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being able to bring in any of the necessities from the fields, and the cargoes from the sea 7.13.6 having been shut off. For when the Goths had taken Naples, having established there a fleet of many skiffs both in the islands called the islands of Aeolus and whatever others lie off this coast, they guarded the passage 7.13.7 with exactness. Therefore, as many ships as put out from Sicily and sailed for the harbour of the Romans, all fell, 7.13.8 men and all, into their hands. And Totila sent an army to Aemilia and ordered it to take the city of Placentia 7.13.9 either by force or by surrender. This is the first city of the country of the Aemilians, having a strong fortification. It lies by the river Eridanus and had been left as the only one of the places in this region still subject to the Romans. 7.13.10 And when this army came near Placentia, they made proposals to the garrison there, that they might surrender the 7.13.11 city by agreement to Totila and the Goths. But when they made no progress, they encamped on the spot and set about a siege, perceiving that those 7.13.12 in the city were in want of provisions. At that time a suspicion of treachery arose among the commanders of the emperor's army in Rome concerning Cethegus, a patrician and the first of the Roman senate. For which reason he departed and went to Centumcellae. 7.13.13 And Belisarius, fearing for Rome and for the whole situation, since it was impossible to bring aid from Ravenna, especially with a small army, decided to depart from there and to occupy the places near Rome, so that, by being near, he might be able to assist those who were in distress there. 7.13.14 And when he had first come to Ravenna he had repented of what he had previously done, persuaded by Vitalius, not for the advantage of the emperor's affairs, since by shutting himself up there he had given the enemy the power to direct the tide of war. 7.13.15 And it seemed to me either that Belisarius chose the worse course, since it was destined then for the Romans to fare badly, or that he had planned the better course, but that God had become an obstacle, intending to assist Totila and the Goths, and that from this the best of his plans 7.13.16 had turned out for Belisarius to be entirely the opposite. For on whom the breath of fortune blows from a fair wind, even if they plan the worst, no terrible thing will meet them, since the divine power turns these things to every advantage; 7.13.17 but for an unfortunate man, I think, good counsel is in no way present, since the necessity of suffering 7.13.18 robs him of both knowledge and true opinion. And if ever he does plan something of what is needed, fortune, blowing immediately from the opposite direction against the one who planned it, reverses his good counsel 7.13.19 to the most wicked of outcomes. But whether these things are this way or that way, I cannot say. And Belisarius, having appointed Justinus with a few men to guard Ravenna, himself proceeded from there through Dalmatia and the places in that region to Epidamnus, where he waited quietly, expecting an army from Byzantium. And having written a letter to the emperor, he reported the present fortunes. 7.13.20 And not long afterwards he sent to him John, the nephew of Vitalianus, and Isaac the Armenian, brother of Aratius and Narses, with an army of barbarian 7.13.21 and Roman soldiers. And they, arriving at Epidamnus, joined with Belisarius. And he sent Narses the eunuch to the rulers of the Heruli, in order that he might persuade the majority of them to march to Italy. 7.13.22 And many of the Heruli followed him, of whom Philemuth and others were commanders, and with him they came to the regions of Thrace. For after wintering there, they were intending to be sent to Belisarius at the beginning of spring. 7.13.23 And with them was also John, whom they called by the surname Phagas, and it happened to them on this journey that a certain piece of fortune wrought great good for the Romans unexpectedly. 7.13.24 For a great crowd of the barbarian Sclaveni had happened recently to have crossed the Ister river, and had plundered the regions there and enslaved a very great multitude of Romans. 7.13.25 With whom indeed the Heruli, suddenly coming to grips, and conquering them against expectation by a great measure

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δυναμένους τι τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν εἰσκομίζεσθαι, καὶ τῶν ἐκ θαλάσ7.13.6 σης ἀποκεκλεισμένων φορτίων. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Γότθοι Νεάπολιν εἷλον, ναυτικὸν ἐνταῦθα καταστησάμενοι ἀκάτων πολλῶν κἀν ταῖς νήσοις ταῖς Αἰόλου καλουμέναις καὶ ὅσαι ἄλλαι τῇδε ἐπίκεινται, ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς τὸν διάπλουν 7.13.7 ἐφύλασσον. ὅσαι οὖν νῆες ἐκ Σικελίας ἀναγόμεναι ἔπλεον ἐπὶ τὸν Ῥωμαίων λιμένα, πᾶσαι γεγόνασιν 7.13.8 αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσιν ὑπὸ ταῖς ἐκείνων χερσί. Τουτίλας δὲ στράτευμα ἐς Αἰμιλίαν πέμψας, πόλιν Πλακεντίαν 7.13.9 ἐξελεῖν ἢ βίᾳ ἢ ὁμολογίᾳ ἐκέλευεν. αὕτη δὲ πρώτη μέν ἐστιν Αἰμιλίων τῆς χώρας, ὀχύρωμα ἰσχυρὸν ἔχουσα. πρὸς δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ Ἠριδανῷ κεῖται καὶ μόνη τῶν τῇδε χωρίων Ῥωμαίων κατήκοος οὖσα ἔτι ἐλέλειπτο. 7.13.10 ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ στρατὸς οὗτος Πλακεντίας ἀγχοῦ ἐγένοντο, λόγους προὔφερον τοῖς ἐνταῦθα φρουροῖς, ὅπως τὴν 7.13.11 πόλιν ὁμολογίᾳ Τουτίλᾳ τε καὶ Γότθοις ἐνδοῖεν. ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν σφίσι προὐχώρει, αὐτοῦ ἐνστρατοπεδευσάμενοι ἐς πολιορκίαν καθίσταντο, τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐνδεῖν τοὺς 7.13.12 ἐν τῇ πόλει αἰσθόμενοι. Τότε τοῖς ἐν Ῥώμῃ τοῦ βασιλέως στρατοῦ ἄρχουσιν ὑποψία προδοσίας πέρι ἐγένετο ἐς Κέθηγον, πατρίκιον ἄνδρα καὶ πρῶτον τῆς Ῥωμαίων βουλῆς. διὸ δὴ ἐς Κεντου7.13.13 κέλλας ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο. Βελισάριος δὲ περί τε τῇ Ῥώμῃ καὶ τοῖς ὅλοις πράγμασι δείσας, ἐπεὶ ἐκ Ῥαβέννης ἀμύνειν ἄλλως τε καὶ στρατῷ ὀλίγῳ ἀδύνατα ἦν, ἀπανίστασθαί τε ἐνθένδε καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ Ῥώμης χωρία καταλαβεῖν ἔγνω, ὅπως δὴ ἀγχοῦ γενόμενος τοῖς ταύτῃ κάμνουσιν ἐπιβοηθεῖν 7.13.14 οἷός τε εἴη. καί οἱ τὸ κατ' ἀρχὰς ἐς Ῥάβενναν ἀφικομένῳ μετέμελεν, ἃ δὴ Βιταλίῳ ἀναπεισθεὶς ἔδρασε πρότερον οὐκ ἐπὶ τῷ τῶν βασιλέως πραγμάτων ξυμφόρῳ, ἐπεὶ ἐνταῦθα καθείρξας αὑτὸν ἐδεδώκει τοῖς πολεμίοις κατ' ἐξουσίαν τὴν τοῦ πολέμου διοικεῖσθαι 7.13.15 ῥοπήν. καί μοι ἔδοξεν ἢ Βελισάριον ἑλέσθαι τὰ χείρω, ἐπεὶ χρῆν τότε Ῥωμαίοις γενέσθαι κακῶς, ἢ βεβουλεῦσθαι μὲν αὐτὸν τὰ βελτίω, ἐμπόδιον δὲ τὸν θεὸν γεγονέναι, Τουτίλᾳ τε καὶ Γότθοις ἐπικουρεῖν ἐν νῷ ἔχοντα, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τῶν βουλευμάτων τὰ βέλτιστα 7.13.16 ἐς πᾶν τοὐναντίον Βελισαρίῳ ἀποκεκρίσθαι. οἷς μὲν γὰρ ἐπιπνεῖ ἐξ οὐρίας τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς τύχης καὶ τὰ χείριστα βουλευομένοις οὐδὲν ἀπαντιάσει δεινὸν, ἀντιπεριάγοντος αὐτὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐς πᾶν ξύμφορον· 7.13.17 ἀνδρὶ δὲ, οἶμαι, κακοτυχοῦντι εὐβουλία οὐδαμῆ πάρεστι, παραιρουμένου αὐτὸν ἐπιστήμην τε καὶ ἀληθῆ δόξαν 7.13.18 τοῦ χρῆναι παθεῖν. ἢν δέ τι καὶ βουλεύσηταί ποτε τῶν δεόντων, ἀλλὰ πνέουσα τῷ βουλεύσαντι ἀπ' ἐναντίας εὐθὺς ἡ τύχη ἀντιστρέφει αὐτῷ τὴν εὐβουλίαν 7.13.19 ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρότατα τῶν ἀποβάσεων. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἴτε ταύτῃ εἴτε ἐκείνῃ ἔχει οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν. Βελισάριος δὲ Ἰουστῖνον ἐπὶ τῇ Ῥαβέννης φυλακῇ καταστησάμενος ξὺν ὀλίγοις τισὶν αὐτὸς ἐνθένδε διά τε ∆αλματίας καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ χωρίων κομίζεται ἐς Ἐπίδαμνον, ἵνα δὴ στράτευμα ἐκ Βυζαντίου καραδοκῶν ἡσυχῆ ἔμενε. γράψας τε βασιλεῖ γράμματα, τύχας τὰς παρούσας ἐσήγ7.13.20 γελλεν. ὁ δέ οἱ οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον Ἰωάννην τε τὸν Βιταλιανοῦ ἀνεψιὸν καὶ Ἰσαάκην Ἀρμένιον Ἀρατίοτε καὶ Ναρσοῦ ἀδελφὸν ξὺν στρατῷ ἔπεμψε βαρβάρων 7.13.21 τε καὶ Ῥωμαίων στρατιωτῶν. οἳ δὴ ἐς Ἐπίδαμνον ἀφικόμενοι Βελισαρίῳ ξυνέμιξαν. καὶ Ναρσῆν δὲ τὸν εὐνοῦχον παρὰ τῶν Ἐρούλων τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἔπεμψεν, ἐφ' ᾧ δὴ αὐτῶν τοὺς πολλοὺς πείσει ἐς Ἰταλίαν στρα7.13.22 τεύεσθαι. καὶ αὐτῷ τῶν Ἐρούλων πολλοὶ εἵποντο, ὧν ἄλλοι τε καὶ Φιλημοὺθ ἦρχον καὶ ξὺν αὐτῷ ἐς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης χωρία ἦλθον. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ διαχειμάσαντες ἔμελλον ἅμα ἦρι ἀρχομένῳ παρὰ Βελισάριον στέλλε7.13.23 σθαι. ξυνῆν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ Ἰωάννης, ὃν ἐπίκλησιν ἐκάλουν Φαγᾶν, καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πορείᾳ ξυνέβη τις τύχη μεγάλα Ῥωμαίους ἀγαθὰ ἐκ τοῦ ἀπροσδοκήτου 7.13.24 ἐργάσασθαι. βαρβάρων γὰρ Σκλαβηνῶν πολὺς ὅμιλος ἔτυχον ἔναγχος διαβάντες μὲν ποταμὸν Ἴστρον, ληϊσάμενοι δὲ τὰ ἐκείνῃ χωρία καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἐξανδρα7.13.25 ποδίσαντες πάμπολυ πλῆθος. οἷς δὴ Ἔρουλοι ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου ἐς χεῖρας ἐλθόντες, νικήσαντές τε παρὰ δόξαν μέτρῳ σφᾶς πολλῷ