At the end of Belisarius's second expedition to Italy, he was obliged
to retire in disgrace; for, as I have told already, he was unable for
a space of five years to effect a landing on the continent, because he
had no stronghold there, but spent the whole time in hovering off the
coast. Totila was very eager to meet him in the open field, but never
found an opportunity, for both the Roman general and all the army were
afraid to fight. For this reason he recovered nothing of all that had
been lost, but even lost Rome as well, and pretty nearly everything
else. During this time he became exceedingly avaricious and greedy for
ignoble gain. Because he had received no funds from the Emperor, he
plundered all the Italian peoples of Ravenna and Sicily, and the rest
of Italy without mercy, by way of exacting vengeance for
irregularities in their past lives. Thus he fell upon Herodianus, and
asked him for money with the most dreadful threats; whereupon he, in
his rage, threw off his allegiance to Rome and went over with his
troops to Totila and the Goths, and handed over to them the town of
Spoletum.
I will now tell how Belisarius fell out with John, the nephew of
Vitalianus, a matter which was exceedingly prejudicial to the
interests of Rome. The Empress was so violently incensed against
Germanus, and showed her dislike of him so plainly, that no one dared
to connect himself with him by marriage, although he was the Emperor's
nephew, and his children remained unmarried as long as she lived,
while his daughter Justina was also without a husband at the age of
eighteen. For this reason, when John was sent by Belisarius on a
mission to Byzantium, Germanus was forced to enter upon negotiations
with him with a view to marriage with his daughter, although such an
alliance was far beneath him. When both had settled the matter to
their satisfaction, they bound each other by the most solemn oaths, to
use their best endeavours to bring about this alliance; for neither of
them trusted the other, as John knew that he was seeking an alliance
above his station, and Germanus despaired of finding another husband
for his daughter. The Empress was beside herself at this, and
endeavoured to thwart them in every possible way; but as her threats
had no effect upon either, she openly threatened to put John to death.
After this, John was ordered to return to Italy, and, fearing
Antonina's designs upon him, held no further communication with
Belisarius until her departure for Byzantium; for he had good reason
to suspect that the Empress had sent instructions to Antonina to have
him murdered; and when he considered the character of Antonina and
Belisarius's infatuation for his wife, which made him yield to her in
everything, he was greatly alarmed.
From this time forth the power of Rome, which had long been unstable,
utterly fell to the ground for want of capable support. Such were the
fortunes of Belisarius in the Gothic war. After this, despairing of
success, he begged the Emperor to allow him to leave Italy with all
speed. When he heard that his prayer had been granted, he joyfully
retired, bidding a long farewell to the Roman army and the Italians.
He left the greater part of Italy in the enemy's power and Perusia in
the last agonies of a terrible siege: while he was on his road home,
it was taken, and endured all the miseries of a city taken by assault,
as I have already related. In addition to his ill-success abroad, he
also had to submit to a domestic misfortune, which came about as
follows:--The Empress Theodora was eager to bring about the marriage
of her grandson, Anastasius, with Belisarius's daughter, and wearied
her parents with frequent letters on the subject; but they, not being
desirous of contracting this alliance, put off the marriage until they
could appear in person at Byzantium, and when the Empress sent for
them, made the excuse that they could not leave Italy. But she
persisted in her determination to make her grandson master of
Belisarius's fortune, for she knew that the girl would be his heiress,
as he had no other children. She did not, however, trust Antonina's
character, and feared lest, after her own death, Antonina might prove
unfaithful to her house, although she had found her so helpful in
emergencies, and might break the compact. These considerations
prompted her to a most abominable act. She made the boy and girl live
together without any marriage ceremony, in violation of the laws. It
is said that the girl was unwilling to cohabit with him, and that the
Empress had her secretly forced to do so, that the marriage might be
consummated by the dishonour of the bride, and so the Emperor might
not be able to oppose it. After this had taken place, Anastasius and
the girl fell passionately in love with each other, and lived together
in this manner for eight months.
Immediately after the Empress's death, Antonina came to Byzantium. She
found it easy to ignore the outrage which Theodora had committed upon
her, and, without considering that, if she united the girl to another,
she would be no better than a harlot, she drove away Theodora's
grandson with insults, and forcibly separated her daughter from the
man whom she loved.
This action caused her to be regarded as one of the most heartless
women upon earth, but nevertheless the mother obtained, without any
difficulty, Belisarius's approval of her conduct, on his return home.
Thus did this man's true character reveal itself. Although he had
sworn a solemn oath to Photius and to several of his intimates and
broken it, yet all men readily forgave him, because they suspected
that the reason of his faithlessness was not the dominion of his wife
over him, but his fear of Theodora; but now that Theodora was dead, as
I have told you, he thought nothing about Photius or any of his
intimates, but entirely submitted to the sway of his wife, and her
pander Calligonus. Then at last all men ceased to believe in him,
scorned and flouted him, and railed at him for an idiot. Such were the
offences of Belisarius, about which I have been obliged to speak
freely in this place.
In its proper place, I have said enough about the shortcomings of
Sergius, the son of Bacchus, in Libya. I have told how he was the
chief cause of the ruin of the Roman power in that country, how he
broke the oath which he swore to the Levathae on the Gospels, and how
he, without excuse, put to death the eighty ambassadors. I need only
add in this place, that these men did not come to Sergius with any
treacherous intent, and that Sergius had not the slightest reason for
suspecting them, but having invited them to a banquet and taken an
oath not to harm them, he cruelly butchered them.
Solomon, the Roman army, and all the Libyans were lost owing to this
crime; for, in consequence of what he had done, especially after
Solomon's death, no officer or soldier would expose himself to the
dangers of war. John, the son of Sisinniolus, was especially averse to
taking the field, out of the hatred which he bore to Sergius, until
Areobindus arrived in Libya.
Sergius was effeminate and unwarlike, very young both in years and in
mind, excessively jealous and insolent to all men, luxurious in his
habits, and inflated with pride. However, after he had become the
accepted husband of the niece of Antonina, Belisarius's wife, the
Empress would not permit him to be punished in any way or removed from
his office, although she saw distinctly that the state of affairs in
Libya threatened its utter ruin; and she even induced the Emperor to
pardon Solomon, Sergius's brother, for the murder of Pegasius. How
this came to pass I will now explain.
After Pegasius had ransomed Solomon from captivity among the Levathae,
and the barbarians had returned home, Solomon and Pegasius, who had
ransomed him, set out, accompanied by a few soldiers, to Carthage. On
the way Pegasius reproached Solomon with the wrong he had done, and
bade him remember that Heaven had only just rescued him from the
enemy. Solomon, enraged at being taunted with his captivity,
straightway slew Pegasius, and thus requited him for having ransomed
him. But when Solomon reached Byzantium, the Emperor absolved him from
the guilt of murder, on the pretext that he had slain a traitor to the
Roman Empire, and gave him letters of acquittal. Solomon, having thus
escaped all punishment for his crime, departed gladly for the East, to
visit his own country and his family; but the vengeance of God fell
upon him on the way, and removed him from amongst mankind. This is
what happened in regard to Solomon and Pegasius.