furnish a passage for the water. And for this reason it came about
that the channel of the aqueduct was not everywhere of the same breadth,
but one was confronted by a narrow place at that rock, impassable for a
man, especially if he wore armour or carried a shield. And when the
Isaurian observed this, it seemed to him not impossible for the army to
penetrate into the city, if they should make the tunnel at that point
broader by a little. But since he himself was a humble person, and never
had come into conversation with any of the commanders, he brought the
matter before Paucaris, an Isaurian, who had distinguished himself among
the guards of Belisarius. So Paucaris immediately reported the whole
matter to the general. And Belisarius, being pleased by the report, took
new courage, and by promising to reward the man with great sums of
money induced him to attempt the undertaking, and commanded him to
associate with himself some of the Isaurians and cut out a passage in
the rock as quickly as possible, taking care to allow no one to become
aware of what they were doing. Paucaris then selected some Isaurians who
were thoroughly suitable for the work, and secretly got inside the
aqueduct with them. And coming to the place where the rock caused the
passage to be narrow, they began their work, not cutting the rock with
picks or mattocks, lest by their blows they should reveal to the enemy
what they were doing, but scraping it very persistently with sharp
instruments of iron. And in a short time the work was done, so that a
man wearing a corselet and carrying a shield was able to go through at
that point.

But when all his arrangements were at length in complete readiness, the
thought occurred to Belisarius that if he should by act of war make his
entry into Naples with the army, the result would be that lives would be
lost and that all the other things would happen which usually attend the
capture of a city by an enemy. And straightway summoning Stephanus, he
spoke as follows: "Many times have I witnessed the capture of cities and
I am well acquainted with what takes place at such a time. For they slay
all the men of every age, and as for the women, though they beg to die,
they are not granted the boon of death, but are carried off for outrage
and are made to suffer treatment that is abominable and most pitiable.
And the children, who are thus deprived of their proper maintenance and
education, are forced to be slaves, and t