of Rome. The army was formed into a hollow square, and in the centre sat a commanding figure on a bay horse, whom the quick eye of Theodoric recognised at a glance as the immortal Belisarius, of whom Rome might have been proud in the days of Cæsar. He was surrounded by his officers, and was in the act of addressing the army. His frame was large, and formed both for activity and strength. A dark complexion was rendered still darker by the effects of an African sun, during his early campaigns; and a countenance in which there was an expression of energy and decision, wisdom and benevolence, was lit up by a black piercing eye, in a 'front like Mars, to threaten and command.'

'For sixty years,' exclaimed the hero, 'have the barbarians of the North defiled by their presence the tombs of our ancestors. You have rescued them by your valor; you cannot now surrender them, without the loss of your honor. Already has Vitiges, with his hosts, pitched their tents at the foot of the Milvian bridge, and threaten Rome with a siege. How long will you,' continued he, addressing the veterans who had fought under his standard in the wars of Persia and Africa, how long will you suffer the ignorance of the Goth to eclipse the glory of Rome? Could I have been persuaded that the Roman people had so far degenerated, that death would be more painful than to surrender to the barbarians the ashes of their ancestors, Theoditus would not have been dethroned, for no greater ignominy could befal him, than to reign over such subjects. If there be one among you who fears the arms of the Goths more than he does the loss of his honor, let him depart for the camp of the barbarians! Let him forsake the eagles, that he may not incur disgrace beneath the same banners under which, in other countries, he covered himself with glory!'

Here the veterans hung their heads, evidently wounded by the suspicions which they imagined lurked under the speech of their general. Belisarius observed it, and continued: No, veterans! you need but to meet the enemy, to prove yourselves worthy of your former glory, and the name of Roman soldiers!' The air was now rent with shouts, and Belisarius gallopped off, his ears deafened with the cries of the people and the army.

At the time Theodoric entered Rome, he had attained his twentieth year. Nature had cast him in her choicest mould; and notwithstanding his ten years' seclusion fron the world, he excelled in the natural graces of mind, as he did in the elegance and dignity of his person. He was large and muscular, the bloom and freshness of youth were his, and his whole bearing was that of one whom nature intended for command. Yet the mystery which surrounded him gave a serious cast to his thoughts and actions; and upon his countenance, which was of a dark olive hue, there was always an expression of touching melancholy. Such was Theodoric, at the period of which we have been speaking. Where there were not more than forty thousand men to defend a wall twelve miles in circumference, against one hundred and fifty thousand barbarians, it was no difficult matter for one like our hero to obtain permission to join the army. Familiar from his boyhood with the bow, the javelin, and the sword, he felt himself equal, in the use of these weapons, to the oldest veterans;

and he took upon himself with delight the rank and services of a common soldier.

The walls of Rome, owing to the negligence of the Goths, were to a great extent a heap of ruins. The genius of Belisarius was busily at work to place them in a condition to resist the powerful force which was soon to be brought to bear against them. In a short time all was repaired, except a chasm, still extant, between the Pincian and Flaminian gates, which the prejudices of the Goths and Romans left to the effectual guard of Saint Peter the Apostle. Bastions were constructed; a ditch broad and deep protected the ramparts, upon which were stationed archers and military engines; a chain was drawn across the Tiber; the aqueducts were repaired; the granaries were stored from the fields of Tuscany, Sicily, and Campania; and in fact every thing was done which the quick sight of the general detected as necessary, either to repel an enemy, or subsist an army.

The Gothic general was no less active in preparing to advance the siege, than his great adversary was to repel it; and he held forth the most liberal promises to those who should distinguish themselves in the great struggle which was about to commence. Moving his army along the Flaminian way, he hastened his steps until he arrived at the Milvian bridge, two miles distant from Rome. A tower which commanded the narrow passage, was thought by Belisarius sufficient to detain the enemy until another could be constructed; and believing that Vitiges was still on the opposite side of the Tiber, he marched out of the Flaminian gate, at the head of one thousand horse, which had been selected for the occasion, to mark the ground, and survey the camp of the barbarians. But he soon found that the soldiers to whose charge the tower had been intrusted, had disappointed his expectations by their unmanly flight, and that he was surrounded by the squadrons of the enemy. Encompassed on all sides, he was recognised by the deserters; and a thousand voices were heard to exclaim, 'Strike at the bay horse!' Every bow was bent, and every javelin directed to the fated object; until the guards by whom he was surrounded bowed like grass under the breath of the tempest. The barbarians rushed in to fill up the space, and in a short time Belisarius stood almost single-handed in the midst of the enemy. The foremost of the host fell pierced with thirteen wounds, which truth or fiction has ascribed to the general himself.

เ

Where are my guards!' he exclaimed, as, almost exhausted, he defended himself against the fearful odds.

They are dead!' said a youth at his side, as he dealt destruction at every blow. At a moment when the barbarians were confident of triumph, he had darted into the midst of the struggle, like a swooping eagle, and so quick and powerful was his arm, that they fell back in awe, believing for an instant that the protecting spirit of Belisarius had come to the rescue. A moment was given the general to breathe, and rally his remaining strength, when, by the side of the youth, both charged in the direction of another portion of the guards, which were hastening to their relief. But before they could effect their object, the horse of Belisarius sunk under repeated wounds, and being entangled in the trappings, he was dragged down and fastened to the earth. Twenty spears were at once aimed at his life, upon whom all

Italy depended, when the youth leaped upon the ground, and with a sword that Hercules might have been proud to wield, shivered them into a thousand pieces; and slaughtering some, he kept the rest at bay, until both were rescued by the guards.

The general was soon remounted, and concentrating his forces, the death of a thousand Goths, and their complete overthrow, was the effect of a vigorous charge. In the ardor of pursuit, the Romans rushed near the enemy's encampment, when the latter receiving reinforcements, the former were compelled in turn to retreat behind the ramparts. But as they retreated before superior numbers, Belisarius and the youth, side by side, maintained their station in the rear, to check the fury of the Goths, and were the last to enter the city.

'Where,' inquired Belisarius, so soon as order was restored,' is the youth, whose arm seemed to-day endowed with more than mortal power, and whose life appeared guarded with a charm?'

Theodoric stood before him; for he it was who had performed such prodigies of valor.

Who art thou?' said the general, fixing his piercing eyes upon him; from what country art thou sprung?and why hast thou sought the camp of the Romans?'

With an easy and martial dignity, Theodoric replied, that he had sprung from Tyre, but of late was from the mountains of Yemen; and that his object in coming to Rome was to learn from the first general of the age the art of war.

You have practised your first lessons nobly, and have set a good example, even to my veterans, young man,' said Belisarius. 'Rome,' he continued, 'will have need for your services, before this bloody war is ended; and your deeds of to-day will not be forgotten.'

Giving special directions touching the care of Theodoric, the general now took his departure, to satisfy himself, from an examination of the outposts, whether or no it would be safe, after the fatigues of the day, to take a few hours' repose.

Theodoric was now in a fair way to fortune and honor. His name was in the mouth of every soldier, and his exploits against the Goths reached the ears of Antonina, the extraordinary wife of the Roman general, who alike delighted in the honors and disgrace of her husband. In writing to the empress, she said: 'He is a youth, exceedingly fair, and well proportioned; and as for a noble courage, and deeds of daring, he far exceeds all other young men of the army. Should he,' continued Antonina, 'escape the Goths - which seems hardly possible, as every day he seeks some new exposure - and visit the capital of the East, you will then judge how far all you have heard of this handsome youth falls below what your eyes will then behold.' Antonina remembered the youthful frailties of Theodora, and could not but persuade herself that the subject which would be listened to with pleasure by the lascivious actress of Constantinople, would be equally pleasing to the Empress.

A few days after the affair at the Milvian Bridge, the whole army of the Goths crossed the Tiber, and began to environ the city. But of the fourteen gates, only seven were invested, and Vitiges divided his troops into six camps, each of which was fortified with a ditch and a rampart. On the Circus of the Vatican, a seventh encamp

ment was formed, to command the bridge and the river. For eighteen days, the besiegers collected and prepared every instrument of attack which antiquity supplied, or the occasion suggested, for a successful assault. Belisarius assigned to each of his lieutenants the defence of a single gate, and his simple instructions were, that whatever might be the confusion, each should adhere to his post, and 'trust to their general for the safety of Rome.' To Theodoric was assigned the guard of the Prænestine Gate, a post of danger and honor, for which he was indebted to the confidence of his commander. On the morning of the nineteenth day, seven Gothic columns, with military engines, advanced to the assault, and made a general attack, from the Prænestine Gate to the Vatican. As the solid mass of the besiegers advanced, the Romans stationed on the ramparts watched with breathless silence the moment when the enemy should come within reach of the bow; and it was not till two of the Goths fell pierced by arrows from the bow of Belisarius, that they were suffered to hurl destruction on their foes. By the command of the Roman general, the oxen which moved the towers were shot down, which threw the whole plan of attack into disorder. The Gothic columns faltered for an instant, when the besieged overwhelmed them with arrows, and other missiles, which soon completed their confusion. Vitiges, defeated in the principal attack upon the walls, feigned an assault on the Salarian Gate, while the main force of his army was pointed to the Prænestine, and the Sepulchre of Hadrian. The Goths approached with fascines to fill the ditches, with ladders, turrets, and battering-rams, of immense size and power, as if they had determined that at these points should be decided the fate of Rome.

Theodoric stood high upon the rampart, and with calmness and silence awaited the attack. Death to the Goths!' he shouted; and this was the signal to the besieged to begin the work of death. In an instant the heavens were darkened with the flying missiles. The ditch was soon filled with the dying and the dead, and the advancing columns were mowed to the earth by the javelins and the 'balistra,' or powerful cross-bow. Huge rocks were thrown by the 'onagri,' which, like the cannon balls of modern times, swept away every thing that stood in their way. Still the barbarians advanced, aud climbing over the dead bodies of their slaughtered countrymen, attempted to scale the walls.

In the meantime the battering-rams, worked by fifty men, began to shake the walls to their foundation; and the turrets, moved on wheels or rollers, by those who were protected from danger, approached so near, that those who occupied the platform could almost touch the lances of the besieged. Burning pitch, and combustibles of all kinds, soon covered the machinery of the Goths, and they were either deserted or destroyed. While the fury and desperation of the barbarians were confined to these two points of attack, owing to the strict commands of Belisarius, neither could receive assistance from the other divisions of the army. But amidst the tumult and dismay, every thing was distinctly present to the mind of Theodoric. He lost no advantage which his own situation or that of his enemy presented, and encouraged his men by words and deeds, as if the safety of Rome depended alone upon his arm.

For four hours the Goths continued their incessant assault; but after the sixth repulse, they evinced a disposition to retreat, when Theodoric made a vigorous sally, and put them to a total rout. About the same time the barbarians were repulsed and defeated at the Sepulchre of Hadrian, by Belisarius, when their whole line fell back in dismay and confusion toward their encampment. Thirty thousand slain, and as many wounded, closed the disasters of the Goths, in their first attack upon the city; and such was the consternation which the result inspired, that from that time to the abandonment of the enterprise, the siege was converted into a blockade. But the dulness of the blockade was enlivened and diversified by frequent sallies, and by the exhibition of individual prowess and bravery. If an eye-witness is to be believed, one third of the barbarians perished in these bloody contests, under the walls of the city.

Having seized two important points, which commanded the port, and the country on the right of the Tiber, they were in a fair way to effect by famine what they had failed to do by the sword. But the genius of Belisarius had foreseen and provided against all difficulties; and while it was yet in his power, he dismissed the useless multitude, not excepting the women and children; and if he limited the allowance of provisions to his soldiers, the deficiency was made up in money. As adversity pressed upon the Romans, treason began to make its appearance; and in a short time the brave general of Rome had not only to contend against famine and the Goths, but the treachery of his subjects. Amid his multiplied calamities, he wrote to the Emperor, and while he announced his victory, he demanded succors. But the efforts of Justinian were not equal to the wants of his lieutenant; and only sixteen hundred Sclavonians and Huns were sent to his relief. A large sum of money was landed at Anxur, for the payment of the troops; and as Euthaleus cautiously proceeded along the Appian Way, his movements were discovered by the vigilant Goths, who, suspecting the character of the convoy, made a furious attack upon the escort. The movements of the enemy were discovered by Theodoric, who sallied forth with a chosen band, and throwing himself and his forces between the barbarians and their prey, a desperate battle was the result. The squadrons met at the utmost speed of their horses, and as the opposing columns of a thousand men on either side encountered, both recoiled for a moment, and more than one half of both parties were unhorsed, and hurled to the earth.

A singular scene of confusion ensued; and each of the combatants seemed more eager to remount, than to encounter or slaughter his adversary. But the truce soon ended; and no sooner had the surprise and confusion of the first shock subsided, than the battle was renewed, with fury on both sides; each man selecting his foe, and fighting as if his arm alone could decide the fate of the day. In some instances, the Romans forced their way into the dense mass of the Gothic forces, and in others, the barbarians made similar inroads into the ranks of their enemy; so that it was difficult to tell, by those who looked on at a distance, the true situation of either party. Such was the impetuosity with which Theodoric charged at the head of a column, that he forced his way through the opposing squadrons,