The history of the warres of the Emperour Justinian in eight books : of the Persian, II, Vandall, II, Gothicke, IV / written in Greek by Procopivs of Caesarea ; and Englished by Henry Holcroft, Knight.

CHAP. XIII.

THE Emperour, as I sayd before, had sent for Belisarius home, where he held him in honour, upon the death of Germanus: yet he would not send him into Italy; and though he were Generall of the East, he made him Commander of the Guards of his body, and kept him at Constantinople: And Belisarius was the cheife of all the Romans in dignity; some indeed had the pri∣ority of being made Patricians and Consulls before him but yet they yeilded the pre∣cedence to him, and were ashamed to make use of the Law, and to assume the right, which that gave them, against so eminent a vertue; and the Emperour took it well of them. But John, Sisters son of Vitalianns, past that Winter in Salonae, whom the Roman Commanders in Italy expecting dayly, forbare any action. And the Winter ended, and the sixteenth year of this Warr wrirten by Procopius.

The next yeare John resolving to lead the Army from Salonae against Totilas,* 1.1 the Emperour commanded him to stay the comming of Narses the Eunuch, whom he had made his absolute Generall in this warr. The reason of this determination of the Emperour was not knowne; for who can declare the counsels of his heart with∣out his consent? But men did conjecture that his Majesty did consider how the rest of the Commanders would grudge to have their power lessened, and to be made subordinate to John; whereupon either by contrary opinions, or through envy, they might purposely prejudice his affaires. I heard also this story at my former be∣ing at Rome from one of the Senators, That in the Raigne of Atalaricus, a heard of Cattell about evening came into Rome, and past through the Market place, call∣ed Forum pacis, where stood the ancient Temple of peace, and was thunder-struck∣en. Over against this Market place stands an ancient Conduit, and upon it a bra∣zen Bullock, the work of Phidias the Athenian, or of Lysippus; there being in the same place many Statues of their making, and upon one the name of Phidias is in∣graven. There is here also the Bullock made by Myron: The ancient Romans be∣ing most studious to make all the fairest peices of Greece the ornaments of Rome. But the Senator told me, that an Oxe of this Heard was left behinde the rest, and got up to the Conduit, and stood above by the brazen Bullock; and that a Tulcan passing by, a plaine countrey fellow in appearance, but a pretended Soothsayer (as all the Tuscan are) sayd, That one day an Eunuch should depose the Prince of Rome. The Tuscan and his Divination was then laught at, as all predictions are, before they be justified by the event, seeming till then ridiculous and fabulous: But now all men admire that his interpretation, being convinced by the event. So that Narses was chosen Generall against Totilas, either the Emperour wisely foreseeing the successe, or fortune determining the same: And Narses with a Gallant Army, and store of Treasure was dispatcht. He stayd a while in Thrace at Phillippopolis.

his way being stopt by an army of Hunnes, who drave and carried all away without opposition; but they being gone some towards Thessalonica, some towards Con∣stantinaple, he marcht on, being hardly disengaged from them.

While John thus staid for Narses at S••ilonae and Narses intangled with those Hunns marcht slowly: T••tilas looking for Narses coming, placed in Rome some of the Se∣nators, confined in Campania, and other Romans, Commanding them to guard the City, and professing to repent for what he had done to it. He had burnt the most part of it, especially beyond the Tiber; and these men being grown little better then Slaves, and stript of all they had, were so unable to vindicate the publick, that they could not get every man his ownpeculiar right: and yet are the Romans the best patri∣ots in the world, studying to recover from all parts, what belongs to their City, and to save all the ancient Ornaments of Rome from perishing. During so long a subjection to Barbarians, how did they preserve their publick buildings and ornaments of their City! Even the orginall monuments of their race do yet last, the sufficiency of those ancient workmen holding out against the ruines of time, and the negligence of men Among which there yet stands a miraculous spectacle, which my selfe have seen; the ship of Aenaeas the founder of their City: it is for one row of oares only, and of a huge length, being 120 foot long, and 25. broad. It is so high only, as that men may row in it. The Timbers in it are not mortessed into one another, nor fastned by iron; but are every one of a peice, such as were never heard of, and are only found in this ship, that we can learn. For the keele be∣ing all one peice, reaches from the stern to the foreship, and bowes by little and little into a convenient crookednesse, then strangely turnes straight again, and most aptly in proportion. The ribs also of the ship reach from side to side, crooking downwards, and bowing so handsomely, that one would think the hollow bulk of the Ship to be made round and turned with instruments; either nature providing such a crookednesse in the Timber for the present use, or else those uneven ribs were fit∣ted by mens hands, or Engins. Every planck also reaches from the stern to the fore∣ship, being all of a peice, and have only spikes of iron to fasten them to the shipps ribs, and to make up her sides. Thus doth this ship affoard a sight beyond expres∣sion; strange workman-ships naturally rising above discourse, and as they subdue common things by thenew invention, so over-mastring evenspeech it selfe. And the ship is strong and lusty yet, and sound all through, none of the Timbers having any rottennesse appearing; as if the ship-wright (whatsoever he were) had lately built it.

Totilas also manned 300 Gallies with Goths, whom he commanded to pillage, and spoil the coast of Greece. This fleet hurt nothing, till it came to Corcyra, anci∣ently the country of the Phaeacians; being the only inhabited Island in this passage from the straits of Scylla. Having been often upon that Sea, I was curious where the Iland of Calypso was: I found only three small islands, some thirty seven miles from Phaeacia, (now Corcyra) called Othonae, from whence one may imagine Ʋ∣lisses to have past to Corcyra, being no farther off, either in a boate made of a sud∣den, or otherwise; this is but my conjecture only. It is hard to discourse exactly of things so ancient: Time changes the names of places, and the opinion formerly held of them. Upon the Sea shore in Corcyra stands the modell of a ship made of white stone, compounded of many severall stones, which some suppose to be the modell of that which transported Ʋlisses into Ithaca, after his entertainment with the Phae∣acians.* 1.2 But * the being not of one stone, and the Letters ingraven upon it, pro∣claime the same to have been set there by some Merchant in ancient time, and de∣dicated to Jupiter Casius; the town also where this ship stands being yet called Ca∣s••••pe. In Euboea at Geraestum, there is also such a modell of a ship, dedicated by A∣gamemnon to Diana, to please her with this also, as he had, by the sacrifice of his Daughter Iphigenia, obtained of her a passage for the Grecian army to Troy. Which is testisied by Letters ingraven upon it either then or afterward; the most of which time hath defaced, but at the beginning of the verses, they appear thus.

— 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Here Agamemnon plac'd this black-pitcht Barke, Of the Greeks Army now at Sea a Mark.

And the Inscription thus,

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 — Tenichus built This to Diana Bolosia. —

For so anciently they called Eileithuia, or Lucina; terming the Throwes and pangs of Childbirth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. But I returne from whence I digressed.

Notes

• * 1.1

  In••ipit Annus 17 bel Goth man 25 Justi∣ce Anno dom. 551.
• * 1.2

  Neptune turned the ship worch carried home Ulisses into a rock, so that it must be of on pu••••.