‘And what of your hostages?’
Fidelis had come as an envoy from Pope Silverius, who held great sway in the city and probably reasoned that, despite the various ongoing ecclesiastical disputes he had with Constantinople, he had less to fear from those who shared a basic religious belief than from the Arianism of the Goths.
His envoy was not one to squirm, being too much the smooth bureaucrat, even if the question was one that should make him uncomfortable. Witigis had taken several leading citizens and senators with him when he departed for Rome to ensure that the citizens remained loyal. There was little doubt as to what would be their fate if Rome opened its gates, which was the offer now being made.
‘We must hope for the intercession of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Goths are barbarians but it is to be hoped that exposure to our ways have tempered their savagery.’
Flavius wanted to reply that the man was wishing for the moon; diplomacy forbade that he say anything but he could not help but reflect on what had happened at Naples and see it in a very positive light, in sharp contrast to the way it had been perceived by him at the time. Never entirely comfortable with the notion of sacking a city Flavius had to admit that what was set in motion at Naples had paid dividends since. Cumae had surrendered to avoid the same fate and now Rome was acting likewise, albeit this Fidelis was wrapping it in righteous embellishment.
‘No citizen of Rome, from the pontifex maximus to the lowliest street sweeper, could be happy under barbarian rule. How many years have we and indeed all of Italy not hankered after a reunion with our brethren in Constantinople?’
‘The Goths have treated you better than others. The mere presence of Pope Silverius in the city, as well as your full churches, testifies to that.’
‘What does that count against freedom?’ came the suave response.
‘Who knows you are here, Fidelis?’
‘Only His Holiness and a very few of his closest advisors.’
‘Leuderis?’
‘Steps have been taken to keep him in ignorance.’
Which sealed the man’s fate; just as in Naples, Rome could not be held without the active support of the citizens. Indeed, with its extended walls and eighteen gates even he, with a host over twice the size, would find it a weighty task. As it was, Leuderis made no attempt to hold: the garrison headed north by the Porta Flaminia as Flavius led his men in to the city through the Asinarian Gate. Their commander elected not to go with them; no doubt fearing the wrath of Witigis he handed himself over to Flavius who sent him, as well as the keys to the city, back to Justinian.
Witigis would have no choice but to seek to evict his enemies, so preparations were made for his inevitable assault, the first being the digging of a moat from the Tiber adjacent to the Porta Flaminia all the way round the eastern walls to where the river, flowing south, abutted the southern edge of the fortifications. Gold taken from Naples was used to persuade an initially unwilling crowd of Romans to undertake the task. Repairs were also carried out to the long-neglected walls, while he built and garrisoned a substantial fort on the south side of the Milvian Bridge, which would, he hoped, impede an easy passage to his enemies.
In order to delay the Goth progress, strong bodies of troops under Constantinus and another general called Bessas were despatched to take possession of Tuscany as well as the main towns on the Via Flaminia and points north. This gave Flavius control of the main approaches over the Apennines, while he remained in Rome and, with the aid of Solomon, began to stockpile the quantity of supplies needed to sustain a siege, a task carried out in the face of the pessimism of the citizens, who were certain that the city could not be held against a determined attacker, an opinion based on previous and bloody experience.
The information that trickled in as this work was carried out consisted of the good and the bad; Witigis had surrendered his possessions in Gaul to the Franks and if they had agreed to stand aside from his fight with Constantinople, at least their leader Clovis had declined to provide direct military aid. Yet, with forces released from that frontier, Witigis could now send an army into Illyricum. That initial incursion had met with defeat but relief was at best temporary.
If Clovis had decided to stay neutral, the northern frontier was now open to another tribe of hardy mountain warriors, the Suevics, eager for plunder and willing to act alongside the Goths and no attempt being made by the Franks to impede them. With those as reinforcements, the Goths outnumbered the Illyrian army, forcing them to fall back on and become besieged in the port city of Salona, which left Witigis free to march on Rome.
The plan Flavius first formulated had always anticipated such an advance. His taking of strongholds on the route to Rome was an attempt to bleed the approaching army by forcing them into a series of costly assaults on the towns through which they must pass. Yet with Rome as the key he had as much of a dilemma as his opponent, given he too was constrained in numbers, obliging him to call back to the city most of his troops and leaving behind only token garrisons.
‘Witigis has not taken the bait, General.’
Flavius nodded; even if he knew well that no military aim ever survived contact with an enemy he was frustrated. The Goth leader had no interest in occupying the towns his forces held, however tentatively, on the road to Rome. Bessas, the man who had come to tell him of this, also brought the less than welcome information on the size of what he faced, which substantially outnumbered his own army.
‘Still not enough to close off the city,’ conjectured Constantinus.
‘How far ahead of them were you, Bessas?’ Flavius demanded.
That brought a flush to the cheeks of this inferior commander; both Constantinus and Bessas had been ordered back to Rome but the latter had taken too long to obey. Caught by the swiftly moving Goths he had been forced to retreat on Narnia where the fighting men supposed to be within the walls of Rome were now trapped. Bessas had been obliged to ride hard to bring warning of these developments.
‘Their forward elements are moving at speed in the hope of gaining surprise.’
‘Then we must make sure they do not achieve that. Let us go out and meet them.’
It did not need to be stated where such a flying column might appear. The approach to Rome from the north, given the course of the River Tiber, forced any attacker to head for the Milvian Bridge, which gave an investing force access to the greatest extent of the city walls to the east, over which were cultivated and easily traversed fields. On the western flank, dotted with villages, too much of that was protected by the river itself, leaving only a short section of wall open to assault and one that was, because it was so constrained, relatively easy to defend.
‘Who should we send?’ asked Constantinus.
Flavius was quick in response. ‘I will go myself.’
‘Magister!’ was the anxious response of Procopius.
The secretary got a smile for his obvious apprehension; he was never keen that the man who employed him should expose himself to danger, which he was convinced would have a disastrous effect on the morale of the army should he fall. Seen as a lucky general and a wily one, there was to the mind of Procopius no one to replace him. Added to that was a personal and strong attachment that transcended mere loyalty.
‘I must seek to see our enemies for myself, Procopius, or how will I know how to beat them?’
‘By allowing others to tell you.’
‘No. I need to look this Witigis in the eye, or if not him, the kind of men he commands.’