Adversity had awakened the Romans from the dreams of grandeur and freedom, and taught them the humiliating lesson that it was of small moment to their real happiness whether the name of their master was derived from the Gothic or the Latin language. The lieutenant of Justinian listened to their just complaints, but he rejected with disdain the idea of flight or capitulation; repressed their clamorous impatience for battle; amused them with the prospect of sure and speedy relief; and secured himself and the city from the effects of their despair or treachery. Twice in each month he changed the station of the officers to whom the custody of the gates was committed the various precautions of patrols, watch-words, lights, and music, were repeatedly employed to discover whatever passed on the ramparts; out-guards were posted beyond the ditch, and the trusty vigilance of dogs supplied the more doubtful fidelity of mankind. A letter was intercepted which assured the king of the Goths that the Asinarian gate, adjoining to the Lateran church, should be secretly opened to his troops. On the proof or Exile of verius, A.D. 537, 89 pope Syl- suspicion of treason, several senators were banished, and the pope Sylverius was summoned to attend the representative of his sovereign at his head-quarters in the Pincian palace. The ecclesiastics, who followed their bishop, were detained in the first or second apartment," and he alone was admitted to the presence of Belisarius. The conqueror of Rome and Carthage was modestly seated at the feet of Antonina, who reclined on a stately couch: the general was silent, but the voice of reproach and menace issued from the mouth of his imperious wife. Accused by credible witnesses, and the evidence of his own subscription, the successor of St. Peter was despoiled of his pontifical ornaments, clad in the mean habit of a monk, and embarked, without delay, for a distant exile in the East." At the emperor's command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a new bishop, and, after a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold. The profit, and consequently the guilt, of this simony, was imputed to Belisarius: but 89 The name of the palace, the hill, and the adjoining gate, were all derived from the senator Pincius. Some recent vestiges of temples and churches are now smoothed in the garden of the Minims of the Trinità del Monte (Nardini, 1. iv. c. 7, p. 196; Eschinard, p. 209, 210; the old plan of Buffalino; and the great plan of Nolli). Belisarius had fixed his station between the Pincian and Salarian gates (Procop. Goth. 1. i. c. 19 [tom. ii. p. 97, ed. Bonn]). 90 From the mention of the primum et secundum velum, it should seem that Belisarius, even in a siege, represented the emperor, and maintained the proud ceremonial of the Byzantine palace. "Le Beau, as a good catholic, makes the pope the victim of a dark intrigue. Lord Mahon (p. 225), with whom I coucur, sums up against him.-M. the hero obeyed the orders of his wife; Antonina served the passions of the empress; and Theodora lavished her treasures in the vain hope of obtaining a pontiff hostile or indifferent to the council of Chalcedon.91 66 66 The epistle of Belisarius to the emperor announced his victory, his danger, and his resolution. "According to your commands, Deliverance we have entered the dominions of the Goths, and reduced of the city. "to your obedience Sicily, Campania, and the city of Rome; but "the loss of these conquests will be more disgraceful than their acquisition was glorious. Hitherto we have successfully fought against the multitudes of the barbarians, but their multitudes may finally prevail. Victory is the gift of Providence, but the reputation "of kings and generals depends on the success or the failure of their designs. Permit me to speak with freedom: if you wish that we "should live, send us subsistence; if you desire that we should conquer, send us arms, horses, and men. The Romans have "received us as friends and deliverers: but in our present distress, 66 66 66 66 they will be either betrayed by their confidence, or we shall be "oppressed by their treachery and hatred. For myself, my life is "consecrated to your service: it is yours to reflect whether my death "in this situation will contribute to the glory and prosperity of your reign." Perhaps that reign would have been equally prosperous, if the peaceful master of the East had abstained from the conquest of Africa and Italy: but as Justinian was ambitious of fame, he made some efforts, they were feeble and languid, to support and rescue his victorious general. A reinforcement of sixteen hundred Sclavonians and Huns was led by Martin and Valerian; and as they had reposed during the winter season in the harbours of Greece, the strength of the men and horses was not impaired by the fatigues of a sea-voyage; and they distinguished their valour in the first sally against the besiegers. About the time of the summer solstice, Euthalius landed at Terracina with large sums of money for the payment of the troops: he cautiously proceeded along the Appian way, and this convoy entered Rome through the gate Capena,92 while Belisarius, on the other side, diverted the attention of the Goths by a vigorous and successful skirmish. These seasonable aids, the use and reputation 91 of this act of sacrilege, Procopius (Goth. 1. i. c. 25 [tom. ii. p. 121, ed. Bonn]) is a dry and reluctant witness. The narratives of Liberatus (Breviarium, c. 22), and Anastasius (de Vit. Pont. p. 39 [ap. Murat. tom. iii. p. 130]) are characteristic, but passionate. Hear the execrations of Cardinal Baronius (A.D. 536, No. 123; A.D. 538, No. 4-20): portentum, facinus omni execratione dignum. 92 The old Capena was removed by Aurelian to, or near, the modern gate of St. Sebastian (see Nolli's plan). That memorable spot has been consecrated by the Fgerian grove, the memory of Numa, triumphal arches, the sepulchres of the Scipios, Metelli, &c. VOL. V. L of which were dexterously managed by the Roman general, revived the courage, or at least the hopes, of the soldiers and people. The historian Procopius was despatched with an important commission to collect the troops and provisions which Campania could furnish, or Constantinople had sent; and the secretary of Belisarius was soon followed by Antonina herself,93 who boldly traversed the posts of the enemy, and returned with the Oriental succours to the relief of her husband and the besieged city. A fleet of three thousand Isaurians cast anchor in the bay of Naples, and afterwards at Ostia. Above two thousand horse, of whom a part were Thracians, landed at Tarentum ; and, after the junction of five hundred soldiers of Campania, and a train of waggons laden with wine and flour, they directed their march on the Appian way, from Capua to the neighbourhood of Rome. The forces that arrived by land and sea were united at the mouth of the Tiber. Antonina convened a council of war: it was resolved to surmount, with sails and oars, the adverse stream of the river; and the Goths were apprehensive of disturbing, by any rash hostilities, the negociation to which Belisarius had craftily listened. They credulously believed that they saw no more than the vanguard of a fleet and army which already covered the Ionian sea and the plains of Campania; and the illusion was supported by the haughty language of the Roman general, when he gave audience to the ambassadors of Vitiges. After a specious discourse to vindicate the justice of his cause, they declared that, for the sake of peace, they were disposed to renounce the possession of Sicily. "The emperor is not less. "generous," replied his lieutenant, with a disdainful smile; "in return "for a gift which you no longer possess, he presents you with an "ancient province of the empire; he resigns to the Goths the "sovereignty of the British island." Belisarius rejected with equal firmness and contempt the offer of a tribute; but he allowed the Gothic ambassadors to seek their fate from the mouth of Justinian himself, and consented, with seeming reluctance, to a truce of three months, from the winter solstice to the equinox of spring. Prudence might not safely trust either the oaths or hostages of the barbarians, but the conscious superiority of the Roman chief was expressed in the distribution of his troops. As soon as fear or hunger compelled the Goths to evacuate Alba, Porto, and Centumcellæ, their place was instantly supplied; the garrisons of Narni, Spoleto, and Perusia were reinforced, and the seven camps of the besiegers were gradually encompassed with the calamities of a siege. Belisarius recovers many cities of Italy. 93 The expression of Procopius has an invidious cast-rúɣnv in roû àσqu200; the opici Evulngquivay nagadonsïv (Goth. 1. ii. c. 4 [tom. ii. p. 160, ed. Bonn]). Yet he is speaking of a woman. The prayers and pilgrimage of Datius, bishop of Milan, were not without effect; and he obtained one thousand Thracians and Isaurians, to assist the revolt of Liguria against her Arian tyrant. At the same time, John the Sanguinary," the nephew of Vitalian, was detached with two thousand chosen horse, first to Alba on the Fucine lake, and afterwards to the frontiers of Picenum on the Adriatic sea. "In that province," said Belisarius, "the Goths have deposited their "families and treasures, without a guard or the suspicion of danger. "Doubtless they will violate the truce: let them feel your presence "before they hear of your motions. Spare the Italians; suffer not "any fortified places to remain hostile in your rear; and faithfully reserve the spoil for an equal and common partition. It would not "be reasonable," he added, with a laugh, " that, whilst we are toiling "to the destruction of the drones, our more fortunate brethren should "rifle and enjoy the honey." 66 raise the A.D. 538, The whole nation of the Ostrogoths had been assembled for the attack, and was almost entirely consumed in the siege of The Goths Rome. If any credit be due to an intelligent spectator, siege of one-third at least of their enormous host was destroyed in Rome, frequent and bloody combats under the walls of the city. March. The bad fame and pernicious qualities of the summer air might already be imputed to the decay of agriculture and population, and the evils of famine and pestilence were aggravated by their own licentiousness and the unfriendly disposition of the country. While Vitiges struggled with his fortune, while he hesitated between shame and ruin, his retreat was hastened by domestic alarms. The king of the Goths was informed by trembling messengers that John the Sanguinary spread the devastations of war from the Apennine to the Adriatic; that the rich spoils and innumerable captives of Picenum were lodged in the fortifications of Rimini; and that this formidable chief had defeated his uncle, insulted his capital, and seduced, by secret correspondence, the fidelity of his wife, the imperious daughter of Amalasontha. Yet, before he retired, Vitiges made a last effort either to storm or to surprise the city. A secret passage was discovered in one of the aqueducts; two citizens of the Vatican were tempted by bribes to intoxicate the guards of the Aurelian gate; an attack was meditated on the walls beyond the Tiber, in a place which was not fortified with towers; and the barbarians advanced, with torches and scaling-ladders, to the assault of the Pincian gate. But every attempt was defeated by the intrepid vigilance of Belisarius and his band of veterans, who, in the most perilous moments, did not 94 Anastasius (p. 40 [tom. iii. p. 130, ed. Murat.]) has preserved this epithet of Sanguinarius, which might do honour to a tiger. regret the absence of their companions; and the Goths, alike destitute of hope and subsistence, clamorously urged their departure before the truce should expire, and the Roman cavalry should again be united. One year and nine days after the commencement of the siege, an army so lately strong and triumphant burnt their tents, and tumultuously repassed the Milvian bridge. They repassed not with impunity; their thronging multitudes, oppressed in a narrow passage, were driven headlong into the Tiber by their own fears and the pursuit of the enemy, and the Roman general, sallying from the Pincian gate, inflicted a severe and disgraceful wound on their retreat. The slow length of a sickly and desponding host was heavily dragged along the Flaminian way, from whence the barbarians were sometimes compelled to deviate, lest they should encounter the hostile garrisons that guarded the high road to Rimini and Ravenna. Yet so powerful was this flying army, that Vitiges spared ten thousand men for the defence of the cities which he was most solicitous to preserve, and detached his nephew Uraias, with an adequate force, for the chastisement of rebellious Milan. At the head of his principal army he besieged Rimini, only thirty-three miles distant from the Gothic capital. A feeble rampart and a shallow ditch were maintained by the skill and valour of John the Sanguinary, who shared the danger and fatigue of the meanest soldier, and emulated, on a theatre less illustrious, the military virtues of his great commander. The towers and battering-engines of the barbarians were rendered useless, their attacks were repulsed, and the tedious blockade, which reduced the garrison to the last extremity of hunger, afforded time for the union and march of the Roman forces. A fleet, which had surprised Ancona, sailed along the coast of the Adriatic to the relief of the besieged city. The eunuch Narses landed in Picenum with two thousand Heruli and five thousand of the bravest troops of the East. The rock of the Apennine was forced, ten thousand veterans moved round the foot of the mountains, under the command of Belisarius himself, and a new army, whose encampment blazed with innumerable lights, appeared to advance along the Flaminian way. Overwhelmed with astonishment and despair, the Goths abandoned the siege of Rimini, their tents, their standards, and their leaders; and Vitiges, who gave or followed the example of flight, never halted till he found a shelter within the walls and morasses of Ravenna. Lose Rimini; retire to Ravenna. To these walls, and to some fortresses destitute of any mutual Jealousy of support, the Gothic monarchy was now reduced. The provinces of Italy had embraced the party of the emperor, and his army, gradually recruited to the number of twenty the Roman generals, A.D. 538. |