, whilst, in a softer vein of earth, a mine was secretly perforated. The wall, supported by slender and temporary props, hung tottering in the air. But Dagestius delayed the attack till he had secured a specific recompense, and the town was relieved before the return of his messenger from Constantinople. The Persian garrison was reduced to four hundred men, of whom no more than fifty were exempt from sickness or wounds, yet such had been their inflexible perseverance that they concealed their losses from the enemy by enduring without a murmur, the sight and putrefying stench of the dead bodies of their eleven hundred companions. After their deliverance the breaches were hastily stopped with sandbags, the mine was replenished with earth, a new wall was erected on a frame of substantial timber, and a fresh garrison of three thousand men was stationed at Petra to sustain the labours of a second siege. The operations, both of the attack and defence, were conducted with skillful obstinacy, and each party derived useful lessons from the experience of their past faults. A battering ram was invented of light construction and powerful effect. It was transported and worked by the hands of forty soldiers, and as the stones were loosened by its repeated strokes they were torn with long iron hooks from the wall. From those walls a shower of darts was incessantly poured on the heads of the assailants, but they were most dangerously annoyed by a fiery composition of sulphur and bitumen, which in Colchos might with some propriety be named the oil of Medea. Of six thousand Romans who mounted the scaling ladders their general Bessus was the first, a gallant veteran of seventy years of age. The courage of their leader, his fall and extreme danger, animated the irresistible effort of his troops, and their prevailing numbers oppressed the strength without subduing the spirit of the Persian garrison. The fate of these valiant men deserves to be more distinctly noticed. Seven hundred had perished in the siege. Two thousand three hundred survived to defend the breach. One thousand and seventy were destroyed by fire and sword in the last assault, and if seven hundred and thirty were made prisoners, only eighteen among them were found without the marks of honourable wounds. The remaining five hundred escaped into the citadel, which they maintained without any hopes of relief, rejecting the fairest terms of capitulation and service till they were lost in the flames. They died in obedience to the commands of their prince, and such examples of loyalty and valour might excite their countrymen to deeds of equal despair and more prosperous event. The instant demolition of the works of Petra confessed the astonishment and apprehension of the conqueror. A Spartan would have praised and pitied the virtue of these heroic slaves, but the tedious warfare and alternate success of the Roman and Persian arms cannot detain the attention of posterity at the foot of Mount Caucasus. The advantages obtained by the troops of Justinian were more frequent and splendid, but the forces of the Great King were continually supplied till they amounted to eight elephants and seventy thousand men, including twelve thousand Scythean allies, and above three thousand Dilemites, who descended by their free choice from the hills of Hercania, and were equally formidable in close or in distant combat. The Siege of Archaeopolis, a name imposed or corrupted by the Greeks, was raised with some loss and precipitation, but the Persians occupied the passes of Iberia. Colchos was enslaved by their forts and garrisons, they devoured the scanty sustenance of the people, and the Prince of the Lazy fled into the mountains. In the Roman camp faith and discipline were unknown, and the independent leaders, who were invested with equal power, disputed with each other the preeminence of vice and corruption. The Persians followed without a murmur the commands of a single chief, who implicitly obeyed the instructions of their supreme lord. Their general was distinguished among the heroes of the east by his wisdom in council and his valour in the field. The advanced age of murmurers and the lameness of both his feet could not diminish the activity of his mind or even of his body, and whilst he was carried in a litter in the front of battle, he inspired terror to the enemy and adjust confidence to the troops, who, under his banners, were always successful. After his death the command devolved to Nicaraguan, a proud satrap, who in a conference with the imperial chiefs had presumed to declare that he disposed of victory as absolutely as of the ring on his finger. Such presumption was the natural cause and forerunner of a shameful defeat. The Romans had been gradually repulsed to the edge of the seashore, and their last camp, on the ruins of the Grecian colony of Fasis, was defended on all sides by strong entrenchments, the river, the uxene, and a fleet of galleys. Despair united their councils and invigorated their arms. They withstood the assault of the Persians, and the flight of Nicaraguan preceded, or followed, the slaughter of ten thousand of his bravest soldiers. He escaped from the Romans to fall into the hands of an unforgiving master, who severely chastised the error of his own choice. The unfortunate general was flayed alive, and his skin, stuffed into the human form, was exposed on a mountain, a dreadful warning to those who might hereafter be entrusted with the fame and fortune of Persia. Yet the prudence of Chosrose insensibly relinquished the prosecution of the Colchian War in the just persuasion that it is impossible to reduce, or at least to hold, a distant country against the wishes and efforts of its inhabitants. The fidelity of Gobezi sustained the most rigorous trials. He patiently endured the hardships of a savage life, and rejected with disdain the specious temptations of the Persian court. The king of the Lazi had been educated in the Christian religion. His mother was the daughter of a senator. During his youth he had served ten years as a cilentiary of the Byzantine palace, and the arrears of an unpaid salary were a motive of attachment as well as of complaint. But the long continuance of his sufferings extorted from him a naked representation of the truth, and truth was an unpardonable libel on the lieutenants of Justinian, who, amidst the delays of a ruinous war, had spared his enemies and trampled on his allies. Their malicious information persuaded the emperor that his faithless vassal already meditated a second defection. An order was surprised to send him prisoner to Constantinople. A treacherous clause was inserted that he might be lawfully killed in case of resistance. And Gobezi's, without arms or suspicion of danger, was stabbed in the security of a friendly interview. In the first moments of rage and despair, the Colchians would have sacrificed their country and religion to the gratification of revenge. But the authority and eloquence of the wiser few obtained a salutary pause. The victory of the faces restored the terror of the Roman arms, and the emperor was solicitous to absolve his own name from the imputation of so foul a murder. A judge of senatorial rank was commissioned to inquire into the conduct and death of the king of the Lazy. He ascended a stately tribunal encompassed by the ministers of justice and punishment. In the presence of both nations this extraordinary cause was pleaded according to the forms of civil jurisprudence, and some satisfaction was granted to an injured people by the sentence and execution of the meaner criminals. In peace the king of Persia continually sought the pretenses of a rupture, but no sooner had he taken up arms than he expressed his desire of a safe and honourable treaty. During the fiercest hostilities the two monarchs entertained a deceitful negotiation, and such was the superiority of Chosrose that whilst he treated the Roman ministers with insolence and contempt he obtained the most unprecedented honours for his own ambassadors at the imperial court. The successor of Cyrus assumed the majesty of the eastern sun, and graciously permitted his younger brother Justinian to reign over the west with the pale and reflected splendour of the moon. This gigantic style was supported by the pomp and eloquence of Istagun, one of the royal chamberlains. His wife and daughters, with a train of eunuchs and camels, attended the march of the ambassador. Two satraps with golden diadems were numbered among his followers. He was guarded by five hundred horse, the most valiant of the Persians, and the Roman emperor of Dara wisely refused to admit more than twenty of this marshal and hostile caravan. When Istagun had saluted the emperor and delivered his presents he passed ten months at Constantinople without discussing any serious affairs. Instead of being confined to his palace and receiving food and water from the hands of his keepers the Persian ambassador, without spies or guards, was allowed to visit the capital and the freedom of conversation and trade enjoyed by his domestics offended the prejudices of an age which rigorously practised the law of nations without confidence or courtesy. By an unexampled indulgence his interpreter, a servant below the notice of a Roman magistrate was seated at the table of Justinian by the side of his master and one thousand pounds of gold might be assigned for the expense of his journey and entertainment. Yet the repeated labours of Istagun could procure only a partial and imperfect truce which was always purchased with the treasures and renewed at the solicitation of the Byzantine court. Many years of fruitless desolation elapsed before Justinian and Chosres were compelled by mutual lassitude to consult the repose of their declining age. At a conference held on the frontier each party, without expecting to gain credit displayed the power, the justice and the pacific intentions of their respective sovereigns. But necessity and interest dictated the Treaty of Peace which was concluded for a term of fifty years diligently composed in the Greek and Persian languages and attested by the seals of twelve interpreters. The liberty of commerce and religion was fixed and defined the allies of the Emperor and the Great King were included in the same benefits and obligations and the most scrupulous precautions were provided to prevent or determine the accidental disputes that might arise on the confines of two hostile nations. After twenty years of destructive though feeble war the limits still remained without alteration and Chosres was persuaded to renounce his dangerous claim to the possession or sovereignty of Colchos and its dependent states. Rich in the accumulated treasures of the East he extorted from the Romans an annual payment of thirty thousand pieces of gold and the smallness of the sum revealed the disgrace of a tribute in its negative deformity. In a previous debate the chariot of Cestostris and the Wheel of Fortune were applied by one of the ministers of Justinian who observed that the reduction of Antioch and some Syrian cities had elevated beyond measure the vain and ambitious spirit of the Barbarian. You are mistaken replied the modest Persian. The King of Kings the Lord of Mankind looks down with contempt on such petty acquisitions and of the ten nations vanquished by his invincible arms he esteems the Romans as the least formidable. According to the Orientals the Empire of Nishevan extended from Fagana in Transsoxiana to Yemen or Arabia Felix. He subdued the rebels of Herkania, reduced the provinces of Kabul and Zabelstan on the banks of the Indus, broke the power of the Euthalities terminated by an honourable treaty the Turkish War and admitted the daughter of the great Khan into the number of his lawful wives. Victorious and respected among the princes of Asia he gave audience in his palace of Meden or Sisyphon to the ambassadors of the world. Their gifts or tributes, arms, rich garments, gems, slaves or aromatics were humbly presented at the foot of his throne and he condescended to accept from the King of India ten quintals of the Wood of Allows a maid seven cubits in height and a carpet softer than silk the skin as it was reported of an extraordinary serpent. End of Chapter 42 Part 3 Chapter 42 Part 4 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 4 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Corrie Samuel. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 4 by Edward Gibbon Chapter 42 State of the barbaric world Part 4 Justinian had been reproached for his alliance with the Ethiopians as if he attempted to introduce a people of savage Negroes into the system of civilized society. But the friends of the Roman Empire, the Axumites or Abyssinians, may always be distinguished from the original natives of Africa. The hand of nature has flattened the nose of the Negroes, covered their heads with shaggy wool, and tinged their skin with inherent and indelible blackness. But the olive complexion of the Abyssinians, their hair, shape, and features distinctly marks them as a colony of Arabs, and this descent is confirmed by resemblance of language and manners, the report of an ancient emigration, and the narrow interval between the shores of the Red Sea. Christianity had raised that nation above the level of African barbarism, their intercourse with Egypt and the successors of Constantine had communicated the rudiments of the arts and sciences, their vessels traded to the Isle of Ceylon, and seven kingdoms obeyed the Nagus or Supreme Prince of Abyssinia. The independence of the homerites, who reigned in the rich and happy Arabia, was first violated by an Ethiopian conqueror. He drew his hereditary claim from the Queen of Sheba, and his ambition was sanctified by religious zeal. The Jews, powerful and active in exile, had seduced the mind of Dunan, Prince of the homerites. They urged him to retaliate to the persecution inflicted by the imperial laws on their unfortunate brethren. Some Roman merchants were injuriously treated, and several Christians of Negra were honoured with a crown of martyrdom. The Churches of Arabia implored the protection of the Abyssinian monarch. The Nagus passed the Red Sea with a fleet and army, deprived the Jewish proselyte of his kingdom and life, and extinguished a race of princes, who had ruled above two thousand years the sequestered region of Meur and Frankincense. The conqueror immediately announced the victory of the Gospel, requested an Orthodox patriarch, and so warmly professed his friendship to the Roman Empire, the Justinian was flattered by the hope of diverting the silk trade through the Channel of Abyssinia, and of exciting the forces of Arabia against the Persian King. Nornosis, descended from a family of ambassadors, was named by the Emperor to execute this important commission. He wisely declined the shorter but more dangerous road through the sandy deserts of Nubia, ascended the Nile, embarked on the Red Sea, and safely landed at the African port of Adulis. From Adulis to the Royal City of Axiom is no more than fifty leagues in the direct line, but the winding passes of the mountains detained the ambassador fifteen days, and as he traversed the forests he saw and vaguely computed about five thousand wild elephants. The capital, according to his report, was large and populous, and the village of Axiom is still conspicuous by the regal coronations, by the ruins of a Christian temple, and by sixteen or seventeen obelisks inscribed with Grecian characters. But the Nagas gave audience in the open field, seated on a lofty chariot which was drawn by four elephants, superbly comparison, and surrounded by his nobles and musicians. He was clad in a linen garment and cap, holding in his hand two javelins and a light shield, and although his nakedness was imperfectly covered, he displayed the barbaric pomp of gold chains, collars, and bracelets, richly adorned with pearls and precious stones. The ambassador of Justinian Nelt, the Nagas raised him from the ground, embraced Nonosis, kissed the seal, perused the letter, accepted the Roman alliance, and, brandishing his weapons, denounced implacable war against the worshipers of fire. But the proposal of the silk trade was eluded, and, notwithstanding the assurances and perhaps the wishes of the Abyssinians, these hostile menaces evaporated without effect. The homerides were unwilling to abandon their aromatic groves to explore a sandy desert, and to encounter, after all their fatigues, a formidable nation from whom they had never received any personal injuries. Instead of enlarging his conquests, the king of Ethiopia was incapable of defending his possessions. Abraham, the slave of a Roman merchant of Adulis, assumed the scepter of the homerides. The troops of Africa were seduced by the luxury of the climate, and Justinian solicited the friendship of the usurper, who honoured with a slight tribute the supremacy of his prince. After a long series of prosperity, the power of Abraham was overthrown before the gates of Mecca, and his children were despoiled by the Persian conqueror, and the Ethiopians were finally expelled from the continent of Asia. This narrative of obscure and remote events is not foreign to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. If a Christian power had been maintained in Arabia, Muhammad must have been crushed in his cradle, and Abyssinia would have prevented a revolution which has changed the civil and religious state of the world. End of Chapter 42, Part 4 Chapter 43, Part 1 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 4 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Chapter 43, Last Victory and Death of Belisarius, Death of Justinian Part 1 Rebellions of Africa, Restoration of the Gothic Kingdom by Totila, Loss and Recovery of Rome, Final Conquest of Italy by Narcissus, Extinction of the Ostrogots, Defeat of the Franks and the Alevanni, Last Victory, Disgrace and Death of Belisarius, Death and Character of Justinian, Comet, Earthquakes and Plague The review of the nations from the Danube to the Nile has exposed on every side the weakness of the Romans, and our wonder is reasonably excited that they should presume to enlarge an empire whose ancient limits they were incapable of defending. But the wars, the conquests and the triumphs of Justinian are the feeble and pernicious efforts of old age which exhaust the remains of strength and accelerate the decay of the powers of life. He exalted in the glorious act of restoring African-Italian Republic, but the calamities which followed the departure of Belisarius betrayed the impotence of the conqueror and accomplished the ruin of those unfortunate countries. From his new acquisitions, Justinian expected that his avarice as well as pride should be richly gratified. Arapaceous minister of the finances closely pursued the footsteps of Belisarius, and as the old registers of tribute had been burned by the vandals, he indulged his fans in a liberal calculation and arbitrary assessment of the world of Africa. The increase of taxes which were drawn away by a distant sovereign and the general assumption of the patrimonial crown lands soon dispelled the intoxication of the public joy, but the emperor was insensible to the modest complaints of the people, till he was awakened and alarmed by the clamours of military discontent. Many of the Roman soldiers had married the widows and daughters of the vandals as their own, by the double right of conquest and inheritance, they claimed the estates which Gensieric had assigned to his victorious troops. They heard with disdain the cold and selfish representations of their officers that the liberality of Justinian had raised them from a savage or servile condition that they were already enriched by the spoils of Africa, the treasured slaves and the movables of the vanquished barbarians and that the ancient and lawful patrimony of the emperors would be applied only to the support of that government, on which their own safety and reward must ultimately depend. The mutiny was secretly inflamed by a thousand soldiers, for the most part heruli, were imbibed doctrines and were instigated by the clergy of the Aryan sect and the cause of perjury and rebellion was sanctified by the dispensing powers of fanaticism. The Aryans deplored the ruin of their church, triumphant above a century in Africa and they were justly provoked by the laws of the conqueror which interdicted the baptism of their children and the exercise of all religious worship. Or the vandals chosen by Belisarius, the far greater part, in the honours of the eastern service, forgot their country and religion but the generous band of 400 obliged the mariners when they were in sight of the Isle of Lesbos to alter their course they touched on Polypinesis, ran ashore on the desert coast of Africa and boldly erected on Mount Aurasius the standard of independence and revolt. While the troops of the provinces disclaimed the commands of their superiors a conspiracy was formed at Karteg against the life of Solomon who filled with honour the place of Belisarius and the Aryans had piously resolved to sacrifice the tyrant at the foot of the altar during the awful mysteries at the festival of Easter. Fear and remorse restrained the daggers of the assassins but the patience of Solomon emboldened their discontent and at the end of ten days a furious sedition was kindled in the circus which desolated Africa above ten years the pillage of the city and the indiscriminate slaughter of its inhabitants were suspended only by darkness, sleep and intoxication the governor with seven companies among whom was the historian Procopius escaped to Sicily two-thirds of the army were involved in the guilt of treason and 8,000 insurgents assembling in the field of Bulla elected Stosa for their chief a private soldier who possessed in a superior degree the virtues of rebel under the mask of freedom his eloquence could lead or at least impelled the passions of his equals he raised himself to a level with Belisarius and the nephew of the emperor by daring to encounter them in the field and the victorious generals were compelled to acknowledge that Stosa deserved a pure course and a more legitimate command vanquished in battle he'd exteriously employed the arts of negotiation a Roman army was seduced from their allegiance and the chiefs who trusted to their faithless promise were murdered by his order in a church of a new media when every resource either of force or perfidy was exhausted Stosa with some desperate vandals retired to the wilds of Mauritania obtained the daughter of a barbarian prince and eluded the pursuit of his enemies by the report of his death the personal weight of Belisarius the rank, the spirit and the temper of Garmanus the emperor's nephew and the vigour and success of the second administration of the eunuch Solomon restored the modesty of the camp and maintained for a while the tranquility of Africa but the vices of the Byzantine court were felt in that distant province the troops complained that they were neither paid nor relieved and as soon as the public disorders were sufficiently mature Stosa was again alive in arms and at the gates of Carthage he fell in a single combat but he smiled in the agonies of death when he was informed that his own javelin had reached the heart of his antagonist the example of Stosa and the assurance that a fortunate soldier had been the first king encouraged the ambition of Gontaris and he promised by a private treaty to divide Africa with the Moors if, with their dangerous aid, he should descend the throne of Carthage the feeble Arya Bindus unskilled in the affairs of peace and war was raised by his marriage with the niece of Justinian to the office of Exarch he was suddenly oppressed by a sedition of the guards and his abject supplications which provoked the contempt could not move the pity of the inexorable tyrant after the reign of 30 days Gontaris himself was stabbed at the banquet by the hand of Artaban and it is singular enough that an Armenian prince of the royal family of Arsachis should re-establish at Carthage the authority of the Roman Empire in the conspiracy which unsheated the dagger of Brutus against the life of Caesar every circumstance is curious and important to the eyes of posterity but the guilt or merit of these loyal or rebellious assassins could interest only the contemporaries of Procopius who, by their hopes and fears, the friendship or resentment were personally engaged in the revolutions of Africa that country was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws and every step of interest in this court was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society the Moors, though ignorant of justice, were impatient of oppression their vagrant life and boundless wilderness disappointed the arms and eluded the chains of a conqueror and experience had shown that neither oaths nor obligations could secure the fidelity of their attachment the victory of Mount Auras had awed them into momentary submission but if they respected the character of Solomon they hated and despised the pride and luxury of his two nephews Syrus and Sargius on whom their uncle had impudently bestowed the provincial governments of Tripoli and Pentapolis a Moorish tribe encamped under the walls of Leptis to renew their alliance and received from the government the customary gifts the forescore of their deputies were introduced as friends into the city but on the dark suspicion of a conspiracy they were massacred at the table of Sargius and the clamor of arms and revenge was re-echoed through the valleys of Mount Atlas from both the Surtes to the Atlantic Ocean a personal injury the unjust execution or murder of his brother rendered Antalas the enemy of the Romans the defeated Vandals had formally signalized his valor the rudiments of justice and prudence were still more conspicuous in a Moor and while he laid out drumatum in ashes he calmly admonished the emperor that the peace of Africa might be secured by the recall of Solomon and his unworthy nephews the Exarch led forth his troops on Karteg but at the distance of 6 days journey in the neighborhood of Tebeste he was astonished by the superior numbers and fierce aspect of the barbarians he proposed a treaty solicited a reconciliation and offered to bind himself by the most solemn oaths by what oaths can he bind himself interrupted indignant Moors will he swear by the gospels the divine books of the Christians it was on these books that the fate of his nephew Sargius was pledged to 80 of our innocent and unfortunate brethren before we trust them a second time let us try their efficacy in the chest advisement of perjury and the vindication of their own honor their honor was vindicated in the field of Tebeste by the death of Solomon and the total loss of his army the arrival of fresh troops and the Moors killful commanders soon checked the insolence of the Moors 17 of their princes were slain in the same battle and the doubtful and transient submission of their tribes were celebrated with lavish applause by the people of Constantinople successive inroads had reduced the province of Africa to one third of the measure of Italy yet the Roman emperors continued to reign above a century of Karteg and the fruitful coast of the Mediterranean but the victories and the losses of Justinian were alike pernicious to mankind and such was the desolation of Africa that in many parts a stranger might wander whole days without meeting the face either of a friend or an enemy the nation of the vandals had disappeared they once amounted to 160,000 warriors without including the children, the women or the slaves the numbers were infinitely surpassed by the number of the Moorish families extopated in a relentless war and the same destruction was retaliated on the Romans and their allies who perished by the climate, their mutual quarrels and the rage of the barbarians when Procopius first landed he admired the populousness of the cities and country extenuously exercised in the labors of commerce and agriculture in less than 20 years that busy scene was converted into a silent solitude the wealthy citizens escaped to Sicily and Constantinople and a secret historian has confidently affirmed that 5 million of Africans were consumed by the wars and the government of the Emperor Justinian the jealousy of the Byzantine court had not permitted Belisarius to achieve the conquest of Italy and this abrupt departure revived the courage of the gods who respected his genius, his virtue and even the laudable motive which had urged the servant of Justinian to deceive and reject them they had lost their king and in considerable loss their capital, their treasures the provinces from Sicily to the Alps and the military force of 200,000 barbarians magnificently equipped with horses and arms yet all was not lost as long as Pavia was defended by 1000 gods inspired by a sense of honour the love of freedom and the memory of the past greatness the supreme command was unanimously offered to the brave Urayes it was in his eyes alone that the disgrace of the uncle Vitigis could appear as a reason of exclusion his voice inclined the election in favour of Hildibald whose personal merit was recommended by the vain hope that his kinsmen Theodos, the Spanish monarch would support the common interest of the Gothic nation the success of his arms in Liguria and Venetia seemed to justify their choice but he soon declared to the world that he was incapable of forgiving or commanding his benefactor the concert of Hildibald was deeply wounded by the beauty the riches and the pride of the wife of Urayes and the death of that virtuous patriot excited the indignation of a free people a bold assassin executed their sentence by striking off the head of Hildibald in the midst of a banquet the rugians, a foreign tribe assumed the privilege of election and Totila, the nephew of the late king by the men to deliver himself and the garrison of Trivigo into the hands of the Romans but the gallant and accomplished youth was easily persuaded to prefer the Gothic throne before the service of Justinian and as soon as the palace of Pavia had been purified from the rugi and the serpa he reviewed the national force of 5000 soldiers and generously undertook the restoration of the kingdom of Italy the successors of Belisarius, 11 generals of equal rank neglected to crush the feeble and disunited Goths till they were rushed to action by the progress of Totila and the reproaches of Justinian the gates of Verona were secretly opened to Artabazzus at the head of 100 Persians in the service of the empire the Goths fled from the city at the distance of 60 furlongs the Roman generals halted to regulate the divisions of the spoil while they disputed the enemy discovered a real number of the victors the Persians were instantly overpowered and it was by leaping from the wall that Artabazzus preserved the life which he lost in a few days by the lands of a barbarian who had defied him to single combat 20,000 Romans encountered the forces of Totila near Faenza on the hills of Mugillo or the Flonantine territory the ardor of freedmen who fought to regain their country was opposed to the languid temper of mercenary troops who were even destitute of the merits of strong and well disciplined servitude on the first attack they abandoned their insines threw down their arms and dispersed on all sides with an active speed which abated the loss whilst it aggravated the shame of their defeat the king of the Goths who blushed for the bassness of his enemies pursued with rapid steps the part of honor and victory Totila passed the pole traversed the Apennine extended the important conquest of Ravenna, Florence and Rome and marched through the heart of Italy to form the siege or rather the blockade of Naples the Roman chiefs imprisoned in their respective cities and accusing each other of the common disgrace did not presume to disturb his enterprise but the emperor alarmed by the distress and danger of his Italian conquests dispatched the relief of Naples a fleet of galleys and the body of Thracian and Armenian soldiers who landed in Sicily which yielded scoppier stores of provisions but the delays of the new commander and un-warlike magistrates protracted the sufferings of the besieged and the so-curse which he dropped with a timid and tardy hand were successively intercepted by the armed vessels stationed by Totila in the Bay of Naples the principal officer of the Romans was dragged with a rope around his neck to the foot of the wall from whence with the trembling voice the plur like himself the mercy of the conqueror they requested a truce with the promise of surrendering the city if no effectual relief should appear at the end of 30 days instead of one month the audacious barbarian granted them three in the just confidence that famine would anticipate the terms of their capitulation after the reduction of Naples and Kume the provinces of Lucania, Apulia and Calabria submitted to the king of the gods Totila led his army to the gates of Rome pitched his camp at Tibur or Tivoli within 20 miles of the capital and calmly exhorted the senate and the people to compare the tyranny of the Greeks with the blessings of the Gothic reign the rapid success of Totila may be partly ascribed to the revolution which three years experience had produced in the sentiments of the Italians at the command or at least in the name of a Catholic emperor the Pope, the spiritual father had been torn from the Roman church and either starved or murdered on a desolate island the virtues of Belisarius were replaced by the various or uniform visors of 11 chiefs at Rome, Ravenna, Florence, Perugia, Spoleto etc who abused their authority for the indulgence of lust or avarice the improvement of the revenue was committed to Alexander a subtle scribe who long practiced in the fraud and oppression of the Byzantine schools and whose name of Psaliktion the scissors was drawn from the dexterous artifice with which he reduced the size without defacing the figure of the gold coin instead of expecting the restoration of peace or industry he imposed a heavy assessment on the fortunes of the Italians yet his present or future demands were less odious than a persecution against the persons and property of all those who under the Gothic kings had been concerned in the receipt and expenditure of the public money the subjects of Justinian who escaped these partial vexations were oppressed by the irregular maintenance of the soldiers whom Alexander defrauded and despised and their hasty salleys in quest of wealth or subsistence provoked the inhabitants of the country to await or implore their deliverance from the virtues of a barbarian Totila was chaste and temperate and none were deceived either friends or enemies who depended on his faith or his clemency to the husband men of Italy the Gothic king issued a welcome proclamation and joining them to pursue their important labours and to rest assured that on the payment of the ordinary taxes they should be defended by his valor and discipline from the injuries of war the strong towns he successively attacked and as soon as they had yielded to his arms they abolished the fortifications to save the people from the calamities of a future siege to deprive the Romans of the art of defence and to decide the tedious quarrel of the two nations an equal and honourable conflict in the field of battle the Roman captives and deserters were tempted to enlist in the service of a liberal and culture's adversary the slaves were attracted by the firm and faithful promise that they should never be delivered to their masters and from the thousand warriors of Pavia under the same appellation of gods were insensibly formed in the camp of Totila he sincerely accomplished the articles of capitulation without seeking or accepting any sinister advantage from ambiguous expressions or unforeseen events the garrison of Naples had stipulated that they should be transported by sea the obstinacy of the winds prevented their voyage but they were generously supplied with horses, provisions and a safe conduct to the gates of Rome the wives of the senators who had been surprised in the villas of Campania were restored without a ransom to their husbands the violation of female chastity was inexorably chastised with death and in the salutary regulation of the edict of the famished Neapolitan the conqueror assumed the office of a humane and attentive physician the virtues of Totila are equally laudable whether they proceeded from true policy religious principle to the instinct of humanity he often harangued his troops and it was his constant team that national vice and ruin are inseparably connected that victory is the fruit of moral as well as military virtue and that the prince and even the people are responsible for the crimes which they neglected to punish the return of Belisarius to save the country which he had subdued was pressed with equal vehemence by his friends and enemies and the Gothic war was imposed as a trust or an exile on the veteran commander a hero on the banks of the Euphrates a slave in the palace of Constantinople he accepted with reluctance the painful task of supporting his own reputation and retrieving the faults of his successors the sea was opened to the Romans the ships and soldiers were assembled at Salona near the palace of the Euclidian he refreshed and reviewed his troops at Polainistria the Adriatic entered the port of Ravenna and dispatched orders rather than supplies to the subordinate cities his first public oration was addressed to the gods and Romans in the name of the emperor who had suspended for a while the conquest of Persia and listened to the prayers of his Italian subjects he gently touched on the causes and the authors of the recent disasters striving to remove the fear of punishment for the past and laboring with more zeal than success to unite all the members of his government in a firm league of affection and obedience Justinian, his gracious master was inclined to pardon and reward and it was their interest as well as duty to reclaim their deluded brethren who had been seduced by the arts of the usurper not a man who was tempted to assert the standard of the Gothic king but his aria soon discovered that he was sent to remain the potent spectator of the glory of a young barbarian and his own epistle exhibits a genuine and lively picture the distress of a noble mind most excellent prince we are arrived in Italy destitute of all the necessary implements of war men, horses, arms and money in our late circuit through the villages of Trache we have collected with extreme difficulty about 4,000 recruits naked and unskilled the soldiers already stationed in the province are discontented fearful and dismayed at the sound of an enemy they dismiss the horses and cast their arms on the ground no taxes can be raised since Italy is in the hands of the barbarians the failure of payment has deprived us of the right of command or even of admonition be assured that the greater part of your troops have already deserted the gods if the war could be achieved alone your wishes are satisfied Belisarius is in the midst of Italy but if you decide to conquer far of the preparations are requisite without the military force the title of general is an empty name it would be expedient to restore to my service my own veteran and domestic guards before I can take the field I master is even at the quick supply of light and heavy armed troops and it is only with ready money that you can procure the weapons an officer in whom Belisarius confided but the message was neglected and the messenger was detained at Constantinople by an advantageous marriage after his patience had been exhausted by delay and disappointment the roman general re-passed the Adriatic and expected at the Iraqi the arrival of the troops which was slowly assembled among the subjects and allies of the empire his powers were still inadequate but he got the king the Appian way a march of 40 days was covered by the barbarians and as the prudence of Belisarius declined the battle he preferred the safe and speedy navigation of five days from the coast of Ipirus to the mount of the Taiba after reducing by force or treaty the towns of inferior note in the midland provinces of Italy Totila proceeded not to assault the Abyssus a veteran chief of Gothic extraction who filled with the garrenson of 3000 soldiers the spacious circle of her venerable walls from the distress of the people he extracted a profitable trade and secretly rejoiced in the continuance of the siege it was for his use that the granaries had been replenished the charity of Pope Vigilius had purchased and embarked an ample supply of Sicilian corn but the vessels had a patience governor who imparted a scanty sustenance to the soldiers and sold the remainder to the wealthy Romans the Medinus or fifth part of the quarter of wheat was exchanged for seven pieces of gold 50 pieces were given for an ox a rare and accidental price the progress of famine enhanced this exorbitant value and the mercenaries were attempted to deprive themselves of the allowance which was scarcely sufficient a tasteless and unwholesome mixture in which the brand thrice exceeded the quantity of flour appeased the hunger of the poor they were gradually reduced to feed on dead horses dogs, cats and mice and eagerly to snatch the grass and even nettles which grew among the ruins of the city a crowd of specters pale and emaciated their bodies oppressed with disease and their minds with despair the governor urged with unavailing truth that it was the duty of a master to maintain his slaves and humbly requested that he would provide for their substance to permit their flight or command their immediate execution Bessus replied with unfeeling tranquility that it was impossible to feed unsafe to dismiss and unlawful to kill the subjects of the emperor yet the example of a private citizen was the countrymen that the tyrant cannot withhold the privilege of death pierced by the cries of five children who vainly called on their father for bread he ordered them to follow his steps and advanced with calm and silent despair to one of the bridges of the taiba and covering his face threw himself headlong into the stream in the presence of his family and the roman people the rich and pusillaneous Bessus sold the permission of departure but the greatest part of the fugitives expired on the public highways all were intercepted by the flying parties of barbarians in the meanwhile the artful government sued the discontent and revived the hopes of the romans by the vague reports of the fleets and armies which are hastening to their relief from the extremities of the east they revived more rational comfort from the assurance that Bilisarius had landed at the port and without numbering his forces they firmly relied on humanity and the skill of the great deliverer End of chapter 43 part 1 Recording by Monsbrew Helsingfors Finland Chapter 43 part 2 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 4 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Chapter 43 The Last Victory and Death of Bilisarius Death of Justinian Part 2 The foresight of Totila had raised obstacles worthy of such an antagonist 90 furlongs below the city in the narrowest part of the river he joined the two banks by strong and solid timbers in the form of a bridge on which he erected two lofty towers manned by the bravest of escorts and profusely stored with missile weapons and engines of offence The approach of the bridge and towers was covered by a strong and massive chain of iron and the chain at either end on the opposite sides of the Tiber was defended by a numerous and chosen detachment of archers But the enterprise of forcing these barriers and relieving the capital displays a shining example of the boldness and conduct of Bilisarius His cavalry advanced through the port along the public road to all the motions and distract the attention of the enemy His infantry and provisions were surrounded by large boats and each boat was shielded by a high rampart of thick planks pierced with many small holes for the discharge of missile weapons In the front two large vessels were linked together to sustain a floating castle which commanded the towers of the bridge and contained a magazine of fire sulfur and bitumen The whole fleet which the general led in person was laboriously moved against the current of the river The chain yielded to their weight The enemies who guarded the banks were either slain or scattered As soon as they touched the principal barrier the fire ship was instantly grappled to the bridge One of the towers with 200 gotts was consumed by the flames His ailments shouted victory and Rome was saved If the wisdom of Bilisarius had not been defeated by the misconduct of his officers He had previously sent orders to Bessas to second his operations by a timely sally from the town and he had fixed his lieutenant Isaac by a peremptory command to the station or the port But the avarice rendered Bessas immovable while the youthful order of Isaac delivered him into the hands of a superior enemy The exaggerated rumor of his defeat was hastily carried to the ears of Bilisarius He paused betrayed in that single moment of his life some emotions of surprise and perplexity and reluctantly sounded the retreat to save his wife Antonina his treasures and the only harbor which he possessed on the Tuscan coast The vexation of his mind produced an ardent and almost mortal fever and Rome was left without protection to the mercy or indignation of Totila The continuance of hostilities had embittered the national hatred The Aryan clergy was anonymously driven from Rome Pelagius, the Archdeacon returned without success from an embassy to the Gothic camp and a Sicilian bishop The envoy or nuncio of the pope was deprived of both his hands for daring to utter falsehood in the service of the church and state Famine had relaxed the strength and discipline of the garrison of Rome They could derive no effectual service from a dying people An inhuman avarice of the merchant at length absorbed the wigglins of the governor For its orient sentinels left and their officers were absent They standed by a rope from the wall and secretly proposed to the Gothic king to introduce his troops into the city The offer was entertained with coldness and suspicion They returned in safety They twice repeated their visit The place was twice examined The conspiracy was known and disregarded And no sooner had Totila consented to the attempt than they unbeared the Asinarian gate and gave admittance to the gods Till the dawn of day they halted in order of battle apprehensive of treachery or ambush But the troops of Bises with their leader had already escaped And when the king was pressed to disturb their retreat he prudently replied that no sight could be more grateful than that of a flying enemy The patricians who were still possessed of horses, deacus, basilius, etc accompanied the governor their brethren among whom Bruce or Estes and Maximus are named by the historian took refuge in the church of St. Peter But the assertion that only 500 persons remained in the capital inspired some doubt of the fidelity either over his narrative or of his text As soon as daylight had displayed the entire victory of the gods their monarch devoutly visited the tomb of the prince of the apostles But while he prayed at the altar 25 soldiers were put to the sword in the vestibule of the temple The archdeacon Pilagius stood before him with the gospels in his hand Oh Lord, be merciful to your servant Pilagius said Pultila with an insulting smile Your pride now condescends to become a suppliant I am a suppliant replied the prudent archdeacon God has now made us your subjects And as your subjects we are entitled to your clemency At this humble prayer the lives of the Romans were spared and the chastity of the maids and matrons were preserved iron violet from the passions of the hungry soldiers But they were rewarded by the freedom of pillage after the most precious spoils had been reserved for the royal treasury The houses of the senators were plentifully stored with gold and silver and the avarice of beses had laboured with so much guilt and shame In this revolution the sons and daughters of Roman consuls lasted the misery which they had spurned or relieved wandered in tattered garments through the streets of the city and begged their bread perhaps without success before the gates of the hereditary mentions The riches of Rusticiana the daughters of Simacus and the widow of Oboeitius had been generously voted to alleviate the calamities of famine by the report that she had prompted the people to overthrow the statues of the great theodoric and the life of that venerable matron would have been sacrificed to his memory if Totila had not respected her birth her virtues in even the pious motive of her revenge The next day he pronounced two orations to congratulate and admonish his victorious gods I had to reproach the senate as the vilest of slaves with their perjury, folly and ingratitude sternly declaring that their estates and honors were justly forfeited to the companions of his arms Yet he consented to forgive their revolt and his senators repaid his clemency by dispatching circular letters to their tenants and vessels in the provinces of Italy strictly to enjoying them to discern the standard of the Greeks to cultivate their lands in peace and to learn from their masters the duty of obedience to a Gothic sovereign Against the city which had so long delayed the course of his victories he appeared inexorable one third of the walls in different parts were demolished by his command fire and engines prepared to consume or subvert the most stately works of antiquity and the world was astonished by the fatal decree that Rome should be changed into a pasture for cattle the firm and temporary monstrance of Belisarius suspended the execution of the barbarian not to sully his fame by the destruction of those monuments which were the glory of the dead and the delight of the living and Totila was persuaded by the advice of an enemy to preserve Rome as the ornament of his kingdom all the fairest pledge of peace and reconciliation when he had signified to the ambassadors of Belisarius his intention of sparing the city he stationed an army at the distance of 120 furlongs with the remainder of his forces he marched into Lucania and Apulia and occupied on the summit of Mount Garganus one of the camps of Hannibal the senators were dragged in his train and afterwards confined in the fortresses of Campania the citizens with their wives and children were dispersed in exile and during 40 days Rome was abandoned to desolate and dreary solitude the loss of Rome was speedily retrieved by an action which according to the event the public opinion would apply the names of rashness or heroism after the departure of Totila the roman general saled from the port at the head of a thousand horse cutting pieces the enemy who opposed his progress and visited with pity and reverence the vacant space of the eternal city resolved to maintain a station so conspicuous in the eyes of mankind he summoned the greatest part of his troops to the standard which he erected in the capital of their country and the hopes of food and the keys of Rome were sent a second time to the emperor Justinian the walls as far as they had been demolished by the gods were repaired with rude and dissimilar materials the ditch was restored iron spikes were profusely scattered in the highways to annoy the feet of the horses and as new gates could not suddenly be procured the entrance was guarded by a Spartan rampart of his bravest soldiers at the expiration of 25 days Totila returned by hasty marches from Apulia to avenge the injury and disgrace Belisarius expected his approach the gods were thrice repulsed in three general assaults they lost the flower of their troops the royal standard had almost fallen into the hands of the enemy and the fame of Totila sunk as it had risen with the fortune of his arms whatever skill and courage could achieve had been performed by the roman general it remained only that Justinian should terminate by a strong and seasonable effort the war which he had ambitiously undertaken the indolence perhaps the importance of a prince who despised his enemies and envied his servants protracted the calamities of Italy after a long silence Belisarius was commanded to leave a sufficient garrison at Rome and to transport himself into the province of Lucania whose inhabitants a select seal had cast away the yoke of the Aryan conquerors in this ignoble warfare the hero invincible against the power of the barbarians was basely vanquished by the delay the disobedience and cowardice of his own officers he reposed in his winter quarters at Crotuna in the full assurance that the two passes of the Lucanian hills were guarded by his cavalry they were betrayed by treachery or weakness and the rapid march of the gods scarcely allowed time for the escape of Belisarius to the coast of Sicily at length the fleet and army were assembled for the relief of Ruscanium or Rossano a fortress 60 furlongs from the ruins of Sibarius where the nobles of Lucania had taken refuge in the first attempt the Roman forces were dissipated by a storm in the second they approached the shore but they saw the hills covered with archers a landing place defended by a line of spears and the king of the gods impatient for battle the conqueror of Italy retired with a sigh and continued to languish inglorious and inactive til Antonina who had been sent to Constantinople to solicit suckers obtained after the death of the Empress the permission of his return the last five campaigns of Belisarius might abate the envy of his competitors whose eyes had been dazzled and wounded by the blaze of his former glory instead of delivering Italy from the gods he had wandered like a fugitive along the coast without daring to march into the country or to accept the bold and repeated challenge of Totila yet in the judgment of the few who could discriminate councils from events and compare the instruments with the execution he appeared a more consummate master of the art of war than in the season of his prosperity when he presented to captive kings before the throne of Justinian the valor of Belisarius was not chilled by age his prudence was matured by experience but the moral virtues of humanity and justice seemed to have yielded to the hard necessity of the times the parse and many or poverty of the emperor compelled him to deviate from the rule of conduct which had deserved the love and confidence of the Italians the war was maintained by the oppression of ravine easily and the faithful subjects of the empire and the rigorous persecution of Herodion provoked that injured or guilty officer to deliver Spoleto into the hands of the enemy the avarice of Antonina which had been sometimes diverted by love now reigned without a rival in her breast Belisarius himself had always understood that riches in a corrupt age are the support and ornament of personal merit and it can't be presumed that he should return to this service without applying part of the spoil to his private emolument the hero had escaped the sword of the barbarians but the dagger of conspiracy awaited his return in the midst of wealth and honors Artaban, who had chastised the African tyrant complained of the ingratitude of courts he aspired to project the emperor's niece who wished to reward her deliverer but the impediment of his previous marriage the pride of royal descent was irritated by flattery and the service in which he gloried had proved him capable of bold and sanguinary deeds the death of Justinian was resolved but the conspirators delayed the execution till they could surprise Belisarius disarmed and naked in the palace of Constantinople not a hope could be entertained of shaking his long-tride fidelity and they just littered the revenge or rather the justice or the veteran general who might speedily assemble an army in Thrace to punish the assassins and to perhaps to enjoy the fruits of their crime delay afforded time for rash communications and honest confessions Artaban and his accomplices were condemned by the senate but the extreme clemency of Justinian detained them in the gentle confinement of the palace till he pardoned their flagitius attempt against his throne and life if the emperor forgave his enemies he would raise a friend whose victories were alone remembered and who was endeared to his prince by the recent circumstances of their common danger Belisarius reposed from his toils in the highest station of general of the east encountered the domestics and the older consuls and patricians respectfully yielded the presedency of rank to the peerless merit of the first of the Romans the first of the Romans still submitted to be the slave of his wife but the servitude of habit and affection became less disgraceful when the death of Theodora had removed the baser influence of fear Ioannina, their daughter and the sole heiress of their fortunes was betrothed to Anastasius the grandson rather the nephew of the empress whose kind interposition forwarded the consummation of their youthful loves but the power of Theodora expired the parents of Ioannina returned and her honor, perhaps her happiness were sacrificed to the revenge of an unfeeling mother who dissolved the imperfect nuptials before they had been ratified by the ceremonies of the church before the departure of Belisarius Perusia was besieged and few cities were impregnable to the Gothic arms Ravenna, Ancona and Crotona still resisted the barbarians and when Totila asked in marriage one of the daughters of France he was stung by the just reproach and the king of Italy was unworthy of his title till it was acknowledged by the Roman people three thousand of the bravest soldiers had been left to defend the capital under suspicion of a monopoly they massacred the governor and then announced the Justinian by deputation of the clergy that unless their offense was pardoned and their ariers were satisfied they should instantly accept the tempting offers of Totila but the officer who succeeded to the command his name was Diogenes deserved their esteem and confidence and the gods instead of finding an easy conquest encountered vigorous resistance from the soldiers and people who patiently endured the loss of the port and all maritime supplies the siege of Rome would perhaps have been raised if the liberality of Totila to the East Orians had not encountered some of the venal contraband to copy the example of Treason in a dark night while the Gothic trumpet sounded on another side they silently opened the gate of St. Paul the barbarians rushed into the city and the flying garrison was intercepted before they could reach the harbor of Sentum Sillae a soldier trained in the school of Belisarius Paul of Selikia they tied with four hundred men to the mole of Hadrian they repelled the gods but they felt the approach of famine and their aversion to the taste of horse flesh confirmed their resolution to risk the event of a desperate but their spirit insensibly stooped to the offers of capitulation they retrieved their arrears of pay and preserved their arms and horses by enlisting in the service of Totila their chiefs who pleaded a laudable attachment to their wives and children in the East were dismissed with honour and about four hundred enemies who had taken refuge in the sanctuaries were saved by the clemency of the victor he no longer entertained the wish of destroying the edifices of Rome which he now respected as the seat of the Gothic kingdom the senate and people were restored to their country the means of subsistence were liberally provided and Totila in the robe of peace exhibited the equestrian games of the circus while he amused the eyes of the multitude four hundred vessels were prepared for the embarkation of his troops the cities of Regium and Tarentum were reduced he passed into Sicily the object of his impeccable dissentment and the island was stripped of its golden silver or the fruits of the earth and of an infinite number of horses sheep and oxen Sardinia and Corsica obeyed the fortune of Italy and the sea coast of Greece was visited by a fleet of three hundred galleys the gods were landed in Corchira and the ancient continent of Epirus they advanced as far as Nicopolis the trophy of Augustus and Dodona once famous by the Oracle of Job in every step of his victories the wise barbarian repeated to Justinian the desire of peace applauded the concord of their predecessors and offered to employ the Gothic arms in the service of the empire Justinian was deaf to the voice of peace but he neglected the prosecution of war and the indolence of his temper disappointed in some degree the obstinacy of his passions from the salatary slumber the emperor was awakened by the Pope Vigilius and the patrician Cetigus who appeared before his throne and adjured him in the name of God and the people to resume the conquest and deliverance of Italy in the choice of the generals Capris as well as judgement was shown a fleet and army sailed for the relief of Sicily under conduct of Liberius but his youth and want of experience were afterwards discovered and before he touched the shores of the island he was overtaken by his successor in the place of Liberius the conspirator Artaban was raised from a prison to military honors in the pious presumption that gratitude would animate his valor and fortify his allegiance Belisarius reposed in the shade of his laurels but the command of the principal army was reserved for Garmanus the emperor's nephew whose rank and merit had been long repressed by the jealousy of the court Odora had injured him in the right of a private citizen the marriage of his children and the testament of his brother and although his conduct was pure and blameless Justinian was displeased that he should be thought worthy of the confidence of the malcontents the life of Garmanus was a lesson of implicit obedience he nobly refused to prostitute his name and character in the factions of the circus the gravity of his manners was tempered by innocent chieffulness of the Italian or deserving friends his valor had formally triumphed over the Sclavonians of the Danube and the rebels of Africa the first report of his promotion revived the hopes of the Italians and he was privately assured that the crowd of Roman deserters would abandon on his approach the standard of Tultilla his second marriage with Malasunta the granddaughter of Theodori endeared Garmanus to the gods themselves and they marched with the reluctance against the father of a royal infant the last offspring of the line of Amali as blended allowance was assigned by the emperor the general contributed his private fortune his two sons were popular and active and he surpassed in the promptitude and success of his levies the expectation of mankind he was permitted to select some squadrons of truck and cavalry the veterans as well as the youth to Constantinople and Europe engaged their voluntary service his fame and liberality attracted the aid of the barbarians the Romans advanced to Sardica an army of Sclavonians fled before their march but within two days of their final departure the designs of Garmanus were terminated by his melody and death yet the impulse which he had given to the Italian war still continued to act with energy and effect the maritime towns Ancona, Crotona Quentum Kelly resisted the assaults of Totila Sicily was reduced by the seal of Artemen and the Gothic navy was defeated near the coast of the Adriatic the two fleets were almost equal 47 to 50 alleys the victory was decided by the knowledge and dexterity of the Greeks but the ships were so closely grappled that only 12 of the gods escaped from this unfortunate conflict they effected to deprecate an element in which they were unskilled but their own experience confirmed the truth of a maxim that the master of the sea will always acquire the dominion of the land after the loss of Garmanus the nations were provoked to smile by the strange intelligence that the command of the Roman armies was given to a eunuch but the eunuch nurses is ranked among the few who have rescued that unhappy name from the contempt and hatred of mankind and the evil diminutive body concealed the soul of a statesman and a warrior his youth had been employed in the management of the loom and the staff in the cares of the household and in the service of female luxury but while his hands were busy he secretly exercised the faculties of a vigorous and discerning mind a stranger to the schools and the camp he studied in the palace to disemble to flatter and to persuade and as soon as he approached the person of the emperor Justinian listened with surprise and pleasure to the manly councils of his jambalane and private treasurer the talents of the nurses were tried and improved in frequent embassies he led an army into Italy acquired a practical knowledge of the war and the country and presumed to strive with the genius of Belisarius 12 years after his return the eunuch was chosen to achieve the conquest instead of being dazzled by vanity or emulation he seriously declared that unless he were armed with an adequate force he would never consent to risk his own glory and that of his sovereign Justinian granted to the favourite what he might have denied to the hero the Gothic war was rekindled from its ashes and the preparations were not unworthy of the ancient majesty of the empire the key of the public treasure was put into his hand to satisfy soldiers to purchase arms and horses to discharge the arrears of pay and to tempt the fidelity of the fugitives and deserters the troops of the Germanus were still in arms they halted at Salona in the expectation of a new leader and the legions of subjects and allies were created by the well-known liberality of the eunuch Narciss the king of the Lombard satisfied or surpassed the obligations of a treaty who were followed by three thousands of the martial attendants three thousand hiruli fought on horseback under Filimut their native chief and the noble Aratus who adopted the manners and discipline of Rome conducted a band of veterans of the same nation Dagis Theus was released from prison to command the Huns and Kubad the grandson and nephew of the great king was conspicuous by the regal tiara at the head of his faithful persons were devoted themselves to the fortunes of their prince absolute in the exercise of his authority more absolute in the affection of his troops Narciss led numerous and gallant army from Filippo Paulus to Salona from whence he coasted the eastern side of the Adriatic as far as the confines of Italy his progress was checked the east could not supply vessels capable of transporting such multitudes of men and horses the Franks had asserted the greater part of the Venetian province refused the free passage to the friends of the Lombards the station of Verona was occupied by Theius with the flower of the Gothic forces and that skillful commander had overspread the adjacent country the fall of woods and the inundation of waters in this perplexity an officer of expedience proposed to measure secure by the appearance of the rashness that the Roman army had to endure while the fleet proceeded their march and successively cast the bridge of boats over the mouth of the rivers the Timabus, the Brenta, the Addige and the Po that fall into the Adriatic to the north of Verona nine days he reposed in the city collected the fragments of the Italian army and marching towards Vimini to meet the defiance of an insulting enemy end of chapter 43 part 2 recording by Monsbru Charles Finland chapter 43 part 2 of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire volume 4 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org chapter 43 last victory and death of Belisarius death of Justinian part 3 the prudence of Narciss his powers were the last efforts of the state the cost of each day accumulated the enormous account and the nations untrained to discipline or fatigue might be rashly provoked to turn their arms against each other or against the benefactor the same considerations might have tempered the order of Totila but he was conscious that the clergy and people of Italy aspired to a second revolution he felt or suspected a rapid progress of treason and he resolved to risk the Gothic Kingdom on the chance of a day in which the valiant would be animated by instant danger and the disaffected might be awed by mutual ignorance in his march from Ravenna in his march from Ravenna the Roman general chastised the garrison of Rimini traversed in a direct line the hills of Urbino and re-entered the Flaminian way nine miles beyond the perforated rock an obstacle of art and nature which might have stopped or retarded the gods were assembled in the neighborhood of Rome they advanced without delay to seek a superior enemy and the two armies approached each other at the distance of 100 furlongs between Tagina and the sepulchres of the Gauls the haughty messenger of Narciss was an offer, not of peace but of pardon the answer to the Gothic king declared his resolution to die or conquer what day said the messenger will you fix for the combat the eighth day replied Totila but early the next morning he attempted to surprise a foe suspicious of deceit and prepared for battle 10,000 Herulian lombards of a proved valor and doubtful fate were placed in the center each of the wings was composed of 8,000 Romans the right was guarded by the cavalry of the Huns the left was covered by 1500 chosen horse destined according to the emergency reaction to sustain the retreat of their friends or to encompass the flank of the enemy from his proper station at the head of the right wing the unit rode along the line expressing by his voice and countenance the assurance of victory exciting the soldiers of the emperor to punish the guilt and madness of a band of robbers and exposing to their view gold chains, collars and bracelets the rewards of military virtue from the event of a single combat they drew an omen of success and they beheld with pleasure the courage of 50 archers who maintained a small eminence against three successive attacks of the Gothic cavalry at the distance of only two bow shots the armies spent the morning in dreadful suspense and the Romans tasted some necessary food without unloosening the curse from their breast or the bridle from their horses Narces awaited the charge and it was delayed by Totila till he had received his last shots while he consumed the hours in fruitless treaty the king exhibited in a narrow space the strength and agility of a warrior his armor wasn't chased with gold his purple banner floated with the wind he cast his lance into the air caught it with the right hand shifted it to the left threw himself backward recovered his seat and managed to fire his steed in all the paces and evolutions of the equestrian school the characters then assumed the dress and arms of a private soldier and gave it a signal of a battle the first line of the cavalry advanced with more courage than discretion and left behind them the infantry of the second line they were soon engaged between the horns of a crescent into which the adverse wings had been insensibly curved and were saluted from either side by the volleys of 4000 archers their ardor and even their distress drove them forward to the next act in which they could only use their lances against an enemy equally skilled in all the instruments of war a generous emulation inspired the romans and their barbarian allies and nurses who calmly viewed and directed their efforts doubted to whom he should adjudge the price of superior bravery the gothic cavalry was astonished and disordered pressed and broken and the line of infantry instead of presenting their spears were sampled under the feet of the flying horse 6000 of the gods were slaughtered without mercy in the fields of Tagina their prince with five attendants was overtaken by Asbad of the race of the Gepida spare the king of Italy cried a loyal voice and Asbad struck his lands through the body of Totila the blow was instantly revenge by the faithful gods they transported their dying monarch and his last moments were not embittered by the presence of an enemy compassion afforded him the shelter and obscure tomb but the romans were not satisfied at their victory till they beheld the corpse of the gothic king his hat enriched with gems and his bloody robe were presented to Justinian by the messengers of triumph as soon as Narciss had paid his devotions to the author of victory and the blessed virgin of the peculiar patroness he praised, rewarded and dismissed the lombards the villages had been reduced to ashes by these valiant savages they ravished matrons and virgins of the altar the retreat was diligently watched by a strong detachment of regular forces who prevented the repetition of the like disorders the victorious eunuch pursued his march through Tuscany accepted the submission of the gods heard the reclamations and encompassed the walls of Rome with the remainder of his formidable host round the wide circumference Narciss assigned to himself and to each of his lieutenant a real or a feigned attack while he silently marked the place of easy and unguarded entrance neither the fortifications of Hadrian's mole nor the port could long delay the progress of the conqueror and Justinian once more received the keys of Rome to be recovered but the deliverance of Rome was the last calamity of the Roman people the barbarian allies of Narciss too frequently in confounder the privilege of peace and war the despair of the flying gods found some consolation in sangunary revenge and 300 youths of the noblest families who had been sent as hostages beyond the port were inhumanely slain by the successor of Totila the fate of the senate suggests the death of the person or the vicissitude of human affairs of the senators whom Totila had banished from the country some were rescued by an officer of Belisarius and transported from Campania to Sicily while others were too guilted confided in the clemency of Justinian or too poor to provide horses for their escape to the seashore their brethren languaged five years in a state of indigance and exile the victory of Narciss revived their hopes but their premature return to the swaths and all the fortresses of Campania were stained with patrician blood after a period of 13 centuries the institution of Romulus expired and if the nobles of Rome still assumed the title of senators few subsequent traces can be discovered of a public council or constitutional order ascend 600 years and contemplate the kings of the earth soliciting an audience as the slaves or freedmen of the Roman senate the Gothic war was still alive the bravest ordination retired beyond the pool and Teyes was unanimously chosen to succeed and revenge their departed hero the new king immediately sent ambassadors to implore or rather to purchase the aid of the Franks and nobly lavished for the public safety the riches would have been deposited in the palace of Pavia the residue of the royal treasure was guarded by his brother Alighirn at Cumea in Campania but the strong castle which Totila had fortified was closely besieged by the arms of Narces from the arms to the foot of Mount Vesuvius the Gothic king by rapid and secret marches advanced to the relief of his brother eluded the visions of the Roman chiefs and pitched this camp on the banks of the Sarnus or Draco which flows from Nukeria the river separated the two armies 60 days were consumed in distant and fruitless combats and Teyes maintained this important post till he was deserted by his fleet and the hope of substance with reluctant steps he ascended the Lactarian mount where the physicians of Rome since the time of Galen had sent their patients for the benefit of the air and the milk but the gods soon embraced a more generous resolution to descend the hill with arms and in possession of freedom the king marched at the head bearing in his right hand a lance and an ample buckler in his left with the one he struck dead the foremost of the assailants with the other he received the weapons which every hand was ambitious to aim against this life after a combat of many hours his left arm was fatigued by the weight of 12 javelins which hung from his shield without moving from his ground the hero called aloud on his attendants for a fresh buckler but in the moment while his side was uncovered it was pierced by a mortal dart he fell and his head exalted on a spear proclaimed to the nations that the Gothic kingdom was no more but the example of his death served only to animate the companions who had sworn to perish with their leader they fought till darkness descended on the earth they reposed on their arms the combat was renewed with the return of light and maintained with unabated vigor till the evening of the second day the repose of the second night the want of water and the loss of their bravest champions determined the surviving gods to accept the fair capitulation with the prudence of Narciss was inclined to propose they embraced the alternative of residing in Italy as the subjects and soldiers of Justinian or departing with the portion in the search of some independent country yet the oath of fidelity or exile was alike rejected by 1000 gods who broke away before the treaty was signed and boldly affected their retreats through walls of Pavia the spirit as well as the situation of Aligarne prompted him to imitate rather than to bewail his brother a strong and dexterous archer he transpired with a single arrow the armour and breast of his antagonist and his military conduct defended Kuma above a year against the forces of the Romans their industry had scooped the Sibyls cave into a prodigious mine combustible materials were introduced to consume the temporary props the walls and the gate of Kuma sunk into the govern but the ruins formed a deep and inaccessible precipice on the fragment of a rock Aligarne stood alone and unshaken till he calmly surveyed the hopeless condition of his country and judged it more honourable to be the friend of Narciss and the slave of the Franks after the death of Tejas the Roman general separated his troops to reduce the cities of Italy Lucca sustained a long and vigorous siege and such was the humanity or the prudence of Narciss that the repeated perfidy of the inhabitants could not provoke him to exact the forfeit lives of the hostages these hostages were dismissed in safety and their grateful seal at length subdued the obstinacy of their countrymen Before Lucca had surrendered Italy was overwhelmed by a new deluge of barbarians a feeble youth a grandson of Clovis reigned over the Austrasians or Oriental Franks the guardians of Teodibald entertained with coldness and reluctance the magnificent promises of the Gothic ambassadors but the spirit of a martial people the two brothers Loter and Buckelin the dukes of the Alemanni stood forth as the leaders of the Italian war and 75,000 Germans descended in the autumn from the Raetian alps into the plain of Milan the vanguard of the Roman army was stationed near the port under the conduct of Fulcari a bold herulian who rashly conceived that personal bravery was the sole duty and merit of a commander as he marched without order a member's guide of Franks suddenly rose on the amphitheater of Parma his troops were surprised and routed but the leader refused to fly declaring at the last moment that death was less terrible than the angry countenance of Narciss the death of Fulcari and the retreat of the surviving chiefs decided the fluctuating and rebellious temper of the gods they flew to the standard of their deliverers and admitted them into the cities which still resisted the arms the conqueror of Italy opened a free passage to the irresistible torrent of barbarians they passed under the walls of Cisina and answered by threats and reproaches the advice of Aligen that the Gothic treasures could no longer repay the labor of an invasion 2000 Franks were destroyed by the skill and valor of Narciss himself who sailed from Rimini at the head of 300 horse the Chastise the licentious rapine of their march in Rome the two brothers diverted their forces with the right wing Bukelin assumed the spoil of Campania Lucania and Bruttium with the left Lothair accepted the plunder of Apulia and Calabria they followed the coast of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic as far as Regium and Otranto and the extreme lands of Italy were the terms of the destructive progress the Franks were Christians and Catholics contented themselves with simple pillage and emotional murder but the churches which their piety had spared were stripped by the sacrilegious hands of the Alemani who sacrificed horses' heads to their native deities of the woods and rivers they melted or profaned the consecrated vessels and the ruins of shrines and altars were stained with the blood of the faithful Bukelin was accentuated by ambition and Lothair by avarice the former aspired to restore the Gothic kingdom the power of speedy secures returned by the same road to deposit his treasure beyond the orbs the strength of their armies was already wasted by the change of climate and contagion of disease the Germans rebelled in the vintage of Italy and their own intemperance avenged in some degree the miseries of defenseless people at the entrance of the spring the imperial troops who had guarded the cities assembled to the number of 18,000 men in the neighborhood of Rome their winter hours had not been consumed in idleness by the command and after the example of Narces they repeated each day their military exercise on foot and on horseback custom their ear to obey the sound of the trumpet and practice the steps and evolutions of the Pyrrhic dance from the Strait of Sicily Bukelin with 30,000 francs in Alemani slowly moved towards Capua occupied with the wooden tower the bridge of Casillinium covered his right by the stream of Vulturnus and secured the rest of his encampment by rampart or shop stakes and a circle of wagons whose wheels were buried in the earth he impatiently expected the return of Lothair ignorant to us that his brother could never return and that the chief and his army had been swept away by a strange disease on the banks of the lake Binacus between Trent and Verona the banners of Narces and the eyes of Italy were anxiously fixed on the event of this final contest perhaps the talents of the Roman general were most conspicuous in the calm operations which precede the tumult of the battle his skillful movements intercepted the subsistence of the barbarian and deprived him of the advantage of the bridge and river and in the choice of the ground and movement of action reduced him to comply when the ranks were already formed a servant for some trivial fault was killed by his master one of the leader of the Heruli the justice or passion of Narces was awakened he summoned the offender to his presence and without listening to his excuses gave the signal to the minister of death if the cruel master had not infringed the laws of his nation this arbitrary execution was not less unjust than it appears to have been imprudent the Heruli felt the indignity they halted of the Roman general without soothing their rage or expecting their resolution called aloud as the trumpet sounded that unless they de-hasen to occupy their place they would lose the honor of the victory his troops were disposed in a long front the cavalry on the wings in the center the heavy armed foot the archers and slingers in the rear the Germans advanced in a sharp pointed column on the edge they pierced the feeble center of Narces who received them with a smile into the fatal snare and directed his wings of cavalry insensibly to wheel on their flanks and encompassed their rear the host of the Franks and Alemani consisted of infantry a sword and buckler hung by their side and they used as their weapons of offense a weighty hatchet and a hooked javelin which were only formidable in close combat or at short distance and in complete armor skirmished without peril round this immovable phalanx supplied by active speed their deficiency of number and aimed their arrows against the crowd of barbarians who instead of a curousen helmet were covered by a loose garment of fur or linen they passed they trembled their ranks were confounded and in the decisive moment the hiruli, preferring glory to revenge led the violence to the head of the column their leader, Simbal and Aligarne the Gothic prince deserved the price of a superior valor and their example excited the victorious troops to achieve what swords and spears the destruction of the enemy Buchelin and the greatest part of his army perished on the field of battle in the waters of the Vulturnus or by the hands of the enraged peasants but it may seem incredible that the victory which no more than five of the Alemani survived could be purchased with the loss of four score Romans seven thousand gods the relics of the war defended the forces of Kamsa till the ensuing spring and every messenger of Narciss announced the reduction of the Italian cities whose names were corrupted by the Igrans or vanity of the Greeks after the battle of Cassilinum Narciss entered the capital the armed and treasures of the gods the Franks and the Alemani were displayed the treasures with garlands in their hands chanted the praises of the conqueror and Rome for the last time beheld the semblance of a triumph after the reign of sixty years the throne of the Gothic kings was filled by the exarchs of Ravenna the representatives in peace and war of the emperor of the Romans their jurisdiction was soon reduced to the limits of a narrow province but Narciss himself the first and most powerful of the exarchs administered above fifteen years the entire kingdom of Italy like Belisarius he had deserved the honors of envy, calamity and disgrace but the favorite eunuch still enjoyed the confidence of Justinian or the leader of a victorious army or the repressed ingratitude of a timid court yet it was not by weak and mischievous indulgence that Narciss secured the attachment of his troops forgetful of the past and regardless of the future the present hour of prosperity and peace the cities of Italy resounded the noise of drinking and dancing the spoils of victory were wasted in sensual pleasures and nothing remained unless to exchange their shields and helmets for the soft loot and the capacious hog shed in a manly oration not unworthy of a roman censor the eunuch reproved these disorderly vices which sully their fame and endanger their safety the soldiers blushed and obeyed discipline was confirmed the fortifications were restored a due co-station for the defence and military command of each of the principal cities and the eye of Narciss pervaded the ample prospect from Calabria to the Alps the remains of the Gothic nation evacuated the country all mingled with the people the Franks instead of avenging the death of Buckelin abandoned without the struggle their Italian conquests and the rebellious symbol chief of the Heruli was subdued, taken and hung on a lofty gallows by the inflexible justice of the Exarch the civil state of Italy after the agitation of a long tempest was fixed by a pragmatic sanction which the emperor promulgated at the request of the Pope Justinian introduced his own jurisprudence into the schools and tribunals of the west he ratified the acts of Theodoric and its immediate successors but every deed was rescinded and polished which force had exhorted of fear had subscribed under the usurpation of Totila a moderate theory was framed to reconcile the rights of property with the safety of prescription the claims of the state with the poverty of the people and the pardon of offenses with the interest of virtue and order of society yet the senators were gratified by the permission of visiting their estates in Italy and of approaching without obstacle the throne of Constantinople the regulation of weights and measures was delegated to the Pope and Senate and the salaries of lawyers and physicians of our voters and grammarians were destined to preserve or rekindle the light of science in the ancient capital Justinian might dictate benevolent edicts and Narcissus might second his wishes by the restoration of cities and more especially of churches but the power of king is most effectual to destroy and the 20 years of the Gothic War had consummated the distress and depopulation of Italy as early as the 4th campaign under the discipline of Bilisarius himself 50,000 laborers died of hunger in the narrow region of Bicconium and a strict interpretation would swell the loss of Italy above the total sum of her present inhabitants I decided to believe but I dare not affirm that Bilisarius sincerely rejoiced in the triumph of Narcissus yet the consciousness of his own exploits might teach him to esteem without jealousy the merit of a rival and the repose of the aged warrior was crowned by a last victory which saved the emperor and the capital the barbarians who annually visited the province of Europe were less discouraged by some accidental defeats than they were excited by the double hope of a spoil and a subsidy in the 32nd winter of Justinian's reign the Danube was deeply frozen sub-Bergen led the cavalry of the Bulgarians and his standard was followed by promiscuous multitude of Sclavonians the savage chief passed without opposition the river and the mountains spread his troops over the Macedonian trace and advanced with no more than 7000 horses to the long wall which other defended the territory of Constantinople but the works of man are impotent against the assaults of nature a recent earthquake had shaken the foundations of the wall and the forces of the empire were employed on the distant frontiers of Italy African Persia the seven schools or companies of guards or domestic troops had been augmented to the number of 5500 men in the powerful cities of Asia but the places of the Braio-Amenians were insensibly supplied by lazy citizens who purchased an exemption from the duties of civil life without being exposed to the dangers of military service of such soldiers few could be tempted to salivate from the gates and none could be persuaded to remain in the field unless they wanted strength and speed to escape from the Bulgarians the report of the fugitives exaggerated the number and fierceness of an enemy who had polluted holy virgins and abandoned newborn infants to the dogs and vultures a crowd of rustics imploring food and protection increased the consternation of the city and the tents of Sabergan were pitched at the distance of 20 miles on the banks of a small river which encircles Melantius and afterwards falls into the Propontis Justinian trembled and those who had only seen the emperor of his old age were pleased to suppose that he had lost the alacrity and vigor of his youth by his command the vessels of golden silver were removed from the churches in the neighborhood and even the suburbs of Constantinople the ramparts were lined with trembling spectators the golden gate was crowded with useless generals and tribunes and the senate shared the fatigues and the apprehensions of the populace but the eyes of the prince and the people were directed to a feeble veteran who was compelled by the public danger to resume the armor in which he had entered Carthage and defended Rome the horses of the royal stables of private citizens and even of the circus were hastily collected the emulation of the old and young were roused by the name of Belisarius and his first encampment was in the presence of a victorious enemy his prudence and the labor of the friendly peasants secured with the ditch and the rampart the repose of the night innumerable fires and clouds of dust were artfully contrived to magnify the opinion of his strength his soldiers suddenly passed from despondency to presumption and while 10,000 voices demanded the battle Belisarius dissembled his knowledge that in the out of trial he must depend on the firmness of 300 veterans the next morning the Bulgarian cavalry advanced to the charge but they heard the shouts of multitudes they beheld the arms and discipline in the front they were assaulted on the flanks by two ambush gates which rose in the woods their foremost warriors fell by the hand of the aged hero and his guards and the swiftness of their evolutions were rendered useless by the close attack and rapid pursuit of the Romans in this action so speedy was their flight the Bulgarians lost only 400 horses but Constantinople was saved and Tzabergin was put through to a respectful distance but his friends were numerous in the consuls of the emperor and Belisarius obeyed with reluctance the commands of Envy and Justinian which forbade him to achieve the deliverance of his country when he returned to the city the people still conscious of their danger accompanied his triumph with exclamations of joy and gratitude which were imputed as a crime to the victorious general but when he entered the palace after a cold and thankless embrace dismissed him to mingle the train of slaves yet so deep was the impression of his glory and the minds of men that Justinian in the 77th year of his age was encouraged to advance near 40 miles from the capital and to inspect in person the restoration of the long wall the Bulgarians wasted their summer in the plains of Trace but they were inclined to peace to the rush attempts on Greece and the Kersoneuses a menace of killing their prisoners quickened the payment of heavy ransoms and the departure of Zabergan was hastened by the report that double proud vessels were built on the Danube to intercept his passage the danger was soon forgotten and a vain question whether their sovereign had shown more wisdom or weakness amused the idleness of the city end of chapter 43 recording by Monsbru Helsingfors Finland