Justinian

When Rome was Rome, Witigis would have been crucified like Spartacus, or strangled in public like Vercingetorix.) That was a master-stroke of B. — pretending to go along with W.’s suggestion that provided he split with J. and called off the war, the Goths would recognize him as Western emperor in a power- sharing deal. Once B. was allowed into Ravenna and showed his true colours after the Goths surrendered, it was of course too late for poor old W. — who’d had the wool well and truly pulled over his eyes.

I said above that Libertas might appear to have failed. It would however be premature, I think, to throw in the towel — for two reasons. Firstly, B.’s success in Italy may be built on sand. The Goths have not been defeated militarily, only tricked into surrender. Even with Witigis now out of the picture, there are other potential Gothic leaders waiting in the wings — Urais in Ticinum* and Hildebad in Verona, for example, neither of whom have yet lain down their arms. With Belisarius (accompanied by yourself, of course) recalled from Italy, leaving General Vitalius, a competent second-rater, in charge, a Gothic resurgence can by no means be ruled out. Congratulations by the way on your ‘poison pen’ campaign. Your letters to our beloved emperor suggesting that B. seriously toyed with accepting Witigis’ offer to recognize him as Western emperor — like Julius Caesar when Anthony offered him the crown — had the desired effect. They planted the seed of suspicion in J.’s mind (always fertile ground for doubt to germinate), to the extent of persuading him to withdraw B. — just in case. .

My second reason for suggesting that the cause of Libertas may not be dead is this. Last year, as my spies found out, Witigis, seeing defeat staring him in the face, made a desperate appeal to Khusro, the new Great King of Persia. His envoys carried the message that if Italy were reconquered by Belisarius, the Roman Empire would then be strong enough to renew hostilities with Persia — notwithstanding that the Treaty of Eternal Peace was still in force. In other words, W. was suggesting that Khusro launch a pre-emptive strike against the Empire, while Rome still had its hands full in Italy. Even with W. now gone and Italy in Roman hands again, the war might well flare up once more, as I’ve pointed out. So W.’s appeal could still make sense in terms of what’s in it for Khusro.

All in all, my dear Procopius, the Friends of Libertas may yet have all to play for, and, who knows, you may find yourself ere long back in Italy with B. I have entrusted delivery of this missive to ‘Gracchus’, who will no doubt find you ensconced within the Imperial Palace at Constantinople.

Written at Fanum, Flaminia et Picenum (once more a province of the Roman Empire!), IV Ides Februarii, in the Year of the Consul Basillus.** (Wonder of wonders, it looks as if J. may have undergone a change of heart regarding consigning the consulship to history.)

‘Does the capture of Ravenna, Lord, mean that You look with favour on Justinianus, Your unworthy son? With Italy as well as Africa now Roman once again, Your servant has recovered half the Western Empire. Much still remains to be done, of course — the barbarians cleared from Gaul and Spain, and the light of Your true faith, Orthodox Catholicism, made to triumph over the false creeds of the Monophysites and Arians, throughout the Empire. If, as Constantine and Augustine averred, the mission of the Imperium Romanum is to spread and safeguard Christianity over all the world, then perhaps I can dare to hope that You have indeed chosen me, to be the humble instrument for furthering Your great design for the salvation of mankind.’ Cold and stiff, Justinian shifted his aching knees on the marble floor of Hagia Sophia’s nave, where he had spent the night in prayer.

‘There have been times, Lord,’ the emperor intoned, continuing his orisons, ‘when I feared that You had withdrawn your favour from me, that I was indeed in some way cursed: as if the Furies of legend — those dreadful winged maidens whose locks are twisting serpents and whose eyes drip blood — had been sent by Fate to prescribe the course that I must follow. For example, Lord, when I sent Narses to aid Belisarius in Italy, and their quarrel resulted in the destruction of Milan and the massacre of its people. Have I, Lord, been indirectly guilty of the death of half a million souls? At times I think I must have been, for my conscience continues to torment me. Through timidity and hesitation, Lord, the faults that cost the lives of Atawulf and Valerian my friends, I would have let the Goths keep Italy from the Padus to the Alps, had not Belisarius turned a deaf ear to my instructions to abandon the siege of Ravenna and make terms with Witigis. And was I wrong, Lord, to listen to rumours reported to me by Procopius, that Belisarius thought to make himself Emperor of the West — rumours that caused me to recall him? Have I thereby been guilty of a grave injustice against one who is a good and faithful servant?

‘Perhaps I am a weak and broken vessel, Lord, one who is unworthy to be emperor. I think at times of Amalasuntha and Silverius. And then I wonder, Lord, if I should renounce Theodora, my beloved wife, who, as woman, is tainted with the sin of Eve, and whose transgressions I connived at. If however, Lord, You have indeed chosen Justinian, despite his manifest and many frailties, to be Your Appointed Instrument, I would humbly pray that you vouchsafe to him a sign — as once You did to Constantine of blessed memory.’

Justinian opened his eyes and waited, in an agony of hope and doubt. From outside the church, the faint stir of the awakening city came to the emperor’s ears. The creak and rumble of the vendors’ carts told him that the gates in the Wall of Theodosius had been opened. It must be dawn; the realization was confirmed by the dim radiance beginning to suffuse the nave’s interior.

Then, suddenly, the sun’s rays burst through the windows surrounding the base of the great dome, to bathe the kneeling figure in golden light. Here was his sign, Justinian told himself, sobbing with relief and gratitude. He — Justinianus Augustus, Restitutor Orbis Romani — was indeed God’s Chosen One.

But perhaps, as the emperor Commodus — at the height of his power foreseeing his own downfall, observed — the gods were laughing. In Persia, Khusro was contemplating ending the Treaty of Eternal Peace with Rome; in Italy, an unknown young Goth called Totila determined to resist the Roman conquerors; and in far-off Aethiopia, carried in the fur of rats, a tiny creature spreading death and desolation on an unimagined scale began its journey down the Nile towards the Roman diocese of Egypt.

* In March 538.

** Rimini.

* Senigallia, Urbino, Pesaro.

* Milan.

** 29 July 538.

* Sergeants — not to be confused with centuriones, a much higher, but by this time, obsolescent rank.

* Osimo and Fiesole.

* Pavia.

** 10 February 540. (See Notes.)

TWENTY-ONE

Embrace, O king! the favourable moment; the East is left without defence,

while the armies of Justinian and his renowned general are detained in the

distant regions of the West

Appeal of Witigis’ envoys to Khusro, 539

In the throne room of the great royal palace at Dastagerd on the Euphrates, a tall, handsome young man gazed intently on a bust of Emperor Justinian. ‘We are rivals you and I,’ Khusro, Great King of Persia, murmured to himself, ‘although you may not know it yet. In the age-old contest between Persia and Rome, it is surely Persia that is destined to emerge superior. Let us weigh up your strengths and weaknesses, my enemy.’

The young king peered closely at the bronze features, whose likeness to their subject’s the sculptor had captured with amazing skill from coins and medals bearing the emperor’s image brought back from a Constantinople celebrating the triumph of Belisarius. ‘I see kindness there, and will; also ambition and a desire to rule justly and well. But what you imagine to be best for your people may not be what they themselves desire. You are determined to recover Rome’s Empire of the West, and to establish one Orthodox faith throughout your realm. But in striving for these ends you risk two things. Firstly, overstretching your resources, thus weakening your Eastern Empire; secondly, dividing your subjects into two warring camps — Orthodox and Monophysite. Persia, on the other hand,