第3巻 第25章

Greek Γελίμερ δὲ ἐπεὶ ἐν πεδίῳ Βούλλης ἐγεγόνει, ὅπερ εὐζώνῳ ἀνδρὶ τεσσάρων ἡμερῶν ὁδῷ Καρχηδόνος διέχει, οὐ πολλῷ ἄποθεν τῶν Νουμιδίας ὁρίων, ἐνταῦθα Βανδίλους τε ξύμπαντας ἤγειρε καὶ εἴ τί οἱ φίλιον ἐν Μαυρουσίοις ἐτύγχανεν ὄν.

Dewing But Gelimer, upon reaching the plain of Boulla, which is distant from Carthage a journey of four days for an unencumbered traveller, not far from the boundaries of Numidia, began to gather there all the Vandals and as many of the Moors as happened to be friendly to him.

Greek ὀλίγοι μέντοι Μαυρούσιοι αὐτῷ ἀφίκοντο ἐς ξυμμαχίαν,

Dewing Few Moors, however, joined his alliance, and these were altogether insubordinate.

Greek καὶ οὗτοι παντάπασιν ἄναρχοι. ὅσοι γὰρ ἔν τε Μαυριτανίᾳ καὶ Νουμιδίᾳ καὶ Βυζακίῳ Μαυρουσίων ἦρχον, πρέσβεις ὡς Βελισάριον πέμψαντες δοῦλοί τε βασιλέως ἔφασκον εἶναι καὶ ξυμμαχήσειν ὑπέσχοντο.

Dewing For all those who ruled over the Moors in Mauretania and Numidia and Byzacium sent envoys to Belisarius saying that they were slaves of the emperor and promised to fight with him.

Greek εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἐν ὁμήρων παρείχοντο λόγῳ, τά τε ξύμβολα σφίσι παρ’ αὐτοῦ στέλλεσθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς κατὰ δὴ τὸν παλαιὸν νόμον ἐδέοντο.

Dewing There were some also who even furnished their children as hostages and requested that the symbols of office be sent them from him according to the ancient custom.

Greek νόμος γὰρ ἦν Μαυρουσίων ἄρχειν μηδένα, κἂν Ῥωμαίοις πολέμιος ᾖ, πρὶν ἂν αὐτῷ τὰ γνωρίσματα τῆς ἀρχῆς ὁ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς δοίη.

Dewing For it was a law among the Moors that no one should be a ruler over them, even if he was hostile to the Romans, until the emperor of the Romans should give him the tokens of the office.

Greek ἅπερ ἤδη πρὸς Βανδίλων λαβόντες οὐκ ᾤοντο ἐν βεβαίῳ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχειν.

Dewing And though they had already received them from the Vandals, they did not consider that the Vandals held the office securely.

Greek ἔστι δὲ τὰ ξύμβολα ταῦτα ῥάβδος τε ἀργυρᾶ κατακεχρυσωμένη καὶ πῖλος ἀργυροῦς οὐχ ὅλην τὴν κεφαλὴν σκέπων, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ στεφάνη τελαμῶσιν ἀργυροῖς πανταχόθεν ἀνεχόμενος, καὶ τριβώνιόν τι λευκὸν ἐς χρυσῆν περόνην κατὰ τὸν δεξιὸν ὦμον ἐν χλαμύδος σχήματι Θετταλῆς ξυνιόν, χιτών τε λευκὸς ποικίλματα ἔχων, καὶ ἀρβύλη ἐπίχρυσος.

Dewing Now these symbols are a staff of silver covered with gold, and a silver cap, — not covering the whole head, but like a crown and held in place on all sides by bands of silver, — a kind of white cloak gathered by a golden brooch on the right shoulder in the form of a Thessalian cape, and a white tunic with embroidery, and a gilded boot.

Greek Βελισάριος δὲ ταῦτά τε αὐτοῖς ἔπεμψε καὶ χρήμασι πολλοῖς αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ἐδωρήσατο.

Dewing And Belisarius sent these things to them, and presented each one of them with much money.

Greek οὐ μέντοι αὐτῷ ἐς ξυμμαχίαν ἀφίκοντο, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ Βανδίλοις ἐπαμύνειν ἐτόλμησαν, ἀλλ’ ἐκποδὼν ἀμφοτέροις στάντες ἐκαραδόκουν ὅπη ποτὲ ἡ τοῦ πολέμου τύχη ἐκβήσεται. ὧδε μὲν Ῥωμαίοις τὰ πράγματα εἶχε.

Dewing However, they did not come to fight along with him, nor, on the other hand, did they dare give their support to the Vandals, but standing out of the way of both contestants, they waited to see what would be the outcome of the war. Thus, then, matters stood with the Romans.

Greek Γελίμερ δὲ τῶν τινα Βανδίλων ἐς Σαρδὼ ἔπεμψεν, ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς Τζάζωνα τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἔχοντα. ὃς ἐς τὴν παραλίαν κατὰ τάχος ἐλθὼν ὁλκάδος τε ἀναγομένης ἐπιτυχών, ἐς Καρανάλεως τὸν λιμένα κατέπλευσε καὶ Τζάζωνι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐνεχείρισεν. ἐδήλου δὲ ἡ γραφὴ τάδε·

Dewing But Gelimer sent one of the Vandals to Sardinia with a letter to his brother Tzazon. And he went quickly to the coast, and finding by chance a merchant-ship putting out to sea, he sailed into the harbour of Caranalis and put the letter into the hands of Tzazon. Now the message of the letter was as follows:

Greek “Οὐκ ἦν, οἶμαι, Γώδας ὁ τὴν νῆσον ἡμῶν ἀποστήσας, ἀλλά τις ἄτη ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐς Βανδίλους ἐπιπεσοῦσα.

Dewing "It was not, I venture to think, Godas who caused the island to revolt from us, but some curse of madness sent from Heaven which fell upon the Vandals.

Greek σέ τε γὰρ ἐξ ἡμῶν καὶ Βανδίλων τοὺς δοκίμους ἀφελομένη ἅπαντα συλλήβδην ἐκ τοῦ Γιζερίχου οἴκου τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἥρπασεν.

Dewing For by depriving us of you and the notables of the Vandals, it has seized and carried off from the house of Gizeric absolutely all the blessings which we enjoyed.

Greek οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνασώσασθαι τὴν νῆσον ἡμῖν ἐνθένδε ἀπῆρας, ἀλλ’ ὅπως Λιβύης Ἰουστινιανὸς κύριος ἔσται. τὰ γὰρ τῇ τύχῃ δόξαντα πρότερον πάρεστι τανῦν ἐκ τῶν ἀποβάντων εἰδέναι.

Dewing For it was not to recover the island for us that you sailed from here, but in order that Justinian might be master of Libya. For that which Fortune had decided upon previously it is now possible to know from the outcome.

Greek Βελισάριος μὲν οὖν στρατῷ ὀλίγῳ ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ἥκει· ἡ δὲ ἀρετὴ ἐκ Βανδίλων ἀπιοῦσα εὐθὺς ᾤχετο, μεθ’ ἑαυτῆς λαβοῦσα τὴν ἀγαθὴν τύχην.

Dewing Belisarius, then, has come against us with a small army, but valour straightway departed and fled from the Vandals, taking good fortune with her.

Greek Ἀμμάτας μὲν γὰρ καὶ Γιβαμοῦνδος πεπτώκασι, μαλθακιζομένων Βανδίλων, ἵπποι δὲ καὶ νεώρια καὶ ξύμπασα Λιβύη καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα αὐτὴ Καρχηδὼν ἔχονται ἤδη πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων.

Dewing For Ammatas and Gibamundus have fallen, because the Vandals lost their courage, and the horses and shipyards and all Libya and, not least of all, Carthage itself, are held already by the enemy.

Greek οἱ δὲ κάθηνται, τὸ μὴ ἐν τοῖς πόνοις ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι παίδων τε καὶ γυναικῶν ἀνταλλαξάμενοι καὶ πάντων χρημάτων, ἡμῖν τε ἀπολέλειπται μόνον τὸ Βούλλης πεδίον, οὗπερ ἡμᾶς ἡ εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐλπὶς καθίσασα εἴργει.

Dewing And the Vandals are sitting here, having paid with their children and wives and all their possessions for their failure to play the part of brave men in battle, and to us is left only the plain of Boulla, where our hope in you has set us down and still keeps us.

Greek ἀλλὰ σὺ τυραννίδα τε καὶ Σαρδὼ καὶ τὰς περὶ ταῦτα φροντίδας ἐάσας ὅτι τάχιστα παντὶ τῷ στόλῳ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἧκε. οἷς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν κεφαλαίων ὁ κίνδυνος, τἄλλα ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι ἀξύμφορον.

Dewing But do you have done with such matters as rebel tyrants and Sardinia and the cares concerning these things, and come to us with your whole force as quickly as possible. For when men find the very heart and centre of all in danger, it is not advisable for them to consider minutely after other matters.

Greek κοινῇ δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀγωνιζόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἢ τύχην τὴν προτέραν ἀνασωσόμεθα, ἢ κερδανοῦμεν τὸ μὴ ἀλλήλων χωρὶς τὰ ἐκ τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐνεγκεῖν δύσκολα.”

Dewing And struggling hereafter in common against the enemy, we shall either recover our previous fortune, or gain the advantage of not bearing apart from each other the hard fate sent by Heaven."

Greek Ταῦτα ἐπεὶ Τζάζων εἶδέ τε ἀπενεχθέντα καὶ ἐς τοὺς Βανδίλους ἐξήνεγκεν, ἔς τε οἰμωγὰς καὶ ὀλοφύρσεις ἐτράποντο, οὐ μέντοι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμφανοῦς, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐγκρυφιάζοντές τε καὶ τοὺς νησιώτας λανθάνοντες σιωπῇ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῶν τὰ παρόντα σφίσιν ὠδύροντο.

Dewing When this letter had been brought to Tzazon, and he had disclosed its contents to the Vandals, they turned to wailing and lamentation, not openly, however, but concealing their feelings as much as possible and avoiding the notice of the islanders, silently among themselves they bewailed the fate which was upon them.

Greek καὶ αὐτίκα μὲν τὰ ἐν ποσίν, ὥς πη ἔτυχε, διαθέμενοι τὰς ναῦς ἐπλήρουν.

Dewing And straightway setting in order matters in hand just as chance directed, they manned the ships.

Greek ἄραντες δὲ ἐνθένδε παντὶ τῷ στόλῳ τριταῖοι κατέπλευσαν ἐς τὴν Λιβύης ἀκτὴν ἣ Νουμίδας τε καὶ Μαυριτανοὺς διορίζει.

Dewing And sailing from there with the whole fleet, on the third day they came to land at the point of Libya which marks the boundary between the Numidians and the Mauretanians.

Greek καὶ πεζῇ βαδίζοντες ἀφικνοῦνται ἐς τὸ Βούλλης πεδίον, οὗ δὴ ἀνεμίγνυντο τῷ ἄλλῳ στρατῷ. ἐνταῦθα συχνὰ ἐλέου πολλοῦ ἄξια Βανδίλοις ξυνέβη, ἅπερ ἔγωγε οὐκ ἂν ἔτι φράσαι ἱκανῶς ἔχοιμι.

Dewing And they reached the plain of Boulla travelling on foot, and there joined with the rest of the army. And in that place there were many most pitiable scenes among the Vandals, which I, at least, could never relate as they deserve.

Greek οἶμαι γὰρ εἰ καὶ αὐτῶν πολεμίων ἀνδρὶ θεατῇ γενέσθαι τετύχηκε, τάχα ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς Βανδίλους τε τότε καὶ τύχην τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν ᾠκτίσατο.

Dewing For I think that even if one of the enemy themselves had happened to be a spectator at that time, he would probably have felt pity, in spite of himself, for the Vandals and for human fortune.

Greek ὅ τε γὰρ Γελίμερ καὶ ὁ Τζάζων ἐπειδὴ ἀλλήλοιν τῷ τραχήλῳ περιεβαλέσθην, μεθίεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν οὐδαμῆ εἶχον, οὐδὲν μέντοι ἐς ἀλλήλους ἐφθέγγοντο, ἀλλὰ τὼ χεῖρε σφίγγοντες ἔκλαιον, καὶ Βανδίλων τῶν ξὺν Γελίμερι ἕκαστος τῶν τινα ἐκ Σαρδοῦς ἥκοντα περιβαλὼν κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἐποίει.

Dewing For Gelimer and Tzazon threw their arms about each other's necks, and could not let go, but they spoke not a word to each other, but kept wringing their hands and weeping, and each one of the Vandals with Gelimer embraced one of those who had come from Sardinia, and did the same thing.

Greek χρόνον τε συχνὸν ὥσπερ ἀλλήλοις ἐμπεφυκότες, ἡδονῆς τῆς ἐνθένδε ἀπώναντο, καὶ οὔτε οἱ ἀμφὶ Γελίμερα περὶ τοῦ Γώδα ʽἐπεὶ αὐτοὺς ἡ παροῦσα τύχη ἐκπλήξασα τὰ πρόσθεν σφίσι σπουδαιότατα δόξαντα εἶναι τοῖς ἤδη ἐς ἄγαν ἀπημελημένοις ξυνέτασσεν’ οὔτε οἱ ἐκ Σαρδοῦς ἥκοντες ἐρωτᾶν τι ἠξίουν ἀμφὶ τοῖς ἔν γε Λιβύῃ ξυνενεχθεῖσιν. ἱκανὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ χῶρος τεκμηριῶσαι τὰ ξυμπεσόντα ἐγίνετο.

Dewing And they stood for a long time as if grown together and found such comfort as they could in this, and neither did the men of Gelimer think fit to ask about Godas (for their present fortune had prostrated them and caused them to reckon such things as had previously seemed to them most important with those which were now utterly negligible), nor could those who came from Sardinia bring themselves to ask about what had happened in Libya. For the place was sufficient to permit them to judge of what had come to pass.

Greek οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ γυναικῶν ἢ παίδων ἰδίων λόγον ἐποιοῦντό τινα, ἐξεπιστάμενοι ὡς, ἤν τις αὐτοῖς ἐνταῦθα οὐκ εἴη, δῆλον ὅτι ἢ ἐτελεύτα ἢ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ταῖς χερσὶ γέγονε. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ταύτῃ πη ἔσχεν.

Dewing And indeed they did not make any mention even of their own wives and children, knowing well that whoever of theirs was not there had either died or fallen into the hands of the enemy. Thus, then, did these things happen. The Loeb Editor's Notes: 1 Eregli, on the Sea of Marmora. ❦ 2 Cape Matapan. ❦ 3 Book I.xxiv.12‑15; xxv.8‑10. ❦ 4 The ration of this twice-baked bread represented for the same weight one‑fourth more wheat than when issued in the once-baked bread. He was evidently paid on the basis of so much per ration in weight, of the once-baked bread, but on account of the length of the voyage the other kind was re­quisitioned. ❦ 5 Instead of by weight. ❦ 6 Now Porto Lombardo. ❦ 7 Or Athalaric. ❦ 8 Now Gozzo and Malta. ❦ 9 Cf. III.v.8 ff. ❦ 10 i.e. couriers, from veredus, "post-horse." ❦ 11 An adjutant, the general's own "choice." ❦ 12 Topsails. ❦ 13 i.e. Decimum miliarium, tenth milestone from Carthage. ❦ 14 Before 533 A.D. ❦ 15 Hermaeum, Lat. Mercurii promontorium (Cape Bon). ❦ 16 "Auxiliaries"; see chap. xi.3, 4. ❦ 17 The troops were billeted as at a peaceful occupation. ❦ 18 St. Cyprian (circa 200‑257 A.D.), Bishop of Carthage. ❦ 19 Chap. xx.13. ❦ 20 Compare the remarks of Gibbon, IV p295. ❦ 21 In Arcana, 18.5 ff., Procopius estimates the number of the Vandals in Africa, at the time of Belisarius, at 80,000 males, and intimates that practically all perished. ❦ 22 Chap. xi.23. ❦ 23 Cagliari. ❦ 24 On this Theudis and his accession to the throne of the Visigoths in Spain see V.xii.50 ff. ❦ 25 The leader of a band of foederati. Cf. III.xi.1, 6.º ❦ 26 Also a dux foederatorum, and domesticus of Belisarius. Cf. III.xi.5 ff. Thayer's Notes: a A mistranslation. The fa­cing Greek has ἀμφὶ θερινὰς τροπὰς: the fleet was assembled around the summer solstice. Hodgkin (Italy and Her Invaders2, IV.604), clearly following Procopius' account, has the fleet arriving in Africa in September. The ripe fruit in 17.10 would help narrow the date down — if only Procopius had told us what kind of fruit. ❦ b "Iouce" — Ἰούκην is the accusative in the Greek text — appears to be a hapax, which I don't see identified anywhere. It also appears to be problematic, since at least one French translator (chapter 15) has conveniently skipped over the clause with a curious translation: "Ne savez-vous pas que l'on ne peut aborder à cette longue rade (?), qui contient neuf journées de chemin ?" Taking Procopius at his word that a day's journey was 210 stadia (B. V. I.1.17), wherever Ioucê was, Archelaus had reason to think it was about 225 Roman miles (some 330 km) from Carthage. Now if the "promontory" were the obvious Cap Bon, the very tip of it is nowhere near that far from Carthage, and even if we follow the coastline around to the base of the promontory, in the area of Hammamet, we will have traveled at most only about 240 km; and of course cutting across is much less, only about 80 km. Mind you, it might be argued that Archelaus, although he was quite right about the terrain — flat, windswept, and no harbors — had no idea of the actual distances and merely thought Ioucê was 330 km from Carthage. On the other hand, it may not be altogether irrelevant to notice that if the army were to have marched to Carthage from Caputvada where it landed, hugging the coast all the way so as to stay within sight of the fleet, the distance would have been about 350 km. If that's the line of march Archelaus had in mind, we would look for this Ioucê somewhere very near the fleet's landing point. One thing seems clear in all of this, though: there were no sizable towns between Caputvada and Carthage, no matter how you went, so it's hardly surprising that whatever very small place this was has resisted identification so far. As often, it is to be regretted that Karl Müller did not live to complete his edition of Ptolemy's Geography; I have a feeling he would have got to the bottom of it all. ❦ c We notice here that the place called Decimum (i.e., at "the tenth" mile from Carthage), is put by Procopius at 70 stadia from the city. In this case, then, we can say that Procopius makes a mile equal 7 stadia rather than the 8 stadia we are accustomed to thinking of as the conversion factor; unless of course "seventy" is a corruption in the manuscripts. See my note to B. G. I.11.2. ❦ d "Salt Plain". ◂ previous next ▸ Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.) UP TO: Vandal Wars Ancient Military History Military History Home Procopius Greek & Latin Texts LacusCurtius A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information. Page updated: 28 Sep 20 Accessibility