The Goths, from the earliest times to the end of the Gothic dominion in Spain . uld shortly march to the capture of Rome, and DESPAIR OF THE ROMANS. 285 contained a solemn declaration that no harm shouldbe done to the citizens. The officers of the imperialarmy tried in vain to find out who had put up theseplacards, but it was suspected that it must have beendone by the Arian clergy, who were therefore banishedfrom the city. Soon afterwards the emperor Justinian receiveda letter, signed by all his generals in Italy, expressingtheir opinion that the imperial cause in that countrywas hopeless, an
The Goths, from the earliest times to the end of the Gothic dominion in Spain . uld shortly march to the capture of Rome, and DESPAIR OF THE ROMANS. 285 contained a solemn declaration that no harm shouldbe done to the citizens. The officers of the imperialarmy tried in vain to find out who had put up theseplacards, but it was suspected that it must have beendone by the Arian clergy, who were therefore banishedfrom the city. Soon afterwards the emperor Justinian receiveda letter, signed by all his generals in Italy, expressingtheir opinion that the imperial cause in that countrywas hopeless, and that the attempt to oppose thevictorious progress of the Goths had better be aban-doned. Very unwillingly the emperor had to yieldto the conviction that his Italian dominions could bepreserved only by the help of the great general who,four years before, had ail but crushed the Gothicmonarchy, and whose premature recall was nowproved to have been a fatal mistake. And so Beli-sarius received orders to go to Italy to retrieve thedisasters which had befallen the imperial COPPER COINS STRUCK AT ROME DURING THE GOTHIC DOMINION, XXVII THE FAILURE OF BELISARIUS. It was not merely the old suspicion which madeJustinian unwilling to send Belisarius to Italy. Thegreat general had recently fallen into disgrace withhis imperial master. In the year 542, Justinianhad been smitten with plague, and it was said thatwhile he was on what was supposed to be his death-bed Belisarius had formed a plot for the purpose ofsucceeding him on the throne, to the exclusion of theEmpress Theodora. The emperor, however, recov-ered, and as he believed the accusations againstBelisarius, he deprived him of all his honours and ofa large part of his property. He also took awayfrom him his famous household of soldiers, andsent them away on foreign service. AfterwardsJustinian had professed to forgive Belisarius, and hadconferred on him the office of Count of the ImperialStable. But he still treated him with
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgoths, bookyear1887
