Belisarius: The Last Roman General (46 page)

Hearing of the loss of Bruttium and Lucania, Totila dispatched a force of 300 Goths to shadow John, but not to engage in combat. Wary of falling into a trap, John stopped his attempts to rejoin Belisarius as ordered, instead retiring to Bruttium. Totila had sent Rhecimundus with a force of Goths, plus Byzantine and Moorish deserters, to guard Rhegium and the Bruttian coast. The army was taken unawares by John, who destroyed the majority of the force – since they were deserters from the Byzantine army – and captured Rhecimundus and some of the Goths. Despite the victory, John still refused to combine forces with Belisarius near Rome, even though Belisarius pointed out repeatedly that he was only being blocked by 300 Goths based at Capua. Instead, John retreated to Cervarium in Apulia and remained there.

Belisarius attempts to supply Rome

Frustrated by John’s refusal to act, Belisarius determined to force supplies through to Rome. He sent men posing as deserters to spy on the Gothic camps and the towers on the river. Upon their return he lashed two wide skiffs together to form a stable base. He then had a tower that was taller than those of the Goths built upon the skiffs. Once completed, he had a small boat fastened to the top of the tower and filled it with pitch, sulphur, resin and other flammable materials. At the same time, he took 200 fast boats and had wooden walls built on them with loopholes cut for his archers. The boats were then filled with grain and other supplies ready to sail to the city.

He left Isaac the Armenian in charge at Portus with strict instructions not to leave the city under any circumstances. He also left Antonina in the care of Isaac. Furthermore, he left troops to guard the approaches to Portus so that Isaac could not be the victim of a surprise attack. Finally, he sent a message to Bessas announcing his imminent arrival and ordered Bessas to mount an attack on the Goths on the following day in order to distract them from his own forces. The order was, as usual, to be ignored; according to Procopius, Bessas was by now the only individual with grain left in the city and was making a fortune selling it to the senators for vast sums of money. He did not want the relief force to arrive and cut off his source of income or the relief of the city to see the start of his own prosecution (Proc,
Wars,
VII.xix.14).

Once all these measures were in place, Belisarius embarked on one of the 200 fast boats and the relief force set out, accompanied by an infantry force that marched along the right (east) bank of the river. It was now that he was surprised to find that, a little downstream from the barrier of long timbers, the Goths had secured an iron chain across the river. Fortunately, upon his approach the Goths defending the chain fled and he was able to quickly dismantle the obstacle.

As he advanced upon the bridge, the Goths – warned of his arrival by the men who had been guarding the chain – were rushing out of their camps and running to help in the defence of the structure. On the east side of the river the road from Portus came near to the bridge and here Belisarius brought the skiffs close to the Gothic tower. He ordered the small boat on the top of his own tower to be set on fire, and it was then thrown on to the Goths’ lower tower. Immediately, the Gothic tower caught fire and was quickly destroyed by the flames, the Goths also losing the 200 men that were stationed inside it. In disarray, the Goths withdrew and Belisarius began the task of destroying the bridge.

Events beyond Belisarius’ control now forced his hand. In Portus, Isaac heard of the capture of the chain and decided that he wanted to take part in the momentous events taking place. Accordingly, he took 100 men and mounted an attack on a nearby Gothic camp, where Totila had left a certain Ruderic in charge. Ruderic was injured in the fighting and the Goths withdrew. With no thought to their safety, the Byzantines began to plunder the camp. The Goths reformed and realised that there were only a few Byzantines in the camp, wandering about in total disorder, so they launched a counterattack. Many Byzantines were killed and the rest were driven off, but Isaac himself was captured.

Unaware of these events, Belisarius received word that Isaac had been captured. As Isaac had been ordered to stay in Portus, the only logical explanation was that the Goths had assaulted the city and taken it. The only hope was to attack them while they were still in a state of disarray in the newly-captured city. Abandoning his attempt to supply Rome, Belisarius ordered an immediate withdrawal and rushed back to Portus. Only when he reached the city did he realise his mistake: the city was safe and the attempt to resupply Rome had failed. Procopius states that he was so distressed by the whole situation that he fell ill, nearly succumbing to the fever (
Wars,
xix.33–4). Two days later, Ruderic, the Gothic leader, died of his wounds. When he died, Totila had Isaac executed.

Although it is possible to view the return to Portus as a mistake, such a judgement is unfair to Belisarius, given the information he had. It is obvious that Belisarius realised the importance of Portus as the only safe base for his army. When he gave Isaac instructions not to leave the city under any circumstances, he was ensuring that Portus could not be lost. When he heard reports of Isaac’s capture, he naturally assumed that the port was lost and returned to attempt its recapture. Only when he returned did he recognise that his decision had lost the chance to slip supplies into Rome. Although an understnadable mistake, the decision was to lose Rome to the Goths.

The Loss of Rome

In Rome, Bessas was now focusing entirely on making money, paying no heed to his military responsibilities.. As a result, the soldiers were neglecting their duties and only a skeleton force was manning the walls. The remaining citizens were wasting away due to the famine caused by the siege.

It was at this point that four Isaurians used ropes to let themselves down from the wall at night and approached Totila with a proposal. They manned the Asinarian Gate at night and offered to let Totila into the city, since he would be able to enter unobserved due to the negligence of the army commanders. Totila agreed to their proposal and promised them large sums of money if the plan succeeded. Two Goths accompanied them on their return to Rome and reported to Totila that their reports had been true: there was no force on the walls to stop the Goths if they attacked at night.

Totila was suspicious and, when he failed to act, the Isaurians returned and repeated the offer. Two different Goths were sent with the Isaurians and again the report showed that the plan would work. Not only did Totila still hesitate to act, a reconnaissance force from Rome captured ten Goths not far from the city. Under questioning, they told the whole story of the Isaurians’ offer, since it was well known to all of the Goths. Bessas and Conon dismissed the story and failed to act and so stop the Isaurians.

For a third time the Isaurians made the same offer to Totila, and again he sent a number of Goths with them when they returned to Rome, and again the report was that the plan would succeed. This time, Totila decided to act. On the following night, he ordered the army to gather in silence and approached the Asinarian Gate (see Map 13). Four Goths armed with axes climbed the ropes used by the Isaurians and entered the city. With the axes they smashed the bars holding the gates closed, opened the gates, and finally the Goths entered the city.

In the darkness, Totila kept his men under tight control, fearing that the Byzantines might regroup and ambush his forces if they were scattered around the city. As word spread that the Goths were in the city, the Byzantine troops fell into confusion, some taking refuge in sanctuaries, others following their unit commanders out of whichever gate in the walls was nearest. Bessas himself escaped along with some of the Roman nobles, whilst others took sanctuary in the Church of St Peter.

Throughout the night Totila was repeatedly informed that Bessas had fled the city, but still he maintained a tight control of his troops. However, when day came he was approached by Pelagius the Deacon who pleaded with him to spare the lives of the citizens. Totila acceded to the request, with the result that less than 100 people were killed in the capture of the city. He further ordered his troops not to molest any of the citizens, but allowed them freedom to plunder the city of its wealth and himself laid hands on the treasure that Bessas had accumulated but not been able to take with him when he fled. According to Procopius, Totila ‘won great renown’ amongst the Italians due to his moderate treatment of the captured city, which fell on 17 December 546 (
Wars,
VII.xx.31).

After the capture of the city, Totila assembled the senators and berated them for their betrayal of the Goths. He relieved them of their offices and gave the posts to the four Isaurians who had betrayed the city to him, along with Herodian, the man who had surrendered the city of Spoletium. In the hopes of securing peace, he sent Pelagius the Deacon and Theodorus, a Roman orator, to Justinian with the offer of a Gothic alliance. The attempt failed as Justinian sent them back with the reply that Belisarius was the commander in Italy and that he was empowered to make such decisions.

It took time for the envoys to travel to and from Constantinople. Meanwhile, in Lucania John gave Tullianus command of a unit of 300 Antae (a tribe living to the north of the Danube), who were excellent troops in rough ground. Tullianus supplemented them with a force of peasants and used the combined army to hold the passes into Lucania against the Goths. When Totila learned of this development, he gathered his own force of Italian peasants and sent them, with a small force of Goths, to force the passes. When the two sides met there was a battle, which the Byzantines won mainly thanks to the superior skills of the Antae at fighting in rough terrain. The Gothic forces were forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses.

When he heard of the defeat, Totila determined to raze Rome to the ground and then march with the entire army against John and Tullianus. He had torn down about a third of the city walls and was considering burning many of the important buildings in the city when a message arrived from Belisarius. Belisarius had learnt of his decision and the message implored him not to set fire to the city: Rome was full of noteworthy buildings that were a memorial to the building ability of the ancients that had constructed them. Furthermore, if Totila was victorious, he would be destroying his own property and, if he lost, such an act would negate any chance of mercy being shown towards him. It would also damage his reputation in Italy for clemency and toleration. After much consideration, Totila let the buildings remain. Leaving Rome entirely deserted, he stationed the main force of the Goths in a camp 120
stades
west of the city in order to pin Belisarius in Portus, then led the remainder of his forces against John and Tullianus.

Hearing that Totila was advancing against him, John fled to Dryus with his troops. Totila sent messengers ahead telling the peasants gathered with Tullianus that, if they returned to their fields, the farms would be confiscated from their landlords and given to them instead. Naturally, the peasants left and Tullianus fled. The Antae retreated and joined John at Dryus. The Goths entered Lucania but dispersed and wandered around the countryside in small groups. Seeing this, John sent out a large force of Byzantines that ambushed and killed many of the Goths. Therefore, Totila ordered his troops to gather at Garganon (Gargano) and remained there inactive.

With Totila in Lucania, a Roman citizen by the name of Martinianus approached Belisarius and offered to feign desertion to Totila and then work for the Byzantines. Belisarius agreed to the offer, and Martinianus ‘deserted’, having his wife and one of his two children returned to him by Totila as a reward. His second child was retained by the Goths as a hostage. Martinianus was sent to Spoletium, where he persuaded fifteen Byzantine deserters to help him betray the city to the Byzantines. He next sent messages to the Byzantine garrison at Perusia asking for troops to help him. After the death of Cyprian, a Hun named Odalgan had assumed command at Perusia, and he himself led a force to Spoletium. The fifteen deserters killed the garrison commander and opened the gates to the Byzantines. Most of the Gothic garrison was killed, the rest captured and taken to Belisarius in Portus.

Belisarius decided to go to Rome and reconnoitre the area, with a view to retaking the city. A deserter informed Totila of his plans and the Goths organised an ambush. Belisarius marched towards Rome with 1,000 men and was ambushed en route by the Gothic forces. Surprisingly, the Goths were defeated in the skirmish but, although victorious, Belisarius decided to immediately return to Portus rather than continue towards Rome. He obviously realised that the Goths were relatively well-informed about his movements and decided not to expose himself to further danger unnecessarily.

In the south, the citizens of Tarentum invited John to take control of the city. Accordingly, he left a garrison at Dryus and led a few men towards Tarentum. The city had no walls to defend, so John organised the fortification of the isthmus covering the harbour. He collected the Tarentines and other Italians living in the area behind the newly-constructed walls then, leaving a garrison, he returned to Dryus. With these developments, the Calabrians began to consider rebelling from Gothic rule.

Meanwhile, Totila left the captive Roman senators under guard in Campania, left a garrison in the city of Acherontis, and led the remainder of his forces towards Ravenna.

At Portus, Belisarius resolved to retake Rome. Leaving a few men in Portus as a garrison, Belisarius marched with the rest. Totila had destroyed about one-third of the circuit walls and all of the gates to the city. Belisarius did not have the time needed to effect proper repairs to the walls, and did not have the large number of skilled workmen needed to replace the gates rapidly. Therefore, he ordered his men to pile the rubble left by the Goths into the holes in the walls, taking care to make the outer face of the walls appear as smooth as possible. In this way, he would have hoped to divert the attention of any Gothic attack away from these weak points. He also set in motion work on manufacturing new gates to replace those destroyed by the Goths. As his position was still insecure, he set stakes around the ditch he had constructed during the first siege of the city, so protecting his men from attack while they worked, and in twenty-five days the walls of the city had been repaired to the best of his ability given the limited time available.