In the camp of Cethegus the Prefect at Setinum, at the foot of the Apennines, a few miles north of Taginæ, Lucius Licinius, who had just arrived by sea from Epidamnus, was walking up and down, in eager conversation with Syphax, before the tent of the commander-in-chief.
"My master has been anxiously expecting you, tribune, for many days," said the Moor; "he will be rejoiced to find you in the camp when he returns. He has ridden out to reconnoitre."
"Whither rode he?"
"Towards Taginæ, with Piso and the other tribunes."
"That is the next fortified town occupied by the Goths to the south, is it not? But now, you wise Moor, tell me what happened last at Byzantium? You know that your master sent me to levy forces among the Longobardians, long before anything was decided. And as, after a dangerous journey through the country of the Longobardians and Gepidæ, I safely crossed the rapid Ister near Novæ into Justinian's kingdom, and went to fetch the promised orders of the Prefect from my host at Nicopolis, I only found a laconic command to meet him in Senogallia. I was much astonished; for I scarcely dared to hope that he would ever again, at the head of the imperial fleet and army, victoriously tread the soil of Italy. From Senogallia I followed your march hither. The few captains whom I have met in the camp told me briefly of the course of events until shortly before the arrest of Belisarius. But they could not tell me how that occurred, and what took place later. Now you----"
"Yes, I know what happened almost as well as my master, for I was present."
"Is it possible? Can Belisarius really have conspired against the Emperor? I could never have believed it!"
Syphax smiled slyly.
"I have no right to judge of that. I can only tell you exactly what happened. Listen--but come into the tent and refresh yourself. My master would scold me for letting you stand outside unattended to. And we can talk more freely inside," he added, as he closed the curtains of the tent behind him. Then begging his master's guest to be seated, he served him with fruit and wine, and began his account. "As the night of that fateful day fell, I went and hid myself in a niche of Photius's house, behind the tall statue of some Christian saint, whose name I do not know, but who had a famous broad back. I could easily look into the hall of the house through an aperture just above my head, which had been made to allow the passage of fresh air. The faint light within enabled me to distinguish a number of the aristocrats whom I had often seen in the imperial palace, and in the houses of Belisarius and Procopius. The first thing that I understood--for my master has taken care that I should learn the speech of the Greeks who call themselves Romani--was what the master of the house was saying to a man who had just then entered. 'Rejoice,' he said, 'for Belisarius comes. After scarcely deigning to look at me yesterday when, full of expectation, I stopped him in the gymnasium of Zenon, to-day he himself addressed me as I was slowly and cautiously passing his house, for I knew that he would return from the hunt towards evening. He pressed this waxen tablet into my hand, first looking round to make sure that no one observed him. And on the tablet is written: "I cannot longer withstand your appeals. Certain reasons impel me to join you. I shall come this evening." But,' continued the master of the house, 'where is Piso, where is Salvius Julianus and the other young Romans?' 'They will not be coming,' answered the man. 'I saw almost all of them in boats on the Bosphorus. They have no doubt sailed to some feast at the Prefect's villa, near the Gate of Constantine.' 'Let them go,' said Photius; 'we do not need the brutal Latins, nor the proud and false Prefect. Verily, Belisarius outweighs them all.' At that moment I saw Belisarius enter the hall. He wore an ample mantle, which entirely hid his figure. The master of the house hurried to meet him, and all present gathered respectfully around him. 'Great Belisarius,' said his freedman, 'we know how to value your compliance.' And he pressed upon Belisarius the little ivory staff which is held by the head of the assembly, and led him to the raised seat of the president, which he himself had just vacated. 'Speak--command--act--we are ready,' said Photius. 'I shall act at the right time,' answered Belisarius gloomily, and took his seat. Just then young Anicius rushed into the room with tangled hair and flying garments; a drawn sword in his hand. 'Fly!' he cried. 'We are discovered and betrayed.' Belisarius rose. 'They have forced my house,' continued Anicius. 'My slaves were taken prisoners. The weapons which I had hidden were found, and your letters and documents, and, alas, my own too, have disappeared from a hiding-place which was known only to me! And still more--as I turned into the grove of Constantine, I thought I heard the sound of whispering and the rattle of arms amongst the bushes. I am followed--save yourselves!' The conspirators rushed to the doors. Belisarius alone remained quietly standing before his chair. 'Take heart!' cried Photius. 'Follow the example of your hero-chief!' But the sound of a trumpet was heard from the great house-door, the sign for me to leave my post and join my master, who stormed into the house at the head of the imperial lance-bearers and Golden Shields, with the Prefect of Byzantium, and the archon of the palace-guard. My master looked splendid," continued Syphax enthusiastically, "as, with a flaming torch in his left hand, a sword in his right, and his crimson plume floating behind him, he rushed into the hall; so looks the fire-demon when he issues from a blazing mountain in Africa! I drew my sword and sprang to my master's left side, for he carried no shield. He had ordered me to render young Anicius harmless as soon as possible. 'Down with all who resist, in the name of Justinian!' cried my master. His sword was dripping with blood, for he had killed with his own hand the body-guards whom Belisarius had placed at the entrance of the grove. 'Yield!' he cried to the frightened crowd; 'and thou, archon of the palace, arrestallthe conspirators. Do you understand--all!' 'Is it possible! Shameless traitor!' cried Anicius, and rushed at my master with his sword. 'Yes,' he cried, 'there is the crimson crest! Die, murderer of my brother!' But the next moment he lay at our feet, severely wounded. I drew my sword out of his breast, and then disarmed Photius, who was the only one who still resisted. All the others allowed themselves to be taken like sheep bewildered by a thunder-storm. 'Bravo, Syphax!' cried my master. 'Examine his dress for any writings.' Then he turned to the archon, asking him if he were ready, for he had stopped hesitatingly opposite Belisarius, who remained perfectly quiet. 'What!' asked the archon--'must I also arrest the magister militum?' 'All, I said. 'Do you no longer understand Greek? You see--all see--that Belisarius is at the head of the conspiracy--he holds the president's staff, he occupies the president's chair.' 'Ha!' now cried Belisarius; 'is it so! Guards! Help, help, my body-guards! Marcellus, Barbatio, Ardaburius!" 'The dead cannot hear, magister militum,' said my master. 'Yield, in the name of the Emperor! Here is his great seal. For this night he has made me his representative, and a thousand lances bristle round this house.' 'Fidelity is madness!' cried Belisarius, threw his sword away, and held out his strong arms to the archon, who put on the chains. 'Into the dungeons with all the prisoners,' said my master. 'Photius and Belisarius must be put separately into the round tower of Anastasius, in the palace. I will hasten to the Emperor and return his ring, and take him this steel'--he lifted the sword of Belisarius from the ground--'and tell him that he may sleep in peace. The conspiracy is crushed--the Empire is saved!'--The very next morning the trial for high treason was commenced. Many witnesses were heard--I amongst them. I swore that I had seen Belisarius received and heard him greeted as the head of the conspiracy. I myself had taken the tablet from the dress of Photius. Belisarius would have appealed to the testimony of his bodyguards, but they were all dead. Photius and other prisoners, submitted to the rack, confessed that Belisarius had finally consented to become the head of the conspiracy. Antonina was strictly guarded in the Red House. The Empress refused to grant the interview for which she passionately sued. It told strongly against both her and Belisarius when spies of the Empress bore witness that they had seen young Anicius steal by night into the house of Belisarius for weeks together. And it shocked the judges that Anicius himself, Antonina and Belisarius, continued obstinately to deny their guilt, although it was so fully proved. Immediately after the arrest I was sent for by my master, to tell Antonina that he had been most painfully surprised to find that Belisarius wasreallyat the head of the conspiracy; and at the same time to say that he had found not alone letters of hatred in the cistern belonging to Anicius. As I said these words, which I did not understand, the beautiful wife of Belisarius fell fainting to the ground.--We left Byzantium before Belisarius was sentenced; but Photius and most of the others were already condemned to death as we set sail with the imperial fleet for Epidamnus, where my master's tribunes and mercenaries, and the imperial forces originally intended for the Persian wars, were awaiting us. For my master had been honoured with the newly-created dignity of Magister Militum per Italium, and the command of the 'first army.' The 'second army' was to be brought after us by Prince Areobindos, when he had accomplished the easy task of overpowering the small Gothic garrisons in the towns of Epirus and the islands with a force five times their number."
"What is said will be the punishment of Belisarius?" asked Lucius Licinius. "I could never have believed that that man----"
"The judge will certainly condemn him to death, for his guilt is clear. But people speculate as to whether the Emperor's anger or his former affection for the general will get the victory. Most of them think that the Emperor will change the sentence of death into one of banishment and loss of sight. My master says that Belisarius's senseless denial of his guilt does him great harm. And he is also without the assistance of his wise friend Procopius, who is absent in Asia. Cethegus managed the embarkation of the troops to Epidamnus with such secrecy that the stupid Goths, who, besides, reckoned upon the armistice, were completely taken by surprise; and while the crews were sleeping on shore, the scantily-guarded Gothic fleet was taken and destroyed. But hark! here comes my master; he alone has such a proud step?"
From Licinius Cethegus now learned that not only had he obtained a promise from Alboin, the Longobardian chief, that he would come to the help of Cethegus with twenty thousand men (a number which the latter, always jealous, found almost too great), but that he had succeeded in engaging other warlike troops of mercenaries.
Cethegus, on his side, informed Lucius that, although he had been able to relieve Ravenna, he had met with much hindrance on the part of his own countrymen, who were slow to rise in revolt against the Goths; and that only with the Byzantines under his command, it would be impossible to beat Totila. He complained bitterly of the delay of Areobindos in bringing up the "second army," and regretted that he had been unable to reach Taginæ before Earl Teja, who had beaten the Saracens there posted with great loss, and had taken up a strong position in the expectation of being speedily joined by King Totila with the army.
"And Taginæ is the key of the position," concluded Cethegus. "Earl Teja must have flown from Rome on the wings of the wind! I have tried to-day to ascertain the strength of his garrison, but I could not penetrate beyond Capræ. The barbarian King is already on the march, and where, oh! where tarries my 'second army?'"
The next day Totila reached Taginæ, accompanied by Valeria and Julius. He had hastened forward to join Teja with a portion of his troops, while Wisand and Guntharis reached him later with the main army. Only after their arrival could any attack be made upon the very strong position of the Prefect.
Cethegus, too, attempted no assault, but while thus inactive, awaiting his "second army," he once more, and in vain, endeavoured to regain the lost affection of Julius. He went to Taginæ to meet him at a spot between the outposts of the opposing forces. He tried all possible means to induce him to return to his allegiance, even unveiling the history of his past life. The mother of Julius had once been betrothed to Cethegus, but her father had been persuaded by Duke Alaric to break off the match, and to give her in marriage to a Gothic noble. On the day of her wedding, Cethegus, mad with grief, had tried to carry her off by force, but, overpowered by numbers, had been struck down, and thrown, seemingly lifeless, on the banks of the Tiber. Many years after, he had found Julius, a young boy, forsaken, with his dying mother, in their villa on the banks of the Rhodus, which had been sacked by bands of marauders. From that moment Cethegus had adopted the son of his lost bride.--But in vain he now appealed to the gratitude of his adopted son. Julius not only recoiled with horror from any further connection with a man whose ruthless hands were stained with blood, but his deepening religious feeling separated him entirely from the avowed atheist.
And, blow upon blow, Cethegus was disappointed in another matter. The "second army" was at last reported as approaching. Syphax brought the news; he had ridden night and day in order to reach the Prefect before this army should arrive, for at its head was, not Areobindos, but--Narses.
Vexed and alarmed, Cethegus left his camp, and rode forward to meet Narses, with whom he found Alboin, the Longobardian chief. Narses received him with marked coolness, and at once explained to him that he could suffer no rival in his camp; that Cethegus must either serve under him as one of his generals, or remain inactive as hisguest. Clearly seeing that he must either submit or be a prisoner, Cethegus at once affirmed that he considered it an honour to serve under Narses, and together the generals reached a favourable position between Helvillum and Taginæ.
And a mighty army was that of Narses, with which he had advanced from the north and east in terrible strides, driving before him the Goths from position to position, making no prisoners, but inexorably annihilating all who stood in his way.
Totila had but a small force to oppose to these numbers, for his army had been fearfully diminished; and now, when the Italians foresaw the probable consequences of the renewed war, and that the Goths were being slowly but surely overcome, they ceased to rally round Totila's flag, and even, where they felt themselves safe, betrayed the hiding-places of the Gothic people to the Byzantines. The persecuted Gothic families fled, and sought protection in the camp of Totila, who, fearing the famine sure to be caused by the accumulation of helpless masses, sent them still farther south to those parts of the peninsula yet uninvaded by Narses.
Surrounded by his Earls, Totila now formed a plan by which he intended to entice the centre of the army of Narses (which was held by the Longobardians) into an ambush between Capræ and Taginæ. Reckoning upon the headlong valour of the Longobardians, Totila determined to place the full half of his troops in the town of Capræ, leaving the other half in Taginæ. Totila himself, with his small troop of horsemen, would advance beyond Capræ against the Longobardians; and at the moment of attack, would turn, feigning a sudden panic; would gallop back through the gates of Capræ (the troops there remaining concealed in the houses), and thus draw on the Longobardians to pursue him into the narrow road, between low hills, which lay between Capræ and Taginæ. At this spot Totila would place in ambush a troop of Persian horsemen, which had been unexpectedly brought to him by his old friend and rival, Furius Ahalla, who had orders, when the Longobardians were fairly taken in the trap, to issue from their ambush, and annihilate them. Totila counted upon the fidelity of Ahalla, who was bound to him by strong ties of gratitude in spite of the defeat he had suffered in his suit of Valeria. This plan of Totila was highly approved of by Hildebrand, and all the warriors who shared his counsels.
The evening before the day of its execution all was in readiness. Furius Ahalla and his horsemen were posted in the narrow road, the "Flaminian Way." Earl Thorismuth himself went out to make sure that they had punctually obeyed orders. When he returned to Totila's camp, he brought word that Furius Ahalla begged Totila to delay his attack and feigned flight on the morrow, until three hundred of his best men, who had been delayed on the march, should have joined him; of which event he would immediately apprise Totila outside the gates of Capræ.
"Well," said Totila, smiling, "I will await the proper moment, and meantime entertain the Longobardians by my feats of horsemanship. To-morrow, Teja, God will decide the right. Thou sayest there is no God but necessity. I say there is a living God--my victory to-morrow shall prove it."
"Stay," cried Julius, who was present, "ye shall not tempt the Lord!"
"Seest thou," cried Teja, as he rose and took up his shield, "Julius fears for his God!"
Brilliantly arose the sun on the next morning, casting its first beams over the warlike movement in the Gothic camp.
As the King issued from his dwelling in the marketplace of Taginæ, Adalgoth, Thorismuth, and Phaza hurried to meet him with his milk-white charger, sent, together with a magnificent suit of armour, by Valeria, his bride.
His arms rang as the King swung himself into the saddle.
His grooms led up two other horses in reserve, one of which was Pluto, the Prefect's restless and fiery charger.
From Totila's shoulders flowed his long white mantle, held together at the neck by a broad and heavy clasp set with precious stones. His cuirass was of shining silver, richly inlaid with gold, the figure of a flying swan upon the breast. The edges of the cuirass at the neck, arms, and belt, were bound with red silk. Beneath it showed the coat of white silk, reaching over the thighs.
Broad gold bracelets and silvered gauntlets protected his arms and hands; greaves his knees and the top of his feet.
His narrow and gracefully-shaped shield was divided into three fields of silver, gold, and crimson. On the golden field the figure of the flying swan was wrought in white enamel.
The caparison and reins of his horse were set with silver and embroidered with red silk.
In his right hand the King held a spear, to the point of which Valeria had fastened four streamers of red and white riband; merrily they fluttered in the morning breeze.
Thus brilliantly arrayed, the King rode through the streets of Taginæ at the head of his horsemen. Earl Thorismuth, Phaza, and Duke Adalgoth, and also Julius, rode in his train. Julius carried no weapons, but he bore a shield forged by Teja.
Never had Totila shone in such beauty! The people greeted him upon his way with shouts of joy. At the northern gate of Taginæ, Aligern came riding towards him.
"I thought that thy place was with the right wing," said the King. "What brings thee here?"
"My cousin Teja has ordered me to remain at thy side and guard thy life."
"My Teja is untiring in his care of me!" cried the King.
Aligern joined the escort.
Earl Thorismuth now undertook the command of the footmen who were hidden in the houses of Taginæ.
Outside the gate, the King rode to the front of his not very numerous troop of horsemen, and disclosed his plan to the captains.
"I entrust to you, comrades, the most difficult of all tasks--flight! But the flight will be only seeming. What is true, is your courage and the destruction of the foe."
And now the small troop rode forward past the place of ambush on the Flaminian Way, the King convincing himself that the Persian horsemen were in readiness upon both the wooded heights. The ambush on the right was commanded by Furius himself, that on the left by his chief, Isdigerd.
Totila now rode into Capræ through the southern gate, and admonished the bowmen under Earl Wisand not to issue from the houses in which they were concealed, until the Persian horsemen had fallen upon the Longobardians from their ambush, but then immediately to sally out of the southern gate, while at the same time the spear-bearers would advance against the enemy from the northern gate of Taginæ.
"Thus the Longobardians and such of Narses' foot who have pressed forward between Capræ and Taginæ will be surrounded on all sides and crushed. I and Thorismuth attack in front, Furius and Isdigerd on both flanks, and Wisand in the rear. They will be lost!"
"Does he not look like the sun-god?" Adalgoth delightedly asked Julius.
"Peace! Make no idol of sun or man! Besides, to-day is the solstice!" answered Julius.
At length the King reached the northern gate of Capræ, left it open behind him, and galloped out with his little troop upon the level land between Capræ and Helvillum.
Here Narses had placed his centre; foremost Alboin with his Longobardians. Behind these, at a considerable distance, stood Narses in his litter, surrounded by Cethegus, Liberius, Auzalas, and other leaders.
Narses had had a bad night, disturbed by slight fits. He was very weak, and could not stand up for any length of time in his low and open litter.
He had strictly admonished Alboin not to advance to the attack without special orders.
King Totila gave a sign to his horsemen, and at a trot the thin line advanced towards the far superior ranks of the Longobardians.
"They surely will not shame us by attacking us with only a few lances?" cried Alboin.
But an attack did not seem to be the present object of the King.
He had ridden far in advance of his men, who had suddenly halted, and now attracted all eyes by his feats of horsemanship.
The spectacle which he afforded was so wonderful in the eyes of the Byzantines, that the witnesses related it in astonishment to Procopius, who, himself amazed, has remitted it to us.
"On this day," he writes, "King Totila evidently wished to show his enemies what manner of man he was. His weapons and his horse shone with gold. So many shining red streamers fluttered from the point of his spear that this ornament alone announced the King from a distance. Thus, mounted on a splendid charger, in the space between the two armies, did he indulge in a skilful exercise of arms. Now he rode in a circle; now he caracoled in semicircles to the right and left; now he hurled his spear into the air, as he rode off at full gallop, and caught it by the middle of the shaft as it fell quivering, first with his right hand, and then with his left; and thus he showed to the wondering troops his feats of horsemanship."
After the battle, however, the Byzantines learned the true reason of this merry sport.
For a time Alboin looked on quietly.
Then he said to a Longobardian chief who stood near him:
"That fellow rides to the battle-field adorned like a bridegroom! What costly armour! We do not see the like at home, Gisulf. And not to dare to attack! Does Narses again sleep?"
At last a Persian horseman, making his way through the ranks of the Goths, galloped up to the King, gave a message, and galloped back again at full speed.
"At last!" cried Totila. "Now enough of sport! Brave Alboin, son of Audoin," he loudly cried across to the enemy's ranks, "wilt thou really fight for the Greeks against us? Then come on, O King's son--it is a King who calls thee?"
Alboin could no longer restrain his impatience.
"Mine must he be with armour and horse!" he shouted, and spurred forward with his lance couched.
Totila, with a gentle pressure of his thigh, brought his horse to a sudden standstill. It seemed that he intended to stand the shock.
Alboin came on at a furious gallop.
Another slight pressure of Totila's thigh, a clever spring to one side, and the Longobardian, who could not check his horse, rushed far past his adversary.
But the next moment Totila was at Alboin's back; he could easily have bored him through with his spear.
The Longobardians, seeing the danger of their chief, uttered loud cries and hurried to his assistance.
But Totila whirled his lance round, and contented himself with giving his adversary such a thrust in the left side with the shaft end, that Alboin fell headlong out of his saddle on the right side of his horse. Totila quietly rode back to his troop, waving his spear over his head in triumph.
Alboin had remounted, and now led his troop against the thin ranks of the Goths.
But just before the shock of meeting, the King cried, "Fly! fly into the town!" turned his horse's head, and galloped away towards Capræ.
His horsemen followed him.
For one moment Alboin halted in perplexity. But the next he cried:
"It is nothing else; it is a pure flight! There they run into the gate! Yes, feats of horsemanship are one thing, and fighting is another. After them, my wolves! into the town!"
And the Longobardians galloped forwards to Capræ, burst open the northern gate--which had been closed, but not bolted, by the flying Goths--and rushed through the long street towards the southern gate, through which the last Goth was just disappearing.
Narses had till now stood upright in his litter with difficulty, observing all that passed.
"Halt!" he angrily cried. "Halt! Blow the trumpets! Sound the retreat! It is the most clumsy trap in the world! But this Alboin thinks that if any one runs away from him, it must be in earnest!"
But the trumpeters blew in vain.
The cries of victory uttered by the pursuing Longobardians, drowned the blast of the trumpets; or those that heard it disregarded it.
Narses groaned as he saw the last ranks of the Longobardians disappear into the Gate of Capræ.
"Oh!" he sighed; "those blockheads oblige me to commit a folly with open eyes. I cannot let them suffer for their stupidity as they deserve. I still need them. Therefore, forward, in the name of nonsense! Before we can overtake them, they may be already half destroyed! Forward, Cethegus, Anzalas, and Liberius! Take the Isaurians, Armenians, and Illyrians, and get into Capræ. But reflect that the towncannotbe empty. It is a snare, into which we follow those blind bulls with open eyes. I will come after in my litter; but I can stand no more."
And he sank back into his seat, terribly fatigued. A slight convulsion, such as he often experienced when excited, shook his frame.
The footmen of Cethegus and Liberius advanced towards the town at a rapid march, the two leaders riding in front.
Meanwhile pursued and pursuers had rushed through the little town, and the last Longobardians had passed Capræ, while the first, with Alboin, had reached that part of the Flaminian Way where the two hills bounded and confined the road on the right and left.
The King galloped forward another horse's length; then he halted, turned, and gave a sign.
Adalgoth, who rode at his side, blew his horn, and out of the northern gate of Taginæ issued Thorismuth and his spear-bearers, while from the double ambush on the hills the Persian horsemen of the Corsican burst out with a yell and a blast of cornets.
"Now wheel about, my Goths! Forward to the charge! Woe to the befooled!" cried Totila.
Alboin looked helplessly round.
"We have never before trotted into anything so evil, my wolves!" he said.
He would have retreated, but now Gothic footmen issued likewise from the southern gate of Capræ, blocking the way back.
"There is nothing for it but to die merrily, Gisulf! Greet Rosimunda, if thou escapest!"
And he turned to meet one of the leaders of the Persian horsemen, who, distinguished by a richly-gilded open helm, had now reached the road, and was advancing straight upon him.
As he came up to Alboin, he of the gilded helmet cried:
"Turn, Longobardian! yonder stands our common foe!Down with the Goths!"
And he ran his sword through a Gothic horseman who was aiming a stroke at Alboin.
And now the Persian horsemen, galloping past the Longobardians, attacked the horrified Goths. For a moment the latter halted, taken by surprise. But when they saw that it was no mistake--that the ambush was againstthem, and not against the Longobardians--they cried, "Treachery, treachery! all is lost!" and, this time in unfeigned flight, rushed back to Taginæ, carrying everything along with them, even their own footmen, who were just issuing from the gate.
Even the King changed countenance when he saw the Corsican strike at the Goths at Alboin's side.
"Yes, it is treachery!" he cried. "Ha! the tiger! Down with him!"
And he rushed at the Corsican. But before he could reach him, Isdigerd the Persian had stormed into the road from the left between the King and Furius.
"Aim at the King!" he cried to his men. "All spears at the King! There he is, the white one! With the swan on his helmet! Down with him!"
A hail of spears whistled through the air. In a moment the King's shield bristled with darts.
By this time the Corsican had recognised the tall and glittering figure in the distance.
"It is he! I will have his heart's blood!"
And he forced his way through his own and Isdigerd's men.
The two enraged adversaries were now separated only by a few feet.
But Totila had turned against Isdigerd. Pierced in the neck by the King's spear, the chief fell dead to the ground.
And now Totila and Furius met.
The Corsican aimed his spear full at the King's unprotected face.
But suddenly the glittering helmet and the white mantle had disappeared.
Two spears had struck the white horse, and at the same time a third pierced the King's shield and wounded his left arm severely.
Horse and man fell.
Isdigerd's Persians raised a wild cry of exultation and pressed forward.
Furius and Alboin spurred their horses.
"Spare the King's life! take him prisoner! He spared me!" cried Alboin.
For he had been greatly touched when Gisulf told him that he distinctly saw the King change the point of his spear for the shaft.
"No! Down with Totila!" cried Furius.
And he hurled his spear at the wounded man, whom Aligern was trying to lift upon the Prefect's horse and lead out of the fight.
Julius caught the Corsican's first spear upon Teja's proven shield.
Furius called for a second, and aimed at the press around the King; Phaza, the Armenian, tried to parry the stroke and received the spear in his heart.
Then Furius, who had now spurred close up, raised his long and crooked scimetar against the King. But before the stroke could fall the Corsican fell backwards from his saddle.
The young Duke of Apulia had thrust the staff of his banner with such force against Ahalla's breast that the wood was shattered.
And now Totila's banner--the costly work of Valeria and her women--was in the greatest danger in Adalgoth's hands. For all the enemy's horse pressed upon the bold young standard-bearer; a stroke of Gisulf's axe struck the staff and broke it again--Adalgoth tore off the silken flag and tucked it into his sword-belt.
Alboin had now come up, and cried:
"Yield, thou King of the Goths--to me, a King's son!"
Aligern had just succeeded in lifting the King on to the Prefect's horse; he turned to the Longobardian, who, wishing to stay the King's flight but to save his life, aimed a stroke at the latter's horse with his spear. But the next moment Aligern had cleft Alboin's vulture-winged helmet, and, stunned, the latter wavered in his saddle.
Thus, the leaders of their enemies being for the moment repulsed, Adalgoth, Aligern, and Julius had time to lead the King out of the tumult as far as the northern gate of Taginæ. From this place the King would have conducted the battle, but he could scarcely hold himself upright in his saddle.
"Thorismuth," he said, "thou must defend Taginæ; for the present Capræ is lost. Let a mounted messenger fetch the whole of Hildebrand's wing here; the road to Rome must be kept open at all costs. Teja, as I learned, has already joined in the battle with his left wing.--To defend the retreat to the south--is our last hope!"
And, saying this, he swooned away.
But Earl Thorismuth said:
"I and my spearmen will defend Taginæ to the last man. Not a foe shall get in here; neither the Persians nor the Longobardians. I will protect the King's life as long as I can raise a finger. Take him farther back; into the mountain--into the cloister but make haste, for there, from the Gate of Capræ, come the enemy's foot--and, look there!--Cethegus the Prefect with his Isaurians! Capræ and our bowmen are lost!"
And so it was.
Wisand, obeying his orders, had not defended Capræ, but had allowed Cethegus and Liberius to enter, and only when they were fairly inside the town did he begin the fight in the streets, at the same time sending a thousand of his men out of the southern gate to attack the Longobardians.
But, as the ambuscades had fallen upon the Goths instead of the Longobardians; as Alboin and Furius united in dispersing or annihilating the few Gothic horsemen, and the attack intended by the spearmen from Taginæ did not take place; the Gothic bowmen, first in Capræ itself, and then on the Flaminian Way, between Capræ and Taginæ, were quickly crushed by superior force.
Wisand escaped as if by a miracle, and, though wounded, reached Taginæ and reported the annihilation of his troops.
Narses was carried into Capræ, and the Illyrians began to storm Taginæ. Earl Thorismuth resisted heroically. He fought his best in order to cover the retreat of his comrades.
He was presently reinforced by a few thousand men from Hildebrand's left wing, who now hurried up, while the old master-at-arms led the greater part of his troops southwards beyond Taginæ upon the high-road to Rome.
Just as the storming of Taginæ was about to commence, Cethegus met Furius and Alboin, who had recovered from the blows they had received.
Cethegus had heard of the course pursued by the Corsican, which had decided the fate of the battle. He shook him by the hand.
"Well done, friend Furius! At last on the right side, and against the barbarian King!"
"He must not escape alive!" growled the Corsican.
"What? How? He still lives! I thought that--he had fallen," said Cethegus hastily.
"No; they managed to rescue him after he was wounded."
"He must not live!" cried Cethegus. "Then you are right! It is of more importance than to win Taginæ. Narses can manage that heroic work from his litter. He has seventy to one. Up, Furius! Why do your horsemen stand idle here?"
"The animals cannot ride up the walls!"
"No; but they can swim. Up! take three hundred yourself, and give me three hundred. Two roads lead right and left from the little town over--no! they have broken down the bridges--they leadthroughthe Clasius and the Sibola--let us take these roads. The wounded King is certainly--can he still fight?"
"Hardly."
"Then he has fled beyond Taginæ--to Rome or--"
"No; to his bride!" cried Furius. "Most certainly to Valeria in the cloister. Ha! I will stab him in her very arms! Up, Persians! follow me. Thanks, Prefect! Take as many horsemen as you like. And ride to the right--I will ride to the left round the town; for both roads lead to the cloister."
And, wheeling to the left, he disappeared.
Cethegus ordered the rest of the horsemen to follow him, speaking in the Persian language.
Then he rode up to Liberius and said:
"I will take the Gothic King prisoner."
"What? He still lives? Then make haste!"
"Meanwhile you can take this Taginæ," continued Cethegus; "I will leave you my Isaurians."
And he galloped away with Syphax and three hundred Persians.
Meantime the wounded King had been taken by his friends out of Taginæ into a little pine-wood near the road, where he drank from a spring and gradually revived.
"Julius," he said, "ride on to Valeria; tell her that the battle is lost, but not the kingdom. That I am alive and still hope. As soon as I feel a little stronger I shall ride up to the Spes Bonorum. I ordered Teja and Hildebrand there when they had finished their tasks. It is a high and safe position. Go, I beg thee; comfort Valeria and take her also from the cloister to Spes Bonorum. Thou wilt not? Then I must myself ride up the difficult road--surely thou wilt spare me that?"
Julius was reluctant to leave the wounded man.
"Oh, relieve me from my helmet and mantle! they are so heavy," said Totila.
Julius took them from him and gave him his own mantle.
All at once a thought flashed across the mind of the monk; had they not once before exchanged garments--the Dioscuri?
Had he not once before drawn the murderous steel directed at Totila's heart upon himself?
He thought they were followed. It seemed to him that he heard horses approaching, and Aligern--Adalgoth held the King's head upon his knees--had hastened to the edge of the wood to look.
"Yes, it is they," he cried as he returned; "Persian horsemen are riding up from both sides of the wood!"
"Then make haste, Julius," begged Totila; "save Valeria! Take her to Teja at the sarcophagus."
"I will make all speed, my friend! Farewell till we meet again!" And Julius once more pressed Totila's hand. Then he mounted Pluto--he chose the wounded horse, leaving his own, which was unhurt.
Unseen by Totila, he set the helmet with its silver swan upon his head, folded the white mantle around him, and galloped out of the wood towards the cloister hill.
"This road," he thought, "is open and undefended, while the road which the King will take to the Spes Bonorum leads through wood and vineyard. Perhaps I shall succeed in attracting the pursuers away from him."
And, in fact, he had no sooner issued from beneath the trees, and begun to ride up the hill, than he saw that the horsemen who had come from beyond Taginæ were eagerly following him.
In order to keep the pursuers away from the King, and from discovering their error, he urged his horse to its full speed.
But the animal was wounded, and the way was very steep. Nearer and nearer came the pursuers.
"Is it he?"
"Yes, it is he."
"No, it is not. He is too short," said the leader of the troop, who rode foremost.
"Would he fly alone?"
"That would be the best way to escape," observed the leader.
"It is he most surely; I see the silver swan on his helmet!"
"And the white mantle!"
"But he rode a white horse," said the leader.
"Yes, at first," said one of the horsemen; "but when it fell, struck by my spear, they lifted him--I was close by--upon that charger."
"Enough," said the leader, "you are right. I recognise the horse."
"A noble animal! How it keeps on, and up hill, too, although wounded."
"Yes, he is a noble animal! And I will make him stop. Pay attention! Halt, Pluto!" he shouted. "On your knees!"
Snorting and trembling, the clever, obedient animal, in spite of spur and blows, stood stockstill, and slowly bent its fore-legs in the sand.
"It is ruin, barbarian, to ride the Prefect's horse! There, take that for the Forum! and that for the Capitol! and that for Julius!"
And the Prefect--for he it was--furiously hurled three spears one after the other, his own and two carried by Syphax, at the back of his victim, and with such force that they passed completely through the fugitive's body.
Then Cethegus sprang from his horse, drew his sword, and taking the fallen man by the back of his helmet, dragged up his head from the earth.
"Julius!" he screamed in horror.
"You, O Cethegus!" Julius could just murmur.
"Julius! you must not, must not die!"
And Cethegus passionately tried to stanch the blood that issued from the three wounds.
"If you love me," said the dying man, "save him--save Totila!" And his gentle eyes closed for ever.
Cethegus put his hand upon the heart of the dead man; he laid his ear upon the bared breast.
"All is over!" he then said, in a faint voice. "O Manilia! Julius, I loved thee! And he died withhisname upon his lips! All is over!" he cried again, but this time in a voice of anger; "the last bond which united me to human love I have myself cut, deceived by mocking accident! It was my last weakness! And now all tender feeling, be dead to me! Lift him on to the horse.--This, my Pluto, shall be your last service.--Take him--up there I see a chapel--take him there, and let him be buried with all ceremony by the priests. Merely say that he died as a monk--that he died for his friend. He deserves a Christian burial. But I," he added, with a terrible expression on his face, "I will once more seek his friend; I will unite them without delay--and for ever."
And he mounted his horse.
"Whither?" asked Syphax. "Back to Taginæ?"
"No! down into that wood. He must be hidden there, for thence came Julius."