tment the effect which the
presence of St. Benedict had produced on him, as well as in the following
years of his life. This interview took place in the year 542.

But Totila[137] so advanced in power that, in spite of Byzantine intrigue
and jealousy, Belisarius, having happily concluded the Persian war, was
sent back to the supreme command in Italy. He landed in Ravenna, but
without army, war-material, or money. In the summer of 545, Totila, having
subdued the land all about Rome, laid siege to Rome itself. Belisarius
occupied Porto, and Totila set up his camp eight miles from Rome,
commanding the Tiber, and turning the siege into the closest blockade. In
vain Belisarius attempted to burst the Gothic bar of the river and
introduce provisions to Rome. In vain embassies were sent to Constantinople
for help. The most frightful distress ensued at Rome. At length, after
about eighteen months, certain Isaurian soldiers of the Greek garrison gave
up the Porta Asinaria, and on the night of the 17th December, 546, Totila
took the ill-defended city. When he entered, it was almost without
inhabitants. Those whom the sword, famine, and pestilence had not yet taken
were in flight or hiding. Patricians crept about in the garb of slaves. The
number of victims at this capture was small. The desolation and misery seem
to have worked not only on Totila, but also on his army. The plunder, which
a captured city could not escape, was generally bloodless; but many houses
were burnt in the Trasteverine quarter. As Theodorick had offered his
prayers at the tomb of the Apostles, so Totila went from the Lateran to St.
Peter's. What a change had the forty-six years brought about. To the
miserable remnant of the senate Totila upbraided the ingratitude which had
been shown for Gothic benefits under Theodorick. He accepted, however, the
intercession of the deacon Pelagius, and protected not only the female sex
in general, but especially the noble Rusticiana, widow of Boethius and
daughter of Symmachus. Amalasunta had restored their property to her sons,
the younger Boethius and Symmachus; but the war seems to have consumed
everything. She was now a beggar, and the wild host of Totila wished to put
her to death for having, as she was charged, maimed statues of Theodorick.
But the king rescued her from their fury.

In the first impulse of wrath Totila had threatened to level Rome with the
ground. Belisarius, lying sick at Porto, had addressed to him a