A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

: JSTINIANUIS. JUSTINIANUS. 663
the Vandals in 534, the Goths occupied the town, and he united his efforts with those of his master
and refilsed to surrender it to Justinian, when he in settling the domestic state of Italy, which was
claimed it as an appendage of the Vandal king- nearly ruined through the protracted war, while
dom. Thus the war broke out, the chief events of millions of her inhabitants had perished by the
which, till the final recal of Belisarius in 548, are sword and famine.
related in the life of BELISARIUS. When Beli- To these conquests the lieutenants of Justinian
sarius was recalled, the Roman~ army was -in a in Africa added. a considerable tract in Spain, along
critical position, because the brave Gothic king, the shores of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic,
Totilas, had gained great advantages over Belisa- from the south-western extremity of Algarve in
rius, and after his recal the Goths made such pro- the west to the confines of. the modern kingdom. of
gress as to reduce the Roman power in Italy to a Murcia in the east, which the West Goths were
shadow. Totilas took Rome by a stratagem, re- obliged to cede to the victorious Romans; and the
stored the senate, and made it once more the seat fortunate Justinian now -reigned over the whole
of the Gothic empire. Thence he sailed to Cala- extent of the'Roman empire as it existed under the:
bria, took Tarentum and Rhegium, conquered earlier emperors, except the greater part of Spain,
Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and despatched a Gaul, and Britain, where the most warlike of all:
fleet of 300 gallies, which were probably manned the barbarians of those times exercised an authority
by Greek natives of Southern Italy, for the Goths unchecked by' either Romans or Greeks. The
were no mariners, to the coast of Greece, where the strength of Justinian's empire, however, did not
Gothic warriors landed, and spread terror among correspond with its dimensions. Both the Romans
the inhabitants. They pushed as far as Nicopolis and Greeks were enervated, and little disposed to
and Dodona, and Totilas sent envoys to Justinian, serve in the field, when they could buy foreigners
offering him peace, and promising to assist him to defend Rome and Constantinople; and the pracagainst any enemy, if he would desist from his tice of enlisting barbarians proved very-dangerous,
designs upon Italy. Justinian would perhaps have since so many veterans, who returned into their
accepted his offers but for the circumstance that the native forests or steppes, informed their brethren of
Goths being Arians, the orthodox church in Italy the internal weakness of the Roman empire. We
was in danger of being overthrown by schismatics. thus see that, notwithstanding the fear which the
Fresh troops were consequently'sent to Italy, and victories of Belisarius, Narses, Germanus, and so
Germanus, the nephew of Justinian, who was many othergreatgenerals, necessarily caused among
renowned by many victories over the Bulgarians, the immediate neighbours of the Romans, many
the Persians, and the Mauritanianls,'was destined to barbarian nations, that lived at greater distances
command them, but died at Sardica, in Illyricum, from the Roman frontiers, pushed slowly towards
on his march to Italy. [GERMANUS, No. 2.] The Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, in order to be ready
choice of Germanus proves- the danger in which the to invade the empire at the first opportunity.
empire was placed by the victories of Totilas. This Fxrom the extreme north of Germany,. the -Longoprince was dear to the Goths through his marriage bards, of Saxon origin, advanced towards - the
with Mathasuntha, daughter of Amalasuntha, and Danube, and settled in Moravia and Northern
grand-daughter of Theodoric the Great; and as Hungary, whence, but a few years after the death
he was also one of the best'Roman generals, a of Justinian, they broke forth for the conquest -of
suspicious man like Justinian must: have had Italy. Their neighbourhood appeared so dangerous
urgent motives for sending him into Italy, where, to Justinian, that he tried to gain them to his inin case of success, he had still greater chances of terests, and to use them as a barrier against other
becoming king of the Goths than Belisarius could enemies, by ceding to them Pannonia and Noricum.
have had in making himself independent in Africa. The latter province was, however, soon taken from
But Germanus was a man of so excellent a cha- the Longobards by the Franks. The neighbours
racter as to be above the suspicions even of a Jus- -of the Longobards, the Gepidae, had founded a
tinian. The mere fact of his being appointed to the kingdom in Eastern Hungary and Transylvania as
command roused the spirit of the Roman- army, early as the middle of the fifth century; and since
and ere the eunuch Narses was chosen to succeed they were always annoying the Romans in Illyrihim, the Gothic fleet had been defeated, and Sicily cum, Justinian availed himself of their feuds with
reconquered by Artabanus. Narses led the Roman the Longobards, and assisted the latter. In conarmy round the Adriatic into Italy, while a fleet sequence of this, the power of the Gepidae was
followed him along the shore, and in -a dreadful weakened, but that of the Longobards increased in
battle at Tagina (July, 552) slew 6000 Goths, and proportion; and had Justinian lived but two years
dispersed the rest. Totilas fell- in the conflict, and longer, he would have seen that the final overthrow'his bloody dress was sent as the most acceptable of the Gepidae had, as its immediate consequence,
trophy to Justinian. The successor of Totilas, the destruction of the Roman power in Italy by the
-Teias, continued the war, but he likewise was Longobards. Still farther in the East, on the river
killed in a pitched battle on the river Sarnus, near Don, appeared in 557 the Avars, a nation of TurkNaples, and his death was the' downfal of the ish origin. In accordance with his usual policy of:Gothic kingdom in Italy. A host of Franks -and turning the feuds of the barbarians to- his own
Alemanni descended from the Alps to dispute the profit, Justinian lavished his money upon the
possession of Italy with Narses, and their first in- Avars, and employed them -together with his own
road was so irresistible that they penetrated as far forces against some barbarian tribes which annoyed
as the straits of Sicily. But in a battle- on the the Roman possessions in the Chersonnesus Taurica
river Volturnus, near the bridge of Casilinum, they (the Crimea). This was in 558. Only four years
were routed with great slaughter by Narses, who afterwards the whole of the nations north of the
drove their scattered remnants beyond the Alps Danube, as far west as modern Bavaria, was sub(554). Narses was appointed exarch, or viceroy, jugated by the Avars, and Justinian II. paid dearly
of Italy, and took -up his residence at Ravenna, for the timid and wavering conduct of Justinian I.
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