A Struggle for Rome, v. 2

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER XIV.

  On the last day of the armistice, Cethegus was again able to appearupon the walls of the Mausoleum, where his legionaries and Isauriansgreeted him with loud cheers.

  His first walk was to the monument of Kallistratos. He laid a wreath oflaurels and roses upon the black marble slab.

  While he was superintending the strengthening of the fortificationsfrom this point, Syphax brought him a letter from Mataswintha.

  The contents were laconic enough:

  "Put an end to it. I cannot bear to see this misery any longer. Thesight of the interment of forty thousand of my countrymen has broken myheart. The death-choruses all seem to accuse me. I shall succumb ifthis continue. Famine rages fearfully in the camp. The army's last hopeis a large convoy of corn and cattle, which is on the way from SouthGaul. In the next calends it is expected off Portus. Act accordingly;but make an end."

  "Triumph!" said the Prefect. "The siege is over. Hitherto our littlefleet lay idle at Populonium; but now it shall have work enough. ThisQueen is the Erinnys of the barbarians."

  And he himself went to Belisarius, who received him with noblegenerosity.

  The same night--the last of the armistice--Johannes marched out of thePincian Gate, and wheeled to the left, towards the Flaminian high-road.Ravenna was his goal.

  And swift messengers sped by sea to Populonium, where a small Romansquadron lay at anchor.

  The fight for the city, in spite of the expiration of the armistice,was scarcely renewed.

  About a week after this the King, who was only now able to leave hisbed of pain, took his first walk through the lines of tents,accompanied by his friends.

  Three of the seven camps, formerly crowded with soldiers, werecompletely desolated and abandoned; and the other four were butsparsely populated.

  Tired to death, without complaint, but also without hope, the famishedsoldiers lay before their tents.

  No cheer, no greeting, rejoiced the ears of their brave King upon hispainful way; the warriors scarcely raised their tired eyes at the soundof his approaching footsteps.

  From the interior of the tents sounded the loud groaning of the sickand dying, who succumbed to wounds, hunger, and pestilence. Scarcelycould healthy men enough be found to occupy the most necessary posts.

  The sentries dragged their spears behind them, too weak to carry themupright or to lay them across their shoulders.

  The leaders arrived at the outwork before the Aurelian Gate; in thetrench lay a young archer, chewing the bitter grass.

  Hildebad called to him:

  "By the hammer, Gunthamund! what is this? Thy bow-string has sprung;why dost thou not bend another?"

  "I cannot, sir. The string broke yesterday as I shot my last shot; andI and my three comrades have not strength enough to bend another."

  Hildebad gave him a drink from his gourd-bottle.

  "Didst thou shoot at a Roman?"

  "Oh no, sir!" said the man. "A rat was gnawing at that corpse downthere. I happily hit it, and we divided it between us."

  "Iffaswinth, where is thine uncle Iffamer?" asked the King.

  "Dead, sire. He fell behind you, as he was carrying you away from thatcursed marble tomb."

  "And thy father Iffamuth?"

  "Dead too. He could no longer bear the poisonous water from theditches. Thirst, King! burns more fiercely than hunger; and it willnever, never rain from these leaden skies."

  "Are you all from the Athesis valley?"

  "Yes, sire; from the Iffinger mountains. Oh! what delicious springwater there is at home!"

  Teja observed another warrior at some distance drinking from hishelmet. His features grew darker and darker.

  "Hey, thou, Arulf!" he cried to the warrior; "thou seem'st to sufferno thirst."

  "No; I often drink," said the man.

  "What dost thou drink?"

  "Blood from the wounds of the newly-fallen. At first it disgusts oneterribly; but in despair one gets used to it."

  Witichis passed on with a shudder.

  "Send all my wine into the camp, Hildebad; the sentries shall shareit."

  "All thy wine? O King! my office of cup-bearer has become very light.There are but one and a half skins left; and Hildebrand, thy physician,says that thou must strengthen thyself."

  "And who will strengthen _these_, Hildebad? They are reduced to thestate of wild animals!"

  "Come back to thy tent," said Totila; "it is not good to be here." Andhe put his hand on the King's shoulder.

  Arrived at the tent, the friends seated themselves silently round thebeautiful marble table, upon which, in golden dishes, lay mouldy bread,as hard as stone, and a few pieces of meat.

  "It was the last horse in the royal stables," said Hildebad, "exceptBoreas."

  "Boreas must not be slaughtered. My wife, my child, have sat upon hisback." And Witichis rested his weary head upon both his hands. A sadpause ensued. "Friends," the King at last began, "this cannot go on.Our people perish before these walls. After a hard struggle, I havecome to a painful decision--"

  "Do not pronounce it yet, O King!" cried Hildebad. "In a few days EarlOdoswinth, of Cremona, will arrive with the ships, and we shallluxuriate in good things."

  "He is not yet here," said Teja.

  "And will not our heavy loss of men be replaced by fresh troops whenEarl Ulithis arrives from Urbinum with the garrisons which the King hassummoned from all the forts of Ravenna, in order to fill our emptytents?"

  "Ulithis also is not yet here," said Teja. "He is said to be still inPicenum; and if he happily arrive, then the greater will be the want."

  "But the Roman city hungers too," said Hildebad, breaking the hardbread upon the table with his fist. "Let us see who can bear it thelongest!"

  "I have often wondered, during these heavy days and sleepless nights,"the King slowly said, "why--why all this must be. I have everconscientiously weighed right and wrong between our enemies and us, andI can come to no other conclusion but that we have right on our side.And, truly, we have never failed in strength and courage."

  "Thou least of all," said Totila.

  "And we have grudged no sacrifice," sighed the King. "And yet if, as weall say, there is a God in heaven, just and good and almighty, why doesHe permit this enormous and undeserved misery? Why must we succumb toByzantium?"

  "But we must not succumb!" cried Hildebad. "I have never speculatedmuch, about our Almighty God; but if He permits _that_ to happen, weought to storm heaven and overthrow His throne!"

  "Do not blaspheme, my brother," said Totila. "And thou, my noble King,take courage and trust. Yes, a good God reigns above the stars;therefore the just cause must win at last. Courage, my Witichis; hopetill the end."

  But the heart-broken man shook his head.

  "I confess that I have been able to find but _one_ way out of thiserror; one way to get rid of this terrible doubt of God's justice. Itcannot be that we suffer guiltless. And as our nation's cause is,without doubt, a just one, there must be hidden guilt in me, your King.Repeatedly, so say our heathen songs, has a King sacrificed himself forhis people when defeat, pestilence, or scarcity had persecuted thenation for years. Then the King took upon himself the hidden sin whichseemed to weigh upon his people, and atoned by his death, or by goingsceptreless into exile, an outlawed fugitive. Let me put off the crownfrom my unfortunate head. Choose another King, with whom God is notangry; choose Totila, or----"

  "Thou ravest still in the fever of thy wounds," interrupted the oldmaster-at-arms. "_Thou_ weighed down with guilt--thou, the mostfaithful of all? No! I tell you, you children of too young days, whohave lost the old strength of your fathers with your fathers' oldbelief, and now know of no comfort for your hearts--I tell you, yourdistrustful speeches grieve me!" and his eyes flashed with a strangeradiance as he continued, "All that rejoices or pains us here uponearth is scarcely worth our notice. Here below there is but one thingnecessary, and that is, to have been a true man, and no perjurer, andto die
on the battle-field, and not upon a straw bed. Then the Walkyribear the faithful hero from the bloody field, and carry him on rosyclouds to Odin's halls, where the Einheriar greet him with full cups.There he daily rides forth at dawn to the hunting-field or thefencing-court, and at eve he returns to the banquet and the song in thegolden halls. And lovely virgins caress the youths, and the elders chatabout wise primeval times with the old primeval heroes. And there Ishall meet again all the valiant companions of my youth; bold Winitharand Waltharis of Aquitania, and Guntharis of Burgundy. There I shallagain behold him for whom I have so longed. Sir Beowulf; and I shallsee the Cheruskians of ancient days, the first who ever beat theRomans, and of whom the singer of the Saxons still sings. And again Ishall carry the shield and spear of my master, the King with the eagleeyes. And thus we shall live for all eternity in light and joy, theearth below and all its woes forgotten."

  "A fine poem, old heathen!" said Totila, with a smile. "But if all thiscan no longer console us for actual and heart-rending suffering? Speakthou also, Teja, thou gloomy guest. What is thy opinion of our sorrows?Thy sword never fails us; why dost thou withhold thy words? What makesthy comforting harp dumb, thou singer of singers?"

  "My words?" answered Teja, rising; "my words and my thoughts would beperhaps harder to bear than all our suffering. Let me yet be silent, mysun-bright Totila. Perhaps a day will come when I may answer thee.Perhaps, also, I may once more play on my harp, if but a string willvibrate."

  And he left the tent; for outside in the camp a confused andinexplicable noise of calling and questioning voices arose. The friendslooked silently after Teja.

  "I guess his thoughts," at last said old Hildebrand, "for I have knownhim from his boyhood. He is not as other men. And in the Northlandthere are many who think like him, who do not believe in Thor and Odin,but only in necessity and in their own strength. It is almost too heavya burden for a human heart to bear, and it makes no one happy to thinkas he does. I wonder that he can sing and play the harpnotwithstanding."

  Just then Teja, returning, tore open the curtain of the tent; his facewas still paler than before; his dark eyes flashed; but his voice wasas quiet as ever as he said:

  "Break up the camp. King Witichis. Our ships have fallen into theenemy's hands at Ostia. They have sent the head of Earl Odoswinth intothe camp. And upon the walls of Rome, before the very eyes of oursentinels, they slaughter the cattle taken from the Goths. Largereinforcements from Byzantium, under Valerian and Euthalius--Huns,Slaves and Antians--have been brought into the Tiber by many ships. ForJohannes has marched through Picenum."

  "And Earl Ulithis?"

  "Has been killed and his troops beaten. Ancona and Ariminum are taken,and----"

  "Is that not yet all?" cried the King.

  "No, Witichis. Johannes threatens Ravenna, He is only a few milesdistant from that city. And urgent haste is necessary."