Count Belisarius

Early in the spring of the following year, the year of our Lord 542, King Khosrou once more crossed our frontier; this rime with the largest army that he had yet brought together, little short of 200,000 men. His forces included several divisions of the White Huns whom Justinian had unsuccessfully tried to bribe to war against him. Hearing of the success of the Syrian raid of the previous year, they volunteered to join Khosrou, in hopes of spoil. Khosrou again took the southern route along the right bank of the Euphrates. But, aware that he had already sucked Syria almost dry of its silver and gold, he decided to waste no time here, but to march forward into Palestine. Now that Antioch had been destroyed, Jerusalem was easily the richest city of the East. The Holy Places there glittered with treasure, and the pilgrim trade had enriched the inhabitants, both Jews and Christians, to a fabulous degree.

After Belisarius's recall the command in the East had been entrusted to Boutzces. But Boutzes shut himself up in the fortress of Hierapolis with his small army, and was afraid even to send out scouts for news of Kliosrou's progress. He wrote to Justinian asking for at least 50,000 reinforcements, though well aware that to raise such an army Justinian must denude the home provinces of their entire garrisons – a large expedition had recently been sent to Italy, consisting of all available reserves of regular troops.

Justinian called Belisarius to him and said: 'Most loyal and excellent general, we forgive you all the evil you have done us in the past and remember only your services. Take what men you have with you and go immediately to Syria to protect our holy city of Jerusalem from this heathen King, who, we are informed by our General Boutzes, has boasted that it will be his before the Easter festival. If you do this we will love you for ever more.'

Belisarius was too respectful a subject to argue with his Emperor that he had never done him any evil; and swallowed the reproach. It was his view that so long as a man acted uprightly and according to his own conscience such insults could not harm him. There is a Christian saying, that to forgive your enemy and to return good for evil is like heaping coals of fire upon his head. Justinian's hair was constantly being singed by the warmth of Belisarius's unexampled services. A paradox: if from some small touch of rebelliousness, some pettiness of injured pride, some slight defeat, Belisarius had ranged himself with Justinian's other generals and become a candidate for forgiveness, all would have been well. But nothing is so galling to a man of Justinian's character as to be dependent for his fame and the secure tenure of his throne on a man not only immeasurably more kingly than himself in every respect, but one who never seemed to make a mistake. Time after time, Belisarius accomplished the seemingly impossible, and Justinian felt more and more humiliated to stand so heavily in his debt. I shall have more to write upon this head before I have done.

Belisarius set out for Hierapolis with twenty men, using relays of post-horses and travelling eighty miles a day. He ordered the remainder of the Household Regiment to follow as soon as possible, and during his passage through Cilicia collected his now recovered sick from Daras, 1,500 in number. A messenger, instructed to ride ahead and take the fastest horse from each post-house, arrived at Hierapolis three days before him and announced his approach. As Belisarius was crossing the Cilician border into Syria this messenger met him with a letter from Boutzes urging him to take refuge in Hierapolis and assist in its defence.' For it is essential that you should seek safety and not expose yourself to capture by the Persians, who would regard this as a greater victory than the capture of a whole province.'

Belisarius returned a characteristic reply: 'Arc you unaware that King Khosrou is threatening the capture of Jerusalem? Be sure, I never fight a battle if I can possibly avoid doing so; but to seek safety in Hicrapolis while the Persians were marching on Jerusalem, through territory almost destitute of troops, I would consider the act of a traitor. Come to mc at Carchemish with all your men. It is better to face King Khosrou in the open. Five hundred men will suffice for the defence of Hierapolis.'