CHAP. "can resist the rapid violence of their shaft." Five XXXIV. hundred transports, navigated by twenty thousand

Departure of the fleet,

June.

mariners of Egypt, Cilicia, and Ionia, were collected in the harbour of Constantinople. The smallest of these vessels may be computed at thirty, the largest at five hundred tons; and the fair average will supply an allowance, liberal, but not profuse, of about one hundred thousand tons, for the reception of thirtyfive thousand soldiers and sailors, of five thousand horses, of arms, engines, and military stores, and of a sufficient stock of water and provisions for a voyage, perhaps, of three months. The proud galleys, which in former ages swept the Mediterranean with so many hundred oars, had long since disappeared; and the fleet of Justinian was escorted only by ninety-two light brigantines, covered from the missile weapons of the enemy, and rowed by two thousand of the brave and robust youth of Constantinople. Twenty-two generals are named, most of whom were afterwards distinguished in the wars of Africa and Italy: but the supreme command, both by land and sea, was delegated to Belisarius alone, with a boundless power of acting according to his discretion as if the emperor himself were present. The separation of the naval and military professions is at once the effect and the cause of the modern improvements in the science of navigation and maritime war.

In the seventh year of the reign of Justinian, and A.D. 533. about the time of the summer solstice, the whole fleet of six hundred ships was ranged in martial pomp before the gardens of the palace. The patriarch pronounced his benediction, the emperor signified his last commands, the general's trumpet gave the signal of departure, and every heart, according to its fears or wishes, explored with anxious curiosity the omens of misfortune and success. The first halt was made at Perinthus or Heraclea, where

XXXIV.

Belisarius waited five days to receive some Thracian CHAP. horses, a military gift of his sovereign. From thence the fleet pursued their course through the midst of the Propontis; but as they struggled to pass the straits of the Hellespont, an unfavourable wind detained them four days at Abydus, where the general exhibited a memorable lesson of firmness and severity. Two of the Huns, who in a drunken quarrel had slain one of their fellow-soldiers, were instantly shown to the army suspended on a lofty gibbet. The national indignity was resented by their countrymen, who disclaimed the servile laws of the empire, and asserted the free privilege of Scythia, where a small fine was allowed to expiate the hasty sallies of intemperance and anger. Their complaints were specious, their clamours were loud, and the Romans were not averse to the example of disorder and impunity. But the rising sedition was appeased by the authority and eloquence of the general: and he represented to the assembled troops the obligation of justice, the importance of discipline, the rewards of piety and virtue, and the unpardonable guilt of murder, which, in his apprehension, was aggravated rather than excused by the vice of intoxication. In the navigation from the Hellespont to Peloponnesus, which the Greeks, after the siege of Troy, had performed in four days, the fleet of Belisarius was guided in their course by his master-galley, conspicuous in the day by the redness of the sails, and in the night by the torches blazing from the masthead. It was the duty of the pilots, as they steered between the islands, and turned the capes of Malea and Tænarium, to preserve the just order and regular intervals of such a multitude of ships; as the wind was fair and moderate, their labours were not unsuccessful, and the troops were safely disembarked at Methone on the Messenian coast, to repose them

CHAP. selves for a while after the fatigues of the sea.

XXXIV.

In

this place they experienced how avarice, invested
with authority, may sport with the lives of thousands
which are bravely exposed for the public service.
According to military practice, the bread or biscuit
of the Romans was twice prepared in the oven, and
a diminution of one-fourth was cheerfully allowed
for the loss of weight. To gain this miserable profit,
and to save the expense of wood, the præfect John of
Cappadocia had given orders that the flour should be
slightly baked by the same fire which warmed the
baths of Constantinople: and when the sacks were
opened, a soft and mouldy paste was distributed to
the army. Such unwholesome food, assisted by the
heat of the climate and season, soon produced an
epidemical disease, which swept away five hundred
soldiers. Their health was restored by the diligence
of Belisarius, who provided fresh bread at Methone,
and boldly expressed his just and humane indig-
nation the emperor heard his complaint; the ge-
neral was praised; but the minister was not punished.
From the port of Methone, the pilots steered along
the western coast of Peloponnesus, as far as the isle
of Zacynthus or Zant, before they undertook the
voyage (in their eyes a most arduous voyage) of one
hundred leagues over the Ionian sea. As the fleet
was surprised by a calm, sixteen days were consumed
in the slow navigation; and even the general would
have suffered the intolerable hardship of thirst, if
the ingenuity of Antonina had not preserved the
water in glass bottles, which she buried deep in the
sand in a part of the ship impervious to the rays of
the sun.
At length the harbour of Caucana, on the
southern side of Sicily, afforded a secure and hos-
pitable shelter. The Gothic officers, who governed
the island in the name of the daughter and grandson
of Theodoric, obeyed their imprudent orders, to re-

XXXIV.

ceive the troops of Justinian like friends and allies; CHAP. provisions were liberally supplied, the cavalry was remounted, and Procopius soon returned from Syracuse with correct information of the state and designs of the Vandals. His intelligence determined Belisarius to hasten his operations, and his wise impatience was seconded by the winds. The fleet lost sight of Sicily, passed before the isle of Malta, discovered the capes of Africa, ran along the coast with a strong gale from the north-east, and finally cast anchor at the promontory of Caput Vada, about five days journey to the south of Carthage,

lands on

of Africa

If Gelimer had been informed of the approach of Belisarius the enemy, he must have delayed the conquest of the coast Sardinia, for the immediate defence of his person Sepand kingdom. A detachment of five thousand sol- tember. diers, and one hundred and twenty galleys, would have joined the remaining forces of the Vandals ; and the descendant of Genseric might have surprised and oppressed a fleet of deep-laden transports incapable of action, and of light brigantines that seemed only qualified for flight. Belisarius had secretly trembled when he overheard his soldiers, in the passage, emboldening each other to confess their apprehensions: if they were once on shore, they hoped to maintain the honour of their arms; but if they should be attacked at sea, they did not blush to acknowledge that they wanted courage to contend at the same time with the winds, the waves, and the Barbarians. The knowledge of their sentiments decided Belisarius to seize the first opportunity of landing them on the coast of Africa; and he prudently rejected, in a council of war, the proposal of sailing with the fleet and army into the port of Carthage. Three months after their departure from Constantinople, the men and horses, the arms and military stores, were safely disembarked, and five

CHAP. soldiers were left as a guard on board each of the XXXIV. ships, which were disposed in the form of a semi

circle. The remainder of the troops occupied a camp on the sea-shore, which they fortified, according to ancient discipline, with a ditch and rampart; and the discovery of a source of fresh water, while it allayed the thirst, excited the superstitious confidence of the Romans. The next morning, some of the neighbouring gardens were pillaged; and Belisarius, after chastising the offenders, embraced the slight occasion, but the decisive moment, of inculcating the maxims of justice, moderation, and genuine policy. "When I first accepted the com"mission of subduing Africa, I depended much less," "said the general, "on the numbers, or even the "bravery, of my troops, than upon the friendly dis"position of the natives, and their immortal hatred "to the Vandals. You alone can deprive me of this "hope: if you continue to extort by rapine what

might be purchased for a little money, such acts of "violence will reconcile these implacable enemies, "and unite them in a just and holy league against the "invaders of their country." These exhortations were enforced by a rigid discipline, of which the soldiers themselves soon felt and praised the salutary effects. The inhabitants, instead of deserting their houses, or hiding their corn, supplied the Romans with a fair and liberal market: the civil officers of the province continued to exercise their functions in the name of Justinian; and the clergy assiduously laboured to promote the cause of a Catholic emperor. The small town of Sullecte, one day's journey from the camp, had the honour of being foremost to open her gates, and to resume her ancient allegiance: the larger cities of Leptis and Adrumetum imitated the example of loyalty as soon as Belisarius appeared; and he advanced without opposition as far as Grasse,