116

fu*hhlr

Thc {trtorler

lo1,

affows at their pursuers, The amowo smike thelr targct not only with theh
orrrn momenturn bur also with the added force of thi oncorning pursuit,
so
that the impact is correspondingly greater.

20. But on that occasion the Huns were compretely demoralized and

made_no attempr to defend themselves. About foor hundred of them lost

their lives. on the Roman side there $7.ere no fatal casualtie, ,nJonly a

f**

wounded.

z It was with immense relief that zaberyan, their reader, and the others
yho h$ managed ro escpe reached.^.p. rrj ir was, -oru.", Aie{ly to
the exhaustion of their ptrrsuers' horses- that they owed their lives, otlerwile they would certainly havebeen annihilated. Een so, their abrupt entry,
and th9 panic-sricften manner,in whidr they burst into e en.lor.rre of th.
camp threw rhe rest of their forces inro con{usion and filled them with
the
3la*1ins pJospect of imminent destuction. Loud and savage cries were
heard as they slashed their dreeks with daggerg and gave ient to their

traditional form of lamenrarion.

3 Meanwhile the Romans withdrew, after having achieved a rneasure of

success to which, though it was altogether staggering in the circumsrances,

the wisdom and foresight of their.ommand.r h eititled them. Immediately after this disaster, however, the barbarians broke up cmp nd reeated
in terror from Melantias. 4 Though Belisarius could in a[ ikelihood have
harassed their line of marclr and killed still more of rhem,'since it would
have been a question of pursuing men whose spirit was abeady broken and
who seemed to be fleeing rather than retreatint, he returned ,i o^". to the
capital, not of his own accord but because he had been instructed to do so
by the Emperor.
5 As soon in fact as the news of his victory had readred the ears of the
people they had begr.rn to sing his praises whenever they gathered together
and to describe him as the saviotrr of the nation. This popularity /as
extremely irksome to many people in high places who fefl
frey to envy
and jealousy
passions whose baneful influence never ceases to assail thl
noblest adrievements.
And so they put about slanderous rumors to the effect
that the popularity he was *joy-g had turned his head and that he was
aspiring to higher things.27 6 These calumnies brought about his speedy
return and prevented him from consolidating his adrievements. Indeed hL
l:"gyd no recognition for what he had already accomplished. Instead they
did their utmost to erase the memory of his victory and to deny him any
credit_ for it.
7 rt has already been amply demonstrated by some of thl
most brilliant minds of antiquity that initiative is blunted and all incenrive
to action desuoyed when noble spirits are deprived of their rightful share

1"..

t **pt"g

the throne.

lr7

of acclokn and that ln conrequenc thorc quclltlea that hcve been dhparagod,
whcthcr they art associetecl wlth mllltary iucceao, llterary achlwement or
with come other matter of vital conccfh, ceaee, tnuch to the detriment of
rociery, to be properly cultivatcd, I thlnk, moreovef,, that it requires no
great perspicacity to see that the ttuth of this assefiion is continually borne
out by our orrn everyday experience.
8 At fust the Huns, under the impression that they were being pursued,
fled in consterntion from the Long lffalls. But when they discovered that
Belisarius had been recalled and that no one else had been sent out against
them, they slowly began to drift back.
21. Meanwhile the other detadlment of barbarians whide was besieging
the Chersonese attad<ed the wall repeatedly, bringing up ladders and siegeengines, but was beaten ofi each time by the resolute resistance of the
Romans defending it. z The defenders were led by Germanus the son of
Dorotheus, who despite his ex*eme youth was an exceptionally able general
and possessed qualities of daring and resourcefulness far in excess of his
years. He was a native of the Illyrian town of Bederiana as it used to be
called. ft was later renamed Prima lustiniana, being tn [act the birth-place
of the Emperor Justinian who, as only proper, adorned the town with
avanety of splendid public buildings, raised it from obscurity to 'realth and
opulence, and endowed it with his own name. Germanus, moreover, was
related to the Emperor, who consequently took a personal interest 3 in his
welfare and had him brought at the age of eight to the Imperial City, where
the boy was given every advantage, receiving a first-class school education
and then going on to university where he studied Latin as well as Greek.
4 As soon as he came to man's estate Justinian sent him to the Chersonese,
making him Commander of the forces there, in order to give him a propf
and use{ul outlet for his youthful enthusiasms and to prevent him from
dissipating his energies and wasting his substance on wild escapades in the
turbulent atmosphere of the Hippodrome with its drariot races and irs
popular factions, 11 of whidr things tend to have a profoundly disturbing
efiect on the minds of the oirng, who are readily ttracred to such follies
unless they are distracted and kept busy at some worthwile occupation.
5 Atthat time, then, when the Huns were besieging the Chersonese, the
youthful Germanus doggedly repelled their attacl<s and displayed unfailing
ingenuity in the conduct of its defence. His own innate ability gave him an
intuitive grrasp of the situation and of the best '/ay to cope with it and he
lent a ready ea.r to the advice of the older ancl more experienced soldiers on
his stafi. 6 l(/hen all attempts either to besiege the fort or to take it by
storm proved equally fruidess, the barbarians decided to embark upon a
difierent course whicl was both extremely daring and extrernely risky. It
meat that they would either capture the place quickly or abandon it for