n safety, they began immediately to make more trouble for
the enemy, whose fortress was not far away, not only by making frequent
raids upon them, but also by keeping such of the barbarians as were
escorting provision-trains in a constant state of terror by the
unexpectedness of their movements; but finally Sinthues was wounded in
his right hand by a spear in a certain battle, and since the sinews were
severed, he became thereafter unfit for fighting. And the Huns likewise,
after they had made their camp near by, as I have said, were on their
part causing the Goths no less trouble, so that these as well as the
Romans were now feeling the pressure of famine, since they no longer had
freedom to bring in their food-supplies as formerly. And pestilence too
fell upon them and was destroying many, and especially in the camp which
they had last made, close by the Appian Way, as I have previously
stated.[149] And the few of their number who had not perished withdrew
from that camp to the other camps. The Huns also suffered in the same
way, and so returned to Rome. Such was the course of events here. But as
for Procopius, when he reached Campania, he collected not fewer than
five hundred soldiers there, loaded a great number of ships with grain,
and held them in readiness. And he was joined not long afterwards by
Antonina, who immediately assisted him in making arrangements for the
fleet.

At that time the mountain of Vesuvius rumbled, and though it did not
break forth in eruption, still because of the rumbling it led people to
expect with great certainty that there would be an eruption. And for
this reason it came to pass that the inhabitants fell into great terror.
Now this mountain is seventy stades distant from Naples and lies to the
north[150] of it--an exceedingly steep mountain, whose lower parts
spread out wide on all sides, while its upper portion is precipitous and
exceedingly difficult of ascent. But on the summit of Vesuvius and at
about the centre of it appears a cavern of such depth that one would
judge that it extends all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And it
is possible to see fire there, if one should dare to peer over the edge,
and although the flames as a rule merely twist and turn upon one
another, occasioning no trouble to the inhabitants of that region, yet,
when the mountain gives forth a rumbling sound which resembles
bellowing, it generally sends up not long afterward a great quantity of
ashes. A