ny. As for Uliaris, when he came to himself, he fled to a
certain village which was near by and sat as a suppliant in the
sanctuary there. And the soldiers no longer pressed the pursuit of
Gelimer, but they cared for John as long as he survived, and when he had
died they carried out all the customary rites in his burial, and
reporting the whole matter to Belisarius they remained where they were.
And as soon as he heard of it, he came to John's burial, and bewailed
his fate. And after weeping over him and grieving bitterly at the whole
occurrence, he honoured the tomb of John with many gifts and especially
by providing for it a regular income. However, he did nothing severe to
Uliaris, since the soldiers said that John had enjoined upon them by the
most dread oaths that no vengeance should come to him, since he had not
performed the unholy deed with deliberate intent.

Thus, then, Gelimer escaped falling into the hands of the enemy on that
day. And from that time on Belisarius pursued him, but upon reaching a
strong city of Numidia situated on the sea, ten days distant from
Carthage, which they call Hippo Regius,[6] he learned that Gelimer had
ascended the mountain Papua and could no longer be captured by the
Romans. Now this mountain is situated at the extremity of Numidia and is
exceedingly precipitous and climbed only with the greatest difficulty
(for lofty cliffs rise up toward it from every side), and on it dwell
barbarian Moors, who were friends and allies to Gelimer, and an ancient
city named Medeus lies on the outskirts of the mountain. There Gelimer
rested with his followers. But as for Belisarius, he was not able to
make any attempt at all on the mountain, much less in the winter season,
and since his affairs were still in an uncertain state, he did not think
it advisable to be away from Carthage; and so he chose out soldiers,
with Pharas as their leader, and set them to maintain the siege of the
mountain. Now this Pharas was energetic and thoroughly serious and
upright in every way, although he was an Erulian by birth. And for an
Erulian not to give himself over to treachery and drunkenness, but to
strive after uprightness, is no easy matter and merits abundant
praise.[7] But not only was it Pharas who maintained orderly conduct,
but also all the Erulians who followed him. This Pharas, then,
Belisarius commanded to establish himself at the foot of the mountain
during the winter season and to keep close guard, s