rs. Among them, as the best war-ships, are one
hundred and two swift-sailing galleys manned by two thousand rowers
from Constantinople; the other sailors are Egyptians, Ionians, and
Cilicians. The whole array presents a beautiful warlike spectacle which
I would rather gaze at than describe; but the most glorious part of it
is the hero Belisarius, surrounded by his bodyguard, the shield and
lance bearers, battle-tried men, selected from all the nations of the
earth.

* * * * *

Already half the voyage lies behind us. I am writing these lines to you
in the harbor of Syracuse.

Hitherto everything has been wonderfully successful; the goddess Tyche,
whom you Latins call Fortuna, is certainly blowing our sails. The
embarkation was completed by the end of June. Then the General's ship,
which was to convey Belisarius, was summoned to the shore in front of
the imperial palace. Archbishop Epiphanius of Constantinople appeared
on board; an Arian whom he had just baptized into the Catholic faith
was brought on deck as the last man; then he blessed the ship,
Belisarius, and all the rest of us, including the Pagan Huns, went down
into his boat again, and, amid the exulting shouts of thousands, led
the way, in advance of the General's vessel, for the whole fleet. We
are very pious people, all of us whom the Empress and the dutifully
dreaming Bishop and Justinian send forth to extirpate the heretics. It
is a holy war--we are fighting for the Christus. We have said it so
often that we now believe it ourselves.

Our course led past Perinthus--it is now called Heraclea--to Abydos.
There some drunken Huns began to fight among themselves, and two of
them killed a third. Belisarius instantly ordered both to be hung on a
hill above the city. The Huns, especially the kinsmen of the two who
were executed, made a great outcry: according to their law murder is
not punished with death. I suppose the justice of the Huns permits the
heirs of the murdered man to carouse with the murderers at their
expense till they all lie senseless on the ground together. And when
they wake, they kiss each other, and all is forgotten; for the Huns are
worse drinkers than the Germans--and that is saying a great deal. Their
pay contract only requires them to fight for the Emperor; he is not
permitted to deal with them according to the Roman law. Belisarius
assembled the Huns under the gallows from which the two were dangling,
s