dday carried the battle as far as the camps
of their opponents, and had already slain many of the enemy, they were
anxious to return to the city if any pretext should present itself to
them. In this part of the action three among the Romans proved
themselves brave men above all others, Athenodorus, an Isaurian, a man
of fair fame among the guards of Belisarius, and Theodoriscus and
George, spearmen of Martinus and Cappadocians by birth. For they
constantly kept going out beyond the front of the phalanx, and there
despatched many of the barbarians with their spears. Such was the
course of events here.

But in the Plain of Nero the two armies remained for a long time facing
one another, and the Moors, by making constant sallies and hurling their
javelins among the enemy, kept harrying the Goths. For the Goths were
quite unwilling to go out against them through fear of the forces of the
Roman populace which were not far away, thinking, of course, that they
were soldiers and were remaining quiet because they had in mind some
sort of an ambush against themselves with the object of getting in their
rear, exposing them to attack on both sides, and thus destroying them.
But when it was now the middle of the day, the Roman army suddenly made
a rush against the enemy, and the Goths were unexpectedly routed, being
paralyzed by the suddenness of the attack. And they did not succeed even
in fleeing to their camp, but climbed the hills near by and remained
quiet. Now the Romans, though many in number, were not all soldiers, but
were for the most part a throng of men without defensive armour. For
inasmuch as the general was elsewhere, many sailors and servants in the
Roman camp, in their eagerness to have a share in the war, mingled with
that part of the army. And although by their mere numbers they did fill
the barbarians with consternation and turn them to flight, as has been
said, yet by reason of their lack of order they lost the day for the
Romans. For the intermixture of the above-mentioned men caused the
soldiers to be thrown into great disorder, and although Valentinus kept
constantly shouting orders to them, they could not hear his commands at
all. For this reason they did not even follow up the fugitives or kill
a man, but allowed them to stand at rest on the hills and in security to
view what was going on. Nor did they take thought to destroy the bridge
there, and thus prevent the city from being afterwards besieged on both