the victims of popular revenge. After despatching a light detachment to tread the footsteps of Gelimer, he advanced, with his whole army, about ten days' march, as far as Hippo Regius, which no longer possessed the relics of St. Augustin.22 The season, and the certain intelligence that the Vandal had fled to the inaccessible country of the Moors, determined Belisarius to relinquish the vain pursuit, and to fix his winter-quarters at Carthage. From thence he despatched his principal lieutenant to inform the emperor that in the space of three months he had achieved the conquest of Africa. Africa by Belisarius, A.D. 534. Belisarius spoke the language of truth. The surviving Vandals Conquest of yielded, without resistance, their arms and their freedom; . the neighbourhood of Carthage submitted to his presence, and the more distant provinces were successively subdued by the report of his victory. Tripoli was confirmed in her voluntary allegiance; Sardinia and Corsica surrendered to an officer who carried instead of a sword the head of the valiant Zano; and the isles of Majorca, Minorca, and Yvica consented to remain an humble appendage of the African kingdom. Cæsarea, a royal city, which in looser geography may be confounded with the modern Algiers, was situate thirty days' march to the westward of Carthage; by land the road was infested by the Moors, but the sea was open, and the Romans were now masters of the sea. An active and discreet tribune sailed as far as the Straits, where he occupied Septem or Ceuta,23 which rises opposite to Gibraltar on the African coast; that remote place was afterwards adorned and fortified by Justinian, and he seems to have indulged the vain ambition of extending his empire to the Columns of Hercules. He received the messengers of victory at the time when he was preparing to publish the Pandects of the Roman law, and the devout or jealous emperor celebrated the divine goodness, and confessed in silence the merit of his successful general.24 22 The relics of St. Augustin were carried by the African bishops to their Sardinian exile (A.D. 500); and it was believed, in the viiith century, that Liutprand, king of the Lombards, transported them (A.D. 721) from Sardinia to Pavia. In the year 1695 the Augustin friars of that city found a brick arch, marble coffin, silver case, silk wrapper, bones, blood, &c., and perhaps an inscription of Agostino in Gothic letters. But this useful discovery has been disputed by reason and jealousy. (Baronius, Annal. A.D. 725, No. 2-9. Tillemont, Mém. Ecclés. tom. xiii. p. 944. Montfaucon, Diarium Ital. p. 26-30. Muratori, Antiq. Ital. Medii Evi, tom. v. dissert. lviii. p. 9, who had composed a separate treatise before the decree of the bishop of Pavia, and pope Benedict XIII.) 23 Tà Thi Todirsías gosipa, is the expression of Procopius (de Edific. 1. vi. c. 7). Ceuta, which has been defaced by the Portuguese, flourished in nobles and palaces, in agriculture and manufactures, under the more prosperous reign of the Arabs (l'Afrique de Marmol, tom. ii. p. 236). 24 See the second and third preambles to the Digest, or Pandects, promulgated A.D. 533, December 16. To the titles of Vandalicus and Africanus, Justinian, or rather Belisarius, had acquired a just claim; Gothicus was premature, and Francicus false, and offensive to a great nation. Impatient to abolish the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded without delay to the full establishment of the catholic church. Her jurisdiction, wealth, and immunities, perhaps the most essential part of episcopal religion, were restored and amplified with a liberal hand; the Arian worship was suppressed, the Donatist meetings were proscribed, 25 and the synod of Carthage, by the voice of two hundred and seventeen bishops, 26 applauded the just measure of pious retaliation. On such an occasion it may not be presumed that many orthodox prelates were absent; but the comparative smallness of their number, which in ancient councils had been twice or even thrice multiplied, most clearly indicates the decay both of the church and state. While Justinian approved himself the defender of the faith, he entertained an ambitious hope that his victorious lieutenant would speedily enlarge the narrow limits of his dominion to the space which they occupied before the invasion of the Moors and Vandals; and Belisarius was instructed to establish five dukes or commanders in the convenient stations of Tripoli, Leptis, Cirta, Cæsarea, and Sardinia, and to compute the military force of palatines or borderers that might be sufficient for the defence of Africa. The kingdom of the Vandals was not unworthy of the presence of a Prætorian præfect; and four consulars, three presidents, were appointed to administer the seven provinces under his civil jurisdiction. The number of their subordinate officers, clerks, messengers, or assistants, was minutely expressed: three hundred and ninety-six for the præfect himself, fifty for each of his vicegerents; and the rigid definition of their fees and salaries was more effectual to confirm the right than to prevent the abuse. These magistrates might be oppressive, but they were not idle, and the subtle questions of justice and revenue were infinitely propagated under the new government, which professed to revive the freedom. and equity of the Roman republic. The conqueror was solicitous to extract a prompt and plentiful supply from his African subjects, and he allowed them to claim, even in the third degree and from the collateral line, the houses and lands of which their families had been unjustly despoiled by the Vandals. After the departure of Belisarius, who acted by a high and special commission, no ordinary provision was made for a master-general of the forces; but the office of Prætorian præfect was intrusted to a soldier; the civil and military 25 See the original acts in Baronius (A.D. 535, No. 21-54). The emperor applauds his own clemency to the heretics, cum sufficiat eis vivere. Dupin (Geograph. Sacra Africana, p. lix. ad Optat. Milev.) observes and bewails this episcopal decay. In the more prosperous age of the church, he had noticed 690 bishoprics; but however minute were the dioceses, it is not probable that they all existed at the same time. powers were united, according to the practice of Justinian, in the chef governor; and the representative of the emperor in Africa, as well as in Italy, was soon distinguished by the appellation of Exarch Yet the conquest of Africa was imperfect till her former sovereign Intresse was delivered, either alive or dead, into the hands of the carry of Romans. Doubtful of the event, Gelimer had given secret orders that a part of his treasure should be transported to Spain, where he hoped to find a secure refuge at the court of the king of the Visigoths. But these intentions were disappointed by accident, treachery, and the indefatigable pursuit of his enemies, who intercepted his flight from the sea-shore, and chased the unfortunate monarch, with some faithful followers, to the inaccessible mountain of Papua," in the inland country of Numidia. He was immediately besieged by Pharas, an officer whose truth and sobriety were the more applauded, as such qualities could seldom be found among the Heruli, the most corrupt of the barbarian tribes. To his vigilance Belisarius had intrusted this important charge; and, after a bold attempt to scale the mountain, in which he lost an hundred and ten soldiers, Pharas expected, during a winter siege, the operation of distress and famine on the mind of the Vandal king. From the softest habits of pleasure, from the unbounded command of industry and wealth, he was reduced to share the poverty of the Moors, supportable only to themselves by their ignorance of a happier condition. In their rude hovels of mud and hurdles, which confined the smoke and excluded the light, they promiscuously slept on the ground, perhaps on a sheepskin, with their wives, their children, and their cattle. Sordid and scanty were their garments; the use of bread and wine was unknown, and their oaten or barley cakes, imperfectly baked in the ashes, were devoured almost in a crude state by the hungry savages. The health of Gelimer must have sunk under these strange and unwonted hardships, from whatsoever cause they had been endured; but his actual misery was embittered by the recollection of past greatness, the daily insolence of his protectors, and the just apprehension that the light and venal 29 The African laws of Justinian are illustrated by his German biographer (Cod. l. i. tit. 27. Mount Papua is placed by D'Anville (tom. iii. p. 92, and Tabul. Imp. Rom. Occident,) near Hippo Regius and the sea; yet this situation ill agrees with the long pursuit beyond Hippo, and the words of Procopius (1. ii. c. 4 [tom. i. p. 427, ed. Bon]), ἐν τοῖς Νουμιδίας ἐσχάτοις. Shaw (Travels, p. 220) most accurately represents the manners of the Bedoweens and Kabyles, the last of whom, by their language, are the remnant of the Moors; yet how changed-how civilised are these modern savages!-provisions are plenty among them, and broad is common. Moors might be tempted to betray the rights of hospitality. The knowledge of his situation dictated the humane and friendly epistle of Pharas. “Like yourself,” said the chief of the Heruli, "I am an "illiterate barbarian, but I speak the language of plain sense and an "honest heart. Why will you persist in hopeless obstinacy? Why "will you ruin yourself, your family, and nation? The love of free"dom and abhorrence of slavery? Alas! my dearest Gelimer, are "you not already the worst of slaves, the slave of the vile nation of "the Moors? Would it not be preferable to sustain at Constanti"nople a life of poverty and servitude, rather than to reign the "undoubted monarch of the mountain of Papua? Do you think it a disgrace to be the subject of Justinian? Belisarius is his subject, "and we ourselves, whose birth is not inferior to your own, are not "ashamed of our obedience to the Roman emperor. That generous 66 66 66 66 prince will grant you a rich inheritance of lands, a place in the “senate, and the dignity of patrician: such are his gracious inten“tions, and you may depend with full assurance on the word of "Belisarius. So long as Heaven has condemned us to suffer, patience "is a virtue; but, if we reject the proffered deliverance, it degene"rates into blind and stupid despair." "I am not insensible," replied the king of the Vandals, "how kind and rational is your "advice. But I cannot persuade myself to become the slave of an unjust enemy, who has deserved my implacable hatred. Him I "had never injured either by word or deed; yet he has sent against "me, I know not from whence, a certain Belisarius, who has cast me "headlong from the throne into this abyss of misery. Justinian is a man; he is a prince; does he not dread for himself a similar reverse of fortune? I can write no more; my grief oppresses me. "Send me, I beseech you, my dear Pharas, send me a lyre,30 a sponge, and a loaf of bread." From the Vandal messenger, Pharas was informed of the motives of this singular request. It was long since the king of Africa had tasted bread, a defluxion had fallen on his eyes, the effect of fatigue or incessant weeping, and he wished to solace the melancholy hours by singing to the lyre the sad story of his own misfortunes. The humanity of Pharas was moved he sent the three extraordinary gifts; but even his humanity prompted him to redouble the vigilance of his guard, that he might sooner compel his prisoner to embrace a resolution advantageous to the Romans, but salutary to himself. The obstinacy of Gelimer at length yielded to reason and necessity; the solemn assurances of : 30 By Procopius it is styled a lyre; perhaps harp would have been more national. The instruments of music are thus distinguished by Venantius Fortunatus: Romanusque lyrâ tibi plaudat, Barbarus harpâ. safety and honourable treatment were ratified in the emperor's name by the ambassador of Belisarius, and the king of the Vandals descended from the mountain. The first public interview was in one of the suburbs of Carthage; and when the royal captive accosted his conqueror, he burst into a fit of laughter. The crowd might naturally believe that extreme grief had deprived Gelimer of his senses; but in this mournful state unseasonable mirth insinuated to more intelligent observers that the vain and transitory scenes of human greatness are unworthy of a serious thought.31 Return and triumph of Belisarius, A.D. 534; autumn. Their contempt was soon justified by a new example of a vulgar truth-that flattery adheres to power, and envy to superior merit. The chiefs of the Roman army presumed to think themselves the rivals of an hero. Their private despatches maliciously affirmed that the conqueror of Africa, strong in his reputation and the public love, conspired to seat himself on the throne of the Vandals. Justinian listened with too patient an ear; and his silence was the result of jealousy rather than of confidence. An honourable alternative, of remaining in the province, or of returning to the capital, was indeed submitted to the discretion of Belisarius; but he wisely concluded, from intercepted letters and the knowledge of his sovereign's temper, that he must either resign his head, erect his standard, or confound his enemies by his presence and submission. Innocence and courage decided his choice: his guards, captives, and treasures were diligently embarked; and so prosperous was the navigation, that his arrival at Constantinople preceded any certain account of his departure from the port of Carthage. Such unsuspecting loyalty removed the apprehensions of Justinian envy was silenced and inflamed by the public gratitude; and the third Africanus obtained the honours of a triumph, a ceremony which the city of Constantine had never seen, and which ancient Rome, since the reign of Tiberius, had reserved for the auspicious arms of the Caesars.32 From the palace of Belisarius the procession was conducted through the principal streets to the hippodrome; and this memorable day seemed to avenge the injuries of Genseric and to expiate the shame of the Romans. The wealth of nations was displayed, the trophies of martial or effeminate Juxury ; 31 Herodotus elegantly describes the strange effects of grief in another royal captive, Psammetichus [Psammenitus] of Egypt, who wept at the lesser and was silent at the greatest of his calamities (1. iii. c. 14). In the interview of Paulus Emilius and Perses, Belisarius might study his part: but it is probable that he never read either Livy or Plutarch; and it is certain that his generosity did not need a tutor. 32 After the title of imperator had lost the old military sense, and the Roman auspices were abolished by Christianity (see La Bléterie, Mém. de l'Académie, tom. xxi. p. 302–332), a triumph might be given with less inconsistency to a private general. |