g a gift of
money to them, he agreed to give more as soon as they should take an
active part. And they with all zeal promised to fight in alliance with
him.

Now Mundus and the army under his command entered Dalmatia, and engaging
with the Goths who encountered them there, defeated them in the battle
and took possession of Salones. As for Belisarius, he put in at Sicily
and took Catana. And making that place his base of operations, he took
over Syracuse and the other cities by surrender without any trouble;
except, indeed, that the Goths who were keeping guard in Panormus,[22]
having confidence in the fortifications of the place, which was a strong
one, were quite unwilling to yield to Belisarius and ordered him to lead
his army away from there with all speed. But Belisarius, considering
that it was impossible to capture the place from the landward side,
ordered the fleet to sail into the harbour, which extended right up to
the wall. For it was outside the circuit-wall and entirely without
defenders. Now when the ships had anchored there, it was seen that the
masts were higher than the parapet. Straightway, therefore, he filled
all the small boats of the ships with bowmen and hoisted them to the
tops of the masts. And when from these boats the enemy were shot at from
above, they fell into such an irresistible fear that they immediately
delivered Panormus to Belisarius by surrender. As a result of this the
emperor held all Sicily subject and tributary to himself. And at that
time it so happened that there fell to Belisarius a piece of good
fortune beyond the power of words to describe. For, having received the
dignity of the consulship because of his victory over the Vandals, while
he was still holding this honour, and after he had won the whole of
Sicily, on the last day of his consulship,[K] he marched into Syracuse,
loudly applauded by the army and by the Sicilians and throwing golden
coins to all. This coincidence, however, was not intentionally arranged
by him, but it was a happy chance which befell the man, that after
having recovered the whole of the island for the Romans he marched into
Syracuse on that particular day; and so it was not in the senate house
in Byzantium, as was customary, but there that he laid down the office
of the consuls and so became an ex-consul. Thus, then, did good fortune
attend Belisarius.

DATE:
[K]Dec. 31, 535 A.D.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] Or Salona, near modern Sp