ich had so recently triumphed over the merit
of Belisarius. A new exarch, Longinus, was appointed to supersede the
conqueror of Italy, and the base motives of his recall were revealed in
the insulting mandate of the empress Sophia, "that he should leave to
men the exercise of arms, and return to his proper station among the
maidens of the palace, where a distaff should be again placed in the
hand of the eunuch." "I will spin her such a thread as she shall not
easily unravel!" is said to have been the reply which indignation and
conscious virtue extorted from the hero. Instead of attending, a slave
and a victim, at the gate of the Byzantine palace, he retired to Naples,
from whence (if any credit is due to the belief of the times) Narses
invited the Lombards to chastise the ingratitude of the prince and
people. [15] But the passions of the people are furious and changeable,
and the Romans soon recollected the merits, or dreaded the resentment,
of their victorious general. By the mediation of the pope, who undertook
a special pilgrimage to Naples, their repentance was accepted; and
Narses, assuming a milder aspect and a more dutiful language, consented
to fix his residence in the Capitol. His death, [16] though in the
extreme period of old age, was unseasonable and premature, since his
genius alone could have repaired the last and fatal error of his life.
The reality, or the suspicion, of a conspiracy disarmed and disunited
the Italians. The soldiers resented the disgrace, and bewailed the loss,
of their general. They were ignorant of their new exarch; and Longinus
was himself ignorant of the state of the army and the province. In the
preceding years Italy had been desolated by pestilence and famine, and
a disaffected people ascribed the calamities of nature to the guilt or
folly of their rulers. [17]

[Footnote 15: The charge of the deacon against Narses (l. ii. c. 5)
may be groundless; but the weak apology of the Cardinal (Baron. Annal
Eccles. A.D. 567, No. 8--12) is rejected by the best critics--Pagi (tom.
ii. p. 639, 640,) Muratori, (Annali d' Italia, tom. v. p. 160--163,) and
the last editors, Horatius Blancus, (Script. Rerum Italic. tom. i. p.
427, 428,) and Philip Argelatus, (Sigon. Opera, tom. ii. p. 11, 12.) The
Narses who assisted at the coronation of Justin (Corippus, l. iii. 221)
is clearly understood to be a different person.]

[Footnote 16: The death of Narses is mentioned by Paul, l. ii. c. 11.
Anastas. in