Count Belisarius

King Wittich retreated sullenly towards Ravenna, detaching large garrisons as he went for the defence of Osino, Urbino, and other smaller fortresses. Belisarius felt the need of Bloody John and his 2,000 cavalry, and sent Hildiger hurrying to Rimini by another route to order his withdrawal. Rimini could more profitably be held by a detachment of infantry which had just landed from Dalmatia at Ancona, a port not far off. (Dalmatia was now ours again, Wittich having withdrawn to Italy the forces that were besieging Spalato; and troops could therefore be spared.) But Bloody John refused to withdraw.

This time he was not justified in disobeying orders. The fact was, he had a great deal of Gothic treasure collected in the city which he wished to retain for his own use instead of sharing it with the rest of the army. Hildiger therefore left at Rimini the infantry that he had brought from Ancona; but persuaded the 800 men of the Household Regiment, whom Belisarius had lent to Bloody John, to withdraw with him. King Wittich, determined to win here the success that had eluded him at Rome, settled down to besiege the city; and soon

Bloody John began to repent of having disobeyed orders, for there was great scarcity of provisions in Rimini, and Wittich was attacking with great resolution.

Now, it is not my purpose to write a history of the wars, but to tell the story of Belisarius. I forbear therefore to give a detailed account of this siege, yet I will say that Wittich attacked with scaling-towers propelled by hand from inside, not drawn by oxen; that Bloody John prevented their advance by hurried trenching; and that Wittich then decided to starve him out.

The situation at Rimini was soon more desperate than Belisarius realized. Nor was he in any position to march to the relief of his disobedient lieutenant, having sent a considerable part of his forces to Northern Italy, with the licet, to capture Pavia and Milan; besides, the fortified towns of Todi and Chiusi, which lay between him and Rimini, must first be reduced. Nevertheless, the news that Wittich was besieging Rimini caused him such anxiety that, leaving only the Roman levies to garrison the city, he marched northward to its relief; and presently Todi and Chiusi surrendered to the terror of his name. Me sent the Gothic garrison under escort to Naples and Sicily and continued forward. But our total forces did not now amount to 3,000 men, whereas King Wittich had increased his strength to 100,000 with new forces from Dalmatia.

Fortunately the letter addressed by my mistress to Theodora had taken effect at last. We had the welcome news that 7,000 further reinforcements had landed at Fermo in Piccnum, on the eastern coast. Who should be in command of this army but the eunuch Chamberlain Narses! 'Ah,' said my mistress Antonina to Belisarius, laughing, 'I am glad that I sympathized with his military ambitions on our journey together to Daras. And he will prove a capable officer in spite of his age, I believe, if he can learn a little humility. But at the Court he has been accustomed to take orders from the Emperor and Empress only; you and I must handle him tactfully.'

Hildiger rejoined us at Chiusi, and we marched across Italy until we came in sight of the Adriatic Sea. At Fermo (which is a day's march away from Osimo) we joined forces with Narses, whom Belisarius and my mistress greeted in the friendliest possible way. But there was much merriment among the household at Narses' appearance. That he was dwarfish and big-buttocked and had a squint and a twisted lip had not seemed very ridiculous when he was gliding along the Palace corridors with his usual great roll of documents in his hand, wearing his scarlet-and-white silk uniform and a golden chain of honour. But to sec Narses, who had already long passed the grand climacteric of his years, strutting about in the latest fashion of plate-armour (inlaid with fishes and crosses and other Christian symbols) and high ostrich-plumed helmet and brocaded purple cloak, trailing a full-sized sword which was continually catching between his legs and tripping him up – that I assure you was a sight to raise a smile on the face of a man dying of the cholera. My mistress, though hardly able to keep a sober face herself, warned us privately not in any way to offend Narses' sensibilities; since he was in the Emperor's confidence, and could cither greatly help or greatly injure Belisarius's cause, as he pleased – and Belisarius's cause was ours. With Narses came Justin the son of Germanus, grand-nephew to the Emperor.