he face of
the most learned man of the West, the pious and wise Cassiodorus. We
were received with kindness and respect. In the council held by the
Emperor, men of distinction, such as Tribonianus and Procopius, raised
their voices in favour of peace. The Emperor himself seemed inclined
thereto. His two great generals, Narses and Belisarius, were fighting,
at different points of the south-eastern frontier of the Empire,
against Persians and Saracens; and the campaign in Italy and Dalmatia
had demanded such great sacrifices, and had lasted so long, that war
with the Goths had become hateful to the Emperor. It was indeed not
likely that he would entirely renounce the hope of reconquering Italy,
but he saw the impossibility of doing so at present. He therefore
willingly entered into negotiations of peace, and accepted our
proposals for further consideration. His first thought was, as he told
us, to bring about a provisional division of the peninsula; the far
larger portion of the country, to the south of the Padus, to belong to
the Emperor, the northern half to the Goths. One day at noon, we had
left the Emperor's presence with great hopes; the audience had turned
out more favourably than all former ones. But in the evening of the
same day we were surprised by the arrival of the Curo-palata Marcellus,
accompanied by slaves carrying the gifts which it is customary to
present to parting guests--a not-to-be-mistaken sign that all
negotiations were broken off. Confounded at this sudden change,
Cassiodorus decided, for the sake of his work of peace, to dare the
utmost--namely, to seek an audience of the Emperor after the
presentation of the parting gifts. Tribonianus, who had always opposed
the war, and who highly esteemed Cassiodorus, allowed himself to be
prevailed upon to sue for this extraordinary grace. The answer came in
a very ungracious threat of banishment should he ever again venture to
petition for anything against the clearly-expressed will of the
Emperor, Never, never would the Emperor conclude peace with the
barbarians, until they had entirely evacuated the kingdom. Never would
he look upon the Goths in Italy as anything but enemies. In vain we
tried," Julius continued, "to discover the cause of this sudden change.
We only learned that, after our last audience, the Empress, who is said
to be often suffering, had invited her husband to dinner in her
apartments. But it is certain that the Empress, formerly known to b