Narses was a stunted little man, considerably shorter than Justinian,
for which reason the latter stooped, when speaking with him, much more
than was necessary. He was bald, his complexion a sickly yellow, his
right shoulder higher than his left, and he limped a little on the left
foot, supporting himself upon a stick with a golden crutch. But his
eagle eye was so commanding, that it annulled any disagreeable
impression made by his insignificant figure, and lent to his plain
countenance the consecration of intellectual greatness, while the
expression of painful resignation and cool superiority about his mouth
had even a singular charm. When addressed by the Emperor, Narses
quickly banished from his lips a cold smile, which had been excited by
the jurist's moral politics, and raised his head.
"Emperor," he said, in a sharp, decided voice, "I would dissuade you
from this war--for the present."
The Emperor bit his lips in vexation.
"Also from reasons of justice?" he asked, almost sarcastically.
"I said: for the present."
"Why?"
"Because what is necessary precedes what is pleasant. He who has to
defend his own house should not break into strange dwellings."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, that no danger threatens your empire from the West, from the
Goths. The enemy who can, and perhaps will, destroy it, comes from the
East."
"The Persians!" cried Justinian contemptuously.
"Since when," interposed Belisarius, "since when does Narses, my great
rival, fear the Persians?"
"Narses fears no one," answered the latter, without looking at his
interrogator, "neither the Persians whom he has beaten, nor you whom
the Persians have beaten. But he knows the Orient. If not the Persians,
then it will be others who follow them. The tempest which threatens
Byzantium approaches from the Tigris, not from the Tiber."
"Well, and what does that mean?"
"It means, that it is a shameful thing for you, O Emperor, and for the
Roman name which we still bear, that you should, year by year, buy
peace from Chosroes, the Persian Khan, at the cost of many
hundredweights of gold."
The Emperor's face flushed scarlet.
"How can you put such a meaning upon gifts, subsidies?"
"Gifts! If they are not forthcoming but a week after the day of
payment, Chosroes, the son of Cabades, burns your villages! Subsidies!
With them he pays Huns and Saracens, the most dangerous enemies of your
frontiers!"
Justinian walked rapidly through the room.
"What do you then advise?" he said at last, stopping short before
Narses.
"Not to attack the Goths without necessity or reason, when we can
scarcely defend ourselves from the Persians. To put forth the whole
power of your empire in order to abolish this shameful tribute; to
prevent the depredations on your frontiers; to rebuild the burnt towns
of Antiochia, Dara, and Edessa; to win back the provinces which you
lost, in spite of the valiant sword of Belisarius; and to protect your
frontiers by a seven-fold girdle of fortresses from the Euphrates to
the Araxes. And when you have completed this necessary work--and I fear
much you cannot complete it--then you may follow where Fame leads."
Justinianus slightly shook his head.
"You are displeasing to me, Narses," he said bitterly.
"I knew that long ago," Narses answered quietly.
"And not indispensable," cried Belisarius proudly. "Do not listen, my
great Emperor, to this small doubter. Give me the thirty thousand, and
I wager my right hand that I will conquer Italy for you."
"And I wager my head, which is more," said Narses, "that Belisarius
will conquer Italy neither with thirty, nor with sixty, nor with a
hundred thousand men.",
"Well," asked Justinianus, "and who can do it, and with what forces?"
"I," said Narses, "with eighty thousand."
Belisarius grew red with anger; he was silent for want of words.
"You have never yet, with all your self-esteem, Narses," said the
jurist, "vaunted yourself thus highly above your rival."
"I do not now, Tribonianus. See, the difference is this: Belisarius is
a great hero, and I am not; but I am a great general, and Belisarius is
not, and none but a great general can conquer the Goths."
Belisarius drew himself up to his full height, and angrily grasped his
sword. He looked as if he would have gladly crushed the cripple near
him.
The Emperor defended him. "Belisarius no great general! Envy blinds
you, Narses."
"I envy Belisarius nothing, not even," answered Narses, slightly
sighing, "his health. He would h& a great general if he were not so
great a hero. Every battle which he has lost, he has lost through too
great heroism."
"That can not be said of you, Narses," retorted Belisarius.
"No, Belisarius, for I have never yet lost a battle."
An angry retort from Belisarius was cut short by the entrance of a
slave, who, lifting the curtain, announced:
"Alexandros, sire, who was sent to Ravenna, has landed an hour ago, and
asks----"
"Bring him in! Here!" cried the Emperor, hastily starting from his
seat. He impatiently signed to the ambassador, who entered at once, to
rise from his obeisance.
"Well, Alexandros, you came back alone?"
The ambassador--a handsome and still young man--repeated: "Alone."
"But your last report said--In what condition have you left the Gothic
kingdom?"
"In great confusion. I wrote in my last report that the Queen had
decided to rid herself of her three most haughty enemies. Should the
attempt fail, she would be no longer safe in Italy, and she begged to
be allowed, in that case, to go in my ship to Epidamnus, and from
thence to escape to Byzantium."
"And I accepted the proposal readily. Well, and the attempt?"
"Succeeded. The three dukes are no more. But the rumour had reached
Ravenna that the most dangerous of them, Duke Thulun, was only wounded.
This induced the Queen--as, besides, the Goths threateningly surrounded
the palace--to escape to my ship. We weighed anchor, but soon after we
had left the harbour, off Ariminum, Earl Witichis overtook us with
superior numbers, boarded us, and demanded that Amalaswintha should
return, guaranteeing her safety until a solemn examination had taken
place before the National Assembly. When she learnt from him that Duke
Thulun had succumbed to his wounds, and saw from the proposal of
Witichis that he and his powerful friends did not yet believe in her
guilt, and as, besides, she apprehended compulsion, she consented to
return with him to Ravenna. But first, on board the _Sophia_, she wrote
this letter to you, and sends you this present from her treasury."
"Of that later. Tell me further, how do things, stand now in Italy?"
"Well for you, O great Emperor! An exaggerated account of the rebellion
of the Goths at Ravenna and of the flight of the Queen to Byzantium,
has flown through the whole country. Already many encounters have taken
place between Romans and barbarians. In Rome itself the patriots wished
to strike a blow at once; to choose a Dictator in the Senate, and call
for your assistance. But this step would have been premature, for the
Queen was in the hands of the Goths, and only the firmness of the
clever man who heads the conspiracy of the Catacombs prevented it."
"The Prefect of Rome?" asked Justinian.
"Cethegus. He mistrusted the reports. The conspirators wished to
surprise the Goths, proclaim you Emperor of the West, and choose him,
meanwhile, for Dictator. But he literally allowed them to put the
dagger to his throat in the Curia, and said, No."
"A courageous man!" said Belisarius.
"A dangerous man!" said Narses.
"An hour after," continued the ambassador, "news, arrived of
Amalaswintha's return, and things remained as they were. That gloomy
warrior, Teja, had sworn to render Rome a pasture for cattle, if a drop
of Gothic blood were shed. I learned all this on my intentionally slow
coast voyage to Brundusium. But I have something still better to
announce. I have found zealous friends of Byzantium, not only among the
Romans, but also among the Goths, and even in the members of the Royal
Family."
"Whom mean you?"
"In Tuscany there lives a rich proprietor, Prince Theodahad, the cousin
of Amalaswintha."
"To be sure! he is the last male of the Amelung family, is he not?"
"The last. He and, still more, Gothelindis, his clever but wicked
wife, the proud daughter of the Balthe, mortally hate the Queen. He,
because she opposed the measureless avarice with which he sought to
appropriate the property of all his neighbours; she, from reasons which
I could not discover, but which, I believe, originated during the
girlhood of the two Princesses; enough, her hate is deadly. Now, these
two have promised me to help you in every possible way to win Italy
back. She will be satisfied, it seems, with the destruction of the
object of her hatred; he, however, demands a rich reward."
"He shall have it."
"His support is important, for he already possesses half Tuscany--the
noble family of the Woelfungs owns the other half--and can easily bring
it into our power; and also because he expects, if Amalaswintha falls,
to seat himself upon her throne. Here are letters from him and
Gothelindis. But, first of all, read the writing from the Queen---- I
believe it is very important."