7 
GOTHS. 
rions flept, and tlieir officers were abfent, defcended by a 
roye from the wall, and fecretly propofed to tlie Gothic 
king to introduce his troops into the city. The offer 
was entertained with coldnefs and fufpicion ; they re¬ 
turned infafety; they twice repeated their vifit; the 
place was twice examined ; the confpiracy was known 
and difregarded ; and no fooner had Totila confented to 
the attempt, than they unbarred the Afinarian gate, 
and gave admittance to the Goths, on the 17th of De¬ 
cember 546. Till the dawn of day they halted in order 
of battle, apprehenfive of treachery or ambuffi ; but the 
troops of Beffas, with their leader, liad already efcaped ; 
and when the king was preffed to difturb their retreat, 
he prudently replied, that “no fight could be more 
grateful than that of a flying enemy.” The patricians, 
who were poifeffed of hories, accompanied the governor; 
their brethren, among whom were Olybrius, Orcfles, 
and Maximus, took refuge in the cluirch of St. Peter : 
but the alfcrtion, that only five hundred perfons remain¬ 
ed in the capital, infpires forne doubt of the fidelity 
of the hidorian. As foon as day-light luid manifeded 
the entire victory of the Goths, tlieir monarch id'ued 
orders to fpare the lives of the Romans; and the 
chadity of the maids and matrons was preferved in¬ 
violate from the pailions of the hungry (oldiers. But 
they W'ere rewarded by the freedom of }Milage, after 
the mod precious fpoiis had been referved for the royal 
treafiiry. I'he next day Totila pronounced two ora¬ 
tions, to congratulate and admonidi his vidtorious 
Goths, and to reproach the fenatc, as the viled of flaves, 
with their perjury, folly, and ingiaiitude ; dcrnly de¬ 
claring, tl'.at their edates and lionours were judly for¬ 
feited to the companions of his arms. Againd the city 
which, had lo long delayed the courle of his vidfories, 
he appeared inexorable : one-third of the walls, in 
different parts, were denioliflied by his command ; fir e 
and engines were prepared to conlume or lubvert th.e 
mod dately W'orks of antiquity ; and the wor ld was allo- 
nilhcd by the fatal decree, that Rome llioirld be changed 
into a padure for cattle. The fir in and temperate re- 
mondrance of Belifarius fulpended the execution; he 
warned the barbarian not to fully his fame by the de- 
drudfion of thofe monuments which were the glory of 
the dead, and the delight of the living ; and Totila was 
perfuaded by the advice of an eneic.y, to preferve Rome 
as the ornament of his kingdom, or the faired pledge of 
peace and reconciliation. Vv'hcn lie had fignified to the 
ambaffadors of Beiiiarius his intention of Iparing the 
city, he dationed an army at tlte didance of one hundred 
and twenty furlongs, to oblei ve the motions of the Ro¬ 
man general. Vvith the remainder of liis forces, he 
marched into Lucania and Apulia, and occtipieu, on the 
fummit of mount Garganus, one of the camps of Danni- 
bal. 1 he fenators were dragged in his train, and after¬ 
wards confined in the forti'edes of Campania : the citi¬ 
zens, with their wives and children, were difperfed in 
exile; and during forty days Rome was abandoned to 
defolation and loiitude. 
The lofs of Rome was retrieved by an adlion, to whicli 
many would apply the name of ralhneis. After the de¬ 
parture of Totila, the Roman general I'allied from tire 
port at the head of a thouland h.oi fe, cut in pieces the 
enemy who oppoled his progrefs, and entered Rome in 
P'ebruary 547, at the iiead oi his invincible troops. Re- 
folved to maintain a liation fo conipiLUOus in the eyes of 
mankind, lie lurnmoned his army .to the Itandard whicli 
he eieCted on tlie capitoi : the old iiihabiraiits were re¬ 
called by the love of their coumry ; and the keys of 
Rome were lent a iecond time to the emperor Juliiiiian. 
The walls, as tar as they liad been demolilhed by the 
Goths,were haffily repaired with dilliniilar mater lals ; the 
ditcli was reltored ; and iron fpiKes were driven into tlie 
liighvvays, to annoy tire feet of tlie hories. At the ex¬ 
piration of twenty-five days,- Totila returned by hafly 
-inarches from Apulia, to avenge the injury and diJgrace. 
Belifarius experffed his approach. The Goths were 
thrice repulfed in three general affaults; they loft th.e 
flower of their troops; the royal ftandard had near^ly 
fallen into the hands of the enemy, and the fame of 1 o- 
tila began to link, as it liad rifen, with the fortune of 
liisarms. "Whatever fkill and courage could atchieve, 
liad been performed by the Roman general ; who wa-s 
now ordered to pnrfue the enemy into the province of 
Lucania. In this warfare, the hero, invincible again® 
the power of the barbarians, w as vamjuifhed by the de¬ 
lay, the difobedience, and the cowardice, of his own of¬ 
ficers. He repofed in his winter-quarters of Crotona, 
in tlie full alfurance that the two paifes of the Lifcanian 
hills were guarded by his cavalry. Tliey were betrayed 
by treachery or weaknefs ; and tlie rajiid march of the 
Goths fcarcely allowed time for the efcape of Belifarius 
to the coaft of Sicily. At length a fleet and army were 
affenibled for the recovery of Roffano, where the nobles 
of Lucania had taken refuge. In the firft attempt, the 
Roman forces were dillipated by a ftorm. In the Iecond 
they approaclied t.be Ihore ; but tliey faw the hills co¬ 
vered with archers, the landing-place defended by in¬ 
vulnerable lines of fpears, and the king of tlie Goths 
impatient for battle. Belifarius retired witli a figh, and 
continued to languilh till he obtained permiftion tor his 
return. 
Oil the departure,of Belifarius, Perufia was befieged ; 
and few cities were impregnable to the Gothic aims. 
Ravenna, Ancona, and Crotona, ftill refifted the barba. 
rians ; and wlien Totila afked in marriage one of the 
daughters of tlie king of France, he was ftung by th.e 
reproach that the king of Italy was unworthy of his ti¬ 
tle till it was acknowledged by the Roman peopk;. 
Three thouland of his bravelt foldiers had been left to 
defend tlie capital. On the fufpicion of a monopoly, 
tliey inalfacred the governor, and announced to Jufti- 
nian, by a deputation of, the clergy, that uiilefs their 
offence was pardoned, and their arrears were fatisfied, 
they would inftantly accept the offers of Totila. But 
the officer wjio I'ucceeded to the command deferved 
their efteem and lonfidence ; and the Goths, inftead of 
finding an eafy conqueft, had to encounter a vigorous 
refiftance from the loldiers and people, who paiientlj^ 
endured the lofs of the port, and of all maritime fup- 
plies. 'I'he liege of Rome would perhaps have been 
raifed, if tlie liberality of I'otila to the llaurians had 
not encouraged fonie of their venal countrymen to copy 
the example of trealon. In a dark night, while the 
Gothic trumpets founded on another fide, tliey lilently 
opened the gate of St. Paul : the barbarians"retook the 
city, A. D. 549 ; and the flying garrilon was intercept¬ 
ed before they could reach the harbour of Centumcells. 
A foldier trained in tlie fchool of Belifarius, Paul of 
Cilicia, retired with "four hundred men to the mole of 
Adrian. They repelled the Goths; but they felt the 
approach of famine ; and their averlion to the tafte of 
horfe-flefti confirmed their refolution to rilk the event 
of a defperate fally. But their fpirit inleiilibly Hooped 
to the oilers of capitulation : they retrieved their ar¬ 
rears of pay, and preferved their arms and horfes, by 
enlilting in the fervice of Totila ; iheir chiefs, who 
pleaded an attachment to their wives and cliikiren in the 
£aft, were dil’miHcd with honour ; and above four luin- 
dred enemies, who had taken refuge in tlie fanctuaries,^ 
were laved by th.e clemency of the viiffor. He no lon¬ 
ger entertained a v/i!h of deftroying the edifices of 
Rome, which he now refpected as tJie leat of tlie Gothic 
kingdom : the fenate and peojde were reftored to their 
country; the means of fublillence were liberally pro¬ 
vided ; arid Totila, in the robe of peace, exhibited the 
equertrian games of the circus. Whilft he aniufed tlip 
eyes of tlie multitude, four hundred veffels were pre¬ 
pared for tlie embarkation of his troops. The cities of 
Rhegium and Tarentuiu were reduced : lie palled'into 
Sicily, tlie object of his implacable refenlment; and the 
i.fland 
