XLIII. CHAP. battle, in the waters of the Vulturnus, or by the hands of the enraged peasants: but it may seem incredible, that a victory,52 which no more than five of the Alemanni survived, could be purchased with the loss of fourscore Romans. Seven thousand Goths, the relics of the war, defended the fortress of Campsa till the ensuing spring; and every messenger of Narses announced the reduction of the Italian cities, whose names were corrupted by the ig norance or vanity of the Greeks.53 After the battle of Casilinum, Narses entered the capital; the arms and treasures of the Goths, the Franks, and the Alemanni, were displayed; his soldiers, with garlands in their hands, chanted the praises of the conqueror; and Rome, for the last time, beheld the semblance of a triumph. Settlement of Italy, A. D. After a reign of sixty years, the throne of the Gothic kings was filled by the Exarchs of Ravenna, the represen 554....568. tatives in peace and war of the emperor of the Romans.... Their jurisdiction was soon reduced to the limits of a narrow province: but Narses himself, the first and most powerful of the Exarchs, administered above fifteen years the entire kingdom of Italy. Like Belisarius, he had deserved the honours of envy, calumny, and disgrace: but the favourite eunuch still enjoyed the confidence of Jus tinian, or the leader of a victorious army awed and repressed the ingratitude of a timid court. Yet it was not by weak and mischievous indulgence that Narses secured the attachment of his troops. Forgetful of the past, and regardless of the future, they abused the present hour of prosperity and peace. The cities of Italy resounded with the noise of drinking and dancing: the spoils of victory were wasted in sensual pleasures; and nothing (says Agathias) remained, unless to exchange their shields and helmets for the soft lute and the capacious hogshead.54 In a man 52 Agathias (1. ii. p. 47.) has produced a Greek epigram of six lines on this victory of Narses, which is favourably compared to the battles of Marathon and Platea. The chief diference is indeed in their consequences......so trivial in the former instance......so permanent and glorious int latter. 53 The Beroi and Brincas of Theophanes or his transcriber (p. 201.) must be read or understood Verona and Brixia. 04 Ελιπετο γαρ οιμαι, αυτοις ύπο αβελτέριας τας ασπίδας τυχοι και τα κράνη αμφορέως οινε και βαρβιτε αποδόσθαι (Agathias, l. i. XLIII. ly oration, not unworthy of a Roman censor, the eunuch CHAP. reproved these disorderly vices, which sullied their fame and endangered their safety. The soldiers blushed and obeyed: discipline was confirmed, the fortifications were. restored; a duke was stationed for the defence and military command of each of the principal cities;55 and the eye of Narses pervaded the ample prospect from Calabria to the Alps. The remains of the Gothic nation evacuated the country, or mingled with the people: the Franks, instead of revenging the death of Buccelin, abandoned,without a struggle, their Italian conquests: and the rebellious Sindbal, chief of the Heruli, was subdued, taken, and hung on a lofty gallows by the inflexible justice of the Exarch.56 The civil state of Italy, after the agitation of a long tempest, was fixed by a pragmatic sanction, which the emperor promulgated at the request of the pope...... Justinian introduced his own jurisprudence into the schools and tribunals of the West: he ratified the acts of Theodo ric and his immediate successors, but every deed was rescinded and abolished, which force had extorted, or fear had subscribed, under the usurpation of Totila. A moderate theory was framed to reconcile the rights of property with the safety of prescription, the claims of the state with the poverty of the people, and the pardon of offences with the interest of virtue and order of society. Under the Exarchs of Ravenna, Rome was degraded to the second rank. Yet the senators were gratified by the permission of visiting their estates in Italy, and of approaching without obstacle the throne of Constantinople: the regulation of weights and measures was delegated to the pope and senate; and the salaries of lawyers and physicians, of orators and grammarians, were destined to preserve or re-kindle p. 48). In the first scene of Richard III. our English poet has beautifully enlarged on this idea; for which, however, he was not indebted to the Byzantine historian. 55 Maffei has proved (Verona Illustrata, P. i. 1.x. p 257.289), against the common opinion, that the dukes of Italy were instituted before the con quest of the Lombards by Narses himself. In the Pragmatic Sanction (No. 23), Justinian restrains the judices militares. 56 See Paulus Diaconus, l. iii. c. 2. p. 776. Menander (in Excerpt. Legat. p. 133), mentions some risings in Italy by the Franks, and Theo❤ phanes (p. 201.) hints at some Gothic rebellions. CHAP. Invasion of the Bulgarians, the light of science in the ancient capital. Justinian might dictate benevolent edicts," and Narses might second his wishes by the restoration of cities, and more especially of churches. But the power of kings is most effectual to destroy and the twenty years of the Gothic war had consummated the distress and depopulation of Italy. As early as the fourth campaign, under the discipline of Belisarius himself, fifty thousand labourers died of hunger 58 in the narrow region of Picenum;59 and a strict interpretation of the evidence of Procopius would swell the loss of Italy above the total sum of her present inhabitants.60 I desire to believe, but I dare not affirm, that Belisarius sincerely rejoiced in the triumph of Narses. Yet the A. D. 559. consciousness of his own exploits might teach him to esteem without jealousy the merit of a rival; and the repose of the aged warrior was crowned by a last victory which saved the emperor and the capital. The Barbarians who annually visited the provinces of Europe were less discouraged by some accidental defeats, than they were excited by the double hope of spoil and of subsidy. In the thirty-second winter of Justinian's reign, the Danube was deeply frozen: Zabergan led the cavalry of the Bulgarians, and his standard was followed by a promiscuous multitude of Sclavonians. The savage chief passed without opposition the river and the mountains, spread his troops over Macedonia and Thrace, and advanced with no more. than seven thousand horse to the long walls which should 57 The Pragmatic Sanction of Justinian, which restores and regulates the civil state of Italy, consists of xxvii. articles: it is dated August 15, A. D. 554; is addressed to Narses, V. J. Præpositus Sacri Cubiculi, and to Antiochus, Præfectus Prætorio Italia; and has been preserved by Julian Antecessor, and in the Corpus Juris Civilis, after the novels and edicts of Justinian, Justin, and Tiberius. 58 A still greater number was consumed by famine in the southern provinces, without (ExTOS) the Ionian gulph. Acorns were used in the place of bread. Procopius had seen a deserted orphan suckled by a she-goat. Seventeen passengers were lodged, murdered, and eaten, by two women, who were detected and slain by the eighteenth, &c. 59 Quinta regio Piceni est; quondam uberrimæ multitudinis, ccclx millia Picentia in fidem. P. R. venere (Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 18). In the time of Vespasian, this ancient population was already diminished. 60 Perhaps fifteen or sixteen millions. Procopius (Anecdot. c. 18.) computes that Africa lost five millions, that Italy was thrice as extensive, and that the depopulation was in a larger proportion. But his reckoning is inflamed by passion, and clouded with uncertainty. have defended the territory of Constantinople. But the works of man are impotent against the assaults of nature: a recent earthquake had shaken the foundations of the wall; and the forces of the empire were employed on the distant frontiers of Italy, Africa, and Persia. The seven schools,61 or companies of the guards or domestic troops, had been augmented to the number of five thousand five hundred men, whose ordinary station was in the peaceful cities of Asia. But the places of the brave Armenians were insensibly supplied by lazy citizens, who purchased an exemption from the duties of civil life, without being exposed to the dangers of military service. Of such soldiers, few could be tempted to sally from the gates; and none could be persuaded to remain in the field, unless they wanted strength and speed to escape from the Bulgarians. The report of the fugitives exaggerated the numbers and fierceness of an enemy, who had polluted holy virgins, and abandoned new-born infants to the dogs and vultures; a crowd of rustics, imploring food and protection, increased the consternation of the city, and the tents of Zabergan were pitched at the distance of twenty miles,62 on the banks of a small river, which encircles Melanthias, and afterwards falls into the Propontis. Justinian trembled: and those who had only seen the emperor in his old age, were pleased to suppose, that he had lost the alacrity and vigour of his youth. By his command, the vessels of gold and silver were removed from the churches in the neighbourhood, and even the suburbs, of Constantinople: the ramparts were lined with trembling spectators: the golden gate was crowded with useless generals and tribunes, and 63 61 In the decay of these military schools, the satire of Procopius (Anecdot. c. 24. Aleman. p. 102, 103.) is confirmed and illustrated by Agathias (1. v. p. 159.) who cannot be rejected as an hostile witness. 62 The distance from Constantinople to Melanthias, Villa Cæsariana (Ammian. Marcellin. xxx. 11), is variously fixed at 102 or 104 stadia (Suidas, tom. ii. p. 522, 523. Agathias, 1 v. p. 158), or xviii or xix miles (Itineraria, p. 138.230. 323.532. and Wesseling's Observations). The first xii miles, as far as Rhegium, were paved by Justinian, who built a bridge over a morass or gullet between a lake and the sea (Procop. de Edif. 1. iv. c. 8). 63 The Atyras (Pompon. Mela, 1. ii. c. 2. p. 169. edit. Voss). At the river's mouth, a town or castle of the same name was fortified by Justinian (Procop. de Edif. 1. iv. c. 2. Itinerar. p. 570. and Wesseling). CHAP. XLIII. CHAP. the senate shared the fatigues and the apprehensions of the populace. XLIII. Last victo But the eyes of the prince and people were directed ry of Beli- to a feeble veteran, who was compelled by the public dan sarius. ger to resume the armour in which he had entered Car- |