wn to the
Emperor Justinian.

DATE:
[I]Oct. 10, 534 A.D.

But Theodatus, upon receiving the supreme power, began to act in all
things contrary to the hopes she had entertained and to the promises he
had made. And after winning the adherence of the relatives of the Goths
who had been slain by her--and they were both numerous and men of very
high standing among the Goths--he suddenly put to death some of the
connections of Amalasuntha and imprisoned her, the envoys not having as
yet reached Byzantium. Now there is a certain lake in Tuscany called
Vulsina,[14] within which rises an island,[15] exceedingly small but
having a strong fortress upon it. There Theodatus confined Amalasuntha
and kept her under guard.[J] But fearing that by this act he had given
offence to the emperor, as actually proved to be the case, he sent some
men of the Roman senate, Liberius and Opilio and certain others,
directing them to excuse his conduct to the emperor with all their power
by assuring him that Amalasuntha had met with no harsh treatment at his
hands, although she had perpetrated irreparable outrages upon him
before. And he himself wrote in this sense to the emperor, and also
compelled Amalasuntha, much against her will, to write the same thing.

DATE:
[J]Apr. 30, 535 A.D.

Such was the course of these events. But Peter had already been
despatched by the emperor on an embassy to Italy with instructions to
meet Theodatus without the knowledge of any others, and after Theodatus
had given pledges by an oath that none of their dealings should be
divulged, he was then to make a secure settlement with him regarding
Tuscany; and meeting Amalasuntha stealthily he was to make such an
arrangement with her regarding the whole of Italy as would be to the
profit of either party. But openly his mission was to negotiate with
regard to Lilybaeum and the other matters which I have lately mentioned.
For as yet the emperor had heard nothing about the death of Atalaric or
the succession of Theodatus to the throne, or the fate which had
befallen Amalasuntha. And Peter was already on his way when he met the
envoys of Amalasuntha and learned, in the first place, that Theodatus
had come to the throne; and a little later, upon reaching the city of
Aulon,[16] which lies on the Ionian Gulf, he met there the company of
Liberius and Opilio, and learned everything which had taken place, and
reporting this to the empe