erced with
an arrow, if the mortal stroke had not been intercepted by one of his
guards, who lost, in that pious office, the use of his hand. The Goths
of Osimo, [1041] four thousand warriors, with those of Faesulae and the
Cottian Alps, were among the last who maintained their independence; and
their gallant resistance, which almost tired the patience, deserved the
esteem, of the conqueror. His prudence refused to subscribe the safe
conduct which they asked, to join their brethren of Ravenna; but they
saved, by an honorable capitulation, one moiety at least of their
wealth, with the free alternative of retiring peaceably to their
estates, or enlisting to serve the emperor in his Persian wars. The
multitudes which yet adhered to the standard of Vitiges far surpassed
the number of the Roman troops; but neither prayers nor defiance, nor
the extreme danger of his most faithful subjects, could tempt the Gothic
king beyond the fortifications of Ravenna. These fortifications were,
indeed, impregnable to the assaults of art or violence; and when
Belisarius invested the capital, he was soon convinced that famine only
could tame the stubborn spirit of the Barbarians. The sea, the land,
and the channels of the Po, were guarded by the vigilance of the Roman
general; and his morality extended the rights of war to the practice of
poisoning the waters, [105] and secretly firing the granaries [106] of
a besieged city. [107] While he pressed the blockade of Ravenna, he was
surprised by the arrival of two ambassadors from Constantinople, with
a treaty of peace, which Justinian had imprudently signed, without
deigning to consult the author of his victory. By this disgraceful and
precarious agreement, Italy and the Gothic treasure were divided,
and the provinces beyond the Po were left with the regal title to the
successor of Theodoric. The ambassadors were eager to accomplish their
salutary commission; the captive Vitiges accepted, with transport, the
unexpected offer of a crown; honor was less prevalent among the Goths,
than the want and appetite of food; and the Roman chiefs, who murmured
at the continuance of the war, professed implicit submission to the
commands of the emperor. If Belisarius had possessed only the courage
of a soldier, the laurel would have been snatched from his hand by timid
and envious counsels; but in this decisive moment, he resolved, with
the magnanimity of a statesman, to sustain alone the danger and merit of
g