Rome again

rather the justice, of the veteran general, who might speedily assemble an army in Thrace to punish the assassins, and perhaps to enjoy the fruits of their crime. Delay afforded time for rash communications and honest confessions: Artaban and his accomplices were condemned by the senate, but the extreme clemency of Justinian detained them in the gentle confinement of the palace, till he pardoned their flagitious attempt against his throne and life. If the emperor forgave his enemies, he must cordially embrace a friend whose victories were alone remembered, and who was endeared to his prince by the recent circumstance of their common danger. Belisarius reposed from his toils, in the high station of general of the East and count of the domestics; and the older consuls and patricians respectfully yielded the precedency of rank to the peerless merit of the first of the Romans (20). The first of the Romans still submitted to be the slave of his wife; but the servitude of habit and affection became less disgraceful when the death of Theodora had removed the baser influence of fear. Joannina their daughter, and the sole heiress of their fortunes, was betrothed to Anastasius the grandson, or rather the nephew of the empress (21), whose kind interposition forwarded the consummation of their youthful loves. But the power of Theodora expired, the parents of Joannina returned, and her honour, perhaps her happiness, were sacrificed to the revenge of an unfeeling mother, who dissolved the imperfect nuptials before they had been ratified by the ceremonies of the church (22).

Before the departure of Belisarius, Perusia was besieged, and few taken by the cities were impregnable to the Gothic arms. Ravenna, Ancona, A. D. 549. and Crotona, still resisted the Barbarians; and when Totila asked

in marriage one of the daughters of France, he was stung by the just reproach that the king of Italy was unworthy of his title till it was acknowledged by the Roman people. Three thousand of the bravest soldiers had been left to defend the capital. On the suspicion of a monopoly, they massacred the governor, and announced to Justinian, by a deputation of the clergy, that unless their offence

(20) The honours of Belisarius are gladly commemorated by his secretary (Procop. Goth. 1. iii. c. 35. I. iv. c. 21.). The title of Erpányos is ill translated, at least in this instance, by præfectus prætorio; and to a military character, magister militum is more proper and applicable (Ducange, Gloss. Græc. p. 1458, 1459.).

(21) Alemannus (ad Hist. Arcanam, p. 68.), Ducange (Familia Byzant. p. 98.), Heineccius (Hist.. Juris Civilis, p. 434.), all three represent Anastasius as the son of the daughter of Theodora; and their opinion firmly reposes on the unambiguous testimony of Procopius (Anecdot. c. 4, 5.Juyapid twice repeated). And yet I will remark, 1. That in the year 547, Theodora could scarcely have a grandson of the age of puberty; 2. That we are totally ignorant of this daughter and her husband; and, 3. That Theodora concealed her bastards, and that her grandson by Justi nian would have been heir-apparent of the empire.

(22) The άuaρthμata, or sins, of the hero in Italy and after his return, are manifested άπαρаxαλúπτws, and most probably swelled, by the author of the Anecdotes (c. 4, 5.). The designs of Antonina were favoured by the fluctuating jurisprudence of Justinian. On the law of marriage and divorce, that emperor was trocho versatilior (Heineccius, Element. Juris Civilis ad Ordinem Pandect. P. iv. No. 233.).

was pardoned, and their arrears were satisfied, they should instantly accept the tempting offers of Totila. But the officer who succeeded to the command (his name was Diogenes) deserved their esteem and confidence; and the Goths, instead of finding an easy conquest, encountered a vigorous resistance from the soldiers and people, who patiently endured the loss of the port and of all maritime supplies. The siege of Rome would perhaps have been raised, if the liberality of Totila to the Isaurians had not encouraged some of their venal countrymen to copy the example of treason. In a dark night, while the Gothic trumpets sounded on another side, they silently opened the gate of St. Paul: the Barbarians rushed into the city; and the flying garrison was intercepted before they could reach the harbour of Centumcellæ. A soldier trained in the school of Belisarius, Paul of Cilicia, retired with four hundred men to the mole of Hadrian. They repelled the Goths; but they felt the approach of famine; and their aversion to the taste of horse-flesh confirmed their resolution to risk the event of a desperate and decisive sally. But their spirit insensibly stooped to the offers of capitulation: they retrieved their arrears of pay, and preserved their arms and horses, by enlisting in the service of Totila; their chiefs, who pleaded a laudable attachment to their wives and children in the East, were dismissed with honour; and above four hundred enemies, who had taken refuge in the sanctuaries, were saved by the clemency of the victor. He no longer entertained a wish of destroying the edifices of Rome (23), which he now respected as the seat of the Gothic kingdom: the senate and people were restored to their country; the means of subsistence were liberally provided; and Totila, in the robe of peace, exibited the equestrian games of the circus. Whilst he amused the eyes of the multitude, four hundred vessels were prepared for the embarkation of his troops. The cities of Rhegium and Tarentum were reduced; he passed into Sicily, the object of his implacable resentment; and the island was stripped of its gold and silver, of the fruits of the earth, and of an infinite number of horses, sheep, and oxen. Sardinia and Corsica obeyed the fortune of Italy; and the sea-coast of Greece was visited by a fleet of three hundred galleys (24). The Goths were landed in Corcyra and the ancient continent of Epirus; they advanced as far as Nicopolis, the trophy of Augustus, and Dodona (25), once famous

(23) The Romans were still attached to the monuments of their ancestors; and according to Procopius (Goth. 1. iv. c. 22.), the galley of Eneas, of a single rank of oars, 25 feet in breadth, 120 in length, was preserved entire in the navalia, near Monte Testaceo, at the foot of the Aventine (Nardini, Roma Antica, 1. vii. c. 9. p. 466. Donatus, Roma Antiqua, l. iv. c. 13. p. 334.). But all antiquity is ignorant of this relic.

(24) In these seas, Procopius searched without success for the isle of Calypso. He was shown, at Phæacia or Corcyra, the petrified ship of Ulysses (Odyss. xiii. 163.); but he found it a recent fabric of many stones, dedicated by a merchant to Jupiter Cassius (1. iv. c. 22.). Eustathius had supposed it to be the fanciful likeness of a rock.

(25) M. D'Anville (Mémoires de l'Acad. tom. xxxii. p. 513-528.) illustrates the gulf of Ambracia;

Preparations of Justinian

by the oracle of Jove. In every step of his victories, the wise Barbarian repeated to Justinian his desire of peace, applauded the concord of their predecessors, and offered to employ the Gothic arms in the service of the empire.

Justinian was deaf to the voice of peace; but he neglected the for the Gothic prosecution of war; and the indolence of his temper disappointed, war, in some degree, the obstinacy of his passions. From this salutary 549-551. slumber the emperor was awakened by the pope Vigilius and the

A. D.

patrician Cethegus, who appeared before his throne, and adjured him, in the name of God and the people, to resume the conquest and deliverance of Italy. In the choice of the generals, caprice, as well as judgment, was shown. A fleet and army sailed for the relief of Sicily, under the conduct of Liberius; but his youth and want of experience were afterwards discovered, and before he touched the shores of the island he was overtaken by his successor. In the place of Liberius the conspirator Artaban was raised from a prison to military honours; in the pious presumption, that gratitude would animate his valour and fortify his allegiance. Belisarius reposed in the shade of his laurels, but the command of the principal army was reserved for Germanus (26), the emperor's nephew, whose rank and merit had been long depressed by the jealousy of the court. Theodora had injured him in the rights of a private citizen, the marriage of his children, and the testament of his brother; and although his conduct was pure and blameless, Justinian was displeased that he should be thought worthy of the confidence of the malecontents. The life of Germanus was a lesson of implicit obedience: he nobly refused to prostitute his name and character in the factions of the circus: the gravity of his manners was tempered by innocent cheerfulness; and his riches were lent without interest to indigent or deserving friends. His valour had formerly triumphed over the Sclavonians of the Danube and the rebels of Africa: the first report of his promotion revived the hopes of the Italians; and he was privately assured, that a crowd of Romant deserters would abandon, on his approach, the standard of Totila.

but he cannot ascertain the situation of Dodona. A country in sight of Italy is less known than the wilds of America.*

(26) See the acts of Germanus in the public (Vandal. 1. ii. c. 16, 17, 18. Goth. 1. iii. c. 31, 32.) and private history (Anecdot. c. 5.) and those of his son Justin, in Agathias (1. iv. p. 130, 131.). Notwithstanding an ambiguous expression of Jornandes, fratri suo, Alemannus has proved that he was the son of the emperor's brother.

*On the site of Dodona compare Walpole's Travels in the East, vol. ii. p. 473.; Col. Leake's Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 168.; and a dissertation by the present bishop of Lichfield (Dr. Butler) in the appendix to Hughes's Travels, vol. i. p. 511.-M.

This is a singular mistake. Procopius calls him ἐσχατογέρως. Gibbon must have hastily

caught at his inexperience, and concluded that it must have been from youth. Lord Mahon has pointed out this error. P. 401. I should add that in the last 4to edition, corrected by Gibbon, it stands "want of youth and experience;"--but Gibbon can scarcely have intended such a phrase. -M.

His second marriage with Malasontha, the grand-daughter of Theodoric, endeared Germanus to the Goths themselves; and they marched with reluctance against the father of a royal infant, the last offspring of the line of Amali (27). A splendid allowance was assigned by the emperor: the general contributed his private fortune; his two sons were popular and active; and he surpassed, in the promptitude and success of his levies, the expectation of mankind. He was permitted to select some squadrons of Thracian cavalry the veterans, as well as the youth of Constantinople and Europe, engaged their voluntary service; and as far as the heart of Germany, his fame and liberality attracted the aid of the Barbari

ans.'

The Romans advanced to Sardica; an army of Sclavonians fled before their march; but within two days of their final departure, the designs of Germanus were terminated by his malady and death. Yet the impulse which he had given to the Italian war still continued to act with energy and effect. The maritime towns, Ancona, Crotona, Centumcellæ, resisted the assaults of Totila. Sicily was reduced by the zeal of Artaban, and the Gothic navy was defeated near the coast of the Hadriatic. The two fleets were almost equal, forty-seven to fifty galleys: the victory was decided by the knowledge and dexterity of the Greeks; but the ships were so closely grappled, that only twelve of the Goths escaped from this unfortunate conflict. They affected to depreciate an element in which they were unskilled; but their own experience confirmed the truth of a maxim, that the master of the sea will always acquire the dominion of the land (28).

After the loss of Germanus, the nations were provoked to smile, by the strange intelligence, that the command of the Roman armies was given to an eunuch. But the eunuch Narses (29) is ranked among the few who have rescued that unhappy name from the contempt and hatred of mankind. A feeble diminutive body concealed the soul of a statesman and a warrior. His youth had been employed in the management of the loom and distaff, in the cares of the household, and the service of female luxury; but while his hands were busy, he secretly exercised the faculties of a vigorous and discerning mind. A stranger to the schools and the camp, he studied in the palace to dissemble, to flatter, and to persuade; and as soon as he approached the person of the emperor, Justinian lis

(27) Conjuncta Aniciorum gens cum Amala stirpe spem adhuc utriusque generis promittit (Jornandes, c. 60. p. 703.). He wrote at Ravenna before the death of Totila.

(28) The third book of Procopius is terminated by the death of Germanus (Add. 1. iv. c. 23, 24, 25, 26.).

(29) Procopius relates the whole series of this second Gothic war and the victory of Narses (1. iv. c. 21. 26-35). A splendid scene! Among the six subjects of epic poetry which Tasso revolved in his mind, he hesitated between the conquests of Italy by Belisarius and by Narses (Hayley's Works, vol. iv. p. 70.)

* See note (31), p. 210.-M.

Character

and expedition of

the eunuch

Narses,

a. D. 552.

tened with surprise and pleasure to the manly counsels of his chamberlain and private treasurer (30). The talents of Narses were tried and improved in frequent embassies: he led an army into Italy, acquired a practical knowledge of the war and the country, and presumed to strive with the genius of Belisarius. Twelve years after his return, the eunuch was chosen to achieve the conquest which had been left imperfect by the first of the Roman generals. Instead of being dazzled by vanity or emulation, he seriously declared that, unless he were armed with an adequate force, he would never consent to risk his own glory and that of his sovereign. Justinian granted to the favourite what he might have denied to the hero: the Gothic war was rekindled from its ashes, and the preparations were not unworthy of the ancient majesty of the empire. The key of the public treasure was put into his hand, to collect magazines, to levy soldiers, to purchase arms and horses, to discharge the arrears of pay, and to tempt the fidelity of the fugitives and deserters. The troops of Germanus were still in arms; they halted at Salona in the expectation of a new leader; and legions of subjects and allies were created by the well-known liberality of the eunuch Narses. The king of the Lombards (31) satisfied or surpassed the obligations of a treaty, by lending two thousand two hundred of his bravest warriors, who were followed by three thousand of their martial attendants. Three thousand Heruli fought on horseback under Philemuth, their native chief; and the noble Aratus, who adopted the manners and discipline of Rome, conducted a band of veterans of the same nation. Dagistheus was released from prison to command the Huns; and Kobad, the grandson and nephew of the great king, was conspicuous by the regal tiara at the head of his faithful Persians, who had devoted themselves to the fortunes of their prince (32). Absolute in the exercise of his au

(30) The country of Narses is unknown, since he must not be confounded with the Persarmenian.* Procopius styles him (Goth. 1. ii. c. 13.) Baothixov xpnuátov cauías; Paul Warnefrid (l. ii. c. 3. p. 776.), Chartularius: Marcellinus adds the name of Cubicularius. In an inscription on the Salarian bridge he is entitled Ex-consul, Ex-præpositus, Cubiculi Patricius (Mascou, Hist. of the Germans, 1. xiii. c. 25.). The law of Theodosius against eunuchs was obsolete or abolished (Annotation xx.), but the foolish prophecy of the Romans subsisted in full vigour (Procop. 1. iv. c. 21.).

(31) Paul Warnefrid, the Lombard, records with complacency the succour, service, and honourable dismission of his countrymen-reipublicæ Romanæ adversus æmulos adjutores fuerant (1. ii. c. i. p. 774. edit. Grot.). I am surprised that Alboin, their martial king, did not lead his subjects in person.†

(32) He was, if not an impostor, the son of the blind Zames, saved by compassion, and educated

* Lord Mahon supposes them both to have been Persarmenians. Note, p. 256.-M.

The Lombards were still at war with the Gepide. See Procop. Goth. lib. iv. p. 25.-M.

Gibbon has blindly followed the translation of Maltretus: Bis mille ducentos-while the original Greek says expressly πevτaxoσious Te xa Stations (Goth. lib. iv. c. 26). In like manner

(page 383.) he draws volunteers from Germany, on the authority of Cousin, who, in one place, has mistaken Germanus for Germania. Yet only a few pages further we find Gibbon loudly condemning the French and Latin readers of Procopius. Lord Mahon, p. 403. The first of these errors remains uncorrected in the new edition of the Byzantines. — M.