istance from the fortifications, but thought it best that they should
remain in position where they were, close by the moat, his purpose being
that, if it should so happen that the Roman horsemen were routed, they
should be able to receive the fugitives and, as a fresh body of men,
help them to ward off the enemy.

But there were two men among his bodyguards, a certain Principius, who
was a man of note and a Pisidian by birth, and Tarmutus, an Isaurian,
brother of Ennes who was commander of the Isaurians. These men came
before Belisarius and spoke as follows: "Most excellent of generals, we
beg you neither to decide that your army, small as it is and about to
fight with many tens of thousands of barbarians, be cut off from the
phalanx of the infantry, nor to think that one ought to treat with
contumely the infantry of the Romans, by means of which, as we hear, the
power of the ancient Romans was brought to its present greatness. For if
it so happens that they have done nothing of consequence in this war,
this is no evidence of the cowardice of the soldiers, but it is the
commanders of the infantry who would justly bear the blame, for they
alone ride on horseback in the battle-line and are not willing to
consider the fortunes of war as shared by all, but as a general thing
each one of them by himself takes to flight before the struggle begins.
But do you keep all the commanders of infantry, since you see that they
have become cavalry and that they are quite unwilling to take their
stand beside their subordinates, and include them with the rest of the
cavalry and so enter this battle, but permit us to lead the infantry
into the combat. For since we also are unmounted, as are these troops,
we shall do our part in helping them to support the attack of the
multitude of barbarians, full of hope that we shall inflict upon the
enemy whatever chastisement God shall permit."

When Belisarius heard this request, at first he did not assent to it;
for he was exceedingly fond of these two men, who were fighters of
marked excellence, and he was unwilling to have a small body of infantry
take such a risk. But finally, overborne by the eagerness of the men, he
consented to leave only a small number of their soldiers, in company
with the Roman populace, to man the gates and the battlement along the
top of the wall where the engines of war were, and to put the rest under
command of Principius and Tarmutus, ordering them to take position i