A Struggle for Rome, v. 2

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER X.

  Early next morning Rome and the Gothic encampment were equally full oflife and movement.

  Mataswintha and Syphax had learned somewhat, and had imparted it toCethegus; but they had not known all.

  They had heard of the plot of the three Goths against the life ofBelisarius, and of the earlier plan of a sham assault upon the Gate ofSt. Paul.

  But they had not heard that the King, changing his plan, had determinedto take advantage of the absence of the great general, in order to tryif Gothic heroism were not yet able to conquer the fortifications andthe genius of Belisarius.

  In the council of war, no one had deceived himself as to the importanceand risk of the undertaking upon which they had determined; for if,like all former ones--and Procopius had already counted sixty battles,sallies, assaults and skirmishes--this last attempt failed, no furtherexertion could be demanded from the harassed and greatly diminishedarmy.

  For this reason they had, at Teja's advice, taken an oath to keep theirplan a profound secret, and thus Mataswintha had learned nothing fromthe King.

  Even the keen senses of the Moor had been unable to scent out thatanything of importance was in preparation for that day--the Gothictroops themselves knew not what.

  Totila, Hildebad, and Teja had started with their horsemen during thenight, and had placed themselves in ambush on the south of the ValerianWay, in a hollow near the tomb of the Fulvias, through which Belisariuswould necessarily pass. They hoped to have finished their task soonenough to be able to take an important part in the events which wereimpending against the city.

  While the King, with Hildebrand, Guntharis, and Markja, was musteringthe troops within the camp, Belisarius marched at daybreak out of theTiburtinian Gate, surrounded by part of his body-guard.

  Procopius and Severinus rode on his right and left; Aigan, theMassagetian, bore his banner, which accompanied the magister militum onall occasions.

  Constantinus, to whom he had entrusted the care of the "Belisarian"part of Rome during his absence, doubled all the posts along the walls,and placed his troops under arms close to the ramparts. He sent word tothe Prefect to do the same with the Byzantines under his command.

  His messenger met Cethegus upon the walls between the Appian Gate andthe Gate of St. Paul.

  "So Belisarius thinks," said Cethegus sarcastically, as he obeyed theorder, "that Rome cannot be safe unless he guard it! But I think thatBelisarius would be in evil plight, had I not protected my Rome. Come,Lucius Licinius," he whispered to the latter, "we must decide upon whatwe must do should Belisarius fail to return from his ride. In thatcase, a firm hand must be laid upon the Byzantine army."

  "I know whose hand will do it."

  "It may perhaps lead to a short struggle with those of the body-guardstill in Rome; either in the Baths of Diocletian or at the TiburtinianGate. They must be crushed before they have time to reflect. Take threethousand of my Isaurians, and divide them, without attractingattention, round about the Baths, and, above all things, occupy theTiburtinian Gate."

  "But whence shall I withdraw the men?"

  "From the Mausoleum of Hadrian," said Cethegus after a moment'sreflection.

  "And the Goths?"

  "Bah! the Mausoleum is strong; it will protect itself, for theassaulters must first get over the river to the south, and then climbthose smooth walls of Parian marble, in which the Greek and I take suchpride. And besides," he added with a smile, "look up! There stands ahost of marble gods and heroes; they may themselves protect theirtemple against the barbarians. Do you see? I told you it would be so.The Goths only think of attacking the Gate of St. Paul," he concluded,pointing towards the Gothic camp, whence, just at that moment, a strongdivision marched out in the direction he mentioned.

  Licinius obeyed his orders, and soon led three thousandIsaurians--perhaps the half of the garrison of the Mausoleum--over theriver and the Viminalian Hill in the direction of the Baths ofDiocletian. He then replaced Belisarius's Armenians at the TiburtinianGate by three hundred Isaurians and legionaries.

  But Cethegus turned to the Salarian Gate, where Constantinus nowremained as the representative of Belisarius.

  "I must have him out of the way," said Cethegus to himself, "when thenews arrives.--When you have repulsed the barbarians," he said aloud toConstantinus, "no doubt you will make a sally. What an opportunity togather laurels while your commander is yet at a distance!"

  "Yes," said Constantinus, "they shall see that we can fight, evenwithout Belisarius."

  "But you must aim with more composure," said Cethegus, turning to aPersian archer and taking his bow. "Do you see that Goth, the leader onhorseback? He shall fall."

  Cethegus drew the bow. The Goth fell from his horse, pierced throughthe neck by the arrow.

  "And you use my shooting-machines clumsily too! Do you see that oak-tree?A leader of one of the Gothic thousands is standing beneath it, clad ina coat of mail. Pay attention!"

  He directed the machine; aimed and shot. The mailed Goth was piercedthrough and through, and nailed to the tree.

  Just then a Saracen horseman rode quickly up below the wall.

  "Archon," he cried to Constantinus, "Bessas begs for reinforcements forthe Praenestinian Gate! The Goths are advancing."

  Constantinus looked doubtfully at Cethegus.

  "Pshaw!" said the latter; "the only attack to be feared will be madeupon the Gate of St. Paul, and that is well defended, I am certain.Tell Bessas that he is scared too soon. Besides, I have six lions, tentigers and twelve bears in the Vivarium waiting for the next feast atthe Circus. Let them loose upon the barbarians for the present. It willafford a spectacle for the Romans."

  But now one of the body-guard hurried up from Mons Pincius.

  "Help, sir. Help, Constantinus! your own gate, the Flaminian, is indanger! Countless barbarians! Ursicinus begs for assistance!"

  "There too?" asked Cethegus incredulously.

  "Reinforcements for the broken walls between the Flaminian and thePincian Gates!" cried a second messenger, also sent by Ursicinus.

  "You need not defend that part. You know that it stands under thespecial protection of St. Peter; that will suffice," said Constantinusencouragingly.

  Cethegus smiled.

  "Yes, to-day most surely; for it will not be attacked at all."

  "Prefect!" cried Marcus Licinius, who just then hurried up, out ofbreath; "quick to the Capitol! I have just come thence. All the sevencamps of the enemy are vomiting Goths from every exit. A general stormis intended upon all the gates of Rome."

  "That can hardly be," said Cethegus with a smile. "But I will go up.You, Marcus Licinius, will answer to me for the Tiburtinian Gate. It_must_ be mine. Away with you! Take your two hundred legionaries."

  With these words he mounted his horse and rode towards the Capitolround the foot of the Viminalian Hill. There he met with LuciusLicinius and his Isaurians.

  "General," said Lucius, "things look grave, very grave! What about theIsaurians? Do you persist in your order?"

  "Have I retracted it?" said Cethegus severely. "Lucius, you and theother tribunes must follow me. Isaurians, you, under your chief,Asgares, will march between the Baths and the Tiburtinian Gate."

  He did not believe there was danger for Rome. He thought he knew whatthe barbarians really intended at this moment.

  "The feint of a general attack," he argued, "is only meant to preventthe Byzantines from thinking of the danger of their commander outsidethe walls."

  He soon reached and ascended a tower of the Capitol, whence he couldoverlook the whole plain.

  It was filled with Gothic weapons.

  It was a splendid spectacle.

  From all the gates of the encampment poured the Gothic troops,encircling the whole circumference of the city.

  It was evident that the assault was intended to be carried onsimultaneously against all the gates of Rome.

  Foremost came the archers and slingers, in light groups
of skirmishers,whose business it was to rid the ramparts of their defenders.

  Then followed battering-rams and wall-breakers, taken from Romanarsenals or constructed on Roman models, though often clumsily enough;harnessed with horses and oxen and served by soldiers without weaponsof attack, whose sole business it was to protect themselves and theirteams against the projectiles of the enemy by means of their shields.

  Close behind, in thick ranks and fully armed, furnished withbattle-axes and strong knives for the hand-to-hand struggle, anddragging heavy ladders, came the warriors who were to undertake theassault.

  These three separate lines of attack advanced steadily, in good order,and with an even step. The sun glittered upon their helmets; atintervals of equal lengths sounded the long-drawn summons of the Gothichorns.

  "They have learned something of us," cried Cethegus, with a soldier'spride in the fine array. "The man who has ordered these ranksunderstands war."

  "Who is it?" asked Kallistratos, who, in splendid armour, stood nearLucius Licinius.

  "King Witichis, without doubt," answered Cethegus.

  "I should not have thought that simple man, with his modest expression,capable of such generalship."

  "These barbarians are often unfathomable," remarked Cethegus.

  And now he rode away from the Capitol, over the river to the rampartsat the Pancratian Gate, where the first attack seemed to threaten.

  There he ascended the corner tower with his followers.

  "Who is the old man with the flowing beard, marching before his troopand carrying a stone axe? He looks as if the lightning of Zeus hadmissed him in the battle with the Titans."

  "It is Theodoric's old master-at-arms; he marches against this gate,"answered the Prefect.

  "And who is the richly-accoutred man upon the brown charger, with thewolfs head upon his helmet? He is marching towards the PortaPortuensis."

  "That is Duke Guntharis, the Woelfung," said Lucius Licinius.

  "And see there, too, on the eastern side of the city, away over theriver, as far as the eye can reach, the ranks of the enemy advanceagainst all the gates," cried Piso.

  "But where is the King himself!" asked Kallistratos.

  "Look! there in the middle you see the Gothic standard. There he is,opposite the Pancratian Gate," answered the Prefect.

  "He alone, with his strong division, stands motionless far behind thelines," said Salvius Julianus, the young jurist.

  "Will he not join in the fight!" asked Massurius.

  "It would be against his habit not to do so. But let us go down uponthe ramparts; the fight begins," said Cethegus.

  "Hildebrand has reached the trench."

  "There stand my Byzantines, under Gregorius. The Gothic archers aimwell. The ramparts become thinned. Massurius, bring up my Abasgianarchers, and the best archers of the legions. They must aim at the oxenand horses of the battering-rams."

  Very soon the battle was kindled upon all sides, and Cethegus remarkedwith rage that the Goths progressed everywhere.

  The Byzantines seemed to miss their leader; they shot at random andfell back from the walls, against which the Goths pressed with unusualdaring.

  They had already crossed the trenches at many points, and DukeGuntharis had even erected ladders against the walls near thePortuensian Gate; while the old master-at-arms had dragged a strongbattering-ram to the Pancratian Gate, and had caused it to be protectedby a penthouse against the fiery darts from above.

  Already the first strokes of the ram thundered through the uproar ofthe battle against the beams of the gate.

  This well-known sound gave the Prefect a shock.

  "It is evident," he said to himself, "that they are in good earnest."

  Again a thundering stroke,

  Gregorius, the Byzantine, looked at him inquiringly.

  "This must not continue any longer," cried Cethegus angrily; and hetore a bow and quiver from an archer who stood near him, and hurried tothe battlements over the gate.

  "Here, archers and slingers! Follow me!" he cried. "Bring heavy stones.Where is the next balista? Where the scorpions? That penthouse mustcome down!"

  But under it stood Gothic archers, who eagerly looked through theapertures at the pinnacles of the battlements.

  "It is useless, Haduswinth," grumbled young Gunthamund; "for the thirdtime I have aimed in vain. Not one of them will venture even his noseabove the battlements."

  "Patience!" answered the old man; "only keep thy bow ready bent. Somecurious body will be sure to show himself. Lay a bow ready for me too,and have patience."

  "Patience! That is easier for thee with thy seventy years, than for mewith my twenty," grumbled Gunthamund.

  Meanwhile Cethegus reached the wall over the gate, and cast a lookacross the plain.

  There he saw the King standing motionless in the distance with hiscentre, upon the right bank of the Tiber.

  This sight disturbed him.

  "What does he intend? Has he learned that the commander-in-chief oughtnot to fight? Come, Gajus," he cried to a young archer, who had boldlyfollowed him, "your young eyes are sharp. Look over the battlements.What is the King doing there?"

  And he bent over the bulwarks. Gajus followed his example, and bothlooked out eagerly.

  "Now, Gunthamund!" cried Haduswinth below.

  Two strings twanged, and the two Romans started back.

  Gajus fell, shot in the forehead; and an arrow fell rattling from thePrefect's helmet.

  Cethegus passed his hand across his brow.

  "You live, my general!" cried Piso, springing towards him.

  "Yes, friend. It was well aimed, but the gods need me yet. Only theskin is scratched," said Cethegus, and set his helmet straight.