ress it,--may
God forgive you, as I do."

CHAPTER XXIII

PROCOPIUS TO CETHEGUS:

HE went all the way to Carthage on foot, declining horse or camel,
remaining silent or praying aloud in Latin, no longer in the Vandal
language. Fara offered him suitable garments instead of the worn,
half-tattered purple mantle which he had on his bare body. The captive
declined, and asked for a penitent's girdle, with sharp points on the
inside, such as the hermits wear in the desert. We did not know how to
obtain such crazy gear, and Fara probably disapproved the wish, so the
"Tyrant" himself made one from a cast-off horse-bridle which he found
and the hard, sharp thorns of the desert acacia. Close to the gate of
his capital, his strength failed, and he fell, face downward, in the
road. Verus stopped behind him, hesitating. I believe he meant to set
his foot on the King's neck; but Fara, who probably had the same
suspicion, roughly pushed the priest forward, and raised the monarch
with kind words. Directly beyond the Numidian gate, in the spacious
square in the Aklas suburb, Belisarius had assembled the larger portion
of his army, filling three sides; the fourth, facing the gate, remained
open. Opposite the entrance, on a raised seat, the General, in full
armor, sat throned; above his head rose the imperial field standards;
at his feet lay the scarlet flags and pennons of the Vandals which we
had captured by the dozen; every thousand had them. Only the great
royal banner was missing; it was never found. Around Belisarius stood
the leaders of his victorious bands, with many bishops and priests,
then the Senators, aristocratic citizens of Carthage and the other
cities, some of whom had returned from exile or flight during the past
few months; Pudentius of Tripolis and his son were among them,
rejoicing. To the left of Belisarius, on purple coverlets at his feet,
lay heaped and poured in artistic confusion the royal treasure of the
Vandals: many chairs of solid gold, the chariot of the Vandal Queen, a
countless multitude of treasures of every description,--how the jewels
glittered under the radiant African sun,--the whole silver table
service of the King, weighing many thousand pounds, and all the rest of
the paraphernalia of the royal household, besides weapons, countless
weapons from Genseric's armories; old Roman banners, too, which, after
a captivity of years, were again released; weapons enough in th