[553] Ibid., i, 25, 28; iii, 31, etc. Procopius (De Bel. Goth., iv, 22) remarks that the Romans were proud of their buildings and took great care of them.
[554] Ibid., i, 20; iii, 51, etc.
[555] A small part of southern France, modern Provence.
[556] Procopius, De Bel. Goth., i, 11-14, whence the narrative proceeds as below.
[557] I forgot to mention that when Belisarius was merely on his way to Naples, Ebrimuth, the son-in-law of Theodahad, came over to the Byzantines. He was sent to CP., where he became a patrician, etc. There were other unnecessary transfers of allegiance, showing that many of the Goths were incapable of remaining true to themselves. In general, indeed, the barbarians were dazzled by the glory of the Eastern Emperor, and when they had been formed into cohorts under the title of "Justinian's Goths," "Justinian's Vandals," etc., their ambition was gratified to the utmost.
[558] Of the misery caused throughout Italy by the protracted war, Procopius has some anecdotal illustrations to give about this time. In one case a fugitive mother had to abandon her infant in its cradle, whereupon the family goat, attracted by its wailing, entered the hut, and managed to suckle the child effectively. This lasted for some time till the villagers returned, when the maternal solicitude of the animal for its anomalous nursling became a spectacle for exhibition in the district. As agriculture was brought to a standstill in many places famine was often urgent, and he mentions the instance of two women killing and eating seventeen men whom they had received as guests, but they were detected and killed by the eighteenth; De Bel. Goth., ii, 17, 20.
[559] It is curious that among the conquests of Narses in this campaign should be mentioned "the island of the Vulsinian Lake," that is the scene of Amalasuntha's death; Marcellinus Com., an. 538.
[560] At this date the French Kings alone, of the potentates outside the Empire, issued a gold coinage bearing their own effigy. Even the Shahinshah stamped his image on the silver currency only. The reason of this restriction was that all but Byzantine gold, denoted by the figure and superscription of the Eastern Emperor, was excluded from commerce as suspect; Procopius, De Bel. Goth., iii, 33.
[561] Here we are informed that the Byzantine infantry used a trumpet made of wood and leather, the cavalry one of brass. They were, however, merely blown on occasion to make an impressive noise. Procopius makes a great point of his having suggested that the latter should be used to sound an attack, the former a recall. Belisarius summoned a military meeting, and formally adopted his suggestion; De Bel. Goth., ii, 23.
[562] The description of Strabo (V, iii, 7) shows that Ravenna was a town like modern Venice, built in the brackish lagoons on piles, etc. While the vine flourished in the vicinity, potable water was scarce and valuable. Hence the joke (Martial, iii, 56, 57) that wine was cheaper than water at R. Sidonius Apol. (Epist., i, 5, 8, c. 470) inveighs against the bad water, turbid canals, stinging gnats, incessant croaking of bullfrogs, etc. But the sea was receding, and even at that time much new land was being recovered from the water; Jordanes, De Reb. Get., 29.