At the end of Belisarius's second expedition to Italy, he was
obliged to retire in disgrace; for, as I have told already, he was
unable for a space of five years to effect a landing on the continent,
because he had no stronghold there, but spent the whole time in
hovering off the coast. Totila was very eager to meet him in the open
field, but never found an opportunity, for both the Roman general and
all the army were afraid to fight. For this reason he recovered nothing
of all that had been lost, but even lost Rome as well, and pretty
nearly everything else. During this time he became exceedingly
avaricious and greedy for ignoble gain. Because he had received no
funds from the Emperor, he plundered all the Italian peoples of Ravenna
and Sicily, and the rest of Italy without mercy, by way of exacting
vengeance for irregularities in their past lives. Thus he fell upon
Herodianus, and asked him for money with the most dreadful threats;
whereupon he, in his rage, threw off his allegiance to Rome and went
over with his troops to Totila and the Goths, and handed over to them
the town of Spoletum.
I will now tell how Belisarius fell out with John, the nephew of
Vitalianus, a matter which was exceedingly prejudicial to the interests
of Rome. The Empress was so violently incensed against Germanus, and
showed her dislike of him so plainly, that no one dared to connect
himself with him by marriage, although he was the Emperor's nephew, and
his children remained unmarried as long as she lived, while his
daughter Justina was also without a husband at the age of eighteen. For
this reason, when John was sent by Belisarius on a mission to
Byzantium, Germanus was forced to enter upon negotiations with him with
a view to marriage with his daughter, although such an alliance was far
beneath him. When both had settled the matter to their satisfaction,
they bound each other by the most solemn oaths, to use their best
endeavours to bring about this alliance; for neither of them trusted
the other, as John knew that he was seeking an alliance above his
station, and Germanus despaired of finding another husband for his
daughter. The Empress was beside herself at this, and endeavoured to
thwart them in every possible way; but as her threats had no effect
upon either, she openly threatened to put John to death. After this,
John was ordered to return to Italy, and, fearing Antonina's designs
upon him, held no further communication with Belisarius until her
departure for Byzantium; for he had good reason to suspect that the
Empress had sent instructions to Antonina to have him murdered; and
when he considered the character of Antonina and Belisarius's
infatuation for his wife, which made him yield to her in everything, he
was greatly alarmed.
From this time forth the power of Rome, which had long been
unstable, utterly fell to the ground for want of capable support. Such
were the fortunes of Belisarius in the Gothic war. After this,
despairing of success, he begged the Emperor to allow him to leave
Italy with all speed. When he heard that his prayer had been granted,
he joyfully retired, bidding a long farewell to the Roman army and the
Italians. He left the greater part of Italy in the enemy's power and
Perusia in the last agonies of a terrible siege: while he was on his
road home, it was taken, and endured all the miseries of a city taken
by assault, as I have already related. In addition to his ill-success
abroad, he also had to submit to a domestic misfortune, which came
about as follows:—The Empress Theodora was eager to bring about the
marriage of her grandson, Anastasius, with Belisarius's daughter, and
wearied her parents with frequent letters on the subject; but they, not
being desirous of contracting this alliance, put off the marriage until
they could appear in person at Byzantium, and when the Empress sent for
them, made the excuse that they could not leave Italy. But she
persisted in her determination to make her grandson master of
Belisarius's fortune, for she knew that the girl would be his heiress,
as he had no other children. She did not, however, trust Antonina's
character, and feared lest, after her own death, Antonina might prove
unfaithful to her house, although she had found her so helpful in
emergencies, and might break the compact. These considerations prompted
her to a most abominable act. She made the boy and girl live together
without any marriage ceremony, in violation of the laws. It is said
that the girl was unwilling to cohabit with him, and that the Empress
had her secretly forced to do so, that the marriage might be
consummated by the dishonour of the bride, and so the Emperor might not
be able to oppose it. After this had taken place, Anastasius and the
girl fell passionately in love with each other, and lived together in
this manner for eight months.
Immediately after the Empress's death, Antonina came to Byzantium.
She found it easy to ignore the outrage which Theodora had committed
upon her, and, without considering that, if she united the girl to
another, she would be no better than a harlot, she drove away
Theodora's grandson with insults, and forcibly separated her daughter
from the man whom she loved.
This action caused her to be regarded as one of the most heartless
women upon earth, but nevertheless the mother obtained, without any
difficulty, Belisarius's approval of her conduct, on his return home.
Thus did this man's true character reveal itself. Although he had sworn
a solemn oath to Photius and to several of his intimates and broken it,
yet all men readily forgave him, because they suspected that the reason
of his faithlessness was not the dominion of his wife over him, but his
fear of Theodora; but now that Theodora was dead, as I have told you,
he thought nothing about Photius or any of his intimates, but entirely
submitted to the sway of his wife, and her pander Calligonus. Then at
last all men ceased to believe in him, scorned and flouted him, and
railed at him for an idiot. Such were the offences of Belisarius, about
which I have been obliged to speak freely in this place.
In its proper place, I have said enough about the shortcomings of
Sergius, the son of Bacchus, in Libya. I have told how he was the chief
cause of the ruin of the Roman power in that country, how he broke the
oath which he swore to the Levathae on the Gospels, and how he, without
excuse, put to death the eighty ambassadors. I need only add in this
place, that these men did not come to Sergius with any treacherous
intent, and that Sergius had not the slightest reason for suspecting
them, but having invited them to a banquet and taken an oath not to
harm them, he cruelly butchered them.
Solomon, the Roman army, and all the Libyans were lost owing to this
crime; for, in consequence of what he had done, especially after
Solomon's death, no officer or soldier would expose himself to the
dangers of war. John, the son of Sisinniolus, was especially averse to
taking the field, out of the hatred which he bore to Sergius, until
Areobindus arrived in Libya.
Sergius was effeminate and unwarlike, very young both in years and
in mind, excessively jealous and insolent to all men, luxurious in his
habits, and inflated with pride. However, after he had become the
accepted husband of the niece of Antonina, Belisarius's wife, the
Empress would not permit him to be punished in any way or removed from
his office, although she saw distinctly that the state of affairs in
Libya threatened its utter ruin; and she even induced the Emperor to
pardon Solomon, Sergius's brother, for the murder of Pegasius. How this
came to pass I will now explain.
After Pegasius had ransomed Solomon from captivity among the
Levathae, and the barbarians had returned home, Solomon and Pegasius,
who had ransomed him, set out, accompanied by a few soldiers, to
Carthage. On the way Pegasius reproached Solomon with the wrong he had
done, and bade him remember that Heaven had only just rescued him from
the enemy. Solomon, enraged at being taunted with his captivity,
straightway slew Pegasius, and thus requited him for having ransomed
him. But when Solomon reached Byzantium, the Emperor absolved him from
the guilt of murder, on the pretext that he had slain a traitor to the
Roman Empire, and gave him letters of acquittal. Solomon, having thus
escaped all punishment for his crime, departed gladly for the East, to
visit his own country and his family; but the vengeance of God fell
upon him on the way, and removed him from amongst mankind. This is what
happened in regard to Solomon and Pegasius.