[21] [Hodgkin[g] calls the Heruli “a perpetual puzzle to ethnologists,” and quotes Zeuss,[j] who calls them “the most unstable of German tribes.” Their seat at the moment in question is also variously guessed at, Hodgkin inclining to Hungary. This fatal battle took place about 508. The Lombards were Arians,—how they were converted we do not know,—and they brought into Italy a hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons.]
[22] [Jordanes[k] says that “on both sides there fell over 6000 men. No equal battle has been heard of in our times since the days of Attila, except that of Calluc against the same Gepidæ, or of Mundo with the Goths.” The date was about 554.]
[23] [Bury[e] says, “the Bulgarians soon cease to be mentioned and it appears probable that they were subjugated by the neighbouring Slavs.” He adds that these Bulgarians of the sixth century had nothing to do with the foundation of the Bulgarian Kingdom in the seventh century.]
[24] [Procopius[d] calls the Bulgarians “Huns.” Roesler[l] calls the Cotrigur Huns “Bulgarians.” The origins of these races will be taken up more fully in the later volumes of modern history.]
[25] [Such a slaughter requires a far larger population than the obscure town of Topirus could probably have possessed.]
[26] [Now Tibesh in Algiers.]
[27] [“The glory of Belisarius deserves to be contrasted with the oblivion which has covered the exploits of Johannes the Patrician, one of the ablest generals of Justinian. This experienced general assumed the command in Africa when the province had fallen into a state of great disorder; the inhabitants were exposed to a dangerous coalition of the Moors, and the Roman army was in such a state of destitution that their leader was compelled to import the necessary provisions for his troops. Though Johannes defeated the Moors, and restored prosperity to the province, his name is almost forgotten. His actions and talents only affected the interests of the Byzantine Empire, and prolonged the existence of the Roman province of Africa; they exerted no influence on the fate of any of the European nations whose history has been the object of study in modern times, so that they were utterly forgotten when the discovery of the poetry of Corippus, one of the last and worst of the Roman poets, rescued them from complete oblivion.”—Finlay.[b]]
[28] [“As if,” comments Agathias,[o] “this alone had been the purpose of their appearance in the world.”]
