After the terrible exertion of strength in the general attack and its
repulse, which had begun with the dawn of day, and had only ended at
its close, a long pause of exhaustion ensued on the part of both Goths
and Romans. The three commanders, Belisarius, Cethegus, and Witichis,
lay for weeks recovering from their wounds.
But the actual armistice was more the effect of the deep discouragement
and oppression which had come over the Gothic army when, after striving
for victory to the uttermost, it had been wrested from them at the
moment of seeming success.
All day they had done their best; their heroes had outvied each other
in deeds of valour; and yet both their plans, that against Belisarius
and that against the city, were wrecked in the consummation.
And although King Witichis, with his constant mind, did not share in
the depression of his troops, he all the more clearly discerned that,
after that bloody day, he would be obliged to change the whole plan of
the siege.
The loss of the Goths was enormous; Procopius valued it at thirty
thousand dead and more than as many wounded. On every side of the city
they had exposed themselves, with utter contempt of death, to the
projectiles of the besieged, and had fallen by thousands at the
Pancratian Gate and before the Mausoleum of Hadrian.
And as, on the sixty-eight earlier attacks, the besiegers had always
suffered much more than the besieged, sheltered as were these last
behind walls and towers, the great army which, a few months before,
Witichis had led against the Eternal City had been fearfully reduced.
Besides all this, hunger and pestilence had raged in their tents for a
considerable period.
In consequence of this discouragement and the decimation of his troops,
Witichis was obliged to renounce the idea of taking the city by storm,
and his last hope--he did not conceal from himself its weakness--lay in
the possibility that famine would force the enemy to capitulate.
The country round Rome was completely exhausted, and all seemed now to
depend upon which party would be longest able to bear privation, or
which could first procure provisions from a distance.
The Goths felt severely the loss of their fleet, which had been damaged
on the coast of Dalmatia.
The first to recover from his wounds was the Prefect.
When carried away insensible from the door which he had closed with his
body, he had lain for a day and a half in a state which was half sleep,
half swoon.
When, on the evening of the second day, he again opened his eyes, his
first glance fell upon the faithful Moor, who was crouched at the foot
of the bed, and who had never ceased to watch him. The snake was twined
round his arm.
"The wooden door!" was the first scarcely audible word of the Prefect.
"The wooden door must be replaced by--marble blocks----"
"Thanks, thanks, O Snake-god!" cried the slave; "now he is saved and
thou too! And I, my master, have saved you." And he threw himself upon
the ground and kissed his master's bedstead; his feet he did not dare
to kiss.
"You have saved me? how?"
"When I laid you, as pale as death, upon this bed, I fetched my
Snake-god and showed you to him; and I said, 'Thou seest, O Snake-god,
that my master's eyes are closed. Make them open. Until thou dost so,
thou shalt not receive one drop of milk or crumb of bread. And if he
never open his eyes again--then, on the day when they burn his corpse,
Syphax will burn by his side, and thou, O great Snake-god, also. Thou
hast the power to heal him, then do so--or burn!' Thus I spoke, and he
has healed you."
"The city is safe--I feel it. Else I had never slept! Is Belisarius
alive? Where is Procopius?"
"In the library with your tribunes. According to the physician's
sentence, they expected to-day either your recovery, or your----"
"Death? This time your god has saved me, Syphax.--Let the tribunes
enter."
Very soon Piso, the Licinii, Salvius Julianus, and some others stood
before the Prefect; they would have hurried up to his couch with
emotion, but he signed to them to compose themselves.
"Rome, through me, thanks you! You have fought like--like Romans! I can
say nothing more, or more flattering."
He looked at the row of men before him reflectively, and then said:
"One is missing--ah, my Corinthian! His corpse is saved, for I
recommended it, and the two statues, to Piso. Let a slab of black
Corinthian marble be placed upon the spot where he fell; set the statue
of Apollo above the urn, and inscribe on the latter, 'Here died, for
Rome, Kallistratos of Corinth; he saved the god, and not the god him.'
Now go. We shall soon meet again upon the walls.--Syphax, send
Procopius to me. And bring a large cup of Falernian.--Friend," he cried
to Procopius as the latter entered, "it seems to me as if, before I
fell into this feverish sleep, I had heard some one whisper, 'Procopius
has saved the great Belisarius!' A deed which will give you
immortality. Posterity will thank you--therefore I need not. Sit by my
side and tell me all. But wait--first arrange my cushions, so that I
may see my Caesar. The sight of that statue strengthens me more than
medicine. Now speak."
Procopius looked sharply at the sick man.
"Cethegus," he then said, in a grave voice, "Belisarius knows
everything."
"Everything?" said the Prefect with a smile. "That is much."
"Cease your mockery, and do not refuse admiration to nobleness of mind,
you, who yourself are noble!"
"I? I know nothing of it."
"As soon as Belisarius recovered his senses," continued Procopius,
"Bessas naturally informed him of all that had passed. He described to
him minutely how you had ordered the Tiburtinian Gate to be kept
closed, when Belisarius lay outside in his blood, with Teja raging at
his heels. He told him that you commanded that his body-guard should be
beaten down if they attempted to open the gate by force. He repeated
your every word, also your cry: 'Rome first, then Belisarius!' And he
demanded your head in the Council. I trembled; but Belisarius said: 'He
did right! Here, Procopius, take him my sword, and the armour which I
wore that day, as a sign that I thank him.' And in the report to the
Emperor he dictated these words to me: 'Cethegus saved Rome, and
Cethegus alone! Send him the patricianship of Byzantium.'"
"Many thanks! I did not save Rome for Byzantium!" observed Cethegus.
"You need not tell Belisarius that, you un-Attic Roman!"
"I am in no Attic humour, you life-preserver! What was your reward?"
"Peace. He knows nothing of it, and shall never learn it."
"Syphax, wine! I cannot bear so much magnanimity. It makes me weak.
Well, what was the joke with the ambush?"
"Friend, it was no joke, but as terrible earnest as I have ever seen.
Belisarius was saved by a hair's-breadth."
"Yes; it was one of those hairs which are always in the way of these
Goths! They are clumsy fools, one and all!"
"You speak as if you were sorry that Belisarius was not killed!"
"It would have served him right. I had warned him thrice. He ought by
this time to know what becomes an old general and what a young
brawler."
"Listen," said Procopius, looking at him earnestly. "You have won the
right to speak thus at the Mausoleum. Formerly, when you depreciated
this man's heroism----"
"You thought I spoke in envy of the brave Belisarius? Hear it, ye
immortal gods!"
"Yes; certainly your Gepidian laurels----"
"Leave those boyish deeds alone! Friend, if necessary, a man must
despise death, but else he must cherish his life carefully. For only
the living laugh and rule, not the dumb dead. This is my wisdom, call
it cowardice if you will. Therefore--there was an ambush. Tell me
briefly, how went the fight!"
"Briskly enough! After we had scoured the neighbourhood--it seemed free
from enemies and safe for foraging--we gradually turned our horses'
heads in the direction of the city, taking with us a few goats and
half-starved sheep which we had found. Belisarius went foremost with
young Severinus, Johannes, and myself. Suddenly, as we issued from the
village _ad aras Bacchi_, there came galloping out of the trees on
either side the Valerian Way a number of Gothic horsemen. I saw at once
that they far outnumbered us, and advised that we should try to rush
between them straight on the road to Rome. But Belisarius thought that
though they were many, they were not too many, so he turned to the left
to meet and break through one of their lines. But we were ill received.
The Goths fought and rode better than our Mauretanian horsemen, and
their leaders, Totila and Hildebad--I recognised the first by his
flowing yellow locks, and the last by his enormous height--made
straight at Belisarius. 'Where is Belisarius and his courage?' shouted
tall Hildebad, audible through all the clash of arms. 'Here!' at once
replied Belisarius, and before we could prevent him, he faced the
giant. The latter lost no time, but struck the general's helmet so
furiously with his heavy battle-axe, that the golden crest, with its
plume of white horse-hair, fell to the earth, and the head of
Belisarius was bowed to the saddle-bow. The giant immediately aimed a
second and fatal blow, but young Severinus came up and received the
stroke upon his round shield. The barbarian's axe pierced the shield,
and entered deeply into the noble youth's neck. He fell----"
Procopius paused, lost in painful thought.
"Dead?" asked Cethegus quietly.
"An old freedman of his father, who accompanied him, bore him out of
the fight, but I hear that he died before they could reach the
village."
"A noble death!" said Cethegus. "Syphax, a cup of wine."
"Meanwhile," continued Procopius, "Belisarius had recovered himself,
and now, thoroughly enraged, struck his spear full at Hildebad's
breast-plate, hurling him from his horse. We shouted with joy, but
young Totila----"
"Well?"
"Had scarcely seen his brother fall, than he broke furiously through
the lances of the body-guard, and attacked Belisarius. Aigan, the
standard-bearer, would have protected Belisarius, but the Goth's sword
pierced his left arm. Totila caught the banner from his powerless hand,
and threw it to the nearest Goth. Belisarius uttered a cry of rage and
turned to meet his enemy; but young Totila is quick as lightning, and
before Belisarius knew what he was about, two swift strokes fell on the
latter's shoulders. He wavered in his saddle, and then sank slowly from
his horse, which fell dead the next moment, pierced by a spear. 'Yield,
Belisarius!' cried Totila. The general had just strength enough to
shake his head, and then sank insensible. I had quickly dismounted, and
now lifted him upon my own horse, and placed him under the care of
Johannes, who rallied his body-guard about him, and carried him quickly
out of the fight to the city."
"And you?"
"I fought on foot, and I succeeded, with the aid of our rear-guard, who
now came up--we had been obliged to sacrifice our forage--in resisting
Totila. But not for long. For now the second troop of Gothic horsemen
had arrived. Like a storm of wind, up rushed the black Teja, broke
through our right wing--which stood nearest to him--then through the
front rank, which faced Totila, and dispersed our whole array. I
counted the battle lost, caught a riderless horse, and galloped after
the general. But Teja also had observed the direction of his flight,
and galloped after us. He overtook the escort at the Fulvian Bridge.
Johannes and I had placed more than half of the rest of the body-guard
on the bridge, to defend the crossing, under Principius, the brave
Pisidian, and Tarmuth, the gigantic Isaurian. There, as I heard, all
the thirty men, and, lastly, their two faithful leaders, fell by Teja's
hand alone. There fell the flower of Belisarius's body-guard; amongst
them many of my best friends: Alamundarus, the Saracen; Artasines, the
Persian; Zanter, the Arminian, and many more. But their death bought
our safety. At the other side of the bridge we overtook the foot-soldiers
we had left behind, who now checked the enemy's horse until, late enough,
the Tiburtinian Gate was opened to the wounded general. Then, as soon as
we had sent him upon a litter to Antonina, I hastened to the Mausoleum
of Hadrian--where, I had heard, the Goths had entered the city--and found
you in danger of death."
"And what has Belisarius now decided?"
"His wounds are not so dangerous as yours, and yet they heal more
slowly. He has granted to the Goths the armistice which they desired,
in order to bury their numerous dead."
Cethegus started up from his cushions.
"He should have refused it; he should have suffered no useless delay of
the final result. I know these Gothic bulls; they have blunted their
horns; they are tired and done for. Now is the time to strike the blow
which I have long contemplated. Their giant bodies can ill bear the
heat outside in the glowing plains; less can they support hunger; still
less thirst--for the German must be drinking if he be not snoring or
fighting. It is now only necessary to intimidate yet more their prudent
King. Greet Belisarius from me, and my thanks for the sword is this
advice: Send Johannes, with eight thousand men, through Picenum towards
Ravenna; the Flaminian road is open, and will be but slightly defended,
for Witichis has collected here the garrisons of all the forts, and we
can now more easily win Ravenna than the barbarians can win Rome. And
as soon as the King hears that Ravenna, his last refuge, is in danger,
he will hurry thither to save it at any cost; he will take away his
army from these impregnable walls, and will become the persecuted
instead of the persecutor."
"Cethegus," said Procopius, springing up, "you are a great general!"
"Only by the way, Procopius! Now go, and take my homage to the great
victor, Belisarius."