The time of the main battle was now at hand, and on each side the generals delivered an exhortation to their troops. Narses lauded the superiority of his own men and spoke of the enemy with contempt, asserting them to be mostly renegades from the Imperial service, whose best prospect was to perish while making a desperate onslaught. Totila encouraged his army by impressing on them that this was the critical day of the war, and by a present victory they would irretrievably crush the power of the Emperor. As for the forces opposed to them he pointed out that they were only mercenary barbarians, who would be chary of risking their personal safety merely in exchange for the high pay by which they had been allured.
Both armies were now marshalled over against each other in a long and deep array. Narses collected all his barbarian auxiliaries, with whom he was unfamiliar, into the centre, and made them stand dismounted from their horses. The flower of the Roman troops he placed in the wings, four thousand foot-archers in front, and behind them fifteen hundred cavalry in each division. On the opposite side the Goths were ranged in two lines, all their cavalry being in front and the infantry behind. The two generals now rode along their respective battle fronts, uttering words of encouragement; and Narses added the objective stimulus of rich jewels, armlets, necklets, and golden chains, displayed aloft on the points of spears, and promised the bestowal of them as the rewards of valour. As in most cases, there was a single combat in the interspace, the champions this time being a Roman renegade and an Armenian, when the triumph of the latter infused an access of confidence into the Imperial troops. Totila, however, was anxious for a short delay, as he was awaiting the advent of two thousand horse, whose approach had just been intimated to him. In the meantime he essayed to divert the attention of the enemy by exhibiting his address in equitation and play of arms. He was dressed with regal magnificence, and his weapons and armour were resplendent with gold. Purple plumes flowed from his helmet and lance, and he was mounted on a charger of faultless proportions. He began to caracole along the front of his line, wheeling his horse in circles and pulling him up short at one instant or another to turn in a different direction. Simultaneously his spear was tossed into the air and caught dexterously with interchanging hands, now by one part, now by another. In this saltatory exercise he frittered away the whole forenoon; and then he sent a herald to ask for a parley with Narses. The eunuch, however, replied that it was mere trifling for him to propose a debate on the field, which he had declined at the fitting time.
It was now announced to Totila that the expected accession of cavalry had arrived, whereupon he retired to his tent and passed the word for his troops to fall out and partake of their midday meal. With a swift change, however, all returned to their ranks, and the Gothic cavalry at once began an impetuous charge against the enemy, thinking to catch them in disorder. But Narses had suspected a ruse, and therefore had restrained his men from breaking into loose order or laying aside any part of their equipment. At the same time, lest they should suffer by fasting, he caused them to be served with refreshments while standing in line with their eyes fixed on the movements of the enemy. As soon as he perceived in what manner the battle had begun, the Roman general executed an evolution which was fatally adverse to the chances of the attacking troops. The wings were signalled to deploy towards the centre, and thus in a moment the Byzantine army assumed a crescentic formation, which embraced the Gothic cavalry between its extended horns. From each side the four thousand archers poured their arrows into the dense squadrons of horse, who by some strange perversity or misjudgment had been ordered to rely solely on their spears and the force of their charge to overthrow the ranks of the enemy. A small proportion only of the Gothic horsemen succeeded in reaching the Roman line, most of them falling or becoming disabled the moment they entered the deadly interspace between the two fires. Nevertheless they maintained their efforts with tenacity till the decline of day, when the Byzantine army by a unanimous impulse began to move forwards against them in firm array. Gradually the Goths were pushed backwards, becoming more and more disordered as they retreated, until they again came in contact with their own infantry. In proportion as the enemy yielded the ardour of the Romans had become inflamed; men of all arms attacked fiercely, and soon the retreat became a rout; whilst the Gothic infantry, seeing the defeat of their main force, attempted no defence, but fled wherever the way seemed to lie open for escape. Six thousand of the Goths were slain on the field, and, in addition, a large number of the Imperial troops, who, during the last decade, had from time to time deserted to their standard.[617]
The life and fortunes of Totila were forfeited on the day of Taginae, but the mode of death of the Gothic King is wrapped in some uncertainty. At the outset of the battle, according to one account, a chance arrow pierced him with a mortal wound, and compelled his removal from the field. After his departure, the Goths engaged the enemy without tactical direction, and failed through being deprived of his skilful supervision. Another version relates that as soon as the catastrophe was complete he fled through the darkness with a few followers, when he received a lance-thrust from the hand of a barbarian, who was unaware that he had struck the King. Whatever may have been the immediate cause of the fatality, it seems certain that on that night he arrived at Caprae, about ten miles from the scene of the battle, in a dying state. There he shortly expired and was buried by his companions, who at once left the neighbourhood. Soon afterwards a Gothic woman, resident on the spot, who had seen the occurrence, told some Roman soldiers that the King was dead, and indicated to them his grave. Disbelieving her story, they disinterred the body and found that she had spoken the truth.[618] Before they restored the corpse to the earth they stripped it of its regal apparel, which they brought to Narses. He, in his turn, forwarded the spoils to Justinian.[619] Such was the inglorious end of the reign of Totila, whose martial talents and civil magnanimity deserved a better fate; and we would fain believe that version of his death which elucidates by an inevitable mischance the infelicitous result of this ill-conducted battle so unworthy of his previous reputation.
Narses now marched on Rome, receiving on his way the submission of several towns which had been taken and retaken during the present war. At the same time the remnant of the Goths mustered at Ticinum, which Totila had fortified as the repository of his treasure in North Italy, and there they immediately elected Teïas as King. When the eunuch arrived before the capital, he found the Gothic garrison prepared to offer a vigorous resistance; but their dispositions were unskilful, and they were far from being able to foresee the various possibilities of capture. The siege, therefore, was of brief duration, and they were shortly circumvented by a simple strategical ruse. Three simultaneous assaults were made on distant portions of the wall; and the defenders allowed their attention to be concentrated on these points, whilst leaving the rest of the wide circuit vacant. Then Narses, seizing a favourable moment, ordered one of his lieutenants named Dagisthaeus, supported by a strong brigade, to make a sudden attempt with scaling ladders on one of the deserted stretches of wall. They ascended, meeting with no obstruction, gates were thrown open, and the Imperial standard was displayed from the battlements; whereupon the Goths abandoned the defence and saved themselves by every available outlet.[620] Thus for the fifth time in less than a score of years was Rome captured by one or other of the contending nations; and again on this, the third occasion, the Emperor had the gratification of receiving the keys of the city from one of his generals.
Yet the subjugation of Italy was still far from complete; and an arduous task had still to be executed by Narses before he could proclaim the peaceful settlement of the ruined Gothic kingdom to be an accomplished fact. Desperate bands of Gothic marauders now pervaded the country and wreaked their vengeance uncontrolled on the Italians for the ill success of their arms. All the Roman senators were murdered in Campania, where for their own safety they had been located by Totila; and even at Ticinum a band of hostages, selected from the noblest families, were slaughtered by order of the new Gothic King. And Teïas, notwithstanding his limited resources, was not in the least inclined to make his submission to the victorious eunuch, but determined to oppose him to the last by every means in his power. First, he tried to win the alliance of Theodebald, who had lately succeeded his father on the throne of the Franks, but that monarch declined to identify himself with a failing cause.
The prime object of contention between the hostile generals was now the city of Cumae in Campania, where Totila had deposited the richest complement of his treasures and on that account provided it with a strong garrison. At first John was sent into Tuscany to obstruct the avenues of approach from the north; but Teïas eluded his vigilance, and, by pursuing devious and unfrequented paths in the vicinity of the Adriatic coast, penetrated into Campania before the Byzantines had become aware of his escape. There he fortified his camp on the distal side of Mount Vesuvius, close to the Bay of Naples. The position chosen by the Goths was the south side of a bridge over the Draco, a small river flowing between steep banks, impassable even for infantry. On this spot they built wooden towers and constructed military engines, by means of which, owing to the difficulty of access, they were able to withstand the efforts of the whole Roman army for two months. With their fleet in proximity they held the command of the sea, so that they suffered from no lack of provisions. At the end of that time, however, the ships were betrayed to the enemy by a traitorous Goth who was in charge of them, and thus their supplies were cut off. They now took refuge on the Lactarian Mount, which rises from the ridge of land separating the Bay of Naples from that of Salerno. Here they soon found themselves in danger of being starved out, and resolved, therefore, to make a desperate effort to regain their freedom. Unexpectedly they came down on foot in a solid mass, and threw themselves on the Byzantine troops. Teïas, in the forefront of the battle, performed prodigies of valour, and soon became the central aim for his adversaries. A dozen spears became fixed in his shield, so that he could no longer wield it freely to shelter himself. He called loudly for his armour-bearer, and an attempt to exchange it was made, but for a moment his body remained unprotected and he received a fatal wound. Nevertheless, his men fought on till night terminated the conflict. At the dawn of day the fight was resumed, and again persevered in till night. At last they sent a deputation to Narses, proposing that they should be allowed to possess themselves of whatever funds they had deposited at their homes in various parts of the country, upon which they would leave Italy to go and live according to their own laws among other barbarians. Following the counsel of John, Narses made a convention to that effect; whereupon the Goths agreed to surrender all their remaining strongholds and to evacuate the peninsula.[621]
Such was the end of the dominion of the Ostrogoths in Italy, but Narses still had a considerable war to wage, partly owing to the convention not being strictly carried out, but chiefly because the Franks were firmly convinced that they could make themselves masters of Italy. Their resources were great, but for more than a decade they had been witnesses of the successful resistance offered by Totila with his small army to the anxious efforts of the Emperor; and hence they were itching to find a plausible pretext for invading the country in force. Theodebald was a feeble youth, evidently tottering to the grave, and two nobles of his court, the brothers Leuthar and Butilin, professed to rule both the King and the nation. As soon, therefore, as it became patent that the power of the Goths in Italy was irretrievably shattered, they affected to be moved by the prayers of a few refugees of that people, who had dwelt in the Transpadane region, and had not been directly concerned in the compact with Narses. Hence they quickly levied an army of over seventy thousand men, and suddenly appeared in North Italy under the semblance of being zealous allies of the Goths, but in reality because they believed the country to be without a master. The Roman general had not yet received the submission of Cumae, whilst some thousands of Gothic soldiers had fortified themselves at Compsae under a bellicose Hunnish leader, named Ragnaris; but on hearing of the Frankish invasion he abandoned his operations against them, and marched into Tuscany. Here he stayed to accept the capitulation of a number of towns, but sent on the greater part of his forces to block the way of the invaders on the southern bank of the Po. Some slight successes were obtained, but the eunuch was really incapable of opposing the Frankish host, and he soon retired to the shelter of Ravenna for the winter (553). Italy was now virtually lost again to the Empire had the barbarians who invaded it been capable of organizing a government or founding an administration. But to indulge themselves in rapine was the only course that was intelligible to them, and they possessed the country as brigands, not as civilized conquerors. The bulk of their army was, in fact, composed of German tribes, who had not yet been converted to Christianity. Even the Goths recognized shortly that they had nothing to hope for from such allies; and before long, Aligernus, the brother of Teïas, journeyed voluntarily to the north and presented himself before Narses with the keys of Cumae in his hand.
At the first flush of spring Leuthar and Butilin roused themselves to prosecute their raid, and made a rapid and destructive march through Central Italy until they arrived on the south of Rome. The brothers now divided their forces, and, while one half carried their ravages down to the Sicilian strait, the other devastated the eastern tract of the peninsula until they were brought up by the waters of the Mediterranean. The churches were broken into and rifled of all their precious ornaments by the heathen Germans, but the Orthodox Franks abstained scrupulously from any such sacrilege. The summer was already at its height, when communication was reopened between the Frankish leaders; and Leuthar announced his decision to return home forthwith in order to enjoy the fruits of the expedition. He exhorted his brother to follow his example, and not stake the rich spoils of Italy on the doubtful event of a war with the Romans. Between Butilin and the Goths, however, a bond had been executed in precise terms, by which it was prearranged that, should he succeed in ousting the Byzantines, he should become their king. He, therefore, remained in Campania, whilst his brother proceeded to retrace his steps to the north. On the way a foreguard of three thousand men fell into an ambush, contrived by Artabanes at Fanum, with disastrous results, but the main army continued its march unopposed, crossed the Po, and pitched their camp at Ceneta, in Venetia. Here they bewailed the loss of much of their booty on the long route, and gave themselves up to a life of indolence and relaxation in compensation for their protracted predatory exertions. Soon, however, a pestilence invaded the camp, emanating doubtless from an ill-ordered commissariat and defective sanitation, by which most of them perished, including Leuthar himself.
As for Butilin and the moiety of the host which remained with him, they also succumbed to disease in considerable numbers. The plenteous supply of grapes in Campania induced them to indulge too freely in a raw wine of their own concoction, and hence many of them fell victims to a fatal flux from the bowels. Since Butilin hoped to obtain a permanent seat in the country, he decided to fortify himself in a strong position, and await the development of events. At Casilinum,[622] on the river Vulturnus, he found a suitable spot, and there he fixed his camp within an enclosure strongly fenced by wagons and stakes. Their front was defended by the river, and wooden towers which they built at the foot of an adjoining bridge. His army amounted to about thirty thousand men, and he was also expecting reinforcements which had been promised by his brother as soon as he had deposited his treasures in a place of safety.