Nothing could have been more languid and ill organized than the defence of Rome under Bessas. The garrison lost all sense of discipline, no strict watch was kept, and the officers rarely went on their rounds to see that the sentinels remained awake at their posts. Under these circumstances four Isaurians, who were on guard at the Asinarian gate, conceived the possibility of making their fortunes. Choosing a quiet hour of the night, they let themselves down the wall by ropes, and paid a visit to the barbarian King in his camp. There they explained to him with what facility they were able to pass in and out, and proffered to introduce Gothic soldiers in the same manner. He promised liberally, but distrusted his informants and sent back two of his men to put the matter to the proof. They passed in and reported favourably, but still Totila hesitated, suspecting a stratagem. A few nights later the Isaurians returned and made the same representations, whereupon the King repeated the experiment by the agency of two other spies. They also entered the city, and explored the feasibility of the scheme, but Totila delayed taking any decisive step. The question, however, was talked over in the Gothic camp, and soon after a Roman patrol, coming on a group of the enemy loitering near the walls, seized them and brought them before Bessas. On being examined they confessed that they had hopes of the city being betrayed by some Isaurians, but he dismissed their statement as being not worth considering. For the third time the traitors approached Totila, and he now sent two officers of his staff, in whom he reposed the utmost confidence, to investigate the proposal. On their confirming the previous reports he decided to act.
One evening after nightfall Totila got all his men under arms, and marched in silence to the Asinarian gate. Four Goths, selected for their strength and courage, surmounted the wall by means of ropes let down to them by the Isaurians. Inside they attacked the gate with axes, and cut away all the woodwork in which the locks and bolts were fixed. The portal was then thrown open, and the King entered with his troops. Still apprehensive of some deception, he drew them up in close order in the nearest open space and waited for daylight. Insensibly a report as to what had happened spread through the city, upon which the garrison crowded to Bessas, and all fled through one of the opposite gates. Of the citizens a few nobles and about five hundred of the proletariat were all that remained within the walls; and these, emaciated by famine, dragged themselves with difficulty to take refuge in the churches. As soon as morning broke the Goths laid aside their suspicions and began to scour the streets, when a few soldiers, who had remained, and about threescore civilians, fell victims to their rage. Totila wended his way to the church of St. Peter, with the intention of offering up a thanksgiving, and was met on the threshold by Pelagius, who adjured him by the Gospels which he held in his hand, to spare the Romans. "Still a suppliant, Pelagius!" exclaimed the King. "Yes," replied the priest, "since God has made me your servant."
The victor now issued his commands to stay all further massacre, but, with reservations as to his own share, permitted his soldiers to spoil the houses. Much wealth came into his hands from the palaces of the nobles, and especially the immense treasures accumulated by Bessas as the gains of his nefarious traffic. Such poverty now prevailed at Rome that members of the noblest families might be seen in mean apparel begging their bread through the streets from the enemy. Among these was Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus and widow of Boethius, who had expended all she possessed in relieving the indigent. Some time previously she purchased from the Byzantine rulers at a great price the privilege of overthrowing the statues of Theodoric in revenge for his having executed her father and husband.[605] The Goths would now have retaliated, but Totila saved her from their hands, and also restrained them from violating any of the females found in the city.
The day after the capture the Gothic King convened his forces, and preached them a sermon on the advantages of ethical conduct in warfare. He pointed out to them that in the first campaign, although numerous and rich, they had succumbed to seven thousand Greeks, because they shrunk from no excesses and committed every crime that seemed expedient at the moment. Now, however, through adhering to the principles of rectitude, although diminished to a mere handful with slight resources, they had triumphed over twenty thousand of the enemy. He also addressed the Romans in the same sense as his former despatch and proclamations, reproaching them for their ingratitude to the Goths, and again expressing his amazement at their indiscretion and prejudice in preferring the oppressive rule of the Byzantines.
Totila's next procedure was to send a legation, of whom Pelagius was the chief, to solicit an equitable peace from Justinian. They were the bearers of a letter in which he prayed for a restoration of the amicable relations which had prevailed between Anastasius and Theodoric; but they also had verbal instructions to threaten the total destruction of Rome, the massacre of the Senate, and a Gothic invasion of Illyricum. In response the Emperor did not enter into any negotiations, but merely indicated that Belisarius was his plenipotentiary, through whom only he was willing to treat.
When this answer was conveyed to Totila, he resolved to raze Rome to the ground, and transform the area into a sheep pasture; after which he planned a march into Southern Italy against John, who had lately inflicted some damage on the Gothic forces in that region. He began by ruining the walls, of which he had levelled about a third part of the circumference, when he received an expostulation from Belisarius, who had been apprised of his design. "Men of wisdom," wrote the general, "have always been characterized by the desire to build great cities, but to ruin them can only be described as the work of fools. Rome, by reason of its extent and magnificence, is the most excellent of all the cities of the earth; built gradually in the course of many ages by a long series of emperors, with the assistance of numerous architects and artificers; the realization of immense resources brought together from every part of the world. Destroy this splendid creation, and you will incur eternal obloquy in the memory of succeeding generations. But pause and reflect that the issue of this war must be one of two events: either you conquer or are defeated. In the first case you will find that the injury is your own, and you have demolished the proudest ornament of your kingdom. In the second you have aroused the just resentment of the victor, and can expect no clemency at his hands." Totila was persuaded by these arguments, and refrained from doing any further damage to the capital. The Senators, however, he placed under guard in his camp as hostages, and the residue of the inhabitants he deported into Campania. He then removed from the neighbourhood to inspect the progress of his affairs in other parts of Italy. Rome was thus left wholly deserted.[606]
As soon as Belisarius heard of the departure of Totila, he determined to re-occupy the vacant capital. He brought all his men up from Portus, therefore, and set them to work in rebuilding in a temporary fashion the ruined stretches of wall. The stones, which lay scattered around, were collected and placed in position, without mortar, as accurately as possible; stakes were planted outside; the fosse was cleared; and the adjacent ground was plentifully sown with calthrops. In three weeks the work was completed, and, before long, many of the Romans, eager to occupy their old domiciles, returned, for whom the general laid up a copious store of provisions. When Totila heard of this procedure, he was much annoyed, and hastened back with all speed to recapture the city. The Goths delivered several assaults, but were invariably repulsed with loss, notwithstanding that they had torn down and destroyed all the gates, which had, therefore, to be defended by bodies of men packed in the open passages. Seeing no prospect of success, the Gothic King soon retired with his army, from whom he had to endure many reproaches for not having adopted more effective measures to render Rome untenable. In his retreat on this occasion he destroyed all the bridges over the Tiber except the Milvian. Belisarius now fitted new gates to the city and again went through the form of sending the keys to Justinian.
During the next year (547) the hostile armies frequently came into collision, but no decisive success was won. In 548 Belisarius recognized that the peninsula could not be conquered without much greater forces than he had at command, but Justinian appeared to be lukewarm in the matter, and the contingents he despatched from time to time were barely sufficient to counterbalance the losses. The Constable resolved, therefore, to send his wife on a special mission to Constantinople, hoping that, if she brought the question before the Empress, her exceptional influence might obtain for him the needed reinforcements. Antonina arrived at the Imperial capital, but only to learn that the Augusta had died a few weeks previously, whilst Justinian was immersed in theological studies to such an extent that his administrative energy had completely deserted him. She acted, therefore, on the alternative, which doubtless had been proposed by her husband, and petitioned the Emperor for his recall. Her request was readily granted, and thus terminated the second campaign of five years which Belisarius had conducted in Italy. This time he returned home without martial honour, but with a considerable accretion of wealth, which he had exacted with little scruple from the Italians, according to the usual practice of the age, whenever an opportunity offered.[607]
After the departure of Belisarius, Totila breathed more freely, and determined to devote all his energies to the recovery of Rome. During the last year of his stay the Constable, by hovering around Southern Italy with his fleet, had confined the attention of the Gothic King to that quarter, while the capital had been committed to the charge of an excellent soldier named Diogenes, with a garrison of three thousand picked men. Early in 549 the third siege of Rome by the Goths was begun, but the city was now well provisioned, and the governor vigilant, so that for several months the enemy made no sensible progress. There was still, however, among the defenders a band of Isaurians, to whom was entrusted the custody of a gate on the south, that named after the Apostle Paul; and they also conceived the idea of betraying their charge to Totila. As the reward of their treachery, they saw some of their former comrades abounding in wealth, whilst the arrears of pay due to the Byzantine army already extended over several years. They opened up communications, therefore, with the King; and in collusion with the traitors a plan of capture was soon agreed upon. But the circumstances were now very different, and an elaborate scheme had to be devised in order to attain to the same result. Success, however, was made commensurate with the greater complication of detail. The Tiber was now entirely at the command of Totila, as he had recently taken the fortress of Portus; whilst the only stronghold in the vicinity still held by the Romans was Centumcellae, a seaport nearly forty miles to the north. Having posted a strong ambush on the road to the latter place, the King led the bulk of his forces secretly in the first watch of the night to the neighbourhood of the gate in question. At the same time he instructed two boats carrying trumpeters to row quietly up the river, and, as soon as they arrived at the north wall of the city, to begin sounding their instruments with all their force.[608] Everything turned out as had been anticipated; when the garrison heard the blast of the trumpets, all rushed to the proximity of the Aurelian gate, thinking that a surprise assault was being delivered on that side. Thus the Isaurians were left in sole charge of the gate of St. Paul, which they immediately opened for the admission of the Gothic army. The news quickly circulated that the enemy were within the walls, with the usual consequence of panic and flight by those gates which were remote from the vicinity of the hostile troops. Centumcellae was the destination of most of the fugitives, where they expected to find a safe retreat, but on the way they fell into the ambuscade set by Totila, so that almost all perished. Four hundred of the garrison, however, fortified themselves in the tomb of Hadrian and nearly as many took refuge in the churches, but they were soon induced by Totila's liberal promises to give themselves up. A majority of them even took service with his forces.
Totila now did all in his power to restore Rome to its pristine splendour, as he had lately been taunted by Theodebert with not being the actual sovereign of Italy, since his capital, besides being held by the Greeks, was partly in ruins. He had sought an alliance with the Franks through marriage with one of the King's daughters, and on these grounds the hand of the princess had been refused to him. Hence he re-established a Senate composed of Italians and Goths, and tried to repatriate as many as possible of the inhabitants who had been scattered in various directions.