He desired that, before the end of the war, all Italy should have become acquainted with the tyranny of Byzantium, for then it would be a lighter task for him to persuade the people to rise and, when they had got rid of the Goths, to throw off the burden of the Byzantines. He listened to the complaints of the deputations from various towns, who appealed to him for assistance, with a shrug and the laconic answer:
"That is only Byzantine government--you must get used to it."
"No," had answered the deputation from Rome, "one does not get accustomed to what is unbearable. The Emperor may live to see that of which he has never even dreamed!"
To Cethegus this could only mean the independence of Italy; he knew of nothing else.
But he was mistaken.
Although he thought meanly enough of his countrymen and the times in which he lived, he yet believed that he could elevate them by example.
But the thought so natural to his spirit; as necessary to him as the air he breathed--the freedom and independence of Italy--was far too grand for the comprehension of that generation.
They could only vacillate between two masters.
And when the yoke of Byzantium proved unbearable they began to recall to their memory the milder rule of the Goths; a possibility which had never entered the Prefect's head.
And yet such was the case.