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they wanted to signal to the ships not to go forward, 7.15.12 but to turn aside elsewhere, wherever they might chance. But they, not understanding what was being done, but thinking that the Romans in Portus were rejoicing and summoning them to the harbor, since the wind was favorable for them, 7.15.13 quickly got inside the harbor. And many other Romans were sailing in the ships, and a certain bishop, Valentinus by name. And the barbarians, rising from their ambushes, took possession of all the ships, with no one defending them. 7.15.14 And taking the bishop alive, they brought him to Totila, but they killed all the others, and went off, dragging the ships along with their cargoes. 7.15.15 Totila questioned this priest as much as he wished, and charging him with telling the very least of the truth, 7.15.16 he cut off both his hands. So these things happened to come about in this way. And the winter was ending, and the eleventh year was coming to a close for this war, which Procopius chronicled. 7.16.1 But Vigilius, the high priest of Rome, came to the Emperor in Byzantium, summoned from Sicily. For he happened to have been staying in Sicily for a long time for this reason. 7.16.2 At this time the Romans, being besieged in Placentia, since all their necessities had now completely failed them, were driven by hunger to resort to certain unholy foods. 7.16.3 And indeed they even tasted of one another. And for this reason they surrendered both themselves and 7.16.4 Placentia to the Goths by agreement. So these things proceeded thus, and all necessities had already failed Rome, which was being besieged by Totila. 7.16.5 And there was a certain man among the clergy of Rome, Pelagius by name, a deacon in rank, who, having spent a long time in Byzantium, had become a very great friend to the Emperor Justinian, and possessing great wealth, he had chanced to arrive in Rome a little while before. 7.16.6 And in this siege, having given away most of his money to those lacking necessities, being already esteemed among all the Italians, he naturally won greater fame for his philanthropy. 7.16.7 The Romans persuaded this Pelagius, since they were suffering helplessly from the famine, to go to Totila and to arrange for them a truce of some few days, on the condition that, if no relief came to them from Byzantium within this truce, they would surrender both themselves and the city to the Goths by agreement. 7.16.8 On this embassy, then, Pelagius came to Totila. And when he arrived, Totila greeted him with great respect and kindness, 7.16.9 and was the first to speak as follows: "For all barbarians, for the most part, it is law to respect the matter of ambassadors, but for me it has long been my concern to honor besides those who lay claim to some virtue, such as you yourself are. 7.16.10 And I think that honor and insult towards an ambassador are distinguished not by the gentleness of faces nor by the grandiloquence of words from those who receive them, but in telling the truth or using unsound words towards him. 7.16.11 For it happens that that man is especially honored to whom they reveal the true account straightforwardly and so send the man away, but that ambassador is most of all insulted who departs having heard treacherous and fabricated words. 7.16.12 Therefore, Pelagius, with the exception of three things, you will never fail to obtain from us whatever else you might request. 7.16.13 And it is better that you, being mindful of these, keep silent, so that you do not, having become most responsible yourself for accomplishing nothing for which you came, lay the blame for it on us. 7.16.14 For failure to succeed is for the most part the natural result of not asking for things suitably to the present circumstances. I mean, that you should not make your plea either on behalf of any of the Sicilians, or of the circuit-walls of Rome, or of the slaves who have deserted to us. 7.16.15 For it is not possible either for the Goths to show any forbearance toward any of the Sicilians, or for this wall to stand, or for the slaves who have campaigned with us to serve their former masters. And lest I seem to be proposing these things with an unreasoning mind, by the reasons immediately

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ταῖς ναυσὶ σημαίνειν ἐβούλοντο μὴ πρόσω 7.15.12 ἰέναι, ἀλλ' ἑτέρωσε, ὅπη παρατύχῃ, ἐκτρέπεσθαι. οἱ δὲ τῶν ποιουμένων οὐ ξυνιέντες, ἀλλὰ χαίρειν τε τοὺς ἐν τῷ Πόρτῳ Ῥωμαίους οἰόμενοι καὶ σφᾶς ἐπὶ τὸν λιμένα παρακαλεῖν, τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῖς ἐπιφόρου 7.15.13 ὄντος, ἐντὸς τοῦ λιμένος κατὰ τάχος ἐγένοντο. ἔπλεον δὲ ταῖς ναυσὶν ἄλλοι τε Ῥωμαίων πολλοὶ καί τις ἐπίσκοπος Βαλεντῖνος ὄνομα. ἔκ τε τῶν ἐνεδρῶν ἀναστάντες οἱ βάρβαροι τῶν πλοίων ἁπάντων οὐδενὸς ἀμυνο7.15.14 μένου ἐκράτησαν. καὶ τὸν μὲν ἐπίσκοπον ζωγρήσαντες παρὰ τὸν Τουτίλαν ἤγαγον, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἅπαντας ἔκτειναν, καὶ τὰς ναῦς σὺν τοῖς φορτίοις ἐφέλκοντες 7.15.15 ᾤχοντο. τούτου ὁ Τουτίλας ἀνεπυνθάνετο τοῦ ἱερέως ὅσα ἐβούλετο, ἐπενεγκών τε αὐτῷ, ὅτι δὴ ὡς ἥκιστα 7.15.16 ἀληθίζεται, ἄμφω τὼ χεῖρε ἀπέκοψε. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω γενέσθαι τετύχηκε. καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἔληγε, καὶ τὸ ἑνδέκατον ἔτος ἐτελεύτα τῷ πολέμῳ τῷδε, ὃν Προκόπιος ξυνέγραψε. 7.16.1 Βιγίλιος δὲ, ὁ τῆς Ῥώμης ἀρχιερεὺς, βασιλεῖ ἐς Βυζάντιον ἐκ Σικελίας μετάπεμπτος ἦλθεν. ἐτύγχανε γὰρ πολύν τινα χρόνον διὰ τοῦτο ἐν Σικελίᾳ δια 7.16.2 τριβὴν ἔχων. ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ῥωμαῖοι ἐν Πλακεντίᾳ πολιορκούμενοι ἁπάντων ἤδη σφᾶς τῶν ἀναγκαίων παντάπασιν ἐπιλιπόντων ἐς βρώσεις οὐχ 7.16.3 ὁσίας τινὰς, βιαζόμενοι τῷ λιμῷ, ἦλθον. καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀλλήλων ἐγεύσαντο. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο σφᾶς τε αὐτοὺς καὶ 7.16.4 Πλακεντίαν ὁμολογίᾳ Γότθοις παρέδωκαν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τῇδε ἐχώρησε καὶ Ῥώμην πρὸς Τουτίλα πολιορ7.16.5 κουμένην ἅπαντα ἤδη τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ἐπελελοίπει. ἦν δέ τις ἐν τοῖς Ῥώμης ἱερεῦσιν, ὄνομα μὲν Πελάγιος, διάκονος δὲ τὴν τιμὴν, ὃς δὴ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ χρόνον διατρίψας συχνὸν φίλος μὲν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ γέγονε, χρήματα δὲ περιβεβλημένος μεγάλα ἐς 7.16.6 Ῥώμην ὀλίγῳ ἔμπροσθεν ἐτύγχανεν ἀφικόμενος. ἐν ταύτῃ τε τῇ πολιορκίᾳ τοῖς τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἀπορουμένοις πλεῖστα τῶν χρημάτων προέμενος, ὢν καὶ πρότερον ἔν γε Ἰταλιώταις ἅπασι δόκιμος, μεῖζον, ὡς τὸ 7.16.7 εἰκὸς, ἐπὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ κλέος ἀπήνεγκε. τοῦτον Ῥωμαῖοι τὸν Πελάγιον, ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἀμήχανα τῷ λιμῷ ἔπασχον, πείθουσι παρὰ Τουτίλαν τε ἰέναι καὶ ἡμερῶν ὀλίγων τινῶν ἐκεχειρίαν διαπράξασθαι σφίσιν, ἐφ' ᾧ, ἢν μή τις αὐτοῖς ἐπικουρία ταύτης δὴ ἐντὸς τῆς ἐκεχειρίας ἐκ Βυζαντίου ἀφίκηται, σφᾶς τε αὐτοὺς ὁμο7.16.8 λογίᾳ καὶ τὴν πόλιν Γότθοις ἐνδώσουσιν. ἐπὶ ταύτῃ δὴ τῇ πρεσβείᾳ Πελάγιος παρὰ Τουτίλαν ἦλθεν. ἥκοντά τε αὐτὸν ὁ Τουτίλας ἀσπασάμενος αἰδοῖ τε καὶ φιλο7.16.9 φροσύνῃ πολλῇ πρῶτος ἔλεξεν ὧδε «Πᾶσι μὲν, ὡς «ἐπὶ πλεῖστον εἰπεῖν, νόμος βαρβάροις τὸ χρῆμα τῶν «πρέσβεων σέβειν, ἐμοὶ δὲ τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς τι μετα»ποιουμένους, οἷος αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ ἄλλως τιμᾶν ἐν 7.16.10 «σπουδῇ ἄνωθεν γέγονε. τιμὴν δὲ καὶ ὕβριν ἐς ἄνδρα «πρεσβευτὴν οὐ πρᾳότητι προσώπων οὐδὲ ῥημάτων «ὄγκῳ τῶν ὑποδεξαμένων διακεκρίσθαι οἶμαι, ἀλλ' ἔν «γε τῷ ἀληθίζεσθαι ἢ λόγοις οὐχ ὑγιαίνουσιν ἐς 7.16.11 «αὐτὸν χρῆσθαι. τετιμῆσθαι μὲν γὰρ διαφερόντως «ἐκείνῳ ξυμβαίνει, ὅτῳ ἂν ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέος ἀποκαλύ»ψαντες τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον, οὕτω τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀπο»πέμποιντο, περιυβρίσθαι δὲ πάντων μάλιστα τῷ «πρεσβευτῇ τούτῳ, ὃς ἂν ὑπούλων τε καὶ ξυμπεπλα7.16.12 «σμένων ἀκούσας ῥημάτων ἀπιὼν οἴχοιτο. τριῶν τοί»νυν ἐκτὸς, ὦ Πελάγιε, τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, ὅτου ἂν 7.16.13 «δεηθείης, οὐ μή ποτε πρὸς ἡμῶν ἀτυχήσεις. ἃ δὴ «φυλασσόμενόν σε σιωπᾶν ἄμεινον, ὅπως μὴ σαυτῷ «αἰτιώτατος γεγονὼς τοῦ μηδὲν ἀνύειν ὧν ἕνεκα ἦλθες 7.16.14 «τὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν μέμψιν ἡμῖν ἀναθήσεις. τῷ γὰρ μὴ «ἐπιτηδείως τοῖς παροῦσιν αἰτεῖσθαι τὸ μηδὲν κατορ»θοῦν ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐμπέφυκε. λέγω δὲ, ὅπως «μήτε Σικελιωτῶν τινος ἕνεκα μήτε τῶν Ῥώμης περι»βόλων, ἢ τῶν προσκεχωρηκότων ἡμῖν οἰκετῶν, τοὺς 7.16.15 «λόγους ποιήσεις. οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τέ ἐστιν ἢ Γότθους «φειδοῖ ἐς Σικελιωτῶν τινα χρήσεσθαι, ἢ τόδε τὸ τεῖχος «ἑστάναι, ἢ δούλους τοὺς ξὺν ἡμῖν στρατευσαμένους «τοῖς πάλαι κεκτημένοις δουλεύειν. τοῦ δὲ μὴ δοκεῖν «ἀλογίστῳ ταῦτα προτείνεσθαι γνώμῃ τῷ τὰς αἰτίας 7.16.16 «αὐτίκα