ance; the larger cities of Leptis and
Adrumetum imitated the example of loyalty as soon as
Belisarius appeared, and he advanced without opposition as
far as Grasse, a palace of the Vandal kings, at the distance
of fifty miles from Carthage. The weary Romans indulged
themselves in the refreshment of shady groves, cool
fountains, and delicious fruits.... In three generations
prosperity and a warm climate had dissolved the hardy virtue
of the Vandals, who insensibly became the most luxurious of
mankind. In their villas and gardens, which might deserve
the Persian name of Paradise, they enjoyed a cool and
elegant repose, and after the daily use of the bath, the
barbarians were seated at a table profusely spread with the
delicacies of the land and sea. Their silken robes, loosely
flowing after the fashion of the Medes, were embroidered
with gold, love and hunting were the labours of their life,
and their vacant hours were amused by pantomimes,
chariot-races, and the music and dances of the theatre.

"In a march of twelve days the vigilance of Belisarius was
constantly awake and active against his unseen enemies, by
whom in every place and at every hour he might be suddenly
attacked. An officer of confidence and merit, John the
Armenian, led the vanguard of three hundred horse. Six
hundred Massagetae covered at a certain distance the left
flank, and the whole fleet, steering along the coast, seldom
lost sight of the army, which moved each day about twelve
miles, and lodged in the evening in strong camps or in
friendly towns. The near approach of the Romans to Carthage
filled the mind of Gelimer with anxiety and terror....

"Yet the authority and promises of Gelimer collected a
formidable army, and his plans were concerted with some
degree of military skill. An order was despatched to his
brother Ammatas to collect all the forces of Carthage, and
to encounter the van of the Roman army at the distance of
ten miles from the city: his nephew Gibamund with two
thousand horse was destined to attack their left, when the
monarch himself, who silently followed, should charge their
rear in a situation which excluded them from the aid and
even the view of their fleet. But the rashness of Ammatas
was fatal to himself and his country. He antic