Triumph (12 page)

Daylight would bring the expected attack and over a short distance, now the tower was well forward. The sole impediment was a shallow ditch, which lay a short distance from the outer wall. This would be filled with bundled faggots so the tower could be wheeled right abreast of the masonry at a height greater than the parapet on which stood the defenders. It was essential that be stopped.

As darkness fell John led out his men, not for battle, given they were armed with shovels not swords and spears, there being no intention to take on the strong body of men protecting the tower and induce them into leaving their posts for a fight. If they did, an immediate withdrawal would be necessary for the unarmed men, which led to a nervous period of waiting.

Once he was sure the Goths were going to stick to the task they had been given, John had his men set to work, the task to seriously deepen the ditch – but he had another ploy in mind. The spoil from the excavation was placed at the base of the wall to create an earthwork, one deep enough to prevent the tower from pressing hard upon the stonework even if it could cross the ditch. The sight of those continually moving torches, and no doubt the sounds they heard, eventually made the Goths curious enough to come forward to investigate, albeit cautiously, fearing a trap. It was too late, John had what he wanted and retired unmolested.

The first sight of the morning was of Goth warriors’ being hung from the front of the tower. It was assumed to be the leaders of the guards that had failed to detect what was happening the night before, now plain for all to see in the dark disturbed earth. Executions complete, the horns were blown and the enemy began their advance,
sending forward strong raiding parties who braved the arrow fire from above to throw their tied piles of wooden faggots into the ditch.

John Vitalianus had a strong body of standard Byzantine cavalry but they were not
bucellarii
, which left him short of trained archers and so unable to prevent this taking place. Even with casualties the ditch was quickly filled to overflowing, this as the tower itself crept forward to the sound of extensive yelling and shield bashing, the men providing the momentum immune to fire from catapults or the inexperienced bowmen on the parapet.

John, still as calm as he had been hitherto, was smiling as if he knew exactly what was about to happen. As the front wheels of the tower began to edge onto those piled faggots the whole assembly dipped forward, the weight being too great for that which was supposed to support it. This meant the warriors on the very top level, the men who were to launch the first attack, hitherto hidden, became exposed and they were now close enough to be assailed by light javelins if not heavy spears.

The archers too had a target; they might not be fully competent but at the range at which they were now firing they could barely miss, and such was the velocity the arrows penetrated the kind of lamellar armour worn by their enemies. Witigis brought up a mass of men to push but even as he got the rear wheels of the tower onto the faggots he came up against the earth piled up the previous night. This left a gap too wide to cross by jumping and now the wooden structure was being assailed by flaming torches.

Having invested his whole aim in that tower Witigis had no choice but to begin to withdraw; he was losing men to no purpose and the framework of his siege engine was beginning to smoulder despite the amount of water being used to supress the flames. Ropes appeared and slowly the tower was pulled backwards, which told John Vitalianus
that Witigis obviously wanted to employ it again, no doubt when he had created the means to get it up against the walls.

John was quick to react and lucky that the horses he needed were saddled and ready. Gates opened, he led his mounted men out to engage, using the faggots that had failed to support the tower as a swift means of crossing the ditch. As generally happened with a force moving away from a fight, the Goths evinced little stomach for the battle and paid a high price for their lack of will. Witigis sent more men forward to rescue the tower and they too, having two tasks not one, suffered heavily even if they were successful.

Days passed during which every eye in the city awoke to observe the tower as the sun rose. If it moved the attack was to be renewed – if not, the tactics of starvation would be used to retake Ariminum. It seemed plain that was the outcome and that was underlined when Witigis was seen to be sending away warriors to other duties.

John knew the time had come to communicate with Flavius Belisarius and demand that he be relieved. It did not occur to him that he had ever exceeded his orders and nor did he now feel the need to be humble. As a patrician and a man well connected in Constantinople he felt no requirement to employ excessive deference to his titular commander. The needs of the campaign were obvious to the dullest tactician. This city must be held, so let Flavius do that which was required.

U
naware of precisely what was happening at Ariminum, Belisarius could at least be sure that Rome was secure, so he left it with a small garrison and marched his main army right across Italy towards the Adriatic. While at the mountain city of Aquila he was informed that Narses the Eunuch, a commander he had known since he was a young officer and at present a steward to Justinian, had arrived on that coast with five thousand men and was camped at Firmum.

Leaving his forces to follow, Flavius made haste to meet with him in order to plan strategy only to find that the problem that had arisen with John Vitalianus was now compounded. A general in his own right as well as the Keeper of the Royal Treasury, and having with him what was in effect the Army of Illyricum, Narses could see no need, and certainly had no intention, of bowing the knee to Flavius Belisarius.

Firstly, here was a fellow he had long ago had as a subordinate. If he had been elevated since to his present position it was as much to do with personal affinities as ability, albeit Flavius was the victor of the Battle of Dara and also the man who had brought about the reconquest of North Africa, so could not be discounted or overborne.

In essence the two, militarily, were equals, which meant that
whatever action was undertaken next had to be agreed between them, bringing with it all the problems of dual command: endless discussion in front of officers who obviously took the side of those to whom they were loyal.

Disagreement rose early and at the heart of the dispute was naturally John Vitalianus. He was an associate to Narses and a man who owed much of his advancement to the eunuch; in short he was a client officer and that meant a shared obligation on the part of both. Then there was a memory of Flavius being far from obedient himself, though it was never referred to openly; on the Persian frontier he had disobeyed strict instructions from Narses not to cross into Sassanid territory, only surviving censure due to a degree of devilish subterfuge, added to his high connection to Justinus, then Count of the Imperial Guard at the court of Anastasius, the emperor he succeeded.

Flavius was focused on the capture of the whole of Italy while the new arrival seemed to wish to concentrate on saving his insubordinate client in Ariminum. The time came when the two needed to make a decision because the present dispute threatened the whole operation.

‘I have here my instructions from the Emperor, Narses, which if you care to read them appoints me as sole commander of the forces on the Italian campaign.’

‘Not instructions made known to me. What may have pertained before does not necessarily apply now.’

‘I have no doubt that Justinian intended that I should hold the position he granted me, made plain here in writing and above his imperial seal.’

Narses, older by a decade and an Armenian by birth, had started life, like so many of his race, as a mercenary in the service of Constantinople. Unlike the majority, he had prospered and risen to hold many positions of authority, including important provincial
governorships, before being appointed as Chamberlain to the Imperial Treasury.

If not as personally close to Justinian as Flavius he was a man on whom the Emperor relied for advice, added to which Theodora, with a sharp eye on income and expenditure, must trust him as well. He would also enjoy powerful backing within the bureaucracy that surrounded the throne, a body that even in close contact numbered hundreds. If Justinian stood at the apex of that, he was far from the complete master of it: no emperor had ever managed to be that, it being too complex for any one man to control.

Many important offices were held by eunuchs and they formed a band that looked to each other’s interests, sometimes above that of the polity they claimed to serve. Not that those deprived of the opportunity to breed were alone in their comradeship; every kind of political grouping a man could envisage was in existence and then there was the fluidity brought on by greed or personal ambition, in which loyalty to ones fellows came a poor second.

Flavius had little love for Constantinople and its endemic intrigues; for all the problems of command in the field they were simple by comparison with the tangled skein of endless conspiracy, one in which Justinian more than held his own and often surpassed his opponents. This was the reason why he could never be wholly relied upon, a point continually alluded to by Procopius. Flavius might have this letter but he could never be sure that his master would not, if it suited his purpose on any given day, repudiate it.

Narses took the parchment handed to him with great reluctance and as he read it he adopted a look that indicated that the words before him mattered little, this as Flavius tried to drive home the point. He kept his voice low in what was, to him, too public a gathering for the making of decisions.

‘The wording is quite plain, Narses, and while I do not desire to diminish you in any way, for I respect you and your achievements, I am obliged to insist that the imperial will be respected.’

The older man raised his eyes to cast them round a room that had once formed the senate of this provincial capital of Picenum. Change the armour and colourful accoutrements of the imperial officers for togas and it could have been a gathering in Republican antiquity; two factions vying for power and seeking, in the assembled faces, some clue as to the level of their support. Now, in a louder voice, he addressed the whole chamber instead of Flavius alone.

‘It says here that your actions are to be judged as being in the best interests of the state. If I were to say to you that I consider your plan to leave John Vitalianus to hold Ariminum while we attack Auximus to be less than sound, and not in the best interests of the empire, you would see why I cannot agree with you.’

Not to be outdone Flavius applied in an equally carrying voice. ‘Do you agree that our ultimate objective should be Ravenna?’

‘That does not require to be stated and nor does the fact that Ariminum is between us and the Goth capital. It is on the way to our ultimate goal. By saving it we surely advance our cause.’

‘While Auximus lays to the south and even now at our rear, strongly garrisoned, and the men there will, once we are committed to an advance northwards, be able to act to threaten us. I maintain that John can hold and that if we move with our full force on Auximus they will, once they observe our numbers, surrender quickly, removing that threat.’

‘And if Ariminum falls?’

‘Do you not have faith in a man you have so favoured?’

That angered Narses, it was in his eyes if not his voice; no soldier likes to face an allegation of making tactical arrangements to suit
extraneous purposes. ‘He cannot fight with my faith.’

‘He seems able to act with confidence in his own capabilities.’

‘So you wish to punish him for disobeying you?’

Flavius had to work to keep his own voice flat then; Narses had made an outrageous suggestion but if he had to be told so it required maintenance of a diplomatic tone; outcome had to triumph over pique.

‘I have been fighting in Italy for a long time now and I have Witigis on the rack. Do you really think, Narses, that I will risk all of that to chastise an insubordinate inferior?’

‘We all have our pride.’

‘Something a good commander seeks to keep in check, would you not say?’

The great unspoken was that Flavius did not wish to fight any more battles in the open against the Goths if it could be avoided. It was not just Auximus that required to be subdued, there were Goth garrisons forming an arc to the west and they would, in their heartlands especially, always combine to outnumber him, even with these new reinforcements.

He could not say that to Narses; it would sound like excessive caution to the newly arrived component of the assembly. His own officers, who had experienced the same as he, required no telling that care had to be taken and it was wise to fight their enemies only on ground and at a time chosen by themselves.

The ripple of voices that now arose was far from a commotion, but it was sufficient to engage the curiosity of both the principles, Flavius and Narses sitting forward in their chairs to find out what had set so many tongues wagging. The fellow who approached through the assembled ranks was covered in the dust of a long and hard ride, the latter evident in a weariness he could not conceal.

Stepping forward he handed a letter to Flavius who read it in a couple of seconds, it being short, before handing it to Narses.

‘The decision is taken?’ asked the older man as he read it, a gleam in his eye.

It was with no pleasure at all that Flavius had to concede the point; the words he had just read left him no choice. ‘If John says he has run out of food and can only hold for five more days or capitulate, then we must move to aid him at once.’

‘Then it would be churlish of me not to meet with your wishes as to how that is to be carried out.’

The acknowledgement that Flavius should plan the next move might look to be one with which to happily agree; it was far from it, given John Vitalianus was once more controlling his actions, a fact made plain to his own commanders once they had assembled at his chosen quarters. His first move was to detach a thousand men to mask Auximus, their task to threaten but on no account to fight.

‘Make much noise, as if you are preparing an attack, but retire if threatened.’

Given the fleet that had brought Narses to Italy was available, it seemed foolish not to use it against a city close to the shoreline. Ildiger was put in command of an amphibious force that would threaten Ariminum from the sea. Again they were to avoid battle on their own, forbidden to land unless the forces Flavius would lead had appeared on the landward side of the city.

The main army was split in two, Martinus leading half by the coastal road, while Flavius, accompanied by Narses and his Illyrian forces, would take the remainder on an inland route so as to come upon Ariminum from a different direction. The instructions to Martinus showed some cunning; Flavius did not want his enemies to suspect his chosen path, so the coastal army must light double
campfires to fool the Goths into thinking they were the main force. If the garrison then attacked Martinus they would expose their rear to a crushing blow.

It was galling to have to seek approval from Narses, who seemed to Flavius, although he was willing to admit to a heightened sense of grievance, to be taking pleasure in the Belisarian discomfort. It was doubly irritating that the need for harmony demanded he do nothing to acknowledge it. The man who got the backwash of this was Procopius, who understanding the reason did nothing to deflect his master’s ire.

‘If any of my officers allows a single soldier of that Illyrian rabble to enter Ariminum before we do, I will flay them alive. I want Vitalianus to grovel in gratitude to the army of which he is supposed to be a part.’

‘Which,
Magister
, still leaves the problem of Narses.’

‘Do you think I do not know that, man?’

‘I do not, but I am concerned at how we counter it.’ It was then that Flavius realised he was taking his anger out on the wrong person, which occasioned a mumbled apology as well as a nod that Procopius should continue. ‘You must send to Justinian for clarification and by a hand that is personal to you.’

‘I cannot spare you.’

‘But you can Photius. Only Justinian can order Narses to obey you and if that remains a problem unsolved you will face no end of difficulties. Send your stepson to Constantinople with a personal plea to the Emperor, which will allow us to bypass the imperial officials.’

‘You mean Theodora?’

The look Procopius gave him then was to tell Flavius to keep his voice down; Antonina was within the same villa and not above eavesdropping on their conversations. A pull of the lips showed that
Flavius had got the point and he added softly, ‘Even if they rarely meet she will spot he has left.’

‘For Rome, shall we say? And will not the young man enjoy fooling his mother?’

‘I can think of nothing that would make him happier.’

‘Other than fighting alongside you,’ Procopius replied, making a valid point; Photius would have to be persuaded to miss the coming campaign, which might involve, at its very best, the taking of Ravenna.

‘How do I cover for his absence? I am bound to be asked.’

‘Tell the Lady Antonina that he is on some mission for me.’

For once the look on the face of Procopius did not convey the aesthete for Antonina would drink hemlock before asking him anything; as of this moment he had the look of a sated wolf.

What Photius missed, if not the ultimate goal, was a tactical triumph, though as always in war it was not without a degree of luck. Flavius, after marching for three days, encountered and surprised a strong force of Goths marching towards Ariminum and he fell on them at a speed that caused many deaths and even more flight, as a large body of the enemy bolted to a nearby and dense forest, Flavius refusing the request of his men that they should follow.

Narses plainly saw this as wrong and faint-hearted, though it was conveyed by his jaundiced countenance not in words. Why would he question an act that in the eyes of the troops both men led could only diminish his co-commander? But it was not brought on by fear, although high casualties could result in fighting in such a wooded terrain.

Flavius wanted to let them go because with his men covering their escape to the north or west their only hope was to make for their original destination, which was Ariminum. Once there they would
alert their comrades to his approach and he had high hopes that would provoke a reaction.

His ploy was justified when within sight of the city they saw the besieging Goths had decided to fight. They were deploying in late afternoon to give the Byzantines battle on the following day. As darkness fell, to the south both armies could see the mass of campfires, which Flavius knew would confuse his enemies, and that was compounded by the rising sun, which revealed, offshore, the Byzantine fleet, Ildiger making sure that it was plainly and visibly manned by warriors and not just sailors.