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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Struggle for Rome, v. 3, by Felix Dahn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Struggle for Rome, v. 3
+
+Author: Felix Dahn
+
+Translator: Lily Wolffsohn
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2010 [EBook #32377]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRUGGLE FOR ROME, V. 3 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+      1. Page scan source:
+         http://www.archive.org/details/astruggleforrom02dahngoog
+      2. Diphthong oe and OE are represented by [oe] and [OE].
+
+
+
+
+
+                          A STRUGGLE FOR ROME.
+
+                                   BY
+                              FELIX DAHN.
+
+
+           _T R A N S L A T E D  F R O M  T H E  G E R M A N_
+                                   BY
+                            LILY WOLFFSOHN.
+
+
+           "If there be anything more powerful than Fate,
+            It is the courage which bears it undismayed."
+                                                GEIBEL.
+
+
+                           IN THREE VOLUMES.
+                               VOL. III.
+
+
+
+                                LONDON:
+                        RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON.
+                                  1878.
+                        [_All Rights Reserved._]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          A STRUGGLE FOR ROME.
+
+
+                         BOOK IV.--_Continued_.
+
+                               WITICHIS.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+Thanks to the precautions taken by Procopius, the trick had succeeded
+completely.
+
+At the moment in which the flag of the Goths fell and their King was
+taken prisoner, they were everywhere surprised and overpowered.
+In the courts of the palace, in the streets and canals of the city
+and in the camp, they were surrounded by far superior numbers. A
+palisade of lances met their sight on all sides. Almost without an
+exception the paralysed Goths laid down their arms. The few who offered
+resistance--the nearest associates of the King--were struck down.
+
+Witichis himself, Duke Guntharis, Earl Wisand, Earl Markja, and the
+leaders of the army who were taken prisoners with them, were placed in
+separate confinement; the King imprisoned in the "prison of Theodoric,"
+a strong and deep dungeon in the palace itself.
+
+The procession from the Gate of Stilicho to the Forum of Honorius had
+not been interrupted.
+
+Arrived at the palace, Belisarius summoned the Senate and decurions of
+the city, and took their oaths of allegiance for Emperor Justinian.
+
+Procopius was sent to Byzantium with the golden keys of Neapolis, Rome,
+and Ravenna. He was to give a full report to the Emperor, and to demand
+for Belisarius the prolongation of his office until Italy had been
+completely tranquillised, as could not fail to be the case presently,
+and afterwards, as had been the case after the Vandal wars, to accord
+him the honour of a triumph, with the exposure of the King of the
+Goths, as prisoner of war, in the Hippodrome.
+
+For Belisarius looked upon the war as ended.
+
+Cethegus almost shared this belief. But still he feared the outbursts
+of indignation amongst the Goths in the provinces. Therefore he took
+care that, for the present, no report of the manner in which the city
+had fallen should pass the gates; and he pondered upon some means of
+making use of the imprisoned King himself, to palliate the possible
+renewal of national feeling in the Goths.
+
+He also persuaded Belisarius to send Acacius, with the Persian
+horsemen, to follow Hildebad, who had escaped in the direction of
+Tarvisium.
+
+In vain he tried to speak to the Queen.
+
+She had not yet fully recovered the effects of the night of the
+earthquake, and admitted no one. She had even listened to the news of
+the fall of the city with indifference. The Prefect gave her a guard of
+honour, in order to make sure of her, for he had great plans in
+connection with her. Then he sent her the sword of the King,
+accompanying it with a note.
+
+"I have kept my word. King Witichis is ruined, you are revenged and
+free. Now it is your turn to fulfil my wish."
+
+A few days later, Belisarius, deprived of his constant adviser
+Procopius, called the Prefect to an interview in the right wing of the
+palace, where he had taken up his quarters.
+
+"Unheard-of mutiny!" he cried, as Cethegus entered.
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"You know that I placed Bessas, with the Lazian mercenaries, in the
+trenches of the Gate of Honorius, one of the most important points of
+the city. Hearing that the temper of these troops was insubordinate I
+recalled them--and Bessas----"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Refuses to obey."
+
+"Without reason? Impossible!"
+
+"A ridiculous reason! Yesterday the term of my office expired."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And Bessas declares that since midnight I am no longer his commander!"
+
+"Shameful! But he is in the right."
+
+
+"In the right! In a few days the Emperor's reply will arrive, according
+to my wish. He will naturally, after the conquest of Ravenna, again
+appoint me as commander-in-chief, until the war is ended. The news may
+be here the day after to-morrow."
+
+"Perhaps still sooner, Belisarius. At sunset the watchman on the
+lighthouse of Classis announced the approach of a ship coming from
+Ariminum. It appears to be an imperial trireme. It may run into harbour
+at any hour. Then the knot will be loosened."
+
+"I will cut it beforehand. My body-guard shall storm the trenches and
+strike the head off the obstinate Bessas----"
+
+He was interrupted by the entrance of Johannes.
+
+"General," he cried, "the Emperor is here! The Emperor, Justinian
+himself, has just anchored in the harbour of Classis."
+
+Cethegus involuntarily started. Was such a thunderbolt from a clear
+sky, such a whim of the incalculable despot, after such toil, to
+overthrow the almost perfect structure of his plans?
+
+But Belisarius, with sparkling eyes, asked:
+
+"The Emperor? How do you know?"
+
+"He comes himself to thank you for your victory--never was such
+honour done to mortal man! The ship from Ariminum bears the imperial
+flag--purple and silver. You know that that indicates the actual
+presence of the Emperor."
+
+"Or of a member of his family," interposed Cethegus thoughtfully, and
+once more breathing freely.
+
+"Let us hasten to the harbour, to receive our Imperial master," cried
+Belisarius.
+
+
+He was disappointed in his joy and pride when, on their way to Classis,
+they were met by the first courtiers who had disembarked, and who
+demanded quarters in the palace, not for the Emperor, but for his
+nephew Germanus.
+
+"At least he sends the next in rank," said Belisarius--consoling
+himself--to Cethegus as they went on. "Germanus is the noblest man at
+court. Just, incorruptible, and pure. They call him 'The Lily of the
+Swamp.' But you do not listen to me!"
+
+"Pardon! but I saw my young friend Lucius Licinius in the crowd of
+people who are approaching us."
+
+"Salve, Cethegus!" cried Lucius as he made his way to the Prefect.
+
+"Welcome to free Italy! What news from the Empress?" asked Cethegus in
+a whisper.
+
+"Her parting word, 'Nike!' (Victoria), and this letter," Lucius
+whispered just as softly. "But," and he frowned, "never again send me
+to that woman!"
+
+"No, no, young Hippolytus, I think it will never again be necessary."
+
+They had now reached the quay of the harbour, the steps of which the
+Imperial Prince was just ascending. His noble form distinguished itself
+from the crowd of splendid courtiers who surrounded him, and he was
+received by the troops and the people with imperial honours and cries
+of joy.
+
+Cethegus looked keenly at him.
+
+"His pale face has become still paler," he remarked to Licinius.
+
+"Yes. They say that the Empress, because she could not seduce him, has
+poisoned him."
+
+The Prince, bowing his acknowledgments to all sides, had now reached
+Belisarius, who greeted him reverently.
+
+"I return your greeting, Belisarius," said the Prince gravely; "follow
+me at once to the palace. Where is Cethegus the Prefect? Where is
+Bessas? Ah, Cethegus!" he said, grasping the latter's hand, "I am glad
+to see again the greatest man in Italy. You will presently accompany me
+to the granddaughter of Theodoric. To her belongs my first visit. I
+bring her gifts from Justinian and my humble service. She was a
+prisoner in her own kingdom; she shall be a queen at the Court of
+Byzantium."
+
+"That she shall!" thought Cethegus. He bowed profoundly and said, "I
+know that you are acquainted with the Princess already. Her hand was
+once destined for you."
+
+A flush rapidly spread over the cheek of the Prince.
+
+"But unfortunately," he answered, "not her heart. I saw her here years
+ago, at her mother's court, and since then, my mind's eye has beheld
+nothing but her picture."
+
+"Yes, she is the loveliest woman on earth," said the Prefect quietly.
+
+"Accept this chrysolite as thanks for that word!" cried Germanus, and
+put a ring upon the Prefect's finger.
+
+They entered the door of the palace. "Now, Mataswintha," said Cethegus
+to himself, "now a new life begins for you. I know no Roman woman--one
+girl perhaps excepted--who could resist such a temptation. And shall
+this rude barbarian withstand?"
+
+As soon as the Prince had partially recovered from the fatigue of the
+voyage, and had exchanged his travelling dress for a state-costume, he
+appeared, with Cethegus at his side, in the throne-room of the great
+Theodoric.
+
+The trophies of Gothic valour still hung on the walls of the lofty and
+vaulted hall. On three sides ran a colonnade; in the middle of the
+fourth stood the elevated throne of Theodoric.
+
+The Prince ascended the steps of the throne with dignity. Cethegus with
+Belisarius, Bessas, Demetrius, Johannes, and numerous other leaders,
+remained standing at a short distance.
+
+"In the name of my Imperial master and uncle, I take possession of this
+city of Ravenna and of the Western Roman Empire," said Germanus. "To
+you, magister militum, this writing from our master the Emperor. Break
+the seal, and read it before the assembly. Such were the orders of
+Justinian."
+
+Belisarius stepped forward, received the letter upon his knees, kissed
+the seal, rose, opened it, and read:
+
+"'Justinian, Emperior of the Romans, Lord of the East and West,
+conqueror of the Persians and Saracens, of the Vandals and Alans, of
+the Lazians and Sabirians, of the Huns and Bulgarians, the Avarians and
+Slavonians, and lastly of the Goths, to Belisarius the Consul, lately
+magister militum. We have been acquainted by Cethegus the Prefect with
+the events which led to the fall of Ravenna. His report will, at his
+request, be communicated to you. We, however, cannot at all agree with
+the good opinion, therein expressed, of you and your successes; and we
+dispense you from your office as commander-in-chief. We order you by
+this letter to return at once to Byzantium, to answer for yourself
+before our throne. We can the less accord you a triumph, such as you
+received after the Vandal wars, because neither Rome nor Ravenna fell
+through your valour; Rome having freely capitulated, and Ravenna having
+fallen by means of an earthquake, which was a sign of the anger of the
+Almighty against the heretics, and against highly suspicious actions,
+the harmlessness of which you, accused of high treason, must prove
+before our throne. As, in consideration of former merit, we would not
+condemn you unheard--for East and West shall celebrate us to all
+time as the King of Justice--we refrain from arresting you as your
+accusers wish. Without chains--only bound by the fetters of your own
+self-accusing conscience--you will appear before our Imperial
+countenance.'"
+
+Belisarius reeled; he could read no further; he covered his face with
+his hands and let the letter fall.
+
+Bessas lifted it up, kissed it, and read on:
+
+"'We name the strategist Bessas as your successor in the army. We
+charge the Archon Johannes with the care of Ravenna. The administration
+of the taxes will remain--in spite of the highly unjust complaints made
+against him by the Italians--in the hands of the logician Alexandros,
+who is so zealous in our service. And as our Governor in Italy we name
+the highly-deserving Prefect of Rome, Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius. Our
+nephew Germanus, furnished with Imperial power, is answerable for your
+transport to our fleet off Ariminum, whence Areobindos will take you to
+Byzantium.'"
+
+Germanus rose, and ordered all present, except Belisarius and Cethegus,
+to leave the hall.
+
+Then he descended from the throne, and went up to Belisarius, who was
+now totally unconscious of what was going on around him. He stood
+immovable, leaning his head and arm against a column, and staring at
+the ground.
+
+The Prince took his right hand.
+
+"It pains me, Belisarius, to be the bearer of such a message. I
+undertook it, because I thought that a friend would fulfil such an
+errand more gently than any of the enemies who were eager to do it. But
+I cannot deny that this last victory of yours cancels the fame of many
+former ones. Never could I have expected such a game of lies from the
+hero Belisarius! Cethegus begged that his report to the Emperor should
+be laid before you. It is full of your praise. Here it is. I believe it
+was the Empress who kindled the anger of Justinian against you. But you
+do not hear----"
+
+And he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the unfortunate man.
+Belisarius shook it off.
+
+"Let me alone, boy! You bring me--you bring me the true thanks of a
+crowned head!"
+
+Germanus drew himself up with dignity.
+
+"Belisarius, you forget yourself, and who I am!"
+
+"Oh no! I am a prisoner, and you are my gaoler. I will go at once on
+board your ship--only spare me chains and fetters."
+
+
+It was very late before the Prefect could get away from the Prince, who
+spoke to him with the greatest frankness on state affairs and his own
+personal wishes.
+
+As soon as Cethegus was alone in his rooms, which had also been
+appointed to him in the palace, he hastened to read the letter which
+Lucius Licinius had brought from the Empress. It ran thus:
+
+
+"You have conquered, Cethegus. As I read your epistle I thought of old
+times, when your letters to Theodora, written in the same cipher, did
+not talk of statesmanship and warfare, but of kisses and roses----"
+
+
+"She must always remind me of that!" cried the Prefect, interrupting
+his perusal of the letter.
+
+
+"But even in this letter I recognise the irresistible intellect that,
+more even than your youthful beauty, conquered the women of Byzantium.
+And this time also I accede to the wishes of the old friend as I
+once did to those of the young one. Ah, how I love to think of our
+youth--our sweet youth! I fully understand that Antonina's spouse would
+stand far too securely for the future if he did not fall now. So--as
+you wrote me--I whispered to the Emperor that a subject who could play
+such a game with crowns and rebellion was too dangerous; no general
+ought to be exposed to such temptations. What he had this time feigned,
+he could, at another time, carry into earnest practice. These words
+weighed more heavily than all Belisarius's success, and my--that is,
+your--demands were granted. For mistrust is the very soul of Justinian.
+He trusts no one on earth, except--Theodora. Your messenger, Lucius, is
+_handsome_, but unamiable; he has nothing in his head but weapons and
+Rome. Ah, Cethegus, my friend, youth is now no more what it was! You
+have conquered, Cethegus--do you remember that evening when I first
+whispered those words?--but do not forget to whom you owe your victory.
+And mind: Theodora permits herself to be used as a tool only so long as
+she likes. Never forget that."
+
+
+"Certainly not," said Cethegus, as he carefully destroyed the letter.
+"You are too dangerous an ally, Theodora, my little demon! I will see
+whether you cannot be replaced.--Patience! In a few weeks Mataswintha
+will be in Byzantium."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+The round tower, in the deepest dungeon of which Witichis was confined,
+was situated at the angle of the right wing of the palace, the same in
+which he had dwelt and ruled as King.
+
+The iron door of the tower formed the end of a long passage which led
+from a court, and which was separated from this court by a heavy iron
+gate.
+
+Exactly opposite this gate, on the ground-floor of the building at the
+left side of the court, was the small dwelling of Dromon, the
+_carcerarius_ or gaoler of the prison.
+
+This dwelling consisted of two small chambers; the first, which was
+separated from the second by a curtain, was merely an ante-room.
+
+The inner chamber afforded an outlook across the court to the round
+tower.
+
+Both rooms were very simply furnished. A straw couch in the inner room,
+and two chairs, a table, and a row of keys upon the walls in the outer
+room, was almost all that they contained.
+
+Upon the wooden bench in the window abovementioned, sat, day and
+night--her eyes fixed upon the hole in the wall, through which alone
+light and air could penetrate to the King's prison--a silent and
+thoughtful woman.
+
+It was Rauthgundis. Her eyes never left the little chink in the wall,
+"For," she said to herself, "thither turn all my thoughts--there, where
+_his_ eyes too are ever fixed."
+
+Even when she spoke to her companion, Wachis, or to the gaoler, she
+never turned her eyes away. It seemed as if she thought that her mere
+look could guard the prisoner from every danger.
+
+On the day of which we speak she had sat thus for a long time.
+
+It was evening. Dark and threatening the massive tower rose into the
+sky, casting a broad shadow over the court and the left wing of the
+palace.
+
+"Thanks, O Heavenly Father," murmured Rauthgundis; "even the strokes of
+fate have led to good. If, as I once intended, I had gone to my father
+upon the High Arn, I should never have heard of all the misery here. Or
+far too late. But I could not bear to forsake the last resting-place of
+my child near our home. The last, indeed, I was obliged to leave, for
+how could I know that _she_, his Queen, would not come there? I dwelt
+in the woods near Faesulae, and when news came of failure, and one
+misfortune followed another; when the Persians burnt our house, and I
+saw the flames from my hiding-place; it was too late to escape to my
+father. All the roads were blocked, and the Italians delivered all whom
+they found with yellow hair into the hands of the Massagetae. No way was
+open but the road here--to the city where I had ever refused to go as
+_his_ wife. I came like a fugitive beggar. Wachis, the slave, now the
+freedman, and Wallada, our horse, alone remained faithful to me.
+But--forced by God's hand to come, whether I would or not--I found that
+it was only that I might save _him_--deliver him from the shameful
+treachery of his wife, and out of the hands of his enemies! I thank
+Thee, O God, for this Thy mercy!"
+
+Her attention was attracted by the rattling of the iron gate opposite.
+
+A man with a light came through it across the court, and now entered
+the ante-room. It was the old gaoler.
+
+"Well? Speak! cried Rauthgundis, leaving her seat and hurrying to him.
+
+"Patience--patience! Let me first set down the lamp. There! Well, he
+has drunk and it has done him good."
+
+Rauthgundis laid her hand upon her heart.
+
+"'What is he doing?" she asked.
+
+"He always sits in the same position, perfectly silent. He sits on a
+stone block, his back turned to the door, his head supported on his
+hands. He gives me no answer when I speak to him. Generally he does not
+even move; I believe grief and pain have stupefied him. But to-day,
+when I handed him the wine in the wooden cup and said, 'Drink, dear
+sir; it comes from true friends,' he looked up. Ah, his look was so
+sorrowful, as sad as death! He drank deeply, and bowed his head
+thankfully, and gave such a sigh, that it cut me to the heart."
+
+Rauthgundis covered her eyes with her hand.
+
+"God knows what horrid thing that man means to do to him!" the old man
+murmured to himself.
+
+"What sayest thou?"
+
+"I say that you must eat and drink well, or else you will lose your
+strength; and you will need it before long, poor woman!"
+
+"I shall have strength enough!"
+
+"Then take at least a cup of wine."
+
+"Of this wine? No, it is all for him!"
+
+And she went back into the inner chamber, where she again took her old
+place.
+
+"The flask will last some time," old Dromon said to himself; "but we
+must save him soon, if he is to be saved at all. There comes Wachis.
+May he bring good news, else----"
+
+Wachis entered. Since his visit to the Queen he had exchanged his steel
+cap and mantle for clothes borrowed from Dromon.
+
+"I bring good news!" he cried, as he entered. "But where were you an
+hour ago? I knocked in vain."
+
+"We had both gone out to buy wine."
+
+"To be sure; that is the reason why the whole room smells so sweet.
+What do I see? Why, this is old and costly Falernian! How could you pay
+for it?"
+
+"Pay for it?" repeated the old man. "With the purest gold in the world!
+I told you that the Prefect had purposely let the King starve, in order
+to undermine his health. For many days I have received no rations for
+him. Against my conscience I have kept him alive by depriving the other
+prisoners. This Rauthgundis would no longer suffer. She fell into deep
+thought, and then asked me whether the rich Roman ladies still paid so
+dearly for the yellow locks of the Gothic women. Suspecting nothing, I
+said 'Yes.' She went away, and soon returned shorn of her beautiful
+auburn hair, but with a handful of gold. With this the wine was
+bought."
+
+Wachis went into the next room, and kissing the hand of Rauthgundis,
+exclaimed: "Good and faithful wife!"
+
+"What art thou doing, Wachis? Rise, and tell me thy news."
+
+"Yes, tell us," said Dromon, joining them. "What says my Paukis? What
+advice does he give?"
+
+"What matters his advice?" asked Rauthgundis. "I can manage alone."
+
+"We need him very much. The Prefect has formed nine cohorts, after the
+model of the Roman legionaries, of all the youth of Ravenna, and my
+Paulus is enrolled amongst them. Luckily, the Prefect has entrusted the
+guard of the city gates to these legionaries. The Byzantines are placed
+outside the city in the harbour; the Isaurians here in the palace."
+
+"Yes," continued Wachis; "and these gates are carefully closed at
+night; but the breach near the Tower of AEtius is not yet repaired. Only
+sentinels are placed there to guard it."
+
+"When has my son the watch?"
+
+"In two days. He will have the third night-watch."
+
+"Thanks be to the saints! It could not have lasted much longer. I
+feared----"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"What? Speak!" cried Rauthgundis. "I can bear to hear everything."
+
+"Perhaps it is well that you should know it; for you are cleverer than
+we two, and will better find out what is to be done. I fear they have
+something wicked in their heads. As long as Belisarius had the command
+here, it went well with the King. But since Belisarius has gone and the
+Prefect--that silent demon!--is master of the palace, things look
+dangerous. He visits the King every day, and speaks to him for a long
+time, earnestly and threateningly. I have often listened in the
+passage. But it seems to have little effect, for the King, I believe,
+never answers him; and when the Prefect comes out, he looks as black as
+thunder. For six days I have received no wine for the King, and only a
+little piece of bread; and the air down there is as mouldy and damp as
+the grave."
+
+Rauthgundis sighed deeply.
+
+"Yesterday," continued Dromon, "when the Prefect came up, he looked
+blacker than ever. He asked me----"
+
+"Well? Tell me, whatever it may be!"
+
+"He asked me whether the instruments of torture were in good order!"
+
+Rauthgundis turned pale, but remained silent.
+
+"The wretch!" cried Wachis. "What did you----"
+
+"Do not be afraid; all is safe for a time. 'Clarissimus,' I said--and
+it is the pure truth--'the screws and pincers, the weights and spikes,
+and the whole delightful apparatus lie all together as safe as
+possible.' 'Where?' he asked. 'In the deep sea,' I answered; 'I myself,
+at the order of King Theodoric, threw them in!' For you must know,
+Mistress Rauthgundis, that when your master was a simple Earl, he once
+saved me from being tortured. At his request, the horrible practice was
+fully abolished. I owe him my life and my sound limbs, and I would
+gladly risk my neck for him. And, if it cannot be otherwise, I will
+leave this city with you. But we must not delay long, for the Prefect
+has no need of my pincers and screws if he once takes it into his head
+to torture a man's marrow out of his bones. I fear him as I fear the
+devil!"
+
+"And I hate him as I hate a lie!" cried Rauthgundis sternly.
+
+"So we must be quick," Dromon went on, "before he can carry out his
+cruel intentions; for he is certainly planning something terrible
+against the King. I don't know what he can want of the poor prisoner.
+Now listen, and mark my words. The third night from now, when Paulus
+keeps the watch, and I take the King his evening drink, I will unlock
+his chains, throw my mantle over him, and lead him out of the prison
+and the passage into the court. Thence he will be able to go unnoticed
+to the gate of the palace, where the sentinel will demand the
+watch-word. This I shall acquaint him with. When he is once in the
+street, he must go direct to the Tower of AEtius, where Paulus will let
+him pass the breach. Outside, in the pine-grove of Diana, at a short
+distance from the gate, Wachis will wait for him with Wallada. But no
+one must accompany him; not even you, Rauthgundis. He will escape more
+surely alone."
+
+"Of what consequence am I? He shall be free; not even bound to me! Thou
+must not even name my name. I have brought him misfortune enough, I
+will only look at him once again from the window as he goes away!"
+
+
+The Prefect now sunned himself in the feeling of supremacy. He was
+Governor of Italy. By his order the fortifications were repaired and
+strengthened, the citizens practised in the use of arms all over the
+country. The representatives of Byzantium could no longer
+counterbalance him. Their captains had no luck; the siege of Tarvisium,
+as well as of Verona and Ticinum, made no progress. And Cethegus heard
+with pleasure that Hildebad, whose troops had been augmented by
+deserters to the number of about six hundred, had badly beaten Acacius,
+who had overtaken and attacked him with a thousand Persian horsemen.
+But Hildebad's road was still blocked by a strong battalion of
+Byzantines, who marched against him from Mantua--he had intended to
+join Totila at Tarvisium--and he was obliged to throw himself into the
+Castle of Castra Nova, which was still occupied by the Goths under
+Thorismuth.
+
+Here the Byzantines kept him shut up. They could not, however, take the
+strong fortress, and the Prefect already foresaw that Acacius would
+soon call upon him to help to destroy the Goths, who could then no
+longer escape him. It rejoiced him that, since the departure of
+Belisarius, the forces of Byzantium were proved, in the face of all
+Italy, to be incapable of putting an end to the resistance of the
+Goths. And the harshness of the Byzantine financial administration,
+which had accompanied Belisarius wherever he went--for he could not
+prevent the practice of draining the resources of the country, which
+was carried on at the Emperor's command--awakened or heightened the
+dislike of both town and country to the East Roman rule.
+
+Cethegus took good care not--as Belisarius had often done--to oppose
+the worst acts of Justinian's officials. It gave him great pleasure
+when the populations of Neapolis and Rome repeatedly broke out into
+open rebellion against their oppressors.
+
+When the Goths were completely annihilated, the power of the Byzantines
+become contemptible, and their tyranny sufficiently hated, Italy might
+be called upon to assert her independence, and her saviour, her ruler,
+would be Cethegus.
+
+Notwithstanding, he was troubled by one circumstance--for he was far
+from undervaluing his enemies. The Gothic war, the last sparks of which
+were not yet trampled out, might at any time flame up anew, fanned by
+the national indignation aroused by the treachery which had been
+practised. It had great weight with the Prefect that the most hated
+leaders of the Goths, Totila and Teja, had not been taken in the trap
+laid at Ravenna.
+
+For the purpose, therefore, of preventing such a national uprising as
+he feared, he attempted to drag from the Gothic King a declaration,
+that he had surrendered himself and the city without hope and without
+condition, and that he called upon his people to abstain from fruitless
+resistance. He also wished his prisoner to tell him in what castle the
+war-treasure of Theodoric was concealed.
+
+Even in those days such a treasure, as a means of gaining foreign
+princes and mercenaries, was of the highest importance. If the Goths
+lost it, they would lose their best chance of strengthening their
+exhausted forces by the aid of foreign weapons.
+
+And it was the Prefect's greatest wish not to let this treasure--which
+legend spoke of as immense--fall into the hands of the Byzantines--whose
+need of money, and the tyranny caused by this need, were such active
+allies in his plans--but to secure it for himself. His means were also
+not inexhaustible. But opposed to the calm steadfastness of his prisoner,
+the Prefect's efforts to extort the secret were vain.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+All necessary measures had been taken for the escape of the King.
+
+Rauthgundis and Wachis had made themselves thoroughly acquainted with
+the pine-grove where the faithful freedman was to wait with the charger
+of Dietrich of Bern.
+
+And it was with the confidence which completed preparations always lend
+to a stout heart, that Rauthgundis returned to the dwelling of the
+gaoler.
+
+But she turned pale when the latter rushed to meet her with an air of
+desperation, and dragged her across the threshold.
+
+Once in the room, he threw himself on his knees before her, beating his
+breast with his fists and tearing his grey hair.
+
+For some time he could find no words.
+
+"Speak," cried Rauthgundis, pressing her hand to her wildly-beating
+heart. "Is he dead?"
+
+"No; but flight is impossible! all is lost! all is lost! An hour ago
+the Prefect came, and went down to the King. As usual, I opened both
+doors for him, the passage and the prison door, and then----"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Then he took both keys from me, saying he would keep them in future
+himself."
+
+"And thou gavest them up!" said Rauthgundis, grinding her teeth.
+
+"How could I refuse? I did all I could. I kept them back and asked:
+'Master, do you no longer trust me?' He looked at me with a look that
+seemed to pierce soul and body. 'From this moment,' he said, 'no
+longer,' and snatched the keys from my hand."
+
+"And thou didst not prevent him?"
+
+"Oh, mistress, you are unjust! What could you have done in my place?
+Nothing!"
+
+"I should have strangled him. And now? What shall we do now?"
+
+"Do? Nothing! Nothing can be done!"
+
+"He _must_ be liberated. Dost thou hear? he _must_!"
+
+"But, mistress, I know not how."
+
+Rauthgundis caught up an axe which lay near the hearth.
+
+"We will open the doors by force."
+
+Dromon tried to take the axe from her hand.
+
+"It is impossible! They are thickly plated with iron."
+
+"Then send for the monster! Tell him that Witichis desires to speak
+with him, and I will strike him down at the passage door."
+
+"And then? You rave! Let me go out. I will call Wachis away from his
+useless watch."
+
+"No! I cannot think that we shall not succeed. Perhaps that devil will
+return of his own accord. Perhaps--" she continued reflectively--"Ha!"
+she cried suddenly, "it must be so. He wants to murder him! He intends
+to steal alone to the defenceless prisoner. But woe to him if he come!
+I will guard the threshold of that door as if it were a sanctuary, and
+woe to him if he cross it!"
+
+She leaned heavily against the half-door of the room, and swung the
+ponderous axe.
+
+But Rauthgundis was wrong.
+
+Not to kill his prisoner had the Prefect taken the keys into his own
+keeping.
+
+He had gone with them in his hand to the south side of the palace,
+where he gained admittance to Mataswintha's room.
+
+The stillness of death and the excitement of fever alternated so
+rapidly in Mataswintha, that Aspa could never look at her mistress
+without the tears rushing to her eyes.
+
+"Most beautiful daughter of the Germans," began the Prefect, "dissipate
+the cloud which rests upon your white brow, and listen to me calmly."
+
+"How is the King? You leave me without news. You promised to let him go
+free when all was decided. You promised that he should be taken over
+the Alps. You have not kept your word."
+
+"I promised it on two conditions. You know them well, and you have not
+yet done your part. Tomorrow the nephew of the Emperor will return from
+Ariminum, ready to take you to Byzantium, and I desire you to give him
+hopes that you will become his bride. Your marriage with Witichis was
+forced and null."
+
+"No, never! I have told you so before."
+
+"I am sorry for it, for the sake of my prisoner, for he will not see
+the light of day again until you are on the way to Byzantium with
+Germanus."
+
+"Never!"
+
+"Do not irritate me, Mataswintha. The folly of the girl who bought the
+Ares' head at such a high price, is, I think, outgrown. For that once
+enamoured being has since sacrificed the Ares of the Goths to his
+enemies. But if you still honour that dream of girlhood, then save the
+man you once loved."
+
+Mataswintha shook her head.
+
+"Until now I have treated you as a free agent, as a Queen. Do
+not remind me that you, as well as he, are in my power. You will
+become the wife--soon the widow--of this noble Prince--and
+Justinian--Byzantium--the whole world, will lie at your feet. Daughter
+of the Amelungs, is it possible that you do not love power?"
+
+"I only love---- Never!"
+
+"Then I must force you."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"_You?_ Force _me_?"
+
+"Yes, I force you! (She still loves the man she has ruined!) The second
+condition is this: that the prisoner fill up this empty space with a
+name--the name of the castle in which the treasure of the Goths is
+concealed--and sign the declaration. He refuses to do this with a
+stubbornness which begins to anger me. Seven times I, the conqueror,
+have been to him. He would never yet speak to me. And the first time I
+went I received a look for which alone he deserves to lose his haughty
+head."
+
+"He will never consent!"
+
+"That remains to be seen. The continual dropping of water wears away a
+stone at last. But I can wait no longer. Early to-day I received word
+that that mad Hildebad, in a furious sally, has beaten Bessas so
+thoroughly, that the latter can scarcely continue the siege. Everywhere
+the Goths rebel. I must go and make an end of it, and extinguish these
+last sparks with the water of deception, which is better than blood. To
+this end I must have the King's declaration, and the secret of the
+castle. Therefore I tell you that if, before to-morrow, you do not
+consent to accompany the Prince to Byzantium, and have not procured for
+me the signature of the prisoner, witnessed as such by yourself, I
+will--I swear by the Styx--kill----"
+
+Horrified at the awful expression of Cethegus's face, Mataswintha
+started from her seat and grasped his arm.
+
+"You will not kill _him_!"
+
+"Yes; or rather, I will first torture him, then blind him, and
+afterwards kill him!"
+
+"No! no!" screamed Mataswintha.
+
+"I am resolved. The executioners are ready. And you, you shall tell him
+this. He will believe that I am in earnest when he sees your despair.
+You will perhaps be able to soften him; the sight of me only hardens
+him. Perhaps he thinks that he is still in the hands of Belisarius,
+that tender-hearted hero. You will tell him in whose power he really
+is. Here are the documents--here the keys which open his prison. You
+shall choose the hour yourself."
+
+A ray of joyful hope shone from Mataswintha'a eyes. Cethegus failed not
+to remark it, but, smiling calmly, he left the room.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Soon after the Prefect had left the Queen it became quite dark.
+
+The sky was thickly covered with ragged clouds, which were driven
+across the moon by the fierce wind, so that brief and uncertain light
+alternated with a gloom rendered greater by contrast.
+
+Dromon had completed his evening round of the cells, and returned to
+his dwelling tired and sad.
+
+He found no light within. He could scarcely make out that Rauthgundis
+was still leaning against the half"door, the axe in her hand, her eyes
+fixed upon the door of the passage.
+
+"Let me strike a light, mistress, and kindle the chips upon the hearth.
+Share the evening meal with me. Come, you wait here in vain."
+
+"No, no light, no fire! I can see better what happens in the court
+without, for it is moonlight."
+
+"Well, at least come in here and rest yourself. Here is bread and
+meat."
+
+"Shall I eat while he hungers?"
+
+"You will be exhausted! Of what are you thinking the whole evening?"
+
+"Of what am I thinking?" repeated Rauthgundis, still looking out. "I am
+thinking how often we have sat in the colonnade before our beautiful
+house, when the fountain splashed in the garden and the cicalas chirped
+in the trees. The cool night-breeze fanned his beloved face, and I
+nestled against his shoulder, and we did not speak one word, and above
+us was the silent march of the stars. And we listened to the deep and
+peaceful breathing of our child, who had fallen asleep upon my lap, his
+little hands, like soft white fetters, clasping the arm of his father.
+Alas! his arm now wears other fetters! Iron fetters--that pain----"
+
+And she pressed her forehead against the iron grating, until she, too,
+felt pain.
+
+"Mistress, why do you torment yourself thus? We cannot help it!"
+
+"'But we will help it! I must save him and----Dromon! look there! What
+is that?" she whispered, and pointed at something in the court.
+
+The old man hastened noiselessly to her side.
+
+In the court was a tall white figure, which seemed to glide stealthily
+along the wall.
+
+At brief intervals, but sharp and clear, the moonlight fell upon it.
+
+"It is a Lemure! The ghost of some one who has been murdered here!"
+said the old man, trembling. "God and all the saints protect us!"
+
+He crossed himself and covered his head with his mantle.
+
+"No," said Rauthgundis, "the dead do not return from the other world!
+Now it has disappeared--all is dark. Ha! the moon breaks through
+once--more there it is again! It moves towards the passage-door. What
+is that shining red in the white light? Ha! it is the Queen--that is
+her red hair? She stops at the door! She opens it! She is going to
+murder him in his sleep!"
+
+"God knows, it is the Queen! But _she_ murder him! How could she?"
+
+"_She_ could! But, as I live, she shall not! Follow her! A miracle
+opens the door to us. But softly, softly!"
+
+And she went out on tiptoe into the court, the axe still in her hand,
+slowly and stealthily, seeking the shadow. Dromon followed her closely.
+
+Meanwhile Mataswintha, for she it was, had opened the door and gone
+forward, down many steps and then through a small passage, feeling the
+way with her hands.
+
+She now reached the door of the prison. She opened it very softly.
+
+Through an aperture high up on the wall, where a stone had been taken
+out, a slanting strip of moonlight fell into the square and narrow
+dungeon.
+
+The light revealed the prisoner. He sat motionless upon a block of
+stone, his back turned to the door, his head supported on his hands.
+
+Mataswintha trembled and leaned against the doorpost. The air felt damp
+and icy-cold. She shivered. She could not say a word for very horror.
+
+Witichis remarked the draught of air from the open door. He lifted his
+head, but did not look round.
+
+"Witichis--King Witichis--" at last stammered Mataswintha; "it is I!
+Dost thou hear me?"
+
+But the prisoner did not move.
+
+"I come to save thee--fly! Thou art free!"
+
+But the prisoner dropped his head again.
+
+"Oh, speak!--oh, only look at me!"
+
+She now went quite into the dungeon. Gladly would she have touched his
+arm, and taken his hand, but she did not yet dare.
+
+"Cethegus will kill thee!" she said; "torture thee. He surely will if
+thou dost not fly!"
+
+And now her desperation gave her courage. She drew nearer.
+
+"But thou wilt fly! Thou shalt not die! I must save thee! I beseech
+thee, fly, fly! Oh, thou dost not hear me, and time presses! Sometime
+thou shalt know everything! but now fly--to life and liberty! I have
+the keys of the doors! fly, fly!" And now she grasped his arm and tried
+to drag him from his seat.
+
+But she heard the rattling of chains--on his arms on his feet. He was
+chained to the block of stone.
+
+"Oh! what is this?" she cried, and fell upon her knees.
+
+"Stone and iron," he said, in a toneless voice. "Leave me, I am doomed.
+And even if these bonds did not hold me--I would not follow thee. Back
+to the world? The world is one great lie. Everything is a lie."
+
+"Thou art right. It is better to die. Let me die with thee, but forgive
+me! For I, too, have lied to thee."
+
+"It is very possible. It does not surprise me."
+
+"But thou wilt forgive me before we die? I have hated thee--I have
+rejoiced in thy ruin--I have--oh, it is so hard to tell! I have not the
+strength to confess it! And yet I must have thy forgiveness. Oh,
+forgive me!--give me thy hand as a sign of thy pardon."
+
+But Witichis had sunk back into his former stupor.
+
+"Oh, I beseech thee--forgive me, whatever I may have done!"
+
+"Go--why should I not forgive thee? thou art like the rest--not better
+and not worse."
+
+"No, I am more wicked than all--and yet better. At least more
+miserable. It is true that I hated thee, but only because thou hast
+ever thrust me from thee. Thou wouldst not permit me to share thy life.
+Forgive me!--O God! I only wish to die with thee!--give me thy hand as
+a sign of pardon!"
+
+Kneeling and beseeching, she stretched out both her hands.
+
+The King again lifted his head. The kindness of his nature awoke within
+him, and overpowered his own dull pain.
+
+"Mataswintha," he said, lifting his chained hand, "go. I am sorry for
+thee. Let me die alone. Whatever thou mayst have done--go--I forgive
+thee."
+
+"O Witichis!" breathed Mataswintha, and would have clasped his hand,
+but she felt herself suddenly and violently dragged away.
+
+"Incendiary! never shall he forgive thee! Come, Witichis!--_my_
+Witichis!--follow me; thou art free!"
+
+The King sprang up, roused to life by this voice.
+
+"Rauthgundis! My wife! Thou hast never lied! Thou art true! at last I
+have thee again!"
+
+And, with a gasp of joy, he stretched out his arms. His wife flew to
+his bosom, and tear's of delight rushed from their eyes.
+
+But Mataswintha, who had risen, tottered to the wall. She slowly
+stroked her loose red hair out of her eyes and looked at the pair, who
+were illuminated by the bright moonlight from the chink in the wall.
+
+"How he loves her! Yes, he will follow _her_! But he shall not! He
+shall remain and die with me!"
+
+"Delay no longer!" said the voice of Dromon at the door.
+
+"Come, come quickly, my life!" cried Rauthgundis.
+
+She drew a little key from her bosom and felt at the chains, seeking
+the small opening of the lock.
+
+"What? Shall I really breathe once more the air of freedom?" asked the
+prisoner, half sinking back into his stupor.
+
+"Yes; the free and open air!" cried Rauthgundis, and threw the loosened
+chains to the ground. "Here, Witichis, here is a weapon! an axe! Take
+it!"
+
+Eagerly the Goth took the axe and weighed it in his hand.
+
+"Ha! how the weapon strengthens my arm and soul!"
+
+"I knew it, my brave Witichis," said Rauthgundis, kneeling down and
+unlocking the chain which bound his left foot to the block of stone.
+"Now step out, for thou art free!"
+
+Witichis, raising the axe in his right hand, made a step toward the
+door.
+
+"And _she_ is permitted to loose his chains!" whispered Mataswintha.
+
+"Yes, free!" cried Witichis, drawing a deep breath. "Come, Rauthgundis,
+let us go!"
+
+"He goes with _her_!" screamed Mataswintha, and cast herself before the
+pair. "Witichis--farewell--but tell me once more--that thou hast
+forgiven me!"
+
+"Forgiven thee!" cried Rauthgundis. "Never--never! She has destroyed
+our kingdom--she has betrayed thee! It was no lightning--it was her
+hand which kindled the granaries!"
+
+"Ha--then be thou accursed!" cried Witichis. "Away, away from this
+serpent!" and, thrusting Mataswintha violently away, he crossed the
+threshold, followed by Rauthgundis.
+
+"Witichis," screamed Mataswintha, dragging herself up--"stay--stay!
+Hear one word--Witichis!"
+
+"Be silent," said Dromon, grasping her arm. "You will alarm the guard!"
+
+But Mataswintha, now no more mistress of herself, ran up the steps into
+the passage. "Stay, Witichis--stay!" she screamed. "Thou canst not
+leave me thus!" and fell fainting to the earth.
+
+Dromon hurried past her, and followed the fugitives.
+
+But the shrill cries of Mataswintha had already reached the ear of one
+who ever slept lightly. Cethegus, his sword in his hand, and only half
+dressed, came out of his chamber into the gallery which looked over the
+square court of the palace.
+
+"Guards!" he cried. "To arms!"
+
+The soldiers were already astir.
+
+Scarcely had Witichis, Rauthgundis, and Dromon left the passage and
+safely reached the dwelling of the latter, when six Isaurian
+mercenaries rushed noisily into the passage.
+
+Quick as thought Rauthgundis ran out of the house to the heavy iron
+door, shut it, turned the key, and took it out.
+
+"Now they can do no harm," she whispered.
+
+The husband and wife presently hastened from Dromon's house to the
+great gate which led from the court into the street. The single
+sentinel who had remained behind stopped them and demanded the
+watchword. "Rome," he cried, "and----"
+
+"Revenge!" cried Witichis, and struck him down with the axe.
+
+The sentinel screamed and fell, hurling his spear at the fugitives. It
+pierced the last of the three--Dromon.
+
+As Witichis and Rauthgundis rushed down the marble stairs of the palace
+into the street, they heard the imprisoned soldiers thundering at the
+strong iron door, and a loud voice calling: "Syphax, my horse!" Then
+they disappeared into the darkness.
+
+A few minutes later the courtyard was bright with the lights of many
+torches, and several horsemen galloped off to the different gates of
+the city.
+
+"Six thousand solidi to whoever takes him alive; three thousand if he
+be brought in dead!" cried Cethegus, swinging himself into the saddle.
+"Up, Sons of the Wind, Ellak and Mondzach, Huns and Massagetae! Ride as
+you have never ridden before!"
+
+"But whither?" asked Syphax, as he galloped out of the gate at his
+master's aide.
+
+"That is difficult to say. But all the gates are closed and guarded.
+They can only escape by a breach."
+
+"There are two large breaches."
+
+"Look at Jupiter, which is just rising from behind the clouds in the
+east. It seems to sign to me. In that direction----"
+
+"Lies the breach near the Tower of AEtius."
+
+"Good! Then thither--I follow my star!"
+
+
+Meantime the fugitives had happily reached the breach, where Paulus,
+the son of Dromon, let them pass. In the pine-grove of Diana they found
+their faithful Wachis and two horses.
+
+The husband and wife mounted Wallada. The freedman took the other horse
+and rode off at a gallop towards the river, which at this point was
+very broad.
+
+Witichis held Rauthgundis before him.
+
+"My wife--losing thee I had lost all: life and courage. But now I will
+once more try for the kingdom. Oh, how could I ever let thee go, thou
+soul of my soul!"
+
+"Thine arm is wounded with the chaffing of the chain. Lay it across my
+neck, my Witichis."
+
+"Forward, Wallada--quick! It is for life or death!"
+
+They now issued from the grove into the open country. They reached the
+shore of the river.
+
+Wachis was trying to urge his rearing steed into the dark flood. The
+animal shyed and resisted.
+
+The freedman sprang off.
+
+"It is very deep, very rapid," he said.  "For three days the river has
+been unusually full. The ford is useless. The horses will have to swim,
+and the current will drag us far to the left. There are rocks in the
+stream, and the moonlight is so inconstant and deceptive."
+
+He looked doubtfully and searchingly up and down the river.
+
+"Hark! what was that?" asked Rauthgundis. "It was not the wind in the
+trees."
+
+"It is horses!" cried Witichis. "They approach rapidly. I hear the
+clatter of arms. There--torches! Now into the river for life or
+death--but softly!"
+
+He urged his horse into the water.
+
+"There is no footing. The horses must swim. Hold fast by the mane,
+Rauthgundis. Forward, Wallada!"
+
+Snorting and trembling, the noble animal looked at the black water. His
+mane was blown wildly about his head--he held his fore-feet stretched
+out, his haunches drawn in.
+
+"Forward, Wallada!" said Witichis, and called softly into the faithful
+animal's ear, "Theodoric!"
+
+At this the charger sprang willingly into the water.
+
+The pursuing horsemen had already galloped out of the wood, Cethegus
+foremost; at his side rode Syphax with a torch.
+
+"Here the track disappears in the sand, master."
+
+"They are in the river. Forward, Huns!"
+
+But the horsemen drew rein and stood stock-still.
+
+"Well, Ellak, why do you linger? At once into the flood!"
+
+"Sir, we cannot. Before we ride into running water at night-time, we
+must ask forgiveness of Phug, the water-spirit. We must first pray to
+him."
+
+"Pray when you are across as long as you like; but now----"
+
+Just then a strong gust of wind blew from the river and extinguished
+all the torches.
+
+The river rushed and roared.
+
+"You see, sir, that Phug is angry."
+
+"Be silent. Did you see nothing? There to the left."
+
+The moon just then glanced between the driving clouds. It shone upon
+the light-coloured garments of Rauthgundis. She had lost her brown
+mantle.
+
+"Aim quickly; there!"
+
+"We cannot; we must first finish our worship!"
+
+The clouds passed across the moon, and it was again quite dark.
+
+With a curse, Cethegus snatched bow and quiver from the shoulder of the
+chief of the Huns.
+
+"Come on!" cried Wachis in a low voice, when he had almost reached the
+opposite shore; "come quickly, before the moon issues from that narrow
+strip of cloud!"
+
+"Halt, Wallada!" cried Witichis, as he dismounted in order to lighten
+the burden, and held fast by the horse's mane. "Here is a rock. Take
+care, Rauthgundis."
+
+Horse, man, and woman were checked for a moment while balancing upon
+the top of the rock, past which the water rushed and gurgled in a deep
+whirl.
+
+Suddenly the moon shone out clear and bright. It illuminated the
+surface of the stream and the group on the rock.
+
+"It is they!" cried Cethegus, who held his bow and arrow ready.
+
+He took a rapid aim, and pulled the string.
+
+Whistling, the long black-feathered arrow flew from the string.
+
+"Rauthgundis!" cried Witichis in terror; for his wife started
+convulsively and sank forward upon the horse's neck. But she did not
+utter a groan. "Rauthgundis, thou art hit?"
+
+"I believe so. Leave me here and save thyself."
+
+"Never! Let me support thee."
+
+"For God's sake, sir, stoop! dive! They take aim again!"
+
+The Huns had finished praying. They rode a short way into the water,
+fixing their arrows and taking aim.
+
+"Leave me, Witichis. Fly! I will die here."
+
+"No; I will never leave thee again!"
+
+He lifted her out of the saddle, and tried to hide her on the rock. The
+group stood in the full light of the moon.
+
+"Yield, Witichis!" cried Cethegus, spurring his horse up to its
+haunches in the water.
+
+"A curse upon thee, thou traitor!" was the reply of Witichis.
+
+Twelve arrows whizzed at once. The charger of Theodoric leaped wildly
+forward, and sank for ever into the flood.
+
+But Witichis also was mortally wounded.
+
+"With thee!" sighed Rauthgundis. She held him closely with both arms.
+
+"With thee!"
+
+And, locked in a fast embrace, husband and wife sank into the river.
+
+In bitter grief, Wachis, on the farther shore, called their names. In
+vain. Three times he called, and then galloped away into the night.
+
+"Get the bodies out," ordered Cethegus grimly, turning his horse to the
+bank.
+
+And the Huns rode and swam to the rock, and sought for the bodies. But
+they sought in vain.
+
+The rapid current had carried man and wife, united now for ever, into
+the free and open sea.
+
+
+The same day Prince Germanus had returned from Ariminum to the harbour
+of Ravenna, ready to take Mataswintha to Byzantium.
+
+The latter was only roused from the faint into which she had fallen
+when left by Witichis and Rauthgundis, by the noise of the hammers with
+which the work-people broke open the passage to liberate the soldiers.
+
+The Princess was found crouching upon the steps of the prison. She was
+carried up to her chamber in a high fever. She lay for hours upon her
+purple cushions without moving or speaking, her eyes fixed in a wild
+stare.
+
+Towards noon Cethegus asked for admission.
+
+His look was dark and threatening; his expression cold as ice.
+
+He went up to Mataswintha's couch.
+
+"He is dead!" she quietly said.
+
+"He would not have it otherwise. He--and you. It is useless to reproach
+you. But you see what ensues when you oppose me. The report of his
+death will inevitably rouse the barbarians to new fury. You have
+created a difficult task for me; for you only are the cause of his
+flight and death. The least that you can do to atone for this is to
+fulfil my second wish. Prince Germanus has landed. He comes to fetch
+you. You will follow him."
+
+"Where is the corpse?"
+
+"It has not been found. The current has carried it away; his body
+and--the woman's."
+
+Mataswintha's lips twitched.
+
+"Even in death! She died with him?"
+
+"Think no more of the dead. In two hours I will return with the Prince.
+Will you then be prepared to welcome him?"
+
+"I shall be ready."
+
+"'Tis well. We will be punctual."
+
+"I also. Aspa, call all my slaves; they shall adorn me richly to meet
+this Prince. Diadem, purple, and silk."
+
+"She has lost her senses," Cethegus said to himself as he left the
+room. "But women are tough; she will recover them. These women can
+live, even when their hearts are broken."
+
+He went to console the impatient Prince.
+
+Before the expiration of the time appointed, a slave came to invite the
+two men to come to the Queen.
+
+Germanus crossed the threshold of her room with a rapid step. But he
+stood still astonished. He had never seen the Gothic Princess looking
+so lovely, so queenly.
+
+She had placed a high golden diadem upon her shining hair, which fell
+over her shoulders in two thick tresses. Her under-dress of heavy white
+silk, embroidered with golden flowers, was only visible below the knee,
+for the upper part of her body was covered by the royal purple. Her
+face was white and cold as marble: her eyes blazed with a strange and
+supernatural light.
+
+"Prince Germanus," she said, as he entered, "you once spoke to me of
+love; but do you know of what you spoke? To love is to die."
+
+Germanus looked inquiringly at the Prefect, who now came forward.
+
+He was about to speak, but Mataswintha, in a clear loud voice,
+recommenced:
+
+"Prince Germanus, you are famed as the most highly-cultivated man of a
+learned court, where it is a favourite pastime to practise the solving
+of finely-pointed riddles. I also will put to you a riddle; see to it
+that you solve it. Let the clever Prefect, who so well understands
+human nature, help you. What is this?--A wife, and yet a maid; a widow,
+and yet no wife? You cannot guess? You are right; death alone resolves
+all riddles!"
+
+With a sudden movement, she cast off her purple robe.
+
+There was a flash of steel! She had stabbed herself to the heart.
+
+With a shriek, Germanus and Aspa (who had stood behind) sprang forward.
+
+Cethegus silently caught the falling figure.
+
+She died as soon as he drew the sword from her breast. He knew the
+sword. He himself had sent it to her.
+
+It was the sword of King Witichis.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                BOOK V.
+                                TOTILA.
+
+
+"Well for us that this sunny youth still lives!"--_Margrave Ruediger of
+Bechelaren_, Act i., Scene i.
+
+
+
+
+                                PART I.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+A few days after the death of Mataswintha and the departure of Prince
+Germanus, who was deeply shocked by the sad event, a message came from
+Castra Nova, which rendered necessary the march of Byzantine troops
+from Ravenna.
+
+Hildebad had been informed, by fugitive Goths, who had made their way
+in disguise through the lines of the besiegers, of the treacherous
+imprisonment of the King.
+
+On hearing the news, he sent word to Cethegus and Belisarius, through
+some prisoners whom he released, that he challenged them, either
+together or singly, to mortal combat, "if they had a drop of courage in
+their veins, or a trace of honour in their souls."
+
+"He thinks that Belisarius is still in the country, and does not seem
+to fear him greatly," said Bessas.
+
+"This might be a means," said Cethegus cunningly, of ruining the
+turbulent fellow. "But, certainly, it needs great courage--such courage
+as Belisarius possesses."
+
+"You know that I do not yield to him a jot in that," answered Bessas.
+
+"Good," said Cethegus. "Then follow me to my house. I will show you how
+to destroy this giant. You shall succeed where Belisarius failed." But
+he said to himself, "Bessas is indeed a tolerably bad commander; but
+Demetrius is still worse, and therefore easier to lead. And I owe
+Bessas a grudge for that affair of the Tiburtinian Gate at Rome."
+
+
+The Prefect had not without reason feared that the almost extinguished
+resistance of the Goths would be renewed on hearing of the treason
+practised on their King.
+
+No exact report had yet reached old Hildebrand at Verona, Totila at
+Tarvisium, or Teja at Ticinum.
+
+They had only heard that Ravenna had fallen, and that the King was
+imprisoned.
+
+Vague rumours of treachery accompanied this report, and the friends of
+the King, in their pain and anger, were persuaded that the fall of the
+strong fortress and of the brave King had not been effected by honest
+means.
+
+Instead of discouraging them, this misfortune only increased the
+strength of their resistance.
+
+They weakened their besiegers by repeated and successful sallies.
+
+And the enemy felt almost constrained to raise the siege, for already
+signs of an important change of circumstance crowded upon them from all
+sides.
+
+This change was, in fact, a rapidly progressing reversion of feeling in
+the Italian population, at least of the middle classes: the merchants
+and artisans of the towns; the peasants and farmers of the country.
+
+The Italians had everywhere greeted the Byzantines as liberators.
+
+But after a short period their exultation died away.
+
+Whole troops of officials followed Belisarius from Byzantium, sent by
+Justinian to reap without delay the fruits of the war, and to fill the
+ever-empty treasury of the East with the riches of Italy.
+
+In the midst of all the suffering caused by the war, these zealous
+officials began their work.
+
+As soon as Belisarius had occupied a town, his treasurer summoned all
+free citizens to the Curia or to the Forum; ordered them to divide
+themselves into six classes according to their wealth, and then called
+upon each class to value the property of the class above it.
+
+According to this valuation, the imperial officials then laid the
+highest possible tax upon each class.
+
+And, as these officials were almost necessitated, because of the
+retention and curtailment of their never punctually paid salaries, to
+think of filling their own pockets as well as the Emperor's treasury,
+the oppression they put in practice became intolerable.
+
+They were not content with the high rates which the Emperor required to
+be paid in advance for three years; the special tax laid upon every
+liberated town of Italy as a "gratitude tax"--besides the large
+contributions and requisitions which Belisarius and his generals were
+obliged to demand for the use of the army--for neither gold nor
+provisions came from Byzantium--but every official sought to extort
+special payments, by special means, out of the richer citizens.
+
+They everywhere ordered a revision of the tax-lists, discovered arrears
+owing since the times of the Gothic Kings, even from the days of
+Odoacer, and left the citizens the option of paying immense sums for
+indemnity or of carrying on a ruinous lawsuit with Justinian's fiscus,
+who scarcely ever lost one.
+
+But if the tax-lists were incomplete or destroyed--which happened often
+enough in those times of war--the accountants arbitrarily reconstructed
+them.
+
+In short, all the arts of finance which had ruined the provinces of the
+Eastern Empire were practised in Italy, after the landing of
+Belisarius, as far as imperial arms could reach.
+
+Without consideration for the misery of war-time, the tax executors
+unyoked the oxen of the peasant from the plough, took his tools from
+the workshop of the artisan, and his wares from the house of the
+merchant.
+
+In many towns the people rebelled against their oppressors and drove
+them away; but they only returned in larger numbers with severer
+measures.
+
+The Mauretanian horsemen of Justinian, with African bloodhounds, hunted
+the desperate peasants from their hiding-places in the woods, whither
+they had fled to escape the tax-gatherer. And Cethegus, who alone was
+in a position to check such deeds, looked on with calculating coolness.
+
+He desired that, before the end of the war, all Italy should have
+become acquainted with the tyranny of Byzantium, for then it would be a
+lighter task for him to persuade the people to rise and, when they had
+got rid of the Goths, to throw off the burden of the Byzantines. He
+listened to the complaints of the deputations from various towns, who
+appealed to him for assistance, with a shrug and the laconic answer:
+
+"That is only Byzantine government--you must get used to it."
+
+"No," had answered the deputation from Rome, "one does not get
+accustomed to what is unbearable. The Emperor may live to see that of
+which he has never even dreamed!"
+
+To Cethegus this could only mean the independence of Italy; he knew of
+nothing else.
+
+But he was mistaken.
+
+Although he thought meanly enough of his countrymen and the times in
+which he lived, he yet believed that he could elevate them by example.
+
+But the thought so natural to his spirit; as necessary to him as the
+air he breathed--the freedom and independence of Italy--was far too
+grand for the comprehension of that generation.
+
+They could only vacillate between two masters.
+
+And when the yoke of Byzantium proved unbearable they began to recall
+to their memory the milder rule of the Goths; a possibility which had
+never entered the Prefect's head.
+
+And yet such was the case.
+
+Before Tarvisium, Ticinum, and Verona, there now happened on a small
+scale, that which was preparing on a large one in such cities as
+Neapolis and Rome. The Italian country-people revolted against
+the Byzantine officials and soldiers, and the inhabitants of the
+above-named three cities supported the Goths in every possible manner.
+
+So, when Totila, backed by the armed peasants of the plains, had
+destroyed a great part of their works, the besiegers of Tarvisium were
+obliged to cease their attacks, and limit themselves to the defence of
+their camp, thus enabling Totila to draw supplies and soldiers from the
+neighbouring country.
+
+With a more cheerful spirit than usual he one evening made his round of
+the walls of Tarvisium.
+
+Rosy clouds floated across the sky, and the sun, as it sank behind the
+Venetian hills, gilded all the plain before him.
+
+With emotion he watched the peasants from the neighbourhood streaming
+through the open gates of the city, bringing bread, meat, and wine to
+his half-starved Goths; who, on their part, hurried out into the open
+country, and Germans and Italians, embracing, celebrated the victory
+which they had together gained over their hated enemies.
+
+"Is it then impossible," said Totila to himself, "to preserve and
+propagate this amity through the whole country? Is it a necessity that
+these two nations should be eternally divided? How their friendship
+embellishes each! Have we not also failed, in that we ever treated the
+Italians as the vanquished? We meet them with suspicion, instead of
+with generous confidence. We demand their obedience, and neglect to win
+their affection. And it would have been well worth the winning! Had it
+been won--never would Byzantium have gained a footing here! The release
+from my vow--Valeria--would not have been so unattainable. Would that
+it were permitted me to strive for this goal in _my_ way!"
+
+His reflections and dreams were interrupted by a messenger from the
+outposts, announcing that the enemy had suddenly forsaken their camp,
+and were in fall retreat to the south, towards Ravenna. On the road to
+the west clouds of dust were seen: a large body of horsemen was
+approaching--probably Goths.
+
+Totila received the news with joy, but also with doubt. He took all
+necessary measures against a stratagem.
+
+But during the night his doubts were resolved. He was awakened by the
+news of a Gothic victory, and the arrival of the victor.
+
+He hurried out and found Hildebrand, Teja, Thorismuth, and Wachis.
+
+With the cry of "Victory! victory!" his friends greeted him, and
+Teja and Hildebrand announced that at Ticina, and Verona also, the
+country-people had rebelled against the Byzantines, and had aided the
+Goths in falling upon the besiegers, whom, after destroying their
+defences, they had forced to retreat.
+
+But in spite of this joyful news, there lay in Teja's eyes and voice a
+deeper melancholy than usual.
+
+"What of sorrow hast thou to communicate, beside this joy?" asked
+Totila.
+
+"The shameful ruin of the best man in the world!" said Teja, and signed
+to Wachis, who now related the sufferings and death of the King and his
+wife.
+
+"I escaped the arrows of the Huns by hiding amongst the rushes. Thus I
+still live. But only for one thing; that is, to revenge my master upon
+his betrayer and murderer--Cethegus the Prefect."
+
+"No; the Prefect is mine!" said Teja.
+
+"Thou, Totila, hast the first right to his life," said Hildebrand, "for
+thou hast a brother to revenge."
+
+"My brother Hildebad!" cried Totila. "What of him?"
+
+"He has been shamefully murdered by the Prefect," said Thorismuth,
+"before my very eyes, and I could not prevent it."
+
+"My strong Hildebad dead!" exclaimed Totila. "Speak!"
+
+"The hero lay with us in the Castle of Castra Nova, near Mantua,"
+related Thorismuth. "The report of the King's treacherous death had
+reached us. Hildebad challenged Belisarius and Cethegus to mortal
+combat. Presently a herald arrived, who said that Belisarius had
+accepted the challenge, and expected thy brother on the plain between
+our walls and their camp. Thy brother set forth rejoicing; we horsemen
+followed. And verily, there rode out of a tent, in his golden armour,
+with closed helm and white plume, with his round shield--well known to
+us all--the hero, Belisarius. Only twelve horsemen followed him;
+foremost of all, Cethegus the Prefect. The other Byzantines halted just
+outside the camp. Hildebad ordered me to follow him with an equal
+number of horsemen. The two combatants greeted each other with their
+spears; the trumpets sounded, and Hildebad rushed at his enemy. The
+next moment the latter lay upon the ground, pierced through and
+through. Thy brother, unhurt, dismounted, crying: 'That was no thrust
+from Belisarius!' and opened the visor of the dying man. 'Bessas!'
+cried Hildebad, and looked, furious at the deception, towards his
+enemies. Then the Prefect gave a sign. The twelve Moorish horsemen
+hurled their spears, and, severely hit, thy brother fell."
+
+Totila covered his face. Teja went sympathisingly up to him.
+
+"Listen to the end," said Thorismuth. "When we saw this murder, we were
+filled with fury. We threw ourselves upon the enemy, who, trusting that
+we should be discouraged, pressed forward from the camp. After a hot
+fight, we compelled them to fly. Only the speed of his devilish horse
+saved the Prefect, who was wounded in the shoulder by my spear. Thy
+brother lived to see our victory. He caused the chest which he had
+brought from Ravenna to be carried down to the Castle; opened it, and
+said to me: 'Crown, shield, and sword of Theodoric. Take them to my
+brother.' And with his last breath he cried: 'He must revenge me and
+renew our kingdom. Tell him--that I loved him very dearly!' Then he
+sank back upon his shield, and his faithful soul departed."
+
+"My brother! Oh, my beloved brother!" cried Totila, leaning against a
+pillar. Tears flowed from his eyes.
+
+There was a moment of reverent silence.
+
+Then: "Remember thine oath!" cried Hildebrand. "He was doubly thy
+brother! Thou wilt revenge him!"
+
+"Yes," said Totila, and involuntarily he drew the sword--which Teja
+handed to him--from its sheath. "I will revenge him!"
+
+It was the sword of Theodoric.
+
+"And renew the kingdom," said old Hildebrand solemnly, and, taking the
+crown, he set it upon Totila's head. "Hail to thee, King of the Goths!"
+
+Totila started.
+
+He raised his left hand to the golden coronet.
+
+"What do ye?" he exclaimed.
+
+"That which is right. The dying hero's words were prophecy! Thou wilt
+surely renew the kingdom. Three victories call upon thee to take up the
+struggle. Remember thine oath. We are not yet defenceless. Shall we lay
+down our weapons? Shall we submit to treachery and tricks?"
+
+"No," cried Totila, "that we will not. And it is well done to choose a
+king, as a sign of renewed hope. But here stands Earl Teja, worthier
+than I, of proved experience. Choose Teja!"
+
+"No," said Teja, shaking his head, "it is thy turn first! Thy dying
+brother has sent _thee_ this sword and crown. Wear them happily! If the
+kingdom can be saved, it is thou who canst save it; if not, an avenger
+must be left."
+
+"But now," interrupted Hildebrand, "now we must hasten to sow the seeds
+of confidence in all hearts. This is thine office, Totila! See, the
+young day breaks in glory. The first rays of the sun fall into the hall
+and kiss, thy brow! It is a sign from the gods! Hail, King Totila--thou
+that shalt renew the Gothic kingdom!"
+
+The youth pressed the glittering crown firmly upon his golden locks,
+and raised Theodoric's sword towards the morning sun.
+
+"Yes!" he cried, "if human strength can do it, I will raise anew the
+kingdom of the Goths."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+And King Totila kept his word.
+
+Once again he raised the Goths, whose sole hold on Italy was embodied
+in a few thousand men and three cities, to a great power, greater even
+than in the days of Theodoric.
+
+He drove the Byzantines out of all the towns of Italy, with one fatal
+exception.
+
+He won back the islands of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicilia.
+
+And still more: he victoriously crossed the old limits of the kingdom,
+and, as the Emperor obstinately refused recognition of the Gothic rule
+and possession, sent his royal fleet to carry terror and devastation
+into the provinces of the Eastern Empire.
+
+And Italy, in spite of the continuance of the war--which was never
+quite extinguished--bloomed under his government as in the time of
+Theodoric.
+
+It is remarkable that the legends both of the Goths and Italians
+celebrate this fortunate King, now as the grandchild of Numa Pompilius,
+Titus, or Theodoric, now as the spirit of the latter, returned to earth
+in youthful form, to restore and bless his well-beloved kingdom.
+
+As the morning sun, issuing from the clouds of night, irresistibly
+spreads light and blessing abroad, so Totila's arms brought happiness
+to Italy.
+
+The dark shadows retreated step by step at his approach. Victory flew
+before him, and the gates of the cities and the hearts of men opened to
+him almost without a struggle.
+
+The manly qualities--the genius of a general and a ruler--which had
+slumbered in this fair youth, which were only guessed at by Theodoric
+and Teja, and known to their full extent to no one, were now gloriously
+displayed.
+
+The youthful freshness of his nature, far from being destroyed by the
+hard trials of the last years, by the sufferings which he had endured
+in Neapolis and before Rome, by the long absence from his beloved
+Valeria, from whom he was parted farther and farther by every fresh
+victory of the Byzantines, had only deepened into more earnest
+manliness. The bright sympathy of his manner remained, and cast the
+charm of amiability and heartfelt kindness over all his actions.
+
+Sustained by his own ideality, he tamed trustingly to the ideal in his
+fellow-men; and almost all, except those governed by some diabolical
+power, found his confident appeal to what was noble and good
+irresistible.
+
+As light illumines whatever it shines upon, so the noble-heartedness of
+this glorious King seemed to communicate itself to his courts to his
+associates, and even to his adversaries.
+
+"He is irresistible as Apollo!" said the Italians.
+
+More closely regarded, we find that the secret of his great and rapid
+success lay in the genial art with which--following the inmost impulse
+of his nature--he contrived to transmute the bitterness of the Italians
+against Byzantine oppression into sympathy with the benevolence of the
+Goths.
+
+We have seen how this feeling of bitterness had taken root amongst the
+peasants, the farmers, the rich merchants, the artisans, and the middle
+and lower ranks of the citizens; in fact, among the greater part of the
+population.
+
+And later, when the Goths marched to the field of battle with the
+jubilating cry of "Totila!" the personality of the young King
+completely estranged the Italians from their Byzantine oppressors, who
+seemed to be totally forsaken by the fortune of war.
+
+It is true that a minority remained uninfluenced: the Orthodox Church,
+which knew of no peace with heretics; hard-headed Republicans; and the
+kernel of the Catacomb conspiracy--the proud Roman aristocrats and the
+friends of the Prefect. But this small minority compared to the mass of
+the population, was of little moment.
+
+The King's first act was to publish a manifesto to the Goths and
+Italians.
+
+It was proved to the first that the fall of King Witichis and Ravenna
+had been the work of superior falsehood, and not of superior strength;
+and the duty of revenge, begun already by three victories, was
+impressed upon them.
+
+And the Italians, having now experienced what kind of exchange they had
+made in revolting to Byzantium, were invited to return to their old
+friends.
+
+In order to favour this return, the King promised not only a general
+amnesty, but equal rights with the Goths; the abolition of all former
+Gothic privileges; the right of forming a native army; and--what was
+especially effective by contrast--the abolition of all taxes upon
+Italian soil or property until the end of the war.
+
+Further, as the aristocracy favoured the Byzantines--the farmers, on
+the contrary, the Goths--it was a measure of the highest prudence which
+provided that every Roman noble who did not, within three months,
+subject himself to the Goths, should lose his landed property in favour
+of his former tenants.
+
+And, lastly, the King placed a high premium, to be paid out of the
+royal purse, on all intermarriages between Goths and Italians,
+promising the settlement of the pair upon the confiscated property of
+Roman senators.
+
+"Italia," concluded the manifesto, "bleeding from the wounds inflicted
+by the tyranny of Byzantium, shall recover and bloom again under my
+protection. Help us, sons of Italia, to drive from this sacred ground
+our common enemies, the Huns and Scythians of Justinianus. Then, in
+the new-born kingdom of the Italians and Goths, a new people shall
+arise--begotten of Italian beauty and cultivation, of Gothic strength
+and truth--whose nobility and splendour shall be such as the world has.
+never yet beheld!"
+
+
+When Cethegus the Prefect, awaking at morn on the field-bed to which
+his wound had confined him, heard the news of Totila's accession, he
+sprang from his couch with a curse.
+
+"Sir," said the Grecian physician, "you must take care of yourself
+and----"
+
+"Did you not hear? Totila wears the Gothic crown! It is no time now to
+be prudent.--My helm, Syphax."
+
+And he snatched the manifesto from the hand of Lucius Licinius, who had
+brought the news, and read eagerly.
+
+"Is it not ridiculous--madness?" asked Lucius.
+
+"Madness it is if the Romans be yet Romans! But are they so? If they
+are not--then we--and not the barbarian prince--work madness. The thing
+must never be put to a trial, but be at once nipped in the bud. The
+blow directed against the aristocracy is a masterpiece. It must not
+have time to take effect. Where is Demetrius?"
+
+"He marched against Totila last evening. You were asleep. The physician
+forbade us to awaken you, and Demetrius also."
+
+"Totila king, and you let me sleep! Do you not know that this
+flaxen-head is the very genius of the Goths? Demetrius wishes to win
+his laurels alone. How strong is he?"
+
+"More than twice as strong as the Goths; twelve thousand to five
+thousand."
+
+"Demetrius is lost. Up--to horse! Arm all who can carry a lance.
+Leave only the wounded to guard the walls. This firebrand Totila must
+be trampled out, or an ocean of blood cannot extinguish him. My
+weapons--to horse!"
+
+"I have never seen the Prefect look so," said Lucius Licinius to the
+physician. "It must be fever? He grew pale."
+
+"He is without fever."
+
+"Then I do not comprehend it, for it cannot be _fear_. Syphax, let us
+follow him."
+
+Cethegus urged on his troop indefatigably. So indefatigably, that only
+a small suite of horsemen could keep up with his impatience and the
+swift hoofs of his war-horse.
+
+At long intervals followed Marcus Licinius, Massurius with Cethegus's
+mercenaries, and Balbus with the hurriedly-armed citizens of Ravenna.
+For Cethegus had indeed left in the fortress only old men, women and
+children, and the wounded soldiers.
+
+At last the Prefect succeeded in communicating with the rear-guard of
+the Byzantines.
+
+Totila was marching from Tarvisium southwards against Ravenna.
+
+He was joined by numerous bands of armed Italians from the provinces of
+Liguria, Venetia, and AEmilia, who had been roused by his manifesto into
+new hope and new resolve.
+
+They desired to fight with him his first battle against the Byzantines.
+
+"No," Totila had answered their general; "you shall decide upon what
+you will do _after_ the battle. We Goths will fight alone. If we win,
+then you may join us. If we lose, then the revenge of the Byzantines
+will not affect you. Await the result."
+
+The report of such magnanimous sentiments attracted many more to the
+Gothic flag.
+
+Besides this, Totila's army was reinforced from hour to hour, during
+the march, by the arrival of Gothic warriors, who, singly, or in small
+bands, had come out of prison or left their hiding-places when they
+heard of the treachery practised on King Witichis, the accession of a
+new King, and the renewal of the war.
+
+The haste with which Totila pressed forward, in order to avail himself
+of the enthusiasm of his troops before it had time to cool, and the
+zeal with which Demetrius flew to meet him, soon brought the two armies
+in sight of each other.
+
+It was at the bridge across the Padus, named Pons Padi.
+
+The Byzantines stood in the plain; they had the river, which they had
+crossed with half their foot, at their backs.
+
+The Goths appeared upon the gently-sloping hills towards the
+north-west.
+
+The rays of the setting sun dazzled the eyes of the Byzantines.
+
+Totila, from the hill, observed the position of the enemy.
+
+"The victory is mine!" he cried to his troops, and, drawing his sword,
+he swooped upon his enemies like a falcon on his prey.
+
+
+Cethegus and his followers had reached the last deserted camp of the
+Byzantines shortly after sunset.
+
+They were met by the first fugitives.
+
+"Turn, Prefect," cried the foremost horseman, who recognised him, "turn
+and save yourself! Totila is upon us! He cleaved the helm and head of
+Artabazes, the best captain of the Armenians, with his own hand!" And
+the man continued his flight.
+
+"A god led the barbarians!" cried a second. "All is lost--the
+commander-in-chief is taken!"
+
+"This King Totila is irresistible!" cried a third, trying to pass the
+Prefect, who blocked his way.
+
+"Tell that in hell!" cried Cethegus, and struck him to the earth.
+"Forward!"
+
+But he had scarcely given the command when he recalled it.
+
+For already whole battalions of vanquished Byzantines came flying
+through the wood towards him. He saw that it would be impossible to
+stem the flight of these masses with his small troop.
+
+For some time he watched the movement irresolutely.
+
+The Gothic pursuers were already visible in the distance, when
+Vitalius, one of Demetrius's captains, came wounded up to Cethegus.
+
+"Oh, friend," he cried, "there is no stopping them! They will now go on
+till they reach Ravenna."
+
+"I verily believe it," said Cethegus. "They will more likely carry my
+men away with them than stand and fight."
+
+"And yet only the half of the victors, under Teja and Hildebrand,
+follow us. The King turned back already on the field of battle. I saw
+him withdraw his troops. He wheeled to the south-west."
+
+"_Whither?_" cried Cethegus, becoming attentive. "Tell me again. In
+_what_ direction?"
+
+"He marched towards the south-west."
+
+"He is going to Rome!" exclaimed the Prefect, and pulled his horse
+round so suddenly that it reared. "Follow me!--to the coast!"
+
+"And the routed army? without leaders!" cried Lucius Licinius. "See how
+they fly!"
+
+"Let them fly! Ravenna is strong. It will hold out. Do you not hear?
+The Goth is going to _Rome_! We must get there before him. Follow me to
+the coast--the way by sea is open. To Rome!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Lovely--famed far and wide for its beauty--is the valley in which the
+Passara flows from the north into the rapid Athesis, which hurries from
+the west to the south-east.
+
+Like a bending figure, which leans longingly towards the beautiful
+Southland, the lofty Mendola rises at a distance from the right bank of
+the river.
+
+Here, above the junction of the two streams, once lay the Roman
+settlement of Mansio Majae.
+
+A little farther up the river, on a dominating rock, stood the Castle
+of Teriolis.
+
+Now--from a mountain-"muhr" or "mar" (landslip)--the town is called
+Meran.
+
+The Castle has given its name to the Tyrol.
+
+"Mansio Majae" is heard even now in the name of the place "Mais," rich
+in pleasant villas.
+
+But at the time of which we speak an East Gothic garrison lay in the
+Castle of Teriolis, as was the case in all the old Rhaetian rock-nests
+on the Athesis, the Isarcus, and the [OE]nus, in order to keep down the
+only half-subjected Suevi, Alamanni, and Markomanni, or, as they were
+already named, the Bajuvars, who dwelt in Rhaetia, on the Licus, and on
+the lower course of the [OE]nus.
+
+But, besides the garrisons of the castles, East-Gothic families had
+settled in larger numbers in the mild and fruitful valley and on the
+willow-covered slopes of the mountains.
+
+Even now a singular, noble, and grave beauty distinguishes the peasants
+of the valleys of Meran, Ultner, and Sarn. These reticent people are
+much more refined, pensive, and aristocratic than the Bajuvar type on
+the Inn, the Lech, and the Isar.
+
+Their dialect and legends support the supposition that here some few
+remains of the Goths continued to flourish; for the legends of the
+Amelungs, Dietrich of Bern, and the Rose-garden, still live in the
+names of the places and the traditions of the people.
+
+Upon one of the highest mountains on the left shore of the Athesis, a
+Goth named Iffa had before-times settled; his descendants continued the
+settlement.
+
+The mountain is named the "Iffinger" to this day. Upon the southern
+slope, half-way up, the simple settlement was fixed. The Gothic
+emigrants had found it already cultivated. The Rhaetian alpine-house,
+which Druses had met with when he conquered the Rasenian
+mountain-people, had suffered no change in its characteristic and
+commodious form through the Roman conquerors, who built their villas in
+the valley, and their watch-towers on dominating rocks.
+
+All the Romanised inhabitants of the Eltsch valley had, after the
+East-Gothic invasion, remained in quiet possession of their property.
+
+For not here, but farther east, from the Save and over the Isonzo, had
+the Goths pressed forward into the peninsula; and only when Ravenna and
+Odoacer had fallen, did Theodoric spread his hosts in a peaceful and
+regular manner over North Italy and the Etschland.
+
+Thus Iffa and his people had peacefully shared the soil with the Roman
+settlers whom they found upon the mountain, which at that time still
+possessed its Rasenian name.
+
+A third of the arable land, the meadows and woods; a third part of the
+house, slaves, and animals, was, here as everywhere, claimed by the
+Gothic settler from the Roman farmer.
+
+In the course of years, however, the Roman _hospes_ had found this
+close and involuntary vicinity to the barbarians inconvenient. He
+therefore left the rest of his property on the mountains to the Goths,
+in exchange for thirty yoke of the splendid oxen which the Germans had
+brought with them from Pannonia--and which they so well understood how
+to breed--and went southwards, where the Romans dwelt in greater
+numbers.
+
+And so the "Iffinger" had become completely Germanic, for the present
+master had suddenly sold the few Roman slaves which he possessed,
+and had replaced them by men and maids of Germanic race: Gepidians
+taken in war. This master was again named "Iffa," like his ancestor.
+He lived alone, a silver-haired man. A brother, and his wife and
+daughter-in-law, had, many years ago, been buried under a landslip.
+
+A son, a younger brother, and a son of the latter, had obeyed the call
+of King Witichis to arms, and had never returned from the siege of
+Rome.
+
+So no one was left to the old man but his two grandchildren, the boy
+and girl of the son who had fallen.
+
+The sun had set gloriously behind the mountains which bordered the
+incomparable Etsch valley in the blue distance to the south and west.
+
+A warm golden lustre lay upon the tender porphyry colouring of the
+"Iffinger," making it glow like red wine.
+
+Up the mountain slope, upon the top of which stood a dwelling-house
+with a row of stalls a little apart, climbed slowly, step by step,
+resting ever and again, and holding her hands over her eyes as she
+looked at the sunset, a child--or was it already a maiden?--who was
+driving a flock of lambs before her.
+
+She now and then gave her _protegees_ time to crop with dainty tooth
+the aromatic Alpine herbs which grew in their path, and beat time with
+the hazel stick which she carried to an ancient and simple melody, the
+words of which she was softly singing:
+
+                 "Little lambkins,
+                  Follow freely;
+                  By your shepherd's
+                  Hand led heedful;
+                  Like the heaven's
+                  Lovely lambkins,
+                  Like the quiet
+                  Steady stars, that
+                  Shining, sparkling,
+                  Obey ever
+                  Their bright shepherd,
+                  Mustered by the
+                  Mild moon ever,
+                  Without trouble,
+                  Without pause."
+
+She ceased, and bent forward to look over into a deep ravine on her
+left hand, which had been hollowed out in the steep slope by a rapid
+mountain brook. Now, being summer, the water was very shallow. On the
+opposite side the hill again rose steeply upward.
+
+"Where can he be?" the girl said; "usually his goats are already
+descending the hill when the sun has turned to gold. My flowers will
+fade soon!"
+
+She seated herself upon a stone near the path, let the lambs graze,
+laid the hazel stick beside her, and allowed the apron of sheepskin,
+which, till now, she had held up carefully, to fall. A shower of the
+loveliest Alpine flowers fell to the ground.
+
+She began to wind a wreath.
+
+"The blue speik will suit his brown hair the best," she said as she
+worked busily. "I get much more tired when I drive the flock alone than
+when he is with me. And yet then we climb much higher. I wonder how it
+is! How my naked feet burn! I might go down to the brook and cool them.
+And then I should see him sooner when he comes along the height. The
+sun does not scorch any more."
+
+She took off the large broad pumpkin leaf which she wore instead of a
+hat; and now was seen the shining colour of her pale golden hair--so
+fair it was!--which, stroked back from the temples, was tied together
+at the back of the head with a red ribbon. Like a flood of sunbeams it
+rippled over her neck, which was only covered by a white woollen
+kirtle, that, confined at the waist with a leather girdle, reached a
+little above the knees.
+
+She measured the size of her wreath on her own head.
+
+"Certainly," she said, "his head is larger. I will add these Alpine
+roses."
+
+Then she tied the two ends of the wreath together with delicate
+grasses, sprang up, shook the remaining flowers from her lap, took the
+wreath in her left hand, and turned to descend the steep declivity, at
+the foot of which the brook gurgled amid the stones.
+
+"No! stop up here and wait! Thou, too, darling White Elf! I will come
+back directly."
+
+And she drove back the lambs, which had tried to follow, and which now,
+bleating, looked wistfully after their mistress.
+
+With great agility the practised girl sprang down the ravine; now
+holding fast to the tough shrubs, spurge-olives, and yellow willow; now
+boldly leaping from rock to rock.
+
+The loose stones broke and the fragments came rattling after her. As
+she merrily jumped after the rolling pebbles, she suddenly heard a
+sharp and threatening hiss from below.
+
+Before she could turn, a great copper-brown snake, which had no doubt
+been disturbed from sunning itself on a stone, coiled itself up, ready
+to dart at her naked feet.
+
+The child was alarmed; her knees trembled, and screaming loudly, she
+called:
+
+"Adalgoth, help! help!"
+
+A clear voice immediately replied to this cry of fear with the words,
+"Alaric! Alaric!" which sounded like a battle-cry.
+
+The bushes on the right creaked and cracked; stones rolled down the
+slope, and, swift as an arrow, a slender boy in a rough wolf-skin flew
+between the hissing snake and the affrighted maiden.
+
+He hurled his strong Alpine stick like a spear, and with so true an aim
+that the small head of the snake was transfixed to the ground. Its long
+body twined convulsively round the deadly shaft.
+
+"Gotho, thou art not wounded?"
+
+"No, thanks to thee, thou hero!"
+
+"Then let me say the snake-charm before the viper ceases to struggle;
+it will ban all its fellows for three leagues around."
+
+
+And lifting the three first fingers of his right hand, the boy repeated
+the ancient saying:
+
+                 "Woe! thou wolf-worm,
+                  Wriggle wildly!
+                  Bite the bushes,
+                  Poisonous panting:
+                  Men and maidens,
+                  Hurt thou shalt not.
+                  Down, black devil,
+                  Venomous viper,
+                  Down and die now!
+                  High o'er the heads
+                  Of scaly-bright serpents
+                  Steppeth the race of the glorious Goths!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+As he finished speaking, and was bending to examine the snake, the girl
+suddenly placed the wreath which she had made upon his curly auburn
+hair.
+
+"Hail, hero and helper! Look! the victor's wreath was ready for thee.
+Ah! how well the blue flowers become thee!" And she clapped her hands
+joyfully.
+
+"Thy foot is bleeding!" said Adalgoth anxiously; "let me suck the
+wound. If the poisonous snake has bitten thee!"
+
+"It was only a sharp stone. Thou wouldst better like to die thyself?"
+
+"For thee, Gotho, how gladly! But the poison is harmless in the mouth.
+Now let me wash thy wound. I have still some vinegar and water left in
+my gourd. And then I will put sage-leaves upon it, and healing endive."
+
+Thus saying, he gently made her sit down upon a stone, lifted her naked
+foot and dropped the mixture out of the gourd upon it. This done, he
+sprang up, looked about in the grass, and presently returned with some
+soothing herbs, which he tied carefully over the wound with the leather
+strap which he loosened from his own foot.
+
+"How kind thou art, dear boy!" said the girl, stroking his hair.
+
+"Now let me carry thee--only up the hill?" he begged; "I should so like
+to hold thee in my arms!"
+
+"Indeed thou shalt not!" she laughed, as she sprang up; "I am no
+wounded lamb! See how I can run. But where are thy goats?"
+
+"There they come out from the juniper-trees. I will call them."
+
+And putting his shepherd's-pipe to his mouth, he blew a shrill note,
+swinging his stick round his head.
+
+The sturdy goats came leaping towards him--fearing punishment.
+
+And now, laying his arm tenderly about the girl's neck, and strewing a
+stripe of salt from his pocket upon the earth, which the goats,
+following, eagerly licked up, Adalgoth went up the slope.
+
+"But tell me, dearest," said Gotho, when they had arrived at the top of
+the hill, and she was gathering her lambs together, "why thy cry was
+again 'Alaric! Alaric!' just as when thou madest the eagle leave my
+little White Elf, which it had already seized in its talons?"
+
+"That is my battle-cry."
+
+"Who taught it thee?"
+
+"Grandfather; the first time he took me with him to hunt wolves. The
+time when I got this skin from Master Isegrim's ribs. As I sprang at
+the wolf, which could not escape and turned to attack me, crying
+'Iffa,' just as I had always heard grandfather cry, he said, 'Thou must
+not cry "Iffa," Adalgoth. When thou attackest a hero or a monster, cry
+"Alaric!" it will bring thee luck.'"
+
+"But none of our ancestors are so named, brother. We know all their
+names."
+
+They had now reached the stalls, into which they drove the animals, and
+then seated themselves before an open window upon a wooden bench, which
+ran round the front of the house on each side of the door.
+
+"There are," counted Gotho, "first Iffamer, our father; and Uncle
+Wargs, who was buried by the mountain; then Iffa, our grandfather;
+Iffamuth, our other uncle; Iffaswinth, his son; and Iffarich, our
+great-grandfather; and Iffa again--but no Alaric."
+
+"And yet I feel as if I had often heard that name at the time when I
+used first to run about the mountain; when the great landslip killed
+Uncle Wargs. And I like the name. Grandfather has told me about a
+hero-king who was called so; who was first of all the heroes to conquer
+the fortress of Roma--thou knowest, it is the city from which father
+and Uncle Iffamuth and Cousin Iffaswinth never returned. And that hero
+died young, like Siegfried, the dragon-killer, and Balthar, the heathen
+god. And his grave is in a deep river. There he lies on his golden
+shield, under his treasures, and tall reeds bend and wave above him.
+And now another king has arisen, who is called Totila, as the warriors
+who relieved the garrison over there in the Castle of Teriolis told me.
+They say he is just like that Alaric, and like Siegfried and the
+Sun-god. And grandfather says that I also shall become a warrior and go
+down to King Totila and rush into the fray with the cry of 'Alaric!
+Alaric!' Long ago I got tired of climbing about and keeping goats here
+on the mountains, where there is nothing to fight but wolves, or at
+most a bear which eats up the grapes and honey-combs. You all praise my
+harp-playing and my songs, but I feel that they are not worth it, and
+that I cannot learn much more from the old man. I should like to sing
+better things. I am never tired of listening to the soldiers' stories
+about the victories of glorious King Totila. Lately I gave the best
+chamois I ever shot to old Hunibad--whom the King sent up here to nurse
+his wounds--so that he might tell me, for the third time, all about the
+battle at the bridge across the Padus, and how King Totila himself
+overthrew that black devil, the dreadful Cethegus. And I have made a
+song about it, which begins:
+
+           "Tremble, thou traitor,
+            Cunning Cethegus;
+            Tricks will not serve thee;
+            Teja the terrible
+            Daunts thy defiance.
+            And brightly arises,
+            Like morning and May-time,
+            Like night from the darkness,
+            The favourite of Heaven,
+            The bright and the beautiful
+            King of the Goths.
+
+"But it goes no further; and I can make no more poetry alone. I need a
+master for the words and the harp. I should like to finish a song that
+I have began about the spear-hurler Teja, whom they call the 'Black
+Earl,' and who is said to play the harp wonderfully. And long ago--but
+this I tell to thee alone--I should have run away without asking
+grandfather, who always says I am too young yet, if _one_ thing did not
+keep me back."
+
+He sprang hastily up.
+
+"What is that, brother?" asked Gotho, who sat quite still and looked
+full at him with her large blue eyes.
+
+"Nay, if thou dost not guess it," he answered almost angrily, "I cannot
+tell thee. But now I must go and forge some new arrow-points in the
+smithy. First give me one more kiss--there! And now let me kiss each of
+thine eyes, and thy fair hair. Good-bye, dear sister, until
+supper-time."
+
+He left her and ran to a side building, before the door of which stood
+a grind-stone and various implements.
+
+Gotho rested her cheek upon her hand, and looked thoughtful. Then she
+said aloud:
+
+"I cannot guess it; for of course he would take me with him. We could
+not live apart."
+
+
+She rose with a slight sigh, and went to a field near the house, to
+look after the linen which was lying there bleaching.
+
+But now old Iffa rose from his seat behind the open window, where he
+had heard all that had passed.
+
+"This will not do," he cried, rubbing his head hard. "I never yet had
+the heart to separate the children--for they were but children! I
+always waited and waited; and now I think I have put it off a little
+too long. Away with thee, young Adalgoth!"
+
+He left the dwelling-house, and walked slowly to the smithy. He found
+the boy working busily. With puffed-out cheeks, he blew into the fire
+on the hearth, and held the already roughly-prepared arrow-points in
+it, in order to make them red-hot and fit for the hammer. Then he took
+them out with a pair of pincers, laid them on an anvil, and hammered
+out neat points and hooks. Without pausing in his work, he nodded
+silently to his grandfather, striking sturdily upon the anvil till the
+sparks flew.
+
+"Well," thought the old man, "just now, at least, he thinks of nothing
+but arrows and iron."
+
+But suddenly the young smith finished his work with a tremendous
+stroke, threw away the hammer, passed his hand across his hot forehead,
+and asked, turning sharply to the old man:
+
+"Grandfather, where do men come from?"
+
+"Jesus, Woden, and Maria!" exclaimed the old man, starting back. "Boy,
+how comest thou to such thoughts?"
+
+"The thoughts come to me, not I to them. I mean the first men--the very
+first. That tall Hermegisel over there in Teriolis, who ran away from
+the Arian church at Verona, and can read and write, says that the
+Christian God made a man in a garden out of clay, and, while he slept,
+took one of his ribs and made a woman. That is ridiculous; for out of
+the longest rib that ever was, one could not make ever so small a
+girl."
+
+"Well, I don't believe it either," the old man thoughtfully confessed.
+"It is difficult to imagine. And I remember that my father once said,
+as he was sitting by the hearth, that the first men grew upon
+trees. But old Hildebrand, who was his friend, although he was much
+older--and who stopped here on his way back from an expedition against
+the savage Bajuvars, and who was sitting near father, for it was early
+in the year, and very rough and cold--_he_ said that it was all right
+about the trees; only that men did not grow on them, but that two
+heathen gods--Hermegisel called them demons--once found an ash and an
+alder lying on the sea-shore, and from them they framed a man and a
+woman. They still sing an old song about it. Hildebrand knew a few
+words of it, but my father could not remember it."
+
+"I would rather believe that. But, at all events, there were very few
+people at the beginning?"
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"And at first there was only _one_ family?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And the old ones generally died before the young ones?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Then I tell thee what, grandfather. Either the race of men must have
+died out, or, as it still exists--and thou seest that is what I am
+coming to--brothers and sisters must often have married each other,
+until more families were formed."
+
+"Adalgoth, the fairies are riding thee! Thou speakest nonsense!"
+
+"Not at all. And, in short, if it could happen before, it can happen
+now; and I will have my sister Gotho for my wife."
+
+The old man ran to stop the boy's mouth by force; but the lad evaded
+him and said:
+
+"I know all that thou wouldst say. The priests from Tridentum would
+soon get to know of it here, and tell the King's Earl. But I can go
+with her to some distant land, where no one knows us. And she will go
+with me, I know."
+
+"Indeed! Thou knowest that already?"
+
+"Yes; I am sure."
+
+"But this thou dost not know, Adalgoth," the old man now said, gravely
+and decidedly: "that to-night is the last which thou wilt spend upon
+the 'Iffinger.' Up, Adalgoth! I command thee--I, thy grandfather and
+guardian! Thou hast a sacred duty to perform--the duty of revenge! Thou
+wilt fulfil it at the court, and with the army of Totila. A duty
+bequeathed to thee by thine uncle Wargs--bequeathed to thee by
+thine ancestor. Thou art now old and strong enough to undertake it.
+To-morrow, at dawn of day, thou wilt start for the south--for Italia,
+where King Totila punishes evil-doers, helps the good cause, and fights
+against that wretch, Cethegus. Follow me to my chamber. I have to hand
+over to thee a jewel, which was left for thee by thine uncle Wargs, and
+to give thee many a word of counsel. But do not speak about it to
+Gotho; do not make her heart heavy. If thou obeyest thine uncle's
+orders and my counsel, thou wilt become a mighty and joyous hero in
+King Totila's court. And then, but only then, thou shalt again see
+Gotho!"
+
+Very grave and pale, the youth followed his grandfather into the house.
+There, in the old man's chamber, they talked in low voices for a long
+time.
+
+At supper, Adalgoth was missing.
+
+He sent word to Gotho by their grandfather that he had gone to bed,
+being more tired than hungry.
+
+But at night, when Gotho slept, he went into her room on tiptoe. The
+moon threw a soft light upon her angel face.
+
+Adalgoth stopped upon the threshold, and only stretched out his right
+hand towards her.
+
+"I shall see thee again, my Gotho," he cried, and signed a farewell.
+
+Presently he crossed the threshold of the simple alpine cottage.
+
+The stars had scarcely begun to pale; fresh and exhilarating the
+night-wind blew from the mountains around his temples.
+
+He looked up at the silent sky.
+
+All at once a falling star shot in a bright semicircle over his head.
+It fell towards the south.
+
+The youth raised his shepherd's staff, and cried:
+
+"The stars beckon thither! Now beware, Cethegus the traitor!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+On seeing the disastrous result of the battle at the bridge across the
+Padus, the Prefect had sent messengers back to his troops and the armed
+citizens of Ravenna, who were following him, to order them to return at
+once to the latter city. He left the defeated troops of Demetrius to
+their fate.
+
+Totila had taken all the flags and field-badges of the twelve thousand,
+a thing which, as Procopius angrily writes, "never before happened to
+the Romans."
+
+Cethegus himself, with his small band of trusty adherents, hastened
+across the AEmilia to the west coast of Italy, which he reached at
+Populonium. There he went on board a swift ship of war, and, favoured
+by a strong breeze from the north-east (sent, as he said, by the
+ancient gods of Latium), sailed to the harbour of Rome--Portus.
+
+He could never have succeeded in reaching Rome by land, for, after
+Totila's victory, all Tuscany and Valeria fell to the Goths; the plains
+unconditionally, and also such cities as were held by weak Byzantine
+garrisons.
+
+Near Mucella, a day's march from Florence, the King once again
+vanquished a powerful army of Byzantines, under the command of eleven
+disunited leaders, who had gathered together the imperial garrisons of
+the Tuscan fortresses to block his way. The commander-in-chief of this
+army, Justinus, escaped to Florence with difficulty.
+
+The King treated his numerous prisoners with such lenity, that very
+many Italians and imperial mercenaries deserted their flag and joined
+the Gothic army.
+
+And now all the roads of Central Italy were covered by Goths and
+natives who hastened to join Totila on his march to Rome.
+
+Arrived at the latter city, Cethegus had at once taken the necessary
+measures for its defence.
+
+For Totila, after this new victory at Mucella, approached rapidly,
+scarcely detained by anything but the ovations made to him by the
+cities and castles on his way, which rivalled each other in opening
+wide their gates to the conqueror.
+
+The few forts which still resisted were invested by small divisions of
+Italians, kept in order by a few chosen Gothic troops. Totila was
+enabled to do this without weakening his army, as, during his march to
+Rome, his power was increased, like a river, by the inflowing of
+greater or smaller parties of Goths and Italians. Not only did the
+Italian peasants join him by thousands, but even the mercenaries of
+Belisarius, who for months had received no pay, now offered their
+weapons to the Goths, so that a few days after the arrival of the
+Prefect, Totila led a very considerable army before the walls of Rome.
+
+With loud hurrahs the troops in the Gothic encampment greeted the
+arrival of the brave Duke Guntharis, Wisand the bandalarius. Earl
+Markja, and old Grippa, whose release Totila had procured by exchanging
+them for the prisoners taken at the battle of the Padus.
+
+And now the almost impossible task was laid upon Cethegus of manning
+effectually his grandly-designed fortifications. The whole army of
+Belisarius was missing--besides the greater part of his own soldiers,
+who were slowly sailing to the harbour of Portcus from Ravenna.
+
+In order, even insufficiently, to defend the entire circle of the
+ramparts, Cethegus was obliged, not only to demand unusual and
+unexpected exertions from the Roman legionaries, but also to increase
+their numbers by despotic measures.
+
+From boys of sixteen years of age to old men of sixty, he called "all
+the sons of Romulus, Camillus, and Caesar to arms; to protect the
+sanctuary of their forefathers against the barbarians."
+
+But his appeal was scarcely read or propagated, and was responded to by
+very few volunteers; while he saw with mortification that the manifesto
+of the Gothic King, which was thrown every night over the walls in many
+places, was carried about and read by crowds; so that he angrily
+proclaimed that anyone found picking up, pasting on the walls, or
+reading this manifesto, or in any way facilitating its publication,
+would be punished by the confiscation of his property or the loss of
+his liberty.
+
+In spite of this, the manifesto still spread among the citizens, and
+the list of volunteers remained empty.
+
+He then sent his Isaurians into all the houses to drag boys and old men
+to the walls by force; and very soon he was more feared, and even
+hated, than beloved.
+
+His stern will, and the gradual arrival of his troops from Ravenna,
+alone checked the growing discontent of the Roman population.
+
+But in the Gothic camp messengers of good fortune overtook each other.
+
+Teja and Hildebrand had pursued the Byzantines to the gates of Ravenna.
+
+The defence of that city was conducted by Demetrius, one of the
+exchanged prisoners, and by Bloody Johannes; that of the harbour town
+of Classis by Constantianus against Hildebrand, who had won Ariminum in
+passing, for the citizens had disarmed the Armenian mercenaries of
+Artasires and opened the gates.
+
+Teja had beaten the troops of the Byzantine general Verus, who had
+defended the crossing of the Santernus; had killed the general with his
+own hand, and had then hastened through the whole of North Italy with
+the manifesto in his left hand, his sword in his right, and in a few
+weeks had won by force or by persuasion all towns and castles as far as
+Mediolanum.
+
+But Totila, taught by the experience of the first siege of Rome, would
+not expose his troops by attempting to storm the formidable defences of
+the Prefect, and also desired to spare his future capital.
+
+"I will get into Rome with linen wings, and on wooden bridges," he one
+day said to Duke Guntharis; left to him the investment of the city; and
+taking all his horsemen with him, marched for Neapolis.
+
+There in the harbour lay, very inefficiently manned, an imperial fleet.
+
+Totila's march upon the Appian Way through South Italy resembled a
+triumphal procession.
+
+Those districts which had suffered the longest under the yoke of the
+Byzantines were now most willing to greet the Goths as liberators.
+
+The maidens of Terracina went to meet the King of the Goths with
+wreaths of flowers.
+
+The people of Minturnae brought out a golden chariot, made the King
+descend from his white horse, and dragged him into the town in triumph.
+
+"Look! look!" was the cry in the streets of Casilinum--an ancient place
+once dedicated to the worship of the Campanian Diana--"Ph[oe]bus Apollo
+himself has descended from Olympus and comes as a saviour to the
+sanctuary of his sister!"
+
+The citizens of Capua begged him to impress the first gold coins of his
+reign with the inscription, "_Capua revindicata_."
+
+Thus it continued until he reached Neapolis; the very same road he had
+once passed as a wounded fugitive.
+
+The commander of the Armenian mercenaries in Neapolis, who had a very
+brave but small troop, did not dare to trust the fidelity of the
+population in case of a siege.
+
+He therefore led his lance-bearers and the armed citizens to meet the
+King outside the gates.
+
+But before the battle commenced, a man on a white horse rode out of the
+lines of Goths, took his helmet from his head, and cried:
+
+"Have you forgotten me, men of the Parthenopaeian city? I am Totila. You
+loved me when I was commander of your harbour. You shall bless me as
+your King. Do you not recollect how I saved in my ships your wives and
+children from the Huns of Belisarius? Listen. These very wives and
+children are again in my power; not as fugitives, but as prisoners. To
+protect them from the Byzantines (perhaps from me also), you sent them
+into the strong fortress of Cumae. But know that Cumae has surrendered,
+and all the fugitives are in my power. I have been advised to keep them
+as hostages in order to compel you to capitulate. But that is repugnant
+to my feelings. I have set them at liberty; the wives of the Roman
+senators I have sent to Rome. But your wives and children, men of
+Neapolis, I have brought with me; not as my hostages, not as my
+prisoners, but as my guests. Look how they stream out of my tents! Open
+your arms to receive them--they are free! Will you now fight against
+me? I cannot believe it! Who will be the first to aim at this breast?"
+and he opened wide his arms.
+
+"Hail to King Totila the Good!" was the universal acclamation.
+
+And the warm-hearted men threw down their weapons, rushed forward, and
+greeted with tears of joy their liberated wives and children, kissing
+the hem of Totila's mantle.
+
+The commander of the mercenaries rode up to him.
+
+"My lancers are surrounded and too weak to fight alone. Here, O King,
+is my sword. I am your prisoner."
+
+"Not so, brave Arsakide! Thou art unconquered--therefore no prisoner.
+Go with thy troop whither thou wilt."
+
+"I _am_ a prisoner, conquered by your magnanimity and the splendour of
+your eyes. Permit us henceforward to fight under your flag."
+
+In this manner a chosen troop, who stood by him faithfully, was won for
+Totila.
+
+Amid a shower of flowers he made his entry into Neapolis through Porta
+Nolana.
+
+Before Aratius, the admiral of the Byzantine fleets could raise the
+anchors of his war-ships, their crews were overpowered by the sailors
+of the many merchant vessels which lay near in the harbour, the masters
+of which were old admirers and thankful _proteges_ of Totila.
+
+Without shedding a drop of blood, the King had gained a fleet and the
+third city of importance in the kingdom.
+
+In the evenings during the banquet which the rejoicing inhabitants had
+prepared for him, Totila stole softly away.
+
+With surprise the Gothic sentinels saw their King, all alone, disappear
+into an old half-fallen tower, close to an ancient olive-tree by the
+Porta Capuana.
+
+The next day there appeared a decree of Totila which dispensed the
+women and girls of the Jews of Neapolis from a pole-tax which had,
+until now, been laid upon them; and which--they being forbidden to
+carry jewels in public--permitted them to wear a golden heart upon the
+bosom of their dress as a mark of distinction.
+
+In the neglected garden, where a tall stone cross and a deep-sunk grave
+were completely overgrown with wild ivy and moss, there presently arose
+a monument of the most beautiful black marble, with the simple
+inscription: "_Miriam from Valeria._"
+
+But there was no one living in Neapolis who understood its meaning.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+There now streamed into Neapolis ambassadors from Campania and Samnium,
+Bruttia and Lucania, Apulia and Calabria, who came to invite the Gothic
+King to enter their cities as a liberator.
+
+Even the important and strong fortress of Beneventum and the
+neighbouring forts of Asculum, Canusia, and Acheruntia surrendered at
+discretion.
+
+In these districts thousands of cases occurred in which the peasants
+were settled upon the lands of their former masters, who had fallen in
+battle, or had fled to Byzantium or to Rome.
+
+Besides Rome and Ravenna, there were now in the hands of the
+Byzantines, only Florentia, held by Justinus; Spoletium, whose joint
+governors were Bonus and Herodianus; and Perusia, under the Hun,
+Uldugant.
+
+In a few days the King, reinforced by many Italians from the south of
+the Peninsula, had new manned his conquered fleet, and left the harbour
+in full sail, while his horsemen marched by land on the Via Appia to
+the north.
+
+Rome was  the goal of both ships and horse; while Teja, having
+conquered all the country between Ravenna and the Tiber--Petra and
+Caesena fell without bloodshed--the AEmilia and both Tuscanies (the
+Annonarian and the Sub-urbicarian), marched with a third army on the
+Flaminian Way against the city of the Prefect.
+
+On hearing of these movements, Cethegus was obliged to acknowledge that
+the struggle would now begin in good earnest, and, like a dragon in his
+den, he determined to defend himself to the death.
+
+With a proud and contented look he viewed the ramparts and towers, and
+said to his brothers-in-arms, who were uneasy at the approach of the
+Goths:
+
+"Be comforted! Against these invincible walls they shall be broken to
+pieces for the second time!"
+
+But at heart he was not so easy as his words and looks would seem to
+indicate.
+
+Not that he ever repented his past deeds or thought his plans
+unachievable. But that when, after repeated reverses, he appeared to
+have arrived at the point of success, he should be as far off the goal
+as ever because of Totila's victories--this feeling had a great effect
+upon even _his_ iron nerves.
+
+"Water wears away a rock!" he said, when his friend Licinius once asked
+him why he looked so gloomy. "And besides, I cannot sleep as I used to
+do."
+
+"Since when?"
+
+"Since--Totila! That fair youth has stolen my slumbers!"
+
+Though the Prefect felt so secure and so superior to all his enemies
+and adversaries, Totila's bright and open nature, and his easily-won
+success, irritated him so much, that his coolness often melted in the
+heat of his passion; while Totila went to meet the universally feared
+foe with a sense of victory which nothing could disquiet.
+
+"He has luck, the downy-beard!" cried Cethegus, when he heard of the
+easy conquest of Neapolis. "He is as fortunate as Achilles and
+Alexander. But luckily such god-like youths never grow old! The soft
+gold of such natures is quickly worn out. We lumps of native iron last
+longer. I have seen the laurels and roses of the enthusiast, and it
+seems to me that I shall soon see his cypresses. It cannot be that I
+shall yield to this maiden soul! Fortune has borne him rapidly to a
+dizzy height; she will hurl him down as rapidly and dizzily. Will she
+first carry him over the ramparts of Rome?--Fly then, without effort,
+young Icarus, in the brightest sunshine. I, through blood and strife,
+step by step, climb up in the shade. But I shall stand on high when the
+treacherous and burning kiss of Fortune has melted the wax on thy bold
+wings. Thou wilt vanish beneath me like a falling star!"
+
+This, however, did not seem likely to happen soon.
+
+Cethegus awaited with impatience the arrival of a numerous fleet from
+Ravenna, which was to bring him the remainder of his troops, and all
+who could be spared of the legionaries and the troops of Demetrius, as
+well as a quantity of provisions.
+
+When these reinforcements had arrived, he would be able to relieve the
+grumbling Romans from their arduous duties.
+
+For weeks he had comforted the embittered inhabitants with the promise
+of this fleet.
+
+At last it was announced by a swift-sailer that the fleet had reached
+Ostia.
+
+Cethegus caused the news to be published in all the streets with a
+flourish of trumpets, and announced that at the next Ides of October,
+eight thousand citizens would be relieved from duty on the walls. He
+also caused double rations of wine to be distributed among the soldiers
+on the ramparts.
+
+When the Ides of October arrived, thick fog covered Ostia and the sea.
+
+The day after, a little sailing-boat flew from Ostia to Portus. The
+trembling crew announced that King Totila had attacked the Ravennese
+triremes with the fleet from Neapolis, under the protection of a thick
+fog. Of the eighty ships, twenty were burnt or sunk; the remaining
+sixty, with all their men and provisions, taken.
+
+Cethegus would not believe it.
+
+He hurried on board his own swift boat, the _Sagitta_, and flew down
+the Tiber.
+
+But with difficulty he escaped the boats of the King, who had already
+blockaded the harbour of Portus and sent small cruisers up the river.
+
+The Prefect now hastily caused a double river-bolt to be laid across
+the Tiber; the first consisting of masts; the second of iron chains
+placed an arrow's length farther up the river. The space between the
+two bolts was filled with a great number of small boats.
+
+Cethegus felt deeply the blow which had fallen upon him. Not only had
+his long-wished-for reinforcements fallen into the enemy's hand; not
+only was he obliged to lay still heavier burdens upon the Romans, who
+began to curse him, for now the river, too, had to be defended against
+the constant attempts of the Gothic ships to break through; but with a
+slight shudder of horror he saw approaching nearer and nearer the most
+terrible of all enemies--famine.
+
+The water-road, by which he, as formerly Belisarius, had received
+abundant provisions, was now blocked.
+
+Italy had no third fleet. That of Neapolis and that of Ravenna
+blockaded Rome under the Gothic flag.
+
+And now the horsemen which Marcus Licinius had sent on the Flaminian
+Way to reconnoitre and forage, came galloping back with the news that a
+strong army of Goths, under the dreaded Teja, was approaching at a
+quick step. The vanguard had already reached Reate.
+
+The day following Rome was also invested on the last side which had
+remained open--the north--and had nothing left to depend upon but its
+own citizens.
+
+And the latter were weak enough, however strong might be the Prefect's
+will and the walls of the city.
+
+Yet for weeks and months Cethegus's stern resolution sustained the
+despairing defenders against their will.
+
+At last the fall of the city, not by force, but by starvation, was
+expected daily.
+
+At this juncture an unexpected event occurred, which revived the hopes
+of the besieged, and put the genius and good fortune of the young King
+to a hard proof: for there once more appeared upon the scene of
+battle--Belisarius!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+When news arrived in the golden palace of the Caesars at Byzantium of
+the lost battles on the Padus and at Mucella; of the renewed siege of
+Rome, and the loss of Neapolis and almost all Italy, the Emperor
+Justinian, who had already imagined the West again united to the East,
+was awakened from his dream of triumph in a terrible manner.
+
+It was now easy for the friends of Belisarius to prove that the recall
+of that hero had been the origin of all these disasters.
+
+It was clear that as long as Belisarius had been in Italy victory had
+followed victory; and no sooner had he turned his back, than
+misfortunes crowded one upon the other.
+
+The Byzantine generals in Italy openly acknowledged that they could not
+replace Belisarius.
+
+"I am not able," wrote Demetrius from Ravenna, "to meet Totila
+in the open field. Scarcely am I able to defend this fortress in the
+marshes. Neapolis has fallen. Rome may surrender any day. Send us
+again the lion-hearted man, whom, in our vanity, we dreamed we could
+replace--the conqueror of the Vandals and the Goths."
+
+And Belisarius, although he had sworn never again to serve the
+ungrateful Emperor, forgot all his wrongs as soon as Justinian smiled
+upon him. And when, after the fall of Neapolis, he actually embraced
+him and called him "his faithful sword"--in truth, the Emperor had
+never believed in the general's rebellion, but was envious of his
+sovereign position--Belisarius could no longer be restrained by
+Antonina and Procopius.  As, however, the Emperor feared the expense of
+a second enterprise in Italy (besides that of the Persian wars, which
+Narses conducted successfully but expensively in Asia), avarice and
+ambition produced a struggle within him, which would, perhaps, have
+lasted longer than the resistance of Rome and Ravenna, had not Prince
+Germanus and Belisarius proposed an expedient. The noble Prince was
+impelled by the wish to revisit Ravenna and the tomb of Mataswintha,
+and to revenge her memory on the rude barbarians, for Cethegus had
+declared that the cause of the tragic end of this incomparable woman
+was that her mind had been disordered in consequence of her forced
+marriage with Witichis.
+
+Belisarius, on his side, could not endure that all his fame should be
+imperilled by Totila's success. "For," asked his enemies at court,
+"could he really have conquered a people who, within the year, had
+again almost made themselves masters of Italy?"
+
+He had given his word to annihilate the Goths, and he would keep it.
+
+So, influenced by these motives, Germanus and Belisarius proposed to
+conquer Italy for the Emperor at their own expense. The Prince offered
+his whole fortune for the equipment of a fleet; Belisarius all his
+lately reinforced body-guard and lance-bearers.
+
+"That is a proposition after Justinian's own heart!" cried Procopius,
+when informed of it by Belisarius. "Not a solidus out of his own
+pocket! And perhaps the laurels of fame and a province for this world,
+and the wholesale destruction of heretics to rejoice Heaven and
+Theodora! You may be sure that he will accept, and give you his
+fatherly benediction into the bargain. But nothing else. You,
+Belisarius, I know, can be as little kept back as Balan, your piebald,
+when he hears the call of the trumpet; but I will not see your
+lamentable fall."
+
+"Fall? Wherefore, Raven of Misfortune?"
+
+"This time you have both Goths and Italians against you. And you could
+not conquer the first when Italy was _for_ you."
+
+But Belisarius only reproached him with cowardice, and presently went
+to sea with Germanus.
+
+The Emperor, in fact, gave them nothing but his blessings and the great
+toe of the holy Mazaspes.
+
+The Byzantines in Italy breathed again when they heard that an imperial
+fleet had anchored off Salona, in Dalmatia, and that the army had
+landed.
+
+Even Cethegus, to whom the news was brought by spies, exclaimed with a
+sigh:
+
+"Better Belisarius in Rome than Totila!"
+
+And the King of the Goths was filled with anxiety. He determined first
+of all to discover the strength of the Byzantine army, in order to
+decide upon what course he would take. Perhaps it would be necessary to
+raise the siege of Rome, and advance to attack the army of relief.
+
+Belisarius sailed from Salona to Pola, where he mustered his ships and
+men. While there, two men came to him, who announced themselves to be
+Herulian mercenaries, therefore Goths, but speaking Latin well. They
+said that they had been sent by Bonus, one of the commanders of
+Spoletium.
+
+They had succeeded in passing the Gothic lines, and they pressed the
+commander-in-chief to come to the relief of that place. They begged for
+exact particulars as to the strength of his army and the number of his
+ships, in order to be able to revive the sinking courage of the
+besieged by trustworthy reports.
+
+"Well, my friends," said Belisarius, "you must perforce embellish your
+report; for the truth is, that the Emperor has left me entirely to my
+own resources."
+
+All the day long he showed these messengers his army and fleet.
+
+The night following the messengers had disappeared.
+
+They were Thorismuth and Aligern, who had been sent by King Totila, and
+now furnished him with the much-desired particulars.
+
+So, from the very beginning, fate was against Belisarius, and the whole
+course of this campaign was unworthy of the fame of that great general.
+
+It is true that he succeeded in running into the harbour of Ravenna,
+and providing that city with provisions.
+
+But, the very day that he arrived. Prince Germanus was attacked by a
+fatal malady while visiting the tomb of Mataswintha.
+
+She had been buried in the vault of the palace, near the graves of her
+brother and the young King Athalaric.
+
+Germanus died, and, according to his last wish, was buried beside the
+woman he had loved so truly.
+
+In a little niche in the same vault there reposed a heart which had
+ever beat warmly for Queen "Beautiful-hair."
+
+Aspa, the Numidian slave, would not outlive her beloved mistress.
+
+"In my home," she had said, "the virgins of the Goddess of the Sun
+often voluntarily leap into the flames which receive the Godhead.
+Aspa's goddess, the lovely, bright, and kind, has left her. Aspa will
+not live forlorn in the cold and darkness. She will follow her Sun."
+
+She had heaped up flowers in the death-chamber of her mistress--heaped
+them still higher than on the day when she had prepared the same small
+room for a bridal chamber--and had kindled unknown combustibles and
+African resin, the stupefying odours of which drove away all the other
+slaves. But Aspa had spent the night in the room.
+
+The next morning Syphax, attracted by the well-known but dangerous
+odour, which reminded him of his country's sacrificial customs, went
+softly into the room, which was as silent as the grave. At
+Mataswintha's feet, her head buried in flowers, he had found his
+Antelope--dead.
+
+"She died," he told Cethegus, "for love of her mistress. And now I have
+none left on earth but you."
+
+After the burial of Germanus, Belisarius left Ravenna with the whole
+fleet.
+
+But his very next undertaking, an attempt to surprise Pisaurum, was
+repulsed with great loss.
+
+And King Totila, now acquainted with the small number of Belisarius's
+troops, had sent skirmishers, under the command of Wisand, supported by
+a few ships of war, to take Firmum, which was situated on the same
+coast, almost under the generals very eyes.
+
+The Byzantines, Herodian and Bonus, surrendered Spoletium to Earl
+Grippa, after the lapse of thirty days, during which they had hoped for
+reinforcements from Belisarius in vain.
+
+In Assisium the commander of the garrison was a man of the name of
+Sisifrid, a Goth who had deserted in the days of the fall of Witichis.
+
+This man well knew what was in store for him, should he fall into
+Hildebrand's hands, who besieged the fort in person. Hatred of such
+treason had enticed the old man from the siege of Ravenna to complete
+this task of retribution.
+
+The Goth obstinately defended the town, but when, during a sally, the
+axe of the old master-at-arms sent him to the other world, the citizens
+obliged the Thracian garrison to yield. Many aristocratic Italians,
+members of the old Catacomb conspiracy, three hundred Illyrian
+horsemen, and some chosen body-guards of Belisarius, were taken
+prisoners.
+
+Immediately afterwards, Placentia, the last town in the AEmilia which
+was held by a Saracen garrison for the Emperor, was forced to
+capitulate to Earl Markja, who commanded the small army of investment.
+
+In Bruttia, the fortress of Ruscia, the most important harbour for
+Thurii, surrendered to the bold Aligern.
+
+Belisarius now despaired of reaching Rome by land. On hearing of the
+terrible distress of that city, he determined at once to attempt to
+relieve it by running the blockade of the Gothic fleet.
+
+But as he sailed round the south point of Calabria, off Hydrunt, a
+fearful storm dispersed his ships; he himself, with a few triremes, was
+driven southward as far as Sicily, and the greater part of his ships,
+which had taken refuge in a bay near Croton, were there surprised and
+taken by a Gothic squadron sent by the King from Rome, which had lain
+in ambush near Squillacium. These prizes proved to be an important
+addition to the Gothic fleet, for, as we shall see hereafter, the
+Goths, were thereby enabled to attack the Byzantines in their islands
+and coast-towns.
+
+After this blow, the forces of Belisarius, which had been weak from the
+very first, became completely powerless.
+
+Generalship and valour could not replace missing ships, warriors, and
+horses.
+
+The hope that the Italians, as in the first campaign, would revolt to
+the Emperor's commander-in-chief, proved vain.
+
+Thus the whole enterprise was a complete failure, as we are told by
+Procopius in unsparing words.
+
+The Emperor left all petitions for reinforcements unanswered. And when
+Antonina repeatedly begged for permission to return, the Empress sent
+the mocking reply, "that the Emperor dare not venture, for the second
+time, to interrupt the hero in the course of his victories."
+
+So, lying off Sicily, Belisarius spent a miserable time of doubt and
+helplessness.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+And meanwhile the suffering and exhaustion of the citizens in Rome
+reached its highest point.
+
+Hunger thinned the ranks, never very full, of the defenders on the
+walls.
+
+The Prefect in vain did his utmost. In vain he had recourse to all
+possible measures of persuasion or despotism.  In vain he lavishly
+opened his coffers to provide the means of existence for the people.
+
+For the stores of grain which he had procured from Sicily and garnered
+in the Capitol were exhausted.
+
+He promised incredible rewards to any boat which should succeed in
+running the blockade of the King's ships and bring provisions to the
+city; to every mercenary who ventured to creep through the gates and
+the tents of the besiegers and bring back food.
+
+But Totila's watchfulness was not to be deceived.
+
+At first the promised reward had tempted a few avaricious and daring
+men to venture out at night. But when Earl Teja, next morning, caused
+their heads to be thrown over the walls at the Flaminian Gate, even the
+most venturesome lost all desire to follow their example.
+
+The dung of animals was sold at a high price.
+
+Hungry women fought for the weeds and nettles which they found on the
+heaps of rubbish.
+
+Long since had hunger taught the populace to eat greedily unheard-of
+things.
+
+And countless deserters fled from the city to the Goths.
+
+Teja would have forced them to return, in order the sooner to oblige
+the city to surrender; but Totila gave orders that they should be
+received and fed, and that care should be taken that they did not
+injure themselves by the too sudden gratification of their ravenous
+appetites.
+
+Cethegus now spent his nights upon the walls. At various hours he
+himself, spear and shield in hand, went the round of the patrols, and
+sometimes took the place of a sentinel who was overcome with hunger or
+the want of sleep. His example certainly had the greatest effect on the
+brave. The two Licinii, Piso, and Salvius Julianus stood by the Prefect
+and his blindly-devoted Isaurians with enthusiasm.
+
+But not so all Romans; not Balbus, the gormandiser.
+
+"No, Piso," said Balbus one day, "I cannot endure it any longer. It is
+not in a man's power, at least not in mine. Holy Lucullus! who would
+have thought that I should ever give my last and largest diamonds for
+half a rock-marten!"
+
+"I remember the time," answered Piso, laughing, "when you would have
+put your cook in irons if he had let a lobster boil a minute too long."
+
+"A lobster! Mercy on us! How can you recall such a picture to my mind!
+I would give my immortal soul for one claw of a lobster, or even for
+the tail. And never to sleep one's fill! To be awakened, if not by
+hunger, by the trumpets of the patrol!"
+
+"Look at the Prefect! For the last fourteen days he has not slept
+fourteen hours. He lies upon his hard shield, and drinks rain-water out
+of his helmet."
+
+"The Prefect! He need not eat. He lives upon his pride, like the bear
+on his fat, and sucks his own gall. He is made of nothing but sinews
+and muscles, pride and hatred! But I--who had accumulated such soft
+white flesh, that the mice nibbled at me when I slept, thinking that I
+was a Spanish ham!--Do you know the latest news? A whole herd of fat
+oxen was driven into the Gothic camp this morning--all from Apulia;
+darlings of gods and men!"
+
+The next day early Piso, with Salvius Julianus, came to wake the
+Prefect, who had lain down on the wall by the Porta Portuensis, close
+to the most important point of defence, the bolt across the river.
+
+"Forgive me for disturbing your rare slumbers."
+
+"I was not asleep; I was awake. Tell me your news, tribune."
+
+"Last night Balbus deserted his post with twenty citizens. They let
+themselves down from the Porta Latina by ropes. Outside there had been
+heard all night long the lowing of Apulian herds. It seems that their
+bellowing was irresistible."
+
+But the smile of the satirist faded away when he looked at the
+Prefect's face.
+
+"Let a cross thirty feet high be erected before the house of Balbus in
+the Via Sacra. Every deserter who falls into our hands shall be
+crucified thereon."
+
+"General--Constantinus abolished the punishment of crucifixion in the
+name of our Saviour," said Salvius Julianus reprovingly.
+
+"Then I re-introduce the practice in honour of Rome. That Emperor no
+doubt held it to be impossible that a Roman noble and tribune could
+desert his post for the sake of roast meat."
+
+"I have other news. I can no longer set the watch on the tower of the
+Porta Pinciana. Of the sixteen mercenaries nine are either dead or
+sick."
+
+"Almost the same thing is reported by Marcus Licinius, at the Porta
+Tiburtina," said Julianus. "Who can ward off the danger which threatens
+us on all sides?"
+
+"I! and the courage of the Romans. Go! Let the heralds summon all the
+citizens, who may yet be in the houses, to the Forum Romanum."
+
+"Sir, there are only women, children, and sick people----"
+
+"Obey, tribune!"
+
+And with a dark expression on his face the Prefect descended from the
+walls, mounted his noble Spanish charger, and, followed by a troop of
+mounted Isaurians, made a long round through the city, everywhere
+assuring himself that the sentinels were on the alert, and examining
+the troops; thus giving the herald time to summon the people, and the
+latter to obey. He advanced, very slowly, along the right bank of the
+Tiber. A few ragged people crept out of their huts to stare in dull
+despair at the passing horsemen. Only at the Bridge of Cestius did the
+throng become thicker.
+
+Cethegus stopped his horse in order to muster the guard on the bridge.
+
+Suddenly, from the door of a low hut, there rushed a woman with
+dishevelled hair, holding a child in her arms. Another pulled at her
+ragged skirt.
+
+"Bread? bread?" she asked; "can stones be softened by tears until they
+become bread? Oh no! They remain as hard--as hard as that man. Look,
+children, that is the Prefect of Rome. He upon the black horse, with
+the crimson crest and the terrible eyes! But I fear him no longer.
+Look, children! that man forced your father to keep watch on the walls
+day and night, until he fell dead. Curses on the Prefect of Rome!"
+
+And she shook her fist at the immovable horseman.
+
+"Bread, mother! Give us something to eat," howled the children.
+
+"I have nothing more for you to eat, but plenty to drink! Come!"
+screamed the woman, and, clasping the elder child round the waist with
+her right arm, and pressing the younger more firmly to her bosom, she
+cast herself over the wall into the river.
+
+A cry of horror, followed by curses, ran through the crowd.
+
+"She was mad!" said the Prefect in a loud voice, and rode on.
+
+"No, she was the wisest of us all!" cried a voice from the crowd.
+
+"Silence! Legionaries, sound the trumpets! Forwards! To the Forum!"
+commanded Cethegus, and the troop of horsemen galloped away.
+
+Across the Fabrician Bridge and through the Carmentalian Gate, the
+Prefect arrived in the Forum Romanum at the foot of the Capitoline
+Hill.
+
+The wide space appeared almost empty; the few thousand people who, clad
+in miserable garments, crouched upon the steps of the temple and halls,
+or supported themselves on their staffs or spears, made little
+impression.
+
+"What does the Prefect want?"--"What can he want? we have nothing left
+but our lives."--"And those he will--" "Do you know that the day before
+yesterday the coast town Centumcellae surrendered to the Goths?"--"Yes;
+the citizens overpowered the Prefect's Isaurians and opened the
+gates."--"Would that we could follow their example!"--"We must do it
+soon, or it will be too late."--"Yesterday my brother fell down dead,
+some boiled nettles still in his mouth. He was too weak to swallow the
+mess."---"Yesterday in the Forum Boarium a mouse was sold for its
+weight in gold!"--"For a week I got roasted meat from a butcher--he
+would not sell the flesh raw."--"You were lucky! They storm all houses
+where they smell roast meat!"--"But the day before yesterday he was
+torn to pieces by the mob, for he had enticed beggar-children into his
+house--and that was the flesh he had sold us!"--"But do you know what
+the Gothic King does with his prisoners? He treats them as a father
+treats his helpless children; and most of them enter his army at
+once."--"Yes, and those who will not he provides with money for the
+journey."--"Yes, and with clothes and shoes and provisions. The
+sick and wounded are nursed."--"And he gives them guides to the
+coast towns."--"And sometimes he even pays for their passage in
+merchant-ships to the East."--"Look, the Prefect dismounts!"
+
+"He looks like Pluto!"
+
+"He is no longer Princeps Senatus, but Princeps Inferorum."
+
+"Look at his eyes! As cold as ice, and yet like red-hot arrows."
+
+"Yes, my godmother is right; she says that only those who have no heart
+can look like that."
+
+"That is an old tale. Spectres and Lemures have eaten his heart in the
+night."
+
+"Ah, bah! There are no Lemures. But there is a devil, for it says so in
+the Bible. And the Prefect has sold himself to the devil. The Numidian
+who is holding his black horse by the bridle is an imp from hell, who
+always accompanies him. Nothing can hurt the Prefect. He feels neither
+hunger nor thirst nor the want of sleep. But he can never smile, for he
+has sold his soul!"
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"The deacon of St. Paul's has explained it all. And it is a sin to
+serve such a man any longer. Did he not betray our Bishop, Silverius,
+to the Emperor, and send him over the sea in chains?"
+
+"And lately he accused sixty priests, Orthodox and Arian, of treason,
+and banished them from the city."
+
+"That is true!"
+
+"And he must have promised the devil that he would torment the Romans."
+
+"But we will endure it no longer. We are free! He himself has often
+told us so. I will ask him by what right----"
+
+But the bold speaker stopped short, for the Prefect glanced at the
+murmuring group as he mounted the rostrum.
+
+"Quirites," he began, "I call upon you all to become legionaries.
+Famine and treachery--a shameful thing to say of Romans!--have thinned
+the ranks of our defenders. Do you hear the sound of hammers? A
+crucifix is being erected to punish all deserters. Rome demands still
+greater sacrifices from her citizens, for _they_ have no choice. The
+citizens of other towns choose between surrender or destruction. We,
+who have grown up in the shadow of the Capitol, have no choice; for
+more than a thousand years of heroism sanctify this place. Here no
+coward thought dare arise. You cannot again endure to see the
+barbarians tie their horses to the columns of Trajan. We must make a
+last effort. The marrow of heroism ripens early in the descendants of
+Romulus and Caesar; and late is spent the strength of the men who drink
+of the waters of the Tiber. I call upon all boys from their twelfth,
+all men until their eightieth year, to help to man the walls. Silence!
+Do not murmur. I shall send my tribunes and the lance-bearers into
+every house--only to prevent boys of too tender years and too aged men
+from volunteering their services--then why do you murmur? Does any one
+know of something better? Let him speak out boldly; from this place,
+which I now vacate in his favour."
+
+At this, the group at which the Prefect looked became perfectly silent.
+
+But behind him, amid those whom his eye could not intimidate, there
+arose a threatening cry:
+
+"Bread!" "Surrender!" "Bread!"
+
+Cethegus turned.
+
+"Are you not ashamed? You, worthy of your great name, have borne so
+much, and now, when it is only necessary to hold out a little longer,
+you would succumb? In a few days Belisarius will bring relief."
+
+"You told us so seven times already!"
+
+"And after the seventh time Belisarius lost almost all his ships.
+
+"Which now aid in blocking our harbour!"
+
+"You should name a term; a limit to this misery. My heart bleeds for
+this people!"
+
+"Who are you?" the Prefect asked the invisible speaker of the last
+sentence; "you can be no Roman!"
+
+"I am Pelagius the deacon, a Christian and a priest of the Lord. And I
+fear not man but God. The King of the Goths, although a heretic, has
+promised to restore to the orthodox the churches of which his
+fellow-heretics, the Arians, have deprived them, in every town which
+surrenders. Three times already has he sent a herald to the citizens of
+Rome with the most lenient proposals--they have never been permitted to
+speak to us."
+
+"Be silent, priest! You have no fatherland but heaven; no people but
+the communion of saints; no army but that of the angels. Manage your
+heavenly kingdom, but leave to men the kingdom of the Romans."
+
+"But the man of God is right!"
+
+"Set us a term."
+
+"A short one!"
+
+"Till then we will still hold out."
+
+
+"But if it elapse without relief----"
+
+"Then we will surrender!"
+
+"We will open the gates."
+
+But Cethegus shunned this thought. Not having received news from the
+outer world for weeks, he had no idea when Belisarius could possibly
+arrive at the mouth of the Tiber.
+
+"What!" he cried. "Shall I fix a term during which you will remain
+Romans, and after which you will become cowards and slaves! Honour
+knows no term!"
+
+"You speak thus, because you do not believe in the reinforcements."
+
+"I speak thus, because I believe in _you_!"
+
+"But we will have a term. We are resolved. You speak of Roman freedom!
+Are we free, or are we bound to obey you like your slaves? We demand a
+term, and we will have it."
+
+"We will have it!" repeated a chorus of voices.
+
+Before Cethegus could reply, the sound of trumpets was heard from the
+south-eastern corner of the Forum.
+
+From the Via Sacra advanced a crowd of people, citizens and soldiers;
+in their midst were two horsemen in foreign armour.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Lucius Licinius galloped before them, sprang off his horse, and mounted
+the tribune.
+
+"A herald from the Goths! I arrived too late to prevent his entrance as
+usual. The famished legionaries at the Tiburtinian Gate opened it for
+him."
+
+
+"Down with him! He must not speak," cried the Prefect, rushing from the
+tribune and drawing his sword.
+
+But the people guessed his intentions. They surrounded the herald with
+cries of joy, protecting him from the Prefect.
+
+"Peace!"
+
+"Hail!"
+
+"Bread! Peace! Listen to the herald!"
+
+"No! do not listen to him!" thundered Cethegus. "Who is Prefect of
+Rome, he or I? Who defends this city? I, Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius;
+and I tell you, do not listen!"
+
+And he tried to make a way for himself.
+
+But, thick as a swarm of bees, women and old men threw themselves into
+his path, and the armed citizens surrounded the herald.
+
+"Speak, herald!" they cried; "what bring you?"
+
+"Peace and deliverance!" cried Thorismuth, and waved his white wand.
+"Totila, King of the Italians and the Goths, sends you greetings and
+demands a safe-conduct into the city, in order to tell you important
+news and to announce peace."
+
+"Hail to King Totila!"
+
+"We will hear him. He shall come!"
+
+Cethegus had hastily mounted his horse, and now ordered his trumpeters
+to blow a flourish.
+
+At this well-known sound, all became quiet.
+
+"Hear me, herald! I, the governor of this city, refuse a safe-conduct.
+I shall treat every Goth who enters this city as an enemy."
+
+But at these words a cry of rage burst from the multitude.
+
+"Cornelius Cethegus, are you our officer or our tyrant? We are free.
+You have often vaunted the majesty of the Roman people. And the Roman
+people command that the King shall be heard. Do we not, people of
+Rome?"
+
+"We do!"
+
+"It is according to law," growled the Quirites.
+
+"You have heard! Will you obey or defy the people of Rome?"
+
+Cethegus sheathed his sword.
+
+Thorismuth and his companion galloped off to fetch the King.
+
+The Prefect signed to the young tribunes to draw near him.
+
+"Lucius Licinius," he said, "go to the Capitol. Salvius Julianus, you
+will protect the lower river-bolt: the bolt of masts. Quintus Piso, you
+will defend the chain-bolt. Marcus Licinius, you shall keep the bulwark
+which protects the ascent to the Capitoline Hill and the way to my
+house. The mercenaries will follow me."
+
+"What do you intend to do, general?" asked Lucius Licinius, as he was
+preparing to obey the order.
+
+"Attack and destroy the barbarians."
+
+There were but fifty horsemen and about a hundred lance-bearers to
+follow the Prefect, when he had sent away the tribunes.
+
+Meanwhile the people had waited anxiously for the sound of the Gothic
+horns.
+
+At last they were heard, and presently there appeared Thorismuth and
+six horn-blowers; Wisand the bandalarius, carrying the royal blue
+banner of the Goths; the King, accompanied by Duke Guntharis and Earl
+Teja; and about ten other leaders, almost all without weapons; only
+Earl Teja displayed his broad and dreaded axe.
+
+As this procession was on the point of setting forth from the Gothic
+encampment, to ride through the Metronian Gate into the city, Duke
+Guntharis felt some one pull his mantle, and looking down, beheld a boy
+or youth, with short and curly brown hair and blue eyes, standing near
+his horse, with a shepherd's staff in his hand.
+
+"Art thou the King? No, thou art not he. And that, that is brave Teja,
+the Black Earl, as the songs call him!"
+
+"What wouldst thou with the King, boy?"
+
+"I would fight for him."
+
+"Thou art still too tender. Go, and return two summers hence. And,
+meanwhile, guard thy flocks."
+
+"I may be young, but I am no longer weak, and I have guarded the flock
+long enough. Ha! I see that that is the King!" and he went up to
+Totila, and bowed gracefully, saying:
+
+"By thy leave, O King!"
+
+And he caught the bridle of the horse to lead it, as if it were a
+matter of course.
+
+The King looked amused, and smiled at the boy.
+
+And the boy led his horse.
+
+But Guntharis thought: "I have seen that face before! But no, it is
+only a resemblance; yet such a resemblance I have never seen in my
+life. And how noble is the young shepherd's carriage!"
+
+"Hail to King Totila! Peace and salvation!" cried the people, as the
+Goths entered the city.
+
+But the young guide looked up into the King's shining countenance, and
+sang in a soft sweet voice:
+
+           "Cunning Cethegus:
+            Tricks will not serve thee!
+            Teja the terrible
+            Daunts thy defiance.
+            And brightly arises,
+            Like morning and May-time,
+            Like night from the darkness,
+            The favourite of heaven,
+            The bright, and the beautiful
+            King of the Goths!
+            To him are wide opened
+            All halls and all hearts;
+            To him, overpowered,
+            Yield Winter and Woe!"
+
+When the King entered the Forum, there fell a dead silence upon the
+people.
+
+But Cethegus, who had expected this, immediately took advantage of it.
+He urged his horse into the crowd and cried:
+
+"What would you, Goth, in this my city?"
+
+Totila cast one flaming look at him, and then turned away.
+
+"With _him_ I speak, for evermore, only with my sword! With him, the
+threefold liar and murderer! To _you_ I speak, unhappy and befooled
+inhabitants of Rome! Your sufferings wring my heart. I come to end your
+misery. I come without arms, for I am safer, trusting to the honour of
+Romans, than protected by sword and shield."
+
+He paused.
+
+Cethegus no more attempted to interrupt him.
+
+"Quirites," continued Totila, "you yourselves have truly acknowledged
+that I might long since have stormed your walls with my hosts. For now
+you have but stones, and no men to defend them. But if Rome were
+carried by storm, then Rome would burn; and I confess that I would
+rather never enter Rome, than enter to find it in ashes. I will not
+reproach you with the manner in which you have requited the kindness of
+Theodoric and the Goths. Have you forgotten the time when you coined
+your gold with the grateful inscription, 'Roma felix'? Truly you are
+punished enough; more heavily punished by hunger, pestilence, and the
+yoke of the Byzantines and that demon Cethegus, than by the severest
+penalty which we could have inflicted. More than eight thousand
+people--women and children not included--have perished. Your deserted
+houses fall into ruins; you greedily pluck the grass which grows in
+your temples; despair walks your streets with hollow eyes; famished
+mothers--Roman mothers--have devoured the flesh of their own children.
+Until this day, your resistance was heroic, although lamentable. But
+henceforward it is madness. Your last hope was placed in Belisarius.
+Then hear: Belisarius has sailed from Sicily to Byzantium. He has
+deserted you."
+
+Cethegus ordered the trumpets to be sounded, in order to drown the
+groans of the multitude.
+
+For some time it was all in vain, but at last the brazen tones
+conquered.
+
+When all was quiet the Prefect cried:
+
+"It is a lie! Do not believe such barefaced lies!"
+
+"Have the Goths, have I, ever lied to you, Romans? But you shall
+believe your own eyes and ears. Come forward, man, and speak. Do you
+know him?"
+
+A Byzantine in rich armour was led forward by the Gothic horsemen.
+
+"Konon!"
+
+"The navarchus of Belisarius!"
+
+"We know him!" cried the crowd.
+
+Cethegus turned pale.
+
+"Men of Rome," said the Byzantine, "Belisarius, the magister militum,
+has sent me to King Totila. I arrived in the camp to-day. Belisarius
+was obliged to return to Byzantium. On leaving Sicily, he recommended
+Rome and Italy to the well-known benevolence of King Totila. This was
+my message to him and to you."
+
+"If this be so," cried Cethegus, with a threatening voice, "then now is
+the day to prove whether you be Romans or bastards! Mark me well!
+Cethegus the Prefect will never, never surrender his Rome to the
+barbarians! Oh I think once more of the time when I was your all! When
+you exalted my name above those of the saints! Who has given you, for
+years, work, bread, and, what is more, weapons? Who protected
+you--Belisarius or Cethegus?--when these barbarians encamped by
+millions before your walls? Who saved Rome, with his heart's blood,
+from King Witichis? For the last time I call you to the combat! Do you
+hear me, grandchildren of Camillus? As he once, solely by the might of
+the Roman sword, swept the Gauls, who had already taken the city, away
+from the Capitol, so will I sweep away these Goths! Follow me! We will
+sally forth and let the world see what is possible to Roman valour when
+led by Cethegus and despair. Choose!"
+
+"Aye, choose!" cried Totila, raising himself in his stirrups. "Choose
+between certain destruction or certain freedom. If you once more follow
+this madman, I can no longer protect you. Listen to Earl Teja, who
+stands at my right hand. You know him, I think. I can no longer protect
+you."
+
+"No," cried Teja, raising his mighty axe, "then, by the God of Hate, no
+more mercy! If you refuse this last offer, not a life will be spared
+within these walls. I, and a thousand others, have sworn it!"
+
+"I offer you complete immunity, and will prove a mild and just king to
+you. Ask Neapolis what I am! Choose between me and the Prefect!"
+
+"Hail to King Totila! Death to the Prefect!" was the unanimous
+acclamation.
+
+And, as if at a signal, the women and children, with uplifted hands,
+threw themselves on their knees; while all the armed inhabitants raised
+their weapons threateningly, and many a spear was hurled at the
+Prefect. They were the very weapons which he himself had given to the
+people.
+
+"They are dogs--no Romans!" exclaimed Cethegus, with disdainful fury,
+and turned his horse. "To the Capitol!"
+
+And his horse, with a sudden leap, cleared the row of kneeling and
+screaming women. Through a shower of darts which the Romans now sent
+after him galloped the Prefect, riding down the few who had courage
+enough to try to stop him.
+
+His crimson crest soon disappeared in the distance.
+
+His companions galloped swiftly after him. The lance-bearers on foot
+retreated in good order, now and then turning and levelling their
+spears. Thus they reached the lofty bulwark which, held by Marcus
+Licinius, protected the ascent to the Capitol, and the way to the
+Prefect's house.
+
+"What next? Shall we pursue?" the citizens asked the King.
+
+"No--stay. Let all the gates be opened. Wagons laden with meat, bread,
+and wine stand ready in the camp. Let them be brought into all parts of
+the city. Feed the people of Rome for three whole days. My Goths shall
+keep watch to prevent excess."
+
+"And the Prefect?" asked Duke Guntharis.
+
+"Cornelius Cethegus, the ex-Prefect of Rome, will not escape the
+vengeance of God," cried Totila, turning away.
+
+"And not mine!" cried the shepherd-boy.
+
+"And not mine!" said Teja, and galloped after the King.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Most of the quarters of the city of Rome had now fallen into the hands
+of the enemy.
+
+Cethegus was in possession of that part of the city which extended on
+the right bank of the Tiber from the Mausoleum of Hadrian in the north
+to the Porta Portuensis in the south, near which were situated the two
+bolts across the river.
+
+On the left bank the Prefect held only the small but dominating quarter
+west of the Forum Romanum, of which the Capitol formed the centre. This
+quarter was enclosed by walls and high bulwarks which stretched from
+the shore of the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, and round
+the hill eastwards, to the Forum of Trajan in the north; while at the
+back and westwards from the Capitol, they passed between the Circus
+Flaminius and the Theatre of Marcellus (abandoning the first and
+enclosing the last), and ended at the Fabrician Bridge and the Island
+of the Tiber.
+
+The King had left the Forum, and the rest of the day was spent by the
+inhabitants of the city in feasting and rejoicing.
+
+The King caused eighty wagons, each drawn by four oxen, to be drawn up
+in all the principal squares and places of those parts of the city
+which had surrendered. And round about these wagons, upon the pavement
+or upon speedily-erected wooden benches, lay the famishing population,
+raising their voices in thanks to God, the saints, and the "good King."
+
+The Prefect had at once closed all the gates which led from those parts
+of the city occupied by the Goths into _his_ Rome; particularly the
+approaches from the Forum Romanum to the Capitol, and the Flumentanian,
+Carmentalian and Ratumenian Gates. He caused them all to be barricaded,
+and divided the few soldiers he had at his command among the most
+important points of defence.
+
+He held much about the same part of Rome as he had before occupied
+under and against Belisarius.
+
+"Salvius Julianus must have another hundred Isaurians to protect the
+bolt of masts on the river," he commanded. "The Abasgian bowmen must
+hasten to join Piso at the bolt of chains. Marcus Licinius will remain
+on the bulwark of the Forum."
+
+But now Lucius Licinius announced that the rest of the legionaries, who
+had not been present at the scene on the Forum, because they had been
+on duty in the now barricaded portion of the city, were become very
+unruly.
+
+"Ah," cried Cethegus, "the odour of the roast meat for which their
+comrades sold their honour, tickles their nostrils! I come."
+
+And he rode up to the Capitol, where the legionaries, about five
+hundred men, were standing in their ranks with a very gloomy and
+threatening aspect.
+
+Looking at them with a searching eye, Cethegus slowly rode along their
+front.
+
+At last he spoke.
+
+"For you I had reserved the fame of having defended the Lares and
+Penates of the Capitol against the barbarians. I hear, indeed, that you
+prefer the joints of beef below there. But I will not believe it. You
+will not desert the man who, after centuries of helplessness, has again
+taught the Romans how to fight and conquer. Whoever will stand by
+Cethegus and the Capitol--let him raise his sword."
+
+But not a blade was seen.
+
+"Hunger is a more powerful god than the Capitoline Jupiter," said
+Cethegus contemptuously.
+
+A centurion stepped forward.
+
+"It is not that, Prefect of Rome. But we will not fight against our
+fathers and brothers who are on the side of the Goths."
+
+"I ought to keep you as hostages for your fathers and brothers, and
+when they storm the bulwarks, throw to them your heads! But I fear it
+would not stop them in their enthusiasm, which comes from their
+stomachs! Go--you are not worthy to save Rome! Open the gate, Licinius.
+Let them turn their backs upon the Capitol and honour!"
+
+And the legionaries marched away, all but about a hundred men, who
+stood still irresolutely, leaning on their spears.
+
+"Well, what do you want?" cried Cethegus, riding up to them.
+
+"To die with you, Prefect of Rome!" cried one of them.
+
+And the others repeated: "To die with you!"
+
+"I thank you! Do you see, Licinius, a hundred Romans! Are they not
+enough to found a new Roman Empire?--I will give you the post of
+honour; you shall defend the bulwark to which I have given the name of
+Julius Caesar."
+
+He sprang from his horse, threw the bridle to Syphax, called his
+tribunes together, and spoke:
+
+"Now listen to my plan."
+
+"You have a plan already?"
+
+"Yes. We will attack! If I know these barbarians, we are safe for
+to-night from any assault. They have won three quarters of the city.
+Before they think of the last quarter, their victory must be celebrated
+in a hundred thousand tipsy bouts. At midnight the whole company of
+yellow-haired heroes and drinkers will be immersed in feasting, wine,
+and sleep; and the hungry Quirites will not be behindhand in excess.
+Look! How they feast and sing below there--crowned with flowers! And
+very few barbarians have yet entered the city. That is our hope of
+victory. At midnight we will sally forth from all our gates--they will
+not dream of an attack from such a minority--and slay them in their
+revels."
+
+"Your plan is bold," said Lucius Licinius. "And if we fall, the Capitol
+will be our tombstone!"
+
+"You learn from me words as well as sword-strokes," said Cethegus,
+smiling. "My plan is desperate, but it is the only one now possible. Is
+the watch set? I will go home and sleep for a couple of hours. No one
+must rouse me before that time. In two hours come and wake me."
+
+"You can sleep at such a moment, general?"
+
+"Yes; I _must_. And I hope I shall sleep soundly. I must have time to
+collect myself--I have just yielded the Forum Romanum to the barbarian
+King! It was too much! I need time to recover myself. Syphax, I asked
+yesterday if no more wine was to be had on the right bank of the
+Tiber?"
+
+"I have been to seek some. There is yet a little in the temple of your
+God; but the priests say that it is dedicated to the service of the
+altar."
+
+"That will not have spoiled it! Go, Lucius, and take it from the
+priests. Divide it amongst the hundred men on the bulwark of Caesar. It
+is the only thing that I can give them to show my gratitude."
+
+Followed by Syphax, Cethegus now rode slowly home.
+
+He stopped at the principal entrance to his house.
+
+In answer to the call of Syphax, Thrax, a groom, opened the gate.
+
+Cethegus dismounted and stroked the neck of his noble charger.
+
+"Our next ride will be a sharp one, my Pluto--to victory or in flight!
+Thrax, give him the white bread which was reserved for me."
+
+The horse was led into the stables near at hand. The stalls were empty.
+Pluto shared the spacious building only with the brown horse belonging
+to Syphax. All the Prefect's other horses had been slaughtered and
+devoured by the mercenaries.
+
+The master of the house passed through the splendid vestibule and
+atrium into the library.
+
+The old ostiarius and secretary, the slave Fidus, who was past carrying
+a spear, the only domestic in the house. All the slaves and freedmen
+were upon the walls--either living or dead.
+
+"Reach me the roll of Plutarch's Caesar, and the large goblet set with
+amethysts--it scarcely needed their decoration--full of spring water."
+
+The Prefect stayed in the library for some time. The old servant had
+lighted the lamp, filled with costly oil of spikenard, as he had been
+accustomed to do in times of peace.
+
+Cethegus cast a long look at the numerous busts, Hermes, and statues,
+which cast sharp shadows along the exquisite mosaic pavement.
+
+There, upon pedestals or brackets, on which were inscribed their names,
+stood small marble busts of almost all the heroes of Rome, from the
+mythic Kings to the long rows of Consuls and Caesars, ended by Trajan,
+Hadrian, and Constantine.
+
+The ancestors of the "Cethegi" formed a numerous group.
+
+An empty niche already contained the pedestal upon which his bust would
+one day stand--the last on that side of the room, for he was the last
+of his house.
+
+But on another side there was a whole row of arches and empty niches,
+destined for future scions of the family, not by marriage, but by
+adoption, should the name of Cethegus be continued into more fortunate
+generations.
+
+As Cethegus walked slowly past the rows of busts, he chanced to look at
+the niche destined to contain his own, and, to his astonishment, saw
+that it was not empty.
+
+"What is that?" he asked. "Lift up the lamp, secretary. Whose is that
+bust standing in my place?"
+
+"Forgive, master! The pedestal of that bust, one of the ancients,
+needed reparation. I was obliged to remove it, and I placed it in the
+empty niche to keep it from harm."
+
+"Show a light. Still higher. Who can it be?"
+
+And Cethegus read the short inscription upon the bust: "Tarquinius
+Superbus, tyrant of Rome, died in exile; banished from the city by the
+inhabitants on account of his monstrous despotism. A warning to future
+generations."
+
+Cethegus, in his youth, had himself composed this inscription.
+
+He took the bust away, and placed it on one side.
+
+"Away with the omen!" he cried.
+
+Lost in thought, he entered his study.
+
+He leaned his helm, shield, and sword against the couch. The slave
+kindled the lamp which stood on the tortoise-shell table, brought the
+goblet and the roll of papyrus, and left the room.
+
+Cethegus took up the roll.
+
+But he soon laid it down again. His forced composure could not last; it
+was too unnatural. In the Roman Forum the Quirites drank with the
+barbarians to the health of the King of the Goths and the ruin of the
+Prefect of Rome, the Princeps Senatus! In two hours he was about to
+attempt to wrest the city from the Goths. He could not fill up the
+short pause with the perusal of a biography which he almost knew by
+heart.
+
+He drank thirstily of the water in the goblet.
+
+Then he threw himself upon his couch.
+
+"Was it an omen?" he asked himself. "But there are no omens for
+those who do not believe in them. 'This is the only omen: to fight for
+the fatherland,' says Homer. Truly, I fight not alone for my native
+land; I fight still more for myself. But have not to-day's events
+disgracefully proved that Rome is Cethegus, and Cethegus is Rome? These
+name-forgetting Romans do not make Rome. The Rome of to-day is far more
+Cethegus than the Rome of old was Caesar. Was not he, too, a tyrant in
+the eyes of fools?"
+
+He rose uneasily, and went up to the colossal statue of his great
+ancestor.
+
+"God-like Julius! If I could pray, I would pray now to thee! Help me!
+Complete the work of thy grandchild. How hard have I striven since the
+day when the idea of the renewal of thy empire was born within my
+brain--born full-armed, like Pallas Athene from the head of Jupiter!
+How have I fought, mentally and physically, by day and by night! And
+though thrown to the ground seven times by the superior force of two
+peoples, seven times have I again struggled to my feet, unconquered and
+unintimidated! A year ago my goal seemed near--so near; and now, this
+very night, I must fight this fair youth for Rome and for my life! Can
+it be that I must succumb after such deeds and such exertions? Succumb
+to the good fortune of a youth! Is it, then, impossible for thy
+descendant to stand alone for his nation, until he renew both it and
+himself? Is it impossible to conquer the barbarians and the Greeks? Can
+not I, Cethegus, stop the wheel of Fate and roll it backward? Must I
+fail because I stand alone--a general without an army, a king without a
+nation to support him? Must I yield thy and my Rome? I cannot, will not
+think so! Did not thy star fade shortly before Pharsalus? and didst
+thou not swim over the Nile to save thy life, bleeding from a hundred
+wounds? And yet thou hast succeeded. Again thou hast entered Rome in
+triumph. It will not go more hardly with thy descendant. No; I will not
+lose my Rome! I will not lose my house, and this thy God-like image,
+which has often, like the crucifix of the Christian, filled me with
+hope and comfort. As a pledge of my success, to thee I will entrust a
+treasure. Where can anything on earth be safe if not with thee? In an
+hour of despondency, I was about to give this treasure to Syphax to
+bury in the earth. But if I lose Rome and this house, this sanctuary, I
+will lose all. Who can decipher these hieroglyphics? As thou hast kept
+the letters and the diary, so shalt thou keep this treasure also."
+
+So saying, he drew from the bosom of his tunic, beneath his shirt of
+mail, a rather large leather bag, filled with costly pearls and
+precious stones, and touched a spring on the left side of the statue,
+below the edge of its shield.
+
+A small opening was revealed, out of which he took an oblong casket of
+beautifully-carved ivory, provided with a golden lock. The casket
+contained all sorts of writings and rolls of papyrus. He now added the
+bag.
+
+"Here, great ancestor, guard my secrets and my treasure. With whom
+should they be safe, if not with thee?"
+
+He touched the spring again, and the statue looked as perfect as
+before.
+
+"Beneath thy shield, upon thy heart! As a pledge that I trust in thee
+and my good fortune as thy descendant! As a pledge that nothing shall
+force me away from thee and Rome--at least for any length of time. If I
+_must_ go--I will return again. And who will seek my secret in the
+marble Caesar?"
+
+If the water in the amethyst cup had been the strongest wine, it could
+not have had a more intoxicating effect than this soliloquy or dialogue
+with the colossal statue which Cethegus worshipped like a god.
+
+The unnatural strain upon all his mental and physical powers during the
+last few weeks; the unsuccessful attempt to persuade the people on the
+Forum; the conception of a new and desperate plan as soon as he had
+been defeated in the first, and the consuming anxiety with which he
+awaited its execution, had excited and exhausted the iron nerves of the
+Prefect to the utmost.
+
+He thought, spoke, and acted as if in a high fever.
+
+Tired out, he threw himself upon his couch at the foot of the statue;
+and suddenly sleep overcame him.
+
+But it was not the sound sleep which, until now, he had been able to
+command at will, even after some criminal act or before a dangerous
+enterprise: the result of a strong constitution which was superior to
+all excitement.
+
+For the first time his slumber was uneasy, disturbed by changeful
+dreams, which, like the fancies of a delirious man, chased each other
+through his brain.
+
+At last the visions of the dreamer took a more concrete form.
+
+He saw the statue at the feet of which he lay, grow and grow. The
+majestic head rose higher and higher, and passed through the roof of
+the house. With its crown of laurel it at last penetrated the clouds,
+and towered into the starry heavens.
+
+"Take me with thee!" sighed Cethegus.
+
+But the demigod replied:
+
+"I can scarcely see thee from this height. Thou art too small! Thou
+canst not follow me."
+
+And it seemed to Cethegus that a thunderbolt fell and shattered the
+roof of his house. With a crash the beams fell upon him, burying him
+under the ruins. The statue of Caesar also broke and fell.
+
+And crash after crash echoed through the place.
+
+Cethegus woke, sprang up, and looked around in bewilderment.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The sound continued.
+
+It was real--no dream! Blow after blow fell thundering against the door
+of his house.
+
+Cethegus caught up his helm and sword.
+
+At that moment Syphax and Lucius rushed into the room.
+
+"Up, general!"
+
+"Up, Cethegus!"
+
+"Two hours cannot yet have passed. Why have you awakened me?"
+
+"The Goths! They have been beforehand with us! They storm the
+bulwarks!"
+
+"Damn them! Where do they storm?"
+
+Cethegus had already reached the door of the room.
+
+"Where does the King attack?"
+
+"At the bolts on the river. He has sent fire-ships up the stream.
+Floats with heavy towers on deck, full of resin, pitch, and sulphur.
+The first bolt of masts and all the boats between are in flames!
+Salvius Julianus is wounded and taken prisoner. There! you can see the
+reflection of the flames in the south-east!"
+
+"The bolt of chains--does it hold?"
+
+"It holds still. But if it break--"
+
+"Then I, as once before, am the bolt of Rome! Forward!"
+
+Syphax led up the snorting horses.
+
+Cethegus swung himself into the saddle.
+
+"Away! Where is your brother Marcus?"
+
+"At the bulwark by the Forum."
+
+As Cethegus and Lucius were galloping off, they were met by a mass of
+mercenaries, Isaurians and Abasgians, who fled from the river.
+
+"Fly!" they cried. "Save the Prefect!"
+
+"Where is Cethegus?"
+
+"Here--to save you! Turn back. To the river!"
+
+He galloped on. The reflection of the burning masts plainly showed the
+way. Arrived at the river bank, Cethegus dismounted. Syphax placed his
+horse out of harm's way in an empty storehouse.
+
+"Torches!" cried Cethegus. "Into the boats! There lie a dozen ready.
+Bowmen, into the boats! Follow me! Lucius, go into the second boat. Row
+up to the chain. Place yourselves close to it. Whatever comes up the
+river--shoot! They cannot land below the bolt, the walls are too high
+and descend straight into the water. They _must_ come up here to the
+chain!"
+
+Already a few boats, filled with Goths, had ventured too near. Some
+caught fire at the burning masts; others were upset in the crush and
+confusion. One, which had approached within half an arrow's length of
+the chain, drove helplessly down the stream again: all the crew had
+been killed by the arrows of the Abasgians.
+
+"Do you see! There goes a boat of corpses! Resist to the last man.
+Nothing is lost! Bring torches and firebrands! Kindle the wharf there!
+Fire against fire!"
+
+"Look there, master!" cried Syphax, who never left the Prefect's side.
+
+"Aye, now comes the struggle!"
+
+It was a splendid sight.
+
+The Goths had seen that the bolt of chains could never be forced by
+small boats, so they had hewn away so much of the burning bolt of masts
+that a space was left in the middle just broad enough to permit the
+passage of a ship of war.
+
+But to try to pass up the river, exposed to the arrows of the
+Abasgians, between the flaming ends of the masts, and propelled only by
+their oars, might be more dangerous for the large vessel than for the
+"boat of corpses."
+
+The Goths hesitated and stopped just before the burning beams.
+
+But suddenly there arose a strong breeze from the south, rippling the
+surface of the water.
+
+"Do you feel the wind? It is the breath of the God of Victory! Set the
+sails! Now follow me, my Goths!" cried a joyful voice.
+
+The sails were set, and the wings of the royal galley, the "Wild Swan,"
+spread wide to the breeze.
+
+It was a magnificent spectacle as the great vessel, all its canvas
+spread, and urged by a hundred oarsmen, came majestically up the river,
+illuminated by the terrible light from the burning masts and boats.
+
+With irresistible force the noble galley sailed up the stream.
+
+On both sides of the upper deck, high above the heads of the oarsmen on
+the lower deck, kneeled close rows of Gothic warriors, their shields
+forming a brazen roof to protect them from the arrows of the foe.
+
+Upon the bows of the ship an immense figure of a swan lifted high its
+snowy wings.
+
+Between these wings, upon the back of the swan, stood King Totila, his
+sword in his right hand.
+
+"Forward!" he cried. "Pull, my men, with all your might! Be ready,
+Goths!"
+
+Cethegus recognised the youth's tall figure. He even recognised the
+voice.
+
+"Let the galley approach quite close. When within twenty feet, shoot!
+Not yet!--Now! now shoot!"
+
+"Crouch close, Goths!" cried Totila.
+
+A hail of arrows fell over the galley. But they rebounded from a roof
+of shields.
+
+"Damn them!" cried Piso, behind the Prefect. "They intend to break the
+chain with the force of the shock. And they will surely do it, even if
+every man on deck should fall! The oarsmen we cannot reach, and the
+south wind cannot be wounded!"
+
+"Fire the sails! fire the ship! Bring firebrands!" cried Cethegus.
+
+Ever nearer rustled the threatening "Swan."
+
+
+Ever nearer approached the ruinous shock against the tightly-stretched
+chains.
+
+Firebrands were hurled at the galley.
+
+One flew into the sail of the main-mast, burnt quickly up, and then
+died out.
+
+A second--Cethegus himself had hurled it--passed close to the golden
+locks of the King. It fell near him. He had not remarked it; but a
+shepherd-boy, who carried no weapon but a shepherd's staff, ran up and
+trampled it out.
+
+The other brands rebounded from the shields and fell hissing into the
+river.
+
+And now the prow of the galley was only eight feet from the chain.
+
+The Romans trembled in expectation of the shock.
+
+Cethegus stepped to the bow of his boat, balancing and aiming his heavy
+spear.
+
+"Mark!" he said; "as soon as the King falls, be quick with more
+firebrands."
+
+Never had the practised soldier aimed better. Drawing back his spear
+once more, he launched it at the King with all the force lent to his
+arm by hatred.
+
+His followers waited breathlessly. But the King did not fall. He had
+caught sight of Cethegus while aiming; at the same moment he threw down
+his long and narrow shield and awaited the flying shaft with his left
+arm drawn back.
+
+Whistling came the spear straight at the spot where the King's bare
+neck showed above his breastplate.
+
+When within a few inches of his throat, the King caught the shaft with
+his left hand and immediately hurled it back at the Prefect, wounding
+him on the left arm just above his shield.
+
+Cethegus fell on his knee.
+
+At the same instant the galley struck the chain. It burst. The Roman
+boats which lay near, including that of Cethegus, were upset; and most
+of them drove masterless down the river.
+
+"Victory!" shouted Totila. "Yield, mercenaries!"
+
+Cethegus, bleeding, swam to the left bank of the river. He saw how the
+Gothic galley lowered two boats, into one of which sprang the King.
+
+He saw how a whole flotilla of large vessels, which had sailed up in
+the wake of the King's galley, now broke through the boats of his
+bowmen, and landed troops on both sides of the river.
+
+He saw how his Abasgians--neither armed nor in the mood for a
+hand-to-hand fight--surrendered themselves by companies to the Goths.
+
+He saw how a rain of arrows from the royal galley fell upon the
+defenders on the left bank.
+
+He saw how the little boat, in which stood the King, now approached the
+place where he himself stood, dripping with water.
+
+He had lost his helmet in the river, his shield he had thrown away, in
+order the more speedily to gain the land.
+
+He was on the point of attacking the King, who had just landed, with
+his sword alone, when a Gothic arrow grazed his neck.
+
+"Well hit, Haduswinth?" cried a young voice; "better than at the
+Mausoleum!"
+
+"Bravo, Gunthamund!"
+
+Cethegus tottered.
+
+Syphax caught his arm.
+
+At the same moment a hand was laid on his shoulder. He recognised
+Marcus Licinius.
+
+"You here! Where are your men?"
+
+"Dead!" said Marcus. "The hundred Romans fell on the bulwark. Teja, the
+terrible Teja, stormed it. The half of your Isaurians fell on the way
+to the Capitol. The rest still keep the doors, and the half-bulwark in
+front of your house. I can no more. Teja's axe penetrated through my
+shield and entered my ribs. Farewell, O great Cethegus! Save the
+Capitol. But--look there! Teja is quick!"
+
+And he fell to the ground.
+
+From the Capitoline Hill flames rose high into the night.
+
+"There is nothing more to be done here," the Prefect said with
+difficulty, for he was losing blood fast and becoming rapidly weak. "I
+will save the Capitol! To you, Piso, I leave the barbarian King. Once
+before you have wounded a Gothic King upon the threshold of Rome. Now
+wound a second, but this time mortally! You, Lucius, will revenge your
+brother. Do not follow me!"
+
+As he spoke he cast one more furious glance at the King, at whose feet
+kneeled his Abasgians, and sighed deeply.
+
+"You tremble, master!" said Syphax sadly.
+
+"_Rome_ trembles!" cried Cethegus. "To the Capitol!"
+
+Lucius Licinius pressed the hand of his dying brother.
+
+"I shall follow him notwithstanding," he said, "for he is wounded."
+
+
+While Cethegus, Syphax, and Lucius Licinius disappeared in the
+distance, Piso crouched behind the columns of a Basilica close to which
+the street led upwards from the river.
+
+Meanwhile the King had placed the Abasgians under the guard of his
+soldiers. He went a few steps up the bank of the river and pointed with
+his sword to the flames which arose from the Capitol.
+
+Then he turned to the Goths who were landing.
+
+"Forward!" he cried. "Make haste! The flames up there must be
+extinguished. The fight is over. Now, Goths, protect and preserve Rome,
+for it is yours!"
+
+Piso took advantage of the moment.
+
+"Apollo!" he exclaimed; "if ever my satires hit their mark, help now my
+sword!"
+
+And he sprang from behind the column towards the King, who stood with
+his back turned to him. But before he could deal a blow, he let his
+sword fell with a loud cry. A sturdy stroke from a stick had lamed his
+hand.
+
+Immediately a young shepherd sprang upon him and pulled him to the
+ground, kneeling on his breast.
+
+"Yield, thou Roman wolf!" cried a clear boyish voice.
+
+"Ah! Piso.... the poet He is thy prisoner, boy," said the King, who now
+turned. "He shall ransom himself with a goodly sum. But who art thou,
+young shepherd?"
+
+"He is the saviour of your life, sire," interposed old Haduswinth. "We
+saw the Roman rush at you, but we were too far off to call or help you.
+We owe your life to this boy."
+
+"What is thy name, young hero?"
+
+"Adalgoth."
+
+"And what wouldst thou here?"
+
+"Cethegus, the traitor, the Prefect of Rome! where is he, King? Pray
+tell me. I was sent to the boats. I heard that he would oppose thy
+attack here."
+
+"He was here. He has fled; most likely to his house."
+
+"Wouldst thou overcome that King of Hell with this stick?" asked
+Haduswinth.
+
+"No," cried the boy; "I have now a sword."
+
+And he took up his prisoner's sword, which was lying on the ground;
+brandished it over his head and rushed away.
+
+Totila gave Piso in charge to the Goths, who had now landed in great
+numbers.
+
+"Hasten!" he cried again. "Save the Capitol, which the Romans are
+destroying!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Meanwhile the Prefect had left the river and gone in the direction of
+the Capitol.
+
+He passed the Porta Trigemina and arrived at the Forum Boarium.
+
+Before the Temple of Janus he met with a crowd of people by which he
+was detained for a short time.
+
+In spite of his wound he had made such haste that Lucius and Syphax
+could scarcely follow. They had repeatedly lost sight of him. Only now
+did they overtake him.
+
+He now tried to go through the Porta Carmentalis, and thus gain the
+back of the Capitol.
+
+But he found the gate already occupied by numerous Goths. Amongst them
+was Wachis. He recognised the Prefect from a distance.
+
+"Revenge for Rauthgundis!" he cried.
+
+A heavy stone struck the Prefect's helmless head. He turned and fled.
+
+He now remembered that there was a sinking of the wall not far from the
+gate. He determined to climb it at that place.
+
+As he neared it, the flames from the Capitol again shot high into the
+air.
+
+Three men sprang over the wall just in front of him. They were
+Isaurians. They recognised him.
+
+"Fly, general! The Capitol is lost! Teja, the black Gothic devil!"
+
+"Did he--did Teja kindle the fire?"
+
+"No; we ourselves set a wooden bulwark, which the barbarians had taken,
+on fire. The Goths do all they can to extinguish the flames."
+
+"The barbarians save the Capitol!" said Cethegus bitterly, and
+supported himself upon a spear which was handed to him by one of the
+mercenaries.
+
+"I must get to my house."
+
+And he turned to the right, the shortest way to the principal entrance
+to his house.
+
+"O master, that way is dangerous!" cried one of the Isaurians. "The
+Goths will soon be there. I heard the Black Earl ask repeatedly after
+you. He was seeking you everywhere upon the Capitol. He will now seek
+you in your house."
+
+"I _must_ once more go to my house!"
+
+But he had scarcely gone a few steps, when a troop of Goths and Romans,
+carrying torches and firebrands, came towards him from the city.
+
+The foremost, who were Romans, recognised him.
+
+"The Prefect!"
+
+"The destroyer of Rome!"
+
+"He has set the Capitol on fire! Down with him!"
+
+Arrows, stones, and spears were hurled at Cethegus. One of his
+Isaurians fell; the others took to their heels.
+
+Cethegus was hit by an arrow; it penetrated slightly into his left
+shoulder. He tore it out.
+
+"A Roman arrow, with my own stamp!" he cried with a terrible laugh.
+
+With difficulty he gained a dark side-street.
+
+Before his House there was a crowd of soldiers, trying in vain to break
+open the principal door.
+
+Cethegus heard the uproar, and well understood the cries of rage with
+which the soldiers accompanied their ineffectual exertions.
+
+"The door is strong," he said to himself. "Before they force an
+entrance, I shall be again out of the house."
+
+He hurried to the back of the house. He pressed a secret spring which
+opened the door of the court, entered, and, leaving the door open
+behind him, hurried in.
+
+Hark! a stroke--very different from all which had gone
+before--thundered against the front door of the house.
+
+"That is a battle-axe!" thought Cethegus. "That is Teja?"
+
+He hastened to a small gap in the wall, which afforded an outlook into
+the main street. It was Teja. His long black locks waved about his bare
+head; in his left hand he carried a firebrand; in his right the dreaded
+battle-axe. He was covered with blood.
+
+"Cethegus!" he shouted at every stroke of his axe. "Cornelius Cethegus
+Caesarius, where art thou? I sought thee in the Capitol, Prefect of
+Rome! Where art thou? Must I seek thee upon thy hearth?"
+
+Cethegus, listening, heard hasty steps behind him.
+
+Syphax had reached the court, and had followed his master through the
+open door. He now caught sight of him.
+
+"O master, fly! I will protect thy threshold with my body."
+
+And he hastened past Cethegus, through a suite of apartments to the
+front door.
+
+Cethegus turned to the right. He could hardly keep himself upright. He
+managed to reach the "Hall of Jupiter." Here he sank to the ground. But
+the next moment he again sprang to his feet, for a fearful noise was
+heard from the front door.
+
+At last it was broken in.
+
+With a thundering crash it fell inwards, and Teja entered the dwelling
+of his enemy.
+
+Upon the threshold, with a leap like that of a panther, the Moor sprang
+upon him, grasping his throat and raising a dagger in his hand.
+
+But the Goth let fall his axe, seized him in his right hand, and, like
+a stone from a sling, the Moor flew sideways through the door and
+rolled down the steps into the street.
+
+"Where art thou, Cethegus?" again sounded the voice of Teja, coming
+nearer and nearer, from the vestibule and the atrium.
+
+Some doors, which had been bolted by the secretary, Fidus, were forced
+one after the other by Teja's axe.
+
+With difficulty Cethegus dragged himself to the middle of the Hall of
+Jupiter. He still hoped to be able to reach the study and take the
+writings and treasure out of the statue of Caesar.
+
+He heard the crash of another falling door, and the voice of Teja now
+sounded from the study.
+
+He heard how the soldiers, who had pressed forward after Teja into the
+library, were demolishing the statues and busts of his ancestors.
+
+"Where is thy master, old man?" asked Teja's voice.
+
+The slave had taken refuge in the study.
+
+"I know not, by my soul!"
+
+"Not even here! Cethegus! coward! Where hidest thou?"
+
+It was now evident that the soldiers had also entered the study.
+
+Cethegus could no longer stand upright.
+
+He leaned against the marble statue of Jupiter, from which the hall
+took its name.
+
+"What shall be done with this house?" he heard some one ask.
+
+"It shall be burned!" cried Teja.
+
+"The King has forbidden that," answered the voice of Thorismuth.
+
+"Yes; but I have begged this house from the King. It shall be razed to
+the ground! Down with the temple of that devil! Down with the holiest
+of holies--this idol!"
+
+A fearful blow resounded.
+
+With a crash the Caesar statue fell in fragments to the ground.
+
+Gold, jewels, and rolls of papyrus covered the floor.
+
+"Ah! the barbarian!" cried Cethegus, forgetting himself, and he was
+about to rush into the study with his drawn sword, when he fell
+senseless at the foot of the statue of Jupiter.
+
+"Hark! What was that?" cried a boyish voice.
+
+"The voice of the Prefect!" exclaimed Teja, and opening the door which
+led from the study into the hall, he sprang forward, swinging his
+battle-axe.
+
+But the hall was empty.
+
+A pool of blood lay at the feet of the Jupiter, and a broad track of
+the crimson fluid led to the window which opened into the inner court.
+
+The court was empty.
+
+But some Goths who entered it found the little door closed from
+outside; the key was still in the lock on the side of the street.
+
+When they had forced this door--some of them had also gone round from
+the front of the house--and had searched the side-street and the
+dwellings in it, they only found the Prefect's sword, which was
+recognised by Fidus, the secretary.
+
+With a gloomy look Teja took it up, and returned into the study.
+
+"Take up carefully all that was concealed in the Prefect's idol,
+particularly the writings, and carry everything to the King. Where is
+the King?"
+
+"When he left the Capitol, he, with all the Romans and Goths, went into
+the sanctuary of St. Peter, to attend a service of thanksgiving."
+
+"'Tis well. Go to him in the church and give him everything. Also the
+sword of the fugitive. Tell him that Teja sends it."
+
+"Thy order shall be obeyed," said Thorismuth. "But thou--wilt thou not
+go with us to the church?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Where wilt thou spend this night of victory, when all the others are
+giving thanks?"
+
+"I will spend it in the ruins of this house!"
+
+And he thrust the firebrand into the purple cushions of the Prefect's
+couch.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         BOOK V.--_Continued_.
+
+                                TOTILA.
+
+"Happy are we that this sunny youth still lives!"--_Margrave Ruediger
+of Bechelaren_, Act i., Scene i.
+
+
+
+                                PART II.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+Thenceforth King Totila held his court in Rome with much splendour and
+rejoicing.
+
+The heaviest task of all the war seemed to be completed.
+
+After the fall of Rome, most of the small forts on the coast and in the
+Apennines opened their gates; very few remained to be taken by siege.
+
+For this purpose the King sent forth his generals, Teja, Guntharis,
+Grippa, Markja, and Aligern; while he himself undertook the difficult
+political task of reducing to order the kingdom so long disturbed by
+war or rebellion. He had, indeed, almost to refound it.
+
+He sent his dukes and earls into the towns and districts to carry out
+his intentions in all departments of the state; particularly to protect
+the Italians from the vengeance of the victorious Goths. He had
+published from the Capitol a general amnesty; excluding only one
+person: the ex-Prefect, Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius.
+
+Everywhere he caused the destroyed churches, both Catholic and Arian,
+to be restored; everywhere the landed property was settled, the taxes
+newly-laid and diminished.
+
+The beneficial results of all this care were not long in making
+themselves felt.
+
+Even when Totila had first assumed the crown and issued his manifesto,
+had the Italians resumed the long-neglected cultivation of the land.
+The Gothic soldiers were directed to refrain from disturbing this
+important work, and to do all in their power to prevent any such
+disturbance on the part of the Byzantines.
+
+And a wonderful fertility of the soil, a harvest of grain, wine, and
+oil, such as had not been seen for ages, seemed to prove that the
+blessing of Heaven had fallen upon the young King.
+
+The news of the taking of Neapolis and Rome spread rapidly through the
+Eastern Empire, where it was received with great astonishment, for all
+there had long since considered the Gothic kingdom to be extinct.
+
+Merchants who had been tempted by the strong and just government, the
+security of the high-roads and of the sea--which were severally
+protected by patrols of soldiers and watchful squadrons of Gothic
+ships--to revisit the deserted towns and harbours of the peninsula,
+praised the justice and benevolence of the royal youth, and told of the
+flourishing state of his kingdom, and of the brilliancy of his court at
+Rome, where he gathered about him the senators who had repented of
+their rebellion, and gave to the populace liberal alms and splendid
+games in the Circus.
+
+The Kings of the Franks acknowledged this change of circumstances. They
+sent presents--Totila rejected them; they sent ambassadors--Totila
+would not receive them.
+
+The King of the Ostrogoths frankly offered an alliance against
+Byzantium and the hand of his daughter. The Avarian and Slavonian
+marauders on the eastern frontier were punished. With the exception of
+the few fortresses which were still in a state of siege--Ravenna,
+Perusium, and a few small castles--the whole country enjoyed as perfect
+peace as in Theodoric's most glorious days.
+
+At the same time, the King was wise enough to be moderate. He
+acknowledged, in spite of his victories, the danger-fraught superiority
+of the East, and earnestly sought to make peace with the Emperor.
+
+He resolved to send an embassy to Byzantium, to offer peace on the
+basis of a full acknowledgment of the Gothic rule in Italy. He would
+renounce all claim to Sicily--where not a Goth was now dwelling (the
+Gothic settlements on that island had never been very numerous); he
+would also resign those parts of Dalmatia now occupied by the
+Byzantines. On his side the Emperor should immediately evacuate
+Ravenna, which no perseverance or stratagem on the part of the Gothic
+besiegers had been able to reduce.
+
+As the person most qualified to undertake this mission of peace and
+reconciliation, the King thought of a man who was distinguished by
+worth and dignity, by his love for Italy and the Goths, and who was
+renowned, even in the East, for his wisdom--the venerable Cassiodorus.
+
+Although the pious old man had withdrawn from all affairs of state for
+many years, the young King succeeded in persuading him to leave the
+peaceful quiet of his lonely cloister, and brave the troubles and
+dangers of a journey to Byzantium in order to perform this noble and
+pious work.
+
+But it was impossible to lay upon the old man the whole burden of such
+an embassy, and the King now sought for a younger and stronger man to
+accompany him. A man of similar benevolent and Christian feeling--a
+second apostle of peace.
+
+A few weeks after the conquest of Rome, a royal messenger carried the
+following letter over the Cottian Alps into Provence:
+
+
+"To Julius Manilius Montanus, Totila, who is called the King of the
+Goths.
+
+"Come, my beloved friend, return to my heart! Years have passed; much
+blood has been shed, and many tears have fallen. More than once,
+terribly or fortunately, has everything changed around me since I
+pressed your hand for the last time. Everything around me has changed,
+but I remain the same. All is as it was between you and me. I still
+revere the idols at whose shrines we worshipped together in the first
+dreams of our youth, but growing experience has ennobled these idols.
+When sin, treachery, and all dark powers raged upon Italian soil, you
+abandoned it. See, they have disappeared, like moisture in the sun and
+wind. The conquered demons growl in the distance, and a rainbow
+stretches its brilliant arch over this my beloved kingdom. When nobler
+souls unhappily succumbed. Heaven preserved me to see the end of the
+fearful storm and to sow the seeds of a new time. Come now, my Julius;
+help me to carry out those dreams at which you so often smiled,
+thinking them _mere_ dreams. Help me to create a new people of Goths
+and Italians, which will unite the advantages and exclude the
+weaknesses of both nations. Help me to found a realm of justice and of
+peace, of freedom and of beauty, ennobled by Italian grace, and
+strengthened by Gothic endurance. You, my Julius, have built a cloister
+for the Church--help me to build a temple for humanity. I am lonely,
+friend, at the summit of fortune. Lonely my bride awaits the full
+completion of my vow. The war has robbed me of my devoted brother. Will
+you not come, my Dioscuros? In two months I shall expect you at Taginae
+with Valeria."
+
+
+Julius read; and with emotion said to himself: "My friend, I come!"
+
+
+Before King Totila left Rome for Taginae, he resolved to pay an old debt
+of gratitude, and to give a worthy, that is a beautiful, form to an old
+connection that, until now, had not satisfied the desire for harmony
+which possessed his soul--his connection with the first hero of his
+nation, with Teja.
+
+They had been friends from their earliest boyhood. Although Teja was
+several years older, he had always perceived and honoured the depth of
+the younger man's nature under the brilliant husk of his joyous
+temperament. And a common inclination to enthusiasm and idealism,
+besides a certain pride and magnanimity, had drawn them early together.
+Later, however, their opposite fates had caused their originally very
+different natures to deviate more and more.
+
+The sunny brightness of the one seemed to contrast with the austerity
+of the other with painful brilliancy. And Totila, after repeated and
+impetuous attempts to dispel the gloom of his silent friend--the cause
+of which he did not know, and the nature of which he did not
+understand--had at last, attributing it to a morbid mind, withdrawn to
+a distance.
+
+The milder, though grave and softer influence of Julius, and his
+passion for Valeria, gradually estranged Totila from the friend of his
+boyhood.
+
+But the experience of late years, the sufferings and dangers he had
+endured since the death of Valerius and Miriam, the burning of
+Neapolis, the distress of Rome, the crimes committed at Ravenna and
+Castra Nova, and lately the cares and duties of royalty, had so
+completely matured the impatient and joyous youth, that he was now able
+to do full justice to his gloomy friend.
+
+And what had not this friend accomplished since the night when they had
+sworn brotherhood!
+
+When the others had become paralysed by suffering; when Hildebrand's
+impatience, Totila's enthusiasm, and the quiet steadfastness of
+Witichis, even old Hildebrand's icy fortitude, had wavered--Teja had
+never sighed, but always acted; never hoped, but always dared!
+
+At Regeta, before Rome, after the fall of Ravenna, and again before
+Rome--what had he not accomplished! What did not the kingdom owe to his
+efforts! And he would receive no thanks.
+
+When Witichis had offered him the dignity of a duke, gold, and land, he
+had rejected the offer as an offence.
+
+Lonely, silent, and melancholy, he walked through the streets of Rome,
+the last shadow in the light of Totila's presence. He stood next to the
+King's throne, with his black eyes ever lowered to the ground. He stole
+away without a word from the royal table. He never laid aside his
+armour or weapons.
+
+Only when in action did he sometimes laugh; when, with contempt of
+death, or the temerity which courts it, he sprang amid the spears of
+the Byzantines--then only did he seem to feel at ease, then all his
+being was life, movement, and fire.
+
+It was known to all the nation--and Totila specially had known it from
+his boyhood--that this melancholy hero possessed the gift of song.
+
+But since his return from captivity in Greece, no one had ever been
+able to persuade him to sing one of his glowing and inspiring songs;
+and yet every one knew that his little triangular harp was his constant
+companion in war or peace, inseparable as his sword. At the moment of
+attack he was sometimes heard to sing wild snatches of song to the
+measure of the Gothic horns. And whoever followed him into the
+wilderness of white marble and green bushes, among the old Roman ruins,
+where he was fond of passing his nights, might sometimes hear him play
+some long-forgotten melody, accompanying it with dreamy words. But if
+any one--which was seldom the case--ventured to ask what he wanted, he
+turned silently away.
+
+Once, after the taking of Rome, he replied to a similar question put by
+Guntharis, by the words, "The head of the Prefect!"
+
+The only person whose company he affected was Adalgoth, to whom he had
+lately attached himself.
+
+The young shepherd had been raised to the office of herald and
+cup-bearer to the King, as a reward for his bold act at the storming of
+the Tiber shore.
+
+He had brought with him, though little schooled, a decided gift for
+song. Teja was pleased with his genius; and it was reported that he
+secretly taught him his superior art, though they suited each other as
+little as night and morning.
+
+"It is just on that account," said Teja, when his brave cousin Aligern
+once remarked this to him, "something must be left when the night
+sinks."
+
+The King felt that the only thing that could be offered to this man was
+in _his_ power to offer--neither gold, nor land, nor dignities.
+
+One night King Totila came to where the two bards were sitting. He
+followed the sounds which, arising at irregular intervals from a grove
+of cypresses, and interrupted by half-sung, half-spoken words, were
+borne to his ear by the night wind. Unnoticed and unbetrayed by the
+soft moonlight, Totila reached the avenue of half-wild laurels and
+cypresses which led into the centre of the garden.
+
+But now Teja heard the approaching footsteps, and laid aside his harp.
+
+"It is the King," he said; "I recognise his step. What seekest thou
+here, my King?"
+
+"I seek thee, Teja," answered Totila.
+
+Teja sprang from his seat upon a fallen column.
+
+"Then we must fight!" he exclaimed.
+
+"No," said Totila; "but I deserve this reproach."
+
+He took Teja's hand, and affectionately drew him down to his former
+seat, placing himself at his side.
+
+"I did not seek thy sword, Teja; I sought thyself. I need thee; not
+thine arm, but thy heart. No, Adalgoth; do not go. Thou mayst see--and
+I wish thee to see--how every one must love this proud man, the 'Black
+Earl.'"
+
+"I knew it," said Adalgoth, "ever since I first saw him. He is like a
+dark forest, through the branches of whose lofty trees blows a
+mysterious breach, full of terror and charm."
+
+Teja fixed his large and melancholy eyes upon the King.
+
+"My friend," began Totila, "the gracious God of Heaven has endowed me
+richly. I have won back a kingdom which was half-lost; shall I not be
+able to win back the half-lost heart of a friend? And it was to this
+friend's efforts that most of my success was owing; he must now help me
+to regain my friend. What has estranged thee from me? Forgive me if I,
+or my good fortune, has offended thee. I know to whom I owe my crown;
+but I cannot wear it with gladness if only thy sword and not thy heart
+be mine. We were once friends, Teja; oh! let us be so again, for I miss
+thee sorely!"
+
+And he would have embraced Teja, but the latter caught both his hands
+and pressed them to his heart.
+
+"This evening's walk honours thee more than thy victorious march
+through Italy! The tear which I see glittering in thine eye is worth
+more than the richest pearl upon thy crown. Forgive thou me; I have
+been unjust. The gifts of fortune and thy careless joy have not
+corrupted thy heart. I have never been angered against thee; I have
+ever loved thee, and it was with sorrow that I saw our paths in life
+diverge; for, in truth, thou art more congenial to me, nearer than thou
+ever wert to the brave Witichis, or even to thine own brother."
+
+"Yes," said Adalgoth; "you two complete each other like light and
+shade."
+
+"Our natures are, indeed, equally emotional and fiery," said the King.
+
+"If Witichis and Hildebad," continued Teja, "went the straight way with
+a steady pace, we two were borne, by our impatient enthusiasm, as if on
+wings. And being so congenial, though so different, it pains me that,
+in thy sunny bliss, thou seemest to think that any one who cannot laugh
+like thee is a sick fool! Oh, my King and friend! whoever has once
+experienced certain trials and woes, and conceived certain thoughts,
+has for ever lost the sweet art of laughter!"
+
+Totila, filled with a deep sense of Teja's worth, answered:
+
+"Whoever has fulfilled life's noblest duties with a heroism equal to
+thine, my Teja, may be pitied, but not blamed, if he proudly scorns
+life's light pleasures."
+
+"And thou couldst think that I was envious of thy good fortune or thy
+cheerful humour? O Totila! it is not with envy, but with deep, deep
+sadness that I observe thee and thy hopefulness. As a child may excite
+our sadness who believes that sunshine, spring-time, and life endure
+for ever; who knows neither night, winter, nor death! Thou trustest
+that success and happiness will be the reward of the cheerful-hearted;
+but I for ever hear the flapping of the wings of Fate, who, deaf and
+merciless to curses, prayers, or thanks, sweeps high above the heads of
+poor mortals and their futile works."
+
+He ceased, and looked out into the darkness, as if he saw the shadow of
+the coming future.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the young cup-bearer, "that reminds me of an old adage
+which Iffa sang in the mountain, and which means something like that;
+he had learnt it from Uncle Wargs:
+
+                "'Good fortune or bad
+                  Is not the world's aim;
+                  That is but vain folly,
+                  Imagined by men.
+                  On the earth is fulfilled
+                  A Will everlasting.
+                  Obedience, defiance--
+                  They serve it alike.'
+
+"But," he continued thoughtfully, "if, with all our exertions, we can
+never alter the inevitable, why do we move our hands at all? Why do we
+not wait for what shall come in dull inaction? In what lies the
+difference between hero and coward?"
+
+"It does not lie in victory, my Adalgoth, but in the kind of strife or
+endurance! Not justice, but necessity decides the fate of nations.
+Often enough has the better man, the nobler race, succumbed to the
+meaner. 'Tis true that generosity and nobility of mind are in
+themselves a power. But they are not always able to defy other and
+ignoble powers. Noble-mindedness, generosity, and heroism can always
+consecrate and glorify a downfall, but not always prevent it. And the
+only comfort we have is, that it is not _what_ we endure, but _how_ we
+endure it, that honours us the most; it is often not the victor, but
+the conquered hero, who deserves the crown of laurels."
+
+The King looked meditatively at the ground, leaning on his sword.
+
+"How much thou must have suffered, friend," he then said warmly,
+"before thou couldst embrace such a dark error! Thou hast lost thy God
+in heaven! For me, that would be worse than to lose the sun in the
+sky--I should feel as if blinded. I could not breathe if I could not
+believe in a just God, who looks down from His heavenly throne upon the
+deeds of men, and makes the good cause to triumph!"
+
+"And King Witichis?" asked Teja; "what evil had he done? that man
+without spot or blemish! And I myself, and----"
+
+He suddenly became silent.
+
+"Thy life has been a mystery to me since our early youth----"
+
+"Enough for the present," said Teja. "I have this evening revealed more
+of my inmost heart than in many a long year. The time will surely come
+when I may unfold to thee my life and my thoughts. I should not like,"
+he continued, turning to Adalgoth, and stroking his shining locks, "to
+dim too soon the bright harp-strings of the youngest and best singer of
+our nation."
+
+"As thou wilt," said the King, rising. "To me thy sorrow is sacred.
+But, I pray thee, let us cherish our refound friendship. To-morrow I go
+to Taginae, to my bride. Accompany me--that is, if it does not pain thee
+to see me happy with a Roman woman."
+
+"Oh no--it touches me--it reminds me of---- I will go with thee!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Soon after this conversation, the King, Earl Teja, Adalgoth, and a
+numerous suite, arrived at the small town of Taginae, above which, on a
+precipitous and thickly-wooded height, stood the cloister founded by
+Valerius, in which Valeria still continued to reside.
+
+For her the place had lost all its terrors. She had become used to it,
+not only physically but morally. Slowly but surely, her reluctant soul
+was influenced by the grave authority of the sacred precincts.
+
+The King met her in the cloister garden, and it seemed to him that her
+complexion was much paler, her step slower, than usual.
+
+"What ails you, Valeria?" he asked tenderly. "When our vow seemed past
+fulfilment, you were still full of hope and courage. Now, when your
+lover wears the crown of this realm, and the foot of the enemy treads
+the sacred soil of Italia in scarcely more than one city, will you sink
+and despair?"
+
+"Not despair, friend," said Valeria gravely, "but renounce. No, no!
+be patient and hear me. Why do you hide from me what all Italia
+knows--what your people wish? The King of the Ostrogoths at Toletum has
+offered you his alliance against Byzantium, and the hand of his
+daughter. Your people expect and wish you to accept both these offers.
+I will not be more selfish than was that high-minded daughter of your
+nation, Rauthgundis, of whom your minstrels already sing. And I know
+that you are as capable of sacrifice as the simple-minded man who was
+your unfortunate King."
+
+"I hope that I should be so, if necessary. But happily there is no need
+of sacrifice. I do not want the help of the Ostrogoth. Look around, or
+rather, look beyond these convent walls. Never has the kingdom
+flourished as it does now. Once again I will offer to make peace with
+the Emperor. If he still refuse, a war will break out such as he has
+never seen. Ravenna will soon fell. Truly, my power and my courage are
+not reduced to the point of renunciation! The air of this cloister has
+at length enervated your steadfast mind. You must leave this place.
+Choose the most lovely of all Italian cities for your residence. Let us
+rebuild your father's house in Neapolis."
+
+"No. Leave me here. I have learned to love this quiet place."
+
+"It is the quiet of the grave! And you know well that to renounce you
+would be to renounce the ideal of my life. You are the living symbol
+of all my plans; you are to me Italia herself! You must become
+mine--wholly, irrevocably mine. Goths and Italians shall take their
+King and Queen for a pattern; they shall become as united and happy as
+we. No--no objections--no more doubts! Thus I smother them!" and he
+passionately embraced her.
+
+
+A few days later Julius Montanus arrived, coming from Genoa and
+Urbinum.
+
+The King and his retinue went to meet him outside the cloister gates.
+
+The two friends embraced each other tenderly; for some time they were
+incapable of speaking.
+
+Teja stood near and gravely observed them.
+
+"Sir," whispered Adalgoth, "who is the man with the deep-set eyes? a
+monk?"
+
+"In his heart he is; but not outwardly."
+
+"Such a young man with such an old look! Dost thou know whom he
+resembles? That picture in the cloisters on the golden background."
+
+"It is true; he is like that gentle and sorrowful head of the Apostle
+John."
+
+"Your letter," Julius said to Totila, "found me already resolved to
+come here."
+
+"You were about to seek me--or Valeria?"
+
+"No, Totila. I came to be examined and accepted by Cassiodorus.
+Benedict of Nursia, who fills our century with the fame of his
+miracles, has founded an order which powerfully attracts me."
+
+"Julius, you must not do that! What spirit of flying from the world has
+seized upon my companions? Valeria, you, and Teja!"
+
+"I fly from nothing," said Julius, "not even from the world."
+
+"How," continued the King, taking his friend by the arm, and leading
+him towards the cloister, "how come you, in the bloom of your manhood,
+to think of this moral suicide? Look, there comes Valeria. She must
+help me to convince you. Ah, if you had ever loved, you would not turn
+your back upon the world."
+
+Julius smiled, but made no reply. He quietly clasped Valeria's offered
+hand, and followed her into the cloister, where Cassiodorus came to
+meet them.
+
+Thanks to the King's eloquence, he was able to induce his friend to
+promise that he would accompany the aged Cassiodorus to Byzantium in a
+few days. Julius at first shunned the glitter, the noise, and the
+wickedness of the Emperor's court, until at last Cassiodorus' example
+and Totila's persuasions overcame his scruples.
+
+"I think," the King said, "that more pious works can be accomplished in
+the world than in the cloister. _This_ embassy is such a pious work; a
+work which is to save two nations from the horrors of renewed warfare."
+
+"Certainly," said Julius, "a king and a hero can serve God as well as a
+monk. I do not blame your manner of service--leave mine to me. It seems
+to me that in the time in which we live, when an ancient world is
+sinking amid much terror, and a new one arises amid wild storms; when
+all the vices of a degenerated heathenism are mixed with the wildness
+of a barbarous race; when luxury, brute force, and the lusts of the
+flesh fill East and West, I think it is well done to found a sanctuary
+apart from the world, where poverty, purity, and humble-mindedness can
+dwell in peace."
+
+"But to me," said Totila, "it seems that splendour, the happiness of
+honest love, and cheerful pride, are no sin before the God of Heaven!
+What thinkest thou of our dispute, friend Teja?"
+
+"It has no meaning for me," answered Teja quietly, "for your God is not
+my God. But let us not speak of that, for here comes Valeria."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+One evening, the same on which Adalgoth had arrived with the King at
+Taginal, Gotho, the shepherdess, stood in the sunset light upon the
+southern declivity of the Iffinger, leaning upon her staff.
+
+Round her gambolled and grazed her flock of sheep and lambs, and
+gradually gathered close round their mistress, eagerly expecting to be
+led to the sheepfold.
+
+But they waited and bleated in vain, for the pretty maiden bent over
+the mossy stones on the edge of the clear mountain brook. Heaped up in
+her leather apron lay the lovely scented flowers of the mountain:
+thyme, wild-rose, mint--which grew on the moist edges of the brook--and
+the dark blue enzian.
+
+Gotho murmured and spoke to herself, to the flowers, and to the running
+stream, throwing the flowers into the water, sometimes singly,
+sometimes in little sprays or unfinished wreaths.
+
+"How many," said the girl, as she tossed her thick yellow braids over
+her shoulder, "how many of you have I sent away to greet him! For he
+has gone to the south, and the water runs there too. But I know not if
+you give my greeting, for he has never yet come home. But you, as you
+rise and sink in the dance of the ripples, you beckon me to follow you.
+Ah! if I could! or follow the little fish which dart down the stream
+like dark arrows! Or the swift mountain swallows that skim through the
+air as free as thought! Or the rosy-winged evening clouds, when the
+mountain wind drives them southwards! But most surely of all would the
+heart of the seeker herself find him, could she but leave the mountain,
+and follow him to the distant and sunny land. But what should I do down
+there? A shepherdess amongst the warriors or the wise court-ladies! And
+I shall certainly see him again, as surely as I shall again see the
+sun, although it sinks behind yonder mountains. It is sure to come
+again, and yet! all the time between its parting ray and its morning
+greeting is filled with longing!"
+
+From the house there suddenly sounded a far-reaching tone, a blast upon
+the twisted ram's horn. Gotho looked up; it had become darker; she
+could see the red fire upon the hearth glimmer through the open door.
+The sheep answered the well-known sound with louder bleatings,
+stretching their necks in the direction of the house and the stalls.
+The brown and shaggy sheep-dog sprang upon Gotho, as if to remind her
+that it was time to go home.
+
+"I will go directly," she said, smiling, and stroking the dog's head.
+"Ah! the sheep are sooner tired of their pasture than the shepherdess
+of her thoughts! Now, forwards, White Elf, thou art already become a
+great fat sheep!"
+
+She went down the hill towards the little hollow between two mountain
+summits, where the house and stalls found protection from the wind and
+the avalanches. There the last rays of the sun dazzled her no more. The
+stars were already visible. Gotho looked up at the sky.
+
+"They are so beautiful, because _he_ has looked at them so often!"
+
+A shooting-star fell to the south.
+
+"He calls me! Thither!" cried Gotho, slightly trembling.
+
+She now drove the sheep more quickly forward, and presently shut
+them into their cot, and entered the large and only chamber of the
+ground-floor of the dwelling-house.
+
+There she found her grandfather stretched upon the raised stone placed
+close to the hearth; his feet covered with two large sheep-skins.
+
+He looked paler and older than usual.
+
+"Seat thyself beside me, Gotho," he said, "and drink; here is milk
+mixed with honey. Listen to me. The time is come of which I have often
+spoken. We must part. I am going home. Thy dear face is indistinct; my
+tired old eyes can no longer distinguish thy features. And yesterday
+when I tried to go down to the spring, my knees failed me. Then I felt
+that the end was near, and I sent the goat-herd over to Teriolis with a
+message. But thou shalt not be present when his soul flies out of old
+Iffa's mouth. The death of a man is not lovely to behold--especially
+death upon the straw-bed. And thou hast never yet seen anything
+sorrowful. This shadow shall not fall upon thy young life. To-morrow,
+before cockcrow, brave Hunibad will come over from Teriolis to fetch
+thee--he has promised me to do so. His wounds are not yet healed; he is
+yet weak; but he says that he cannot remain idle when, as they say, the
+war will be sure to break out again. He wishes to go to King Totila in
+Rome. And there too thou must go with an important message. He shall be
+thy guide and protector. Bind thick soles of beech-rind under thy feet,
+for the way is long. Brun, the dog, may accompany thee. Take that bag
+of goat's leather; in it are six gold pieces which belonged to--to
+Adalgoth's--to your father; they are Adalgoth's--but thou mayst use
+them--they will last till thou reachest Rome. And take a bundle of
+scented mountain hay from the meadows of the Iffinger, and lay thy head
+upon it at night; then thou wilt sleep more soundly. And when thou
+reachest Rome and the golden palace of the King, and enterest the hall,
+observe which of the men wears a golden circlet upon his brow, and from
+whose countenance shines a light like that of the morning--that will be
+King Totila. Then bow thy head before him--but not too much--and do not
+bend thy knee; for thou art a free Goth's free child. Thou must give
+the King this roll, which I have carefully kept for many summers. It
+comes from Uncle Wargs, who was buried by the mountain."
+
+The old man lifted a brick from the masonry which separated the hearth
+from the floor of stamped clay, and took from a hole a roll of papyrus,
+which, tied and sealed, was folded in a piece of parchment covered with
+writing and fastened with strange seals.
+
+"Here," he said, "take the greatest care of this writing. That upon the
+parchment cover I myself dictated to Hermegisel over in Majae. He swore
+to keep it secret, and he has kept his oath. And now he can speak no
+more from out of his grave in the church. And thou and Hunibad--you
+cannot read. That is a good thing, for it might be dangerous for thee
+and--and another--if any one knew what that roll contains before
+Totila, the mild and just King, has read it. Above all, hide it
+carefully from the Italians. And in every town to which thou comest,
+ask if there dwells Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius, the Prefect of Rome.
+And if the door-keepers say aye, then turn upon thy heel, however tired
+thou mayst be, and however late the night, or hot the day, and wander
+on until thou hast put three several waters between thee and the man
+Cethegus. And no less carefully than the writing--thou seest that I
+have put rosin, such as drops from the fir-trees, upon it instead of
+wax, and I have scratched our house-mark upon the seal, the mark that
+our cattle and wagons bear--not less carefully keep this old and costly
+gold."
+
+And he took from the hole the half of a broad gold bracelet, such as
+the Gothic heroes wore upon their naked arms. He kissed the bracelet
+and the imperfect Runic inscription upon it reverently.
+
+"This came from Theodoric, the great King, and from him--my dear--son
+Wargs. Mark--it belongs to Adalgoth. It is his most valuable
+inheritance. The other half of the bracelet--and the half of the
+inscription--I gave to the boy when I sent him away. When King Totila
+has read the writing, and if Adalgoth is present--as he must be if he
+obeys my orders--then call Adalgoth and put half-ring to half-ring, and
+ask the King to pronounce a judgment. He is said to be mild and wise
+and clear as the light of day. He will judge righteously. If not he,
+then no one. Now kiss my darkening eyes, and go and sleep. May the Lord
+of heaven and all his clear eyes, sun, moon, and stars, shine upon all
+thy ways. When thou hast found Adalgoth, and when thou dwellest with
+him in the little rooms of the close houses in the narrow streets of
+the city, and when it feels too small and close and narrow down
+there--then both of you think of your childish days up here upon the
+high Iffinger, and once again the fresh mountain air will seem to blow
+across your heated brows."
+
+Silently, without objection, without fear, without a question, the
+shepherd-girl listened and obeyed.
+
+"Farewell, grandfather!" she said, kissing him upon his eyes; "I thank
+thee for much love and faithfulness."
+
+But she did not weep.
+
+She knew not what death was.
+
+She went away from him to the threshold of the door, and looked out at
+the mountain landscape, which now appeared dark and melancholy. The sky
+was clear, the summits of the mountains shone in the moonlight.
+
+"Farewell!" said Gotho; "farewell, thou Iffinger! and thou,
+Wolf's-head! and thou, old Giant! and thou, running below,
+bright-shining Passara! Do you know it already? To-morrow I leave you
+all. But I go willingly, for I go to _him_!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+After the lapse of many weeks, Cassiodorus and Julius returned from
+Byzantium, bringing--no peace.
+
+On landing, Cassiodorus, weary of the world and its ways, retired at
+once to Brundusium, to his Apulian cloister, leaving Julius to report
+their ill-success to the King in Rome.
+
+Totila received his friend in the Capitol, in the presence of the
+leaders of the army.
+
+"At first," related Julius, "our prospects were sufficiently
+favourable. The Emperor, who had formerly refused to receive the
+ambassadors of Witichis, could not shut his palace doors in the face of
+the most learned man of the West, the pious and wise Cassiodorus. We
+were received with kindness and respect. In the council held by the
+Emperor, men of distinction, such as Tribonianus and Procopius, raised
+their voices in favour of peace. The Emperor himself seemed inclined
+thereto. His two great generals, Narses and Belisarius, were fighting,
+at different points of the south-eastern frontier of the Empire,
+against Persians and Saracens; and the campaign in Italy and Dalmatia
+had demanded such great sacrifices, and had lasted so long, that war
+with the Goths had become hateful to the Emperor. It was indeed not
+likely that he would entirely renounce the hope of reconquering Italy,
+but he saw the impossibility of doing so at present. He therefore
+willingly entered into negotiations of peace, and accepted our
+proposals for further consideration. His first thought was, as he told
+us, to bring about a provisional division of the peninsula; the far
+larger portion of the country, to the south of the Padus, to belong to
+the Emperor, the northern half to the Goths. One day at noon, we had
+left the Emperor's presence with great hopes; the audience had turned
+out more favourably than all former ones. But in the evening of the
+same day we were surprised by the arrival of the Curo-palata Marcellus,
+accompanied by slaves carrying the gifts which it is customary to
+present to parting guests--a not-to-be-mistaken sign that all
+negotiations were broken off. Confounded at this sudden change,
+Cassiodorus decided, for the sake of his work of peace, to dare the
+utmost--namely, to seek an audience of the Emperor after the
+presentation of the parting gifts. Tribonianus, who had always opposed
+the war, and who highly esteemed Cassiodorus, allowed himself to be
+prevailed upon to sue for this extraordinary grace. The answer came in
+a very ungracious threat of banishment should he ever again venture to
+petition for anything against the clearly-expressed will of the
+Emperor, Never, never would the Emperor conclude peace with the
+barbarians, until they had entirely evacuated the kingdom. Never would
+he look upon the Goths in Italy as anything but enemies. In vain we
+tried," Julius continued, "to discover the cause of this sudden change.
+We only learned that, after our last audience, the Empress, who is said
+to be often suffering, had invited her husband to dinner in her
+apartments. But it is certain that the Empress, formerly known to be
+the most zealous advocate of war, has lately given her voice in favour
+of peace."
+
+"And what," asked the King, who had listened quietly, and with an
+expression of countenance more threatening than anxious--"what
+has procured me the honour of such a change of sentiment in the
+circus-girl?"
+
+"It is whispered that, becoming more and more anxious for the salvation
+of her soul, the Empress desires to use all pecuniary means--not for a
+war, the end of which she scarcely expects to outlive--but upon the
+erection of churches, and especially for the completion of the church
+of St. Sophia. It is said that she wishes to be buried with the plan of
+this church imprinted upon her bosom."
+
+"No doubt as a shield against the anger of the Almighty, at the
+resurrection of the dead! The woman thinks to disarm her God with her
+hundred churches, and to bribe Him with the sums expended. What madness
+this belief engenders!" murmured Teja.
+
+"We could discover nothing," repeated Julius; "for I cannot think the
+shadow of suspicion which crossed my mind, perhaps the shadow of a
+mistake, of any moment."
+
+"What was that?" inquired Totila.
+
+"That evening, as I left the palace at a late hour, thinking over
+Tribonianus's unfavourable report, the golden litter of the Empress was
+carried past me by her Cappadocian slaves from the quadrangle of the
+garden where stands the Empress's palace. The trellised shutter was
+lifted a little by the inmate of the litter--I looked up--and it seemed
+to me as if I recognised----"
+
+"Well?" asked the King.
+
+"My unhappy protector, the vanished Cethegus," concluded Julius sadly.
+
+"That can scarcely be," said the King. "He fell when Rome was taken. It
+was surely a mistake when Teja thought he heard his voice in his
+house."
+
+"_I_ mistake that voice!" cried Teja. "And what meant his sword, which
+Adalgoth found at the corner of the street?"
+
+"He may have lost it earlier, when he hurried to the Tiber from his
+house. I distinctly saw him conduct the defence of the chain from his
+boat. He hurled his spear at me with all the force and steadiness lent
+by intense hatred. And I struck him, I am sure, when I cast the spear
+back again. And Gunthamund, that excellent shot, told me that he was
+certain that he wounded the Prefect in the neck. His mantle with the
+purple hem was found by the river, pierced by many arrows and covered
+with blood."
+
+"No doubt he died there," Julius said, very gravely.
+
+"Are you such good Christians, and do not know that demons are
+immortal?" asked Teja.
+
+"They may be," said the King, "but so are angels!" and, with a frown on
+his brow, he continued: "Up, my brave Teja! now there is new work for
+thy sword. Hear it, Duke Guntharis, Wisand, Grippa, Markja, Thorismuth,
+and Aligern--I shall soon have enough to do for you all. You have heard
+that Emperor Justinian refuses to make peace, and will not leave us in
+quiet possession of Italy. It is evident that he considers us inclined
+to peace at any cost. He thinks it can never hurt him to have us for
+enemies; that in the worst case we shall quietly await his attack in
+Italy; that Byzantium will always be able to choose the moment,
+repeating it until successful. Well--we will show him that we can
+become dangerous! That it might be wiser to leave us Italy, and not
+irritate us! He will not let us enjoy our kingdom? Then, as in the
+days of Alaric and Theodoric, he shall again see the Goths in his
+own country! At present only this--for secrecy is the mother of
+victory--we will reach the heart of the Eastern Empire as we once
+reached Rome--on canvas wings and wooden bridges.--Now, Justinianus,
+protect thine own hearth-stone!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Soon after the Emperor's refusal of the proposals of the Goths had
+arrived in Rome, we find--in the dining-room of a simple but
+tastefully-built and furnished house upon the Forum Strategii at
+Byzantium, which, close to the incomparable shore of the Golden
+Horn, affords a view of the Straits and of the splendid suburb
+"Justiniana"--two men engaged in confidential talk.
+
+The master of the house was our old--and, we hope, not
+unloved--acquaintance Procopius, who now lived much respected as a
+senator in Byzantium.
+
+He zealously attended to the wants of his guest, but in doing so used
+his left hand. His right arm ended in a covered stump.
+
+"Yes," he was saying, "at every moment I am reminded by my missing hand
+of a folly. I do not, however, repent it. I should do the same thing
+again even if it cost me my eyesight. It was a folly of the heart, and
+to be capable of that is the greatest happiness. I have never been able
+really to love a woman. My only love was and is--Belisarius! I know
+very well--you need not draw down the corners of your mouth so
+contemptuously, friend--I see very clearly the weaknesses and
+imperfections of my hero. But that is exactly what is sweet in a
+heart-folly--to love the foibles of your idol more than the merits of
+other people. And so--to cut my story short--it was during the last
+Persian war that, one day, I warned the lion-hearted general not to
+ride through a dangerous wood with a scanty escort. Of course he did it
+all the more, the dear fool; and of course Procopius, the wise fool,
+rode with him. All happened just as I had expected. The whole wood was
+suddenly filled with Persians. It seemed as if the wind had shaken the
+withered leaves from the trees, and every leaf was an axe or a spear.
+It was very like the ambush before the Tiburtinian Gate. Balan, the
+faithful piebald, bore his master for the last time. Stuck full of
+spears, he fell dead to the ground. I assisted the hero to mount my own
+horse. But a Persian prince, who was almost as tall as his name was
+long--the pleasant fellow was called Adrastaransalanes--aimed a blow at
+the magister militum which, in my hurry, I received upon my right
+arm--for my shield was occupied in protecting Belisarius against a
+Saracen. The blow was well meant; if it had reached my hero's helmless
+head, it would have cracked it like a nutshell. As it was, it only cut
+off my fore-arm as if it had never been part of my body."
+
+
+"Of course Belisarius escaped, and of course Procopius was taken
+prisoner," said the guest, shaking his head.
+
+"Quite right, you commander of perspicacity, as my friend
+Adrastaransalanes would call you. But the same man with his long body,
+scimitar, and name--you will not insist upon my repeating it--was so
+moved by my 'elephantine magnanimity,' as he expressed himself, that he
+very soon set me free without ransom. He only begged for a ring which
+had been on the finger of my former right hand: as a remembrance, he
+said. Since then it is all over with my campaigns," added Procopius
+more gravely. "But in this loss of my pen-hand I see a punishment. I
+have written with it many a useless or not perfectly sincere word.
+However, if a like punishment overtook all the writers of Byzantium,
+there would soon be not a two-handed man left who could write. Writing
+is now a much slower and more difficult process with me. But that is
+good, for then, at every word one considers whether it is worth the
+trouble of inscribing or whether one is justified in doing so."
+
+"I have read with true enjoyment," said the guest, "your 'Vandal Wars,'
+your 'Persian Wars,' and, as far as it goes, the 'Gothic War.' When
+recovering from my hurt, it was my favourite book. But I am surprised
+that you were not sent to the Ult-ziagirian Huns and the mines of
+Cherson to keep our friend Petros company. If Justinian so severely
+punishes the forgery of documents--how harshly must he punish veracity
+in history! And you have so mercilessly scourged his indecision, his
+avarice, his mistakes in the choice of generals and officers--I wonder
+that you go unpunished."
+
+"Oh, I have not escaped punishment," said the historian gravely. "He
+left me my head: but he tried to rob me of my honour; and _she_ still
+more, the beautiful demon. For I had hinted that Justinian was tied to
+her apron-string. And she as passionately tries to hide her dominion
+as to uphold it. When my book was published, she called me to her.
+When I entered her apartment, and saw those pages upon her lap, I
+thought--Adrastaransalanes took off the hand that wrote; this woman
+will take off the head that thought. But she contented herself with
+giving me her little golden shoe to kiss; smiled very sweetly, and
+said, 'You write Greek better than any other author of our day,
+Procopius. So beautifully and so truly! I have been advised to sink you
+to the dumb fishes in the Bosphorus. But the man who so well told the
+truth when it was bitter to us, will also tell the truth when it is
+sweet to our ears. The greatest censurer of Justinian shall be his
+greatest panegyrist. Your punishment for the book upon Justinian's
+warlike deeds--shall be a book upon Justinian's peaceful deeds. You
+will write by the imperial order a book upon the edifices erected by
+the Emperor. You cannot deny that he has done great things in that
+line. If you were a better jurist than your camp-life with the great
+Belisarius has, unfortunately, allowed you to become--you should
+describe the Emperor's great piece of mosaic--his pandects. But for
+that your legal education is not complete enough' (and she was right!).
+'Therefore you will describe the edifices of Justinian; and you
+yourself will be a living monument of his generosity. For you must
+confess that, for far less heinous offences, many an author under
+former Emperors has lost eyes, nose, and other things that it is
+disagreeable to miss. No Emperor has ever allowed such things to be
+said of him, and, moreover, rewarded candour with new commissions. But
+if the edifices of Justinian were to displease you, then indeed I fear
+you would not long outlive your want of taste--the gods would punish
+such ingratitude with a speedy death. See, I have procured this reward
+for you--for Justinian would have made you senator--so that you may
+be right in your assertion that Theodora possesses a pernicious and
+all-commanding influence!' Another kiss of her foot; of which she took
+advantage playfully to strike me on the mouth with her shoe. I had made
+my will before going to this audience. You now see how this demon in a
+woman's form revenges herself upon me! One really cannot censure the
+edifices erected by Justinian: one can only be silent--or praise them.
+If I remain silent, it will cost me my life. If I speak and do not
+praise, it will cost my life and my veracity. Therefore I must either
+praise or die. And I am weak enough," concluded Procopius with a sigh,
+"to prefer to praise and live."
+
+"You have consumed so much Thucydides and Tacitus, dry or liquid," said
+the guest, filling the glasses, "and yet have become neither a
+Thucydides nor a Tacitus!"
+
+"I would rather let my long-named friend cut off my left hand also than
+write about these buildings."
+
+"Keep your hand. But, after the public panegyric on the buildings,
+write a secret history of the shameful deeds of Justinian and
+Theodora."
+
+Procopius sprang from his seat.
+
+"That would be devilish, but grand! The advice is worthy of you,
+friend. For that you shall have one of the nine muses of Herodotus from
+my cellar--my oldest, dearest, most excellent wine. Oh! this secret
+history shall excite astonishment! The only pity is that I cannot
+relate the most filthy and most murderous deeds. I should die of
+disgust. And that which I can write will be always looked upon as
+immensely exaggerated. And what will posterity say of Procopius, who
+left a panegyric, a criticism, and an accusation--one and all on
+Justinian?"
+
+"Posterity will say that he was the greatest historian, but also the
+son and the victim, of the Empire of Byzantium. Revenge yourself; she
+has left you your clever head and your left hand. Well, your left hand
+need not know what your right hand formerly wrote. Draw the picture of
+this Empress and her husband for all future generations. Then _they_
+will not have conquered with their buildings, but _you_ with your
+secret history.  They would have punished limited candour; you will
+punish them by an unlimited revelation of the truth. Every one revenges
+himself with his own weapons--the bull with his horns, the warrior with
+his sword, the author by his pen."
+
+"Particularly," said Procopius, "when he has only his left hand. I
+thank you, and will follow your advice, Cethegus. I will write the
+'Secret History' in revenge for the 'Edifices.' But now it is your turn
+to tell your story. I know the progress of events, through letters and
+the report of fugitives from Rome, or legionaries set free by Totila,
+until the time when you were last seen in your house, or, as they say,
+were last heard. Now relate what happened afterwards, you Prefect
+without a city!"
+
+"Immediately," said Cethegus. "But tell me first, how did Belisarius
+succeed in the last Persian war?"
+
+"As usual. You should not need to ask such a question! He had really
+beaten the enemy, and was on the point of forcing the Persian King,
+Chosroes, the son of Kabades, to conclude a lasting peace. Just then
+Areobindos, the Prince of Purple Snails, appeared in the camp with the
+announcement of an armistice of half a year's duration, granted,
+unknown to Belisarius, by Byzantium. Justinian had long ago entered
+into secret negotiations with Chosroes; he needed money; he again
+pretended to mistrust Belisarius, and let the Persian King escape for a
+hundred tons of gold, just as we were about to draw the net over him.
+Narses was wiser. When the Prince of Purple Snails came to him, on the
+Saracen side of the scene of war, he declared that the ambassador must
+be either a forger or a madman, took him prisoner, and continued the
+war until he had completely vanquished the Saracens. Then he sent the
+imperial ambassador back with an excuse to Byzantium. But the best
+excuse was the keys and treasures of seventy forts and towns which he
+had wrested from the enemy during the armistice, which Belisarius had
+respected."
+
+"This Narses is----"
+
+"The greatest man of our time," said Procopius, "the Prefect of Rome not
+excepted; for he does not, like the latter, wish for impossibilities.
+But we--that is, Belisarius and the cripple Procopius--always growling
+and grumbling, yet always as faithful as a poodle-dog, and never taught
+by experience, kept the armistice, gnashed our teeth, and returned to
+Byzantium. And now we wait for new commissions, laurels, and kicks.
+Fortunately, Antonina has renounced her inclination for the flowers and
+verses of other men, and so the couple--the lion and the dove--live
+very happily together here in Byzantium. Belisarius, day and night,
+naturally thinks of nothing but how he can again prove his heroism and
+devotion to his imperial master. Justinian is his folly, as Belisarius
+is mine. But now for your story."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+Cethegus took a deep draught from the cup which stood before him, which
+was made of chased gold and shaped like a tower.
+
+He was considerably changed since that last night in Rome. The wrinkles
+on his temples were more sharply defined; his lip more firmly closed;
+his under-lip protruded still farther than before; and the ironical
+smile, which used to make him look younger and handsomer, very rarely
+played round the corners of his mouth. His eyes were generally half
+shut; only sometimes did he raise the lids to dart a glance, which,
+always dreaded by those upon whom it fell, now appeared more cruel and
+piercing than ever.
+
+He seemed to have become, not older, but harsher, more inexorable, and
+more merciless.
+
+"You know," he began, "all that happened until the fall of Rome. In one
+night I lost the city, the Capitol, my house, and my Caesar! The crash
+of the fall of that image pained me more than the arrows of the Goths,
+or even of the Romans. As I was about to punish the destroyer of my
+Caesar, my senses forsook me. I fell at the foot of the statue of
+Jupiter. I was restored to my senses by the cool breeze that blows over
+the Tiber, and which once before, twenty years ago, had restored a
+wounded man."
+
+He paused.
+
+"Of that another time, perhaps--perhaps never," he said, hastily
+cutting short a question from his host. "This time Lucius Licinius--his
+brother died for Rome and for me--and the faithful Moor, who had
+escaped the Black Earl as if by miracle, saved my life. Cast out of the
+front entrance by Teja--who, in his eagerness to murder the master, had
+no time to murder the slave--Syphax hurried to the back-door. There he
+met Lucius Licinius, who had only just then reached my house by a
+side-street. Together they followed the trace of my blood to the hall
+of the Jupiter. There they found me senseless, and had just time to
+lower me from the window, like a piece of baggage, into the court.
+Syphax jumped down and received me from the hands of the tribune, who
+then quickly followed, and they hurried with me to the river.
+
+"There very few people were to be seen, for all the Goths and friendly
+Romans had followed the King to the Capitol to help to extinguish the
+flames. Totila had expressly ordered--I hope to his destruction!--that
+all non-combatants should be spared and left unmolested. So my bearers
+were allowed to pass everywhere. It was thought that they carried a
+dead man. And they themselves, for some time, thought so too. In the
+river they found an empty fishing-boat full of nets. They laid me in
+it. Syphax threw my bloody mantle, with the purple hem of the 'princeps
+senatus,' upon the shore, in order to mislead my enemies. They covered
+me with sail-cloth and nets, and rowed down the river, through the
+still burning boats. When we had passed them, I came to myself. Syphax
+bathed my face with the water of the Tiber. My first glance fell on the
+still burning Capitol. They told me that my first exclamation was,
+'Turn back! the Capitol!' And they were obliged to keep me quiet by
+force. My first clear thought was naturally: 'To return; to take
+revenge; to re-conquer Rome.' In the harbour of Portus we met with an
+Italian ship laden with grain. There were seven rowers in it. My
+companions approached it to beg for wine and bread, for they also were
+wounded and exhausted. The rowers recognised me. One of them wanted to
+take me prisoner and deliver me up to the Goths, sure of a rich reward.
+But the other six had served under me at the Mausoleum. I had nourished
+them for years. They slew the man who wanted to betray me, and promised
+Lucius that they would save me if it were possible. They hid me in
+heaps of grain while we passed the Gothic guardships which watched at
+the entrance of the harbour, Lucius and Syphax put on the dress of
+sailors, and rowed with the others. Thus we escaped. But while on board
+this vessel I was dangerously ill from my wounds. Only the ceaseless
+care of Syphax and the sea-air saved me. For days, they say, I only
+reiterated the words, 'Rome, Capitol, Caesar!' When we landed at
+Panormus, in Sicily, under the protection of the Byzantines, I rapidly
+recovered. My old friend Cyprianus, who had admitted me into
+Theodoric's palace when I was made Prefect, received me at Panormus as
+captain of the harbour. Scarcely recovered, I went to Asia Minor--or,
+as you say, Asiana--to my estates; you know that I had splendid
+possessions at Sardes, Philadelphia, and Tralles----"
+
+"You have them no longer--the columned villas?"
+
+"I sold them all, for I was obliged at once to find the means of
+engaging fresh mercenaries, in order to liberate Rome and Italy."
+
+
+"Tenax propositi!" cried Procopius, amazed. "You have not, even now,
+given up hope?"
+
+"Can I give up myself? I have sent Licinius to enlist a wild and savage
+race, the Longobardians."
+
+"God protect your Italy if _they_ ever set foot in it."
+
+"I have also succeeded in winning the Empress to my cause, and by her
+means the propositions of peace made by Cassiodorus were refused at the
+last moment. For Rome must be freed from the barbarians! But when shall
+I find means to move this lazy colossus, Justinian? When will fate call
+me to my battle-field--Italia?"
+
+At this moment Syphax entered the room. He brought Cethegus a message
+from the Empress. It ran:
+
+"To the Jupiter of the Capitol. Do not leave your house to-morrow until
+I call you.--Theodora."
+
+
+On the next day the Emperor Justinian was standing buried in deep
+reflection before the tall golden crucifix in his room. The expression
+of his face was very grave, but without a trace of alarm or doubt.
+Quiet decision lay upon his features, which, else not handsome or
+noble, at this moment betrayed mental power and superiority. He lifted
+his eyes almost threateningly to the crucifix.
+
+"God of the Cross," he said, "Thou puttest Thy faithful servant to a
+hard proof! It seems to me that I have deserved better. Thou knowest
+all that I have done to the honour of Thy name! Why do not Thy strokes
+fall upon Thine enemies, the heathens and barbarians? Why not?"
+
+He was interrupted in his soliloquy by the entrance of the chamberlains
+and wardrobe-keepers.
+
+Justinian exchanged his morning garment for the robes of state. His
+slaves served him upon their knees.
+
+He apparelled himself in a tunic of white silk, reaching to the knees,
+embroidered with gold on both sides, and confined by a purple girdle.
+The tightly-fitting hose were also of silk of the same colour. His
+slaves threw over his shoulders a splendid mantle of a lighter shade of
+purple, with a broad hem of gold thread, upon which red circles and
+symbolic animal-forms, embroidered in green silk, alternated with each
+other. But the pearls and precious stones which were lavishly strewed
+over it, rendered the design almost invisible, and made the mantle so
+heavy, that the assistance of the train-bearer must have been indeed a
+welcome relief.
+
+On each of his arms the Emperor wore three broad golden bracelets. The
+wide crown was made of massive gold, arched over with two rows of
+pearls. His mantle was fastened on the shoulder with a costly brooch of
+large precious stones.
+
+The sceptre-keeper put into the Emperor's hand a golden staff the
+length of a man, at the top of which was a globe made out of a single
+large emerald, and surmounted with a golden cross.
+
+The Emperor grasped it firmly and rose from his seat.
+
+A slave offered him the thick-soled buskins which he usually wore, in
+order to increase his height.
+
+"No; to-day I need no buskins," said Justinian, and left the room.
+
+Down the Stairs of the Lions, so called from the twenty-four immense
+marble lions which guarded the twelve steps, and which had been brought
+from Carthage by Belisarius, the Emperor descended to a lower story,
+and entered the Hall of Jerusalem.
+
+This hall derived its name from the porphyry columns, the onyx vases,
+the golden tables and the numerous golden vessels which, arranged on
+pedestals and along the walls, were said to have formerly decorated the
+Temple of Jerusalem. These treasures had been taken to Rome by Titus,
+after the destruction of Jerusalem. From Rome the Sea-king Geiseric had
+taken them on his dragon-ships, together with the Empress Eudoxia, to
+his capital, Carthage. And now Belisarius had brought them from
+Carthage to the Emperor of the East.
+
+The cupola of the hall, representing the firmament, was wrought in
+mosaic. Costly blue stones formed the ground-work, in which was inlaid,
+besides the sun, the moon, the eye of God, the lamb, the fish, the
+birds, the palm, the vine, the unicorn, and many other symbols of
+Christianity, the whole zodiac and innumerable stars of massive gold.
+
+The cost of the cupola alone was estimated as high as the whole income
+of the taxes on property in all the Empire for forty-five years.
+
+Opposite the three great arches of the entrance, which were closed by
+curtains--it was the only entrance to the hall--and were guarded
+outside by a threefold line of imperial body-guards--the "Golden
+Shields"--stood, at the bottom of the semicircular hall, the elevated
+throne of the Emperor, and below it on the left the seat of the
+Empress.
+
+When Justinian entered the hall with a numerous retinue of palace
+officials, all the assembly, consisting of the highest dignitaries of
+the realm, threw themselves upon their faces in humble prostration.
+
+The Empress also rose, bowed deeply, and crossed her arms upon her
+bosom. Her dress was exactly similar to that of her husband. Her white
+stola was also covered by a purple mantle, but without hem. She carried
+a very short sceptre of ivory.
+
+The Emperor cast a slight but contemptuous glance at the patriarchs,
+archbishops, bishops, patricians and senators, who, above thirty in
+number, occupied a row of gilded chairs set in a semicircle and
+provided with cushions. He then passed through the middle of the hall
+and ascended his throne with a quick firm step. Twelve of the chief
+officers of the palace stood upon the steps of the two thrones, holding
+white wands in their hands. A blast of trumpets gave the signal to the
+kneeling assembly to rise.
+
+"Reverend bishops and worthy senators," began the Emperor, "we have
+called you together, to ask your advice in an affair of great moment.
+But why is our Magister Militum per Orientum, Narses, absent?"
+
+"He returned only yesterday from Persia--he is sick and confined to
+bed," answered the usher.
+
+"Where is our treasurer of the Sacri Palatii, Trebonianus?"
+
+"He has not yet returned from his embassy to Berytus about the code."
+
+"Where is Belisarius, our Magister Militum per Orientum extra Ordinem?"
+
+"He does not reside in Byzantium, but in Asia, in the Red House at
+Sycae."
+
+"He keeps too far apart in the Red House. It displeases us. Why does he
+avoid our presence?"
+
+"He could not be found."
+
+
+"Not even in the house of his freedman, Photius?"
+
+"He has gone hunting to try the Persian hunting-leopards," said Leo,
+the assistant-huntsman.
+
+"He is never to be found when wanted, and is always present when not
+wanted. I am not content with Belisarius.--Hear now what has lately
+been communicated to me by letter; afterwards you shall hear the report
+of the envoys themselves. You know that we have allowed the war in
+Italy to die away--for we had other occupation for our generals. You
+know that the barbarian King sued for peace and the quiet possession of
+Italy. We rejected it at that time; awaiting more convenient
+circumstances. The Goth has answered, not in words, but by very
+insolent deeds. No one in Byzantium knows of it--we kept the news to
+ourselves, thinking it impossible, or at least exaggerated. But we find
+that it is true; and now you shall hear it and advise upon it. The
+barbarian King has sent a fleet and an army to Dalmatia with great
+haste and secrecy. The fleet entered the harbour of Muicurum near
+Salona; the army landed and carried the fortress by storm. In a similar
+way the fleet surprised the coast-town of Laureata. Claudianus, our
+governor at Salona, sent numerous and strongly-manned vessels to retake
+the town from the Goths. But a naval combat took place, and the Goth,
+Duke Guntharis, beat our Squadron so thoroughly that he made prizes of
+all the vessels without exception, and carried them victoriously into
+the harbour of Laureata. Further, the Gothic King equipped a second
+fleet of four hundred large ships at Centumcellae. It was formed for the
+most part of Byzantine vessels, which, sent from the East to Sicily to
+reinforce Belisarius, in ignorance that the Italian harbours were again
+in possession of the Goths, had been taken by a Gothic earl, Grippa,
+with all their crews and freights. The goal of this second fleet was
+unknown. But suddenly the barbarian King himself appeared with the
+fleet before Regium, the fortress in the extreme southern part of
+Bruttia, which place we had won on our first landing in Italy, and had
+not since lost. After a brave resistance, the garrison of Herulians and
+Massagetae were forced to capitulate. But the tyrant Totila sailed
+immediately to Sicily, to wrest from us that earliest of Belisarius's
+conquests. He beat the Roman governor Domnentiolus, who met him in the
+open field, and in a short time took possession of the whole island,
+with the exception of Messana, Panormus and Syracusae, which were
+enabled to hold out by reason of their formidable fortifications. A
+fleet which I sent to attempt the reconquest of Sicily was dispersed by
+a storm. A second was driven by the north-west wind to the
+Peloponnesus. At the same time a third fleet of triremes, equipped by
+this indefatigable King and commanded by Earl Haduswinth, sailed for
+Corsica and Sardinia. The first of these islands presently fell to the
+Goths, after the imperial garrison of the capital city of Alexia had
+been beaten before the walls. The rich Corsican Furius Ahalla, to whom
+the greater part of the island belongs, was absent in India. But his
+stewards and tenants had been ordered, in case of a landing of the
+Goths, in nowise to oppose them, but to aid them to the best of their
+power. From Corsica the barbarians turned to Sardinia. Here, near
+Karalis, they beat the troops which our magister militum had sent from
+Africa to conquer the island, and took Karalis as well as Sulci, Castra
+Trajani and Turres. The Goths then settled down in both islands and
+treated them as permanently-acquired dependencies of the Gothic
+kingdom, placing Gothic commanders in all the towns, and raising taxes
+according to Gothic law. Strange to say, these taxes are far less heavy
+than ours, and the inhabitants shamelessly declare that they would
+rather pay the barbarians fifty than ninety to us. But all this was not
+enough. Sailing to the north-east from Sicily, the tyrant Totila united
+his squadron with a fourth fleet, under Earl Teja, off Hydrus. Part of
+this united fleet, under Earl Thorismuth, sailed to Corcyra, took
+possession of that island, and thence conquered all the surrounding
+islands. But not yet enough. The tyrant Totila and Earl Teja already
+attack the mainland of our Empire."
+
+A murmur of terror interrupted the august speaker.
+
+Justinian resumed in an angry voice:
+
+"They have landed in the harbour of Epirus vetus, carried the towns
+Nicopolis and Anchisus, south-west of the ancient Dodona, and taken a
+great many of our ships along the coast. All this may excite your
+indignation against the insolence of these barbarians; but you have now
+to hear what will move you in a different way. Briefly, according to
+reports which reached me yesterday, it is certain that the Goths are in
+full march upon Byzantium itself!"
+
+At this some of the senators sprang to their feet.
+
+"They intend a double attack. Their united fleet, commanded by Duke
+Guntharis, Earls Markja, Grippa, and Thorismuth, has beaten, in a
+combat of two days' duration, the fleet which protected our island
+provinces, and has driven it into the straits of Sestos and Abydos.
+Their army, under Totila and Teja, is marching across Thessaly by way
+of Dodona against Macedonia. Thessalonica is already threatened. Earl
+Teja has razed to the ground the 'New Wall' which we had there erected.
+The road to Byzantium is open. And no army stands between us and the
+barbarians. All our troops are on the Persian frontier. And now listen
+to what the Goth proposes. Fortunately God has befooled and blinded him
+to our weakness. He again offers us peace under the former conditions,
+with the one exception that he now intends to keep possession of
+Sicily. But he will evacuate all his other conquests if we will
+acknowledge his rule in Italy. As I had no means, neither fleets nor
+cohorts, to stop his victorious course, I have, for the present,
+demanded an armistice. This he has agreed to, on condition that
+afterwards peace is to be concluded on the former conditions. I have
+agreed to this----"
+
+And, pausing, the Emperor cast a searching glance at the assembly, and
+looked askance at the Empress.
+
+The assembly was evidently relieved. The Empress closed her eyes in
+order to conceal their expression. Her small hand grasped convulsively
+the arm of her throne.
+
+"But I agreed to it with the reservation that I should first hear the
+opinion of my wife, who has lately been an advocate for peace, and that
+also of my wise senate. I added that I myself was inclined to peace."
+
+All present looked more at ease.
+
+"And I believed that I could tell beforehand what would be the decision
+of my counsellors. Upon this understanding, the horsemen of Earl Teja
+unwillingly halted at Thessalonica; unfortunately they had already
+taken prisoner the bishop of that city. But they have sent him here
+with other prisoners, carrying messages and letters--you shall hear
+them and then decide. Reflect that if we refuse to conclude a peace,
+the barbarians will soon stand before our gates, and that we are only
+asked to yield that which the Empire has given up long ago, and which
+Belisarius in two campaigns failed to reconquer--Italia! Let the envoys
+approach."
+
+Through the arches of the entrance the body-guard now led in several
+men, in clerical, official, and military costume. Trembling and
+sighing, they threw themselves at the feet of Justinian. Even tears
+were not wanting.
+
+At a sign from the Emperor they rose again, and stood before the steps
+of the throne.
+
+"Your petitions and lamentations," said the Emperor, "I received
+yesterday. Protonotary, now read to us the letter from the Bishop of
+Nicopolis and the wounded Governor of Illyricum--since then the latter
+has succumbed to his wounds."
+
+The protonotary read:
+
+"To Justinianus, the unconquerable Emperor of the Romani, Dorotheos,
+Bishop of Nicopolis, and Nazares, Governor of Illyricum. The place
+whence we write these words will be the best proof of their gravity. We
+write on board the royal barge of the Gothic King, the _Italia_. When
+you read these words, you will have already learned the defeat of the
+fleet, the loss of the islands, the storming of the 'New Wall,' and the
+destruction of the army of Illyricum. Quicker than the messengers and
+the fugitives from these battles, have the Gothic pursuers reached us.
+The Gothic King has conquered and spared Nicopolis. Earl Teja has
+conquered and burnt Anchisus. I, Nazares, have served in the army for
+thirty years--and never have I seen such an attack as that in which
+Earl Teja overthrew me at the gates of Anchisus. They are irresistible,
+these Goths! Their horsemen sweep the country from Thessalonica to
+Philippi. The Goths in the heart of Illyricum! That has not been heard
+of for sixty years. And the King has sworn to return every year until
+he has peace--or Byzantium! Since he won Corcyra and the Sybotes, he
+stands upon the bridge of your Empire. Therefore, as God has touched
+the heart of this King, as he offers peace at a moderate price--the
+price of what he has actually gained--we beseech you, in the name of
+your trembling subjects, and of your smoking towns, to conclude a
+peace! Save us and save Byzantium! For your generals Belisarius and
+Narses will rather be able to stop the course of the sun and the
+blowing of the wind, than to stay King Totila and the terrible Teja."
+
+"They are prisoners," said the Emperor, interrupting the reader; "and
+perhaps they speak in fear of death. Now it is your turn to speak,
+venerable Bishop of Thessalonica; you, Anatolius, commander of Dodona;
+and you, Parmenio, brave captain of the Macedonian lancers. You are
+safe here under our imperial protection, but you have seen the
+barbarian generals. What do you advise?"
+
+At this the aged Bishop of Thessalonica again threw himself upon his
+knees, and cried:
+
+"O Emperor of the Romani, the barbarian King, Totila, is a heretic, and
+accursed for ever, yet never have I seen a man more richly endowed with
+all Christian virtues! Do not strive with him! In the other world he
+will be damned for ever, but--I cannot comprehend it--on earth God
+blesses all his ways. He is irresistible!"
+
+"I understand it well," interposed Anatolius. "It is his craft which
+wins for him all hearts--the deepest hypocrisy, a power of
+dissimulation which outdoes all our much-renowned and defamed Grecian
+cunning. The barbarian plays the part of a philanthropist so
+excellently, that he almost deceived me, until I reflected that there
+was no such thing in the world as the love which this man pretends,
+with all the art of a comedian. He acts as if he really felt compassion
+for his conquered enemies! He feeds the hungry, he divides the
+booty--your tax-money, O Emperor!--amongst the country people, whose
+fields have been devastated by the war. Women who had fled into the
+woods, and were found by his horsemen, he returns uninjured to their
+husbands. He enters the villages to the sound of a harp, played by a
+beautiful youth, who leads his horse. Do you know what is the
+consequence? Your own subjects, O Emperor of the Romani, rebel to him,
+and deliver your officers, who have obeyed your severe laws, into his
+hands. The peasants and farmers of Dodona did so by me. This barbarian
+is the greatest comedian of the century, and the clever hypocrite
+understands many other things besides fighting. He has entered into an
+alliance against you with the distant Persians, with your inveterate
+enemy Chosroes. We ourselves saw the Persian ambassador ride out of his
+camp towards the East."
+
+When Anatolius had ceased speaking, the Macedonian captain gave his
+report, which ran:
+
+"Ruler of the Romani--since Earl Teja gained the high-road of
+Thessalonica, nothing stands between your throne and his battle-axe but
+the walls of this city. He who stormed the 'New Wall' eight times in
+succession, and carried it at the ninth attempt, will carry the walls
+of Byzantium at the tenth. You can only repel the Goths if you have
+sevenfold their number. If you have it not, then conclude a peace."
+
+"Peace! peace! we beseech you, in the name of your trembling provinces
+of Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia!"
+
+"Deliver us from the Goths!"
+
+"Let us not again see the days of Alaric and Theodoric!"
+
+"Peace with the Goths! Peace! peace!"
+
+And all the envoys, bishops, officials, and warriors sank upon their
+knees with the cry of "Peace!"
+
+The effect upon the assembly was fearful.
+
+It had often happened that Persians and Saracens in the east. Moors in
+the south, and Bulgarians and Slavonians in the north-west, had made
+incursions into the country, slaying and plundering, and had sometimes
+beaten the troops sent against them, and escaped unhindered with their
+booty. But that Grecian islands should be permanently conquered by the
+enemy, that Grecian harbours should be won and governed by barbarians,
+and that the high-road to Byzantium should be dominated by Goths, was
+unheard of.
+
+With dismay the senators thought of the days when Gothic ships and
+Gothic armies should overrun all the Grecian islands, and repeatedly
+storm the walls of Byzantium, only to be stopped by the fulfilment of
+all their demands. They already seemed to hear the battle-axe of the
+"Black Earl" knocking at their gates.
+
+Quietly and searchingly did Justinian look into the rows of anxious
+faces on his right and on his left.
+
+"You have heard," he then began, "what Church, State, and Army desire.
+I now ask your opinion. We have already accomplished an armistice.
+Shall war or shall peace ensue? One word will buy peace--our assent to
+the cession of Italy, which is already lost. Whoever among you is in
+favour of war, let him hold up his hand."
+
+No one moved; for the senators were afraid for Byzantium, and they had
+no doubt of the Emperor's inclination for peace.
+
+"My senate unanimously declares for peace. I knew it beforehand," said
+Justinian, with a singular smile. "I am accustomed always to follow the
+advice of my wise councillors--and of my Empress."
+
+At this word Theodora started from her seat, and threw her ivory
+sceptre from her with such violence, that it flew far across the hall.
+
+The senators were startled.
+
+"Then farewell," cried the Empress, "farewell to what has ever been my
+pride--my belief in Justinian and his imperial dignity! Farewell all
+share in the cares and honours of the state! Alas, Justinian! alas for
+you and me that I must hear such words from your lips!"
+
+And she hid her face in her purple mantle, in order to conceal the
+agony which her excitement caused her.
+
+The Emperor turned towards her.
+
+"What! the Augusta, my wife, who, since Belisarius returned to
+Byzantium for the second time, has always advocated peace--with a short
+exception--does she now, in such a time of danger, advise----"
+
+"War!" cried Theodora, uncovering her face. And, in her intense
+earnestness, she looked more beautiful than she ever did when smiling
+in playful sport. "Must I, your wife, remind you of your honour? Will
+you suffer these barbarians to fix themselves firmly in your Empire,
+and force you to their will? You, who dreamt of the re-establishment of
+the Empire of Constantine! You, Justinian, who have taken the names of
+Persicus, Vandalicus, Alanicus, and Gothicus--you will allow this
+Gothic stripling to lead you by the beard whithersoever he will? Are
+you not the same Justinian who has been admired by the world, by
+Byzantium, and by Theodora? Our admiration was an error!"
+
+On hearing these words, the Patriarch of Byzantium--he still believed
+that the Emperor had irrevocably decided upon peace--took courage to
+oppose the Empress, who did not always hit upon the strict definition
+of orthodoxy of which he was the representative.
+
+"What!" he said, "the august lady advises bloody war? Verily, the Holy
+Church has no need to plead for the heretic. Notwithstanding, the new
+King is wonderfully mild towards the Catholics in Italy; and we can
+wait for more favourable times, until----"
+
+"No, priest!" interrupted Theodora; "the outraged honour of this Empire
+can wait no longer! O Justinian!"--he still remained obstinately
+silent--"O Justinian, let us not be deceived in you! You dare not let
+that be wrung from you by defiance which you refused to humble
+petitions! Must I remind you that once before your wife's advice, and
+will, and courage, saved your honour? Have you forgotten the terrible
+rebellion of the Nika? Have you forgotten how the united parties of the
+Circus, of the frantic mob of Byzantium, attacked this house? The
+flames arose, and the cry of 'Down with the tyrants!' rang in our ears.
+All your councillors advised flight or compliance; all these reverend
+bishops and wise senators, and even your generals; for Narses was away
+in distant Asia, and Belisarius was shut up by the rebels in the palace
+on the shore. All were in despair. Your wife Theodora was the only hero
+by your side. If you had yielded or fled, your throne, your life, and
+most certainly your honour, would have been lost. You hesitated. You
+were inclined to fly. 'Remain, and die if need be,' I then said; 'but
+die in the purple!' And you remained, and your courage saved you. You
+awaited death upon your throne, with me at your side--and God sent
+Belisarius to our relief! I speak the same now. Do not yield. Emperor
+of the Romani--do not yield to the barbarians! Stand firm. Let the
+ruins of the Golden Gate overwhelm you if the axe of the terrible Goth
+can force it; but die an Emperor! This purple is stained by the
+immeasurable insolence of these Germans. I throw it from me, and I
+swear by the wisdom of God, never will I again resume it until the
+Empire is rid of the Goths!"
+
+And she tore off her mantle and threw it down upon the steps of the
+throne. But then, greatly exhausted, she was on the point of sinking
+back into her seat when Justinianus caught her in his arms and pressed
+her to his bosom.
+
+"Theodora," he cried, "my glorious wife! You need no purple on your
+shoulders--your spirit is clothed in purple! You alone understand
+Justinian. War, and destruction to the Goths!"
+
+At this spectacle the trembling senators were overwhelmed with terror
+and astonishment.
+
+"Yes, wise fathers," cried the Emperor, turning to the assembly, "this
+time you were too clever to be men. It is indeed an honour to be called
+Constantine's successor, but it is no honour to be _your_ master! Our
+enemies, I fear, are right; Constantine only planted here the dead
+mummy of Rome, but the soul of Rome had already fled. Alas for the
+Empire! Were it free or a republic, it would now have sunk in shame for
+ever. It must have a master, who, when, like a lazy horse, it threatens
+to sink into the quagmire, pulls it up by the rein; a strong master
+with bridle, whip, and spurs!"
+
+At this moment a little crooked man, leaning on a crutch, forced his
+way into the hall, and limped up to the steps of the throne.
+
+"Emperor of the Romani," he began, when he rose from his obeisance, "a
+report reached me on my bed of pain of all that the barbarians had
+dared, and of what was going on here. I gathered all my strength and
+dragged myself here with difficulty, for, by one word from you, I must
+learn whether I have been a fool from the beginning in holding you to
+be a great ruler in spite of many weaknesses; whether I shall throw
+your marshal's staff into the deepest well, or still carry it with
+pride! Speak only one word: war or peace?"
+
+"War! war!" cried Justinian, and his countenance beamed.
+
+"Victory! Justinian!" cried the general. "Oh, let me kiss your hand,
+great Emperor!" and he limped up the steps of the throne.
+
+"But how is this, patrician, you have all at once become a man!" mocked
+the Empress. "You were always against the war with the Goths. Have you
+suddenly become endowed with a sense of honour?"
+
+"Honour!" cried Narses, "after that gay soap-bubble Belisarius, that
+great child, may run! Not honour but the Empire is at stake. As long as
+danger threatened from the east, I advised the Persian war. Nothing was
+to be feared from the Goths. But now your piety, O Empress, and
+Belisarius's hero-sword, have stirred up the hornets' nest so long,
+that at last the whole swarm flies dangerously into our faces. Now the
+danger threatens from that side, and I advise a Gothic war. The Goths
+are nearer to Byzantium than Chosroes to the eastern frontier. He who,
+like this Totila, can raise a kingdom from an abyss, can much more
+easily hurl another kingdom into an abyss. This young King is a worker
+of miracles, and must be stopped in time."
+
+"For this once," said Justinian, "I have the rare pleasure of finding
+my Empress and Narses of one mind."
+
+He was on the point of dismissing the assembly, when the Empress caught
+his arm.
+
+"Stay, my husband," she said. "To-day, for the second time, I have the
+honour to be proved your best adviser! Is it not so? Then listen to me
+and follow my further advice. Keep this wise assembly--all except
+Narses--confined in this hall.--Do not tremble, Illustrissimi; this
+time your lives are not in jeopardy. But you are unable to keep a
+secret; at least unless your tongues are slit. For this time, we will
+insure your silence by confinement.--There exists a conspiracy against
+your life, Justinian, or at least against your free will. A certain
+party had decided to force you to a war with the Goths. This object,
+truly, is now attained. But either to-night or to-morrow early the
+conspirators will again finally assemble. We must allow them to do so.
+We must not hinder them in their purpose by letting them know that
+their object is already planned. For dangerous persons--persons
+suspected long ago, and--O Justinian--very very _rich_ persons are
+concerned in it. It would be a pity if they escaped my snare."
+
+Justinian was not alarmed at the word conspiracy.
+
+"I also knew of it," he said. "But is it already so far advanced?
+To-morrow! Theodora," he cried, "you are more to the Empire than
+Belisarius or Narses!--Captain of the Golden Shields, you will keep all
+present confined here until Narses comes to fetch them. Meanwhile, my
+pious and wise fathers, reflect upon this hour and its teachings!
+Narses, follow us and the Empress."
+
+So saying, Justinian descended the steps of the throne. When he, with
+Theodora and Narses, had left the Hall of Jerusalem, the entrance was
+immediately blocked with threatening spears.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The Emperor ordered the Empress and Narses to follow him to his room.
+
+When they reached it, he embraced his wife with great tenderness,
+unembarrassed by the presence of a witness.
+
+"How your enthusiasm rejoices and exalts me!" he exclaimed. "I am proud
+of such a wife. How beautiful you were, O Theodora, in your noble
+indignation. How can I reward you! Choose any favour, any sign of my
+gratitude, my best and truest councillor and co-ruler?"
+
+"If I, a weak woman, dare indeed believe that I may share your thoughts
+and plans in this war, then confide in me, and tell me how you intend
+to conduct it."
+
+"I am resolved to send Belisarius again to Italy. But not alone. His
+trifling with a crown has made me wary."
+
+"Then I beg the favour of being allowed to propose a second
+general.--Narses," she continued, before Justinian could speak, "will
+you be the other?"
+
+She wished to make it impossible for him to go.
+
+"No, I thank you," Narses answered bitterly. "You know that I am a
+stubborn and ill-tempered horse; I cannot endure to draw together with
+another. A marshal's staff and a wife, Justinian, should be kept on the
+same condition."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Alone, or not at all."
+
+"Then _you_ not at all," answered Justinian with vexation. "You must not
+imagine that you are indispensable, magister militum."
+
+"No one on earth is so, Justinian. With all my heart! Send great
+Belisarius again! He may try his luck for the third time in that
+country, where laurels grow so thickly. My turn will come later. I am
+no doubt unnecessary here as a witness of your domestic felicity, and
+at home, opposite to my sickbed, stands a map of the Italian roads.
+Allow me to continue my study of it. It is more interesting than the
+map of our Persian frontier. One piece of advice. You will ultimately
+be obliged to send Narses to Italy. The sooner you send him the more
+you will spare yourself defeat, vexation, and money. And if gout or
+that wretched epilepsy should carry Narses off before King Totila lies
+upon his shield, who then will conquer Italy for you? You believe in
+prophecy. In Italy there runs a saying: 'T beats B, N beats T.'"
+
+"Does that mean, perhaps, that Theodora beat Belisarius, and Narses
+beats Theodora?" asked the Empress mockingly.
+
+"That is not _my_ interpretation of the riddle; it is yours. But I
+accept it. Do you know which was the wisest of your many laws, O
+Justinian?"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"That which made death the punishment of all accusations against the
+Empress, for it was the only way in which you could keep her." And he
+left the room.
+
+"The insolent fellow!" cried Theodora, sending a venomous look after
+him. "He dares to threaten! When Belisarius has once been rendered
+harmless, Narses must quickly follow."
+
+"But meanwhile we need them both," said Justinian. "Do you really
+propose, as the second general to be sent to Italy, the man who
+persuaded us to reject the proposals of Cassiodorus?"
+
+"The same."
+
+"But my distrust of that ambitious man has since then become stronger."
+
+"Have you then forgotten," retorted Theodora, "who revealed the
+intentions of Silverius? Who was the first to warn you of Belisarius's
+dangerous game?"
+
+"But he now frequents the company of the men who are conspiring against
+me!"
+
+"Yes; but, O Justinian, it is by my order, as their destroyer."
+
+"Indeed! But if he is also deceiving you?"
+
+"Will you believe him and me, and send him to Italy, if he brings the
+conspirators to your feet in chains to-morrow, and amongst them their
+unknown chief?"
+
+"I already know who it is; it is Photius, the freedman of Belisarius."
+
+"No, Justinian; it is he whom you would again send to Italy if I did
+not warn you: Belisarius himself!"
+
+The Emperor grew pale, and grasped the arm of his chair.  "Will you now
+believe in that wonderful Roman's devotion, and send him to Italy with
+your army, instead of Belisarius?"
+
+"Everything, everything!" said Justinian. "Belisarius, then, is really
+a traitor! Then we must make haste! Let us act at once."
+
+"I have already acted, Justinian. My net is cast, and no one can
+escape. Give me full power to draw it close."
+
+The Emperor nodded acquiescence.
+
+And passing through the curtains, Theodora said to the door-keeper:
+
+"Fetch Cethegus, the Prefect of Rome, from his house, and take him to
+my room."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Shortly after, Cethegus once more stood before the still seductive
+woman, whom he had known in youth. She was lying stretched upon her
+couch in the room in which we have before seen her.
+
+Galatea frequently handed to her a small onyx-cup, filled with the
+drops prescribed by her Persian physician. Grecian doctors no longer
+sufficed.
+
+"I thank you, Theodora," said Cethegus, after a friendly greeting, "and
+if I must thank any other than myself--and a woman!--I would rather owe
+something to my early friend than to another."
+
+"Listen, Prefect," said Theodora, looking gravely at him. "You would be
+just the man--shall I say the barbarian or the Roman?--to first kiss a
+Cleopatra whom a Caesar and an Antony had adored, and then take her in
+triumph to the Capitol in order to strangle her, as, perhaps,
+Octavianus once intended, if that sly Queen had not been beforehand
+with him. Cleopatra has always been my model. 'Tis true, I have never
+found a Caesar. But the asp, perhaps, will not be wanting. But you need
+not thank me. I have spoken and acted out of conviction. The insolence
+which we have suffered from these Goths must be smothered in blood.
+Perhaps I have not always been such a faithful wife as Justinian
+believed; but I was always his best and truest adviser. Belisarius and
+Narses cannot be sent together, and still less singly, to Italy. You
+shall go. You are a hero, a general, and a statesman, and yet you are
+too weak to harm Justinian."
+
+"Thanks for your good opinion," said Cethegus.
+
+"Friend, you are a general without an army, an Emperor without an
+empire, a pilot without a ship. But enough of this--you will not
+believe me. I send you to Italy because I believe that you hate the
+barbarians with all your heart. The second general, whom the imperial
+distrust will undoubtedly send after you, shall be Areobindos. He will
+not trouble you much! I am rejoiced that I can thus serve not only my
+old companion but also the Empire. Ah, Cethegus, our youth! To you men
+it is either golden hopes or golden memories: to a woman it is life
+itself! Oh for a single day of the time when I sent you roses and you
+sent me verses!"
+
+"Your roses were beautiful, Theodora, but my verses were poor."
+
+"They were fine to me, for they were addressed to me! My choice of you,
+which is necessary for the Empire, is sweetened by old and new hate as
+well as by old love. Belisarius must not rise to new honours. He must
+fall, and this time fall low and for ever. As sure as I live!"
+
+"And Narses? I should understand and like it better if you were to ruin
+that head without an arm, than this arm without a head."
+
+"Patience! One after the other."
+
+"What has the good-natured hero done to you?"
+
+"He? Nothing. But his wife! that clumsy Antonina, whose whole triumph
+lies in her good health."
+
+And the delicate Empress clenched her little white fist, the fingers of
+which had become more transparent than ever.
+
+"Ah," she exclaimed, "how I hate her! Yes, and I envy her too! Stupid
+people are always healthy. But she shall not rejoice while I suffer!"
+
+"And the fate of the Capitol depends upon such a woman's hatred!"
+exclaimed Cethegus to himself. "Down with Cleopatra!"
+
+"The foolish woman is in love with her husband's honour and glory.
+There I can wound her fatally!" continued Theodora.
+
+As she spoke the twitching of her delicate features betrayed an attack
+of acute pain; she threw herself back upon her cushions.
+
+"My little dove," said Galatea, "do not be angry. Thou knowest what the
+Persian said. Every excitement, be it of love or of hate----"
+
+"Yes. To hate and to love is life! And as one grows older, hatred is
+almost sweeter than love. Love is false; hate is true."
+
+"In both," said Cethegus, "I am a novice compared to you. I have always
+called you the Siren of Cyprus. One can never be sure that you will not
+suddenly tear your victim in the very act of embracing him--either from
+love, or from hate. And what has suddenly changed your love of Antonina
+into hatred?"
+
+"She has become virtuous, the hypocrite! Or can she be really so
+weak-minded? It is possible. Her fishy blood can never be made to boil.
+For a strong passion or a bold crime she was always too cowardly. She
+is too vain to forego admiration and too paltry to reciprocate it.
+Since she accompanied her husband on his campaign she has become quite
+virtuous. Ha, ha, ha! because she was obliged! Even as the devil fasts
+when he has nothing to eat. Because I kept her lover a prisoner."
+
+"Anicius, the son of Boethius? I heard of it."
+
+"Yes, he. When in Italy Antonina again clung to her husband and shared
+his fame and his misfortunes. And since that time she is a very
+Penelope! When she returned here, what did the goose do? She reproached
+me with having enticed her from the path of virtue! and swore that she
+would save Anicius from my toils. And she succeeds, the snake! She
+opens the gates of conscience and weans my unfaithful chamberlain more
+and more from me--of course only to keep him for herself."
+
+"So you cannot imagine," said Cethegus, "that any woman can try to save
+a soul?"
+
+"Without profit? No. But at the same time she deceives herself and him
+by pious speeches. And oh! how gladly the youth allows himself to be
+saved by this youthful blooming saint from the arms of the faded
+woman--who is wasted before her time! Ha!" she added passionately,
+starting from her seat, "how pitiable that the body must succumb from
+fatigue before the soul has half satisfied its thirst for life! And to
+live is to rule, to hate, and to love!"
+
+"You seem insatiable in these arts and enjoyments."
+
+"Yes," cried Theodora, "and I am proud of it. Must I indeed leave the
+richly-spread table of existence, must I leave this imperial throne,
+with all my ardent love of joy and power still unquenched? Shall I only
+sip a few more drops? Oh, Nature is a miserable blunderer! Once in many
+thousand ages she creates, amid a host of cripples, ugly in body and
+weak in mind, a soul and body like mine, perfect and strong, and full
+of the longing to live and to enjoy for an eternity. And, when only six
+lustres have passed, when I have scarcely sipped of the full cup
+offered to me. Nature dries up the spring of life! A curse upon the
+envy of the gods! But men can envy too, and envy changes them into
+demons. Others shall not enjoy when I can do so no longer! Others shall
+no more laugh when I must writhe in agony all night long! Antonina
+shall not rejoice in her youth with the false man who was once mine and
+yet could think of another, or of virtue, or of heaven! Anicius has
+told me this very day that he can bear this life without fame and
+honour no more--that heaven and earth call him away. He shall repent
+it--together with her. Come, Cethegus," she said furiously, grasping
+his arm, "come; we will destroy them both!"
+
+"You forget," said Cethegus coldly, "that I have no reason to hate
+either her or him. So what I do will be done for your sake."
+
+"Not so, you wise and icy Roman! Do you believe that I do not see
+through you?"
+
+"I hope not," thought Cethegus.
+
+"You wish to keep Belisarius away from Italy. You wish to fight and
+conquer alone. Or at most with a shadow beside you, such as Bessas was
+and Areobindos will be. Do you think I did not understand why you so
+cleverly managed the recall of Belisarius when before Ravenna? Anxiety
+for Justinian! What is Justinian to you?"
+
+Cethegus felt his heart beat.
+
+"The freedom of Rome!" continued Theodora. "Nonsense! You know that
+only strong and simple men can be trusted with freedom. And you know
+your Quirites. No, your aim lies higher."
+
+"Is it possible that this woman guesses what all my enemies and friends
+do not even suspect?" thought Cethegus.
+
+"You wish to free Italy alone, and alone rule her as Justinian's
+vice-regent. To be next to his throne, high above Belisarius and
+Narses, and second only to Theodora. And if there were any higher goal,
+yours would be the spirit to fly at it."
+
+Cethegus breathed again.
+
+"That would hardly be worth the trouble," he thought.
+
+"Oh," continued Theodora, "it is a proud feeling to be the first of
+Justinian's servants!"
+
+"Of course," thought Cethegus, "she is not capable of imagining
+anything superior to her husband, although she deceives him daily."
+
+"And," Theodora went on, "to rule _him_, the Emperor, in company with
+me."
+
+"The flattering atmosphere of this court dulls even the clearest
+intellect," thought Cethegus. "It is the madness of the purple. She can
+only think of herself as all-commanding."
+
+"Yes, Cethegus," continued Theodora; "I would allow no other man even
+to _think_ of this. But I will help you to obtain it. With you I will
+share the mastery of the world. Perhaps only because I remember many a
+foolish youthful dream. Do you still remember how, years ago, we shared
+two cushions in my little villa? We called them the Orient and the
+Occident. It was an omen. So will we now share the Orient and the
+Occident. Through my Justinian I will rule the Orient. Through my
+Cethegus I will rule the Occident!"
+
+"Ambitious, insatiable woman!" thought Cethegus. "Oh that Mataswintha
+had not died! She at this court--and you would sink for ever!"
+
+"But to gain this," said Theodora, "Belisarius must be got out
+of the way. Justinian had resolved to send him once more as your
+commander-in-chief to Italy."
+
+Cethegus frowned.
+
+"He trusts again and again to his dog-like fidelity. He must be
+thoroughly convinced of his falsity."
+
+"That will be difficult to manage," said Cethegus. "Theodora will
+sooner learn to be faithful than Belisarius to be false."
+
+A blow from Theodora's little hand was the punishment for this speech.
+
+"To you, foolishly, I have been ever faithful--that is, in affection.
+Do you want Belisarius again in Italy?"
+
+"On no account!"
+
+"Then help me to ruin him, together with Anicius, the son of Boethius."
+
+"So be it," said the Prefect. "I have no reason to spare the brother of
+Severinus. But how can you possibly bring proofs against Belisarius? I
+am really curious. If you accomplish _that_, I will declare myself no
+less a novice in plots and machinations than in love and hatred."
+
+"And that you are, you dull son of Latium! Now listen. But it is such a
+dangerous subject, that I must beg thee, Galatea, to keep watch that no
+one comes and listens. No, my good mother, not inside! I beg thee;
+_outside_ the door. Leave me alone with the Prefect: it is--more's the
+pity--no secret of love?"
+
+When, after some time, the Prefect left the room, he said to himself:
+
+"If this woman were a man--I should kill her! She would be more
+dangerous than the barbarians and Belisarius together! But then,
+certainly, the iniquity would be neither so inscrutable nor so
+devilish!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Soon after the Prefect had returned home, Syphax announced the son of
+Boethius, who came from the Empress.
+
+"'Let him enter, and admit no one else until he has gone," said
+Cethegus. "Meanwhile send quickly for Piso, the tribune."
+
+And he rose to meet Anicius, who now entered the room.
+
+Anicius was no longer a youth, and his delicate features were much
+improved by the expression of resolution which at this moment rested
+upon them. He was dressed very simply, and his hair, which was usually
+curled, now hung straight down.
+
+"You remind me of your beautiful sister, Anicius."
+
+With these words the Prefect received his visitor.
+
+"It is on her account, Cethegus, that I come," said Anicius gravely.
+"You are the oldest friend of my father and of our house. You hid
+Severinus and me from our enemies, and assisted us to escape at your
+own risk. You are the only man in Byzantium to whom I can appeal in a
+mysterious affair. A few days ago I received this incomprehensible
+letter, 'To the son of my patron; Corbulo the freedman----"
+
+"Corbulo? I know that name!"
+
+"He was the freedman of my father, with whom my mother and sister took
+refuge, and who----"
+
+"Fell before Rome with your brother!"
+
+"Yes. But he only died after being carried into the Gothic encampment,
+for he was taken prisoner, together with my dying brother, in the
+village _ad aras Bacchi_. So I am told by one of Belisarius's
+mercenaries called Sutas, who was taken prisoner at the same time, And
+who has now brought me the letter which Corbulo could not finish. Read
+it for yourself."
+
+Cethegus took the small wax tablet with its scarcely legible writing
+and read:
+
+"'The legacy of your dying brother, and his last words were: Anicius
+must revenge our mother, our sister, and myself. It was the same enemy
+of our house, the same demon who----'"
+
+"The letter ends here," said Cethegus.
+
+"Yes. Corbulo lost his senses and never again became conscious, the
+mercenary said."
+
+"There is not much to be made of this," observed Cethegus, shrugging
+his shoulders.
+
+"No; but the mercenary Sutas--they were all in the same tent--heard a
+few words spoken by my dying brother to Corbulo, which may give us the
+key to the letter."
+
+"Well?" asked Cethegus, with concealed anxiety.
+
+"Severinus said: 'I suspect it. He knew of the ambush--he sent us to
+meet certain death.'"
+
+"Who?" asked Cethegus quietly.
+
+"That is just what I want to find out."
+
+"You have no suspicion?"
+
+"No; but it cannot be impossible to discover the man who is meant."
+
+"How will you manage it?"
+
+"'Sent us to meet certain death,' that can only mean some leader or
+general who was the cause of my brother's sharing that fatal morning
+ride out of the Tiburtinian Gate. For Severinus did not at that time
+belong to the suite of Belisarius. He was a tribune of your legions. If
+you, Belisarius, and Procopius will earnestly try to find out the man
+who sent Severinus with Belisarius, you must succeed. For he did not go
+with other legionaries--none of your legionaries or horsemen
+accompanied Belisarius."
+
+"As far as I recollect," said Cethegus, "you are right."
+
+"Not one," repeated Anicius. "Procopius--unfortunately he has gone to
+examine the buildings which Justinian has erected in Asia--was present,
+and has often told me the names of all who were with him. When he
+returns, I will make a careful inquiry of what my brother did just
+before the sally. Into whose house or tent he went--I will not rest, I
+will ask all the still living comrades of Severinus where they saw him
+last before he rode out."
+
+"You are very acute for your years," said the Prefect with a strange
+smile. "What will you be when you are arrived at maturity? But
+certainly you are in a good school. Does the Empress know of this
+letter?"
+
+"No. And she shall never hear of it. Do not name her to me! This duty
+of revenge has been sent by God to tear me away from her!"
+
+"But she sent you to me?"
+
+"In another affair, which, however, shall end very differently to what
+she intends. A few hours ago she sent for me, and asked me once again
+if it was so very terrible to be kept in a golden cage. But the woman
+disgusts me. And I heartily regret the months that I have wasted at her
+side, while my brother fought and fell for the fatherland. I gave her
+such a rude answer, that I expected a storm. But, to my astonishment,
+she was perfectly quiet, and said, smiling, 'Be it so. No faithfulness
+lasts long. Go to Antonina, or to Virtue, or to both goddesses. But, as
+a last sign of my favour, I will save you from certain destruction.
+There exists in Byzantium a conspiracy against the life or free will of
+Justinian. Be quiet--I know it. I know also that you are already half
+won; that you have not yet gone to any of their meetings, but that you
+have the documents of the conspiracy in your keeping. I have allowed
+them to do as they liked, because there are some of my old enemies
+amongst them, whom I wish to ruin. In a few days they will be
+surprised. But I will warn and save you. Go to the Prefect. He must
+take you with him away from Byzantium. Tell him that you are in danger,
+and that Theodora sends you. But say nothing to him of the conspiracy.
+There are some of his tribunes concerned in it, whom he would gladly
+save, but whom I will destroy.' All this she said to me, and I came,
+but not to fly! I came to warn you and my Roman comrades. I shall also
+go to the meeting--there is no danger for to-day, the Empress said--and
+warn them all. I shall tell them that the conspiracy is discovered. You
+must not be there, Prefect; you must not place yourself in any further
+danger. Justinian already suspects you. The foolish youths wish to wait
+until they have won Belisarius to their cause! And if they are not
+warned they will most likely be all taken prisoners to-morrow. I shall
+hasten to tell them of their danger. But, that done, I will not rest a
+moment until I have discovered the murderer of my brother."
+
+"Both intentions are highly praiseworthy," said Cethegus. "But, by the
+way, where do you hide the papers of the conspirators?"
+
+"Where I hide all secrets," said Anicius, blushing--"secrets and
+letters that are sacred and dear to me; where I will also hide this
+tablet. You shall know the spot, for you, the oldest friend of my
+house, must help me to complete my task of vengeance. I have written
+out Sutas's report of the scarcely-comprehensible conversation of the
+two dying men. They spoke of 'poisoning'--of 'murderous order'--of an
+'accusation before the senate'--therefore our enemy must be a Roman
+senator--of a 'crimson crest'-of a 'black devil of a horse----'"
+
+"Et cetera, et cetera," said Cethegus, interrupting him. "Where is your
+hiding-place? It may be that you will have to escape in a hurry--for I
+strongly advise you not to trust the Empress--and perhaps you would not
+even be able to reach your house."
+
+"And besides," added Anicius, "it is necessary that you take up my
+work. I should in any case have told you of the hiding-place. It is in
+the cistern in the court of my house--the third brick to the right of
+the wheel is hollow. And you must know for another reason," he
+concluded gloomily. "If it is not possible to save my friends, if my
+own freedom is in danger--for you are right in your warning: I have
+long since remarked that I am followed by the spies of the Emperor or
+Empress--then I will quickly make a bloody end to it all. What matter
+if I die, if I cannot fulfil the duty which Severinus has imposed upon
+me? Then--it is my office to tell the Emperor every morning how the
+Empress has passed the night--then--I will strike the tyrant in the
+midst of his slaves!"
+
+"Madman!" cried Cethegus, in real terror--for he _now_ wished to keep
+Justinian alive and in power--"to what has remorse and a planless and
+dissolute life brought you? No! the son of Boethius must not end as a
+murderer. If you wish to atone in blood for your inglorious past--then
+fight with my legions! Purify yourself in the blood of the barbarians,
+shed, not by the dagger of the murderer, but by the sword of the hero!"
+
+"You speak nobly, Cethegus. And will you really place _me_, untried and
+without fame, amongst your brave knights? How can I thank you!"
+
+"Spare your thanks until all is ended--until we meet again. Meanwhile
+warn the conspirators. That alone will be a proof of courage. For, as
+it seems you are followed, I think it a dangerous task. If you shun the
+danger, say so frankly."
+
+"_I_ hesitate to give the first proof of my courage! I would go and
+warn them, even if certain death were the consequence."
+
+He pressed the Prefect's hand, and hurried away.
+
+As soon as he was gone, Syphax brought in the tribune Piso through
+another door.
+
+"Master of Iambics," cried Cethegus, "you must now be as quick-footed
+as your verses! Enough of conspiracy and creeping here in Byzantium!
+You must immediately seek all the young Romans who frequent the house
+of Photius. The setting sun must find none of you within those walls.
+Your lives depend upon it. No one must go to the 'evening feast' at
+Photius's house. Go hunting, singly or in groups; make boat-races on
+the Bosphorus; only hurry away. The conspiracy is superfluous. The
+sound of the trumpet will soon summon you to battle against the
+barbarians in Latium. Away with you all! Wait for me at Epidamnus.
+Thence, with my Isaurians, I will fetch you to the third fight for
+Rome. Away!--Syphax," he said, when left alone with his slave, "have
+you inquired at the great general's house? When is he expected back?"
+
+"At sunset."
+
+"Is his faithful wife at home? Good. Bring a litter--not mine--bring
+the first you find at the Hippodrome. The blinds must shut closely.
+Take it to the harbour, into the back street of the slop-dealers."
+
+"Sir, the worst rabble of this city of vagabonds dwell in that street.
+What will you do there?"
+
+"I will there enter the litter, and then go to the Red House."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+In the Red House, the abode of Belisarius, which was situated in the
+suburb "Justiniana" (Sycae), sat Antonina in the women's chamber,
+working busily.
+
+She was embroidering a border of golden laurels upon a mantle for her
+hero, Belisarius.
+
+Near her, upon a citron-wood table, lay, in a costly binding set with
+precious stones, a splendid edition of the "Vandal Wars," by Procopius,
+the lately published book which described her husband's prowess.
+
+At her feet lay a magnificent animal, one of the four tame hunting
+leopards which the Persian King had presented to Belisarius after the
+last peace; a very costly present, for it was seldom that the attempt
+to tame these leopards succeeded, and many hundreds of cubs which had
+been caught or born in confinement, were obliged to be killed as
+useless after being trained for years. The large, beautiful, and
+powerful animal--it easily became wild when it tasted warm blood while
+hunting, and had therefore been left at home stretched itself
+luxuriously, like a cat, upon the folds of Antonina's dress, played
+with her ball of gold thread, waved its tail, and sometimes rubbed its
+round and clever-looking head against the feet of its mistress.
+
+A slave entered and announced a stranger--he had arrived in a modest
+litter, and was dressed in a common mantle--the door-keeper would have
+refused to admit him, as the master was away, and the mistress received
+no visitors, but he would not be denied; he ordered them to announce to
+Antonina "the conqueror of Pope Silverius."
+
+"Cethegus!" cried Antonina.
+
+She grew pale and trembled.
+
+"Let him in at once."
+
+The influence which the powerful intellect of Cethegus had gained upon
+her the first time of their meeting; the recollection that, when her
+husband, Procopius, and all the leaders of the army, had helplessly
+succumbed to the priest, this man had conquered and humbled the
+conqueror; of how, at the entrance into Rome, the fight on the bridge
+of the Anio, the defence of Rome Against Witichis, in the camp of
+Ravenna and at the taking of that city, he had always and everywhere
+kept the upper hand, and yet had never used his superiority inimically
+against her husband; how nothing but misfortune had followed any
+neglect of his warnings; how all his counsels had been victorious in
+themselves--these recollections now confusedly crossed her mind.
+
+She heard the footsteps of the Prefect, and hastily rose.
+
+The leopard--pushed roughly aside and disturbed in his comfortable
+sport on account of the intruder--rose with a low growl, and looked
+threateningly at the door, gnashing his yellow teeth.
+
+Cethegus, before entering, drew the curtain violently aside and thrust
+forth his head, which was covered by a cowl. The abrupt movement must
+have either frightened or irritated the leopard. When the Persian lion
+and tiger tamers first began to break in a newly-caught animal, they
+were accustomed to envelop themselves and cover their heads with long
+woollen cloaks. Possibly the fierce and never wholly-tamed beast was
+reminded of his old enemies. With a terrible howl he crouched in
+preparation for a deadly spring, whipping the floor with his long tail
+and foaming at the mouth a sure sign of fury.
+
+Antonina saw it with horror.
+
+"Fly! fly, Cethegus!" she screamed.
+
+Had he done so, had he but turned his back, he would have been lost;
+the monster would at once have been upon his back with his teeth in his
+neck. For no door closed the entrance, the only barrier was a curtain.
+
+Cethegus promptly stepped forward, threw back his cowl, looked straight
+into the leopard's eyes, raising his left hand with an action of
+command, and threatening him with the dagger held in his right.
+
+"Down! down! The irons are hot!" he cried in the Persian language, at
+the same time moving a step in advance.
+
+The leopard suddenly broke into a whining howl of fear; his muscles,
+which had been contracted for the spring, relaxed; he crept whining,
+with his belly on the ground, to the feet of Cethegus, and howling with
+fear, licked the sandal of his left foot, while Cethegus set his right
+foot firmly upon the animal's neck.
+
+Antonina had sunk upon her couch in her fear; she now stared at the
+terrible, but beautiful scene.
+
+"That animal--the prostration!" she stammered. "Dareios always refused
+to do it; he was furious when Belisarius insisted upon it. Where have
+you learned this, Cethegus?"
+
+"In Persia, of course," he answered.
+
+And he kicked the thoroughly cowed animal between the ribs with such
+violence, that with a howl it flew into the farthest comer of the room,
+where it remained trembling and crouching, with its eyes fixed upon its
+subduer.
+
+"Belisarius only mastered the forts, but not the language of Persia,"
+said Cethegus. "And these beasts do not understand Greek. You are
+grimly guarded, Antonina, when Belisarius is absent," he added, as he
+hid his dagger in the folds of his dress.
+
+"What brings you to my house?" Antonina asked, still trembling.
+
+"My often misdoubted friendship. I would save your husband, who has the
+courage of a lion, but not the dexterity of a mouse! Procopius is
+unfortunately absent, or I should have sent that better-trusted
+adviser, I know that a heavy blow threatens Belisarius from the
+Emperor. We must ward it off. The favour of the Emperor----"
+
+"Is very fickle, I know. But the services of Belisarius----"
+
+"Are his ruin. Justinian would not fear an insignificant man. But he
+fears Belisarius."
+
+"That we have often experienced," sighed Antonina.
+
+"Learn then--you before all others--what no one outside the palace
+knows: the Emperor's indecision is at an end. He has decided upon war
+with the Goths."
+
+"At last!" cried Antonina, with a beaming countenance.
+
+"Yes; but--think of the shame! Belisarius is not appointed
+commander-in-chief."
+
+"Who else?" asked Antonina angrily.
+
+"I am one of the generals----"
+
+She looked at him suspiciously.
+
+"Yes; it was my aim long since, I confess. But the second in command is
+to be Areobindos. I cannot conquer the Goths with him, hindered by his
+ignorance. No one can conquer the Goths but Belisarius. Therefore I
+must have him near me, or, for aught I care, over me. See, Antonina, I
+hold myself to be the greater statesman----"
+
+"My Belisarius is a hero, no statesman!" cried the proud wife.
+
+"But it would be ridiculous to compare myself as a general with the
+conqueror of the Vandals, Goths, and Persians. You see that I openly
+confess that I am not influenced only by friendship to Belisarius, but
+also by egotism. I _must_ have Belisarius for a comrade."
+
+"That is clear," said Antonina, much pleased.
+
+"But Justinian is not to be persuaded to appoint him. Still more, he
+again suspects him, and indeed more than ever."
+
+"But, by all the saints! wherefore?"
+
+"Belisarius is innocent; but he is very imprudent. For months he
+has received secret letters, notes, and warnings--stuck into his
+bathing-robe, or thrown into his garden--which invite him to take part
+in a conspiracy."
+
+"Heavens! You know of this?" stammered Antonina.
+
+"Unfortunately not I only, but also others--the Emperor himself!"
+
+"But the conspiracy is not against the Emperor's life or throne," said
+Antonina apologetically.
+
+"No; only against his free will. 'War with the Goths.'--'Belisarius
+commander-in-chief.'--'It is shameful to serve an ungrateful
+master.'--'Force the Emperor to his own advantage.' Such and similar
+things do these papers contain, do they not? Well, Belisarius has
+certainly not accepted; but, imprudently, he did not at once speak of
+these invitations to the Emperor, and this oversight may cost him his
+head!"
+
+"Oh, holy saints!" cried Antonina, wringing her hands. "He omitted to
+do so at my request, by my advice. Procopius advised him to tell all to
+the Emperor. But I--I feared Justinian's mistrust, which might have
+discovered the semblance of guilt in the mere fact that such papers had
+been sent to Belisarius."
+
+"It was not that alone, I think," said Cethegus cautiously, when he had
+looked round to see if any could hear, "which impelled you to give such
+advice, taken, of course, by Belisarius."
+
+"What else? What can you mean?" asked Antonina in a low voice.
+
+But she blushed up to the roots of her hair.
+
+"You knew that good friends of yours were concerned in the conspiracy;
+you wished first to warn them before the plot was betrayed."
+
+"Yes," she stammered. "Photius, the freedman----"
+
+"And yet another," whispered Cethegus, "who, scarcely freed from
+Theodora's gilded prison, would only exchange it for the vaults of the
+Bosphorus."
+
+Antonina covered her face with her hands.
+
+"I know all, Antonina--the slight fault of former days, the good
+resolutions of a later time. But in this case your old inclination has
+ensnared you. Instead of thinking only of Belisarius, you thought also
+of his welfare. And if Belisarius now falls, whose is the guilt?"
+
+"Oh! be silent! have pity!" cried Antonina.
+
+"Do not despair," continued Cethegus. "You have still a strong prop,
+one who will be your advocate with the Emperor. Even if banishment be
+threatened, the prayers of your friend Theodora will prevent the
+worst."
+
+"The Empress!" cried Antonina, in terror. "Oh, how she will
+misrepresent! She has sworn our undoing!"
+
+"That is bad," said Cethegus--"very bad! For the Empress also knows of
+the conspiracy, and of the invitations to Belisarius. And you know that
+a much less crime than that of being invited to join a conspiracy is
+sufficient----"
+
+"The Empress knows of it! Then we are lost! Oh! you who know how to
+find a means of escape when no other eye can see it--help I save us!"
+
+And Antonina sank at the Prefect's feet.
+
+A lamentable howl issued from the corner of the room. The leopard
+trembled with renewed fear. The Prefect cast a rapid glance at his
+beaten adversary, and then gently raised the kneeling woman.
+
+"Do not despair, Antonina. Yes; there is a way to save Belisarius--but
+only one."
+
+"Must he tell _now_ what has happened? As soon as he returns?"
+
+"For that it is too late; and it would be too little. He would not be
+believed; mere words would not prove that he was in earnest. No; he
+must prove his fidelity by deeds. He must seize all the conspirators
+together, and deliver them into the Emperor's power."
+
+"How can he seize them all together?"
+
+"They themselves have invited him. To-night they assemble in the house
+of Photius, his freedman. He must consent to put himself at their head.
+He must go to the meeting, and take them all prisoners. Anicius," he
+added, "has been warned already by the Empress. I have seen him."
+
+"Alas! But if he must die, it is to save Belisarius. My husband must do
+as you say; I see that it is the only way. And it is a bold and
+dangerous step; it will allure him."
+
+"Do you think he will sacrifice his freedman?"
+
+"We have warned the fool again and again. What matters Photius when
+Belisarius is in danger! If ever I have had any power over my husband,
+I shall prevail to-day. Procopius has often advised him to give such a
+brutal--as he called it--proof of his fidelity. I will remind him of
+it. You may be sure that he will follow our united counsel."
+
+
+"'Tis well. He must be there before midnight. When the watchman on the
+walls calls the hour, I shall break into the hall. And it is better, so
+that Belisarius may be quite safe, that he only enter the meeting when
+he sees my Moor Syphax in the niche before the house behind the statue
+of Petrus. He may also place a few of his guards in front of the house.
+In case of need, they can protect him, and bear witness in his favour.
+He is not capable of much feigning; he must only join the meeting
+shortly before midnight; thus he will have no need to speak. Our guards
+will wait in the Grove of Constantinus, at the back of Photius's house.
+At midnight--the trumpet sounds when the guard is relieved, and you
+know that it can be distinctly heard--we shall break in. Belisarius,
+therefore, need not undertake the dangerous task of giving a signal."
+
+"And you--you will be sure to be there?"
+
+"I shall not fail. Farewell, Antonina."
+
+And, suddenly stepping backwards, his face still turned towards the
+leopard, his dagger pointed, he had gained the exit.
+
+The leopard had waited for this moment; he moved slightly in his
+corner, rising slowly.
+
+But as he reached the curtain, Cethegus once again raised his dagger
+and threatened him.
+
+"Down, Dareios! the irons are hot!"
+
+And he was gone.
+
+The leopard laid his head upon the mosaic floor and uttered a howl of
+impotent fury.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The power and glory of Totila were now at their height. His happiness
+was completed by his union with Valeria.
+
+The betrothal had just taken place in the church of St. Peter, and was
+solemnised by Cassiodorus, assisted by Julius, now a Catholic priest,
+and also by an Arian minister. When Cassiodorus had betrothed the
+daughter of his old friend to the King, and they had exchanged rings,
+the royal couple were led in solemn procession over the Janiculum
+towards the right bank of the river, and across the Theodosian and
+Valentinian Bridges, which were decorated with triumphal arches.
+Following the course of the river, the procession entered a villa
+situated on an eminence overlooking the river and the campagna, and the
+betrothed couple took their places under a magnificent baldachin in the
+great hall.
+
+There, before the assembled national army, under the golden shield of
+the King, which was hung upon his spear, the Roman bride stepped into
+the right shoe of her Gothic bridegroom, while he laid his mailed right
+hand upon her head, which was covered with a transparent veil.
+
+Thus the betrothal was completed according to ecclesiastical, Roman,
+and Germanic custom.
+
+This ceremony over, Totila and Valeria took their seats at the centre
+table upon the terrace of the villa; Valeria surrounded by noble Roman
+and Gothic women, Totila by the dukes and earls of his army.
+
+Grecian and Roman flute-players played and sang alternately; Roman
+dances followed the sword-dance of the Gothic youths. Presently,
+dressed in a long, white festive garment, the hem embroidered in gold,
+and a wreath of laurel and oak-leaves upon his head, Adalgoth stood
+forth in front of the royal pair, cast an inquiring look at his teacher
+in war and song. Earl Teja, who sat on the King's right hand, and, to
+the accompaniment of his harp, sang in a clear voice:
+
+           "Hear, all ye people, far and near,
+              Hear, Byzant', to thy dole:
+            The Gothic King, good Totila,
+              Thrones on the Capitol/
+
+           "No more is Belisarius' name
+              In Rome with honour decked:
+            Of Orcus, and no more of Rome
+              Cethegus is Prefect.
+
+           "Of what leaves shall we weave the crown
+              For good King Totila?
+            Like sweetest rose upon his breast
+              Blooms sweet Valeria.
+
+           "Peace, freedom, right, and law protect
+              His shield, his star, his sword:
+            _Olive_, thy peaceful spray now give,
+              Give for the peaceful Lord!
+
+           "Who carried terror and revenge?
+              Who bore the Grecians down?
+            Come, _laurel_, leaf of victory,
+              Make rich my hero's crown!
+
+           "But his victorious strength grew not
+              From Roma's mouldering ground:
+            With leaves of young Germanic _oak_
+              Let his young head be crowned.
+
+           "Hear, all ye people, far and near,
+              Hear, Byzant', to thy dole:
+            The Gothic King, young Totila,
+              Thrones on the Capitol."
+
+A burst of applause rewarded his song, during which a Roman youth and a
+Gothic maiden, kneeling before Totila and Valeria, offered each a crown
+of roses, laurels, olive-leaves and oak-leaves.
+
+"_Our_ songs are also not quite without sweetness, Valeria," said
+Totila with a smile, "and not without strength and truth. I owe my life
+to this youthful minstrel." And he laid his hand upon Adalgoth's head.
+"He struck thy countryman Piso, his colleague in the art of song, most
+roughly upon his clever scanning fingers--as a punishment for having
+written many a verse to my Valeria and raised the deadly steel against
+me with one and the same hand!"
+
+"There is one thing that I would rather have heard, my Adalgoth," Teja
+said to the boy in a low voice, "than your song of praise."
+
+"What is that, my Earl of harp and sword?"
+
+"The death-cry of the Prefect, whom thou hast only sent to hell in thy
+verse."
+
+But Adalgoth was called away down the steps by a crowd of Gothic
+warriors, who would not part with him for a long time; for his song
+pleased the Gothic heroes who had fought with Totila much better than
+it will perhaps please you, my reader.
+
+Duke Guntharis embraced and kissed Adalgoth and said, as he drew him
+aside:
+
+"My young hero! What a resemblance! Whenever I see thee my first
+thought is: Alaric!"
+
+"Why, that is my battle-cry!" said Adalgoth, and, engaged in
+conversation, they disappeared amid the crowd.
+
+At the same time the King looked back at the vestibule of the villa,
+for the performance of the flute-players stationed there was suddenly
+interrupted.
+
+He quickly perceived the cause and started from his seat with a cry of
+astonishment.
+
+For between the two centre and flower-wreathed columns of the entrance
+stood a form which seemed scarcely human. A maiden of wondrous beauty,
+clad in a pure white garment, holding a staff in her hand, and with a
+wreath of star-like flowers upon her head.
+
+"Ah! what is that? Lives this charming figure?" the King asked.
+
+And all the guests followed the direction of the King's eyes and the
+movement of his hand with equal wonder, for the small opening left
+between the pillars by the masses of flowers was filled up by a more
+lovely form than their eyes had ever beheld.
+
+The child, or girl, had fastened her shining white linen tunic upon her
+left shoulder with a large sapphire clasp; her broad golden girdle was
+set with a row of sapphires. The long and pointed sleeves of her dress
+fell from her shoulders like two white wings. Wreaths of ivy were
+twined about her whole figure; in her right hand, which rested on her
+bosom, she held a shepherd's staff, wreathed with flowers; her left
+hand carried a beautiful crown of wild-flowers and was laid upon the
+head of a large shaggy dog, whose neck was likewise surrounded with a
+wreath.
+
+The girl looked without fear, but thoughtfully and examiningly, at the
+brilliant assembly. For a while the guests stared and waited, and the
+maiden stood motionless. Then the King left his seat, went towards her,
+and said with a smile:
+
+"Welcome to our feast, if thou art an earthly being. But if--which I
+almost believe--thou art the lovely Queen of the Elves--why then, be
+welcome too! We will place a throne for thee high above the King's
+seat." And with a graceful action he opened both his arms, inviting her
+to approach.
+
+With a light and gentle step the maiden crossed the threshold of the
+vestibule and, blushing, replied:
+
+"What sweet folly speakest thou, O King! I am no queen. I am Gotho, the
+shepherdess. But thou--I see it more by thy clear brow than by thy
+diadem--thou art Totila, the King of the Goths, whom they call the
+'King of joy.' I have brought flowers for thee and thy lovely bride. I
+heard that this feast was to celebrate a betrothal. Gotho has nothing
+else to give. I plucked and twined these flowers as I came through the
+last meadow. And now, O King, protector of the orphan's right, hear and
+help me!"
+
+The King again took his place near Valeria. The maiden stood between
+them. Valeria took one of her hands; the King laid his hand upon her
+head, and said:
+
+"I swear to protect thee and thy rights by thine own lovely head. Who
+art thou, and what is thy desire?"
+
+"Sire, I am the grand-child and child of peasants. I have grown up in
+solitude amid the flowers of the Iffinger mountain. I had nothing dear
+to me on earth except my brother. He left me to seek thee. And when my
+grandfather felt that he was dying, he sent me to thee to find my
+brother and the solution of my fate. And he gave me old Hunibad from
+Teriolis as a companion and protector. But Hunibad's wounds were not
+fully healed and soon re-opened, and he was obliged to stay sick at
+Verona. And I had to nurse him for a long time, until at last he died
+too. And then I went alone, accompanied only by my faithful dog Brun,
+across all this wide hot country, until at last I found the city of
+Rome and thee. But thou keepest good order, O King, in thy land--thou
+deservest all praise. Thy high-roads are watched day and night by
+soldiers and horsemen. And they were friendly and good to the lonely
+wandering child. They sent me to the houses of good Goths at nightfall,
+where the housewife cherished me. And it is said that the law is so
+well obeyed in thy realm, that a golden bracelet might be laid upon the
+high-road, and would be found again after many many nights. In one
+town, Mantua, I think it was called, just as I was crossing the
+market-place, there was a great press, and the people ran together. And
+thy soldiers led forth a Roman to die there, and cried: 'Marcus
+Massurius must die the death, at the King's command. The King set him,
+a prisoner of war, free, and the insolent Roman ravished a Jewish girl.
+Sang Totila has renewed the law of the great Theodoric.' And they
+struck off his head in the open market-place, and all the people were
+terrified at King Totila's justice. Now, my faithful Brun, thou mayest
+rest here; here no one will hurt thee. I have even ornamented _his_
+neck with flowers to-day, in honour of thee and thy bride."
+
+She slightly struck the powerful dog on the head; he immediately went
+up to the King's throne, and laid his left fore-foot confidingly upon
+the King's knee. And the King gave him water to drink out of a flat,
+golden dish.
+
+"For golden fidelity a golden dish," he said. "But who is thy brother?"
+
+"Well," the girl answered thoughtfully, "from what Hunibad told me
+during the journey and upon his sick-bed, I think that the name my
+brother bears is not his real one. But he is easy to be known," she
+added, blushing. "His locks are golden-brown; his eyes are blue as
+these shining stones; his voice is as clear as the note of the lark;
+and when he plays his harp, he looks up as if he saw the heavens open."
+
+"Adalgoth!" cried the King.
+
+"Adalgoth!" repeated all the guests.
+
+The boy--he had heard the loud shout of his name--flew up the steps.
+
+"My Gotho!" he exclaimed in a jubilant voice, and locked her in a
+tender embrace.
+
+"Those two belong to each other," said Duke Guntharis, who had followed
+the youth.
+
+"Like the dawn and the rising sun," added Teja.
+
+"But now," said the girl, as she quietly withdrew from Adalgoth's arms,
+"let me fulfil my errand and the behest of my dying grandfather. Here,
+O King, take this roll and read it. In it is contained the fate of
+Adalgoth and Gotho; the past and the present, said our grandfather."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The King broke the seals and read:
+
+"'This is written by Hildegisel, the son of Hildemuth, whom they call
+"the long;" once priest, now castellan at Teriolis. Written at the
+dictation of old Iffa; and it is all written down faithfully. Lo!--now
+it begins! The Latin is not always as good as that sung in the
+churches. But thou, O King, wilt understand it. For where it is bad
+Latin it is good Gothic. Lo!--now it really begins. Thus speaks the old
+man Iffa: My Lord and King Totila; the roll which is wrapped in this
+cover is the writing of the man Wargs, who, however, was neither my
+son, nor was his name Wargs--but his name was Alaric, and he was a
+Balthe, the banished Duke of----'"
+
+A ay of astonishment from all present interrupted the King. He paused.
+But Duke Guntharis cried:
+
+"Then Adalgoth, who calls himself the son of Wargs, is the son of
+Alaric! whom he himself, in his office of herald, has often, riding
+through the town on a white horse, loudly summoned to appear. And never
+saw I a greater resemblance than that between the father Alaric and the
+son Adalgoth."
+
+"Hail to the Duke of Apulia!" cried Totila, with a smile, as he
+embraced the boy.
+
+But, speechless with excitement, Gotho sank upon her knees, her eyes
+filled with tears, and, looking up at Adalgoth, she sighed:
+
+"Then thou art not my brother! O God!--Hail, Duke of Apulia! Farewell!
+farewell for ever!" and she rose to her feet and turned to go.
+
+"Not my sister!" cried Adalgoth. "That is the best thing which this
+dukedom brings me! Stop there!" and he caught Gotho in his arms,
+pressed her to his bosom, and kissed her heartily. Then he led her
+up to the King, saying, "Now, King Totila, unite us! Here is my
+bride--here is my duchess!"
+
+And Totila, who had meanwhile cast a rapid glance over the two
+documents, answered smiling:
+
+"In this case I do not need the wisdom of Solomon. Young Duke of
+Apulia, thus I betroth thee to thy bride." And he laid the laughing,
+weeping girl in Adalgoth's arms.
+
+Then he turned to the assembled Goths, and said:
+
+"Permit me shortly to explain to you what this writing--the Latin of
+which is rather rude, for Hildegisel was cleverer with the sword than
+the pen--contains. Here is, besides, Duke Alaric's declaration of his
+innocence."
+
+"That has already been proved by his son," cried Duke Guntharis. "And I
+never believed in his guilt."
+
+"Duke Alaric," continued the King, "discovered his secret accuser too
+late. Our Adalgoth, as you know, brought his innocence to light, when
+he found the hidden documents in the broken statue of Caesar. Cethegus
+the Prefect had kept a sort of diary in a secret cypher. But
+Cassiodorus, with grief and amazement, deciphered the writing, and
+found an entry at the commencement of the book, written about twelve
+years ago, which ran thus: 'Duke Alaric condemned. That he was
+innocent, is now only believed by himself and his accuser. He who
+injures Cethegus shall not live. At the time when I woke from a
+death-like swoon on the banks of the Tiber, I swore to be revenged. I
+made a vow and it is now fulfilled.' The cause of this hatred is still
+a secret. But it is connected in some way with our friend Julius
+Montanus. Where is he?"
+
+"He has already returned to St. Peter's with Cassiodorus," answered
+Earl Teja; "excuse them. Every day at this hour they pray for peace
+with Byzantium. And Julius," he added with a bitter smile, "prays also
+for the Prefect's soul."
+
+"King Theodoric," said the King, "was hardly to be persuaded of the
+guilt of the brave duke, with whom he was on terms of intimate
+friendship."
+
+"Yes," observed Duke Guntharis, "he once gave him a broad gold bracelet
+with a runic device."
+
+The King now resumed his reading of the papers:
+
+"'I took a bracelet given me by King Theodoric'--these are the words of
+the duke--'when I fled with my child. Broken in two just in the centre
+of the runic inscription. It will one day serve to prove the honourable
+birth of my son.'"
+
+"He bears the proof on his face," cried Duke Guntharis.
+
+"But the golden proof is also not wanting!" exclaimed Adalgoth: "at
+least old Iffa gave me a broken bracelet. Here it is," and he took out
+the half of a broken bracelet, which he carried tied to a ribbon round
+his neck; "I have never been able to explain the sense of these words:
+
+          "'The Amelung--
+            The eagle--
+            In need--
+            The friend--'"
+
+"Thou hast not the other half," said Gotho, and took the second half of
+the bracelet from her bosom. "See, here is written:
+
+          "'--to the Balthe,
+            --to the falcon,
+            --and death,
+            --to the friend.'"
+
+And now Teja, holding the two halves together, read:
+
+          "'The Amelung to the Balthe,
+            The eagle to the falcon,
+            In need and death,
+            The friend to the friend.'"
+
+But the King continued to read from the roll:
+
+"'King Theodoric could no longer protect me when letters were laid
+before him, in which my handwriting was so excellently imitated that I
+myself, on being shown a harmless sentence which had been cut out,
+acknowledged without hesitation that I had written it. Then the judges
+fitted the piece into the parchment and read the whole to me. That
+letter purported to be written to the court of Byzantium, with the
+promise that the writer would murder the King and evacuate South Italy,
+if the Emperor would acknowledge him as King of North Italy. And the
+judges condemned me. As I was led away from the hall, I met my old
+friend Cethegus Caesarius in the passage. I had some time before
+succeeded in persuading a girl with whom he was in love to leave him
+and marry a good friend of mine in Gaul. Cethegus forced his way
+through my guards, struck me lightly on the shoulder and said, "He from
+whom his love has been torn, comforts himself with revenge;" and his
+eyes told me that he, and no other, had been my secret accuser. As a
+last favour, the King procured me the means of escape. But I and all my
+house were outlawed. For a long time I wandered restlessly in the
+northern mountains, until I recollected that some old and faithful
+adherents of my house were settled upon the Iffinger mountain. Thither
+I went with my boy, taking with me a few hereditary jewels, and my
+faithful friends received me and my son, and hid me under the name of
+Wargs--the banished--and gave out that I was the son of old Iffa,
+sending away all untrustworthy servants who might have betrayed me.
+Thus I lived in secret for some years. I educate my son to be my
+avenger on Cethegus the traitor, and when I die, old Iffa will continue
+this education. I hope the day will come when my innocence will be
+proved. But if it delays too long, my son, when he can wield the sword,
+shall leave the Iffinger and go to Italy, and revenge his father upon
+Cethegus Caesarius. That is my last word to my son.'--'But,'" the King
+now read from a second paper, "'soon after the Duke had written this, a
+great landslip buried him, together with some of my relations. And I,
+Iffa, have brought up the boy as my grandchild and Gotho's brother, for
+the ban had not been taken off the family of Duke Alaric, and I did not
+wish to expose the boy to the revenge of that devil, Cethegus. And that
+it might not be possible for the boy to betray anything about his
+dangerous parentage, I never told him of it. But when he was grown up,
+and I heard that there reigned in the Roman citadel a mild and just
+King, who had conquered the devilish Prefect as the God of Morning
+conquers the Giant of the Night, I sent young Adalgoth away, and told
+him that, according to his father's command, he must revenge the noble
+chief and patron of our family upon Cethegus the traitor. But I did not
+even then tell him that he was Alaric's son, for I feared the ban. So
+long as his father's innocence was unproved, his father's name could
+only injure him.  And I sent him away in great haste, for I discovered
+that the belief in his brotherly relation to my grandchild, Gotho, had
+not prevented him from loving her in a very unbrotherly manner. I might
+have told him that Gotho was not his sister. But far be it from me that
+I should dishonestly try to unite the noble scion of my old master and
+patron with my blood, the simple shepherd's child. No, if justice still
+exists upon earth, he will soon take his place as Duke of Apulia, like
+his father before him. And as I fear that I may die before he sends me
+word of the Prefect's ruin, I have begged the long Hildegisel to write
+all this down.' (And I, Hildegisel, have received for the writing
+twenty pounds of the best cheese, and twelve jars of honey, which I
+thankfully acknowledge, and all of which was good.) 'And with, these
+writings, and with the blue stones and fine garments and golden solidi
+from the inheritance of the Balthes, I send my child Gotho to King
+Totila the Just, to whom she must reveal everything. He will take the
+ban away from the innocent son of the guiltless duke. And when Adalgoth
+knows that he is the heir of the Balthes, and that Gotho is not his
+sister--then he may freely choose or shun the shepherdess; but this he
+must know, that the race of the Iffingers was never a race of vassals,
+but free from the very beginning, although under the protection of the
+House of Balthe.
+
+"'And now. King Totila, decide the fate of my grandchild and
+Adalgoth.'"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+"Well," laughed the King, "thou hast spared me the trouble, Duke of
+Apulia!"
+
+"And the little duchess," added Valeria, "has, as if she had foreseen
+what was coming, already adorned herself like a bride."
+
+"In honour of _you_," said the shepherdess. "When I heard of this feast
+as I entered the gates of Roma, I opened my bundle, as my grandfather
+had bidden me, and put on my ornaments."
+
+"Our betrothal," said Adalgoth to his bride, "has fallen upon the day
+of the King's betrothal; shall our wedding take place also on the
+wedding-day of the royal pair?"
+
+"No, no!" interrupted Valeria hastily, almost anxiously. "Add no other
+to a vow which is yet unfulfilled! You children of Fortune, be wise.
+You have to-day found each other. Keep to-day fast, for to-morrow
+belongs to the unknown!"
+
+"Thou speakest truth!" cried Adalgoth. "Even today shall be our
+wedding!" and he lifted Gotho upon his left arm, and showed her to all
+the people. "Look here, ye good Goths! This is my little wife and
+duchess!"
+
+"With your favour!" said a modest voice. "When so much sunshine falls
+upon the summits and heights of the nation, the lower vegetation would
+also gladly share some of its warmth."
+
+A homely-looking man approached the King, leading a pretty girl by the
+hand.
+
+"Is it thou, brave Wachis?" cried Earl Teja, going up to him. "And no
+longer a bond-servant, but with the long hair of a freedman?"
+
+"Yes, sir. My poor master. King Witichis, gave me my liberty when he
+sent me away with Mistress Rauthgundis and Wallada. Since then I have
+let my hair grow. And my mistress--I know it for a fact--was about to
+free Liuta, so that we might be married according to the law of the
+nation; but, alas, my mistress never returned to her home at Faesulae.
+But I returned just at the right moment to save Liuta, for the very
+next day the Saracens burnt the house and murdered all whom they found.
+After Mistress Rauthgundis's death--leaving no one to claim the
+inheritance, for a storm had buried her father Athalwin under an
+avalanche--Liuta became the King's property; and therefore I would beg
+the King to take me again as a bond-servant, so that we may not be
+punished if we marry, and----"
+
+"Wachis, thou art indeed faithful!" cried Totila, interrupting him.
+"No! thou shalt contract a free marriage! Give me a gold-piece."
+
+"Here, King Totila," said Gotho, eagerly taking one from her shepherd's
+bag; "it is the last of six."
+
+The King took the gold, laid it upon Liuta's open palm, and then struck
+her hand from below, so that the gold-piece flew up into the air, and
+fell ringing upon the mosaic pavement.
+
+Then the King said:
+
+"Liuta, thou art free! No bonds hold thee. Go in peace and rejoice with
+thy bridegroom."
+
+Earl Teja now came forward and said:
+
+"Wachis, once before thou hast borne the shield of a luckless master.
+Wilt thou now become my shield-bearer?"
+
+With tears in his eyes, Wachis clasped the hand of the Earl in both his
+own.
+
+And now Teja lifted his golden goblet and solemnly said:
+
+           "Fortune befall you!
+            Already shines on you
+            The shimmering sunshine:
+            Yet thankfully think
+            Of the Dear and the Dead
+            With reverent remembrance!
+            He who strove unsuccessful,
+            The world-renowned warrior:
+            Witichis, Waltharis' worthiest son!
+            Though you celebrate cheerily
+            The feast of the fairest,
+            The Deity's darlings,
+            Yet honour for ever
+            The memory mournful
+            Of the Great and the Good!
+            I remind you, O revellers,
+            To drink to the dear ones;
+            To the manliest man,
+            And the worthiest woman;
+            To Rauthgundis and Witichis,
+            Deploring, I drink!"
+
+And all solemnly and silently returned his pledge.
+
+Then King Totila once more raised his cup and said before all the
+people:
+
+"_He_ deserved! _I_ received! To him be eternal honour!"
+
+As he resumed his place--the other two betrothed couples had been
+seated at the King's table--Earl Thorismuth, of Thurii (he had been
+rewarded for his valour by the title of Earl, but, at his own request,
+had retained his office of herald and shield-hearer), ascended the
+steps, and lowered his herald's staff before the King, saying:
+
+"I come to announce strangers, O King of the Goths! Guests who have
+sailed here from afar. The large fleet, of about a hundred ships, which
+was reported by thy coast-guards and from the harbour-towns, has now
+run into the harbour of Portus. It has brought northern people, an old,
+brave, and seafaring folk, from the land of farthest Thule. Their
+dragon-ships have lofty decks, and their monstrous figure-heads terrify
+the beholder. But they come to thee in peace. Yesterday the flag-ship
+lowered its boats, and our noble guests have sailed up the river. I
+challenged them, and received the answer: 'King Harald of Goetaland,
+and Haralda (his wife, as it seems), wish to greet King Totila.'"
+
+"Lead them to us! Duke Guntharis, Duke Adalgoth. Earl Teja, Earl
+Wisand, and Earl Grippa, go to meet and accompany them here."
+
+Presently, to the sound of strange and twisted horns made of shells,
+and surrounded by twenty of their sailors and heroes clad in close
+coats of mail, there appeared on the terrace two figures which far
+overtopped even the slender Totila and his table companions.
+
+King Harald bore upon his helmet the two wings--each several feet
+long--of the black sea-eagle. The tail-feathers of the same bird
+floated from his iron crest. Down his back fell the skin of a monstrous
+black bear, the jaws and fore-paws of which hung from broad iron rings
+upon his breast-plate. His coat, woven of iron wire, reached to the
+knee, and was confined round the hips by a broad belt of seal-skin, set
+with shells. His arms and legs were bare, but at once adorned and
+protected by broad golden bracelets. A short knife hung from a steel
+chain at his belt. In his right hand he carried a long forked spear
+like a harpoon. His thick, bright yellow hair fell like a mane low down
+upon his shoulders.
+
+At his left hand stood--scarcely shorter by a finger's length--the
+Walkyre-like form of his female companion.
+
+Upon her head she wore a golden open helmet, decorated with the small
+wings of the silver-gull. Her bright red hair, which had a metallic
+lustre, fell from beneath it in a long straight mass over the small
+strip of white bearskin which covered her back--more an ornament than a
+mantle--almost to her ankles.
+
+A closely-fitting mail, made of little scales of gold, betrayed the
+incomparable figure of the Amazon, yielding to every movement of her
+heaving bosom. Her under garment, which reached half-way between the
+knee and ankle, was tastefully made of the white skin of the snow-hare.
+Her arms were covered by sleeves made of rows of amber beads, which
+glittered strangely in the evening rays of the southern sunshine.
+
+Upon her left shoulder was gravely perched one of the delicate white
+falcons of Iceland.
+
+A small hatchet was stuck into her girdle. She carried over her
+shoulder a long sweeping harp, surmounted with a swan's head and neck
+of silver.
+
+The Roman populace--their eyes opened wide in wonder--pressed after
+these singular figures, and even the Goths could not but admire the
+wondrously fair complexion and the singularly light and sparkling eyes
+of these northerners.
+
+"As the black hero who received me," began the Viking, "assures me that
+he is not the King, then no other can be he but thou," and he gave his
+hand to Totila, first pulling off his fighting-glove of shark's skin.
+
+"Welcome to the Tiber, my cousins from Thuleland!" cried Totila, as he
+raised his cup and pledged his guests.
+
+Seats were quickly prepared, and the royal visitors took their places
+at the King's table; their followers at the table near them. Adalgoth
+poured out wine from tall, two-handled jugs.
+
+King Harald drank, and looked wonderingly around.
+
+"By Asathor!" he cried; "but it is beautiful here!"
+
+"Such I imagine Walhalla to be!" said his companion.
+
+The Goths and the northerners could scarcely understand each other.
+
+"If it pleases thee so well, brother," Totila slowly said, "then rest
+amongst us with thy wife for some time."
+
+"Ho-ho! Rome-King!" laughed the giantess, and tossed back her head so
+suddenly, that the waves of her red hair shook.
+
+The falcon flew screaming up, and circled round her head three times.
+It then quietly returned to her shoulder.
+
+"The man has not yet been born," continued the Amazon, "who could
+conquer Haralda's heart and hand. Harald alone, my brother, can bend my
+arm, and spring and hurl his spear farther than I."
+
+"Patience, my little sister! I trust that soon a man of marrow will
+master thy coy maidenhood. This King here, although he looks as mild as
+Baldur, yet resembles Sigurd, the vanquisher of Fafner. You shall vie
+with each other in hurling the spear."
+
+Haralda cast a long look at the Gothic King, blushed, and pressed a
+kiss upon her falcon's smooth head.
+
+But Totila said:
+
+"Evil befell, as the singers tell us, when Sigurd strove with the
+Amazon. Rather let woman greet woman in peace. Give thy hand, Haralda,
+to my bride."
+
+And he signed to Valeria, to whom Duke Guntharis had very imperfectly
+translated what was said.
+
+Valeria rose with graceful dignity. She wore a long white Roman-Grecian
+garment, which hung in soft folds, and was confined at the waist by a
+golden girdle, and upon the shoulder with a cameo brooch. Bound her
+nobly-shaped head was bound a branch of laurel, which Totila had taken
+from Adalgoth's wreath to fasten into her black hair. Her beauty, and
+the rhythm of her movements and the folds of her garments, seemed to
+float around her like music. She silently held out her hand to her
+northern sister.
+
+Haralda had cast a sharp and not very friendly look upon the Roman
+girl; but admiration soon dispelled the angry surprise which had
+overspread her countenance, and she said:
+
+"By Freia's necklace! thou art the most lovely woman I have ever
+beheld. I doubt whether a Wish-girl of Walhalla could compare with
+thee. Dost thou know, Harald, whom this Princess resembles? Ten nights
+ago we laid waste an island in the blue Grecian sea, and plundered a
+columned temple. There stood a tall, icy-cold woman, made of white
+stone; upon her breast was the figure of a head surrounded with snakes;
+at her feet the night-bird; she was clad in a garment of many folds.
+Swen unfortunately broke her to pieces because of the jewels in her
+eyes. The King's bride resembles that marble goddess."
+
+"I must translate what she has said to thee," said Totila, turning to
+Valeria with a smile. "Thy poetical adorer, Pisa, could not have
+flattered thee more delicately than this Bellona of the north. They
+landed, so we were told, at Melos, and there broke the beautiful statue
+of Athene, sculptured by Phidias. You have made great desolation, I
+hear," he continued, turning to Harald, "in all the islands between
+Cos, Chios, and Melos. What, then, has led you so peacefully to us?"
+
+"That I will tell thee, brother; but only after more drink." And he
+held out his cup to Adalgoth. "No, do not spoil the splendid juice with
+water! Water should be salt, so that no one could drink it unless he
+were a shark or a walrus. Water is good to carry us upon its back, but
+not to be carried in our stomachs. And this vine-beer of yours is a
+wonderful drink. I am soon tired of our mead; it is like a tame sweet
+dish. But this vine-mead! the more a man drinks, the thirstier he
+becomes. And if one drank too much--which is scarcely possible--it is
+not like the intoxication of ale or mead, which makes a man ready to
+pray to Asathor to hammer an iron ring round his temples. No; the
+intoxication of the vine is like the sweet madness of the Skalds--a man
+feels like a god! So much for the vine! But now I will tell thee how it
+was that we came here."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+"Well," began King Harald, "our home is in Thuleland, as the Skalds
+call it; in Goetaland, as we name it. For Thuleland is the land where
+one does _not_ dwell; where only, still nearer to the ice-mountains,
+_other_ people live. Our realm reaches, towards the rising of the sun,
+to the sea and our island, Gothland; towards the setting of the sun, as
+far as Hallin and the Skioldungahaff; towards midday, to Smaland,
+Skone, and the kingdom of the Sea-Danes; towards midnight, to Svealand.
+The King is my father, Frode, whom Odin loves. He is much wiser than I;
+but he has now crowned me as Vi-king, upon the sacred-stone at
+King-Sala, because he is already a hundred years old, and quite blind.
+Now the minstrels in our halls still sing the legends which tell that
+you Goths were originally our brothers, and that only by reason of the
+wandering of the peoples have you gradually drawn nearer to the south;
+for you followed the flight of the crane from the Caucasus, but we the
+running of the wolf."
+
+"If that be so," said King Totila, smiling, "I prefer the crane for a
+guide."
+
+"It may well seem so to thee, sitting here in this gay drinking-hall,"
+answered King Harald gravely. "But however that maybe--and I do not
+quite believe it, for then we ought to understand each other's words
+better--we truly and highly honour this our blood-relationship. For a
+long time nothing but good news came from your warm realm to our cold
+Gothaland--news of the highest fame. And once my father and your King
+Thidrekr,[1] who is praised by the harp-songs of our Skalds, exchanged
+envoys and gifts, through the agency of the Esthes, who live on the
+Austrway. These men led our envoys to the Wends, on the Wyzla; these to
+the Longobardians, on the Tisia; these to the Herulians, on the Dravus;
+these through Savia to Salona and Ravenna."
+
+"Thou art a man learned in roads and countries," observed Totila.
+
+"That the Viking must be; for else he will never go forwards, and
+likewise never get back. Well, for some time we only heard of your
+glory and good fortune. But once and again there came bad news, brought
+by merchants who bought our furs and eiderdown and amber, and took it
+to the Frisians, and Saxons, and franks, giving us in exchange
+artfully-formed vessels, and silver and gold. The news became sadder
+and more sad; we heard that King Thidrekr had died, and that afterwards
+great evils had broken out in your realm. We heard of defeat,
+treachery, and of the murder of Kings; of Goths warring against Goths;
+and of the might of the false Prince of Grekaland. And it was said that
+you had broken your heads by thousands against the high walls of your
+own Roman citadel, which was held not by you, but by a man like
+Asathor, and another man still worse than the fire-fiend Loki. And we
+asked if none of the many Kings and Princes who had begged favours of
+Thidrekr of Raven could have helped you. But at that the Frank
+merchant, who offered us fine tissues from the Wahala, laughed and
+said, 'Broken fortunes, broken faith! They have all forsaken the
+luckless Gothic heroes, Visigoths and Burgundians, Herulians and
+Thuringians, and most of all we Franks, for we are wiser than all.'
+But, on hearing this. King Frode threw down his staff angrily, and
+cried, 'Where is my strong son Harald?" 'Here, father,' I answered, and
+took his hand. 'Hast thou heard,' my father continued, 'the news of the
+faithlessness of the Southland Kings? Such things shall not be said or
+sung of the men of Goetaland! If all others turn away from the Goths of
+Gardarike and Raven, we will keep faith and help them in their need.
+Up, my brave Harald, and thou, my bold Haralda! equip a hundred
+dragon-ships, and fill them with men and weapons. Put your hands deeply
+into my royal treasure at Kinsala, and do not spare the heaped-up
+golden rings. And set forth with Odin's wind in your sails. Go first
+from Konghalla, past the island Danes and the Jutlanders, towards the
+setting of the sun; thence along the coasts of the Frisians and the
+Franks, through the narrow path of the sea; then sail farther round the
+realm of the Sueves to the mountain land that is called Asturia; and
+round the land of the Visigoths bend towards the south. Then wind
+through the narrow strait of the wide ocean, where Asathor and Odin
+have set two pillars.
+
+"You will then have entered the sea of Midilgard, where lie innumerable
+islands covered with evergreen bushes, out of which shine marble halls,
+upheld by high, round stone-beams. Lay waste these islands, for they
+belong to the false Prince of Grekaland. And then sail to the Roman
+citadel or to Raven, and help the people of King Thidrekr against their
+enemies. And fight for them by land and water, and stand by them until
+all their enemies are overcome. And then speak to them and say: Thus
+advises King Frode, who will soon have seen a hundred winters, and who
+has seen the rise and fall of many peoples, and who, as a young Viking,
+has himself visited the Southland. This is his advice: 'Leave the
+Southland, however beautiful it may be. You cannot endure therein. As
+little as the iceberg can endure when it drifts into the southern sea.
+The sun, air, and waves consume it continually, and be it ever so
+mighty, it must melt away and leave not a trace behind. It is better to
+live in the poor Northland than to die in the rich Southland. Go on
+board our dragon-ships, and equip your own, and fill them with all your
+people; men, women, and children; and with your oxen and horses, and
+weapons and treasures; and leave the hot ground that will surely
+swallow you up, and come away to us. We will press closely together and
+make room, or take as much land from the Wends and Esthes as you need.
+And you shall be preserved fresh and green.  Down there the southern
+sun withers and scorches you.' This is the advice of King Frode, whom
+men have called the Wise for fifty years. Now as we passed into the sea
+of Midilgard, we had already heard from seafarers that your troubles
+had been put an end to by a new King, whom they described as looking
+like the god Baldur; that you had re-won the Roman citadel and all the
+land of Gardarike, and had even victoriously carried destruction into
+part of Grekaland itself. And now we see with our own eyes that you do
+not need the aid of our weapons. You live in plenty and pleasure, and
+everything is full of red gold and white stone. But still I must repeat
+my father's words and advice; listen to him; he is wise! Until now,
+every one who has despised King Frode's advice, has bitterly regretted
+it."
+
+But Totila shook his head, smiled, and said:
+
+"We owe you and King Frode warm thanks for rare and noble faithfulness.
+Such brotherly love from the Northern heroes shall never be forgotten
+in the songs of the Goths. But, O King Harald, follow me and look about
+you."
+
+And Totila rose and took his guest by the hand, and led him to the
+entrance of the pavilion, casting back the hanging curtains.
+
+There lay river and land and city in the glowing light of the setting
+sun.
+
+"Look at this land, wonderful in the beauty of its sky and soil and
+art. Look at this Tiber-stream, covered by a happy, jubilant, and
+handsome people. Look at these masses of laurel and myrtle. Cast thine
+eyes upon the columned palaces, which shine across from Rome in the
+evening rays; on the tall marble figures upon these terrace-steps--and
+say thou, if all this were thine, wouldst thou ever leave it? Wouldst
+thou exchange all this magnificence for the firs and pines of the
+cold land of the north, where spring-time never blooms, for the
+smoke-blackened wooden huts on the misty heaths?"
+
+"Aye, that I would, by Thorns hammer! This land is good to lay waste,
+to luxuriate and win battles in; but that done, then up and away with
+the booty! But you, Goths, are thrown here like drops of water upon hot
+iron. And if ever we sons of Odin shall rule this land, it will be only
+such of us as have a strong support in other sons of Odin. But you--you
+have already become very different to us. Your grandfathers, your
+fathers, and yourselves have wooed Roman women; in a few generations,
+if this continue, you will be Romanised. Already you have become
+smaller, and darker in skin, eyes, and hair. At least many of you. I
+long to be away from this soft and sultry air, and to breathe the north
+wind that rushes over our woods and waves. Yes, and I long for the
+smoke-blackened halls of wood, where Gothic runes are burnt into the
+roof-beams, and the harps of the Skalds hang on the wooden pillars, and
+the sacred hearth-fire glows hospitably for ever! I long for our
+Northland, for it is our home!"
+
+"Then permit us to love _our_ home: this land Italia!"
+
+"It will never be your home; but perhaps your grave. You are strangers
+and will remain so. Or you will become Romanised. But there is no
+abiding in the land possible for you as sons of Odin."
+
+"Let us at least try, my brother Harald," cried Totila, laughing. "Yes,
+we have changed in the two centuries during which our people have lived
+among the laurels. But are we the worse for it? Is it necessary to wear
+a bearskin in order to be a hero? Is it necessary to rob gold and
+marble statues in order to enjoy them? Can one be only either a
+barbarian or a Roman? Can we not keep the virtues of the Germans and
+lay aside their faults? Adopt the virtues of the Romans without their
+vices?"
+
+But Harald shook his massive head.
+
+"I should rejoice at your success, but I do not believe in it. The
+plant takes the nature of the soil and climate upon and under which it
+lives. And, for my part, I should not at all like it, even if I and
+mine could succeed. Our faults are dearer to me than the virtues of the
+Italians--if they have any."
+
+Totila remembered the words with which he himself had answered Julius.
+
+"From the north comes all strength--the world belongs to the Northmen,"
+concluded Harald.
+
+"Tell it to them in the words of thy favourite song," said his sister.
+
+And she handed him her harp; and Harald played and sang an alliterative
+measure, or _stabreim_, which Adalgoth, translating it into rhymed
+verse, thus repeated to Valeria:
+
+     "Thor stood at the midnight end of the world,
+        And the battle-axe flew from his hand.
+      'As far as the battle-axe flies when hurled,
+        Is mine the sea and the land!'
+      And the hammer flew from his powerful hand
+        Like chaff by a hurricane blown:
+      And it fell in the farthest southern-land,
+        So that all became his own.
+      Since then 'tis German right and grace
+        With the hammer the lands to merit;
+      We come of the Hammer-God's noble race,
+        And his world-wide realm will inherit!"
+
+A burst of applause from his Gothic hearers rewarded the royal
+minstrel, who looked as if he could well realise the proud boast of the
+song.
+
+Harald once more emptied his deep golden cup. Then he rose and said:
+
+"Now, my little sister Haralda, and you, my sailor brothers, we must
+break up. We must be on board the _Midgardschlange_ before the moon
+shines upon her deck. What says the Wikinga-Balk?--
+
+          "'Ill sleeps the ship
+            When her pilot lies on shore.'
+
+"Long friendship--short parting; that is northern custom."
+
+Totila laid his hand upon his guest's arm.
+
+"Art thou in such haste? Fearest thou to become Romanised with us? Do
+but remain; it does not come so quickly. And with thee would scarcely
+happen."
+
+"There thou art right, Rome-King," laughed the giant; "and, by Thor's
+hammer, I am proud of it! But we must go. We had three things to do
+here. To help you in battle. You do not need us. Or do you? Shall we
+wait until new wars break out?"
+
+"No," said Totila, with a smile; "we have peace and not new strife in
+view. And if it should really once more come to a war--shall I prove
+thee right, brother Harald, in thinking us Goths too weak to uphold our
+rule alone? Have we not beaten our enemies without your help? Could we
+not beat them again, we Goths alone?"
+
+"I thought as much," said the Viking. "Secondly, we came to fetch you
+back to the Northland. You will not come. And, thirdly, to lay waste
+the islands of the Emperor of Grekaland. That is a merry sport, which
+we have not sufficiently practised. Come with us, help us, and revenge
+yourselves."
+
+"No; the word of a king is sacred. We have agreed to an armistice which
+has still several months to run. And listen, friend Harald. Have a care
+and do not mistake _our_ islands for those of the Emperor. It would
+displease me if----"
+
+"No, no," laughed Harald, "fear nothing. We have already noticed that
+thy harbours and coasts are excellently guarded. And here and there
+thou hast erected high gallows, and affixed to them tablets inscribed
+with Roman runes. Thy commodore at Panormus translated it to us:
+
+                "'Sea-robbers drowned,
+                  Land-robbers hanged;
+                  That is the law
+                  In Totila's land.'
+
+"And my sea-brothers have taken a great dislike to thy sticks and
+tablets and runes. Farewell, then, Rome-King of the Goths! May thy
+good-fortune endure! Farewell, lovely Queen of Night! Farewell, all you
+heroes! we shall meet again in Walhalla, if not sooner."
+
+And after taking a short leave, the northerners walked away.
+
+Haralda threw her falcon into the air.
+
+"Fly before us, Snotr--on deck!"
+
+And the intelligent bird flew away, swift as an arrow, straight down
+the river.
+
+The King and Valeria accompanied their guests halfway down the
+staircase; there they exchanged the last greetings. The Amazon cast one
+more rapid glance at Totila.
+
+Harald remarked it, and as they descended the last steps he whispered:
+
+"Little sister, it is on thy account that I left so quickly. Do not
+grieve about this handsome King. Thou knowest that I have inherited
+from our father the gift of recognising men who are fated to die. I
+tell thee, death by the spear hovers over this King's sunny head. He
+will not again see the changing of the moon."
+
+At this the strong and tender-hearted woman forced back the tears which
+rose into her proud eyes.
+
+Duke Guntharis, Earl Teja, and Duke Adalgoth accompanied the Goths to
+their boats on the Tiber, and waited until they had put off.
+
+Teja looked after them gravely.
+
+"Yes, King Frode is wise," he said. "But folly is often sweeter than
+truth; and grander. Go back to the terrace without me, Duke Guntharis.
+I see the King's despatch-boat coming up the river. I will wait and see
+what news it brings."
+
+"I will wait with thee, my master," said Adalgoth, looking at Teja
+anxiously. "Thy countenance is so terribly grave. What is the matter?"
+
+"I have a foreboding, my Adalgoth," answered Teja, putting his arm
+round the youth's neck. "See how rapidly the sun sets. I shudder! Let
+us go and meet the boat--it will land below there, where lie the
+ancient marble columns."
+
+Totila and Valeria had returned to the pavilion.
+
+"Wert thou moved, my beloved," asked the Roman girl with emotion, "by
+what that stranger said? It was--Guntharis and Teja explained it to
+me--of very grave import."
+
+But Totila quickly raised his head.
+
+"No, Valeria, it did not move me! I have taken great Theodoric's great
+work upon my shoulders. I will live and die for the dream of my youth,
+for my kingdom! Come--where is Adalgoth, my cup-bearer? Come; let us
+once more pledge a cup, Valeria--let us drink to the good fortune of
+the Gothic kingdom!"
+
+And he lifted up his cup; but before he could put it to his lips,
+Adalgoth, with a loud call, hurried up the steps followed by Teja.
+
+"King Totila," cried Adalgoth breathlessly, "prepare to hear terrible
+news; collect thyself----"
+
+Totila set down his cup and asked, turning pale:
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"Thy despatch-boat has brought news from Ancona. The Emperor has broken
+the armistice--he has----"
+
+Teja had now drawn near. He was pale with fury.
+
+"Up, King Totila!" he cried. "Exchange the wreath for the helmet! Off
+Senogallia, near Ancona, a Byzantine fleet suddenly attacked our
+squadron which lay under the protection of the armistice. Our ships
+no more exist. A powerful army of the enemy has landed. And the
+commander-in-chief is--Cethegus the Prefect!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+In the camp of Cethegus the Prefect at Setinum, at the foot of the
+Apennines, a few miles north of Taginae, Lucius Licinius, who had just
+arrived by sea from Epidamnus, was walking up and down, in eager
+conversation with Syphax, before the tent of the commander-in-chief.
+
+"My master has been anxiously expecting you, tribune, for many days,"
+said the Moor; "he will be rejoiced to find you in the camp when he
+returns. He has ridden out to reconnoitre."
+
+"Whither rode he?"
+
+"Towards Taginae, with Piso and the other tribunes."
+
+"That is the next fortified town occupied by the Goths to the south, is
+it not? But now, you wise Moor, tell me what happened last at
+Byzantium? You know that your master sent me to levy forces among the
+Longobardians, long before anything was decided. And as, after a
+dangerous journey through the country of the Longobardians and Gepidae,
+I safely crossed the rapid Ister near Novae into Justinian's kingdom,
+and went to fetch the promised orders of the Prefect from my host at
+Nicopolis, I only found a laconic command to meet him in Senogallia. I
+was much astonished; for I scarcely dared to hope that he would ever
+again, at the head of the imperial fleet and army, victoriously tread
+the soil of Italy. From Senogallia I followed your march hither. The
+few captains whom I have met in the camp told me briefly of the course
+of events until shortly before the arrest of Belisarius. But they could
+not tell me how that occurred, and what took place later. Now you----"
+
+"Yes, I know what happened almost as well as my master, for I was
+present."
+
+"Is it possible? Can Belisarius really have conspired against the
+Emperor? I could never have believed it!"
+
+Syphax smiled slyly.
+
+"I have no right to judge of that. I can only tell you exactly what
+happened. Listen--but come into the tent and refresh yourself. My
+master would scold me for letting you stand outside unattended to. And
+we can talk more freely inside," he added, as he closed the curtains of
+the tent behind him. Then begging his master's guest to be seated, he
+served him with fruit and wine, and began his account. "As the night of
+that fateful day fell, I went and hid myself in a niche of Photius's
+house, behind the tall statue of some Christian saint, whose name I do
+not know, but who had a famous broad back. I could easily look into the
+hall of the house through an aperture just above my head, which had
+been made to allow the passage of fresh air. The faint light within
+enabled me to distinguish a number of the aristocrats whom I had often
+seen in the imperial palace, and in the houses of Belisarius and
+Procopius. The first thing that I understood--for my master has taken
+care that I should learn the speech of the Greeks who call themselves
+Romani--was what the master of the house was saying to a man who had
+just then entered. 'Rejoice,' he said, 'for Belisarius comes. After
+scarcely deigning to look at me yesterday when, full of expectation, I
+stopped him in the gymnasium of Zenon, to-day he himself addressed me
+as I was slowly and cautiously passing his house, for I knew that he
+would return from the hunt towards evening. He pressed this waxen
+tablet into my hand, first looking round to make sure that no one
+observed him. And on the tablet is written: "I cannot longer withstand
+your appeals. Certain reasons impel me to join you. I shall come this
+evening." But,' continued the master of the house, 'where is Piso,
+where is Salvius Julianus and the other young Romans?' 'They will not
+be coming,' answered the man. 'I saw almost all of them in boats on the
+Bosphorus. They have no doubt sailed to some feast at the Prefect's
+villa, near the Gate of Constantine.' 'Let them go,' said Photius; 'we
+do not need the brutal Latins, nor the proud and false Prefect. Verily,
+Belisarius outweighs them all.' At that moment I saw Belisarius enter
+the hall. He wore an ample mantle, which entirely hid his figure. The
+master of the house hurried to meet him, and all present gathered
+respectfully around him. 'Great Belisarius,' said his freedman, 'we
+know how to value your compliance.' And he pressed upon Belisarius the
+little ivory staff which is held by the head of the assembly, and led
+him to the raised seat of the president, which he himself had just
+vacated. 'Speak--command--act--we are ready,' said Photius. 'I shall
+act at the right time,' answered Belisarius gloomily, and took his
+seat. Just then young Anicius rushed into the room with tangled hair
+and flying garments; a drawn sword in his hand. 'Fly!' he cried. 'We
+are discovered and betrayed.' Belisarius rose. 'They have forced my
+house,' continued Anicius. 'My slaves were taken prisoners. The weapons
+which I had hidden were found, and your letters and documents, and,
+alas, my own too, have disappeared from a hiding-place which was known
+only to me! And still more--as I turned into the grove of Constantine,
+I thought I heard the sound of whispering and the rattle of arms
+amongst the bushes. I am followed--save yourselves!' The conspirators
+rushed to the doors. Belisarius alone remained quietly standing before
+his chair. 'Take heart!' cried Photius. 'Follow the example of your
+hero-chief!' But the sound of a trumpet was heard from the great
+house-door, the sign for me to leave my post and join my master, who
+stormed into the house at the head of the imperial lance-bearers and
+Golden Shields, with the Prefect of Byzantium, and the archon of the
+palace-guard. My master looked splendid," continued Syphax
+enthusiastically, "as, with a flaming torch in his left hand, a sword
+in his right, and his crimson plume floating behind him, he rushed into
+the hall; so looks the fire-demon when he issues from a blazing
+mountain in Africa! I drew my sword and sprang to my master's left
+side, for he carried no shield. He had ordered me to render young
+Anicius harmless as soon as possible. 'Down with all who resist, in the
+name of Justinian!' cried my master. His sword was dripping with blood,
+for he had killed with his own hand the body-guards whom Belisarius had
+placed at the entrance of the grove. 'Yield!' he cried to the
+frightened crowd; 'and thou, archon of the palace, arrest _all_ the
+conspirators. Do you understand--_all_!' 'Is it possible! Shameless
+traitor!' cried Anicius, and rushed at my master with his sword. 'Yes,'
+he cried, 'there is the crimson crest! Die, murderer of my brother!'
+But the next moment he lay at our feet, severely wounded. I drew my
+sword out of his breast, and then disarmed Photius, who was the only
+one who still resisted. All the others allowed themselves to be taken
+like sheep bewildered by a thunder-storm. 'Bravo, Syphax!' cried my
+master. 'Examine his dress for any writings.' Then he turned to the
+archon, asking him if he were ready, for he had stopped hesitatingly
+opposite Belisarius, who remained perfectly quiet. 'What!' asked the
+archon--'must I also arrest the magister militum?' '_All_, I said. 'Do
+you no longer understand Greek? You see--all see--that Belisarius is at
+the head of the conspiracy--he holds the president's staff, he occupies
+the president's chair.' 'Ha!' now cried Belisarius; 'is it so! Guards!
+Help, help, my body-guards! Marcellus, Barbatio, Ardaburius!" 'The dead
+cannot hear, magister militum,' said my master. 'Yield, in the name of
+the Emperor! Here is his great seal. For this night he has made me his
+representative, and a thousand lances bristle round this house.'
+'Fidelity is madness!' cried Belisarius, threw his sword away, and held
+out his strong arms to the archon, who put on the chains. 'Into the
+dungeons with all the prisoners,' said my master. 'Photius and
+Belisarius must be put separately into the round tower of Anastasius,
+in the palace. I will hasten to the Emperor and return his ring, and
+take him this steel'--he lifted the sword of Belisarius from the
+ground--'and tell him that he may sleep in peace. The conspiracy is
+crushed--the Empire is saved!'--The very next morning the trial for
+high treason was commenced. Many witnesses were heard--I amongst them.
+I swore that I had seen Belisarius received and heard him greeted as
+the head of the conspiracy. I myself had taken the tablet from the
+dress of Photius. Belisarius would have appealed to the testimony of
+his bodyguards, but they were all dead. Photius and other prisoners,
+submitted to the rack, confessed that Belisarius had finally consented
+to become the head of the conspiracy. Antonina was strictly guarded in
+the Red House. The Empress refused to grant the interview for which she
+passionately sued. It told strongly against both her and Belisarius
+when spies of the Empress bore witness that they had seen young Anicius
+steal by night into the house of Belisarius for weeks together. And it
+shocked the judges that Anicius himself, Antonina and Belisarius,
+continued obstinately to deny their guilt, although it was so fully
+proved. Immediately after the arrest I was sent for by my master, to
+tell Antonina that he had been most painfully surprised to find that
+Belisarius was _really_ at the head of the conspiracy; and at the same
+time to say that he had found not alone letters of hatred in the
+cistern belonging to Anicius. As I said these words, which I did not
+understand, the beautiful wife of Belisarius fell fainting to the
+ground.--We left Byzantium before Belisarius was sentenced; but Photius
+and most of the others were already condemned to death as we set sail
+with the imperial fleet for Epidamnus, where my master's tribunes and
+mercenaries, and the imperial forces originally intended for the
+Persian wars, were awaiting us. For my master had been honoured with
+the newly-created dignity of Magister Militum per Italium, and the
+command of the 'first army.' The 'second army' was to be brought after
+us by Prince Areobindos, when he had accomplished the easy task of
+overpowering the small Gothic garrisons in the towns of Epirus and the
+islands with a force five times their number."
+
+"What is said will be the punishment of Belisarius?" asked Lucius
+Licinius. "I could never have believed that that man----"
+
+"The judge will certainly condemn him to death, for his guilt is clear.
+But people speculate as to whether the Emperor's anger or his former
+affection for the general will get the victory. Most of them think that
+the Emperor will change the sentence of death into one of banishment
+and loss of sight. My master says that Belisarius's senseless denial of
+his guilt does him great harm. And he is also without the assistance of
+his wise friend Procopius, who is absent in Asia. Cethegus managed the
+embarkation of the troops to Epidamnus with such secrecy that the
+stupid Goths, who, besides, reckoned upon the armistice, were
+completely taken by surprise; and while the crews were sleeping on
+shore, the scantily-guarded Gothic fleet was taken and destroyed. But
+hark! here comes my master; he alone has such a proud step?"
+
+From Licinius Cethegus now learned that not only had he obtained a
+promise from Alboin, the Longobardian chief, that he would come to the
+help of Cethegus with twenty thousand men (a number which the latter,
+always jealous, found almost too great), but that he had succeeded in
+engaging other warlike troops of mercenaries.
+
+Cethegus, on his side, informed Lucius that, although he had been able
+to relieve Ravenna, he had met with much hindrance on the part of his
+own countrymen, who were slow to rise in revolt against the Goths; and
+that only with the Byzantines under his command, it would be impossible
+to beat Totila. He complained bitterly of the delay of Areobindos in
+bringing up the "second army," and regretted that he had been unable to
+reach Taginae before Earl Teja, who had beaten the Saracens there posted
+with great loss, and had taken up a strong position in the expectation
+of being speedily joined by King Totila with the army.
+
+"And Taginae is the key of the position," concluded Cethegus. "Earl Teja
+must have flown from Rome on the wings of the wind! I have tried to-day
+to ascertain the strength of his garrison, but I could not penetrate
+beyond Caprae. The barbarian King is already on the march, and where,
+oh! where tarries my 'second army?'"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+The next day Totila reached Taginae, accompanied by Valeria and Julius.
+He had hastened forward to join Teja with a portion of his troops,
+while Wisand and Guntharis reached him later with the main army. Only
+after their arrival could any attack be made upon the very strong
+position of the Prefect.
+
+Cethegus, too, attempted no assault, but while thus inactive, awaiting
+his "second army," he once more, and in vain, endeavoured to regain the
+lost affection of Julius. He went to Taginae to meet him at a spot
+between the outposts of the opposing forces. He tried all possible
+means to induce him to return to his allegiance, even unveiling the
+history of his past life. The mother of Julius had once been betrothed
+to Cethegus, but her father had been persuaded by Duke Alaric to break
+off the match, and to give her in marriage to a Gothic noble. On the
+day of her wedding, Cethegus, mad with grief, had tried to carry her
+off by force, but, overpowered by numbers, had been struck down, and
+thrown, seemingly lifeless, on the banks of the Tiber. Many years
+after, he had found Julius, a young boy, forsaken, with his dying
+mother, in their villa on the banks of the Rhodus, which had been
+sacked by bands of marauders. From that moment Cethegus had adopted the
+son of his lost bride.--But in vain he now appealed to the gratitude of
+his adopted son. Julius not only recoiled with horror from any further
+connection with a man whose ruthless hands were stained with blood, but
+his deepening religious feeling separated him entirely from the avowed
+atheist.
+
+And, blow upon blow, Cethegus was disappointed in another matter. The
+"second army" was at last reported as approaching. Syphax brought the
+news; he had ridden night and day in order to reach the Prefect
+before this army should arrive, for at its head was, not Areobindos,
+but--_Narses_.
+
+Vexed and alarmed, Cethegus left his camp, and rode forward to meet
+Narses, with whom he found Alboin, the Longobardian chief. Narses
+received him with marked coolness, and at once explained to him that he
+could suffer no rival in his camp; that Cethegus must either serve
+under him as one of his generals, or remain inactive as his _guest_.
+Clearly seeing that he must either submit or be a prisoner, Cethegus at
+once affirmed that he considered it an honour to serve under Narses,
+and together the generals reached a favourable position between
+Helvillum and Taginae.
+
+And a mighty army was that of Narses, with which he had advanced from
+the north and east in terrible strides, driving before him the Goths
+from position to position, making no prisoners, but inexorably
+annihilating all who stood in his way.
+
+Totila had but a small force to oppose to these numbers, for his army
+had been fearfully diminished; and now, when the Italians foresaw the
+probable consequences of the renewed war, and that the Goths were being
+slowly but surely overcome, they ceased to rally round Totila's flag,
+and even, where they felt themselves safe, betrayed the hiding-places
+of the Gothic people to the Byzantines. The persecuted Gothic families
+fled, and sought protection in the camp of Totila, who, fearing the
+famine sure to be caused by the accumulation of helpless masses, sent
+them still farther south to those parts of the peninsula yet uninvaded
+by Narses.
+
+Surrounded by his Earls, Totila now formed a plan by which he intended
+to entice the centre of the army of Narses (which was held by the
+Longobardians) into an ambush between Caprae and Taginae. Reckoning upon
+the headlong valour of the Longobardians, Totila determined to place
+the full half of his troops in the town of Caprae, leaving the other
+half in Taginae. Totila himself, with his small troop of horsemen, would
+advance beyond Caprae against the Longobardians; and at the moment of
+attack, would turn, feigning a sudden panic; would gallop back through
+the gates of Caprae (the troops there remaining concealed in the
+houses), and thus draw on the Longobardians to pursue him into the
+narrow road, between low hills, which lay between Caprae and Taginae. At
+this spot Totila would place in ambush a troop of Persian horsemen,
+which had been unexpectedly brought to him by his old friend and rival,
+Furius Ahalla, who had orders, when the Longobardians were fairly taken
+in the trap, to issue from their ambush, and annihilate them. Totila
+counted upon the fidelity of Ahalla, who was bound to him by strong
+ties of gratitude in spite of the defeat he had suffered in his suit of
+Valeria. This plan of Totila was highly approved of by Hildebrand, and
+all the warriors who shared his counsels.
+
+The evening before the day of its execution all was in readiness.
+Furius Ahalla and his horsemen were posted in the narrow road, the
+"Flaminian Way." Earl Thorismuth himself went out to make sure that
+they had punctually obeyed orders. When he returned to Totila's camp,
+he brought word that Furius Ahalla begged Totila to delay his attack
+and feigned flight on the morrow, until three hundred of his best men,
+who had been delayed on the march, should have joined him; of which
+event he would immediately apprise Totila outside the gates of Caprae.
+
+"Well," said Totila, smiling, "I will await the proper moment, and
+meantime entertain the Longobardians by my feats of horsemanship.
+To-morrow, Teja, God will decide the right. Thou sayest there is no God
+but necessity. I say there is a living God--my victory to-morrow shall
+prove it."
+
+"Stay," cried Julius, who was present, "ye shall not tempt the Lord!"
+
+"Seest thou," cried Teja, as he rose and took up his shield, "Julius
+fears for his God!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Brilliantly arose the sun on the next morning, casting its first beams
+over the warlike movement in the Gothic camp.
+
+As the King issued from his dwelling in the marketplace of Taginae,
+Adalgoth, Thorismuth, and Phaza hurried to meet him with his milk-white
+charger, sent, together with a magnificent suit of armour, by Valeria,
+his bride.
+
+His arms rang as the King swung himself into the saddle.
+
+His grooms led up two other horses in reserve, one of which was Pluto,
+the Prefect's restless and fiery charger.
+
+From Totila's shoulders flowed his long white mantle, held together at
+the neck by a broad and heavy clasp set with precious stones. His
+cuirass was of shining silver, richly inlaid with gold, the figure of a
+flying swan upon the breast. The edges of the cuirass at the neck,
+arms, and belt, were bound with red silk. Beneath it showed the coat of
+white silk, reaching over the thighs.
+
+Broad gold bracelets and silvered gauntlets protected his arms and
+hands; greaves his knees and the top of his feet.
+
+His narrow and gracefully-shaped shield was divided into three fields
+of silver, gold, and crimson. On the golden field the figure of the
+flying swan was wrought in white enamel.
+
+The caparison and reins of his horse were set with silver and
+embroidered with red silk.
+
+In his right hand the King held a spear, to the point of which Valeria
+had fastened four streamers of red and white riband; merrily they
+fluttered in the morning breeze.
+
+Thus brilliantly arrayed, the King rode through the streets of Taginae
+at the head of his horsemen. Earl Thorismuth, Phaza, and Duke Adalgoth,
+and also Julius, rode in his train. Julius carried no weapons, but he
+bore a shield forged by Teja.
+
+Never had Totila shone in such beauty! The people greeted him upon his
+way with shouts of joy. At the northern gate of Taginae, Aligern came
+riding towards him.
+
+"I thought that thy place was with the right wing," said the King.
+"What brings thee here?"
+
+"My cousin Teja has ordered me to remain at thy side and guard thy
+life."
+
+"My Teja is untiring in his care of me!" cried the King.
+
+Aligern joined the escort.
+
+Earl Thorismuth now undertook the command of the footmen who were
+hidden in the houses of Taginae.
+
+Outside the gate, the King rode to the front of his not very numerous
+troop of horsemen, and disclosed his plan to the captains.
+
+"I entrust to you, comrades, the most difficult of all tasks--flight!
+But the flight will be only seeming. What is true, is your courage and
+the destruction of the foe."
+
+And now the small troop rode forward past the place of ambush on the
+Flaminian Way, the King convincing himself that the Persian horsemen
+were in readiness upon both the wooded heights. The ambush on the right
+was commanded by Furius himself, that on the left by his chief,
+Isdigerd.
+
+Totila now rode into Caprae through the southern gate, and admonished
+the bowmen under Earl Wisand not to issue from the houses in which they
+were concealed, until the Persian horsemen had fallen upon the
+Longobardians from their ambush, but then immediately to sally out of
+the southern gate, while at the same time the spear-bearers would
+advance against the enemy from the northern gate of Taginae.
+
+"Thus the Longobardians and such of Narses' foot who have pressed
+forward between Caprae and Taginae will be surrounded on all sides and
+crushed. I and Thorismuth attack in front, Furius and Isdigerd on both
+flanks, and Wisand in the rear. They will be lost!"
+
+"Does he not look like the sun-god?" Adalgoth delightedly asked Julius.
+
+"Peace! Make no idol of sun or man! Besides, to-day is the solstice!"
+answered Julius.
+
+At length the King reached the northern gate of Caprae, left it open
+behind him, and galloped out with his little troop upon the level land
+between Caprae and Helvillum.
+
+Here Narses had placed his centre; foremost Alboin with his
+Longobardians. Behind these, at a considerable distance, stood Narses
+in his litter, surrounded by Cethegus, Liberius, Auzalas, and other
+leaders.
+
+Narses had had a bad night, disturbed by slight fits. He was very weak,
+and could not stand up for any length of time in his low and open
+litter.
+
+He had strictly admonished Alboin not to advance to the attack without
+special orders.
+
+King Totila gave a sign to his horsemen, and at a trot the thin line
+advanced towards the far superior ranks of the Longobardians.
+
+"They surely will not shame us by attacking us with only a few lances?"
+cried Alboin.
+
+But an attack did not seem to be the present object of the King.
+
+He had ridden far in advance of his men, who had suddenly halted, and
+now attracted all eyes by his feats of horsemanship.
+
+The spectacle which he afforded was so wonderful in the eyes of the
+Byzantines, that the witnesses related it in astonishment to Procopius,
+who, himself amazed, has remitted it to us.
+
+"On this day," he writes, "King Totila evidently wished to show his
+enemies what manner of man he was. His weapons and his horse shone with
+gold. So many shining red streamers fluttered from the point of his
+spear that this ornament alone announced the King from a distance.
+Thus, mounted on a splendid charger, in the space between the two
+armies, did he indulge in a skilful exercise of arms. Now he rode in a
+circle; now he caracoled in semicircles to the right and left; now he
+hurled his spear into the air, as he rode off at full gallop, and
+caught it by the middle of the shaft as it fell quivering, first with
+his right hand, and then with his left; and thus he showed to the
+wondering troops his feats of horsemanship."
+
+After the battle, however, the Byzantines learned the true reason of
+this merry sport.
+
+For a time Alboin looked on quietly.
+
+Then he said to a Longobardian chief who stood near him:
+
+"That fellow rides to the battle-field adorned like a bridegroom! What
+costly armour! We do not see the like at home, Gisulf.  And not to dare
+to attack! Does Narses again sleep?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+At last a Persian horseman, making his way through the ranks of the
+Goths, galloped up to the King, gave a message, and galloped back again
+at full speed.
+
+"At last!" cried Totila. "Now enough of sport! Brave Alboin, son of
+Audoin," he loudly cried across to the enemy's ranks, "wilt thou really
+fight for the Greeks against us? Then come on, O King's son--it is a
+King who calls thee?"
+
+Alboin could no longer restrain his impatience.
+
+"Mine must he be with armour and horse!" he shouted, and spurred
+forward with his lance couched.
+
+Totila, with a gentle pressure of his thigh, brought his horse to a
+sudden standstill. It seemed that he intended to stand the shock.
+
+Alboin came on at a furious gallop.
+
+Another slight pressure of Totila's thigh, a clever spring to one side,
+and the Longobardian, who could not check his horse, rushed far past
+his adversary.
+
+But the next moment Totila was at Alboin's back; he could easily have
+bored him through with his spear.
+
+The Longobardians, seeing the danger of their chief, uttered loud cries
+and hurried to his assistance.
+
+But Totila whirled his lance round, and contented himself with giving
+his adversary such a thrust in the left side with the shaft end, that
+Alboin fell headlong out of his saddle on the right side of his horse.
+Totila quietly rode back to his troop, waving his spear over his head
+in triumph.
+
+Alboin had remounted, and now led his troop against the thin ranks of
+the Goths.
+
+But just before the shock of meeting, the King cried, "Fly! fly into
+the town!" turned his horse's head, and galloped away towards Caprae.
+
+His horsemen followed him.
+
+For one moment Alboin halted in perplexity. But the next he cried:
+
+"It is nothing else; it is a pure flight! There they run into the gate!
+Yes, feats of horsemanship are one thing, and fighting is another.
+After them, my wolves! into the town!"
+
+And the Longobardians galloped forwards to Caprae, burst open the
+northern gate--which had been closed, but not bolted, by the flying
+Goths--and rushed through the long street towards the southern gate,
+through which the last Goth was just disappearing.
+
+Narses had till now stood upright in his litter with difficulty,
+observing all that passed.
+
+"Halt!" he angrily cried. "Halt! Blow the trumpets! Sound the retreat!
+It is the most clumsy trap in the world! But this Alboin thinks that if
+any one runs away from him, it must be in earnest!"
+
+But the trumpeters blew in vain.
+
+The cries of victory uttered by the pursuing Longobardians, drowned the
+blast of the trumpets; or those that heard it disregarded it.
+
+Narses groaned as he saw the last ranks of the Longobardians disappear
+into the Gate of Caprae.
+
+"Oh!" he sighed; "those blockheads oblige me to commit a folly with
+open eyes. I cannot let them suffer for their stupidity as they
+deserve. I still need them. Therefore, forward, in the name of
+nonsense! Before we can overtake them, they may be already half
+destroyed! Forward, Cethegus, Anzalas, and Liberius! Take the
+Isaurians, Armenians, and Illyrians, and get into Caprae. But reflect
+that the town _cannot_ be empty. It is a snare, into which we follow
+those blind bulls with open eyes. I will come after in my litter; but I
+can stand no more."
+
+And he sank back into his seat, terribly fatigued. A slight convulsion,
+such as he often experienced when excited, shook his frame.
+
+The footmen of Cethegus and Liberius advanced towards the town at a
+rapid march, the two leaders riding in front.
+
+Meanwhile pursued and pursuers had rushed through the little town, and
+the last Longobardians had passed Caprae, while the first, with Alboin,
+had reached that part of the Flaminian Way where the two hills bounded
+and confined the road on the right and left.
+
+The King galloped forward another horse's length; then he halted,
+turned, and gave a sign.
+
+Adalgoth, who rode at his side, blew his horn, and out of the northern
+gate of Taginae issued Thorismuth and his spear-bearers, while from the
+double ambush on the hills the Persian horsemen of the Corsican burst
+out with a yell and a blast of cornets.
+
+"Now wheel about, my Goths! Forward to the charge! Woe to the
+befooled!" cried Totila.
+
+Alboin looked helplessly round.
+
+"We have never before trotted into anything so evil, my wolves!" he
+said.
+
+He would have retreated, but now Gothic footmen issued likewise from
+the southern gate of Caprae, blocking the way back.
+
+"There is nothing for it but to die merrily, Gisulf! Greet Rosimunda,
+if thou escapest!"
+
+And he turned to meet one of the leaders of the Persian horsemen, who,
+distinguished by a richly-gilded open helm, had now reached the road,
+and was advancing straight upon him.
+
+As he came up to Alboin, he of the gilded helmet cried:
+
+"Turn, Longobardian! yonder stands our common foe! _Down with the
+Goths!_"
+
+And he ran his sword through a Gothic horseman who was aiming a stroke
+at Alboin.
+
+And now the Persian horsemen, galloping past the Longobardians,
+attacked the horrified Goths. For a moment the latter halted, taken by
+surprise. But when they saw that it was no mistake--that the ambush was
+against _them_, and not against the Longobardians--they cried,
+"Treachery, treachery! all is lost!" and, this time in unfeigned
+flight, rushed back to Taginae, carrying everything along with them,
+even their own footmen, who were just issuing from the gate.
+
+Even the King changed countenance when he saw the Corsican strike at
+the Goths at Alboin's side.
+
+"Yes, it is treachery!" he cried. "Ha! the tiger! Down with him!"
+
+And he rushed at the Corsican. But before he could reach him, Isdigerd
+the Persian had stormed into the road from the left between the King
+and Furius.
+
+"Aim at the King!" he cried to his men. "All spears at the King! There
+he is, the white one! With the swan on his helmet! Down with him!"
+
+A hail of spears whistled through the air. In a moment the King's
+shield bristled with darts.
+
+By this time the Corsican had recognised the tall and glittering figure
+in the distance.
+
+"It is he! I will have his heart's blood!"
+
+And he forced his way through his own and Isdigerd's men.
+
+The two enraged adversaries were now separated only by a few feet.
+
+But Totila had turned against Isdigerd. Pierced in the neck by the
+King's spear, the chief fell dead to the ground.
+
+And now Totila and Furius met.
+
+The Corsican aimed his spear full at the King's unprotected face.
+
+But suddenly the glittering helmet and the white mantle had
+disappeared.
+
+Two spears had struck the white horse, and at the same time a third
+pierced the King's shield and wounded his left arm severely.
+
+Horse and man fell.
+
+Isdigerd's Persians raised a wild cry of exultation and pressed
+forward.
+
+Furius and Alboin spurred their horses.
+
+"Spare the King's life! take him prisoner! He spared me!" cried Alboin.
+
+For he had been greatly touched when Gisulf told him that he distinctly
+saw the King change the point of his spear for the shaft.
+
+"No! Down with Totila!" cried Furius.
+
+And he hurled his spear at the wounded man, whom Aligern was trying to
+lift upon the Prefect's horse and lead out of the fight.
+
+Julius caught the Corsican's first spear upon Teja's proven shield.
+
+Furius called for a second, and aimed at the press around the King;
+Phaza, the Armenian, tried to parry the stroke and received the spear
+in his heart.
+
+Then Furius, who had now spurred close up, raised his long and crooked
+scimetar against the King. But before the stroke could fall the
+Corsican fell backwards from his saddle.
+
+The young Duke of Apulia had thrust the staff of his banner with such
+force against Ahalla's breast that the wood was shattered.
+
+And now Totila's banner--the costly work of Valeria and her women--was
+in the greatest danger in Adalgoth's hands. For all the enemy's horse
+pressed upon the bold young standard-bearer; a stroke of Gisulf's axe
+struck the staff and broke it again--Adalgoth tore off the silken flag
+and tucked it into his sword-belt.
+
+Alboin had now come up, and cried:
+
+"Yield, thou King of the Goths--to me, a King's son!"
+
+Aligern had just succeeded in lifting the King on to the Prefect's
+horse; he turned to the Longobardian, who, wishing to stay the
+King's flight but to save his life, aimed a stroke at the latter's
+horse with his spear. But the next moment Aligern had cleft Alboin's
+vulture-winged helmet, and, stunned, the latter wavered in his saddle.
+
+Thus, the leaders of their enemies being for the moment repulsed,
+Adalgoth, Aligern, and Julius had time to lead the King out of the
+tumult as far as the northern gate of Taginae. From this place the King
+would have conducted the battle, but he could scarcely hold himself
+upright in his saddle.
+
+"Thorismuth," he said, "thou must defend Taginae; for the present Caprae
+is lost. Let a mounted messenger fetch the whole of Hildebrand's wing
+here; the road to Rome must be kept open at all costs. Teja, as I
+learned, has already joined in the battle with his left wing.--To
+defend the retreat to the south--is our last hope!"
+
+And, saying this, he swooned away.
+
+But Earl Thorismuth said:
+
+"I and my spearmen will defend Taginae to the last man. Not a foe shall
+get in here; neither the Persians nor the Longobardians. I will protect
+the King's life as long as I can raise a finger. Take him farther back;
+into the mountain--into the cloister but make haste, for there, from
+the Gate of Caprae, come the enemy's foot--and, look there!--Cethegus
+the Prefect with his Isaurians! Caprae and our bowmen are lost!"
+
+And so it was.
+
+Wisand, obeying his orders, had not defended Caprae, but had allowed
+Cethegus and Liberius to enter, and only when they were fairly inside
+the town did he begin the fight in the streets, at the same time
+sending a thousand of his men out of the southern gate to attack the
+Longobardians.
+
+But, as the ambuscades had fallen upon the Goths instead of the
+Longobardians; as Alboin and Furius united in dispersing or
+annihilating the few Gothic horsemen, and the attack intended by the
+spearmen from Taginae did not take place; the Gothic bowmen, first in
+Caprae itself, and then on the Flaminian Way, between Caprae and Taginae,
+were quickly crushed by superior force.
+
+Wisand escaped as if by a miracle, and, though wounded, reached Taginae
+and reported the annihilation of his troops.
+
+Narses was carried into Caprae, and the Illyrians began to storm Taginae.
+Earl Thorismuth resisted heroically. He fought his best in order to
+cover the retreat of his comrades.
+
+He was presently reinforced by a few thousand men from Hildebrand's
+left wing, who now hurried up, while the old master-at-arms led the
+greater part of his troops southwards beyond Taginae upon the high-road
+to Rome.
+
+Just as the storming of Taginae was about to commence, Cethegus met
+Furius and Alboin, who had recovered from the blows they had received.
+
+Cethegus had heard of the course pursued by the Corsican, which had
+decided the fate of the battle. He shook him by the hand.
+
+"Well done, friend Furius! At last on the right side, and against the
+barbarian King!"
+
+"He must not escape alive!" growled the Corsican.
+
+"What? How? He still lives! I thought that--he had fallen," said
+Cethegus hastily.
+
+"No; they managed to rescue him after he was wounded."
+
+"He must not live!" cried Cethegus. "Then you are right! It is of more
+importance than to win Taginae. Narses can manage that heroic work from
+his litter. He has seventy to one. Up, Furius! Why do your horsemen
+stand idle here?"
+
+"The animals cannot ride up the walls!"
+
+"No; but they can swim. Up! take three hundred yourself, and give me
+three hundred. Two roads lead right and left from the little town
+over--no! they have broken down the bridges--they lead _through_ the
+Clasius and the Sibola--let us take these roads. The wounded King is
+certainly--can he still fight?"
+
+"Hardly."
+
+"Then he has fled beyond Taginae--to Rome or--"
+
+"No; to his bride!" cried Furius. "Most certainly to Valeria in the
+cloister. Ha! I will stab him in her very arms! Up, Persians! follow
+me. Thanks, Prefect! Take as many horsemen as you like. And ride to the
+right--I will ride to the left round the town; for both roads lead to
+the cloister."
+
+And, wheeling to the left, he disappeared.
+
+Cethegus ordered the rest of the horsemen to follow him, speaking in
+the Persian language.
+
+Then he rode up to Liberius and said:
+
+"I will take the Gothic King prisoner."
+
+"What? He still lives? Then make haste!"
+
+"Meanwhile you can take this Taginae," continued Cethegus; "I will leave
+you my Isaurians."
+
+And he galloped away with Syphax and three hundred Persians.
+
+Meantime the wounded King had been taken by his friends out of Taginae
+into a little pine-wood near the road, where he drank from a spring and
+gradually revived.
+
+"Julius," he said, "ride on to Valeria; tell her that the battle is
+lost, but not the kingdom. That I am alive and still hope. As soon as I
+feel a little stronger I shall ride up to the Spes Bonorum. I ordered
+Teja and Hildebrand there when they had finished their tasks. It is a
+high and safe position. Go, I beg thee; comfort Valeria and take her
+also from the cloister to Spes Bonorum. Thou wilt not? Then I must
+myself ride up the difficult road--surely thou wilt spare me that?"
+
+Julius was reluctant to leave the wounded man.
+
+"Oh, relieve me from my helmet and mantle! they are so heavy," said
+Totila.
+
+Julius took them from him and gave him his own mantle.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+All at once a thought flashed across the mind of the monk; had they not
+once before exchanged garments--the Dioscuri?
+
+Had he not once before drawn the murderous steel directed at Totila's
+heart upon himself?
+
+He thought they were followed. It seemed to him that he heard horses
+approaching, and Aligern--Adalgoth held the King's head upon his
+knees--had hastened to the edge of the wood to look.
+
+"Yes, it is they," he cried as he returned; "Persian horsemen are
+riding up from both sides of the wood!"
+
+"Then make haste, Julius," begged Totila; "save Valeria! Take her to
+Teja at the sarcophagus."
+
+"I will make all speed, my friend! Farewell till we meet again!" And
+Julius once more pressed Totila's hand. Then he mounted Pluto--he chose
+the wounded horse, leaving his own, which was unhurt.
+
+Unseen by Totila, he set the helmet with its silver swan upon his head,
+folded the white mantle around him, and galloped out of the wood
+towards the cloister hill.
+
+"This road," he thought, "is open and undefended, while the road which
+the King will take to the Spes Bonorum leads through wood and vineyard.
+Perhaps I shall succeed in attracting the pursuers away from him."
+
+And, in fact, he had no sooner issued from beneath the trees, and begun
+to ride up the hill, than he saw that the horsemen who had come from
+beyond Taginae were eagerly following him.
+
+In order to keep the pursuers away from the King, and from discovering
+their error, he urged his horse to its full speed.
+
+But the animal was wounded, and the way was very steep. Nearer and
+nearer came the pursuers.
+
+"Is it he?"
+
+"Yes, it is he."
+
+"No, it is not. He is too short," said the leader of the troop, who
+rode foremost.
+
+"Would he fly alone?"
+
+"That would be the best way to escape," observed the leader.
+
+"It is he most surely; I see the silver swan on his helmet!"
+
+"And the white mantle!"
+
+"But he rode a white horse," said the leader.
+
+"Yes, at first," said one of the horsemen; "but when it fell, struck by
+my spear, they lifted him--I was close by--upon that charger."
+
+"Enough," said the leader, "you are right. I recognise the horse."
+
+"A noble animal! How it keeps on, and up hill, too, although wounded."
+
+"Yes, he is a noble animal! And I will make him stop. Pay attention!
+Halt, Pluto!" he shouted. "On your knees!"
+
+Snorting and trembling, the clever, obedient animal, in spite of spur
+and blows, stood stockstill, and slowly bent its fore-legs in the sand.
+
+"It is ruin, barbarian, to ride the Prefect's horse! There, take that
+for the Forum! and that for the Capitol! and that for Julius!"
+
+And the Prefect--for he it was--furiously hurled three spears one after
+the other, his own and two carried by Syphax, at the back of his
+victim, and with such force that they passed completely through the
+fugitive's body.
+
+Then Cethegus sprang from his horse, drew his sword, and taking the
+fallen man by the back of his helmet, dragged up his head from the
+earth.
+
+"Julius!" he screamed in horror.
+
+"You, O Cethegus!" Julius could just murmur.
+
+"Julius! you must not, must not die!"
+
+And Cethegus passionately tried to stanch the blood that issued from
+the three wounds.
+
+"If you love me," said the dying man, "save him--save Totila!" And his
+gentle eyes closed for ever.
+
+Cethegus put his hand upon the heart of the dead man; he laid his ear
+upon the bared breast.
+
+"All is over!" he then said, in a faint voice. "O Manilia! Julius, I
+loved thee! And he died with _his_ name upon his lips! All is over!" he
+cried again, but this time in a voice of anger; "the last bond which
+united me to human love I have myself cut, deceived by mocking
+accident! It was my last weakness! And now all tender feeling, be dead
+to me! Lift him on to the horse.--This, my Pluto, shall be your last
+service.--Take him--up there I see a chapel--take him there, and let
+him be buried with all ceremony by the priests. Merely say that he died
+as a monk--that he died for his friend. He deserves a Christian burial.
+But I," he added, with a terrible expression on his face, "I will once
+more seek his friend; I will unite them without delay--and for ever."
+
+And he mounted his horse.
+
+"Whither?" asked Syphax. "Back to Taginae?"
+
+"No! down into that wood. He must be hidden there, for thence came
+Julius."
+
+
+During these occurrences the King had recovered, and now rode with
+Adalgoth, Aligern, and a few riders, straight out of the wood, on the
+outer edge of which the road ascended to the chapel hill. As they
+issued from the trees they could distinctly perceive the walls of the
+building.
+
+But they themselves had been seen, for they heard a yell to their
+right, and over the open level a numerous troop of horsemen came
+galloping towards them from the river.
+
+The King recognised the leader, and before his companions could prevent
+him, he spurred his horse, couched his spear, and rushed to meet his
+enemy. Like two thunderbolts from the lowering heavens, the two
+horsemen crashed together.
+
+"Insolent barbarian!"
+
+"Miserable traitor!"
+
+And both fell from their horses.
+
+They had met with such fury, that neither of them had thought of
+defending himself, but only of overthrowing his adversary.
+
+Furius Ahalla had fallen dead, for the King had pierced him to the
+heart through gilded shield and breastplate with such force, that the
+shaft of the spear had broken in the wound. But the King also sank
+dying into Adalgoth's arms. Ahalla's lance had entered his breast just
+below his throat.
+
+Adalgoth tore Valerians blue banner out of his belt and tried to stanch
+the streaming blood--in vain; the bright blue was at once dyed deep
+red.
+
+"Gothia!" breathed Totila, "Italia! Valeria!"
+
+At this moment, before the unequal fight could commence, Alboin arrived
+upon the spot with his Longobardians. He had followed the Prefect, not
+being inclined to remain idle while the fight was going on round the
+walls of Taginae.
+
+The Longobardian looked silently and with emotion at the corpse of the
+King.
+
+"He gave me my life--I could not save his," he said gravely.
+
+One of his horsemen pointed to the rich armour worn by the dead man.
+
+"No," said Alboin, "this royal hero must be buried with all his royal
+trappings."
+
+"There, Alboin, on the rocky height above us," said Adalgoth, "his
+bride and his tomb, self-chosen, have waited for him long."
+
+
+"Take him up! I will give safe-conduct to the noble corpse and the
+noble bearers. Now, my men, follow me back to the fight!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+But the fight was over: as Alboin and the Prefect discovered, to their
+great disgust, when they again reached Taginae.
+
+The Prefect, just as he had entered the pine-wood and was about to
+follow the King's track, had been overtaken by a messenger from
+Liberius, who sent word for him to return immediately. Narses was
+insensible, and the peril of the situation necessitated immediate
+counsel.
+
+Narses insensible--Liberius perplexed--the victory they had thought
+certain, endangered--these circumstances weighed more with the Prefect
+than the doubtful expectation of dealing the death-stroke to the
+half-dead King.
+
+In haste Cethegus galloped back to Taginae the way that he had come.
+When he reached the town he found Liberius, who cried:
+
+"Too late! I have already settled and agreed to everything. A truce!
+The rest of the Goths march off!"
+
+"What?" thundered Cethegus--he would gladly have poured all the blood
+of the Goths upon the grave of his darling as a sacrifice. "They march?
+A truce? Where is Narses?"
+
+"He lies insensible in his litter; he has been taken with severe
+convulsions. The fright, the surprise--it prostrated him, and no
+wonder."
+
+"What surprise? Speak, man!"
+
+And Liberius briefly related how they had forced their way into Taginae
+with fearful loss of blood, "for the Goths stood like a wall"--had been
+obliged to storm house by house, even room by room--"we were obliged to
+hack to pieces by inches one of their leaders, who ran Anzalas through
+as he leaped into the first breach, before we could force our way into
+the town over his body."
+
+"Who was he?" asked Cethegus earnestly. "I hope Earl Teja?"
+
+"No; Earl Thorismuth. When we had finished our bloody work, and Narses
+was about to let himself be carried into the town, he met in the gate a
+messenger from our left wing--which no more exists! It was Zeuxippos,
+wounded, and accompanied by Gothic heralds."
+
+"Who has----?"
+
+"He whom you just named--Earl Teja! He guessed or learned that
+Zeuxippos was threatening his centre, that the King was wounded--and,
+well knowing that he would arrive too late to turn the course of events
+at Taginae, he came to a bold and desperate resolution. He suddenly gave
+up his post of expectation on the hills, threw himself upon our left
+wing, which was slowly advancing up the hill opposite to him, beat it
+at the first onset, pursued the fugitives into their camp, and there
+made prisoners of ten thousand of our men, and all the captains,
+amongst them my Orestes and Zeuxippos. He sent Gothic heralds to
+Narses, who took Zeuxippos with them to witness to the truth of what
+they said, and demanded an immediate truce of twenty-four hours."
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"Otherwise he swore to slay all his ten thousand prisoners---together
+with the captains."
+
+"That is no matter," observed Cethegus.
+
+"It may be no matter to you, Roman--what matters to you a myriad of our
+troops?--but not so to Narses. The terrible surprise, the still more
+terrible necessity of making a choice, quite prostrated him. A severe
+attack of his malady came on, and as he sank down, he gave me his
+commander's staff, and I, of course, accepted the conditions----"
+
+"Of course, Pylades must save Orestes!" said Cethegus in a rage.
+
+"And, besides, ten thousand men of the imperial army!"
+
+"I am not bound by this agreement," cried Cethegus; "I shall again
+attack."
+
+"You dare not! Teja has taken most of his prisoners and all the
+captains with him as hostages--he will slay them if another arrow be
+shot?"
+
+"Let him slay them! I shall attack."
+
+"See whether the Byzantines will follow you! I at once communicated the
+order of Narses to your troops: for now _I_ am Narses."
+
+"You shall die, as soon as Narses has recovered his senses!"
+
+But Cethegus perceived that he could do nothing against the Goths with
+his mercenaries alone. For when Teja had retreated to the cloister and
+chapel hill and the Flaminian Way with his prisoners, and Hildebrand's
+wing had also reached the road with little loss of life--for the two
+rivers, and then the news of the truce, had checked the pursuit
+attempted by Johannes--the Goths had gathered the rest of their troops
+together and taken up a safe position.
+
+Cethegus waited with impatience for the recovery of Narses, who he
+hoped would never acknowledge the agreement concluded by his
+representative.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+Meanwhile Teja and Hildebrand had arrived upon the chapel hill,
+whither, as they had been apprised, the wounded King had been carried.
+
+News of later events had not yet reached them.
+
+Before they entered the walls which enclosed the grove before the
+chapel, the two leaders had agreed upon the plan which they would
+propose to the King. There was no other way but to retreat to the south
+under the protection of the truce. But when they entered the grove,
+what a sight met their view!
+
+Sobbing loudly, Adalgoth hurried up to Teja, and led him to an ancient
+and ivy-grown sarcophagus. Within it, upon his shield, lay King Totila.
+The majesty of death gave to his noble features a solemnity that made
+them more beautiful than they had ever been when brightened by joy.
+
+On his left hand rested Julius, in the open hollow cover of the
+sarcophagus, which had long since fallen from its proper place. Under
+the common shadow of death, the resemblance between the "Dioscuri" was
+more striking and touching than ever.
+
+And between the two friends lay a third form, which had been carefully
+laid by Gotho and Liuta upon the King's blood-stained mantle. Upon a
+gently-rising mound lay Valeria, the Roman virgin.
+
+Fetched from the neighbouring cloister to receive her lover, she had
+thrown herself, without a scream, without even a sigh, upon the broad
+shield with its solemn burthen, which Adalgoth and Aligern were
+carrying through the gate with sad and slow steps. Before any one could
+speak, she had cried:
+
+"I know all--he is dead!"
+
+She had assisted them to lay the corpse in the sarcophagus, and while
+so occupied she had repeated to herself, in a low voice, these words:
+
+    "'Him too thou seest, how stalwart, tall, and fair!
+      Yet must he yield to death and stubborn fate,
+      Whene'er, at morn or noon or eve, the spear
+      Or arrow from the bow may rend his life.
+      Then may I, too, visit th' eternal shades!"
+
+Then, without haste, quietly and slowly, she drew a dagger from her
+girdle, and with the words, "Here, stern Christian God, take my soul!
+thus I fulfil the vow!" the Roman maiden thrust the sharp steel into
+her bosom.
+
+Cassiodorus, a little cross of cedar in his hand, went, deeply
+moved--the tears trickled down his venerable white beard--from corpse
+to corpse, repeating the prayers of the Church.
+
+And the pious women of the cloister, who had accompanied Valeria, began
+the simple and noble chant:
+
+                 "Vis ac splendor seculorum,
+                  Belli laus et flos amorum
+                    Labefacta mox marcescunt;
+                  Dei laus et gratia sine
+                  AEvi termino vel fine
+                    In eternum perflorescunt."
+
+Gradually the grove had become filled with warriors, who had followed
+their leaders. Among them were Earls Wisand and Markja.
+
+Teja heard the report of the weeping Adalgoth in silence. Then he went
+close to the King's corpse. Without a tear, he laid his mailed right
+hand upon the King's wounded breast, bent over him, and whispered:
+
+"I will complete the work."
+
+Then he went back and took his place under a mighty tree, which rose
+above a forgotten grave-mound, and spoke to the little group of
+soldiers who stood silently and reverently round the dead.
+
+"Gothic men! the battle is lost, and the kingdom likewise. Whoever will
+now go to Narses, whoever will subject himself to the Emperor, I will
+not keep him back. But I am resolved to fight to the end; not for
+victory, but to die the free death of a hero. Whoever wishes to share
+this fate with me, may remain. You all wish it? 'Tis well."
+
+Hildebrand interposed.
+
+"The King has fallen. The Goths cannot--even to die--fight without a
+King. Athalaric, Witichis, Totila--_one_ only can be the fourth; only
+one is worthy to succeed these three; thou, Teja, our last, our
+greatest hero!"
+
+"Yes," said Teja; "I will be your King. Under me you shall not live
+joyfully; you shall only die greatly. Be still! No cry of joy, no clang
+of arms must greet me. Whoever will have me for his King, let him do as
+I do."
+
+And he broke a small branch from the tree under which he stood, and
+twisted it round his helmet. All silently followed his example.
+
+Adalgoth, who stood next him, whispered:
+
+"O King Teja! it is a cypress bough! Thus is crowned a victim doomed to
+sacrifice!"
+
+"Yes, my Adalgoth, thou speakest prophecy;" and Teja swung his sword in
+a circle round his head. "Doomed to death!"
+
+
+
+
+
+                                BOOK VI.
+                                  TEJA
+
+"I have now to describe a most remarkable battle, and the high
+heroism of the man who was inferior to none of the heroes--of
+Teja."--_Procopius: Gothic War_, iv. 35.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The destiny of the Goths was soon to be fulfilled. The rolling stone
+approached the abyss.
+
+When Narses came to his senses and learned what had taken place, he
+gave orders at once to arrest Liberius and send him to Byzantium to
+answer for his conduct.
+
+"I will not say," he said to his confidant, Basiliskos, "that he has
+come to a false decision. I myself could not have done otherwise. But I
+should have done it for different reasons. _His_ only wish was to save
+his friend and the ten thousand prisoners. That was wrong. Situated as
+he was, he ought to have sacrificed them, for he could not overlook the
+actual condition of the war. He did not know, as I know, that after
+this battle the Gothic kingdom is lost--whether it be completely
+destroyed at Rome or Neapolis is indifferent--and that alone would have
+been, and is, the reason for which the ten thousand should be saved."
+
+"At Neapolis? But why not at Rome? Do you not remember the formidable
+fortifications of the Prefect? Why should not the Goths throw
+themselves into Rome and resist for months?"
+
+"Why? Because things are very different with regard to Rome. But the
+Goths know this as little as Liberius. And Cethegus--above all--must
+know nothing of it yet; therefore be silent. Where is the Prefect of
+Rome?"
+
+"He has hastened forward, in order to be the first to conduct the
+pursuit as soon as the time of truce has expired."
+
+"Surely you have taken care----"
+
+"Do not doubt it! He would have marched with his Isaurians alone, but
+I--that is, Liberius at my order--gave him Alboin and the Longobardians
+as companions, and you know----"
+
+"Yes," said Narses, with a smile, "my wolves will not lose sight of
+him."
+
+"But how long shall he----"
+
+"As long as he is necessary to me; not an hour longer. So the young and
+royal wonder-worker lies upon his shield! Now may Justinian rightly
+call himself 'Gothicus,' and again sleep peacefully. But truly--he will
+never more sleep peacefully--that disappointed widower----"
+
+So the two generals, Narses and Teja, were of one opinion with regard
+to the Gothic kingdom. It was lost. The flower of the Goths had fallen
+at Caprae and Taginae. Totila had placed there five-and-twenty thousand
+men; not even a thousand had escaped. The two wings of the army had
+also suffered great loss; and so King Teja commenced his retreat to the
+south with scarcely twenty thousand men.
+
+He was urged to the greatest speed by the calls for help sent by the
+little army under Duke Guntharis and Earl Grippa, who were hard pressed
+by the greater force of the Byzantines under the command of Armatus and
+Dorotheos, who had landed between Rome and Neapolis.
+
+And besides this, Teja's retreat was also precipitated because of the
+terrible manner in which, when the truce was ended, he was pursued by
+Narses.
+
+While the Longobardians and Cethegus pursued the fugitives without
+pause, Narses slowly followed with the main army, spreading to the
+right and left his two formidable wings, which extended in the
+south-west far beyond the Sub-urbicarian Tuscany to the Tyrrhenian sea,
+and in the north-east through Picenum to the Ionian Gulf, extinguishing
+as they passed from north to south and from west to east, every trace
+of the Goths behind them.
+
+This proceeding was considerably facilitated by the now general
+desertion of the Gothic cause on the part of the Italians. The
+benevolent King, who had once won their sympathies, had been succeeded
+by a gloomy hero of terrible reputation. And all who hesitated were
+speedily drawn over to the other side, not by inclination to the rule
+of Byzantium, but from fear of Narses and of the Emperor's severity,
+who threatened all who took the part of the barbarians with death.
+
+The Italians who still served in Teja's army now deserted and hastened
+to Narses. It also happened much more frequently than before the battle
+of Taginae, that Gothic settlers were betrayed to the Romani by their
+Italian neighbours, generally by the _hospes_, who had been obliged to
+relinquish a third of his property to the Goths; or, where the Italians
+were in the majority, the Goths were either killed, or taken prisoners
+and delivered up to the two Byzantine fleets, the "Tyrrhenian" and the
+"Ionian," which, sailing along the coasts of those seas, accompanied
+the march of the land forces and received all the captured Goths on
+board--men, women, and children.
+
+The forts and towns, weakly garrisoned--for Teja  had been obliged to
+strengthen his small army by lessening their numbers--generally fell by
+means of the Italian population, who now overpowered the Gothic
+garrison, as, after Totila's election, they had done the imperial. Thus
+fell, during the progress of the war, Namia, Spoletium and Perusia; the
+few towns which resisted were invested.
+
+So Narses resembled a strong man who walks with outstretched arms
+through a narrow passage, pursuing all who try to hide themselves
+before him. Or a fisher, who wades up a stream with a sack-net; behind
+him all is empty. The few Goths who could yet save themselves fled
+before the "iron roller" to the army of the King, which soon consisted
+of a greater number of the defenceless than of warriors.
+
+The Visigoths were again engaged in migration, just as they had been a
+hundred years before, but this time the iron net of Narses was behind
+them; and before them, as they advanced farther and farther into the
+constantly narrowing peninsula, the sea. And not a ship did they
+possess in which to fly.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Added to this, an inevitable necessity reduced the number of Goths in
+the King's army capable of bearing arms in the most frightful manner.
+
+From the very commencement of the pursuit, Cethegus, with his
+mercenaries, and Alboin with his Longobardians, had stuck to the
+heels of the fugitives, and consequently, if the retreat of the Gothic
+army--already delayed by the number of women, children, and aged people
+who had joined it--was not to be brought to a complete standstill, it
+was necessary to sacrifice each night a small number of heroes, who
+halted at some spot suitable for their design, and held the pursuers at
+bay by an obstinate, fearless, and hopeless resistance, until the main
+army had again gained a considerable advance.
+
+This cruel, but only possible expedient, always entailed the loss of at
+least fifty men, and often, where the place to be defended had a wider
+front, a much greater number.
+
+Before King Teja marched from Spes Bonorum, he had explained this plan
+to the assembled army; his faithful troops silently assented to it. And
+every morning the "death-doomed" volunteered so eagerly to join this
+forlorn hope, that King Teja--with humid eyes--made them draw lots, not
+wishing to offend any one by the preference of others. For the Goths,
+who saw nothing before them but the certain destruction of the nation,
+and many of whom knew that their wives and children had fallen into the
+enemy's hands, vied with each other in seeking death.
+
+So their retreat became a triumphal procession of Gothic heroes, and
+every halting-place a monument of courageous self-sacrifice. Thus,
+among the leaders of the "doomed rear-guard," old Haduswinth fell near
+Nuceria Camellaria; the young and skilful archer, Gunthamund, at Ad
+Fontes; and the swift rider, Gudila, at Ad Martis. But these
+sacrifices, and the King's generalship, were not without influence on
+the fate of the nation.
+
+Near Fossatum, between Tudera and Narnia, a night attack took place
+between the rear-guard under Earl Markja, and the horsemen of Cethegus,
+which lasted from afternoon till sunrise.
+
+When at last the returning light illumined the hastily-constructed
+earthworks thrown up by the Goths, they were as still and silent as the
+grave.
+
+The pursuers advanced with the utmost caution. At last Cethegus sprang
+from his horse and on to the parapet of the earthworks, followed by
+Syphax.
+
+Cethegus turned and signed to his men: "Follow me; there is no danger!
+You have only to step over the bodies of our enemies, for here they all
+lie--a full thousand. Yonder is Earl Markja; I know him."
+
+But when the earthworks were demolished, and Cethegus and his horsemen
+continued their pursuit of the main army--which had gained a great
+advance they soon learned from the peasants of the neighbourhood that
+the Gothic army had not passed on the Flaminian Way at all.
+
+By the noble sacrifice of this night, King Teja had been enabled to
+conceal the further direction of his retreat, and the pursuers had lost
+the scent.
+
+Cethegus advised Johannes and Alboin, the one to send a portion of his
+men to the south-east, the other to the left on the Flaminian Way, to
+try to find the lost track. He himself longed to get to Rome. He wished
+to reach that city before Narses. Once there, he hoped to be able to
+checkmate him, as he had done Belisarius, from the Capitol.
+
+After discovering that King Teja had evaded all pursuit, Cethegus
+summoned his trusty tribunes, and told them that he was resolved--if
+necessary, by force--to rid himself of the constant supervision of
+Alboin and Johannes--who were at present weakened by the division of
+their troops at his advice--and to hasten with his Isaurians alone
+straight to Rome by the Flaminian Way, which was now no longer blocked
+by the Goths.
+
+But even while he was speaking, he was interrupted by the entrance of
+Syphax, who led into the tent a Roman citizen, whom he had with
+difficulty rescued from the hands of the Longobardians. The man had
+asked for the Prefect, and the Longobardians had answered, laughing,
+that they would treat him (the messenger) "as usual."
+
+"But," added Syphax, "a great crowd of people is approaching in the
+rear; I will see what it is and bring you word."
+
+"I know you, Tullus Faber," said the Prefect, turning to the messenger,
+when Syphax had left him; "you were ever faithful to Rome and to me.
+What news do you bring?"
+
+"O Prefect!" cried the man, "we all thought you were dead, for you sent
+us no answer to eight several messages."
+
+"I have not received even one!"
+
+"Then you do not know what has happened in Rome? Pope Silverius has
+died in exile in Sicily. His successor is Pelagius, your enemy!"
+
+"I know nothing. Speak!"
+
+"Alas, you will neither be able to advise nor to help. Rome has----"
+
+Just then Syphax returned, but before he could speak, he was followed
+into the tent by Narses, supported by Basiliskos.
+
+"You have allowed yourself to be detained here so long by a thousand
+Gothic spears," said the commander-in-chief angrily, "that the healthy
+have escaped, and the sick have overtaken you. This King Teja can do
+more than break shields; he can weave veils with which to blind the
+Prefect's sharp sight. But I see through many veils, and also through
+this. Johannes, call your people back. Teja cannot have gone south, he
+must have gone northwards, for he, no doubt, has known long since that
+which concerns the Prefect most: Rome is wrested from the Goths."
+
+Cethegus looked at him with sparkling eyes.
+
+"I had smuggled a few clever men into the city. They excited the
+inhabitants to a midnight revolt. All the Goths in the city were slain;
+only five hundred men escaped into the Mausoleum of Hadrian, and
+continue to defend it."
+
+Faber took courage to put in a word.
+
+"We sent eight messengers to you. Prefect, one after the other."
+
+"Away with this man!" cried Narses, signing to his officers. "Yes," he
+continued quietly, "the citizens of Rome think lovingly of the Prefect,
+to whom they owe so much: two sieges, hunger, pestilence, and the
+burning of the Capitol! But the messengers sent to you always lost
+their way, and fell into the hands of the Longobardians, who, no doubt,
+slew them. But the embassy sent to me by the Holy Father, Pelagius,
+reached me safely, and I have concluded an agreement, of which you,
+Prefect of Rome, will surely approve."
+
+"In any case, I shall not be able to annul it."
+
+"The good citizens of Rome fear nothing so much as a third siege. They
+have stipulated that we shall undertake nothing that can lead to
+another fight for their city. They write that the Goths in the
+Mausoleum will soon succumb to hunger; that they themselves can defend
+their walls; and they have sworn only to deliver up their city, after
+the destruction of those Goths, to their natural protector and chief,
+the Prefect of Rome. Are you content with that, Cethegus? Read the
+agreement. Give it to him, Basiliskos."
+
+Cethegus read the paper with deep and joyful emotion. So they had not
+forgotten him, his Romans! So now, when everything was coming to a
+crisis, they called, not the hated Byzantines, but himself, their
+patron, back to the Capitol! He again felt at the height of power.
+
+"I am content," he said, returning the roll.
+
+"I have promised," continued Narses, "to make no attempt to get the
+city into my power by force. First King Teja must follow King Totila.
+Then Rome--and many other things. Accompany me, Prefect, to the council
+of war."
+
+When Cethegus left the council in the tent of Narses, and asked after
+Tullus Faber, not a trace of the latter was to be found.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Narses, that great general, had acutely guessed in what direction King
+Teja had turned aside from the Flaminian Way. He had first gone north
+towards the coast of the Ionian Gulf, and thence, with singular
+knowledge of the roads, had led his fugitive people and army by a
+circuitous route past Hadria, Aternum, and Ortona, to Samnium. That
+Rome was lost, he had learned beyond Nuceria Camellaria from some Goths
+who had fled from that city.
+
+The King, whose impatient and unsparing disposition ever looked forward
+to the end, not unwillingly found himself obliged to get rid of his
+prisoners.
+
+In number about as strong as their conquerors, the captives had made
+the office of guarding them so difficult, that Teja threatened to
+punish with death any attempt at escape.
+
+Notwithstanding, when the army marched northwards, a number of these
+prisoners made an attempt to free themselves by force. Very many were
+killed in the struggle that ensued, and the King ordered that all the
+rest, together with Orestes and the whole of the officers, should be
+thrown into the Aternus with their hands bound; where they died
+miserably by drowning.
+
+When Adalgoth begged Teja to revoke his cruel sentence, the latter
+replied:
+
+"Did they not fall upon our defenceless women and children in their
+peaceful homes, and slay them? This is no longer a war between
+warriors; it is nation murdering nation. Let us do our part."
+
+From Samnium the King, leaving his unarmed people to follow slowly
+under scanty escort--for they were threatened by no pursuit--hurried
+forward with his best troops to Campania. His arrival in those parts
+was so unexpected, that he not only surprised Duke Guntharis and Earl
+Grippa, whose small army had melted still more in consequence of
+frequent battles with superior forces, but, shortly after, the enemy
+also, who now had thought themselves sure of victory.
+
+He had found Duke Guntharis and Earl Grippa occupying a secure position
+between Neapolis and Beneventum. He learned that the Romani were
+threatening Cumae from Capua.
+
+"They shall not reach that city before me," he cried; "I have to
+complete there an important work."
+
+And, his army being now reinforced by the garrison of his own county
+town of Tarentum, under the command of brave Ragnaris, he surprised the
+superior force of the Byzantines, which was about to march upon Cumae,
+and defeated them with great loss. He himself slew the Archon Armatus
+with his battle-axe, and at his side young Adalgoth ran Dorotheos
+through with his spear. The Byzantines were routed, and fled northwards
+to Terracina.
+
+It was the last ray of sunshine cast by the God of Victory upon the
+blue banner of the Goths.
+
+The next day King Teja entered Cumae. Totila, upon his last fatal march
+from Rome, had decided, at the instance of Teja, and contrary to his
+custom, to take with him hostages from that city. No one knew what had
+become of them.
+
+On the evening of his entry into Cumae, King Teja ordered the walled-up
+garden of the Castle of Cumae to be broken open. There were hidden the
+hostages from Rome: patricians and senators--among them Maximus,
+Cyprianus, Opilio, Rusticus, and Fidelius, the most distinguished men
+of the Senate--in all they numbered three hundred. All were members of
+the old league against the Goths.
+
+Teja ordered the Goths who had lately escaped from Rome to tell these
+hostages how the Romans, persuaded by envoys sent by Narses, had one
+night risen in revolt, had murdered all the Goths upon whom they could
+lay hands, even the women and children, and had driven the rest into
+the _Moles Hadriani_.
+
+The King fastened such a terrible look upon the trembling hostages, as
+they listened to this news, that two of them could not endure to wait
+till the end, but then and there killed themselves by dashing their
+heads against the stony walls which surrounded them.
+
+When the Goths from Rome had sworn to the truth of their story, the
+King silently turned away and left the garden. An hour after, the heads
+of the three hundred hostages stared ghastly down from the summit of
+the walls.
+
+"It was not alone to fulfil this terrible judgment that I came here,"
+Teja said to Adalgoth: "I have also to reveal a sacred secret."
+
+And he invited him and the other leaders of the troops to a solemn and
+joyless midnight banquet. When the sad feast was over, the King made a
+sign to old Hildebrand, who nodded, and took a dimly burning torch from
+the iron ring into which it was stuck on the centre column of the
+vaulted hall, saying:
+
+"Follow me, children of these latter days, and take your shields with
+you."
+
+It was the third hour of the July night; the stars glittered in the
+sky. Out of the hall, silently following the King and the aged
+master-at-arms, there stepped Guntharis and Adalgoth, Aligern, Grippa,
+Ragnaris, and Wisand the standard-bearer. Wachis, the King's
+shield-bearer, closed the procession, carrying a second torch.
+
+Opposite the castle garden rose an ancient round tower, named the Tower
+of Theodoric, because that great King had restored it. Old Hildebrand
+was the first to enter this tower with his torch, but instead of
+leaving the ground-floor, which contained only the empty tower-room,
+the old man halted, knelt down, and carefully measured fifteen spans of
+his large hand from the door, which he had closed behind them, to the
+centre of the room. The whole floor seemed to be composed of three
+colossal slabs of granite. When Hildebrand had measured the fifteen
+spans, he held his thumb upon the spot at which he had arrived, and
+struck his battle-axe against the floor; it sounded hollow. Boring the
+point of his axe into a scarcely-visible crack in the stone, he signed
+to his companions to stand aside on his left; when they had done so, he
+pushed a portion of the slab to the right. A chasm, as deep as the
+tower was high above them, revealed itself to the astonished eyes of
+those present.
+
+The opening was only large enough to admit one man at a time. It led to
+a narrow flight of more than two hundred steps, hewn in the living
+rock.
+
+Silently, at a sign from Hildebrand, the men descended. When they
+arrived at the bottom, they found that the circular space was divided
+in the middle by a stone wall. The semicircle into which they had
+entered was empty.
+
+And now King Teja measured ten spans on the wall to the centre, and
+pressing his hand upon a stone, a small door opened inwards. Hildebrand
+entered with his torch, and kindled two others which were fixed upon
+the wall.
+
+The observers started back dazzled, and covered their eyes with their
+hands. When they again looked up, they recognised--at once guessing the
+secret--the whole rich treasure of Dietrich of Berne.
+
+There lay, partly heaped up symmetrically, partly thrown in disorder
+one upon another, weapons, vessels, and ornaments of all kinds. Strong
+Etruscan steel-caps of ancient times, brought by the commerce of the
+Goths as far as the Baltic, or to the Pruth and Dniester, and now
+brought back to the south by the migration of the nations, probably
+near to the very spot where they had been fashioned. Near these lay
+flat wooden head-pieces, over which was stretched the skin of the seal,
+or the jaws of the ice-bear; pointed Celtic helmets; high-crested helms
+from Rome or Byzantium; neck-rings of bronze and iron, of silver and
+gold. Shields--from the clumsy wooden shield, as tall as a man, which
+was set up like a wall to hide the archer, to the small round and
+ornamented horseman's shield of the Parthians, studded with pearls and
+precious stones. Ancient ring-mail of crushing weight, and light-padded
+clothing of purple-coloured linen, besides scimitars, swords and
+daggers, of stone, bronze, and steel. Axes and clubs of all kinds--from
+those rudely made from the bones of the mammoth and tied to the antler
+of a stag with bast, to the Frankish _franciska_, and the small
+perforated and gilded axe with which the Roman circus-riders used to
+split an apple while at full gallop. Spears, lances, and darts of all
+sorts--from the roughly carved tusk of the narwal, to the ebony shaft,
+inlaid with gold, of the Asdingian Vandal Kings in Carthage, and the
+massive golden arrows of these princes, with steel points a foot long,
+and the shafts decorated with the purple feathers of the flamingo.
+War-mantles--made of the fur of the black fox, the skin of the
+Numidian lion, and the costliest purple of Sidon. Shoes--from
+the long shovel-shaped snowshoes of the Skrito Fins, to the golden
+sandals of Byzantium. Doublets of Frisian wool, and tunics of Chinese
+silk. Innumerable vessels and table utensils--tall vases, flat salvers,
+cups, and round-bellied urns, of amber, of gold, of silver, of
+tortoise-shell. Arm-rings and shoulder-clasps, necklaces of pearls and
+of crystal beads, and innumerable other utensils for meat and drink,
+for clothing and decoration, for sport and war.
+
+"This secret cave," said Teja, "known only to us, the blood
+brethren--the master-at-arms caused it to be hewn in the rock when he
+was Earl of Cumae, forty years ago--was the vault in which was hidden
+the treasure of the Goths. This is the reason why Belisarius found so
+little, when he ransacked the treasure-house at Ravenna. The most
+costly pieces of booty, the gifts, the collection of Amelung trophies
+in war and peace, which existed long before Theodoric, in the time of
+Winithar, Ermanarich, Athal, Ostrogotho, Isarna, Amala, and Gaut--all
+these have we concealed here. We left nothing in Ravenna but the minted
+gold, and such things as seemed richer in intrinsic value than in
+honour. For months our enemies have walked above these treasures; but
+the faithful abyss kept the secret. But now we will carry all away with
+us. Take the treasures on your shields, and hand them from one to
+another up the steps. We will take it to the last battle-field upon
+which an Ostrogothic army will ever fight. No, do not be anxious, young
+Adalgoth; even when I have fallen, and all is lost, the enemy shall not
+bear away the sacred treasure to Byzantium. For wonderful is the last
+battle-field which I have chosen; it shall conceal and swallow up the
+last of the Goths, their treasure and their fame!"
+
+"Yes, and their greatest treasure and noblest renown," said old
+Hildebrand; "not merely gold and silver and precious stones. Look here,
+my Goths!"
+
+And he held his torch towards a curtain which shut off a portion of the
+treasure-cave, and pushed the curtain to one side. As he did so, all
+present fell upon their knees. For they recognised the great dead, who
+sat, erect and clothed in purple, upon a golden throne, the spear still
+grasped in his right hand.
+
+It was the great Theodoric.
+
+The art which had been introduced to the Romans by the Egyptians--the
+art of embalming the dead--had preserved the body of the hero-King with
+terrible perfection.
+
+All present were struck dumb with emotion.
+
+"Many years ago," at last Hildebrand began, "Teja and I mistrusted the
+good fortune of the Goths. And I, who, before the breaking out of the
+war, had the command of the guard-of-honour at the Mausoleum of
+Ravenna, in which Amalaswintha had interred her dead father--I liked
+the building but little, and still less the incense-scented priests who
+so often prayed there for the soul of my good and great King--I thought
+that if ever all trace of my nation were rooted out of this southern
+land, no Italian or Greekling should mock at the remains of our beloved
+hero. No! even as the first great conqueror of the Roman fortress,
+Alaric the Visigoth, found his unknown and never to be dishonoured tomb
+in the sacred bed of the stream, so also should my great King be
+delivered from the curiosity of posterity. And, with Teja's help, I
+took the noble corpse away by night, from its marble house, and from
+the vicinity of the whining priests, and we brought it hither, as part
+of the royal treasure. Here it was safe. And if, after the lapse of
+centuries, some accident should betray its resting-place, who could
+then recognise the King with the eagle-eye? And so the sarcophagus at
+Ravenna is empty, and the monks sing and pray in vain. Here, near his
+treasures and his trophies, in hero splendour, erect upon his throne,
+he rests; it is more pleasing to his soul, which looks down from
+Walhalla, than to see his mortal remains stretched out, weighed down by
+heavy stones, and surrounded with clouds of incense."
+
+"But now," concluded Teja, "the hour has come for him once more to rise
+from the abyss. When you have raised the treasure, we will carefully
+lift up this beloved form. Early to-morrow we will march out of this
+city. The approach of Narses and the Prefect has already been
+announced. We will go, with royal corpse and royal treasure, to the
+last battle-field of the Goths, whither I have already sent the women
+and children. The battle-field--long ago I saw it in the visions of my
+sleepless nights--the battle-field whereon we and our nation will
+gloriously perish; the battlefield which, even when the last spear is
+broken, can save and hide all who do not fear to die in its glowing
+bosom; the battle-field which Teja has chosen for you and for himself!"
+
+"I guess thy meaning," whispered Adalgoth; "this last battle-field
+is----"
+
+"Mons Vesuvius!" said Teja. "To work!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+As rapidly as his fearful, all-encompassing system would allow, Narses,
+after the council which we have mentioned as taking place at Fossatum,
+had marched southward with his whole force and with the broadest front,
+in order to make an end of all the remaining Goths. Only to Tuscany did
+he send two small detachments, under his generals, Vitalianus and
+Wilmuth, to take such forts as still resisted, and, after them, Lucca,
+in Annonarian Tuscany. Valerianus, who had meanwhile conquered Petra
+Pertusa, which place blocked the Flaminian Way beyond Helvillum, was
+sent still farther north against Verona, the obstinate defence of which
+had enabled many Goths to escape up the valley of the Athesis to the
+Passara.
+
+With these exceptions, Narses hurried south with the whole of his army.
+He himself passed Rome on the Flaminian Way; while Johannes, on the
+coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the Herulian Vulkaris on that of the
+Ionian Gulf, were to drive the Goths before them.
+
+But Johannes and Vulkaris found but little work to do; for in the north
+the Gothic families had already been received, in passing, into the
+mass of the army of the King, which it was now impossible to overtake;
+and from the south the Goths had likewise long since streamed past Rome
+to Neapolis, whither expresses from the King had bidden them to repair.
+"Mons Vesuvius!" was the rallying word for all these Gothic fugitives.
+
+Narses had named Anagnia to his two wings as the point of reunion with
+the main body.
+
+Cethegus gladly accepted the commander's invitation to remain with him
+in the centre, for he could expect no great events with the two wings;
+and the road taken by Narses led past Rome. In case that the commander,
+in spite of his promise, should attempt to procure entrance into Rome,
+Cethegus would be on the spot.
+
+But, almost to the Prefect's astonishment, Narses kept his word. He
+quietly marched his army past Rome. And he called upon Cethegus to be
+witness to his interview with Pope Pelagius and the other governing
+bodies of Rome, which interview took place below the walls at the Porta
+Belisaria (Pinceana), between the Flaminian and Salarian Gates.
+
+Once more the Pope and the Romans assured Narses--swearing by the holy
+remains of Cosma and Damian (according to legend, Arabian physicians
+who were martyred under Diocletian), which were brought in silver and
+ivory caskets to the walls--that they would unhesitatingly, after the
+annihilation of the Goths in the Moles Hadriani, open their gates to
+the Prefect of Rome, but firmly resist any attempt on the part of the
+Byzantines to enter the city by force; for they would not expose
+themselves to any possible struggle which might yet take place.
+
+The offer of Narses to leave them at once a few thousand armed men, in
+order to enable them the more speedily to reduce the Moles Hadriani,
+was civilly but decidedly refused, to the great joy of the Prefect.
+
+"They have learned two things during the last few years," he said
+to Lucius Licinius, as they rode away at the termination of the
+interview--"to keep the Romani at a distance, and to connect Cethegus
+with the well-being of Rome. That is already a great deal."
+
+"I regret, my general," said Lucius Licinius, "that I cannot share your
+joy and confidence."
+
+"I neither," cried Salvius Julianus. "I fear Narses; I mistrust him."
+
+"Oho! what wise men!" laughed Piso. "One should exaggerate nothing; not
+even prudence. Has not everything turned out better than we dared to
+hope since the night when a shepherd-boy struck the greatest Roman poet
+upon his immortal verse-writing hand, and the great Prefect of Rome
+swam down the Tiber in a granary?--since Massurius Sabinus was
+recognised by Earl Markja, dressed in the garments of his Hetares, in
+which disguise he was about to make his escape?--and since the great
+jurist, Salvius Julianus, was rudely fished up, bleeding, from the
+slime of the river by Duke Guntharis? Who would have thought then that
+we should ever be able to count upon our fingers the day when not a
+single Goth would be left to tread Italian soil?"
+
+"You are right, poet," said Cethegus with a smile; "these two friends
+of ours suffer from '_Narses_-fever,' as their hero suffers from
+epilepsy. To over-rate one's enemy is also a failing. The holy remains
+upon which those priests have sworn, are really sacred to them; they
+will not break such an oath."
+
+"If I had only seen, besides the priests and artisans," replied
+Licinius, "any of our friends upon the walls! But there were none but
+fullers, butchers, and carpenters! Where is the aristocracy of Rome?
+Where are the men of the Catacombs?"
+
+"Taken away as hostages," said Cethegus. "And they were rightly served?
+Did they not return to Rome, and do homage to the fair-haired Goth? If
+now the 'Black Earl' cuts off their heads, it cannot be helped. Be
+comforted; you see things in too dark a light, all of you. The crushing
+superiority of Narses has made you timid. He is a great general; but
+the fact that he has made this treaty with Rome--this agreement that I,
+and no other, should be admitted--and that he has _kept_ it, shows that
+he is harmless as a statesman. Let us but once again breathe the air of
+the Capitol! It does not agree with epileptic subjects."
+
+And when, the next morning, the young tribunes went to fetch the
+Prefect from his tent to join the united march against Teja, their
+leader received them with sparkling eyes.
+
+"Well," he cried, "who knows the Romans best, you or the Prefect of
+Rome? Listen--but be silent. Last night a centurion, one of the
+newly-formed city cohorts, named Publius Macer, stole out of Rome
+and into my tent. The Pope has entrusted to his care the Porta Latina,
+to that of his brother Marcus, the Capitol. He showed me both
+commissions--I know the handwriting of Pelagius--they are authentic.
+The Romans are long since tired of the rule of the priesthood. They
+would rejoice once more to see me, and you, and my Isaurians patrolling
+the walls. Publius left me his nephew Aulus, at once as a hostage and a
+pledge, who will let us know the night--which will be announced to him
+in the harmless words of a letter agreed upon beforehand--on which the
+Romans will open to us their gates and the Capitol. Narses cannot
+complain if the Romans voluntarily admit us--I shall use no force. Now,
+Licinius! Tell me, Julianus, who best knows Rome and the Romans?"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Narses now marched to Anagnia. Two days after his arrival, his two
+wings reached that place according to order. After some days occupied
+in resting, mustering, and newly ordering his immense forces, the
+commander-in-chief marched to Terracina, where the remainder of the
+troops of Armatus and Dorotheos joined him. And now the united army
+rolled forward against the Goths, who had taken up a most excellent and
+secure position on Vesuvius, on the opposite mountain. Mons Lactarius,
+and on both shores of the little river Draco, which flowed into the sea
+north of Stabiae.
+
+Since he had left Cumae, marched past Neapolis (the citizens of which
+place shut their strong gates, which had been restored by Totila,
+overpowered the garrison and declared that, following the example of
+Rome, they would at present hold their fortress against both parties),
+and reached his chosen battle-field, King Teja had done all that was
+possible to make his naturally strong position still stronger.
+
+He had caused provisions to be carried from the fertile country around
+up to the mountains, in sufficient quantities to nourish his people
+until the light of the last day should dawn upon his nation.
+
+It has ever been a vain task for learned investigation to attempt to
+find on Mons Lactarius or Vesuvius the exact spots which correspond to
+the description of Procopius. It is impossible to fix upon any one of
+the innumerable ravines and valleys. And yet the description of the
+Byzantine historian, grounded as it was upon the verbal reports of the
+leaders and generals of the army of Narses, cannot be doubted.
+
+Rather may the contradictions be simply explained by the sudden,
+forcible and gigantic changes, and by the still more numerous, gradual
+and slighter alterations made in the face of the country by streams of
+lava, landslips, the crumbling of the rocks, and floods which have
+taken place upon that never quiet mountain, during the course of more
+than thirteen centuries. Even credible accounts of much later Italian
+authors, concerning places and positions on Mount Vesuvius, cannot
+always be reconciled with the reality.
+
+The ground which sucked up Teja's life-blood has no doubt been covered,
+ages ago, by deep layers of silent and impenetrable lava.
+
+Even Narses was compelled to admire the circumspection with which his
+barbarian adversary had chosen his last place of defence.
+
+"He intends to die like the bear in his den," he exclaimed as he
+observed the whole of the Gothic defences from his litter at Nuceria.
+"And many of you, my dear wolves," he added, turning with a smile to
+Alboin, "will fall under the blows of this bear's paws when you try to
+trot through those narrow entrances."
+
+"Oho! It is only necessary to let so many run in at once that the bear
+gets both paws full and is not able to strike again."
+
+"Softly, softly! I know of a pass on Vesuvius--long ago, when I still
+nursed my miserable body hoping to restore its strength, I spent weeks
+together upon Mons Lactarius, in order to enjoy the pure air, and at
+that time I firmly impressed upon my memory the pass I speak of; from
+that pass--if the Goths get into it--only famine can drive them out."
+
+"That will be tiresome!"
+
+"There is nothing else for it. I have no desire once more to sacrifice
+a myriad of imperial troops in order to stamp out these last sparks."
+
+And so it happened. Very gradually, gaining each forward step only at a
+great and bloody loss, did Narses draw his net tighter and more tightly
+together. He surrounded in a semicircle every point of the Gothic
+position, on west, north, and east; only on the south, the sea-side,
+where he himself had encamped on the strand, was he able to leave a
+space undefended, for the enemy had no ships whereon to fly or
+wherewith to procure provisions.
+
+The "Tyrrhenian" fleet of Narses was already occupied in carrying the
+captive Goths to Byzantium; the "Ionian" was shortly expected; a few
+vessels had been sent to cruise in the Bay of Bajae and opposite
+Surrentum. Thus Narses, notwithstanding his great superiority, only
+gradually occupied, with obstinate patience and forgetting nothing,
+Piscinula, Cimiterium, Nola, Summa, Melane, Nuceria, Stabiae, Cumae,
+Bajae, Misenum, Puteoli, and Nesis. And presently Neapolis also became
+alarmed at the power of Narses, and voluntarily opened to him its
+gates.
+
+From all sides the Byzantines advanced concentrically towards the
+Gothic position. After many furious battles the Byzantines succeeded in
+driving the Goths away from Mons Lactarius and over the river Draco;
+where the rest of the nation encamped upon a level plain above the pass
+so highly praised by Narses, in the immediate vicinity of one of the
+numerous craters which, at that time, surrounded the foot of the
+principal cone; only rarely, when the wind blew from the south-east,
+suffering from the smoke and sulphurous exhalations of the volcano.
+
+Here, in the innumerable hollows and ravines of the mountain, the
+unarmed people encamped under the open sky, or under the tents and
+wagons which they had brought with them, in the warm August air.
+
+"The only access to this encampment," writes Procopius, "could be
+obtained by a narrow pass, the southern opening of which was so small
+that a man holding a shield could completely block it up."
+
+This opening was guarded day and night, each man occupying it for an
+hour, by King Teja himself, Duke Guntharis, Duke Adalgoth, Earl Grippa,
+Earl Wisand, Aligern, Ragnaris, and Wachis. Behind them the pass was
+filled by a hundred warriors, who relieved each other at intervals.
+
+And so, in accordance with the system pursued by Narses, the whole
+terrible war, the struggle for Rome and Italy, had been dramatically
+reduced to a point; to a battle for a ravine of a foot or two wide on
+the southern point of the so dearly-loved, so obstinately-defended
+peninsula. Even in the historical representation of Procopius, the fate
+of the Goths resembles the last act of a grand and awful tragedy.
+
+On the shore, opposite to the hill from which the pass was approached,
+Narses had pitched his tents with the Longobardians; on his right
+Johannes; on his left Cethegus.
+
+The Prefect drew the attention of his tribunes to the fact that Narses,
+by the cession of this position--Cethegus himself had chosen it--had
+given either a proof of great imprudence or of complete inoffensiveness
+of intention, "for," said Cethegus, "with this position he has left
+open the way to Rome, which he could easily have prevented, by giving
+me the command of the right wing or of the centre. Hold yourselves in
+readiness to start secretly and at night with all the Isaurians, as
+soon as a sign is made by Rome."
+
+"And you?" asked Licinius anxiously.
+
+"I remain here with the dreaded commander. If he had wished to murder
+me--he could have done so long ago. But it is evident that he has no
+such intention. He will not act against me without just cause. And if I
+obey the call of the Romans, I do not break, I fulfil, our agreement."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Above the narrow pass on Vesuvius, which we will call the Ravine of the
+Goths, a small but deep chasm had been formed by the black blocks of
+lava. Within it King Teja had concealed the most sacred possession of
+the nation--the corpse of King Theodoric and the royal treasure.
+Theodoric's banner was fixed before the mouth of this chasm.
+
+A purple mantle, stretched upon four spears, formed the dark curtain to
+the rocky chamber which the last King of the Goths had chosen for his
+royal hall. A block of lava, covered with the skin of the black tiger,
+formed his last throne.
+
+Here King Teja rested, when not called away by his jealously-held post
+at the southern entrance of the Ravine of the Goths; upon which, now
+from a distance with arrows, slings, and hurling--spears, now close at
+hand in a bold and sudden attack, the outposts of Narses commenced
+their assaults. None of the brave guardians returned home without
+bringing tokens of such attacks upon shield and armour, or leaving
+signs at the entrance of the ravine, in the form of slain enemies.
+
+This happened so frequently, that the stench arising from the decay of
+the bodies threatened to render any further sojourn in the ravine
+impossible. Narses seemed to have counted upon this circumstance, for,
+when Basiliskos lamented the useless sacrifice, he said, "Perhaps our
+slain soldiers will be more useful after death than during their life."
+But King Teja ordered that the bodies should be thrown by night over
+the lava cliffs; so that, horribly mutilated, they seemed a warning to
+all who should attempt to follow their example. Seeing this, Narses
+begged to be allowed to send unarmed men to fetch away the bodies, a
+favour which King Teja immediately granted.
+
+Since retiring into this ravine, the Goths had not lost a single man in
+fight; for only the foremost man in the pass was exposed to the enemy,
+and, supported by the comrades who stood behind him, this guardian had
+never yet been killed.
+
+One night, after sunset--it was now the month of September, and all
+traces of the battle at Taginae were already obliterated; the flowers
+planted by Cassiodorus and the nuns of the cloister round the
+sarcophagi of King Totila, his bride, and his friend, had put forth new
+shoots--King Teja, who had just been relieved from his post by Wisand,
+approached his lava hall, his spear upon his shoulder. Before the
+curtain which closed the entrance to his rocky chamber, Adalgoth
+received Teja with a sad smile, and, kneeling, offered to him a golden
+goblet.
+
+"Let me still fulfil my office of cup-bearer," he said; "who knows how
+long it may last?"
+
+"Not much longer!" said Teja gravely, as he seated himself. "We will
+remain here, outside the curtain. Look! how magnificently the bay and
+the coast of Surrentum shine in the glowing light left by the setting
+sun--the blue sea is changed to crimson blood! Truly, the Southland
+could afford no more beauteous frame with which to enclose the
+last battle of the Goths. Well, may the picture be worthy of its
+setting! The end is coming. How wonderfully everything that I
+foreboded--dreamed, and sang--has been fulfilled!"
+
+And the King supported his head upon both his hands. Only when the
+silver tones of a harp was heard, did he again look up. Adalgoth had,
+unseen, fetched the King's small harp from behind the curtain.
+
+"Thou shalt hear," he said, "how I have completed thy song of the
+Ravine; or I might have said, how it has completed itself. Dost thou
+remember that night in the wilderness of ivy, marble, and laurel in
+Rome? It was not a battle already fought, a battle of ancient days, of
+which thou didst sing. No! in a spirit of prophecy, thou hast sung our
+last heroic battle here." And he played and sang:
+
+           "Where arise the cliffs of lava,
+              On Vesuvius' glowing side,
+            Tones of deepest woe and wailing,
+              Evening's peace and calm deride.
+            For the brave dead's direst curses
+              Rest upon the rocky tomb,
+            Where the Gothic hero-nation
+              Will fulfil their glorious doom."
+
+"Yes," said Teja, "glorious, my Adalgoth! Of that glory no fate and no
+Narses shall deprive us. The awful judgment, which our beloved Totila
+challenged, has fallen heavily upon himself, his people, and his God.
+No Heavenly Father has, as that noble man imagined, weighed our
+destinies in a just balance. We fall by the thousand treacheries of the
+Italians and the Byzantines, and by the brute superiority of numbers.
+But _how_ we fall, unshaken, proud even in our decay, can be decided by
+no fate, but only by our own worth. And after us? Who after us will
+rule in this land? Not for long these wily Greeks--and not the native
+strength of the Italians. Numerous tribes of Germans still exist on the
+other side of the mountains--and I nominate them our heirs and our
+avengers."
+
+And he softly took up the harp which Adalgoth had laid down, and sang
+in a low voice as he looked down upon the rapidly darkening sea. The
+stars glittered over his head; and at rare intervals he struck a chord.
+
+           "Extinguished is the brightest star
+              Of our Germanic race!
+            O Dietrich, thou beloved of Bern,
+              Thy shield is bruised, defaced.
+            Unblemished truth and courage fail--
+              The coward wins--the noble fly;
+            Rascals are lords of all the world--
+              Up, Goths, and let us die!
+
+           "O wicked Rome, O southern gleam,
+              O lovely, heavenly blue!
+            O rolling blood-stained Tiber-stream--
+              O Southerns, all untrue!
+            Still cherishes the North its sons
+              Of courage true and high;
+            Vengeance will roll its thunders soon--
+              Then, up! and let us die!"
+
+"The melody pleases me," said Adalgoth; "but is it already finished?
+What is the end?"
+
+"'The end can only be sung in time to the stroke of the sword," said
+Teja. "Soon, methinks, thou wilt also hear this end." And he rose
+from his seat. "Go, my Adalgoth," he said; "leave me alone. I have
+already kept thee far too long from"--and he smiled through all his
+sadness--"from the loveliest of all duchesses. You have but few of
+such evening hours to spend together, my poor children! If I could but
+save your young and budding lives----" He passed his hand across his
+brow. "Folly!" he then cried; "you are but a part of the doomed
+nation--perhaps the loveliest."
+
+Adalgoth's eyes had filled with tears as the King mentioned his young
+wife. He now went up to Teja and laid his hand inquiringly upon his
+shoulder.
+
+"Is there no hope? She is so young!"
+
+"None," answered Teja; "for no saving angel will come down from heaven.
+We have still a few days before famine commences its inroads. Then I
+will make a speedy end. The warriors shall sally forth and fall in
+battle."
+
+
+"And the women, the children--the defenceless thousands?"
+
+"I cannot help them. I am no god. But not a Gothic woman or maiden need
+fall into slavery under the Byzantines, unless they choose shame
+instead of a free death. Look there, my Adalgoth--in the dark night the
+glow of the mountain is fully seen. Seest thou, there, a hundred paces
+to the right.--Ha! how splendidly the fiery smoke rushes from the
+gloomy mouth!--When the last guardian of the pass has fallen--one leap
+into that abyss--and no insolent Roman hand shall touch our pure women.
+Thinking of _them_--more than of us, for we can fall anywhere thinking
+of the Gothic women, I chose for our last battle-field--Vesuvius!"
+
+And Adalgoth, no longer weeping, but with enthusiasm, threw himself
+into Teja's arms.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+A few days after Cethegus had taken up his chosen position on the left
+of Narses with his mercenaries, the report came to the camp of the
+Byzantines that the Goths in the Mausoleum of Hadrian had been
+overpowered.
+
+So now all Rome was in the hands of the Romans; not a single Goth, and,
+as Cethegus exultingly thought, not a single Byzantine, ruled in his
+Rome.
+
+If he could now succeed in throwing his Isaurians, under the command of
+the tribunes, into Rome, the Prefect would be in a much more favourable
+position, opposed to Narses, than he had ever been opposed to
+Belisarius, with whom he had been obliged to share the possession of
+the city.
+
+One of the messengers who had brought the news from Rome, at the same
+time gave to Aulus, the hostage, a letter from the two centurions, the
+brothers Macer, which ran thus: "The bride has recovered from her long
+sickness; if the bridegroom will come, there is nothing more to hinder
+the wedding. Come, Aulus."
+
+These were the words fixed upon. Cethegus communicated them to his
+Roman knights.
+
+"Excellent!" cried Lucius. "Now I shall be able to place a monument
+upon the spot where my brave brother fell for Rome and for Cethegus."
+
+"Yes," said Salvius Julianus, "imprescriptible is the Romans' right to
+Rome."
+
+"But if we are to go secretly, see to it well, Prefect," said Piso,
+"that our departure is concealed so long from the greatest cripple of
+all times, that it will be impossible for him to overtake us."
+
+"No," said Cethegus, "you shall not depart in secret. I have convinced
+myself that this most prudent of all heroes has placed outposts far
+beyond our position on the left wing. What we considered our outposts
+are hemmed round by _his_--occupied by his Longobardian wolves, whom he
+has placed in all directions. Without his consent, you cannot manage
+your departure either by force or deception. It will be far wiser to
+act openly. If he chooses, he can frustrate our plan, for, in any case,
+he is sure to hear of it. But he will have nothing to say against
+it--you will see! I shall tell him of my resolution, and, depend upon
+it, he will approve of it."
+
+"General, that is very bold; it is great!"
+
+"It is the only possible way."
+
+"Yes, you are right," said Salvius Julianus, after a few moments'
+reflection. "Force and deception are equally impossible; and should
+Narses consent, I will willingly confess that my fears----"
+
+"Were founded upon an over-estimation of the _statesman_ Narses.
+Large numbers have intimidated you, and the certainly not to be
+over-estimated _general-ship_ of the sick man. I confess that before
+the battle of Taginae the whole horizon threatened thunderstorms; but,
+as I am still alive, those appearances must have been illusive. I will
+at once send you with my inquiry to Narses. You are suspicious, you
+will therefore observe sharply. Go, tell him that the Romans have
+resolved to admit me, their Prefect, within their walls _now_, before
+the annihilation of Teja's army. And I wish to know if he will permit
+you to march to Rome with my Isaurians, or if he would consider such an
+act as a breach of our agreement. Against his will neither I nor the
+Isaurians will set forth."
+
+The two tribunes took leave, and, as he stepped out of the Prefect's
+tent, Piso said with a laugh to the others:
+
+"The crutch of Narses rendered your wits useless, longer than the stick
+of the shepherd did my fingers!"
+
+When they were well outside, Syphax hurried up to his master.
+
+"O master," he said, "do not trust this sick man with his quiet and
+impenetrable looks! Last night I again questioned my snake oracle. I
+divided the skin of my idol into two pieces, and laid them upon live
+coals. The piece which I called 'Narses' outlasted by far the piece
+which I called 'Cethegus.' Shall I not make the attempt? You know that
+a scratch with this dagger, and he is lost! What would it matter if
+they impaled Syphax, the son of Hiempsal? I cannot do it by stealth,
+for the Longobardian prince sleeps in the tent of Narses, in a bed
+stretched across the entrance, and seven of his 'little wolves' lie
+upon the threshold. The Herulians stand outside the curtain. According
+to your hint, I have watched Narses' tent at night ever since we left
+Helvillum. Even a gnat can scarcely escape the vigilance of the
+Herulians and Longobardians when it flies into the tent. But openly, by
+day, one spring into his litter--a scratch of the skin--and he is a
+dead man in a quarter of an hour!"
+
+"And before that time has elapsed, not only is Syphax, the son of
+Hiempsal, a corpse, but also Cethegus. No. But listen; I have
+discovered where the commander is accustomed to hold his secret
+conversations with Basiliskos and Alboin. Not in his tent--a camp has a
+thousand ears--but in the bath. The physicians have ordered Narses a
+morning bath in the bay at Stabiae, and he has had a bath-house built
+out into the sea, which can only be reached in a boat. When Alboin and
+Basiliskos accompany him thither, they are only as wise as--well, as
+Basiliskos and Alboin. But when they return, they are full of the
+wisdom of Narses; they know what letters have come from Byzantium, and
+many other things. Round about the bath-house there is much seaweed.
+Syphax, for how long a time can you dive?"
+
+"As long," answered the slave, not without pride, "as the clumsy and
+suspicious crocodile in our streams takes to observe the gazelle which
+has been thrown into the reeds as a bait, and to make up his mind to
+swim to it--then a knife from below in his belly! This small-eyed
+Narses has something of the crocodile--we will see if I cannot outdo
+him by patient diving."
+
+"Excellent! my panther on shore, my diving duck in the water!"
+
+"I would leap into fire for your sake, then you would call me your
+'salamander.'"
+
+"Well, you must manage to listen to the conversation of this sick man
+when he goes to bathe."
+
+"The office will very well suit another game which I have on hand. For
+many days a fisherman, who throws his net every morning and evening,
+and never catches anything, has been signing and winking to me in a
+very innocent-sly manner. I believe he is watching for me, and not for
+sea mullets. But the long-bearded wolves of this Alboin are always at
+my heels. Perhaps, when I dive into the water, I shall be able to catch
+up what this fisherman wishes to confide to me."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Very gravely, but no more in a melting mood, Adalgoth told his young
+wife of the resolve of the King, and of the last alternative between
+death and a shameful slavery.
+
+He expected an outbreak of wild grief, such as it had been so difficult
+even for him to repress. But, to his astonishment, Gotho remained
+unshaken.
+
+"I have foreseen this long ago, my Adalgoth! It is no misfortune; to
+lose what we love, and still live, that alone is a misfortune. I have
+attained to the highest earthly bliss, I am thy wife. Whether I shall
+have been so for ten years or for twenty, or for scarcely half a year,
+alters nothing. At least we shall die together on the same day,
+possibly at the same hour. For King Teja will not forbid thee--when
+thou hast done thy part in the last battle, and, perhaps wounded, canst
+fight no longer--he will not forbid thee to come and take me in thine
+arms--how often hast thou carried me on the Iffinger!--and leap with me
+into the abyss. Oh, Adalgoth!" she cried, passionately embracing him,
+"how happy we have been! We will show that we were worthy of such
+bliss, by dying bravely, without cowardly lament. The scion of the
+Balthe," and she smiled, "shall not say that the shepherd's daughter
+could not keep pace with his nobility. There arises in my soul a vision
+of the grandeur of our mountains! My grandfather, Iffa, admonished me,
+when I left him, to call to mind the fresh and free air of our
+mountains, and the strict and noble severity of the proud heights,
+should ever life in the narrow, small, gilded chambers here below
+seem too paltry for our souls. We have not been menaced with that, but
+now, when it is necessary to raise our minds from timid, tender
+sorrow--which almost crept over me--and to gain strength for a noble
+resolve, the remembrance of my native mountains has made me strong.
+'Shame on thee,' I said to myself, 'shame on thee, daughter of the
+mountains! What would the Iffinger, and the Wolfshead, and all the
+stony giants say, if they saw the shepherdess despair? Be worthy of thy
+mountains and of thy hero husband.'"
+
+Adalgoth pressed his young wife to his bosom, with mingled pride and
+joy.
+
+Behind the tent of the Duke lay the low hut, made of dried branches,
+where dwelt Wachis and Liuta. Liuta, who had heard from Gotho what fate
+menaced them, had been obliged to use all her powers of persuasion upon
+her husband (who sat shaking his head and hammering and patching his
+shield, which had been sadly defaced, by Longobardian arrows in the
+last watch he had held at the mouth of the pass, and who now began to
+whistle to hide his suppressed sobs) before she could raise him to a
+like enthusiasm of renunciation.
+
+"I do not think," said the honest man, "that the Lord of heaven can see
+it done. I am one of those who never like to say, 'All is over!' The
+proud ones, those who hold their heads high, like King Teja and Duke
+Adalgoth, certainly run constantly against the beams of fate. But we
+small people, who can stoop and bend, easily find a mouse-hole or a
+chink in the wall by which to escape. It is too vile! miserable! cruel!
+rascally!"--and each word was accompanied by a sounding stroke with his
+hammer. "I will not believe it! I cannot believe that hundreds of good
+women, pretty girls, lisping children, and stammering old men, must
+jump into the hellish fire of this accursed mountain! As if it were but
+a merry bonfire! As if they would come out at the other side safe and
+sound! I might just as well have let thee burn in the house at Faesulae.
+And not only thou must burn, but also our expected child, whom I have
+already named Witichis."
+
+"Or Rauthgundis," said Liuta, blushing, as she bent over her husband's
+shoulder and stopped his hammering. "Let this name admonish thee,
+Wachis! Think of our beloved mistress. Was she not a thousand times
+better than Liuta, the poor maid-servant? And would she have hesitated
+or refused to die on the same day with all her people?"
+
+"Thou art right, wife!" exclaimed Wachis, with a last furious stroke of
+his hammer. "Thou knowest I am a peasant, and peasants do not at all
+like to die. But if the heavens fall, they strike down peasants as well
+as others; and before it happens--ha-ha!--I will deal many a famous
+stroke! That would please Sir Witichis and Mistress Rauthgundis right
+well also. In honour of them--yes, thou art right, Liuta--we will live
+bravely--and, if it cannot be otherwise, bravely die!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+It was with most joyful surprise that the two tribunes, Licinius and
+Julianus, entered the tent of the Prefect after their interview with
+Narses.
+
+"Once again you have conquered, O Cethegus!" cried Licinius.
+
+"You have got the upper hand, Prefect of Rome," said Salvius Julianus.
+"I do not understand it, but Narses really abandons Rome to you."
+
+"Ha!" cried Piso, who had entered with the others, "that is your old
+Caesarian luck, Cethegus! Your star, which has seemed to wane since this
+famous cripple's arrival, shines anew. It seems to me that sometimes
+his _mind_ suffers from attacks of epilepsy. For, with a sound mind,
+how could he quietly let you enter Rome? No! Quem deus vult perdere
+dementat! Now will Quintus Piso again wander through the Forum, and
+look into the book-stalls to see if the Goths have assiduously bought
+his 'Epistolas ad amabilissimum, carissimum pastorem Adalgothum et ejus
+pedum'--(Letters to the very amiable and greatly beloved shepherd-boy,
+Adalgoth, and his bludgeon)."
+
+"So you have composed in exile, like Ovidius?" asked Cethegus, smiling.
+
+"Yes," answered Piso. "The six-footed verses come more readily, since
+they no longer need to fear the Goths, who are a foot longer. And amid
+the noise of Gothic banquetings it would not be easy to compose, even
+in time of peace."
+
+"He has composed some merry verses, intermixed with Gothic words, on
+that subject too," said Salvius Julianus. "How does it begin, 'Inter
+hails Gothicum skapja'----"
+
+"Do not wrong my words! It is not permitted to quote falsely what is
+immortal."
+
+"Well, how go the verses?" asked Cethegus.
+
+"Thus," said Piso:
+
+                       "De conviviis barbarorum.
+      Inter: 'Hails Gothicum! skapja matjan jah drinkan!'
+      Non audet quisquam dignos educere versus:
+      Calliope madido trepidat se jungere Baccho,
+      Ne pedibus non stet ebria Musa suis."
+
+"Horrible poetry!" exclaimed Salvius Julianus.
+
+"Who knows," said Piso, laughing, "whether the thirst of the Goths will
+not become immortal through these verses?"
+
+"But now tell me exactly what Narses answered?" said Cethegus.
+
+"First he listened to us with great incredulity," replied Licinius, "He
+asked suspiciously, 'Is it possible that the prudent Romans can again
+beg for an Isaurian garrison and the Prefect, whom they have to thank
+for so much famine and unwilling valour?' But I answered that he
+under-rated the patriotism of the Romans, and that it was your affair
+if you had deceived yourself. If the Romans did not voluntarily admit
+us, your seven thousand men were too weak to storm the city. This
+seemed to convince him. He only required our promise that, if we were
+not admitted voluntarily, we would at once return here."
+
+"And we thought we might well venture to promise this in your name,"
+concluded Julianus.
+
+"You were right," said Cethegus, with a smile.
+
+"Narses then said that he would not hinder us if the Romans liked to
+have us. And he is so completely harmless," Licinius went on, "that he
+does not seem to wish to detain you, even as a hostage; for he inquired
+when the Prefect would start. Therefore he must have taken it for
+granted that you would lead the Isaurians to Rome yourself. And he has
+nothing to say against that either. He was evidently surprised when I
+answered that you preferred to witness here the destruction of the
+Goths."
+
+"Well," said Cethegus, "where, then, is this terrible Narses, the great
+statesman! Even my friend Procopius sadly over-rated him, when he once
+named him to me as the greatest man of the time."
+
+"The greatest man of the time is--some one else," cried Licinius.
+
+"It was natural that Procopius should give the palm to the superior
+enemy of his Belisarius. But one almost ought to take advantage of the
+clumsy blunder made by the 'greatest man,'" continued Cethegus
+reflectively. "The gods might be angry if we did not make use of the
+miracle of infatuation which they have accomplished for us. I alter my
+resolution; I long to get to the Capitol; I will go with you to Rome.
+Syphax, we will start--at once! Saddle my horse!"
+
+But Syphax gave his master a warning look.
+
+"Leave me, tribunes!" said Cethegus, "I will recall you directly."
+
+"O sir!" cried Syphax eagerly, as soon as they were alone, "do not go
+to-day! Send the others on in advance. To-morrow early I shall fish two
+great secrets out of the sea. Diving under his boat, I have already
+spoken to the fisherman I mentioned. He is no fisher, he is a slave, a
+post-slave belonging to Procopius."
+
+"What do you say?" asked Cethegus hastily and in a low tone.
+
+"We could only exchange a few words in a whisper. The Longobardians
+stood on the shore watching us. Seven letters from Procopius, sent
+either openly or secretly, have never reached you. He therefore chose
+this clever messenger, who will fish to-night by moonlight and give me
+the letter. He had not brought it with him to-day. And to-morrow
+early--to-day he was too ill--Narses will again bathe in the sea. I
+have found a hiding-place among the weeds; quite close. And should they
+chance to see bubbles rising from the water, I can whistle like an
+otter. I saw the imperial post arrive with well-filled mail-bags.
+Basiliskos took them. Do but wait until to-morrow early; Narses will be
+sure to talk over the latest secrets from Byzantium with Basiliskos and
+Alboin. Or at least leave me here alone----"
+
+"No, that would be at once to betray you as a spy. You are worth more
+than ten times your weight in gold, Syphax!--I shall remain here till
+to-morrow," he continued, as the tribunes again entered.
+
+"Oh, come with us!" begged Licinius.
+
+"Away from the oppressive influence of this Narses!" added Julianus.
+
+But Cethegus frowned.
+
+"Does he still over-top me in your eyes, this fool, who allows Cethegus
+to escape from his well-guarded camp to Rome; who throws the fish out
+of his net into the water? Verily, he has too much intimidated you!
+To-morrow evening I will follow you. I have still some business to
+transact here, which no one but myself can complete. Meanwhile, if Rome
+does not resist, you can occupy it without me. But I shall surely
+overtake you at Terracina. If not, march into Rome. You, Licinius, will
+keep the Capitol for me."
+
+With sparkling eyes Licinius exclaimed: "You honour me highly, my
+general! I will answer for the Capitol with my life! May I venture a
+petition?"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Do not expose yourself foolhardily to the spear of the Gothic King!
+The day before yesterday he hurled two spears at once at you; one in
+each hand. If I had not caught the one from his left hand upon my
+shield----"
+
+"Then, Licinius, the Jupiter of the Capitol would have blown it aside
+before it struck me. For the god still needs me. But you mean well."
+
+
+"Do not widow Roma!" persisted Lucius.
+
+Cethegus looked at him with the irresistible look of admiring love
+which was so winning on _his_ face; and continued, turning to Salvius
+Julianus:
+
+"You, Salvius, will occupy the Mausoleum. And you, Piso, the rest of
+the city on the left bank of the Tiber. Particularly the Porta Latina;
+through that gate I shall follow you. You will not open to Narses
+_alone_, any more than you formerly did to Belisarius alone. Farewell;
+salute my Roma for me. Tell her, that the last contest for her
+possession, that between Narses and Cethegus, has ended with victory
+for Cethegus. We shall meet again in Rome! Roma eterna!"
+
+"Roma eterna!" repeated the tribunes with enthusiasm, and hurried out.
+
+"Oh, why was not this Licinius the son of Manilia!" cried Cethegus,
+looking after the young men as they departed. "Folly of my heart, why
+art thou so obstinate? Licinius, you shall take the place of Julius as
+my heir! Oh, would that you were indeed Julius!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The departure of the Prefect for Rome was delayed for many days.
+Narses, who invited him to his table, did not indeed seek to keep him
+back. He even expressed his astonishment that the "Ruler of the
+Capitol" was not more powerfully drawn to the Tiber stream.
+
+"Certainly," he said with a smile, "I can understand that, as you have
+seen these barbarians rule and conquer so long in your Italy, you
+desire strongly to see them fall there. But I cannot say how long that
+event may yet be put off. The pass cannot be taken by storm as long as
+it is defended by men like this King Teja. Already more than a thousand
+of my Longobardians, Alamannians, Burgundians, Herulians, Franks, and
+Gepidae have fallen before it."
+
+"Send for once," interposed Alboin in a vexed tone of voice--"send for
+once your brave Romani Against the Goths. The Herulians, Vulkaris and
+Wilmuth, fell under King Teja's axe almost as soon as they arrived
+here; the Gepidian Asbad, under the spear of that boy Adalgoth; my
+cousin Gisulf lies wounded by Duke Guntharis's sword; Wisand, the
+standard-bearer, has stabbed the Frank count, Butilin, with the point
+of his flagstaff; the old master-at-arms has dashed out the brains of
+the Burgundian Gernot with his stone axe; the Alamannian Liuthari was
+slain by Earl Grippa, and my shield-bearer, Klaffo, by a common Gothic
+soldier. And for every one of these heroes, a dozen of their followers
+lie dead also. If, at midnight last night, a block of lava, upon which
+I was standing, had not most opportunely slipped down just as King
+Teja, who can see in the dark, was hurling his lance at me, Rosamunda
+would not be the loveliest woman, but the loveliest widow in the realm
+of the Longobardians! As it was I got off with some ugly bruises, which
+will not be extolled in future heroic songs, but which I fancy much
+more than King Teja's best spear in my stomach. But I think that it is
+now the turn of other heroes. Let your Macedonians and Illyrians come
+forward. We have shown them often enough how a man can die in front of
+that needle's eye."
+
+"No, my little wolf! Diamond cut diamond!" laughed Narses. "Always
+Germans against Germans; there are too many of you in the world!"
+
+"You seem to have the same fatherly opinion about the Isaurians--at
+least about _mine_!--magister militum," said Cethegus. "Shortly before
+their departure for Rome, you ordered my Isaurians to storm the pass in
+mass--the first storming-party in mass that you had ever ordered! Seven
+hundred of my seven thousand remained dead upon those rocks, and
+Sandil, my tried and faithful chief, at last found this Black Earl's
+axe too sharp for his helmet. He was very valuable to me."
+
+"Well, the rest are safe in Rome. But nothing except fire can drive
+these Goths out of their last hole; unless indeed the earth would do me
+the favour to quake, as it did at Ravenna when Belisarius----"
+
+"Is there still no news of the result of the process against
+Belisarius?" asked Cethegus. "Letters came lately from Byzantium, did
+they not?"
+
+"I have not yet read them all.--Or, if not fire--then hunger. And if
+they then sally forth for a last battle, many a brave man would rather
+hear the murmur of the Ganges than the murmur of the Draco. Not you,
+Prefect! I know that you can look boldly into the eye of death."
+
+
+"I will still wait here a little and see how things turn out. It is bad
+travelling weather. It storms and rains unceasingly. On the first or
+second warm sunshiny day, I will start for Rome."
+
+It was true. On the night of the departure of the Isaurians, the
+weather had suddenly changed. The fisherman, who dwelt in a village
+near Stabiae, could not venture out upon the sea; less on account of the
+storm than because of the Longobardians, who had long been watching him
+with suspicion, and who had once arrested him. Only when his old father
+came forward and proved that Agnellus was really his, the old
+fisherman's son, did they hesitatingly let him go free. But he did not
+dare to pretend to fish, when no other fisher threw out his nets; and
+only far out upon the water could Syphax, who was also closely watched,
+venture to communicate with him.
+
+The exits of all the camps, even of the half-deserted camp of
+Cethegus--Narses had placed only three thousand Thracians and Persians
+in the tents deserted by the Isaurians--were guarded night and day by
+the Longobardians. And Narses was also obliged to postpone his baths
+for some days. But for the secrets, namely, the letter from Procopius
+and the conversation held by Narses in his bath-house, Cethegus fully
+intended to wait.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The usual good luck of the Prefect did not desert him. The weather
+changed again. On the morning of the day after his last conversation
+with Narses, the sun rose splendidly over the blue and sparkling bay,
+and hundreds of small fishing-boats set out to take advantage of the
+favourable weather.
+
+Syphax, yielding his place at the threshold of his master's tent to the
+four Isaurians, who alone had remained behind their comrades, had
+disappeared at the first approach of dawn.
+
+When Cethegus had taken his morning bath in an adjoining tent, and was
+returning to his breakfast, he heard Syphax making a great noise as he
+approached through the lines of tents.
+
+"No!" he was shouting; "this fish is for the Prefect. I have paid for
+it in hard cash. The great Narses will not wish to eat other people's
+fish!"
+
+And with these words he tore himself loose from Alboin, and from
+several Longobardians, as well as from a slave belonging to Narses, who
+were trying to detain him.
+
+Cethegus stopped. He recognised the slave. It was the cook of the
+generally sick and always temperate general, whose art was scarcely
+practised except for his master's guests.
+
+"Sir," the well-educated Greek said to the Prefect, in his native
+language, "do not blame me for this unseemly turmoil. What does a
+sea-mullet matter to me! But these long-bearded barbarians forced me to
+take possession, at any cost, of this fish-basket, which your slave was
+bringing from the boats."
+
+A glance which Cethegus exchanged with Syphax sufficed. The
+Longobardian had not understood what had been said. Cethegus gave
+Syphax a blow on the cheek, and cried in Latin:
+
+"Good-for-nothing, insolent slave! will you never learn manners? Shall
+not the sick general have the best there is?"
+
+And he roughly snatched the basket from the Moor and gave it to the
+slave.
+
+"Here is the basket. I hope Narses will enjoy the fish."
+
+The slave, who thought he had refused the gift distinctly enough, took
+the basket with a shake of his head.
+
+"What can it all mean?" he asked in Latin as he went away.
+
+"It means," answered Alboin, who followed him, "that the best fish is
+_not_ hidden in the basket, but somewhere else."
+
+As soon as Syphax entered the tent, he eagerly felt in his waterproof
+belt of crocodile-skin for a roll of papyrus, which he handed to the
+Prefect.
+
+"You bleed, Syphax!"
+
+"Only slightly. The Longobardians pretended, when they saw me swimming
+in the water, to take me for a dolphin, and shot their arrows at me."
+
+"Nurse yourself--a solidus for every drop of your blood!--the letter is
+worth blood and gold, as it seems. Nurse yourself! and bid the
+Isaurians let no one enter."
+
+And now, alone in his tent, the Prefect began to read.
+
+His features grew darker and darker. Ever deeper became the wrinkle in
+the centre of his mighty forehead; ever more harshly and firmly
+compressed his lips.
+
+"To Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius, the Ex-prefect and ex-friend,
+Procopius of Caesarea, for the last time. This is the most sorrowful
+business for which I have ever used either my former or my present
+pen-hand. And I would gladly give this my left hand, as I gave my right
+for Belisarius, if I need not write this letter. The revocation and
+renunciation of our friendship of thirty years! In this unheroic time I
+believed in two heroes; the hero of the sword, Belisarius; and the hero
+of the intellect, Cethegus. In future I must hate, and almost despise,
+the latter."
+
+The reader threw the letter on the couch upon which he lay. Then he
+took it up again with a frown and read on:
+
+"Nothing more was wanting but that Belisarius should prove to be the
+traitor that you would have represented him to be. But his innocence is
+as clearly proved as your black falsehood. I had often felt uneasy at
+the crookedness of your ways, into which you had partly led me also;
+but I believed in the grandeur and unselfishness of your design: the
+liberation of Italy! Now, however, I see that the mainspring of your
+actions was measureless, unlimited, merciless ambition! A design which
+necessitates such means as you have used is desecrated in my eyes for
+ever. You tried to ruin Belisarius, that brave and simple-minded man,
+by means of his own repentant wife, and to sacrifice him to Theodora
+and to your own ambition. That was devilish; and I turn away from you
+for ever."
+
+Cethegus closed his eyes.
+
+"I ought not to wonder at it," he said to himself. "He too has his
+idol: Belisarius! Whoever touches that idol is as hateful to the wise
+Procopius as he who sees in the Cross merely a piece of wood is to the
+Christian. Therefore I ought not to wonder at it--but it pains me! Such
+is the power of a thirty years' habit. During all those years a warmer
+feeling came over my heart at the sound of the name, Procopius! How
+weak does custom make us! The Goth deprived me of Julius--Belisarius
+deprives me of Procopius! Who will deprive me of Cethegus, my oldest
+and last friend? No one. Neither Narses nor Fate. Away with you,
+Procopius, out of the circle of my life! Almost too lachrymose,
+certainly too long, is the funeral speech which I have held over you.
+What else does the dead man say?"
+
+And he continued to read:
+
+"But I write this letter, because I wish to close our long
+friendship--to which you have put an end by your treacherous attack
+upon my hero, Belisarius--with a last sign of affection. I wish to warn
+and to save you, if it yet be possible. Seven letters which I sent you
+have evidently never reached you, otherwise you would not still be
+dwelling in the camp of Narses, as his army-reports affirm. So I will
+entrust this eighth letter to my slave, Agnellus, a fisherman's son
+from Stabiae, where you are now encamped. I will give him his freedom,
+and recommend this letter to him as my last commission. For, although I
+ought to hate you, I still love you, Cethegus! It is hard to abandon
+you, and I would gladly save you. When, shortly after your departure, I
+returned to Byzantium--already on the way the news of the arrest
+of Belisarius (on account of treachery!) came upon me like a
+thunderbolt--I believed at first that you, like the Emperor, had been
+deceived. In vain I tried to gain a hearing from Justinian; he raged
+against all who had ever been united in ties of friendship to
+Belisarius. In vain I strove to see Antonina by every means in my
+power. She was strictly guarded (thanks to your hints) in the Red
+House. In vain I proved to Tribonianus the impossibility of treachery
+on the part of Belisarius. He shrugged his shoulders and said: 'I
+cannot comprehend it! But the proof is striking; this senseless denial
+of the visits of Anicius. He is lost!' And he was lost. The sentence
+was pronounced; Belisarius was condemned to death; Antonina to
+banishment. The Emperor mercifully _mitigated_ the sentence of
+Belisarius into banishment--far from Antonina's exile--the loss of
+sight, and confiscation of his property. This terrible judgment lay
+heavy upon all Byzantium. No one believed in the guilt of Belisarius
+except the Emperor and the judges. But no one was able to prove his
+innocence, or change his fate. I was resolved to go with him into
+banishment; the one-armed with the blind. Then--and may he be blessed
+for it for ever!--his great enemy, Narses, saved him! He whom I once
+named to you as the greatest man of the age."
+
+"To be sure," said Cethegus to himself, "and now he will also be the
+most magnanimous."
+
+"As soon as the news reached him in the Baths of Nikomedia--whither the
+sick man had repaired--he hurried back to Byzantium. He sent for me and
+said: 'You know well that it would have been my greatest pleasure to
+beat Belisarius thoroughly in the open field; but he who has been my
+great and noble rival shall not perish miserably because of these lies.
+Come with me. We two--his greatest friend and his greatest enemy--will
+together save that impetuous man.' And he demanded an audience of the
+Emperor, which was at once granted to the enemy of Belisarius. Then he
+said to Justinian: 'It is impossible that Belisarius is a traitor. His
+only failing is his blind fidelity to your ingratitude.' But Justinian
+was deaf. Then Narses laid his marshal's staff at the Emperor's feet
+and said: 'Well, either you will annul the sentence of the judges, and
+permit a new inquiry, or you will lose both your generals on one day.
+For, on the same day that Belisarius goes into exile, I go too. Then
+see to it, who will guard your doors from the Goths, Persians, and
+Saracens.' And the Emperor hesitated, and demanded three days' time for
+consideration, and meanwhile Narses was to be allowed to look through
+the papers in company with me, and to speak to Anicius and all
+concerned. I soon perceived from the papers that the worst proof
+against Belisarius--for I hoped to be able to explain away the consent
+which he had written upon the tablet found in the house of Photius--was
+the secret and midnight visits of Anicius, which Belisarius, Antonina,
+and Anicius himself, obstinately and unreasonably denied. I then spoke
+to Antonina in private. I told her that these visits and their denial
+would be the ruin of Belisarius. Then she cried with sparkling eyes:
+'Then I alone will be ruined, and Belisarius shall be saved! He really
+knew nothing of these visits, for Anicius did not come to him--he came
+to me. All the world shall know it--even Belisarius! He may kill me,
+but he shall be saved!' And she gave me a little bundle of letters from
+Anicius, which, certainly, when laid before the Emperor, would explain
+everything, but would also accuse the _Empress_ in a terrible manner.
+And how firmly stood Theodora at that time in the esteem of Justinian!
+I hastened with these letters to Narses. He read them through and said,
+'In this case, either Belisarius and all of us are ruined--or the
+beautiful she-devil will fall! It is for life or death! First come with
+me to Antonina once more.' And, accompanied by guards, and taking
+Antonina with us, we hastened to Anicius, who was slowly recovering
+from his wound in prison."
+
+Cethegus stamped his foot; but he read on:
+
+"And then we all four went to Justinian. The magnanimous sinner,
+Antonina, confessed upon her knees the nightly meetings with Anicius,
+which, however, she had only encouraged in order to deliver the youth
+from the toils of the Empress. She gave the Emperor the letters of
+Anicius, which spoke of the seductress, of her manifold arts, of the
+secret passage to her chamber, and of the turning statue. The poor
+Emperor broke out into a fearful rage; he would have arrested us all
+upon the spot for leze majesty, for unlimited calumny. But Belisarius
+said, 'Do that--to-morrow! But this evening, when the Empress sleeps,
+let Anicius and me lead you through the turning statue into the chamber
+of your wife, seize her letters, confront her with Antonina and
+Anicius, subject the old witch Galatea to the torture, and then see if
+you do not learn much more than you will like to hear. And if we have
+deceived ourselves, punish us to-morrow as you like!' The turning,
+statue! that was so palpable! The assurance of Anicius, that he had
+often passed this secret door, was so provoking! Such things could
+scarcely be invented. Justinian accepted our proposition. That very
+night Anicius led the Emperor and us three into the garden adjoining
+the Empress's apartments. A hollow plantain-tree concealed the mouth of
+the subterranean passage which ended under the mosaic of Theodora's
+ante-room. Until then, Justinian had still preserved his belief in the
+Empress. But when Anicius pushed a marble slab to one side, and opened
+a secret lock with a secret key that he had fetched from his house, and
+the statue became visible, the Emperor, half fainting, sank back into
+my arms. At last he roused himself, and pressed forward alone past the
+statue into the chamber. Twilight filled the room. The dimly burning
+lamp shone over the couch of Theodora. The poor befooled man went up to
+her with a stealthy and unsteady step. There lay Theodora, fully
+dressed in imperial garments. A shrill cry from the Emperor called us
+to his side, and also Galatea from an adjoining chamber, whom I
+immediately seized. Justinian, stiff with horror, pointed to the
+couch--we stepped forward--the Empress was dead! Galatea, not less
+startled than we, fell into convulsions. Meanwhile, we searched the
+room, and found, upon a golden tripod, the ashes of numerous rolls of
+parchment. Anicius called for slaves and lights. By this time Galatea
+had recovered, and, wringing her hands, told how the Empress had left
+her rooms towards evening--about the time of our audience--without
+attendants, in order to visit the Emperor, as she frequently did at
+that hour. She had returned almost immediately, very quiet, but
+strikingly pale. She had ordered the tripod to be filled with glowing
+coals, and had then locked herself up in her room. When Galatea knocked
+some time later, she had answered that she had gone to rest, and
+required nothing more. On hearing this, the Emperor threw himself again
+upon the beloved corpse; and now, by the light of the lamps which had
+been brought, he saw that the little ruby capsule, containing poison,
+in the ring which had once belonged to Cleopatra, and which Theodora
+wore upon her little finger, had been opened--the Empress had killed
+herself! Upon the lemonwood table lay a strip of parchment, upon which
+was written her favourite motto: 'To live is to rule by means of
+beauty.' We were still in doubt whether it was the tortures of her
+malady or the discovery of her threatened fall which had driven her to
+this desperate deed. But our doubts were soon solved. When the news of
+Theodora's death spread through the palace, Theophilos, the Emperor's
+door-keeper, hurried, half desperate, into the chamber of death, threw
+himself at the Emperor's feet, and confessed that he guessed the
+connection. He had been for years in the secret service of the Empress,
+and every time that the Emperor held an audience to which he had given
+orders that the Empress was not to be admitted, he (the doorkeeper) had
+apprised the latter of it. She had then almost always heard the most
+secret councils of the Emperor from a hiding-place in the doorway of an
+adjacent chamber. Thus yesterday he had, as usual, informed the Empress
+that we were to have an audience, to which he had been particularly
+ordered not to admit her. Presently she had entered her hiding-place,
+but she had scarcely heard a few words spoken by Antonina and Anicius,
+when, with a smothered cry, she had sank half fainting behind the
+curtains; but, quickly rising, she had made a sign to him to keep
+silence, and then disappeared.--Narses pressed the Emperor to question
+Galatea upon the rack, but Justinian said, 'I will inquire no further.'
+
+"Day and night he remained alone near the corpse of the still beloved
+woman, after which he caused her to be interred, with the highest
+imperial honours, in the church of St. Sophia. It was officially
+published that the Empress had been suffocated by charcoal fumes while
+sleeping. The tripod, with the ashes, was publicly exposed. But that
+night had made Justinian an old man. The complete agreement of the
+evidence of Antonina, Anicius, Belisarius, Photius, the slaves of
+Antonina, the litter-bearers who had taken you to Belisarius's house
+before his arrest--all fully proved that you, in conjunction with the
+Empress, had persuaded Belisarius, through Antonina, to place himself
+seemingly at the head of the conspirators; and I swore to the fact that
+a few weeks ago he had expressed to me his just anger at the project of
+Photius.
+
+"Justinian hastened to the cell where Belisarius was confined, embraced
+him with tears, begged his forgiveness for himself and for Antonina,
+who remorsefully confessed all her innocent love-makings, and obtained
+full pardon. The Emperor, in atonement, begged Belisarius to accept the
+chief command in Italy. But Belisarius said, 'No, Justinian; my work on
+earth is finished. I shall retire with Antonina to my most distant
+villa in Mesopotamia, and there bury myself and my past. I am cured of
+the wish to serve you. If you will grant me a last favour, then give
+the command of the army in Italy to my friend and preserver, Narses. He
+shall revenge me upon the Goths, and upon that Satan called Cethegus!'
+And the two great enemies embraced before our sympathetic eyes. All
+this was buried in the deepest secrecy, in order to spare the memory of
+the Empress; for Justinian still loves her. It was announced that the
+innocence of Belisarius had been fully proved by Narses, Tribonianus,
+and me, by means of lately-discovered letters of the conspirators.
+Justinian pardoned all who had been sentenced; also Scaevola and
+Albinus, who were formerly undone by you. But I tell you the whole
+truth, in order to warn and save you. For, although I do not know in
+what way, I am quite convinced that Justinian has sworn your ruin, and
+entrusted your destruction to the hands of Narses. Your design to found
+a free and recognised Rome, ruled only by yourself, was madness. To it
+you have sacrificed everything--even our fair friendship. I shall
+accompany Belisarius and Antonina, and I will try, in the contemplation
+of their complete reconciliation and happiness, to forget the disgust,
+doubt, and vexation with which all human affairs have filled me."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Cethegus sprang from his seat, tossed the letter down, and hastily
+paced his tent.
+
+"Feeble creature! and weak-minded Cethegus! to vex yourself that
+another soul is lost to you! Had you not lost Julius long before you
+killed him? And yet you still live and strive! And this Narses, whom
+all fear as if he were God and devil in one--is he, then, really so
+dangerous? Impossible! He has blindly entrusted Rome to me and mine. It
+is not his fault that I do not defy him at this moment from the
+Capitol. Bah! I cannot learn to be afraid in my old days. I trust in my
+star! Is it foolhardiness? Is it the calmest wisdom? I do not know; but
+it seems to me that confidence like this led Caesar from victory to
+victory! However, I can scarcely learn more from the secret council of
+Narses in his bath-house than I have learned from this letter." And he
+tore the papyrus roll into small pieces. "I will start this very day,
+even if Syphax has overheard nothing at this moment, for I think it is
+the hour of the bath."
+
+Just then Johannes was announced, and, at a sign from Cethegus, was
+admitted.
+
+"Prefect of Rome," said Johannes, "I am come to beg pardon for an old
+injury. The pain I felt at the loss of my brother Perseus made me
+suspicious."
+
+
+"Let that rest," said Cethegus; "it is forgotten."
+
+"But I have not forgotten," continued Johannes, "your heroic valour. In
+order at once to honour it and profit by it, I come to you with a
+proposal. I and my comrades, used to Belisarius's straightforward
+attacks, find the caution of the great Narses very tiresome. We have
+now been lying for nearly two months before this cursed pass; we lose
+men and win no renown. The commander-in-chief will starve the
+barbarians out. Who knows how long that may last? And there will be a
+fine butchery if, at last driven by despair, the barbarians break out
+and sell dearly every drop of their blood! It is clear that if we only
+had the mouth of that confounded pass----"
+
+"Yes, _if_!" said Cethegus, smiling. "It is not ill-defended by this
+Teja."
+
+"Just on that account he must fall! He, the King, is evidently the only
+one who holds together the whole loose bundle of spears. Therefore I
+and more than a dozen of the best blades in the camp have formed a
+league. Whenever it is the King's turn to guard the pass--the approach
+is so narrow and steep, that only one at a time can attempt a
+hand-to-hand fight--we, one after the other, taking our turns by lot,
+will attack him; the others will keep as close as possible to the
+foremost combatant, will save him if wounded, step into his place when
+he falls, or, if he is victor and slays the Goth, press forward into
+the ravine. Besides me, there are the Longobardians Alboin, Gisulf, and
+Autharis, the Herulians Rodulf and Suartua, Ardarich the Gepide,
+Gunebad the Burgundian, Chlotachar and Bertchramn the Franks, Vadomar
+and Epurulf the Alamannians, Garizo the tall Bajuvar, Kabades the
+Persian, Althias the Armenian, and Taulantius the Illyrian. We should
+much like to have your terrible sword among us. Will you, Cethegus, be
+one in our league? I know you hate this black-haired hero."
+
+"Gladly," said Cethegus, "as long as I am here. But I shall soon
+exchange this camp for the Capitol."
+
+A strange and mocking smile passed across the face of Johannes, which
+did not escape Cethegus. But he attributed it to a wrong feeling.
+
+"You cannot well doubt my courage," he said, "according to your own
+words. But there are more important things for me to do than to stamp
+out the last glimmering sparks of the Gothic war. The orphaned city
+longs for her Prefect. The Capitol beckons me."
+
+
+"The Capitol!" repeated Johannes. "I think, Cethegus, that a heroic
+death is also worth something."
+
+"Yes, when the aim of one's life is reached."
+
+"But no one knows, O Cethegus, how near he has approached his aim. But,
+another thing: it seems to me as if something is in preparation among
+the barbarians on their cursed mountain. From the hill near my quarters
+we can peep a little, through a gap, over the peaks of the lava. I
+should like you to turn your practised eye in that direction. At least,
+they shall not surprise us by a sally. Follow me thither. But do not
+speak of our league to Narses; he does not approve of such things. I
+purposely chose the hour of his bath for my visit to you."
+
+"I will come," said Cethegus.
+
+He finished putting on his armour, and, after vainly inquiring for
+Syphax of the Isaurian sentry, went with Johannes through his own and
+the central camp of Narses, and finally turned into that on the right
+wing--the camp of Johannes.
+
+Upon the crown of the little hill mentioned by Johannes stood a great
+many officers, who were eagerly looking through a small gap in the lava
+into the portion of the Gothic encampment visible to them.
+
+When Cethegus had looked for some time, he cried:
+
+"There is no doubt about it! They are evacuating this easternmost part
+of their position; they are pushing the wagons, which were drawn
+together, apart, and dragging them farther to the right, to the west.
+That must mean concentration; perhaps a sally."
+
+"What do you think, Johannes?" quietly asked a young captain, who had
+evidently only lately arrived from Byzantium, and who was a stranger to
+Cethegus, "what do you think? Could not the new catapults reach the
+barbarians from the point of that rock? I mean the last inventions of
+Martinus--such as my brother took to Rome."
+
+"_To Rome?_" repeated Cethegus, and cast a sharp look at the questioner
+and at Johannes.
+
+He felt himself suddenly turn hot and cold--a fright came over him,
+more terrible still than he had experienced when he had heard of the
+landing of Belisarius, of Totila's election, of Totila's march to Rome
+at _Pons Padi_, of Totila's entrance into the Tiber; or of the arrival
+of Narses in Italy. It seemed to him as if an iron hand were clutching
+his heart and brain. He saw that Johannes imposed silence on the young
+questioner with a furious frown.
+
+"_To Rome?_" again repeated Cethegus in a low voice, and fixing his
+eyes, now upon the stranger, now upon Johannes.
+
+"Well, yes, of course, to Rome!" at last answered Johannes. "Zenon,
+this man is Cethegus, the Prefect of Rome."
+
+The young Byzantine bowed with the expression of one who sees for the
+first time some far-famed monster.
+
+"Cethegus, Zenon here, a captain who till now has been fighting on the
+Euphrates, arrived only yesterday evening with some Persian bowmen from
+Byzantium."
+
+"And his brother," asked Cethegus, "has gone to _Rome_?"
+
+"My brother Megas," quietly answered the Byzantine--who had now
+collected himself--"had the order to offer to the Prefect of Rome"--and
+here he again bowed--"the newly-invented double-catapults for the walls
+of Rome. He embarked long before me; so I thought that he had already
+arrived, and was gone to you in Rome. But his freight is very heavy. I
+am rejoiced to become personally acquainted with the most powerful man
+of the West, the glorious defender of the Tomb of Hadrian."
+
+But Cethegus cast another sharp look at Johannes, and, abruptly bowing
+to all present, turned to go.
+
+When he had gone a few paces he suddenly looked back, and caught sight
+of Johannes, with both his fists raised in anger, scolding at the
+talkative young archon. A cold shudder ran through the Prefect. He
+intended to reach his tent by the shortest cut, and, without waiting
+for Syphax and his discoveries, to mount his horse and hasten to Rome
+without taking leave.
+
+The shortest way to get to his tent was to leave the camp of Johannes,
+and walk along the straight line of the semicircle formed by the whole
+encampment. In front of him a few Persian bowmen were riding out of the
+camp commanded by Johannes. And some peasants who had sold wine to the
+soldiers were also permitted to pass unhindered by the sentinels. These
+sentries were all Longobardians, to whom, as everywhere, the exits of
+this camp were entrusted by Narses.
+
+As Cethegus was about to follow his countrymen, these sentries stopped
+him with their spears. He caught at the shafts and angrily pushed them
+aside. At this one of the Longobardians blew his horn; the others
+pressed more closely round Cethegus.
+
+"By order of Narses!" said Autharis, the captain.
+
+"And those?" asked Cethegus, pointing to the peasants and the Persians.
+
+"Those are not you," said the Longobardian.
+
+At the sound of the horn a troop of guards had hurried up. They bent
+their bows. Cethegus silently turned his back on them and returned to
+his tent by the way that he had come.
+
+Perhaps it was only his suddenly-aroused mistrust which made him
+imagine that all the Byzantines and Longobardians whom he passed
+regarded him with half-jeering, half-compassionate looks. When he
+reached his tent he asked the Isaurian sentry:
+
+"Is Syphax back?"
+
+"Yes, sir, long since. He is impatiently waiting for you in the tent.
+He is wounded."
+
+Cethegus quickly pushed aside the curtains and entered. Syphax, deadly
+pale beneath his bronzed skin, rushed to meet him, embraced his knees,
+and whispered in passionate and desperate excitement:
+
+"O my master! my lion! You are ensnared--lost--nothing can save you!"
+
+"Compose yourself, slave!" said Cethegus. "You bleed?"
+"It is nothing! They would not permit me to return to your camp--they
+began to struggle with me as if in joke, but their dagger-stabs were
+bitter earnest."
+
+"Who? Whose dagger-stabs?"
+
+"The Longobardians, master, who have placed double guards at all the
+entrances of your camp."
+
+"Narses shall give me a reason for this," said Cethegus angrily.
+
+"The reason--that is, the pretext--he sent Kabades to inform you of
+it--is a menaced sally by the Goths. But oh! my lion, my eagle, my
+palm-tree, my wellspring--you are lost!"
+
+And again the Numidian threw himself at his master's feet, covering
+them with tears and kisses.
+
+"Tell me coherently," said Cethegus, "what you have heard."
+
+And he leaned against the central support of his tent, crossing his
+arms behind his back, and raising his head. He did not seem to regard
+the troubled face of Syphax, but to gaze at vacancy.
+
+"O sir--I shall not be able to tell it very clearly--but I succeeded in
+reaching my hiding-place among the sea-weed. It was scarcely necessary
+to dive--the weeds hid me sufficiently. The bathing-house is made of
+thin wood and has been newly covered with linen since the last storm.
+Narses came in his little boat with Alboin, Basiliskos, and three other
+men, disguised as Longobardians--but I recognised Scaevola, Albinus----"
+
+"They are not dangerous," interrupted Cethegus.
+
+"And--Anicius!"
+
+"Are you not mistaken?" asked Cethegus sharply.
+
+"Sir, I knew his eyes and his voice! From their conversation--I did not
+understand every word--but the sense was clear----"
+
+"Would that you could repeat their very words!"
+
+"They spoke Greek, sir, and I do not understand it as well as your
+language--and the waves made a noise, and the wind was unfavourable."
+
+"Well, what did they say?"
+
+"The three men only came from Byzantium yesterday evening--they at once
+demanded your head. But Narses said, 'No murder! A just sentence after
+a process in all form.' 'When is it to be?' asked Anicius. 'So soon as
+it is time.' 'And Rome?' asked Basiliskos. 'He will never see Rome
+again!' answered Narses."
+
+"Stop!" cried Cethegus. "Wait a moment. I must be quite clear."
+
+He wrote a few lines upon a wax tablet.
+
+"Has Narses returned from his bath?"
+
+"Long ago."
+
+"'Tis well." He gave the tablet to the sentinel at the door. "Bring
+back the answer immediately.--Continue, Syphax."
+
+But Cethegus could no longer stand still. He began hastily to pace the
+tent.
+
+"O sir, something monstrous must have happened at Rome--I could not
+exactly understand what. Anicius put a question; in it he named your
+Isaurians. Narses said, 'I am rid of the chief Sandil,' and he added,
+laughing, 'and the rest are well cared for in Rome by Aulus and the
+brothers Macer, my decoy-birds.'"
+
+"Did he name those names?" asked Cethegus grimly. "Did he use that
+word?"
+
+"Yes, sir. Then Alboin said, 'It is well that the young tribunes are
+gone; it would have cost a hard fight.' And Narses replied, 'All the
+Prefect's Isaurians must go. Shall we fight a bloody battle in our own
+camp, and let King Teja burst in upon us?' O sir, I fear that they have
+enticed your most faithful followers away from you with evil intent."
+
+"I believe so too," said Cethegus gravely. "But what did they say about
+Rome?"
+
+"Alboin asked after a leader whose name I had never heard before."
+
+"Megas?" asked Cethegus.
+
+"Yes, Megas! That was it. How did you know?"
+
+"No matter. Continue! What about this Megas?"
+
+"Alboin asked how long Megas had been in Rome. Narses said, 'In any
+case long enough for the Roman tribunes and the Isaurians.'"
+
+Cethegus groaned aloud.
+
+"But," continued Syphax, "Scaevola remarked that the citizens of Rome
+idolised their tyrant and his young knights. 'Yes.' answered Narses,
+'formerly; but now they hate and fear nothing so much as the man who
+tried by force once more to make them brave men and Romans.' Then
+Albinus asked, 'But if they were to take his part again? His name has
+an all-conquering influence.' Narses answered, 'Twenty-five thousand
+Armenians in the Capitol and the Mausoleum will bind the Romans----'"
+
+Cethegus struck his fist fiercely on his forehead.
+
+"'Will bind them more strictly than Pope Pelagius, their treaty, or
+their oath.' 'Their treaty and their oath?' asked Scaevola. 'Yes,'
+answered Narses, 'their oath and treaty! They have sworn only to open
+their gates to the Prefect of Rome.' 'Well, and then?' asked Anicius.
+'Well', they know, and they knew then, that now the Prefect of Rome is
+called--Narses. _To me, not to him_ have, they sworn!'"
+
+Cethegus threw himself upon his couch and hid his face in his
+purple-hemmed mantle. No loud complaint issued from his heaving chest.
+
+"Oh, my dear master!" cried Syphax, "it will kill you! But I have not
+yet finished. You must know all. Despair will give you strength, as it
+does to the snared lion."
+
+Cethegus raised his head.
+
+"Finish," he said. "What I have still to hear is indifferent; it can
+only concern me, not Rome."
+
+"But it concerns you in a fearful manner! Narses went on to say, after
+a few speeches which escaped me in the noise of the waves--that
+yesterday, at the same time as the long-expected news from Rome----"
+
+"What news?" asked Cethegus.
+
+"He did not mention what. He said, 'At the same time, Zenon brought me
+word to open the sealed orders which I carry from the Emperor; for the
+latter rightly judges that any day may bring about the destruction of
+the Goths. I opened and'--O master, it is dreadful----"
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"Narses said, 'All the great Justinian's littleness is exposed in these
+orders. I believe he would more easily pardon Cethegus for having
+enticed him to blind Belisarius, than for having been in collusion with
+Theodora, for having been the seducer of the Empress! A frightful
+anachron'--I did not understand the word."
+
+"Anachronism!" said Cethegus, quietly righting Syphax.
+
+"'For having deceived and outwitted him. The fate which Cethegus almost
+brought upon Belisarius, will now fall upon his own head--the loss of
+his sight.'"
+
+"Really!" said Cethegus with a smile. But he involuntarily felt for his
+dagger.
+
+"Narses said further," continued Syphax, "that you were to suffer the
+punishment which, in blasphemous desecration of Christ's death, and
+contrary to the law of the Emperor Constantine, you had lately
+introduced into Rome. What can he mean by that?" added Syphax
+anxiously.
+
+"Crucifixion!" said Cethegus as he put up his dagger.
+
+"O master!"
+
+"Softly! I do not yet hang in the air. I still firmly tread the
+hero-nourishing earth. Conclude!"
+
+"Narses said that he was a general and no executioner, and that the
+Emperor would have to be contented if he only sent him your head to
+Byzantium. But oh, not that! Only not that--if we _must_ die!"
+
+"We?" said Cethegus, who had fully gained his usual calmness. "_You_
+have not deceived the great Emperor. The danger does not threaten you."
+
+But Syphax continued:
+
+"Do you not know then? Oh, do not doubt it. All Africa knows that if
+the head of a corpse is wanting, the soul must creep for ages through
+dust and mire, in the shape of a vile and filthy headless worm. Oh,
+they shall not separate your head from your trunk!"
+
+"It still stands firm upon these shoulders of mine, like the globe on
+the shoulders of Atlas. Peace--some one comes."
+
+The Isaurian who had been sent to Narses, entered with a sealed letter.
+
+"To Cethegus Caesarius: Narses, the magister militum. There is nothing
+to prevent your carrying out your wish to go to Rome."
+
+"Now I understand," said Cethegus, and read on:
+
+"The sentinels have orders to let you ride forth. But, if you insist
+upon going, I will give you a thousand Longobardians under Alboin as an
+escort, for the roads are very unsafe. As, in all probability, an
+attempt will be made by the Goths, to-day or tomorrow, to break through
+our lines, and repeated foolhardy sallies on the part of my soldiers
+have led to the loss of leaders and troops, I have ordered that no one
+be permitted to leave the camp without my express permission, and have
+entrusted the watch, even that of the tents, to my Longobardians."
+
+Cethegus sprang to the entrance of his tent, and tore the curtains
+open. His four Isaurians were just being led away. Twenty
+Longobardians, under Autharis, drew up before the tent.
+
+"I had thought of escaping to-night," he said to Syphax, turning back.
+"It is now impossible. But it is better so, more dignified. Rather a
+Gothic spear in my breast, than a Grecian arrow in my back. But I have
+not yet read all that Narses writes."
+
+He read on:
+
+"If you will come to my tent, you will learn what measures I have taken
+against the probably great bloodshed which will ensue if the barbarians
+venture to sally, as they threaten. But I have still a painful
+communication to make to you. News, which reached me yesterday evening
+by sea from Rome, informs me that your tribunes and the greater part of
+the Isaurians have been killed."
+
+"Ah! Licinius, Piso, Julianus!" cried the Prefect, startled out of his
+icy and defiant calmness by deep pain.
+
+After a pause he controlled his emotion sufficiently to take up the
+letter and read on:
+
+"When they had been quietly admitted into the city (shamefully
+decoyed!) they refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Emperor.
+They tried, contrary to their promise, to use force. Lucius Licinius
+attempted to take the Capitol by storm; Piso, the Porta Latina; Salvus
+Julianus, the Mausoleum. They fell, each before the place which he
+attacked. What remained of the Isaurians were taken prisoners."
+
+"My second Julius follows the first!" cried Cethegus. "Well, I do not
+need an heir, for Rome will never now be mine! It is over! The great
+struggle for Rome is over! And brute force, small cunning, has
+conquered the mind of Cethegus as it did the sword of the Goth. O
+Romans, Romans! _You, too, my sons?_ You are my Brutus. Come, Syphax,
+you are free. I go to meet death. Go back to your deserts."
+
+"O master!" cried Syphax, sobbing passionately, as he crouched at the
+feet of Cethegus. "Do not send me from you! I am not less faithful than
+Aspa! Let me die with you!"
+
+"Be it so," said Cethegus quietly, and laying his hand upon the Moor's
+head. "I have loved you, my panther! Then die with me. Give me my helm,
+shield, sword, and spear."
+
+"Whither go you?"
+
+"First to Narses."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"To Vesuvius!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+King Teja's intention was to throw himself at night with all his armed
+men--except a few guards who would be left in the ravine--into the camp
+of Narses, and there, favoured by the darkness and surprise, to commit
+great carnage.
+
+Then, when the last of his warriors had fallen, and--probably at
+daybreak--the enemy prepared to assault the pass, the unarmed
+people--at least those who did not prefer slavery to death--were to
+seek an honourable grave in the neighbouring crater of Vesuvius, after
+which the few remaining defendants of the pass would sally forth and
+die fighting.
+
+When the King called his people together, and left the alternative to
+their choice, he was filled with pride and joy to find that not one
+voice among the thousands of women and children--for all the boys from
+ten years of age and all the old men were armed--was raised in favour
+of dishonour rather than death. His hero soul rejoiced in the thought
+that his whole race, by a deed unheard of in the history of nations,
+would die a glorious and heroic death, and worthily seal the renown of
+their great past.
+
+However, the despairing idea of the grim hero was not to be carried
+out. His dying eyes were to behold a brighter and more consoling
+picture. Narses, ever watchful and wary, had noticed the mysterious
+preparations of his enemies even sooner than Johannes and Cethegus, and
+had called a meeting of generals, which was to be held in his tent at
+the fifth hour, in order to explain to them his counter-measures.
+
+It was a lovely September morning, full of shining light and shining
+mist over land and sea; a golden glow, such as, even in Italy, is only
+poured forth in like wondrous beauty over the Bay of Neapolis.
+
+Into the clear sky curled the white cloud of smoke from the summit of
+Vesuvius. Upon the curved line of the shore the smooth and gentle waves
+rolled in a rhythmic measure. Close to the edge of the water--so close
+that the ripples of the waves often wetted his steel-shod feet--a
+lonely man walked slowly along, carrying his spear over his shoulder,
+and apparently coming from the left wing of the Byzantine army. The sun
+glistened upon his round shield, upon his splendid armour. The
+sea-breeze played with his crimson crest.
+
+It was Cethegus; and the way he was going led to the gates of death. He
+was followed at a short distance by the Moor. He soon reached a little
+promontory which stretched out into the bay, and going to its outer
+point, he turned and looked towards the northwest. There lay Rome--his
+Rome.
+
+"Farewell!" he cried with deep emotion; "farewell, ye seven immortal
+hills! Farewell, old Tiber stream! thou that hast laved the venerable
+ruins through many centuries. Twice hast thou tasted my blood; twice
+hast thou saved my life. Now, kindly River-god, thou canst save me no
+more! I have striven and fought for thee, my Rome, as none of thy
+children, not even Caesar, has ever done before.--The struggle is over;
+the general without an army is vanquished. I now acknowledge that a
+mighty intellect may possibly supply the place of a single man, but not
+the want of a whole nation's patriotism. Intellect can preserve its own
+youth, but it cannot renew that of others, I have tried to do what is
+impossible; for to do only what is possible is common; and it is better
+to fall striving for the superhuman than to be lost in dull resignation
+among the common herd. But"--and he kneeled down and wet his hot
+forehead with the salt water--"be thou blessed, Ansonia's sacred flood;
+be thou blessed, Italians sacred soil!"--and he put his hand deep into
+the sea sand--"thy most faithful son parts from thee with a thankful
+heart--moved, not by the terrors of approaching death, but only by thy
+beauty. I forebode for thee, Italia, an oppressive foreign rule; I have
+not been able to turn it aside, but I have offered up my heart's blood;
+and if the laurels of thy Empire are for ever withered--may the olive
+of thy people's love of freedom still bloom amid the ruins of thy
+cities, and may the day quickly come when no foreign master rules in
+all the length and breadth of the land, and when thou art mistress of
+thyself from the sacred Alps to the sacred sea!"
+
+He rose quietly, and now walked more rapidly through the centre camp to
+the tent of the commander-in-chief. When he entered it, he found all
+the generals and officers assembled. Narses called to him in a friendly
+voice, saying:
+
+"You come at the right moment, Cethegus. Twelve of my officers, whom I
+have discovered in a foolish league, such as barbarians, but not the
+scholars oL Narses, might make, have appealed to you in excuse. They
+say that what is shared in by the wise Cethegus cannot be foolish.
+Speak! have you really joined this league against Teja?"
+
+"I have; and when I leave you--let me be the first, Johannes, without
+casting lots--I go straight to Vesuvius. The hour of the King's watch
+approaches."
+
+"This pleases me, Cethegus."
+
+"Thanks. It will, no doubt, save you much trouble, _Prefect of Rome_,"
+answered Cethegus.
+
+A movement of extreme surprise escaped all present; for even those who
+were initiated into the secret were amazed that Cethegus knew the
+position of affairs.
+
+Narses alone remained unmoved. He merely said in a low voice to
+Basiliskos:
+
+"He knows all, and it is well that he does so." Then he turned to
+Cethegus and said: "It is not my fault, Cethegus, that I did not tell
+you sooner of your dismissal; the Emperor had strictly forbidden me to
+do so. I approve of your resolve, for it agrees with my best
+intentions.--The barbarians shall not have the pleasure of slaying
+another myriad of my people tonight. We will march forward at once with
+all our troops, including both our wings, to within a spear's throw
+from the pass. We will not leave the Goths room to sally far out. The
+first step they take beyond the mouth of the ravine shall be amongst
+our spears. I have also nothing to object, Cethegus, if volunteers
+offer to fight that King of terrors. With his death, I hope, the
+resistance of the Goths will cease. Only one thing makes me anxious. I
+have long ago ordered up the Ionian fleet--for I expected that all
+would be over a few days earlier--and yet it has not arrived. The ships
+are to take the captured barbarians on board at once, and carry them to
+Byzantium.--Has the swift-sailer which I sent to gather news beyond the
+Straits, of Regium not yet returned. Captain Konon?"
+
+"No, general. Neither has a second swift ship, which I sent after the
+first."
+
+"Can the late storm have damaged the fleet?"
+
+"Impossible, general! It was not violent enough. And the fleets
+according to the last reports, lay safe at anchor in the harbour of
+Brundusium."
+
+"Well, we cannot wait for the ships! Forward, my leaders! We will march
+at once to the pass. Farewell, Cethegus! Do not let your dismissal
+disquiet you. I fear that you will be menaced with many a troublesome
+process when the war is ended. You have many enemies, rightly and
+wrongly. There are bad omens against you. But I know that from the very
+beginning you have believed in only one omen--'The only omen'----"
+
+"'Is to die for the fatherland!' Grant me one more favour, Narses.
+Allow me--for my Isaurians and tribunes are in Rome--to gather round me
+all the Italians and Romans whom you have divided among your troops,
+and lead them against the barbarians."
+
+For one moment Narses hesitated. Then he said:
+
+"Well, go; gather them together and lead them--to death," he added in a
+low voice to Basiliskos. "There are at most fifteen hundred men. I do
+not grudge him the pleasure of falling at the head of his countrymen.
+Nor them the pleasure of falling behind him!--Farewell, Cethegus."
+
+Silently greeting Narses with his uplifted spear, Cethegus left the
+tent.
+
+"H'm!" said Narses to Alboin, "you may well look after him,
+Longobardian. There goes a remarkable piece of universal history. Do
+you know who that is marching away?"
+
+"A great enemy to his enemies," said Alboin gravely.
+
+"Yes, wolf, look at him again; there goes to his death--the last
+Roman!"
+
+When all the leaders, except Basiliskos and Alboin, had left Narses,
+there hurried into the tent from behind a curtain, Anicius, Scaevola,
+and Albinus, still in the disguise of Longobardians, and with faces
+full of alarm.
+
+"What!" cried Scaevola, "will you save that man from his judges?"
+
+"And his body from the executioner; and his fortune from his accusers?"
+added Albinus.
+
+Anicius was silent; he only clenched his hand upon the hilt of his
+sword.
+
+"General," said Alboin, "let these two brawlers put off the dress of my
+people. I am disgusted with them."
+
+"You are not wrong there, wolf!" said Narses; and turning to the others
+he said, "you need no further disguise. You are useless to me as
+accusers. Cethegus is judged; and the sentence will be carried out--by
+King Teja. But you, you ravens, shall not hack at the hero after he is
+dead."
+
+"And the order of the Emperor?" asked Scaevola stubbornly.
+
+"Even Justinian cannot blind and crucify a dead man. When Cethegus
+Caesarius has fallen, I cannot wake him up again to please the Emperor's
+cruelty. And of his money, you, Albinus, shall not receive a single
+solidus, nor you, Scaevola, one drop of his blood. His gold is for the
+Emperor, his blood for the Goths, and his name for immortality."
+
+"Do you wish the death of a hero for that wretch?" now asked Anicius
+angrily.
+
+"Yes, son of Boethius; for he has deserved it! But you have a veritable
+right to revenge yourself on him--you shall behead the fallen man, and
+take his head to the Emperor at Byzantium. Do you not hear the tuba?
+The fight has commenced!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+When King Teja saw the whole of Narses' forces advancing towards the
+mouth of the pass, he said to his heroes:
+
+"It seems that instead of the stars, the mid-day sun is to shine upon
+the last battle of the Goths! That is the only change in our plan."
+
+
+He then placed a number of warriors in front of the hollow in the lava,
+showed them the royal treasure and the corpse of Theodoric, raised upon
+a purple throne, and ordered them to pay attention while the fight for
+the pass was raging, and, on receiving a sign from Adalgoth--to whom
+and Wachis he had confided the last defence of the pass--at once to
+throw the throne and the coffers into the crater. The unarmed people
+pressed together round the lava cave--not a tear was seen, not a sigh
+was heard.
+
+Teja arranged his men into hundreds, and these hundreds into families,
+so that father and sons, brothers and cousins, fought at each other's
+side; an order of battle the terrible obstinacy of which the Romans had
+often experienced since the days of the Cimbrians and Teutons, of
+Ariovist and Armin. The natural construction of the last battlefield of
+the Goths necessitated of itself the old order of battle inherited from
+Odin--the wedge.
+
+The deep and close columns of the Byzantines now stood in orderly ranks
+from the shore of the sea to within a spear's throw from the mouth of
+the pass: a magnificent but fearful spectacle. The sun shone brightly
+upon their weapons, while the Goths still stood in the deep shadow of
+the rocks. Far away over the spears and standards of the enemy, the
+Goths beheld the lovely blue sea, the surface of which flashed with a
+silvery light.
+
+King Teja stood near Adalgoth, who carried the banner of Theodoric, at
+the mouth of the pass. All the poet was roused in the Hero-King.
+
+"Look!" he said to his favourite, "what more lovely place could a man
+have to die in? It cannot be more beautiful in the heaven of the
+Christian, nor in Master Hildebrand's Asgard or Breidablick. Up,
+Adalgoth! Let us die here, worthy of our nation and of this beauteous
+death-place."
+
+He threw back the purple mantle which he wore over his black steel
+armour, took the little harp upon his left arm, and sang in a low,
+restrained voice:
+
+           "From farthest North till Rome--Byzant--
+              The Goths to battle call!
+            In glory rose the Goths' bright star--
+              In glory shall it fall!
+            Our swords raised high, we fight for fame;
+              Heroes with heroes vie;
+            Farewell, thou noble hero-race--
+              Up, Goths, and let us die!"
+
+And he shattered the still vibrating harp upon the rocks at his feet.
+
+"And now, Adalgoth, farewell! Would that I could have saved the rest of
+my people! Not here; but by an unobstructed retreat to the north. It
+was not to be. Narses would never grant it, and the last of the Goths
+cannot _beg_. Now let us go--to death!"
+
+And raising his dreaded weapon, the mighty battleaxe with its
+lance-like shaft, he stepped to the head of the "wedge," Behind
+him Aligern, his cousin, and old Hildebrand. Behind them Duke Guntharis
+of Tuscany, the Woelfung, Earl Grippa of Ravenna, and Earl Wisand
+of Volsinii, the standard-bearer. Behind them again, Wisand's
+brother, Ragnaris of Tarentum, and four earls, his kinsmen. Then, in
+ever-broadening front, first six, then ten Goths. The rear was formed
+of close ranks, arranged by tens.
+
+Wachis, halting in the pass near Adalgoth, blew, at a sign from the
+King, a signal on the Gothic war-horn, and the assaulting force marched
+out of the ravine.
+
+The heroes in league with Johannes stood upon the first level place
+close before the pass; only Alboin, Gisulf, and Cethegus were still
+missing. Next behind the ten leaders stood Longobardians and Herulians,
+who at once greeted the advancing Goths with a hail of spears.
+
+The first to rush upon the King, who was easily recognisable by the
+crown upon his helmet, was Althias the Armenian. He fell dead at once,
+his skull split to the ears.
+
+The second was the Herulian, Rodulf. Holding his spear at his left side
+with both hands, he rushed at Teja. Teja stood firm, and, receiving the
+stroke upon his narrow shield, pierced his adversary through the body
+with the lance-like point of his battle-axe. Rodulf staggered back at
+the shock, then fell dead.
+
+Before Teja could disengage his weapon from the scales of his enemy's
+mail-coat, Suartua, the nephew of the fallen Herulian, the Persian
+Kabades, and the Bajuvar Garizo, all attacked him at once.
+
+Teja thrust back the last--the nearest and boldest--with such vigour,
+that he fell in the narrow and slippery lava path, and over a declivity
+on the right.
+
+"Now help, O holy virgin of Neapolis!" cried the tall man as he flew
+downwards. "Help me, as you have done during all these years of war!"
+And, but little damaged, Miriam's admirer came to a stop, slightly
+stunned by his fall.
+
+The Herulian Suartua was brandishing his sword over Teja's head, when
+Aligern, springing forward, struck his arm clean off his shoulder.
+Suartua screamed and fell.
+
+Kabades, who tried to rip up the King's body with his long and crooked
+scimetar, had his brains dashed out by old Hildebrand's stone axe.
+
+Teja, again become master of his battle-axe, and rid of his nearest
+foes, now sprang forward to attack in his turn. He hurled his axe at a
+man in a boar-helmet--that is, a helmet decorated with the head and
+tusks of a wild boar. It was Epurulf, the Alamannian, who fell
+backwards to the ground.
+
+Above Teja bent Vadomar, Epurulf's kinsman, and tried to possess
+himself of the Gothic King's terrible weapon; but Teja was upon him in
+a moment, his short sword in his right hand. It flashed, and Vadomar
+fell dead upon the corpse of his friend.
+
+The two Franks, Chlotachar and Bertchramn, hurried up at the same
+moment, swinging the franciska, a weapon similar to Teja's battle-axe.
+Both axes whizzed through the air at once. Teja caught one upon his
+shield; the second, which came hurtling at his head, he parried with
+his own axe, and in another moment he stood between his two
+adversaries, whirled his axe round him in a circle, and at one blow the
+two Franks fell right and left, both their helmets beaten in.
+
+At that moment a spear struck the King's shield; it pierced the steel
+rim, and slightly grazed his arm. As he turned to meet this enemy--it
+was the Burgundian Gundobad--Ardarich, the Gepide, ran at him from
+behind with his drawn sword, and struck him a heavy blow on the top of
+his helmet. But the next moment Ardarich fell, pierced through by the
+spear of Duke Guntharis; and the King pressed Gundobad, who defended
+himself valiantly, down upon his knees. Gundobad lost his helmet in the
+struggle, and Teja thrust the spike of his shield into his throat.
+
+But already Taulantius the Illyrian and Autharis the Longobardian stood
+before Teja. The Illyrian struck at the King's shield with a heavy club
+made of the root of the ilex, and broke off a piece of the lower rim.
+At the same time, just above the crack thus made, a lance, hurled by
+the Longobardian, struck the shield and tore off the fastening of the
+spike, sticking with its hook into the hole, and dragging the shield
+down by its weight.
+
+Already Taulantius raised his club over the King's head. But Teja did
+not loiter; sacrificing his half-shattered shield, he dashed it into
+the Illyrian's visorless face, letting it go; and almost at the same
+moment he thrust the point of his battle-axe through the breast-plate
+of Autharis, who was rushing upon him. But now the King stood without a
+shield, and his distant enemies redoubled their hail of spears and
+arrows. With axe and sword, Teja parried the thickly falling darts.
+
+An alarum from the pass caused him to look round. He saw that the
+greater part of the warriors whom he had led out of the ravine had
+fallen. The innumerable projectiles hurled from a distance had done
+their deadly work, and already, advancing from the left, a powerful
+division of Longobardians, Persians, and Armenians, had attacked them
+in the flank, and now mingled in a hand-to-hand fight.
+
+On the right the King saw a column of Thracians, Macedonians, and
+Franks press forward against the guardians of the pass with spears
+couched; while a third division--Gepidians, Alamannians, Isaurians, and
+Illyrians, tried to cut off himself and the small troop which still
+stood at his back from the retreat into the pass.
+
+Teja looked sharply towards the pass. For a moment the banner of
+Theodoric disappeared--it seemed to have fallen. This circumstance
+decided the King.
+
+"Back into the pass! Save Theodoric's banner!" he cried to those behind
+him, and tried to break through the troop of enemies which surrounded
+him.
+
+But they were in terrible earnest, for they were led by Johannes.
+
+"Upon the King," lie cried. "Do not let him through. Do not let him go
+back! Spears! Throw!"
+
+Aligern had come up.
+
+"Take my shield!" he cried.
+
+Teja caught the proffered shield just in time to receive the lance
+hurled by Johannes, which would otherwise have pierced his visor.
+
+"Back to the pass!" again Teja cried, and rushed with such impetuosity
+upon Johannes, that the latter fell to the ground. The two nearest
+Isaurians succumbed to Teja's sword.
+
+And now Teja, Aligern, Guntharis, Hildebrand, Grippa, Wisand and
+Ragnaris hurried back to the pass. But here the battle was already
+raging. Alboin and Gisulf had stormed the pass, and a heavy, pointed
+block of lava, hurled by Alboin, had struck Adalgoth on the thigh, and
+caused him to sink upon his knees. But Wachis had caught the falling
+banner, and Adalgoth, quickly rising, had pushed the Longobardian, who
+was pressing forward, out of the pass with the spike of his shield.
+
+The sudden return of the King with his little troop of heroes relieved
+the almost overpowered guardians of the pass. The Longobardians fell in
+heaps before the unexpected assault in their rear. With loud cries the
+two guardians of the pass rushed forth, and the Longobardians, carrying
+their leaders along irresistibly, ran and leaped over the jagged lava
+in their downward retreat. But they did not run far. They were absorbed
+by the ranks of Isaurians, and Illyrians, Gepidians and Alamannians,
+who advanced in force, led by Johannes. Gnashing his teeth, he had
+risen from his fall, had set his helmet straight, and at once led his
+men against the pass, into which Teja had now entered.
+
+"Forward!" cried Johannes; "up and at him, Alboin, Gisulf, Vitalianus,
+Zenon! Let us see if this King be really spear-proof!"
+
+Teja had now taken up his old position at the mouth of the pass, and
+leaning upon the shaft of his battle-axe, he rested awhile to cool
+himself.
+
+"Now, barbarian King! the end is at hand! Have you crept again into
+your snail-shell? Come out, or I will make a hole in your house. Come
+out, if you be a man!"
+
+Thus cried Johannes, twirling his spear over his head in defiance.
+
+"Give me three spears!" cried Teja, and gave his shield and battle-axe
+to Adalgoth, who stood near him still, though wounded. "There! Now, as
+soon as he falls, follow me out."
+
+
+And he took one step forward out of the pass, without his shield, and
+holding his three spears in his hands.
+
+"Welcome to the open! and to death!" cried Johannes, as he hurled his
+spear.
+
+The spear was accurately aimed at the King's visor. But Teja bent to
+one side, and the strong ashen lance was shattered against the opposite
+rock.
+
+As soon as Teja hurled his first spear in return, Johannes cast himself
+upon his face; the spear flew over him and killed Zenon, who stood
+close behind.
+
+Johannes quickly recovered his feet, and rushed at the King like
+lightning, catching the King's second spear, which immediately followed
+the first, upon his shield. But Teja, immediately after hurling this
+second lance with his right hand, had followed it up by a third with
+his left, and this spear, unnoticed by Johannes, passed completely
+through the latter's body, the point coming out at his back. The brave
+man fell.
+
+At this his Isaurians and Illyrians were seized with terror; for, after
+Belisarius, Johannes was looked upon as the first hero of Byzantium.
+They cried aloud, turned, and fled in wild disorder down the mountain,
+followed by Teja and his heroes. For one moment the Longobardians, who
+had again collected together, still held firm.
+
+"Come, Gisulf--clench your teeth--let us stand against this
+death-dealing King," cried Alboin.
+
+But Teja was already upon them. His fearful battle-axe glittered above,
+between them. Pierced through his armour deep into the left shoulder,
+Alboin fell, and immediately afterwards Gisulf lay on the ground with
+his helmet shattered. Then there was no more stopping the rest:
+Longobardians, Gepidians, Alamannians, Herulians, Isaurians and
+Illyrians, scattered in headlong flight, rushed down the mountain.
+
+With shouts of exultation, Teja's companions followed. Teja himself
+kept to the pass. He called to Wachis for spear after spear, and aiming
+high over the Gothic pursuers, hurled them at the flying enemy, killing
+whomsoever he touched.
+
+They were the Emperor's best troops. In their flight they carried away
+with them the Macedonians, Thracians, Persians, Armenians, and Franks,
+who were slowly climbing the ascent, and fled until they reached
+Narses, who had anxiously raised himself upright in his litter.
+
+"Johannes has fallen!"
+
+"Alboin is severely wounded!" they cried as they ran past. "Fly! Back
+into the camp!"
+
+"A new column of attack must be--Ha! look!" said Narses, "there comes
+Cethegus, at the very nick of time!"
+
+And Cethegus it was. He had completed his long ride through all the
+troops to which Narses had sent Romans and Italians; he had formed
+these into five companies of three hundred men each, and when they were
+drawn up in battle array, he took his place quietly at their head.
+
+Anicius followed at a distance. Syphax, carrying two spears, kept close
+behind his master. Letting the defeated fugitives pass through the
+vacant spaces between their ranks, the Italians marched on. Most of
+them were old legionaries of Rome and Ravenna, and faithfully attached
+to Cethegus.
+
+The Gothic pursuers hesitated as they met with these fresh,
+well-ordered troops, and slowly receded to the pass. But Cethegus
+followed. Past the bloody place, covered with corpses, where Teja had
+first destroyed the league of the twelve; past the spot farther up,
+where Johannes had fallen, he marched on with a quiet and steady step,
+his shield and spear in his left hand, his sword in his right. Behind
+him, with lances couched, came the legionaries.
+
+They marched up the mountain in silence, without the word of command,
+or the flourish of trumpets. The Gothic heroes would not retreat into
+the pass behind their King. They halted before the entrance.
+
+Guntharis was the first with whom Cethegus came into contact. The
+Duke's spear was shattered on the shield of Cethegus, and at once
+Cethegus thrust his spear into his adversary's body; the deadly shaft
+broke in the wound.
+
+Earl Grippa of Ravenna set to work to avenge the Woelfung; he swung his
+long sword over his head; but Cethegus ran under the thrust, and struck
+the old follower of Theodoric below the right shoulder with his broad
+Roman sword. Grippa fell and died.
+
+Wisand, the standard-bearer, advanced furiously against Cethegus; their
+blades crossed; sparks flew from shield and helmet; but Cethegus
+cleverly parried a too hasty stroke, and before the Goth could recover
+himself, the broad blade of the Roman had entered his thigh. Wisand
+tottered. Two of his cousins bore him out of the fight.
+
+His brother, Ragnaris of Tarentum, now attacked Cethegus, but Syphax,
+running up, caught the well-thrust spear in his hand, and before
+Ragnaris could let fall the shaft, and draw his axe from his belt,
+Cethegus stabbed him in the forehead.
+
+Struck with horror, the Goths retreated before the terrible Roman, and
+pressed past their King into the ravine. Aligern alone, Teja's cousin,
+would not yield. He hurled his spear with such force at the shield of
+Cethegus, that it pierced it; but Cethegus lowered it quickly, and
+received Aligern, as he rushed forward, on the point of his sword.
+Severely wounded, Aligern fell into old Hildebrand's arms, who, letting
+fall his heavy stone axe, tried to carry the fainting man into the
+ravine.
+
+But Aligern's spear had also been well-aimed. The shield-arm of
+Cethegus bled profusely. But he did not heed it; he pressed on to make
+an end of both the Goths, Hildebrand and Aligern, and at that moment
+Adalgoth caught sight of his father's hated enemy.
+
+"Alaric! Alaric!" he shouted, and, springing forward, he caught up the
+heavy stone axe from the ground. "Alaric!" he cried.
+
+Cethegus caught the name and looked up. The axe, accurately aimed, came
+whizzing through the air upon his tall helmet. Stunned, Cethegus fell.
+Syphax sprang to him, took him in both his arms, and carried him aside.
+But the legionaries would not retreat; they could not. Behind them,
+sent by Narses, two thousand Persians and Thracians pressed up the
+ascent.
+
+"Bring hurling spears!" commanded their leader, Aniabedes. "No
+hand-to-hand fight! Cast spears at the King until he fall. By order of
+Narses!"
+
+The soldiers willingly obeyed this order, which promised to spare their
+blood. Presently such a fearful hail of darts rattled against the
+narrow opening of the pass, that not a Goth was able to issue forth and
+stand before the King.
+
+And now Teja, filling the entrance with his body and his shield,
+defended his people for some time--for a very considerable time--quite
+alone. Procopius, following the report of eye-witnesses, has described
+with admiration this, the last fight of King Teja:
+
+"I have now to describe a very remarkable fight, and the heroism of a
+man who is inferior to none of those we call heroes--of Teja. He stood,
+visible to all, covered by his shield, and brandishing his spear, in
+front of his own ranks. All the bravest Romans, whose number was great,
+attacked him alone; for with his death, they thought, the battle would
+be at an end. All hurled and thrust their lances at him alone; but he
+received the darts upon his shield, and, repeatedly sallying forth,
+killed numbers of his adversaries, one after the other. And when his
+shield was stuck so full of darts that it was too heavy for him to
+hold, he signed to his shield-bearer to bring him a fresh one. Thus he
+stood; not turning, nor throwing his shield on his back and retreating,
+but firm as a rock, dealing death to his foes with his right hand,
+warding it off with his left, and ever calling to his weapon-bearers
+for new shields and new spears."
+
+It was Wachis and Adalgoth--heaps of shields and spears had been
+brought to the spot from the royal treasure--who continually handed to
+Teja fresh weapons.
+
+At last the courage of the Romans, Persians, and Thracians sank as they
+saw all their efforts wrecked against this living shield of the Goths,
+and all their bravest men slain by the spears of the King. They
+wavered--the Italians called anxiously upon Cethegus--they turned and
+fled. Then Cethegus started up from his long stupor.
+
+"Syphax, a fresh spear! Halt! Stand, Romans! Roma, Roma eterna!" And
+raising himself with an effort, he advanced against Teja.
+
+The Romans recognised his voice. "Roma, Roma eterna!" they shouted, as
+they ceased their flight and halted. But Teja had also recognised the
+voice. His shield bristled with twelve lances--he could hold it no
+longer; but when he recognised the adversary who was advancing, he
+thought no more of changing it.
+
+"No shield! My battle-axe! Quick!" he cried.
+
+And Wachis handed to him his favourite weapon.
+
+Then King Teja dropped his shield, and, swinging his axe, rushed out of
+the pass at Cethegus.
+
+"Die, Roman!" he cried.
+
+Once again the two great enemies looked each other in the face. Then
+spear and axe whizzed through the air. Neither thought of parrying the
+stroke, and both fell. Teja's axe had pierced Cethegus's left breast
+through shield and armour.
+
+"Roma, Roma eterna!" once more cried Cethegus, and fell back dead.
+
+His spear had struck the King's right breast. Not dead, but mortally
+wounded, he was carried into the pass by Hildebrand and Adalgoth. And
+they had need to make haste. For when, at last, they saw the King of
+the Goths fall--he had fought without a pause for eight hours, and
+evening was coming on--all the Italians, Persians, and Thracians, and
+fresh columns of attack which had now come up, rushed towards the pass,
+which was now again defended by Adalgoth with his shield; Hildebrand
+and Wachis supporting him.
+
+Syphax took the body of Cethegus in his arms and carried it to one
+side. Weeping aloud he held the noble head of his master upon his
+knees, the features of which appeared almost superhuman in the majesty
+of death. Before him raged the battle. Just then the Moor remarked that
+Anicius, followed by a troop of Byzantines--Scaevola and Albinus among
+them--was approaching him, and pointing to the body of Cethegus with an
+air of command.
+
+"Halt!" cried Syphax, springing up as they drew near; "what do you
+want?"
+
+"The head of the Prefect, to take to the Emperor," answered Anicius;
+"obey, slave!"
+
+But Syphax uttered a yell--his spear rushed through the air, and
+Anicius fell. And before the others, who at once busied themselves with
+the dying man, could come near him, Syphax had taken his beloved burden
+upon his back, and began to climb up a steep precipice of lava near the
+pass, which Goths and Byzantines had, till then, held to be impassable.
+More and more rapidly the slave advanced. His goal was a little column
+of smoke which rose just at the other side of the cliff. For there
+yawned one of the small crater chasms of Vesuvius. For one moment
+Syphax stopped upon the edge of the black rocks; once again he raised
+the corpse of Cethegus erect in his strong arms, as if to show the
+noble form to the setting sun. And suddenly master and slave had
+disappeared.
+
+The fiery mountain had received the faithful Syphax and the dead
+Cethegus, his greatness and his guilt, onto its glowing bosom. The hero
+was snatched away from the small spite of his enemies.
+
+Scaevola and Albinus, who had witnessed the occurrence, hastened to
+Narses, and demanded that the corpse should be sought for on the sides
+of the crater. But Narses said:
+
+"I do not grudge the mighty hero his mighty grave. He has deserved it.
+I fight with the living, and not with the dead."
+
+But almost at the same moment, the tumultuous battle round the pass,
+which Adalgoth, not unworthy of his royal master, heroically defended
+against the attacks of the enemy, ceased. For while, standing behind
+Adalgoth, Hildebrand and Wachis suddenly cried, "Look! look at the sea!
+The dragon ships! The northern heroes! Harald! Harald!"--the solemn
+tones of the tuba were heard from below, sounding the signal for a
+cessation of hostilities--for a truce. Very gladly the fatigued and
+harassed warriors lowered their weapons.
+
+But King Teja, who lay upon his shield--Hildebrand had forbidden every
+one to draw out the spear of Cethegus from the wound--"for his life
+would flow out with his blood"--asked in a faint voice:
+
+"What do I hear them cry? The northern heroes? The ships? Is Harald
+there?"
+
+"Yes, Harald! He comes to our rescue! He brings safety for the rest of
+the nation! For us, and for the women and children!" cried Adalgoth
+joyously, as he knelt at Teja's side. "So thy incomparable heroism, my
+ever-beloved hero; thy superhuman and untiring efforts, were not in
+vain! Basiliskos has just come, sent by Narses. Harald has destroyed
+the Ionian fleet in the harbour of Brundusium; he threatens to land and
+attack the already exhausted Byzantines; he demands to be allowed to
+carry away all the remaining Goths, with weapons and goods, to
+Thuleland and liberty! Narses has agreed; he will honour, he says, King
+Teja's noble heroism, in the remnant of his people. May we accept? Oh,
+may we accept, my King?"
+
+"Yes," said Teja, as his eyes grew dim. "You may and shall. The rest of
+my people free! The women, the children, delivered from a terrible
+death! Oh, happy that I am! Yes, take all who live to Thuleland; and
+take with you--two of the dead: King Theodoric--and----"
+
+"And King Teja!" said Adalgoth: and kissed the dead man's mouth.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+And so it happened, and this was the manner of it.
+
+Immediately after Narses had left his tent, a fisherman was led before
+him, who had just sailed round the promontory of Surrentum in a small
+and swift vessel, and who announced that an immense fleet of the Goths
+was in full sail for the coast. Narses laughed; for he knew that not a
+Gothic sail was to be found on all the seas.
+
+More narrowly questioned, the man was obliged to confess that he had
+not seen the fleet himself; but merchants had told him of it, and had
+related that a great naval combat had taken place, in which the Goths
+had destroyed the Emperor's fleet, at Brundusium.
+
+That was impossible, as Narses well knew. And when the fisherman
+described the appearance of the pretended Gothic ships, according to
+what his informers had told him, the commander-in-chief cried out:
+
+"At last they are coming! Triremes and galleys! They are our ships
+which are approaching, not Gothic vessels."
+
+No one thought of the Viking's fleet, which had not been heard of for
+four moons, and which, it was believed, had sailed to the north.
+
+A few hours later, as the battle was raging round the pass, engrossing
+the attention of all, the coastguards announced to Narses the fact of
+the approach of a very large imperial fleet. The ship of the admiral,
+the Sophia, had been distinctly recognised. But the number of sails was
+far greater than had been expected. The ships which Narses had sent to
+urge the coming of the fleet were also among them, sailing first. The
+strong south-eastern breeze would shortly bring them within sight of
+the camp.
+
+And presently Narses himself could enjoy from the hill the magnificent
+spectacle of the approach of the fleet, propelled not only by their
+spreading sails, but also by their long oars.
+
+Much relieved, he again turned his attention to the combat upon
+Vesuvius--when, suddenly, messengers reached him from the camp,
+affirming the first reports in an alarming manner, or rather, they
+brought much worse news. They had hurried on in advance of an embassy
+which reached the litter of Narses just as Cethegus was advancing for
+the last time against Teja.
+
+This embassy consisted of the admiral and captains of the Ionian fleet,
+who came forward with their hands in chains, and guarded by four
+Northmen, whose message they had been brought to interpret. They
+briefly related that they had been attacked by the fleet of the Viking
+one stormy night, and had lost almost all their ships; that not one
+could escape to warn Narses, for the enemy had blockaded the harbour.
+
+When Jarl Harald had heard of the threatened destruction of the Goths
+upon Vesuvius, he had sworn to prevent or to share their evil fate. And
+sending the captured Grecian ships in advance, prudently hiding behind
+them his dragon-ships, he had hurried to the coast of Neapolis on the
+wings of the east wind. "And thus," concluded the interpreters, "thus
+says Harald the Viking: 'Either you will allow all yet living Goths,
+with all their weapons and goods, to leave the Southland upon our ships
+and return with us to their fatherland; in return for which we will
+give up all our thousands of prisoners, and all our prize-ships, except
+those we need for the transport of the Goths; or we will immediately
+kill our prisoners, land, and attack you, your camp and army, in the
+rear. Then see to it, how many of you, when attacked in front by the
+Goths, in the rear by us, will remain alive! For we Northmen fight to
+the last man! I have sworn it by Odin.'"
+
+Without a moment's hesitation Narses agreed to the departure of the
+Goths.
+
+"I have only sworn to drive them out of the Empire," he said, "not out
+of the world. It would bring me small renown if I overpowered and
+slaughtered the poor remains of such a noble nation. I reverence the
+heroism of this Teja; in forty years of warfare I have never seen his
+like. And I have no desire to try how my harassed army, which has had a
+day of the hardest fighting, and has lost almost all its leaders and
+numbers of its bravest soldiers, would resist these northern giants,
+who come with untired strength and unconquered courage."
+
+And so Narses had immediately sent heralds to Harald and to the pass.
+The battle ceased; the retreat of the Goths began.
+
+In double ranks, reaching from the summit of the mountain down to the
+sea, the army of heroes formed a lane. The Viking had landed four
+hundred men, who received the Goths on the sea-shore. But before the
+march began, Karses signed to Basiliskos and said:
+
+"The Gothic war is over--the stag is killed--now away with the wolves
+which hunted him to the death. How are the wounded leaders of the
+Longobardians?"
+
+"Before I answer," said Basiliskos respectfully, "accept this
+laurel-wreath, which your army sends to you. It is laurel from
+Vesuvius; from the pass above; there is heroes' blood upon the leaves."
+
+
+The first impulse of Narses was to push the wreath aside; but after a
+pause, he said:
+
+"'Tis well; give it to me." But he laid it beside him in the litter.
+
+"Autharis, Warnfrid, Grimoald, Aripert, Agilulf and Rotharis are dead,"
+Basiliskos now reported. "Altogether the Longobardians have lost seven
+thousand men; Alboin and Gisulf, severely wounded, lie motionless in
+their tents."
+
+"Good, very good! As soon as the Goths have embarked, let the
+Longobardians be led away. They are dismissed my service. And say to
+Alboin, as my parting words: 'After the death of Narses--_perhaps_; but
+certainly not before.' I will remain here in my litter; support me with
+the cushions--I cannot stand--but I must witness this wonderful
+spectacle."
+
+And in truth it was a grand and moving sight to behold the last of the
+Goths, as they turned their backs upon Vesuvius and Italy, and embarked
+in the high-prowed ships which were to bear them away to the safe and
+sheltering north.
+
+From the ravine, into which not a single enemy had succeeded in
+penetrating, was heard at intervals the solemn tones of the Gothic
+war-horns, accompanied by monotonous, grave, and touching strains from
+the men, women, and children--the ancient death-song of the Gothic
+nation.
+
+Hildebrand and Adalgoth--the last chiefs, the hoary Past and the golden
+Future--had arranged the order of march.
+
+Foremost went, full-armed, five hundred men, led by Wisand, the
+standard-bearer, who, in spite of his wounds, bravely opened the
+procession, leaning on his spear. Then followed, stretched upon his
+last shield, the spear of Cethegus still sticking in his breast,
+without helmet, his noble and pallid face framed by his long black
+locks--King Teja, covered with a purple mantle, and carried by four
+warriors. Behind him came Adalgoth and Gotho, and Adalgoth, softly
+striking his harp, sang in a low voice:
+
+           "Give place, ye peoples, to our march:
+              The doom of the Goths is sped!
+            No crown, no sceptre carry we,
+              We bear the noble dead.
+
+           "With shield to shield, and spear to spear,
+              We march to the Northland cool;
+            Until in grey and distant seas
+              We find the Island Thule.
+
+           "That is the Isle of the brave and true,
+              Where none dishonour fears;
+            There we will lay our bravest King
+              In his bed of oaken spears.
+
+           "From off our feet--give place! give place!--
+              We shake Rome's traitor dust;
+            We only bear our King away--
+              For the Gothic crown is lost!"
+
+When the bier was carried past the litter, Narses called a halt, and
+said in a low voice in the Latin language:
+
+"Mine was the victory, but his the fame! There, take the laurel wreath!
+Other generations may see greater things, but now. King Teja, I greet
+you as the greatest hero of all ages!"
+
+And he laid the laurel wreath upon the dead man's pallid brow. The
+bearers again took up the bier, and slowly and solemnly, to the sad
+sound of Adalgoth's silver harp, the death-song of the people, and the
+long-drawn tones of the war-horns, the procession marched on towards
+the sea, which now glowed magnificently in the evening red.
+
+Close behind Teja's body was carried a lofty crimson throne. Upon it
+rested the silent august form of Dietrich of Bern; upon the head the
+crowned helm; on the left arm the tall shield; a spear leaning against
+the right shoulder. On the left of the throne marched old Hildebrand,
+his eyes fixed upon the face of his beloved master, which shone in the
+magic light of the setting sun. He held aloft the banner with the
+device of the lion, high above the head of the great Dead. The evening
+breeze from the Ausonian Sea rustled in the folds of the immense flag,
+which, in ghost-like speech, seemed to be taking leave of Italian soil.
+
+As the corpse was carried past, Narses said:
+
+"I know by the shudder which passes across me that this is the wise
+King of Ravenna! First came a stronger, now a greater man. Let us do
+this dead man homage."
+
+And, with great exertion, he rose upright in his litter, and bent his
+head reverently before the corpse.
+
+Then followed the wounded, supported by or carried in the arms of their
+followers. This part of the procession was opened by Aligern, who was
+carried on a broad shield by Wachis and Liuta, assisted by two
+warriors. Then came the chests and coffers, the baskets and vessels,
+containing the royal treasure and the goods of the different families,
+which, until then, had been hidden in the wagons.
+
+Afterwards came the great mass of the unarmed people--women, girls,
+children, and old people--for the boys, from ten years of age upwards,
+would not part with the weapons which had been entrusted to them, and
+marched in a separate corps.
+
+Narses smiled as the little fair-haired heroes passed, looking up at
+him with anger and defiance.
+
+"Well," he said, "the Goths have taken care that the Emperor's
+successors and their generals shall not want work!"
+
+The procession was closed by the rest of the Gothic army.
+
+Innumerable boats lent their assistance in the embarkation of the
+people and their scanty possessions. Presently all were on board the
+high-decked vessels of the Northmen.
+
+The corpses of Teja and Theodoric, the royal banner, and the royal
+treasure, were taken into Harald's ship. The great Dietrich of Bern
+was placed upon his throne at the foot of the mainmast, and his
+lion-standard hoisted to the mast-head. Old Hildebrand installed
+himself at the foot of the throne.
+
+In the stern of the ship, Adalgoth and Wisand had laid down the body of
+Teja. The mighty Harald and his beautiful sister approached it
+sorrowfully. The Viking laid his mailed hand gently upon the dead man's
+breast, and said:
+
+"I could not save thee, bold and daring King! I could not save thee and
+thy people. Nothing remains but to take thee and the rest of thy folk
+to the land of the strong and the true, from which you should never
+have departed. Thus, after all, I bring back to King Frode the Gothic
+nation."
+
+But Haralda said:
+
+"I will preserve the body of the noble dead by secret arts, so that it
+shall endure until we land in our home. There we will vault for him and
+King Thidrekr a hill-grave near the sea, so that they may together hear
+the roar of the breakers and hold converse with each other; for they
+were worthy of each other. Look, my brother! the enemy's army stands in
+ranks upon the strand; they lower their flags and weapons in reverence,
+and the sun sinks glowing behind Misenum and yonder islands; a crimson
+glow covers the sea as with a royal mantle; our white sails are
+coloured red, and red gold shines upon our weapons! Look how the south
+wind spreads out the banner of King Thidrekr! The wind, which obeys the
+will of the gods, points to the north! Up, brother Harald! weigh
+anchor! direct the rudder! turn the dragon's prow! Up, Freya's wise
+bird! Fly, my falcon!"--and she tossed her falcon into the air--"point
+out the way! to the north! to Thuleland! Home! home we take the last of
+the Goths!"
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+[Footnote 1: Theodoric.]
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+             BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, SURREY.
+                                                     _H. L. & Co._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Struggle for Rome, v. 3, by Felix Dahn
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