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should be recorded, on the condition that after handing over all of Italy he would lay aside the insignia of his office. 7.2.18 The ambassadors, therefore, when they arrived in Byzantium, acted in accordance with these instructions. In the meantime the Goths killed Eraric by treachery. And upon his death Totila took over the rule according to their agreement. 7.3.1 But when the Emperor Justinian learned both what had happened concerning Eraric and that the Goths had established Totila as their ruler, he no longer let up 7.3.2 taunting and reviling the commanders of the army there. For this reason, after establishing garrisons in each city, John the nephew of Vitalian, and Bessas and Vitalius and all the others gathered at Ravenna, where, indeed, Constantianus and Alexander, whom I have mentioned before, were staying. 7.3.3 And when they had all assembled, it seemed best to them first to march against Verona, which is in Venetia, and when they should capture both it and the Goths there, then to go against both Totila and Ticinum. 7.3.4 This Roman army, then, was gathered to the number of twelve thousand, and their commanders were eleven, of whom the foremost happened to be Constantianus and Alexander, who proceeded straight for the city 7.3.5 of Verona. And having come very near it, about sixty stades away, they encamped on the plain there. For in every direction from this place there are plains suitable for cavalry, extending to the city of Mantua, which is a day's journey distant from the city of Verona. Now there was a certain man of note among the Venetians, 7.3.6 Marcian by name, who dwelt in a fortress not far from the city of Verona, and being exceedingly well-disposed toward the emperor, was eager to hand over the city to the Roman army. 7.3.7 And, since one of the guards was known to him from childhood, he sent some of his own trusted men to him and persuaded the man with money to receive the emperor's army into the 7.3.8 city. And when the guard of the gates agreed to this, Marcian sent the men who had negotiated with him to the commanders of the Roman army, so that they might both report the agreement and with them 7.3.9 invade the city by night. And it seemed expedient to the commanders for one of them to go ahead with a few men; and if the guard opened the gates for them, they were to hold them and to receive the army into the city in safety. 7.3.10 Of the others, then, no one was willing to undertake the risk, but Artabazes alone, an Armenian by birth, and exceptionally good at warfare, 7.3.11 not at all unwillingly committed himself to the enterprise. This man was a leader of Persians, whom Belisarius had happened to send to Byzantium from the land of the Persians with Bleschames a little before, after capturing the fortress 7.3.12 of Sisauranon. At that time, having selected one hundred men from the whole army, late at night he came very near 7.3.13 the circuit-wall. And when the guard opened the gates for them as had been agreed, some of them, standing there, sent for the army, while the others, climbing up on the wall, killed the guards there, falling upon them unexpectedly. 7.3.14 And when all the Goths perceived the trouble, they fled and departed through other gates. And a certain exceedingly high rock stands up before the circuit-wall, from which it is possible to observe everything that is done in Verona and to count the people there, and indeed 7.3.15 to see a very great part of the plain. The Goths, taking refuge there, remained quiet for the whole night. But the Roman army, having come within forty stades of the city, went no further forward, as the generals were disputing with one another over the spoils in the city. 7.3.16 And while they were still quarreling over this booty, day had already clearly broken, and the Goths, having observed accurately from the height both the enemy in the city and how far the rest of the army stood from Verona, rushed for the city through the very gates from which they had happened to escape before. For not even 7.3.17 those who had entered were strong enough to hold them. The Romans, therefore, having come to an agreement, around the ... of the circuit-wall

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ἀνάγραπτος εἴη ἐφ' ᾧ Ἰταλίαν παραδοὺς ξύμπασαν τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς 7.2.18 κατάθοιτο σχῆμα. οἱ μὲν οὖν πρέσβεις ἐπειδὴ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐγένοντο, κατὰ ταῦτα ἔπρασσον. ἐν τούτῳ Γότθοι Ἐράριχον κτείνουσι δόλῳ. τελευτήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ παρέλαβε κατὰ τὰ ξυγκείμενα σφίσι τὴν ἀρχὴν Τουτίλας. 7.3.1 Ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς ἔμαθε τά τε ἀμφὶ Ἐραρίχῳ ξυνενεχθέντα καὶ ὅτι Γότθοι Τουτίλαν σφίσιν ἐς τὴν ἀρχὴν κατεστήσαντο, κακίζων τε καὶ ἐρεσχελῶν τοὺς ἐνταῦθα τοῦ στρατοῦ ἄρχοντας οὐκέτι 7.3.2 ἀνίει. διὸ δὴ φυλακτήρια καταστησάμενοι ἐν πόλει ἑκάστῃ Ἰωάννης τε ὁ Βιταλιανοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦς καὶ Βέσσας καὶ Βιτάλιος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ξύμπαντες ἐς Ῥάβενναν ξυνελέγοντο, οὗ δὴ Κωνσταντιανὸς καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος, οὗ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθην, διατριβὴν εἶχον. 7.3.3 ἐπειδή τε ἅπαντες ξυνελέγησαν, ἔδοξε σφίσιν ἄμεινον εἶναι πρῶτον ἐπὶ Βερώνην, ἣ ἐν Βενετίαις ἐστὶ, στρατεύεσθαι, καὶ ἐπειδὰν αὐτήν τε καὶ Γότθους τοὺς ἐνταῦθα ἐξέλωσιν, οὕτω δὴ ἐπί τε Τουτίλαν καὶ Τικι7.3.4 νοὺς ἰέναι. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ Ῥωμαίων στρατὸς εἰς δισχιλίους τε καὶ μυρίους ξυνείλεκτο, ἄρχοντες δὲ αὐτῶν ἕνδεκα ἦσαν, ὧν οἱ πρῶτοι ἐτύγχανον Κωνσταντιανός τε καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος, οἳ καὶ εὐθὺ πόλεως 7.3.5 Βερώνης ἐχώρουν. γενόμενοι δὲ αὐτῆς ἄγχιστα, ὅσον ἀπὸ σταδίων ἑξήκοντα, ἐστρατοπεδεύσαντο ἐν τῷ ταύτῃ πεδίῳ. τούτου γὰρ πανταχόσε τοῦ χωρίου πεδία ἱππήλατά ἐστι, διήκοντα ἐς Μάντουαν πόλιν, ἥπερ διέχει πόλεως Βερώνης ἡμέρας ὁδῷ. ἦν δέ τις ἐν Βενέτοις 7.3.6 ἀνὴρ λόγιμος, Μαρκιανὸς ὄνομα, ὅσπερ ἐν φρουρίῳ μὲν κατῴκητο πόλεως Βερώνης οὐ πολλῷ ἄποθεν, εὐνοϊκῶς δὲ βασιλεῖ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἔχων τὴν πόλιν παραδοῦναι τῷ Ῥωμαίων στρατῷ ἐν σπουδῇ ἐποιεῖτο. 7.3.7 καὶ, ἦν γάρ οἱ τῶν τις φυλάκων ἐκ παιδὸς γνώριμος, πέμψας παρ' αὐτὸν τῶν οἱ ἐπιτηδείων τινὰς χρήμασιν ἀναπείθει τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῇ πόλει τὸ βασιλέως στρά7.3.8 τευμα δέξασθαι. καὶ ἐπεὶ ταῦτα ὡμολόγει ὁ τῶν πυλῶν φύλαξ, πέμπει τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν πράξαντας ὁ Μαρκιανὸς παρὰ τοὺς τοῦ Ῥωμαίων στρατοῦ ἄρχοντας, ἐφ' ᾧ τά τε ξυγκείμενα ἐσαγγείλωσι καὶ ξὺν αὐτοῖς 7.3.9 ἐς τὴν πόλιν εἰσβάλλωσι νύκτωρ. ἔδοξε δὲ τοῖς ἄρχουσι ξύμφορον εἶναι προτερῆσαι μὲν αὐτῶν ἕνα ξὺν ὀλίγοις τισίν· ἢν δέ γε ὁ φύλαξ αὐτοῖς ἀνακλίνῃ τὰς πύλας, ἔχεσθαί τε αὐτῶν καὶ τῇ πόλει ξὺν τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ τὸν 7.3.10 στρατὸν δέξασθαι. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων ὑποστῆναι τὸν κίνδυνον οὐδεὶς ἤθελεν, Ἀρταβάζης δὲ μόνος Ἀρμένιος μὲν γένος, διαφερόντως δὲ ἀγαθὸς τὰ πολέμια, 7.3.11 ἐς τὴν πρᾶξιν οὔτι ἀκουσίως καθῆκεν αὑτόν. οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ Περσῶν μὲν ἡγεῖτο, οὓς Βελισάριος ἐς Βυζάντιον ἐκ τῆς Περσῶν γῆς σὺν τῷ Βλησχάμῃ ὀλίγῳ ἔμπροσθεν ἐτύγχανε πέμψας, τὸ Σισαυράνων ἐξελὼν 7.3.12 φρούριον. τότε δὲ ἄνδρας ἑκατὸν ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς στρατοπέδου ἀπολεξάμενος ἀωρὶ τῶν νυκτῶν ἄγχιστα 7.3.13 τοῦ περιβόλου ἐγένετο. καὶ ἐπεὶ ὁ φύλαξ ᾗπερ ξυνέκειτο ἀνεπέτασε σφίσι τὰς πύλας, οἱ μέν τινες ἐνταῦθα ἑστῶτες τὸ στράτευμα μετεπέμποντο, οἱ δὲ ἀναβάντες ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος τοὺς ταύτῃ φυλάσσοντας ἔκτειναν ἀπροσδό7.3.14 κητοι ἐπιπεσόντες. ἐπεὶ δὲ Γότθοι ἅπαντες ᾔσθοντο τοῦ κακοῦ, διὰ πυλῶν ἑτέρων φεύγοντες ᾤχοντο. πέτρα δέ τις ἐς ἄγαν ὑψηλὴ πρὸ τοῦ περιβόλου ἀνέχει, ὅθεν ἅπαντα κατανοεῖν πάρεστι τὰ ἐν Βερώνῃ πρασσόμενα καὶ ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι τοὺς ταύτῃ ἀνθρώπους, καὶ μὴν 7.3.15 καὶ τοῦ πεδίου ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὁρᾶν. ἐνταῦθα οἱ Γότθοι καταφυγόντες τὴν νύκτα ὅλην ἡσύχαζον. ὁ δὲ Ῥωμαίων στρατὸς ἀπὸ σταδίων τεσσαράκοντα τῆς πόλεως ἥκων οὐκέτι ἐπίπροσθεν ᾔει, τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει χρημά7.3.16 των ἀλλήλοις ἀμφισβητούντων τῶν στρατηγῶν. ἔτι τε αὐτῶν ἀμφὶ ταύτῃ διαμαχομένων τῇ λείᾳ ἡμέρα τε ἤδη διαφανῶς γέγονε καὶ οἱ Γότθοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς κατανενοηκότες τῶν τε ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν πολεμίων καὶ ὅσον Βερώνης τὸ ἄλλο στράτευμα διέχον εἱστήκει, δρόμῳ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐχώρουν δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πυλῶν ὅθεν ἀπαλλαγέντες πρότερον ἔτυχον. οὐδὲ γὰρ 7.3.17 αὐτῶν οἱ ἐσεληλυθότες ἔχεσθαι ἴσχυσαν. Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν οὖν ξυμφρονήσαντες τοῦ περιβόλου ἀμφὶ τὰς