Count Belisarius (59 page)

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now follows is an account of five years of the most thankless campaigning, surely, that any general of repute ever undertook. Disappointment wearies, not only in the experience but in the telling of it. I shall therefore be brief and write down only enough of this, Belisarius's last campaign in the West, to prove that his courage and resource and vigour remained unaffected by thirty years of almost continuous campaigning, and that he did all that could possibly have been expected of him, and more.

It will be remembered that the Gothic crown had passed to a young prince named Teudel who could command at first no more than a thousand lances and had only one fortified city of any strength in his possession – Pavia. But he was the first capable sovereign to rule over the Goths since the death of Theoderich. By the quarrelsomeness and inactivity of the eleven Imperial generals that opposed him, he was able to increase his forces to 5,000 men and organize them into a well-equipped army. In the same year that Belisarius quarrelled with my mistress at Daras, Bloody John, Bessas, and the rest had received instructions from Justinian to ‘crush the last remnants of the Goths'; but he was unwilling to entrust the supreme command to any one of them. They took the field with 12,000 men, including the garrison of Sisauranum that Belisarius had captured and that had just arrived from the East. Chiefly because of their disagreement as to the equitable distribution of the booty that they expected to take, they were ingloriously defeated by Teudel, at Faenza: many thousands of their men were killed or captured and – unique disgrace – every single regimental standard was abandoned, though every single general escaped. Only the Persian squadron fought with courage, and for this reason lost more heavily than any other. Then each of the eleven generals led what remained of his own command into the shelter of a different fortress, so that the whole of Italy now lay open to Teudel's army.

Bloody John took the field again with reinforcements from Ravenna. Though still outnumbered, Teudel scattered Bloody John's army at a battle near Florence, and not only caused him heavy losses
in killed and wounded but persuaded a great many of his men to desert to the Gothic army. Alexander (‘The Scissors') had reduced the armies in Italy to a most despondent condition by stealing their pay and rations. No soldiers will fight for long without pay or proper food, except in the defence of their own homes and under a courageous leader. Besides, if there is discord among the officers, as here, the ranks soon come to know of it, and confidence is destroyed. Those who deserted to Teudel were putting themselves under the protection of a king who was a man of his word – a bold, active, generous leader who did not share his command with rivals.

In the next spring, the same spring in which Belisarius was sent against King Khosrou in Syria, Teudel, leaving the Imperial generals to skulk in their fortresses of the North-East of Italy, marched down to the almost unprotected South. He overran it with ease, capturing the fortresses of Benevento, where he destroyed the fortifications, and Cumae, where he found great quantities of treasure, and soon he was besieging Naples.

From Ravenna Bloody John, in the name of all the generals, wrote to Justinian for reinforcements. With unexpected promptness, Justinian sent a senator, Maximinus, with a huge fleet and all the troops that could be gathered together from the training depots and garrison towns of the East. Maximinus was given authority as Commander of the Armies in Italy. He was a coward, and totally without experience of war. A great deal of his time was spent in prayer and fasting. Justinian hated to entrust large armies to experienced generals, lest they should prove rebellious. He seemed to be under the impression that victories are won on one's knees, not in the saddle.

The expedition ended disastrously, as might have been expected. First, Maximinus delayed for months in Greece, sending one of his generals ahead with a number of supply ships but inadequate forces to the relief of Naples. Teudel's cavalry surprised this small fleet as the crews disembarked carelessly at Salerno, to take in water and stretch their legs, and captured nearly the whole of it. Then Maximinus himself sailed to Syracuse in Sicily, from where he now sent the rest of his army in the rest of his ships, to the further relief of Naples. This was already November, too late in the year for safe voyages. A violent north-westerly wind overtook the expedition when close to Naples, driving the ships ashore – and where else but on the very beach where King Teudel was encamped with his Goths? Of the soldiers who
managed to escape from the fury of the waves many hundreds were hurled back into the sea by the pitiless Goths, who did not wish to be encumbered with prisoners. The Roman general in command of the expedition was, however, spared. They made him go with a halter around his neck to advise the Neapolitans to capitulate, since they could expect no succour now and were hard-pressed by famine. Teudel undertook to spare their lives.

Thereupon Naples surrendered. When Teudel saw how utterly emaciated the citizens were, he acted with a humanity and understanding remarkable in a barbarian. He made it his care that they should not fill their empty bellies suddenly and so destroy themselves – building up their strength with a gradual increase of rations. He took no vengeance on them, either, even allowing the garrison to march out with the honours of war and providing them with pack animals to take them to Rome. Moreover, as an example to his own men and an encouragement to the native population, he executed a Gothic soldier for the rape of an Italian girl and awarded her as a dowry all the soldier's possessions. But he razed the fortifications of Naples to the ground so that, though recaptured, the city could never again be used against the Goths as a base of operations.

King Teudel would have next marched on to the capture of Rome, where Bloody John was commanding the garrison; for the citizens were well-disposed to the Gothic cause and prepared to welcome him. But the plague had now reached Italy, and the streets of Rome were full of unburied corpses. Teudel hurried away from the infection. Part of his army he sent to besiege Otranto, while with the remainder he besieged Osimo and Tivoli. Tivoli fell to him by an act of treachery; and the communications between Rome and Tuscany, on which the citizens of Rome relied for provisions, were thereby cut. The Imperial Forces degenerated more and more as Teudel's force improved. Their pay, which depended on the Italian revenues, could no longer be found, because the Goths now held nearly the whole of the countryside; and their fighting capacities depended largely on their pay.

Such was the state of affairs in Italy when Belisarius brought us there from Constantinople. He had first made a recruiting march through Thrace with his 400 cuirassiers. This was the first time for a great many years that he had visited Tchermen, his birthplace, or Adrianople, where he had begun his military career. He received a
great welcome from his fellow-countrymen. At every town to which he came a civic reception was waiting for him: the march became almost a royal progress. The 400 men, all Thracians and heroes of the Gothic, Vandal, and Persian campaigns, were so fine and martial-looking in their mail-shirts and white-plumed helmets, sat their chestnut horses so well, and spoke with such admiration and love of Belisarius that no less than 4,000 recruits enlisted under his standard – of whom 1,500 were from Adrianople alone. They called him ‘Lucky Belisarius' in Thrace, because not only had he himself never been wounded, but of his Household Regiment that had fought in so many glorious battles very few men had fallen – at least while serving under his direct command – and very many had made their fortunes. He had hoped to procure arms and armour here for his recruits, there being a supply of such things at the Imperial arms factory at Adrianople; but they were refused him, even for ready gold. The Bulgarian Huns had also made a clean sweep of the horses of Thrace in their recent raid, except for the Imperial herds, which had been got away in time behind the walls of Salonica; so that he was also unable to mount his recruits. No arms, armour, horses – and to forge a raw recruit into an efficient cuirassier, even if he is already accustomed to horses, is a work of two years or more.

From Thrace we sailed around the coast of Greece to Spalato, where we revictualled; there arms, but not armour, were found for the recruits. From Spalato Belisarius sent to the relief of Otranto that Valentine who had commanded the Roman militia in the Plain of Nero during the defence of Rome: with 2,000 men, untrained for the most part, and a year's supply of corn. Valentine accomplished the relief of Otranto just in time: the garrison had decided to capitulate to the Goths four days later, on account of famine. Belisarius could not attempt a landing in the neighbourhood of Rome, for the enemy, with the captured warships, controlled the whole western coast. He brought us to Ravenna by way of Pola.

At Ravenna he exhorted the resident Goths to persuade those of their kinsmen who were fighting with King Teudel to resume their allegiance to the Emperor. But not even the name of Belisarius could draw away a single man. He sent up into Aemilia, to secure that district at least, a hundred of the trained men of his Household and 200 of the most promising recruits, for whom he had found horses and armour in Ravenna; and 2,000 Illyrian infantry. Bologna, the capital,
surrendered but provisions were scanty. Besides, the Illyrians had received no pay for eighteen months and were disgusted that during their absence in Italy the Bulgarian Huns had been allowed to raid Illyria and carry their wives and children into captivity. They suddenly announced that they were going home; which they did, leaving the 400 men of the Household to their own devices. (Justinian was angry with these Illyrians at first, but afterwards forgave them.) So all Aemilia was yielded to the enemy except the fortress of Piacenza. The only lucky circumstance of the expedition was that the men of the Household, commanded by Thurimuth, a Thracian, contrived to cut their way through to Ravenna and to bring back 200 horses and 300 suits of armour belonging to Goths whom they had killed in ambuscades.

Belisarius then sent Thurimuth to Osimo, which King Teudel was besieging, with a thousand men, all that he could spare. Thurimuth managed to slip through the Gothic lines into the city, without loss; but he soon realized, after making a bold sortie, that his thousand men were no match for the 30,000 to which the Gothic Army had now swelled by desertions from the Imperial Army. Nor could he rely on the remainder of the garrison for any military assistance. He consulted with the commander, who agreed with him that the continued presence of the relieving force would be a hindrance rather than a help, meaning merely more mouths to feed; so he removed by night. The Goths were warned of his plans by a deserter, and ambushed him four miles outside the city. He lost 200 men and all his pack animals; with the rest he escaped clear away to Rimini.

Teudel had destroyed the ramparts of all the cities that had yielded to him. Belisarius, who needed a more convenient base than Ravenna, determined to refortify Pesaro, an Umbrian port between Rimini and Osimo, where there was good grazing for horses in the river valley. The walls of Pesaro had been torn down to half their height, and the gates removed; but with his usual resource he sent agents to measure the gateways, and at Ravenna new oaken gates were made, bound with wrought iron, of the required height and breadth. Thurimuth took these in boats to Pesaro, and fitted them in place; and set the townspeople hastily to work at rebuilding the walls. He had 3,000 men with him, nearly all Thracian recruits. By the time that Teudel had arrived with his army from before Osimo, the walls were high enough to defend. Belisarius had been busily training these recruits in
archery, so that they gave a good account of themselves. Teudel withdrew, baffled.

Belisarius wrote to Justinian in the following terms:

Most Mighty Emperor,

I have arrived in Italy without horses or armour – for these were unobtainable in Thrace – and with no money but what I have in my private purse for the payment of my recently-raised Thracian recruits. These are few, untrained as yet, ill-armed, and without horses. Your Majesty's regular troops and militia, which we found here, are no match either in number or courage for the enemy. King Teudel holds the whole of Italy – except for a few cities, which with the forces at my disposal I am unable to relieve – and in consequence the Imperial revenues cannot be collected. The fact is that even the troops at Ravenna are owed such long arrears of pay by Your Majesty that I am quite unable to persuade them to fight. More than one-half of them have already deserted to the enemy.

If my mere presence in Italy were sufficient to bring the war to a victorious conclusion, all would be well: for I have advertised my arrival by every means at my disposal. But let Your Majesty consider that a general without troops is like a head shorn at the neck. I respectfully suggest that the men of my Household Regiment, whom you have sent to the Persian frontier, be recalled and dispatched to me here at once; and with them a large force of Herulian or other Huns, if Your Majesty will be at the expense of engaging their services with a substantial sum of money. If my request cannot be granted, little or nothing can be accomplished by Your Majesty's most loyal and obedient servant

Belisarius, Count of the Royal Stables,

At present commanding the Imperial Armies in Italy.

Bloody John, handing over his command at Rome to Bessas, undertook to deliver this letter to Justinian at Constantinople and to urge him to remedy the desperate condition in which we found ourselves. John set out at the close of this year, the year of our Lord 545. Belisarius meanwhile remained at Ravenna, training his recruits, using the few horses at his disposal in rotation for their cavalry exercises. The men learned handiness with their bows, lances, darts, swords, either on foot or mounted – he made them ride wooden horses, like children.