before him opened so he and the cavalry he led could debouch onto the open ground, where they gathered into a formidable formation that made standing against them hazardous, especially for men fighting on foot. Witigis had not brought forward his horsemen, which left the field free to his opponent and Flavius took full advantage, rampaging forward to drive back an assault that was already lacking in momentum, the Goths falling back behind those now static siege engines.
To his rear, runners emerged from the open gate carrying flaming torches, others bearing amphorae of oil, this poured over the wooden constructs before the flames were applied. With the Goth foot soldiers stuck, Witigis got his horsemen mounted, no doubt expecting the customary charge from his enemies needed to drive home the reverse.
Flavius failed to oblige; with superb discipline and on command, the bucellarii of his comitatus reined in their mounts. Once certain the rams and towers were well alight they shepherded the men who had fired them back through the gates, which were quickly shut.
Witigis had launched several simultaneous assaults, indeed there was good reason to believe that the effort just repulsed had acted as something of a feint to pin the main defence. Once back inside the walls and dismounted, Flavius was brought news from the other places at risk, the most dangerous being on the Porta Cornelia hard by Hadrian’s Tomb on the western walls.
There, abundant foliage and the remains of exterior buildings had allowed the enemy to get close to the base without suffering too many casualties and this obliged the archers placed there to lean far out to take aim, this obviously exposing them, which led to losses that soon became too serious to sustain. Also, the catapults placed on the roof of the mausoleum were of no use since they could only fire outwards.
Running out of stones to drop on the heads of their ladder-climbing enemies and with too many wounded bowmen to hold by arrow fire, Constantinus had ordered broken up the numerous classical statues that adorned the rim of the massive tomb. These were then hurled at their enemies in sufficient quantity to drive them back and thus render them vulnerable to the catapults.
Word came that an assault on the Porta Pancratia, also on the west bank of the Tiber but further to the south of Hadrian’s Tomb, had likewise been repulsed. Yet as this good news was being delivered, word of real threat came from the Porta Chiusa, three gates to the south of the attack Flavius had just smashed.
He had known from his very first inspections this was a vulnerable spot: due to natural subsidence the original wall had collapsed and a new one had been built on the outer side to shield the damaged section.The Goths, as well as employing siege engines, had been mining under that outer wall, and given they were seemingly successful, there was danger of a collapse. If they followed that up they would press hard and, unaided, his men might not be able to hold.
Such an emergency required the presence of the man in command, the sight of which raised the spirits of those facing the enemy. Here was Flavius Belisarius, who had so often outwitted his opponents. That he did now; the space between the two walls was known as the Vivarium, it being used to graze livestock, but there were none there now and it represented an empty zone, one Flavius saw he could use to advantage.
Instead of seeking to oppose the Goth mining he let it proceed, and soon, as a battering ram was added to effort, the sound of crashing masonry filled the air, followed by a billowing cloud of dust, proof a breach had been created. The first of the attackers who came clambering over the pile of debris could not do so in any real order. What faced them across the greensward Vivarium was not another wall but one where the rubble of the previous collapse had been so raised as to make it defensible.
The sight of such an unexpected obstacle took the verve
To his rear, runners emerged from the open gate carrying flaming torches, others bearing amphorae of oil, this poured over the wooden constructs before the flames were applied. With the Goth foot soldiers stuck, Witigis got his horsemen mounted, no doubt expecting the customary charge from his enemies needed to drive home the reverse.
Flavius failed to oblige; with superb discipline and on command, the bucellarii of his comitatus reined in their mounts. Once certain the rams and towers were well alight they shepherded the men who had fired them back through the gates, which were quickly shut.
Witigis had launched several simultaneous assaults, indeed there was good reason to believe that the effort just repulsed had acted as something of a feint to pin the main defence. Once back inside the walls and dismounted, Flavius was brought news from the other places at risk, the most dangerous being on the Porta Cornelia hard by Hadrian’s Tomb on the western walls.
There, abundant foliage and the remains of exterior buildings had allowed the enemy to get close to the base without suffering too many casualties and this obliged the archers placed there to lean far out to take aim, this obviously exposing them, which led to losses that soon became too serious to sustain. Also, the catapults placed on the roof of the mausoleum were of no use since they could only fire outwards.
Running out of stones to drop on the heads of their ladder-climbing enemies and with too many wounded bowmen to hold by arrow fire, Constantinus had ordered broken up the numerous classical statues that adorned the rim of the massive tomb. These were then hurled at their enemies in sufficient quantity to drive them back and thus render them vulnerable to the catapults.
Word came that an assault on the Porta Pancratia, also on the west bank of the Tiber but further to the south of Hadrian’s Tomb, had likewise been repulsed. Yet as this good news was being delivered, word of real threat came from the Porta Chiusa, three gates to the south of the attack Flavius had just smashed.
He had known from his very first inspections this was a vulnerable spot: due to natural subsidence the original wall had collapsed and a new one had been built on the outer side to shield the damaged section.The Goths, as well as employing siege engines, had been mining under that outer wall, and given they were seemingly successful, there was danger of a collapse. If they followed that up they would press hard and, unaided, his men might not be able to hold.
Such an emergency required the presence of the man in command, the sight of which raised the spirits of those facing the enemy. Here was Flavius Belisarius, who had so often outwitted his opponents. That he did now; the space between the two walls was known as the Vivarium, it being used to graze livestock, but there were none there now and it represented an empty zone, one Flavius saw he could use to advantage.
Instead of seeking to oppose the Goth mining he let it proceed, and soon, as a battering ram was added to effort, the sound of crashing masonry filled the air, followed by a billowing cloud of dust, proof a breach had been created. The first of the attackers who came clambering over the pile of debris could not do so in any real order. What faced them across the greensward Vivarium was not another wall but one where the rubble of the previous collapse had been so raised as to make it defensible.
The sight of such an unexpected obstacle took the verve
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