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I t looked as if Justinian's dream of regaining the Western Empire was an idledream, after all.

Belisarius, the

greatest general the Empire produced in generations,had breezed through North Africa. He had wiped out the
once-mighty Vandal Empire and restored control of the Mediterranean to the Romans. Then he landed in Sicily
and, with the aid of the native Romans, drove the Ostrogoths back to the mainland. Conquering mainland Italy
had been a tougher job, but Belisarius accomplished that, too. Or he almost did.He had the Gothic king and his
court besieged in Ravenna, their almost impregnable capital. Then the Persians attacked the eastern frontier.
Justinian wanted to end the long Italian war so he could deal with the Persians. He offeredto let the Goths keep
Italy north of the Po. They agreed, but Belisarius refused tolift the siege. He wanted unconditional surrender. In
despair, the Goths offered to recognize Belisarius as Emperor of the West if he would lift the siege. He agreed.
But after he entered Ravenna, Belisarius took the Gothic Icing, Witigis, and his officials prisoner and sent them
to Constantinople. Justinian was outraged. First, Belisarius had disobeyed orders. Second, he hadwon by
breaking his word. Justinian was also troubled by the thought that someday Belisarius might be tempted by an
offer like the one the Goths had made. But right now, he needed him on the Persian front. While the great
general was absent, the Goths elected a new king, a vigorous young man named Totila. Totila began
reconquering lost territory. When Belisarius successfully completed the latest round of fighting with Persia,
Justinian sent him back to Italy.
Totila, though, was a better general than Witigis, and Belisarius was unable to make headway. After much
fruitless fighting, he asked to be relieved of the Italian command. The Romans had a highly trained army, and
they had a number of competent, even dashing, generals. What they didn't have was many soldiers. Conquering
Italy had been many years' work for Belisarius, and everyone agreed that Belisarius was a military genius. With
the resources he had available to reconquer Italy, Justinian now needed another, greater, geniusa big order.
Even more important, he needed a genius he could trusta bigger order yet. He went over the list of officers,
and didn't find anyone who met either requirement. And even if he did find such a genius, he still didn't have
enough soldiers. To solve that problem, Justinian turned to a highly improbable trouble-shooter, his high
chamberlain, Narses. Narses was intelligent, adaptable, and utterly loyal. Further, as he was a eunuch, and well
into his 70s, he could have no thoughtsabout starting a new dynasty. Narses did know something about what an
army required. He had represented Justinian in Italy for a while, but he quarreled with Belisarius andwas
brought back to Constantinople. Back home, Narses had again proved his loyalty by foiling a plot by John of
Cappadocia, the praetorian prefect, to assassinate Justinian.

Narses
The chamberlain was old and frail. He spent almost his whole life in offices, dictating memos and supervising
archives. He was affable, generous, and highly civilized, which made him popular with lesser officials and the
public. But could he recruit an army? Narses had long been a student of military theory. And, as he proved in the
Nika Rebellion (see pg. 16) and in the attempted assassination, he was utterly fearless.But would the crude,
barbarian Germans, Slavs, and Huns the Romans recruited for their army follow such a man? Justinian thought
they would.To find out, he sent the eunuch chamberlain north to recruit soldiers from the Heruls, a German tribe
that had adopted what passed for civilization among the Huns.To the surprise of everybody but Narses, and
probably Justinian, the ancient bureaucrat got on famously with the barbarians. If the Emperor is sending such
an old man to form an army, the Heruls thought, he must be very wise in the ways of war.Narses soon got a
chance to prove his wisdom. A huge army of Slavs had massed on the Danube to invade the Balkans. From
horseback, Narses, the one-time armchair general, directed his Heruls so adroitly the Slavs were routed with
heavy losses. While Narses was recruiting and leading barbarians, Justinian appointed his cousin, Germanus,
supreme commander in Italy. Germanus took his own armed retainers and recruited an army of peasants, paying
them an enlistment bonus from his own pocket. Then he died. Once again, the emperor called on Narses. The
eunuch was now to return to Italy, this time as army commander.In addition to the Heruls, Narses recruited
Huns, Slavs, and Lombards; the lastwere a people almost as uncivilized as the Slavs. He picked up the army
Germanus had recruited, now under the command of the late general's son-in-law, Bloody John. He had Roman
regular regiments, a group of Persian deserters from the eastern front and the personal bodyguards of a number
of Roman magnates, including one called John the Glutton. (Every other Roman officer seems to have been
named John.) It seems likely that Narses had a larger army than Belisarius had taken to Italy. It's also likely that
it was not as much larger as the historian Procopius would have us believe. Procopius was the secretary of
Narses' rival, Belisarius. Certainly, there is no good reason to believe that Narses' troops outnumbered those of
the Goths.

A new war
In 551, at the age of 74, Narses set out for Italy. The Goths supposed that any Roman invasion would come by
sea, as it always had in the past. Narses marched overland. Totila was busy in southern Italy, but he sent one of
his most able officers, Teias, to stop the Romans. Teias knew Narses had a large army, but he also knew he
lacked
enough ships to carry it. He would not be able to march along the coast, the Goth believed, because of all the
bays, lakes, and wide rivers. (Teias had destroyed all the bridges.) So the Gothic commander concentrated at
Verona, in the middle of the Po valley. According to Procopius, "He cut off all possible passage there for the
enemy by making all the area everywhere around the river Po impassable and completely impenetrable by
artificial means, in places making thickets and ditches and ravines, in others deep mud and standing pools." The
Franks had occupied much of northern Italy, having received land from the Goths in return for their neutrality,
and having seized more land while their "allies" were busy fighting the Romans. They refused the Romans
peaceful passage because their army included Lombards, the blood enemies of the Franks. Narses did not want
to add the formidable Franks to his enemies at this time. He decided to take the coastal route. Narses had his
troops build rafts, which the ships towed along beside the marching army. When faced with a body of water,
Narses turned the rafts into floating bridges. In the past, Belisarius and the other Roman commanders had
concentrated on taking cities, turning the war into a snail-paced succession of sieges. The only result had been a
long, drawn-out devastation of Italy. Narses aimed at the Gothic army. After resting in Ravenna for nine days,
the Romans marched out. At Ariminum, the Gothic garrison sallied out to stop Narses' force, but their
commander was killed and the Goths fled back into the city. Narses threw a bridge across the river, but he didn't
stop to besiege Ariminum. Coming to another fortress, he left a few guards at the site and pushed on. Totila had
stationed his forces at the main pass across the Apennines, but Narses took a little-used trail and easily crossed
the range. Totila saw that the only way Narses could be stopped would be with a pitched battle. He collected all
his fighting men and advanced.

The pyres of the Gauls


Both armies camped about 14 Roman miles apart, near a place called Busta Gallorum (Funeral Pyres of the
Gauls) in memory of a Roman victory over the Gauls by the consul Camillus. Totila had all the Gothic troops
that weren't tied up manninggarrisons, except for the men under Teias that Narses had bypassed. Narses'
challenge to the Gothic power in the open field, something Belisarius had never attempted, might seem rash
except for one thing: The old eunuch knew he had a superior military machine. The Huns, the Heruls, and all the
regular Roman cavalry were horse archers as well as lancers. They used the short Asian composite bow and
could shoot accurately from a galloping horse. The Gothic cavalry were only lancers. Their only archers were
infantry. Infantry was not highly esteemed by most military leaders at the time, whether Roman or barbarian.
Ever since Adrianople (see pg. 63) infantry had been regarded as fit only for defending walls or climbing siege
ladders. At least, that was the opinion of all generals except Narses. The eunuch saw that Roman infantry,
trained to use both the bow and the spear with equal facility, could be invaluable in certain situations.
Narses was ready for a battle, but he gave Totila a chance to avoid one. He sent envoys to the Gothic camp
advising the king that he could not forever withstand the power of the Roman Empire. Totila laughed at Narses's
threat. The envoys then said, "Well, sir, fix an appointed time for an engagement." Totila said, "Let us meet in
eight days." The Roman general knew better than to trust a Goth. He prepared to fight the next day. Totila
moved his whole army up the following morning. A distance of only "two spear throws" separated Roman and
Goth. Narses had taken a strong position. There was only one way to get around his army, a narrow path
commanded by a hill
on his left. He sent 50 infantrymen up the hill in the dead of the night. When Totila saw them, he sent a force of
cavalry to drive the Romans off the hill. No infantry could withstand a cavalry charge, he thought. The Roman
infantry front ranks formed a wall of shields and spears; the rear ranks used their bows. The Goths were beaten
back repeatedly. Totila sent another group of horsemen up the hill. The result was the same. The Gothic king
resigned himself to Roman possession of the high ground. It was time for the big show. But Teias still had not
arrived. To buy time, Totila sent a Roman deserter named Coccas out to challenge any Roman to single combat.
Coccas was a big man, immensely strong, who had gained a great reputation among the Goths as a fighter.One
of Narses's bodyguards, an Armenian named Anzalas, rode out to meet him.
Coccas charged, but at the last moment Anzalas made his horse swerve and stabbed the Gothic champion in his
side. It was not an auspicious beginning for Totila. But he had another delaying tactic. As both armies watched,
the Gothic king, arrayed in gleaming purple and gold parade armor and riding a huge horse, cantered out into
no-man's land. His horse pranced in circles, reared, pirouetted, and ran backwards while Totila tossed his lance
into the air and caught it. He was doing the mounted war dance of the Goths. Finally, he galloped back to his
own lines and changed into war armor. Teias had arrived. Narses commanded from his left flank, where he
placed the best of the Romans and Huns under Bloody John. Valerian, Bloody John's uncle, and John the
Glutton held the other flank with more Roman regulars. Narses placed the Lombards andsome recently recruited
Heruls in the center, and he made them fight on foot. These barbarians had not had the advantages of Roman
discipline. Narses couldn't be sure they wouldn't flee at an inopportune time, so he took away their mobility by
dismounting them. Both infantry and cavalry held the Roman flanks, and all of them had their bows strung.
When Totila saw Narses' order of battle, he decided the center was the weak point. It was held by infantrynot
the disciplined Roman infantry, but the Romans' tribal allies. He ordered a cavalry charge into the Roman center.
When he saw the Gothic horsemen preparing, Narses changed his own position. He formed the infantry on his
flanks into crescents, curving in towards the center. And he sent some horsemen out to the left with orders to
remain concealed but to attack the Gothic cavalry from the rear when its charge failed. Totila launched his
chargea headlong stampede aimed at the Roman center. The infantry and cavalry on the Roman flanks
released clouds of arrows at the Goths. Rders fell; horses fell; horses reared and tried to turn; men and horses
collided. The charge turned into pandemonium. The few Goths who reached the infantry center learned that
horses can't be driven through a hedge of spears. Then the hidden Roman cavalry charged the rear of the Gothic
cavalry. The Gothic horsemen were too far from their own infantry for archery support. They fled. Their infantry
saw them fleeing and ran, too. The Roman cavalry rode after them, shooting all the way. Gothic bodies were
spread over the fields for miles. One of them was that of King Totila. Narses's reliance on dismounted cavalry to
hold the center of his line while projecting flanks of archers shot up the enemy foreshadowed the tactics Edward
III used at Crecy 794 years later. The English king's revival of the tactics of the Roman general earned him the
reputation of being a military genius. Narses sent Bloody John after the remnants of Totila's army. Then he paid
off his Lombard allies and had Valerian escort them back to their own country under guard. The northern
savages were far too fond of murder and rape to suit Narses. Narses had little trouble retaking Rome.
Meanwhile, the Goths crowned a new king, Teias. Narses marched south into Campania. He was threatening the
Gothic treasure stored at Cumae. As he expected, Teias rounded up all the remaining Gothic warriors and set out
to save the treasure, which meant he would have to face Narses on ground of the Roman's choosing. Cut off
from supplies, he tried to make a surprise attack on the Romans. The Romans weren't surprised. The Goths were
outnumbered for the first time, and fought for two days. Then with Teias and most of his troops dead, they
agreed to leave the Roman Empire. Next, Narses had to deal with the Goth's allies, the Franks. The Franks were
the most primitive of all the German tribes. They had no cavalry and few archers, but they were the most
formidable hand-to-hand fighters in Europe. They fought in a dense mass that no cavalry could break into. First
they felled approaching horsemen with their national weapon, the francisca, a short, heavy throwing axe that
could split any shield. Those who escaped the shower of axes were skewered by the angon, a spear the Franks
could either throw or thrust with, or chopped down with their long swords.
Roman, Gothic, and Alanic horsemen had tangled with the Frankish footmen and come off second best. The
mistake of the Franks' previous enemies, Narses saw, was in charging those ferocious footmen. When he met
them, he attacked with cavalry archers, who wereable to stay out of axe-range. According to the historian
Agathias, only five Franks escaped and only 80 Romans were killed.

A name to reckon with


Narses stayed in Italy for the next 13 years as Justinian's viceroy. He rebuilt roads, aqueducts, and cities, in
attempt to restore a lost social order and rekindle a lost morale. He carved inscriptions on public works, like one
on a bridge near Rome: "This bridge constructed by the praetorian Narses, patrician of the Empire"the
pathetic attempt of a man who could have no descendants to leave some memory of himself behind. There was
no need to embellish his reputation for contemporaries. When they looked at the withered old eunuch, they saw
a master strategist. Most of his troops had gone home, but the old eunuch's reputation alone kept Italy safe.
When Justinian
died, his successor, Justin II, retired the ancient viceroy. (He was 87 at the time. He lived in Constantinople 10
more years.) As soon as Narses left, the Lombards poured into the Po valley. All of Italy was not lost to the
Roman Empire, however. Centuries later, when the Empire was known as the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine,
Empire, Constantinople continued to control parts of Italy. There, the culture of Rome lived on in its home
ground. In those areas began the movement we know as the Renaissance, or rebirth, of Western civilization.
When the Eastern Roman Empire finally ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the civilization that had
begun in Mycenaean Greece almost three millennia before was still growing and developing.

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