is
stone-axe. But almost at the same moment Lucius Licinius pushed him
into the trench with the spike of his shield. Cethegus cut the ropes
which held the battering-ram, and it fell crashing down over the old
man.

"Now fire all the wooden machines!" cried Cethegus.

Quickly the flames caught the beams.

The victorious Romans immediately retired within the walls.

But then Syphax, meeting the Prefect, cried:

"Mutiny, master! Mutiny and rebellion! The Byzantines will no longer
obey you! Bessas calls upon them to open the Tiburtinian Gate by force.
His body-guard threaten to attack Marcus Licinius, and the Huns to
slaughter your legionaries and Isaurians!"

"They shall repent it!" cried Cethegus furiously. "Woe to Bessas! I
will remember this! Up, Lucius Licinius! take half the remaining
Isaurians. No take them all--_all_! You know where they stand. Attack
the body-guard of the Thracian from behind, and if they will not yield,
strike them down without mercy. Help your brother! I will follow
immediately."

Lucius Licinius lingered.

"And the Tiburtinian Gate?"

"Must remain closed."

"And Belisarius?"

"Must remain outside."

"Teja and Totila have almost reached him!"

"So much the less dare we open! First Rome; then the rest! Obey,
tribune!"

Cethegus remained behind to order the reparation of the damaged gate.
It took a considerable time.

"How was it, Syphax!" he asked his slave. "Was he really alive?"

"He still lives."

"How stupid these Goths are!"

A messenger arrived from Lucius.

"Your tribune sends word that Bessas will not yield. The blood of your
legionaries has already been shed at the Tiburtinian Gate. And Asgares
and the Isaurians hesitate to strike; they doubt that you are in
earnest."

"I will show them that I am in earnest!" cried Cethegus, as he mounted
his horse and galloped away like the wind.

He had to go a long way. Over the bridge of the Janiculum, past the
Capitol, across the Forum Romanum, through the Via Sacra and the Arch
of Titus, leaving the Baths of Titus to the right; out over the
Esquiline Hill, and, lastly, through the Esquiline Gate to the outer
Tiburtinian Gate--a distance which extended from the extreme western to
the extreme eastern limit of the immense city.

When he reached the gate, he found the bodyguard of Bessas and
Belisarius showing a double front.

One line prepared to overpower the legionaries and Isaurians under
Marcus Licinius at the gat