A Struggle for Rome, v. 2

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER XII.

  Splendidly rose the sun out of the sea the next morning. Its beamsglittered upon the shining weapons of many thousand Gothic warriors,who crowded the wide levels of Regeta.

  From all the provinces of the kingdom they had hastened by groups, infamilies, often with wife and child, to be present at the great musterwhich took place every autumn.

  Such an Assembly was at once a splendid feast, and the highest nationalsolemnity. Originally, in heathen times, its immediate intention hadbeen the grand feast of sacrifice, which, twice a year, at the winterand the summer solstice, had united all branches of the nation inhonour of their common gods; to this were added a market and exchangeof goods, exercises of arms, and the review of the army. The Assemblyhad the power of the highest jurisdiction, and the final decision as topeace, war, and political relations with other states.

  And even now, in the Christian time, when the King had acquired many aright which once belonged to the people, the National Assemblypossessed a high solemnity, although its ancient heathen significancewas forgotten.

  The remains of the old liberties of the people, which even the powerfulTheodoric had not contested, revived under his weak descendants.

  A majority of free Goths had still to pronounce sentence, and to awardpunishment, even though the King's Earl conducted the proceedings inhis name, and fulfilled the sentence.

  Often already had Germanic nations themselves accused, judged, andexecuted their kings, on account of treachery, murder, or other heavycrimes, before a Free Assembly of the people.

  In the proud consciousness that he was his own master, and served none,not even the King, beyond the limit of freedom, the German went in fullarmour to the "Ting," where he felt himself safe and strong in unionwith his fellows, and saw the liberties, strength, and honour ofhimself and his countrymen represented in living pictures before hiseyes.

  To the Assembly of which we now speak, the Goths had been attracted bypeculiarly strong reasons. When the summons to meet at Regeta waspublished, the war with Byzantium was expected or already declared; thenation rejoiced at the coming struggle with their hated enemy, and wereglad to muster their forces beforehand. This time the Assembly was tobe, more than ever, a grand review.

  Besides this, most of the Goths in the adjacent places knew thatjudgment was to be passed on the murderers of the daughter ofTheodoric, and the great excitement caused by this treacherous act hadalso contributed to draw the people to Regeta.

  While a portion of those assembled had been received by friends andrelatives in the nearest villages, great numbers had--already some daysbefore the formal opening of the Assembly--encamped in light tents andhuts upon the wide plain, two hundred and eighty stadii distant fromRome.

  At the earliest dawn of day these groups were already in noisymovement, and employed the time during which they were yet masters ofthe place, in various games and pastimes.

  Some swam and bathed in the clear waters of the rapid river Ufen (or"Decemnovius," thus named because it flowed into the sea at Terracina,nineteen miles off), which crossed the plain. Others displayed theirskill in leaping over whole rows of outstretched spears, or, almostnaked, in dancing amid brandished swords, while others again--and thesethe fleetest-footed--clinging to the manes of their horses, kept stepwith their swiftest gallop, and when arrived at the goal, securelyswung themselves upon their unsaddled backs.

  "What a pity," cried young Gudila, who was the first to arrive at thegoal in one of these races, and now stroked his yellow locks out of hiseyes, "what a pity that Totila is not present! He is the best rider inthe nation, and has always beaten me. But now, with this horse, I wouldtry again with him."

  "I am glad that he is not here," said Gunthamund, who had arrivedsecond, "else I had scarcely won the first prize in hurling the lanceyesterday."

  "Yes," said Hilderich, a stately young warrior in a jingling suit ofmail, "Totila is clever at the lance. But black Teja throws stillbetter; he can tell you beforehand which rib he will hit."

  "Pshaw!" grumbled Hunibad, an elderly man, who had looked critically atthe performance of the youths, "all that is only play. In bloodyearnest the sword is the only weapon that serves a man at the last,when death so presses on him from all sides that he has no space forthrowing. And for that I praise Earl Witichis, of Faesulae! He is _my_man! What a breaking of skulls was there in the war with the Gepidae!The man cleaved through steel and leather as if it were dry straw! Heis still more valiant than my own duke, Guntharis the Woelfung, inFlorentia. But what do you youngsters know about it?--Look! the firstarrivals are coming down the hill. Up! let us go to meet them!"

  And now people came streaming in on all the roads; on foot, onhorseback, and in wagons. A noisy and turbulent crowd filled all theplain.

  On the shores of the river, where stood most of the tents, the horseswere unharnessed, and the wagons pushed together to form a barricade.Through the lanes of the camp the ever-increasing crowd now streamed.There friends and acquaintances, who had not met for years, sought andgreeted each other.

  It was a gay and chequered scene, for the old Germanic equality hadlong since disappeared from the kingdom.

  There stood near the aristocratic noble, who had settled in one ofthe rich Italian towns, who lived in the palaces of senatorialfamilies, and had adopted the more luxuriant and polite customs of theItalians; near the duke or earl from Mediolanum or Ticinum, who wore ashoulder-belt of purple silk across his richly-gilt armour; near such adainty lord towered some rough, gigantic Gothic peasant, who lived inthe thick oak-forests on the Margus in M[oe]sia, or who had fought thewolf in the forests by the rushing [OE]nus for the ragged skin which hecarried over his bear-like shoulders, and whose harsh-sounding speechstruck strangely on the ear of his half-Romanised companion.

  There came strong and war-hardened men from the distant AugustaVindelicorum on the Licus, who day and night defended the rotten wallsof that outermost northern fortress of the Gothic kingdom against thewild Su[=e]vi.

  And here were peaceful shepherds from Dacia, who, possessing neitherfield nor house, wandered with their flocks from pasture to pasture,still living in the manner introduced into the West by their ancestorsfrom Asia a thousand years ago.

  There was a rich Goth, who, in Rome or Ravenna, had married thedaughter of some Italian moneychanger, and had soon learned to dobusiness like his father-in-law, and reckon his profits by thousands.

  And here stood a poor Alpine shepherd, who drove his meagre goats on tothe meagre pastures near the noisy Isarcus, and who erected his hut ofplanks close to the den of the bear.

  So differently had the die been cast for the thousands who were heremet together, since their fathers had followed the call of the greatTheodoric to the West, away from the valleys of the Haemus.

  But still they felt that they were brothers, the sons of one nation;they spoke the same proud language, they had the same golden locks,the same snowy skins, the same light and sparkling eyes, and--aboveall--the same feeling in their hearts: "We stand as victors on theground that our fathers forced from the Roman Empire, and which we willdefend to the death."

  Like an immense swarm of bees the masses hummed and buzzed, greetingeach other, seeking old acquaintances and concluding new friendships;and the chaotic tumult seemed as if it would never end.

  But suddenly the peculiar long-drawn tones of the Gothic horn wereheard from the crown of the hill, and at once the storm of the thousandvoices was laid.

  All eyes were eagerly turned in the direction of the hill, from which aprocession of venerable men now approached.

  It was formed of half a hundred men in white and flowing mantles, theirheads crowned with ivy, carrying white staffs and ancient stone axes.They were the sajones or soldiers of the tribunal, whose office it wasto carry out the ceremonial forms of opening, warding, and closing the"Ting."

  Arrived on the plain, they greeted with a triple long-drawn flourishthe assembly of free warriors; who, after a s
olemn silence, answeredwith the clash and clang of their arms.

  The ban-officers shortly began their work.

  They divided to the right and left, and enclosed the whole wide fieldwith red woollen cords, which they wound round hazel staffs fixed intothe earth at every twenty steps; accompanying this action with therepetition of ancient songs and sayings.

  Exactly opposite the rising and setting of the sun, the woollen cordswere raised over the shafts of tall lances, so that they formed the twogates of the now completely enclosed "Ting-place;" and these entranceswere guarded by soldiers with drawn swords, in order to keep allstrangers and women at a distance.

  When all was arranged, the two oldest of the men stepped beneath thespear-gates and called in a loud voice:

  "According to ancient Gothic custom Is the fence erected. Now, with God's help, The judgment may begin."

  After the pause which ensued, there arose a low murmur amongst thecrowd, which gradually grew into a loud, and, at last, almost deafeninguproar of questioning, disputing, and doubting voices.

  It had been already remarked, as the procession advanced, that it wasnot, as usual, led by the Earl who was accustomed to hold and conductthe "Ting" in the name and ban of the King. But it had been expectedthat this representative of the King would make his appearance duringthe ceremony of enclosing the place. When, therefore, this work wasaccomplished, and the sentence of the old men called for thecommencement of the tribunal, and still no earl or officer hadappeared, who alone could pronounce the opening speech, the attentionof all present was directed to this deficiency, so difficult to besupplied.

  While everywhere the people asked and sought for the Earl, or somerepresentative of the King, it was remembered that the King himself hadannounced that he would appear in person before his people, to defendhimself and his Queen against the heavy accusation brought againstthem.

  But when the leaders of the people now sought for the friends andpartisans of the King, to question them concerning him, they discoveredthe suspicious fact--which, till now, had been overlooked in theconfusion of general greetings--that not one of the numerous relations,friends or servants of the royal family, whose duty, privilege, andinterest it was to appear in support of the accused, were present atthe meeting, although they had been seen in numbers, a few days ago, inthe streets and neighbourhood of Rome.

  This circumstance excited surprise and suspicion; and for some time itseemed as if, in consequence of the tumult caused by this singular factand the absence of the Earl, the formal commencement of the wholeproceedings would be rendered impossible.

  Many speakers had already tried in vain to gain a hearing.

  All at once, from the middle of the crowd, a sound was heard, similarto the battle-cry of some fearful monster, which drowned all othernoises.

  All eyes were turned in the direction whence the sound proceeded, andin the middle of the place, leaning against a lofty ilex-tree, was seenthe tall form of a man, who shouted the Gothic war-cry into the hollowof his bronze shield, which he held before his mouth.

  As the shield dropped, it discovered the powerful face of oldHildebrand, whose eyes seemed to flash fire.

  Enthusiastic applause greeted the appearance of the old and well-knownmaster-at-arms of the great Theodoric, who, like his master, had, bymeans of song and proverb, become a mythic figure amongst the Gothswhile still living.

  As the applause died away the old man commenced:

  "Good Goths! my brave brothers! It troubles and surprises you that yousee no Earl, and no representative of the man who wears your crown. Donot let it disturb you! If the King thinks thereby to interrupt thismeeting, he is mistaken. I still remember old times, and I tell you,the people can judge what is right without the King, and hold thetribunal without the King's Earl. You are all grown up amongst newmanners and customs, but there stands old Haduswinth, scarcely a fewwinters younger than myself; he will bear me witness that power is withthe people alone; the Gothic nation is free!"

  "Yes! we are free!" cried a thousand voices.

  "If the King does not send his Earl, we will choose our 'Ting-Earl'ourselves," cried the grey-haired Haduswinth; "right and justiceexisted before King and Earl! And who knows the old customs of thenation better than Hildebrand, son of Hilding? Hildebrand shall be ourTing-Earl!"

  "Yes!" was echoed on all sides; "Hildebrand shall be our Ting-Earl!"

  "You have chosen me," now said Hildebrand, "and I count myself as wellelected as if King Theodahad had given me a warrant in letter andparchment. And my ancestors for centuries have often held tribunals forthe Goths. Come, sajones, help me to open the Assembly."

  In front of the oak there still lay the ruins of an ancient fane of thewood-god Picus; the sajones cleared the place, piled up the broadeststones, and leaned two square slabs to the right and left against thetrunks of the oak, so that a stately seat of justice was thus formed.And so before the altar of the old Italic sylvan god, the Gothic Earlheld a tribunal.

  Other sajones threw a wide blue woollen mantle with a broad whitecollar over Hildebrand's shoulders, and gave him an ashen staff, curvedat the top. At his left hand, on the branches of the oak, they hung ashining shield of burnished steel, and then placed themselves in twogroups on his right and on his left. The old man struck the shield withhis staff till it rung loudly. Then he seated himself with his face tothe east and began:

  "I enjoin silence, ban, and peace! I enjoin right and forbid wrong,quick anger, biting words, ready blows, and everything which can offendthe peace of the Ting. And I ask: is it the year and day, the time andhour, the place and spot in which to hold a free tribunal of Gothicmen?"

  The Goths who stood the nearest stepped forward and answered in chorus:

  "Here is the right place, under the wide sky, under the rustling oak;now is the right time, with a climbing sun, to hold a free tribunal ofGothic men on the sword-won soil of our Gothic inheritance."

  "We are assembled," continued old Hildebrand, "to decide upon twocases: an accusation of murder against Gothelindis the Queen, and ofcowardice and negligence, in this time of great danger, againstTheodahad our King. I ask----"

  But his speech was interrupted by the loud flourish of horns, whichsounded nearer and nearer from the west.