Jack Ludlow - Triumph

Appraised of the Goth approach, Vitalius set up a series of ambushes that nullified their numbers, which led to repeated encounters in which the Goths were decimated, till over time their strength was utterly diminished. Just at the moment of ultimate success, the levies from Illyricum decided to go home, being in receipt of news that the Huns were ravaging their homelands. Vitalius had no choice but to withdraw in haste.

The next move saw a thousand men sent out under the command of Thurimuth, the leader of Flavius’s bodyguards. They were despatched to the hilltop town of Auximus, under siege by Totila and held by Flavius’s old comrade Magnus. Having succeeded in getting into the town it was decided to mount a series of sorties to assess the full strength of the enemy. Enjoying mixed success, such raids did establish that even reinforced Magnus had insufficient numbers to break the siege.

Those same reinforcements imposed a strain on the supplies needed to hold out and avoid surrender due to starvation, so it was decided they would be of more use outside the walls. Unware that some spy had told the Goths of the plan, they left by night and ran straight into an ambush in which they lost a full tenth of their effectives as well as all their supplies, the survivors forced to flee for Arminium.

Flavius, meanwhile, had been restoring two fortresses long ago destroyed by Witigis, rebuilding the walls and installing new and stout gates. This again was a ploy Totila could not ignore and he set out to reverse the move by an all-out assault, only to be repulsed and obliged to pull back. If that was a positive there was another side to the coin: Flavius had used up all his men and was now in a position to do no more.

His only act was to send to Rome and order Bessas, in command there, to remain entirely on the defensive and to avoid entanglements outside the walls, but it was plain to the simplest eye that he was stymied. Totila held the initiative and until Flavius was reinforced that would remain the case.

John Vitalianus was still in Italy. He might be prone to insubordination but he had strong connections at court, especially with Narses, so he was despatched back to Constantinople to beg for men and weapons. That took time and in the interim, despite the fact that it was right on the cusp of winter, the pendulum swum decisively against Byzantium.

The fortresses so carefully restored by Flavius could not be supplied and were, when besieged a second time, forced to surrender, Flavius lacking the manpower to intervene. These losses were closely followed by two more with only Perusia holding out and that despite the death of the man in command; yet there was even worse news to follow: Totila was marching on Rome.

Aware he did not have the means to counter this, Flavius recrossed the Adriatic in order to both recruit and seek his requested reinforcements from Constantinople. There he was informed that Vitalianus, too long about the task set for him, had taken time to marry the daughter of one of Justinian’s nephews, his anger only assuaged when it became plain that with trouble on every border the men just did not exist to aid his cause.

When the time came to return to Italy, with most of the campaigning season already gone, that had eased enough to bring him soldiers, if not enough. Flavius knew he must somehow succour Rome and keep it in imperial control, yet the same applied to Apulia and Calabria. Much as he did not want to split his limited forces he had no choice but to send a substantial body under John Vitalianus, who was at least an enterprising and active officer, to secure the southern provinces.

The tactics used by Witigis, Totila had replicated. Camps were built opposite the eastern gates of Rome, the Milvian Bridge was strongly held and once more there was a Goth presence on the Plains of Nero. Like his predecessor, but with more alacrity, he took control of the route to Portus, as well as taking other steps to cut Rome off from any chance of supply, which would eventually mean starvation for the densely populated city.

Before long, within the walls, the citizenry were pleading with Bessas to release the massive amount of food he had stockpiled for his troops. This he declined to do but he did nothing to stop his soldiers selling part of their rations at inflated prices to those in dire need, creating an atmosphere of distrust that could only have one outcome, a crisis made worse by the approach, once more, of winter.

Flavius had possession of Portus itself, but there was that bar across the route, known to be lightly held and needing to be broken. He despatched a body of men, five hundred in number, led by Phocas, another member of his bodyguard, to join troops already holding the town. Word was sent to Bessas of their intention to attack the Goth camp and when, with a request that he sally out to combine with them.

The assault was set in motion before any reply was forthcoming, Phocas and his men making deep inroads into the Goth position, but in time resistance hardened as it became plain they were not supported: Bessas had declined to move, even if the commotion caused by the fighting must have been audible in the city. This left no option but to withdraw.

Word was once more sent: a second attempt would be made and again Bessas was begged to provide the aid that would be needed. It never got going; Totila had been informed of the intention and ambushed the whole force, killing the leaders along with most of those they led.

The only other route by which food could be brought into the city was by rowing barges up the Tiber and here Totila had built two wooden forts at a point, not far from the walls and hard by the road to Portus, where the river narrowed, with a bridge of joined timbers stretched between them. The plan formulated by Flavius to counter this showed he had lost none of his flair for innovation.

Lashing a pair of barges together and planking their decks he had a wooden structure constructed that in height would overreach the Totila forts. On the very top of the flimsy-looking edifice he had placed a boat filled with pitch-treated timber and brimstone. This floating surprise was to be followed upriver by every barge and boat that could be mustered in a convoy containing enough food to keep Rome going for a year, each one given built-up sides with slits that could protect his archers while giving them the ability to discharge their weapons.

At the same time a commander called Isaac the Armenian was given care of Antonina and took charge in Portus but it was made plain he must remain static and on no account risk losing the quays; his task was diversion, this as an unequivocal command was sent to Bessas; he in turn must now sally forth and attack the Goths to keep them occupied.

Flavius took the lead barge with his bodyguards and set in motion the troops he had ordered to march up the inland riverbank. The discovery of a metal chain downriver of the Totila forts imposed a check, but not for long as the men guarding it fled and it was quickly dislodged. The guards who ran alerted those holding the forts and given there was little distance between them and the Goth encampment masking Portus, and a signalling system in place to warn of trouble, the soldiers there began to rush to aid in the defence.

Still too far off to intervene they could nevertheless see the wily ploy of their enemy. Forcing the vessel that held his flimsy structure against the bridge, Flavius had the boat atop it set alight and the whole tipped over to crash into the base of one of the Goth forts, the dry timber immediately catching fire. To the screams of those hundreds of men trapped inside, condemned to burn to death, his men attacked and overcame the second fort and could then begin the task of destroying the bridge.

If only Isaac the Armenian had obeyed his orders all would have been well. But he had seen many of the Goths departing to confront Flavius and the temptation of engaging with a weakened enemy proved too much. Essaying forth at the head of a mere hundred fighters he immediately launched his own attack, and by severely wounding the camp commander, which broke the morale of his followers, was able to drive the Goths right out of their camp.