ges, when I was brought to this point by my narrative.[42] But I shall
tell in the present case in what manner he destroyed the soldiers. The
bread which soldiers are destined to eat in camp must of necessity be
put twice into the oven, and be cooked so carefully as to last for a
very long period and not spoil in a short time, and loaves cooked in
this way necessarily weigh less; and for this reason, when such bread is
distributed, the soldiers generally received as their portion one-fourth
more than the usual weight.[43] John, therefore, calculating how he
might reduce the amount of firewood used and have less to pay to the
bakers in wages, and also how he might not lose in the weight of the
bread, brought the still uncooked dough to the public baths of Achilles,
in the basement of which the fire is kept burning, and bade his men set
it down there. And when it seemed to be cooked in some fashion or other,
he threw it into bags, put it on the ships, and sent it off. And when
the fleet arrived at Methone, the loaves disintegrated and returned
again to flour, not wholesome flour, however, but rotten and becoming
mouldy and already giving out a sort of oppressive odour. And the loaves
were dispensed by measure[44] to the soldiers by those to whom this
office was assigned, and they were already making the distribution of
the bread by quarts and bushels. And the soldiers, feeding upon this in
the summer time in a place where the climate is very hot, became sick,
and not less than five hundred of them died; and the same thing was
about to happen to more, but Belisarius prevented it by ordering the
bread of the country to be furnished them. And reporting the matter to
the emperor, he himself gained in favour, but he did not at that time
bring any punishment upon John.

These events, then, took place in the manner described. And setting out
from Methone they reached the harbour of Zacynthus, where they took in
enough water to last them in crossing the Adriatic Sea, and after making
all their other preparations, sailed on. But since the wind they had was
very gentle and languid, it was only on the sixteenth day that they came
to land at a deserted place in Sicily near which Mount Aetna rises. And
while they were being delayed in this passage, as has been said, it so
happened that the water of the whole fleet was spoiled, except that
which Belisarius himself and his table-companions were drinking. For
this alone was preserved by t