out of the Goth thrust; it was obvious the man leading the attack was at a loss to know how to proceed against a hindrance he and his men were seeing for the first time. Flavius sent forward his Isaurians to engage them, throwing the Goth ranks into confusion and such disorder that they sought to withdraw through the breach they had just made. Climbing to get clear, the rubble was no easier than their entry and that left them as easy prey to the spears and swords of their enemies.
As soon as the withdrawal turned into flight, Flavius came forward with his cavalry and that ensured a second rout, one that again allowed his men to fire the engines of war the Goths had abandoned and send, in the smoke from all along the east wall, a message toWitigis that his first attempt to retake Rome had failed abysmally.
Even if it was to be the first of many such a reverse, it must provide a dent to their morale, while that of the men Flavius led must likewise soar to see the enemy so comprehensively repulsed. Added to that, it might still the grumbles of those Roman citizens who feared the city was indefensible.
‘Your Imperial Eminence must be aware that with the troops I have at my disposal, and having had to detach numerous bodies to act as garrisons in those places which have surrendered to your authority in the southern half of Italy, I can do no more than hold what I have without either reinforcements or some act of others to draw off Witigis and his forces. Lacking that, if I can repel attempts to retake Rome, I cannot break the siege and proceed to fulfil that aim with which you charged me.’
Procopius finished reading the despatch that, once approved, would be sent to Justinian and he looked to his general for authorisation; it had, of course, been discussed prior to composition and included a report on the successful repulse of the first attempt by Witigis to take the city. The information regarding garrisons was accurate; close to a full third of his army was thus engaged and he feared to gather them to him and leave the route south open to rupture.
His secretary and assessor was forced to await a response. Flavius was deep in thought, Procopius wondering if those ruminations might include reflections on the nature of the man they both served. It was no secret between them that Procopius reposed less faith in Justinian than the army commander. Flavius talked of him as a friend, Procopius saw him as a fickle weathercock too much influenced by his endemically suspicious wife.
Always seeing plots to depose her husband – that some were realwas true but to such a vivid imagination more were pure fantasy – Procopius was as aware as his master that the Empress Theodora saw Flavius Belisarius as a major threat, not only to Justinian but through him to her own person, and her reasoning, to a disinterested mind, was understandable if misplaced.
The man who had won the Battle of Dara on the Persian frontier, the first victory against the Sassanid Empire for several decades, and defeated the Vandals in North Africa was popular in a capital city where those who held the reins of power were not, being seen as honest and straightforward in his dealings, a reputation spread by the very men he led into battle.
The imperial couple stood at the apex of empire and tended to be blamed for everything seen to be wrong, not least the endemic corruption of the empire’s officials with whom the common folk had to deal. Justinian had worked hard since coming to power to curb the depredations as well as the perceived rights the patrician class had abrogated to themselves over centuries: well-paid sinecures and offices in a vast and sprawling empire in which the diversion of monies intended for the imperial treasury was too easy and justice in the courts went to those with the deepest purse.
In trying to promote men of merit regardless of class, Justinian had become locked in a battle of wills with what he called a hydra-headed monster, a
As soon as the withdrawal turned into flight, Flavius came forward with his cavalry and that ensured a second rout, one that again allowed his men to fire the engines of war the Goths had abandoned and send, in the smoke from all along the east wall, a message toWitigis that his first attempt to retake Rome had failed abysmally.
Even if it was to be the first of many such a reverse, it must provide a dent to their morale, while that of the men Flavius led must likewise soar to see the enemy so comprehensively repulsed. Added to that, it might still the grumbles of those Roman citizens who feared the city was indefensible.
‘Your Imperial Eminence must be aware that with the troops I have at my disposal, and having had to detach numerous bodies to act as garrisons in those places which have surrendered to your authority in the southern half of Italy, I can do no more than hold what I have without either reinforcements or some act of others to draw off Witigis and his forces. Lacking that, if I can repel attempts to retake Rome, I cannot break the siege and proceed to fulfil that aim with which you charged me.’
Procopius finished reading the despatch that, once approved, would be sent to Justinian and he looked to his general for authorisation; it had, of course, been discussed prior to composition and included a report on the successful repulse of the first attempt by Witigis to take the city. The information regarding garrisons was accurate; close to a full third of his army was thus engaged and he feared to gather them to him and leave the route south open to rupture.
His secretary and assessor was forced to await a response. Flavius was deep in thought, Procopius wondering if those ruminations might include reflections on the nature of the man they both served. It was no secret between them that Procopius reposed less faith in Justinian than the army commander. Flavius talked of him as a friend, Procopius saw him as a fickle weathercock too much influenced by his endemically suspicious wife.
Always seeing plots to depose her husband – that some were realwas true but to such a vivid imagination more were pure fantasy – Procopius was as aware as his master that the Empress Theodora saw Flavius Belisarius as a major threat, not only to Justinian but through him to her own person, and her reasoning, to a disinterested mind, was understandable if misplaced.
The man who had won the Battle of Dara on the Persian frontier, the first victory against the Sassanid Empire for several decades, and defeated the Vandals in North Africa was popular in a capital city where those who held the reins of power were not, being seen as honest and straightforward in his dealings, a reputation spread by the very men he led into battle.
The imperial couple stood at the apex of empire and tended to be blamed for everything seen to be wrong, not least the endemic corruption of the empire’s officials with whom the common folk had to deal. Justinian had worked hard since coming to power to curb the depredations as well as the perceived rights the patrician class had abrogated to themselves over centuries: well-paid sinecures and offices in a vast and sprawling empire in which the diversion of monies intended for the imperial treasury was too easy and justice in the courts went to those with the deepest purse.
In trying to promote men of merit regardless of class, Justinian had become locked in a battle of wills with what he called a hydra-headed monster, a
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