,8 Agrthlrrr Tlre l{l:torler
regardcd ir ac a pereonal diograce and was furlour rt thc ldea of thc camp.
followers and scullions of thJenemy nondralantly otrolling about right undr
their very noses and acting as though no one w"rl in sighito cJralleige them.
He felt that this state of afiairs should no longer be tolerated and -resolved
to do everything in his power to put a stop to it.
4 Among the Ronran commanders was a certain Armenian called chanar-
anges, a ma o{ the utmost bravery and good sense and one who would
adly f.ace danger whenever the occasion warranted it. chanaranges, as it
happened, had pitcJred his tent at the f.ar end of the camp very near io the
enemy. Narses now instructed him to attad< the wagoners and do them as
pu$ damage as he could, in order to derer them- from conducting any
further foraging expeditions. 5 He suddenly rode ofr therefore, r^iitl, u
few of his men, intercepted tJre wagons and killed their drivers. one of the
wlgons was loaded with hay. He now brought it up to rhe tower whidr, as
I h_ave already menrioned, the Franks had constructed to guard the briige,
and set fire to the hay. 6 There was a great burst of flam and rhe tower's
wooden structure was easily enveloped. Thebarbanans posted inside, unable
t9 o$.r any.resisrance and on the point of being themselves engurfed by
the flames, decided to abandon their position. They barcly manag-"d to g.t
clear in time and fled to their carrp, leaving the Romans-in coniol of i=he
bridge.
-Z
Ngt zurprisingly the Franks were rhrown into turmoil by these evenrs
and rushed to arms, seething with frenzied impatience and rage. Their blood
ura! up and they could no longer contain themselves. 7ith o*ravagant daring
and inordinate self-confidence they resolved not to brook anothei moment'i
inaction or delay but to give battle that very day, in spite of the exptricit
pronouncement of tle Alamannic soothsayers that they should not fight on
a1d1v,oq else they must expecr tobe wiped out completely. 8 personally
I think that even if the encounter had taken place on the day after or on
some other day they would have sufiered precisely rhe same fate as befell
them on that occasion. A clrange of date would not have sufiiced to exempr
them from payrng in full the penalty of their impiety. 9 Still, whetherlt
ls mere coincidence or whether the Alamannic seers might conceivably
have somehow discerned the pattern of future events their prediction was,
in the opinion of many, neither idle nor unfulfilled. I shall now give without
further delay as accurate an ccount as is in my po\rrer of each consecutive
occuffence.
7. The Franks were in a fighting mood. Their weapons urere akeady in
theit hands, Narses made his men arm too and instructed them to leave camp
and to take up position in proper forrnation somewhere on no man's 1and.
z 7tr9n the army had begun to marc} and the general ha abeady
nrounted his horse word was brought to him that one of the most prominent
looL, ,9
o thc Hcrul elefr hd brutally murdered 0 rcrvant fot rome trifling ofience,
Stopplng hla homa lmmediately hc had the murderer brought before him. It
,rould, he felt, bc lmploue to matdr into battle without first removing the
3rdlty stain by some act of atonement. 3 In answet to his enquiries the
bubarian admitted full tesponsibility for what hacl been done and even went
ro far as to say that masters vrere at liberty to dispose of their own slaves
rt thry wished and that if the others did not behave themselves they too
ould receive similar tretment. Since it seemed that, fat from feeling any
1gnorse, the murderous brute'as ctually boasting of his criminal conduct,
Nrrses gave orders to his bodyguatd to run the fellow through. 4 A sword
Flerced his belly and he lay dead.
There was the usual barbaian reaction frorn the rank and file of the
Herul army. They quarrelled and sulked and decided to take no part in the
ghting. 5 Narses, however, hang removed all stain of guilt did not
glvo the Heruls any further thought. He set ofi for the battleteld after
gving notice that whoever wished to share in the victory must follow him.
So great was his confidence in the aid of the divinty that he mardred out
to battle with the conviction of foreordained success.
6 Sindual, the leader of the Heruls, thought it would be to their shame
nnd disgrace if he and his men ',ere to prove guilty of desertion when such
a grc t battle was in progress. Moreover people might think that in rcality
they were afuaid of. the enemy, and were using their afiection for the dead
man as a pretext and a cloak for their cowardice. 7 nable, therefore, to
bcar the thought of refraining from active participation he signalled to
Narses to'rait for them, since they would be joining him any moment.
Narses, however, said that he could not wait, but that he would see to it
that'they should take their proper places in the field even if they were a bit
late in arriving. And so theHeruls armed themselves thoroughly and mardred
out in an orderly fashion.
8. As soon s Narses reached the battlefield he made the regular tactical
arrangements and dispositions of his troops. The cavalry were placed on the
wings at either side, carrying short spears, ad shields, while a bow and
arrosrs and a sword hung at their sides. A few'of them held pikes. z He
himself took his stand at the tip of the right wing. Zandalas e chief of his
retainers and all the menials and campfollowers who were capable of bearing
arms 'rere there too. 3 On the other side were Valerian and Artabanes
and their men with instructions to hide themselves for a time in the thicl<
of the wood and then as soon as the enemy charged to emerge from their
place of concealment and atta&. them on both sides. 4 The infantry occu-
pied all the ground in the centre. The men in the van clad in mail right down
to thefu feet and wearing especially strong helmets formed a solid wall of
shields. The others stood shoulder to shouldet in successive rows, the