siege of Troy,
had performed in four days, [12] the fleet of Belisarius was guided in
their course by his master-galley, conspicuous in the day by the redness
of the sails, and in the night by the torches blazing from the mast
head. It was the duty of the pilots, as they steered between the
islands, and turned the Capes of Malea and Taenarium, to preserve the
just order and regular intervals of such a multitude of ships: as the
wind was fair and moderate, their labors were not unsuccessful, and the
troops were safely disembarked at Methone on the Messenian coast, to
repose themselves for a while after the fatigues of the sea. In this
place they experienced how avarice, invested with authority, may sport
with the lives of thousands which are bravely exposed for the public
service. According to military practice, the bread or biscuit of the
Romans was twice prepared in the oven, and the diminution of one fourth
was cheerfully allowed for the loss of weight. To gain this miserable
profit, and to save the expense of wood, the praefect John of Cappadocia
had given orders that the flour should be slightly baked by the same
fire which warmed the baths of Constantinople; and when the sacks
were opened, a soft and mouldy paste was distributed to the army. Such
unwholesome food, assisted by the heat of the climate and season, soon
produced an epidemical disease, which swept away five hundred soldiers.
Their health was restored by the diligence of Belisarius, who provided
fresh bread at Methone, and boldly expressed his just and humane
indignation the emperor heard his complaint; the general was praised
but the minister was not punished. From the port of Methone, the pilots
steered along the western coast of Peloponnesus, as far as the Isle of
Zacynthus, or Zante, before they undertook the voyage (in their eyes a
most arduous voyage) of one hundred leagues over the Ionian Sea. As the
fleet was surprised by a calm, sixteen days were consumed in the slow
navigation; and even the general would have suffered the intolerable
hardship of thirst, if the ingenuity of Antonina had not preserved the
water in glass bottles, which she buried deep in the sand in a part
of the ship impervious to the rays of the sun. At length the harbor
of Caucana, [13] on the southern side of Sicily, afforded a secure and
hospitable shelter. The Gothic officers who governed the island in the
name of the daughter and grandson of Theodoric, obeyed their imprudent