"I am a prisoner, conquered by your magnanimity and the splendour of your eyes. Permit us henceforward to fight under your flag."
In this manner a chosen troop, who stood by him faithfully, was won for Totila.
Amid a shower of flowers he made his entry into Neapolis through Porta Nolana.
Before Aratius, the admiral of the Byzantine fleets could raise the anchors of his war-ships, their crews were overpowered by the sailors of the many merchant vessels which lay near in the harbour, the masters of which were old admirers and thankful protégés of Totila.
Without shedding a drop of blood, the King had gained a fleet and the third city of importance in the kingdom.
In the evenings during the banquet which the rejoicing inhabitants had prepared for him, Totila stole softly away.
With surprise the Gothic sentinels saw their King, all alone, disappear into an old half-fallen tower, close to an ancient olive-tree by the Porta Capuana.
The next day there appeared a decree of Totila which dispensed the women and girls of the Jews of Neapolis from a pole-tax which had, until now, been laid upon them; and which--they being forbidden to carry jewels in public--permitted them to wear a golden heart upon the bosom of their dress as a mark of distinction.
In the neglected garden, where a tall stone cross and a deep-sunk grave were completely overgrown with wild ivy and moss, there presently arose a monument of the most beautiful black marble, with the simple inscription: "Miriam from Valeria."
But there was no one living in Neapolis who understood its meaning.