Belisarius: The Last Roman General (41 page)

The forces that had been sent ahead had by now taken a large amount of booty. Afraid that when they returned the Byzantines would take all of the spoil for themselves, Arethas ordered some of his men to ride out of the camp, and then ride back declaring that a large force of Persians was approaching. They followed their orders and in the ensuing panic Arethas counselled that John and Trajan should take their share of the plunder and return directly to Byzantine territory, as in this way they would manage to retain their share of the spoil. He would go directly to his own kingdom. In this way, they should be able to avoid the Persians. John and Trajan agreed, and, without informing Belisarius, departed for home.

Troubled by the lack of news, and due to many of his troops catching a fever – with up to one third being ill – Belisarius needed to decide quickly upon his next move. When Theoctistus and Rhecithancus declared that the sixty days were now almost gone and that they needed to return home to garrison their cities, Belisarius convened a council. At the council all agreed that they should return to Byzantine territory. Sending the ill ahead and using the rest as a rearguard, Belisarius safely led his troops out of Persia. Fortunately for Arethas, he never met Belisarius again. Upon his return, Belisarius was reunited with Antonina, a reunion that was to have dramatic consequences, as we will see in due course.

As he was campaigning in Lazica, Khusrow learned of Belisarius’ invasion. He also learnt that the Huns that had invaded Armenia had been defeated by Valerian, the Byzantine commander in the area (Proc,
Anekdota,
2.30). Leaving a garrison in Petra, Khusrow returned to Persia. It was now late in the year and any reprisals against the Byzantines would have to wait for the following spring.

Antonina and Belisarius

The reunion of Belisarius and Antonina was, according to Procopius’ account in the
Anekdota,
a bitter one. As was seen earlier, Antonina and Theodosius had continued their affair in Constantinople. Before Belisarius had departed for the war, Theodosius began to feel guilty and became uncomfortable with Antonina’s ever-more-outrageous displays of affection. Theodosius againfledto Ephesus, where he became a monk. Antonina managed to persuade Belisarius to request his return, but to no avail. However, when Belisarius left for the war, accompanied by Photius, Theodosius returned and the affair resumed.

At the same time, Antonina took part in ensnaring John the Cappadocian at the request of Theodora. Antonina befriended John’s daughter Euphemia and, completely winning her friendship, persuaded her that both herself and Belisarius would join in an attempt to overthrow Justinian. Euphemia told John, who joined the plot, only to have Antonina betray him to Theodora. Narses the eunuch and Marcellus, the captain of the palace guards, arrested him and his property was confiscated, although a small portion was later returned to him by Justinian (Proc, l.xxv.13–36). Having increased her value in the eyes of the empress, Antonina travelled to the east to join Belisarius.

Her reunion would not be as she expected. Photius had learned that Theodosius was staying with his mother and had reported the matter to Belisarius. Belisarius ordered him to travel to Ephesus and kill Theodosius, secure in the knowledge that when Antonina travelled to the east Theodosius would return there. The account given in
Wars
now differs somewhat from that given in
Anekdota.
In
Wars,
Belisarius was troubled by the lack of news from his advanced army and by the fact that many of his troops had caught a fever, and so had convened a council at which it was agreed that the army should return to Byzantine territory (Proc, II.xix.29-46).
In Anekdota,
Belisarius was influenced by the news of Antonina’s impending arrival and so hastened the withdrawal of the troops from Sisauranon. He was consequently accused by the Byzantines of putting his personal affairs before the needs of the state, having always stayed within a short distance of the frontier in order to be ready to return upon Antonina’s arrival. Procopius even goes on to say that Belisarius could have taken the Persian capital of Ctesiphon and released the Byzantine citizens held there as slaves, since the Persian army was in Lazica, and there was little in the way of defences to stop him (
Anekdota,
2.18-26).

Although it is possible that Belisarius could have advanced further than he did, given that he was unaware of the exact position of the main Persian army and lacked the time to lay siege to fortresses such as Sisauranon, the suggestion that he should have taken Ctesiphon is a little absurd. Even if he had taken the capital, his return journey with the ex-slaves would have been slow and easy for the Persians to attack. Belisarius was always careful of his men’s lives and it is extremely unlikely that he would ever have countenanced such an invasion without detailed information on the Persian deployments. This part of the story should be seen as an attempt to ridicule the man who Procopius once thought capable of achieving much more, and is evidence of Procopius’ slow change of attitude towards Belisarius: he was no longer the conquering hero of Africa

Upon her arrival, Antonina was placed under arrest and treated poorly, but Procopius states that Belisarius did not kill her due to the affection that he felt for her (
Anekdota,
3.2–3). This may be true, but it is just as likely that, hearing of her service to the empress, he also believed that he would be punished if anything happened to his wife.

At this point the couple were recalled to Constantinople by the empress, as she had heard of events in the east. Photius also arrived in Constantinople, having captured Theodosius, taken all of the money he had with him, and sent him under guard to Cilicia, where Belisarius’
bucellarii
had been sent to spend the winter.

In consideration of her service against John the Cappadocian, Theodora now forced Antonina and Belisarius to be reconciled, at the same time arresting those who had travelled to Ephesus to arrest Theodosius. These men were tortured, including Photius, to reveal Theodosius’ whereabouts. Finally, she discovered where he was and had him brought to the palace. Shortly afterwards he was revealed to Antonina and their affair would in all likelihood have continued, had he not shortly afterwards contracted dysentery and died.

Photius, after several attempts, escaped from prison and travelled to Jerusalem, where he spent the rest of his life as a monk. Procopius attacks Belisarius for his refusal to help Photius during his time of imprisonment and after, yet, as it was the empress that was holding him, it is unclear what Belisarius could have done in the matter (Anekdota, 3.29-31).

The series of events had lasted throughout the winter, reaching their conclusion as the campaigning season for 542 approached.

The Third Year: 542

In the spring of 542, Khusrow again led an invasion into Byzantine territory. Following the same route as he had in 540, keeping the Euphrates on his right hand side, he marched until he reached Sergiopolis. The priest of Sergiopolis, Candidus, had earlier promised to pay a ransom for the release of the captives taken during the sack of Susa. He had never paid. Whether under pressure from the citizens who were hoping to avoid an attack, or hoping to avert any punishment by facing the king in person, Candidus went to see Khusrow and pleaded for clemency. Khusrow had him tortured and then demanded double the original amount, as had been agreed earlier. Candidus authorised a payment by giving Khusrow treasures from the sanctuary in the city. Khusrow sent men to the city and took the treasures: it was not enough.

Khusrow now decided to capture the city by ostensibly sending men back to the sanctuary for more but giving them orders to capture the gate and allow the army to enter. However, a Christian in the army of Al-Mundhir by the name of Ambrus crept near to the fortifications and warned the citizens of the plan. When Khusrow’s men approached the city they were refused entry. Khusrow immediately laid siege to the city. Some 6,000 men were committed to an assault, but they were repulsed after heavy fighting. Yet the citizens now fell into despair and would have surrendered if Ambrus had not informed them that the Persians’ water supply was running low and that they only had enough left to last for two days. Taking heart, the defenders held out until, as predicted, the Persian army lifted the siege two days later and moved in search of water. Candidus was never released from captivity.

Khusrow, possibly after taking advice from his officers and spies, now led the army through the province of Euphratensis (Commagene), heading towards Syria and especially Jerusalem. He had learned that the territory was poorly defended, as it did not expect an invasion, and rich, as it had not been pillaged for a long time.

Learning of the invasion, Justinian had sent Belisarius back to the east. Belisarius arrived in Euphratensis at roughly the same time as Khusrow. Justus, Justinian’s nephew, and Buzes, along with other commanders, had retreated to Hieropolis upon learning of the Persian invasion. They now sent letters to Belisarius requesting that he join them. Belisarius declined the invitation, instead going to Europum and establishing his headquarters there. He quickly gathered an army before recalling Justus, Buzes and the others to him. Leaving Justus with a few men to act as a garrison, the rest of the commanders and troops marched to Europum and joined Belisarius.

When he learned of Belisarius whereabouts, Khusrow dropped his plans to invade and sent Abandanes to Belisarius to acquire information and also put forward a complaint that Justinian had not sent the ambassadors that Khusrow expected. Belisarius’ scouts reported the approach of Abandanes, so Belisarius selected 6,000 men of fine build and stature and led them on a hunt far from the camp. He also ordered his guardsman, Diogenes, and Adiolus son of Acacius to take 1,000 cavalry across the river and so block the route of the Persian army back into Persia.

As Abandanes approached, Belisarius had a pavilion erected and then set the ‘huntsmen’ on either side, first the Thracians and Illyrians, then the Goths, Heruls and finally the Vandals and Moors. As on the previous day, they were all equipped for hunting not for war. When Abandanes entered the pavilion he immediately complained about the lack of ambassadors from Justinian. These, he said, could have sorted out the difficulties and helped prevent a war. He was dismissed by Belisarius, being informed that ambassadors would not be sent whilst the Persians were on Byzantine territory.

Returning to Khusrow, Abandanes informed the king that Belisarius was a great general, and commanded troops such as he had never seen. He then added that if Khusrow beat and killed Belisarius, he would only have defeated a servant of Justinian; if Belisarius beat Khusrow, the defeat would bring disgrace upon the Persians and damage the whole kingdom. Furthermore, as they were in Byzantine territory, a defeated Byzantine army could retire to its strongpoints and reform; a Persian defeat would see them being pursued in a hostile land with a long distance to travel before they could find sanctuary. Finally, he reported that the Byzantines had a force on the far side of the river. Unfortunately, there were only two routes the Persians could use to return to Persia. They had already travelled upon one route and used up all of the provisions it could supply. The Byzantine cavalry that had crossed the river was blocking the Persian retreat in the other direction. That route also could not be used.

Taken these matters into consideration, Khusrow decided that his only means of escape was to fight a battle and force a river crossing. Yet Belisarius did not want to fight a battle, he simply wanted the Persians out of Byzantine territory. The Persians were allowed to reach the river, where they quickly erected a bridge and crossed over. Once across, Khusrow sent messages saying that he had kept his part of the agreement and now wanted ambassadors to be sent. Belisarius crossed the river after him and kept pressure on Khusrow, who continued his journey out of Byzantine territory. He asked the king to maintain wisdom and treat the Byzantines he encountered on his return journey as friends. Khusrow agreed, providing that a hostage was provided for Byzantine good conduct and the sending of ambassadors.

With his task completed, Belisarius travelled to Edessa and sent a noble of the city to be Khusrow’s hostage. However, on his return journey, no longer pressured by the Byzantine army and with no hostage to force the Byzantines to keep to the agreement, Khusrow attacked and sacked Callinicum. As he was there the hostage arrived and, satisfied with the year’s events, Khusrow finally left Byzantine territory.