Belisarius: The Last Roman General Read online

  It is also reasonable to claim that the Gothic cavalry wore chainmail armour and either the more traditional patterns of western helmets or possibly new forms of the spangenhelm type produced by the Italian fabricae. As a supplement to their traditional spear/javelin and large round shield, they are likely to have carried a Roman-pattern spatha, again produced by the Italian fabricae.

  The idea that the Goths maintained production from the Roman fabricae is reinforced by the statements in Procopius that the Gothic army was equipped from arsenals controlled by the king (Wars, V.xi.28 and V.xvi.ll). In the first of these references, both arms and horses were distributed amongst the troops; in the second, Witigis led horsemen and infantry, ‘the most of them as well as their horses were clad in armour’. Although it is uncertain that the majority of the cavalry had armour on the front of their horses, the fact that this is mentioned by Procopius does suggest that at least some of them were so equipped.

  The latter quote also gives us evidence for the nature of the infantry. Barker (1981) suggests that the infantry was composed largely of unarmoured archers, there to give supporting fire to the cavalry. However, Procopius’ wording suggests the majority of the army was armoured, so implying that at least a large proportion of the infantry were heavy spearmen. The latter is reinforced to a degree by Belisarius’ statement to his friends during the siege of Rome that the Goths had no answer to the Byzantine horse archers (Proc V. xxvii. 27). If the Goths had been able to deploy very large numbers of foot archers, Belisarius would not have been able to employ the hit-and-run tactics used during the siege of Rome, as the small numbers of Byzantine cavalry would have been very exposed in the face of the ensuing large volumes of infantry missiles.

  In conclusion, it is possible to describe the Gothic army as based largely upon heavily-armoured cavalry using their traditional spears and javelins, with perhaps a few troops armed instead with the longer kontos. The infantry appears to have been dominated by heavily armoured spearmen, with an auxiliary force of archers to give supporting fire when needed. This army was very different to the totally-mounted Vandal armed forces, yet, as Belisarius was to quickly ascertain, they shared a major flaw when pitted against the Byzantines.

  Belisarius recaptures Rome

  Learning of the Byzantine invasion, the new king, Witigis’ took steps to counter the offensive, proceeding to Rome with a large force of Goths and ordering the arrest of Theodegisclus, son of Theodahad. However, he was faced with a dilemma. Belisarius was expected to move north from Naples, but Constantinianus was in a strong position in Illyricum and could easily march into the north of Italy. Furthermore, the Franks were in a threatening position to the northwest of Italy.

  Witigis decided to play for time. Leaving a garrison of 4,000 men under Leuderis in Rome, taking many senators as hostage and urging Pope Silverius and the Roman citizens to remain loyal, he moved to Ravenna. The city was strategically placed at the focus of the three possible avenues of attack. From here, he could move to repulse either the Franks or Constantinianus, or he could advance upon Rome should it be threatened by Belisarius.

  Once in Ravenna he made the political move of marrying Matasuintha, daughter of Amalasuintha, in an attempt to link himself to the house of Theoderic and so legitimise his rule. He also ordered a muster of all of the Goths, excepting garrisons, and he then armed the troops with weapons and horses (Procopius, Wars, V.xi.28).

  At about this time, if not earlier, he sent envoys to the Franks. In order to ensure peace on one possible front, he ceded to the Franks those parts of Gaul still under Gothic rule. In return, the Franks not only agreed to remain nominally neutral, they also agreed to supply non-Frankish subject troops to aid the Goths in their war with the Byzantines. As they were supposed to be allied to the Byzantines at this time, they refused to allow actual Franks to join the Goths due to the potential political implications should they be recognised or captured. In accordance with the new agreement, Witigis ordered the troops acting as garrisons in Gaul to return to Italy, along with their leader, Marcian.

  Whilst Witigis was making agreements with the Franks, both Calabria and Apulia had surrendered to Belisarius, as the towns had no walls, no Gothic garrisons, and no means of defence. With his rear and flank relatively secure, Belisarius prepared to advance upon Rome. He left 300 infantry to garrison Naples and another force to garrison Cumae; these were the only two fortified towns in Campania, so with their garrisons in place he believed that his rear was now secure.

  As Belisarius began his advance, the situation turned unexpectedly in his favour. Pope Silverius and the Romans, scared by the sack of Naples, decided that they should surrender the city to Belisarius without a fight. Therefore, they sent the quaestor Fidelius of Milan as an envoy to inform Belisarius of their decision. It was only as the Byzantines approached that the Gothic garrison learned of the citizens’ decision: as the Byzantines entered by the Asinarian Gate, the Gothic garrison left by the Flaminian Gate. The date was 9 December 536.

  Leuderis, the Gothic commander, chose to stay in the city. Procopius assumes that this was due to shame (Wars, V.xiv.13), but he may also have been fearful of his reception by Witigis, having lost Rome without a fight. Leuderis, along with the keys of the city, was sent by a triumphant Belisarius to Justinian in Constantinople.

  As he established himself in Rome, Belisarius received further proof that the Goths were no longer a united force aiming at the expulsion of the invader. Pitzas, the Goth in control of western Samnium, surrendered with all of his forces to Belisarius. Belisarius gave Pitzas a small number of his own troops and ordered him to retain the territory in the name of the emperor.

  In a short space of time Belisarius had conquered the area of Italy south of Rome and Samnium. On the eastern side of the Adriatic, Constantinianus was in control of the areas of Illyricum and Dalmatia as far north as Liburnia. The war was going well.

  The Gothic Reaction

  Once in Rome, Belisarius ordered the digging of a moat around the city walls, following this with instructions for the repairs of those areas of the walls that had deteriorated due to neglect. Using Rome as a base, he also dispatched troops to the surrounding areas in order to bring more of the peninsula under his control.

  Constantinus was sent with a large force of bucellarii, many spearmen, Huns, and other troops to secure the whole of Tuscany. Constantinus quickly captured Spoletium and Perusia, establishing a garrison at the former whilst he held the latter with the rest of his forces. Whilst at Spoletium, he seized two daggers from a Roman citizen, an act that was to have grave repercussions, as will be described later. Bessas was dispatched with a smaller force and, upon his approach, Narnia surrendered to him without a fight. By the capture of these towns Belisarius had achieved control of the Via Flaminia, as well as other associated roads, which crossed the Apennine passes to the east and northeast of Rome.

  Belisarius himself remained at Rome. He obviously foresaw a response from the Goths and expected it to be directed at Rome. Alongside the repairs to the walls, he stockpiled provisions for a siege, even though the Romans informed him that attempts to defend the walls were futile, and waited upon developments.

  As the Byzantines settled into the towns they had taken, Witigis waited in Ravenna for the arrival of Marcian and his men from Gaul. When news reached him that Tuscany had been taken, but that Belisarius had remained in Rome, he realised that he had a chance to strike at the Byzantines whilst they were divided. He sent an army under the command of Unilas and Pissas to Perusia. The army was larger than that commanded by Constantinus, but in the first battle of the campaign, the Byzantines were victorious, routing the Goths and killing most of them in the course of the pursuit. Unilas and Pissas were captured and sent to Belisarius in Rome.

  When tidings of the defeat reached Witigis he decided to take matters into his own hands. He ordered Asinarius and Uligisalus to collect troops from the Suevi, according to his agreement with the Franks, before marching into Dalmatia a
nd besieging Salona. To help with the attack, he assigned a fleet to help with the siege of the city. He personally took command of the majority of the Goths and marched on Rome.

  Dalmatia

  The Gothic forces assigned to this theatre were led by Asinarius and Uligisalus. When Asinarius left the force to collect the Suevian troops, Uligisalus continued the advance with the main body until he reached Liburnia. Shortly, he was faced by the Byzantines under Constantinianus and defeated at the Battle of Scardon (Proc, Wars, V.xvi. 13; see Map 11). The Goths retired to the city of Burnus and awaited the arrival of Asinarius with the Suevic reinforcements. For his part, Constantinianus heard of Asinarius’ mission and realised that he did not have enough troops to face the combined army. Therefore he withdrew to Salona, dug a moat around the walls and prepared for a siege.

  Asinarius finally joined Uligisalus and the combined forces moved on Salona, accompanied by the fleet. Upon their arrival, they dug a ditch and stockade around the city whilst the ships completed the encirclement by closing off the harbour. After a short wait, a sortie by Byzantine ships in the harbour sank, captured or scattered the Gothic fleet. The Byzantines were able to sail in and out unmolested, though the Gothic troops maintained the siege by land.

  Meanwhile, Witigis had been marching towards Rome. As he travelled south, he was informed of the small size of the Byzantine forces by fugitives fleeing from Rome. Perceiving that he greatly outnumbered Belisarius, he decided that victory would be easy if he could only trap the Byzantine general in Rome. Accordingly, he travelled as fast as possible, in the hope that Belisarius would not have time to make his escape.

  Rome

  In Rome, Belisarius had not been idle. By taking control of Spoletium, Perusia and Narnia, Belisarius had established strong points along the Via Flaminia and other, parallel routes across the central Apennines. In this way, he may have been hoping to delay and weaken the Goths before their arrival at Rome; a succession of sieges would have cost the lives of many of the Gothic warriors. In order to further delay their advance, he built a tower at the Milvian Bridge, posting Innocentius and a unit of cavalry as the garrison.

  Hearing of Witigis’ advance, and aware of how small his own forces were, Belisarius ordered Constantinus and Bessas to leave garrisons in those towns they deemed defensible, and commanded them to return to Rome with the remainder of their forces at top speed.

  Constantinus did as he was ordered, leaving garrisons in Spoletium and Perusia, before returning to Rome. Bessas delayed and acted too slowly. Before he could organise his troops, the advance guard of the Gothic army arrived upon the plains outside Narnia. After a fierce encounter, the Goths were driven back, but, whilst pursuing them, Bessas became aware of the size of the forces arrayed against him. Consequently, he returned to Narnia with all haste, organised a garrison for the town, then travelled to Rome with the news that Witigis was approaching.

  Witigis had displayed a strategic foresight that would have alarmed Belisarius. Rather than halting and besieging each of the cities in turn, Witigis understood that they were unimportant. The main target was Belisarius, the leader of the invasion, along with the city of Rome. As a result, he bypassed Narnia to the south, moved through the territory of the Sabines, and approached the Milvian Bridge unexpectedly.

  Anticipating Witigis’ imminent arrival, Belisarius set out from Rome and headed towards the Milvian Bridge with 1,000 cavalry in order to further impede the Goths’ progress. As he neared the bridge, he was surprised to meet the vanguard of the Gothic army. As the Goths had approached the crossing, twenty two men of the garrison who were of Germanic descent had deserted to Witigis. The rest of the garrison had decided that they could not hope to hold their position and had fled south towards Campania. The Goths had crossed the river unopposed and met the forces under Belisarius by chance.

  Unable to make tactical deployments due to the unexpected nature of the meeting, the Byzantine cavalry immediately joined combat with the Goths, Belisarius himself being in the front line of the fighting. On seeing this, the deserters pointed him out, instructing the Goths to attack the rider on the ‘white-faced horse’ (Proc, Wars, V.xviii.8). As the Goths focused their attention upon Belisarius, his bodyguards closed around him to protect him.

  Finally, the Goths were routed. According to Procopius the Goths had lost 1,000 men. (Wars, V.xviii.14), but in the circumstances this appears to be a case of Procopius exaggerating the exploits of his hero. Belisarius now led the pursuit until the Goths reached their own main body, consisting of formed lines of infantry. The Byzantines were repulsed and the Gothic cavalry, reinforced by fresh men, forced the Byzantines to retire in their turn.

  The Byzantines made a stand upon a nearby hill, causing the Goths to retire momentarily, before withdrawing towards Rome. They did not stop until they reached the Salarian Gate, only to find the Romans refused them entry. They had heard from fugitives that Belisarius had been killed and thought this was a Gothic ruse to enter the city unopposed.

  Belisarius ordered his men to reform. When the Gothic pursuers came close he ordered a charge that scattered them, before again returning to the gate. Convinced, the Romans now allowed him to enter. The siege of Rome began.

  The Siege of Rome

  At the beginning of March, Witigis approached the city and detailed his men to build seven fortified camps from which they could maintain a partial siege, as he did not have enough troops to totally blockade the city. Instead, Witigis was relying on the low level of manpower available to the Byzantines and was expecting to win the war of attrition that sieges often became. Six of these camps were located so as to put pressure on the walls between the Flaminian and Praenestine gates.

  The seventh camp was on the other side of the River Tiber on the Plains of Nero, and was manned by Marcian and his men, recently returned from Gaul. Not only would the camp put pressure upon the Cornelian and Aurelian gates, it would also secure the Milvian Bridge. Without this camp, the entire section of walls on the west side of the Tiber would be free from threat, since apart from the Milvian Bridge the Goths had no means of accessing the western side of the river. As it was, the Goths only posed a direct threat to about half of the city walls. Witigis then broke the fourteen aqueducts that fed water to the city, began the construction of assault engines, catapults and mines, and began the siege in earnest. We are not sure of the exact date at which the siege began, only that it was sometime in late February 537.

  Upon his return, Belisarius had immediately assigned his troops to their duties. He had placed one of his commanders at every gate with a detachment of troops. Bessas was at the Praenestine Gate, and Constantinus was at the Flaminian Gate, where Belisarius ordered a stone wall built inside to ensure that it was secure from attack. Belisarius had taken personal control of the Pincian and the Salarian gates, as these were most suitable as exits from which to launch sallies against the Goths. These four gates faced the Gothic approach and so were most in danger of attack. Belisarius had placed his most reliable officers in charge here. The remaining gates were assigned to his infantry commanders, since they were deemed to be less threatened by the Goths. He further ordered the siting of catapults and stone-throwers on the walls, ready for the expected assault of the Goths.

  Shortly after the siege began, Bessas reported a rumour that a number of Goths had broken into the city. Belisarius sent men to investigate and, when they reported that no such thing had happened, he sent an order to all of his commanders ordering them to ignore all such rumours in the future and remain at their posts; Belisarius would deal with any real breakthroughs in person.

  Once the Goths had broken the aqueducts, Belisarius took measures to ensure that they were blocked where they entered the city, so that the Goths could not repeat the strategy he had used to gain entry to Naples. However, the aqueducts had provided the power for the mills that ground the city’s flour. Belisarius countered this by suspending water-wheels between two boats, mooring the boats in the Tiber, and usin
g the force of the river to turn the wheels and grind the corn. Although the Goths released logs and other debris upstream in an attempt to destroy the floating mills, Belisarius ordered a chain to be hung across the river and the danger was averted.

  As the siege progressed, the citizens began to feel the pressures of a city under siege. They began to share their dissatisfaction with each other and deserters brought the news to Witigis. As a result he attempted to open negotiations with Belisarius, but was rebuffed and the siege continued.

  Having completed his preparations, at dawn on the eighteenth day of the siege Witigis launched his assault. Siege towers pulled by oxen, battering rams, and Goths with large numbers of scaling ladders approached the walls. Belisarius ordered his men to hold their fire until he gave the signal. As the Goths came within range, Belisarius fired three arrows at the enemy, each one finding a target. The other defenders now fired their bows at the attackers, but those around Belisarius were ordered to kill the oxen pulling the towers. When this was accomplished, the siege towers lay immobile and useless. The attack stalled. When a Goth was pinned to a tree by an artillery bolt the majority of the Goths withdrew out of range, and a sally by the defenders routed the remaining attackers. The Byzantines set fire to the engines and returned inside the walls. Procopius again inflates the figures and claims that in this assault 30,000 Goths were killed (Proc, Wars, V.xxiii.26).