the oxen of the peasant from the plough, took his tools from
the workshop of the artisan, and his wares from the house of the
merchant.

In many towns the people rebelled against their oppressors and drove
them away; but they only returned in larger numbers with severer
measures.

The Mauretanian horsemen of Justinian, with African bloodhounds, hunted
the desperate peasants from their hiding-places in the woods, whither
they had fled to escape the tax-gatherer. And Cethegus, who alone was
in a position to check such deeds, looked on with calculating coolness.

He desired that, before the end of the war, all Italy should have
become acquainted with the tyranny of Byzantium, for then it would be a
lighter task for him to persuade the people to rise and, when they had
got rid of the Goths, to throw off the burden of the Byzantines. He
listened to the complaints of the deputations from various towns, who
appealed to him for assistance, with a shrug and the laconic answer:

"That is only Byzantine government--you must get used to it."

"No," had answered the deputation from Rome, "one does not get
accustomed to what is unbearable. The Emperor may live to see that of
which he has never even dreamed!"

To Cethegus this could only mean the independence of Italy; he knew of
nothing else.

But he was mistaken.

Although he thought meanly enough of his countrymen and the times in
which he lived, he yet believed that he could elevate them by example.

But the thought so natural to his spirit; as necessary to him as the
air he breathed--the freedom and independence of Italy--was far too
grand for the comprehension of that generation.

They could only vacillate between two masters.

And when the yoke of Byzantium proved unbearable they began to recall
to their memory the milder rule of the Goths; a possibility which had
never entered the Prefect's head.

And yet such was the case.

Before Tarvisium, Ticinum, and Verona, there now happened on a small
scale, that which was preparing on a large one in such cities as
Neapolis and Rome. The Italian country-people revolted against
the Byzantine officials and soldiers, and the inhabitants of the
above-named three cities supported the Goths in every possible manner.

So, when Totila, backed by the armed peasants of the plains, had
destroyed a great part of their works, the besiegers of Tarvisium were
obliged to cease their attacks, and limit themselves to the defence of
the