nd one of the guards saw the
light through this and told his companions; but they said that he had
seen a wolf passing by his post. For at that point it so happened that
the structure of the aqueduct did not rise high above the ground, and
they thought that the guard had imagined the wolf's eyes to be fire. So
those barbarians who explored the aqueduct, upon reaching the middle of
the city, where there was an upward passage built in olden times leading
to the palace itself, came upon some masonry there which allowed them
neither to advance beyond that point nor to use the ascent at all. This
masonry had been put in by Belisarius as an act of precaution at the
beginning of this siege, as has been set forth by me in the preceding
narrative.[167] So they decided first to remove one small stone from the
wall and then to go back immediately, and when they returned to
Vittigis, they displayed the stone and reported the whole situation. And
while he was considering his scheme with the best of the Goths, the
Romans who were on guard at the Pincian Gate recalled among themselves
on the following day the suspicion of the wolf. But when the story was
passed around and came to Belisarius, the general did not treat the
matter carelessly, but immediately sent some of the notable men in the
army, together with the guardsman Diogenes, down into the aqueduct and
bade them investigate everything with all speed. And they found all
along the aqueduct the lamps of the enemy and the ashes which had
dropped from their torches, and after observing the masonry where the
stone had been taken out by the Goths, they reported to Belisarius. For
this reason he personally kept the aqueduct under close guard; and the
Goths, perceiving it, desisted from this attempt.

But later on the barbarians went so far as to plan an open attack
against the fortifications. So they waited for the time of lunch, and
bringing up ladders and fire, when their enemy were least expecting
them, made an assault upon the small Pincian Gate, emboldened by the
hope of capturing the city by a sudden attack, since not many soldiers
had been left there. But it happened that Ildiger and his men were
keeping guard at that time; for all were assigned by turns to
guard-duty. So when he saw the enemy advancing in disorder, he went out
against them before they were yet drawn up in line of battle and while
they were advancing in great disarray, and routing those who were
opposite him wi