[375]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 10.

[376]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 10. The only authority for the Vandal war is Procopius, whom later chroniclers abridge and generally refer back to.

[377]   See recent French works on Algeria by Vignon, Wahl, etc.

[378]   Plutarch, Marius.

[379]   Plutarch, Caius Gracchus. The name was changed to Junonia, lest its proper designation should be ill-omened.

[380]   Appian, Hist. Rom., viii, 136; Solinus, 27, etc.

[381]   Strabo, XVII, iii, 15; Herodian, vii, 6; Ausonius, De Clar. Urb., etc. Scarcely second to CP., according to the latter. Salvian (c. 450) calls it "the Rome of Africa"; De Gub. Dei, vii, 16.

[382]   "A Consul in power and prestige," says Salvian (loc. cit.), "though only a Pro in name."

[383]   Notitia Occid.

[384]   Named consecutively from east to west the seven provinces were Tripolis, Byzacium, Zeugitana ("Proconsular Africa," cap. Carthage; now Tunisia), Mauritania Sitifensis, M. Caesariensis (these two constitute the modern Algeria), and Tingitana (now Morocco). All lay along the irregular coast.

[385]   Cape Bon (Ras Addar).

[386]   The remains of these works are still to be seen under water. They were so considerable in Bruce's time that he fancied most of Carthage must have been submerged; Travels, etc., 1790, i, p. xxi. The best compendious guide to the existing ruins of Carthage is Babelon's Carthage, Paris, 1896. He was one of the excavators, and gives a large map which indicates everything remaining on the site.

[387]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 20, etc.

[388]   Ibid., 15, etc. Now the Lake or Lagoon of Tunis. Carthage was at the north-west corner, Tunis diagonally at the opposite one. About two miles long, one and a half wide.

[389]   See Appian's description of the Punic harbours, the Cothon, etc.; viii, 96. The entrance at this time was probably that artificially excavated by the Carthaginians after Scipio had blocked that in previous use. The harbour was most likely restored by the Romans to very much its former state. Rambaud has adopted this view in his archaeological restoration of Carthage (c. 690), which he put into novelistic form; L'Empereur de Carthage, Paris, 1904. Dureau de la Malle argues from texts that Carthage was not "rased to the ground," as the formal expression is, but merely dismantled; Topog. de Carthage, Paris, 1835, p. 103, et seq. Certain ponds now in existence seem to represent the inland ports, but an opposition view has been taken; C. Torr, Classical Rev., 1891.

[390]   The island apparently is still there, but no remains of buildings have been uncovered so far. For what has been done see Babelon, op. cit.

[391]   Some ruins still remain and sufficient of the structure to present an imposing appearance existed well into the last century. Being quarried for later purposes, the relic has gradually lost its distinctive form; see Beulé, Fouilles à Carthage, Paris, 1861, p. 29.

[392]   Victor Vit., De Persec. Vand., ii, 5 (written c. 487, and proves the existence of the stairway, etc., in the fifth century).

[393]   Ibid., Platea Nova.

[394]   Appian, viii, 133 (from Diod. Sic., xi, 26).

[395]   Inferred from Tacitus, Hist., iv, 38, and Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 20; see Dureau de la Malle, op. cit.

[396]   Expos. Tot. Mund. (Müller).

[397]   Ibid. (two versions); Augustine, Confes., vi, 9.

[398]   Apuleius, Florid., 18.

[399]   Generally see Salvian, op. cit., vii, 16. The remains of the Circus are still in evidence; see Babelon, op. cit.

[400]   Much of it still remains; figured in Babelon (op. cit.) and Davis's Carthage, etc., London, 1868, with other Roman ruins of the region. The populousness of Africa is indicated by the amphitheatre of Tipdrus (100 miles south of Carthage), capital of Byzacium, which still exists in great part. It was second only to the Coliseum.

[401]   Prosper Tiro, Chron. (424). Diocletian, however, carried out extensive works here, part of which may have been protective; Aurel. Victor, in Vita.

[402]   Tacitus, Hist., iv, 38, etc. In the time of Vespasian it was feared that a revolt in Africa would lead to the capital being starved out.

[403]   Tot. Orb. Descript. (Müller).

[404]   Salvian (op. cit., vii, 13) is copious in his condemnation of the Africans and concedes them no merit whatever. "The Goths are perfidious, but continent; the Alani incontinent, but less perfidious; the Franks are liars, but hospitable; the Saxons are cruel and barbarous, but wonderfully chaste. In almost all Africans I know naught but evil. If inhumanity is blamable, they are inhuman; if drunkenness, they are drunken; if falsity, they are most false; if dishonesty, they are most fraudulent; if avarice, they are most avaricious; if perfidy, they are most perfidious. But they are immoral beyond the measure of all these taken together." In his own Aquitain the complaint is that the nobles have their houses full of maidservants whom they use as concubines.

[405]   Ibid., 17, 18, 19.

[406]   When Mithradates attempted to overthrow the Roman power in the East (88 B.C.) they were considerable enough to send him an embassy proffering their aid; Athenaeus, v, 50.

[407]   Thus the son-in-law of Apuleius at the age of twenty could speak only Punic; Apology; cf. Procopius, De Bel. Vand., ii, 10. There were in Numidia, he says, two white columns on which was inscribed, "We are those who fled before the face of the robber, Joshua, the son of Nun." Some notion of the dress of the Carthaginians under the Empire may be formed from mosaics unearthed of late years and preserved in French museums. There was nothing very characteristic, but I may quote the following summary of what is to be seen. "Hommes en longue dalmatique verte ou blanche ornée de larges bandes de broderies, avec le manteau triangulaire de laine brune enveloppant le buste, et l'orarium passé autour du cou; femmes en étroites robes collantes brodées au cou et au poignet, serrées à la taille par un ceinture rouge et que recouvre une ample tunique aux larges manches de couleur éclatante, avec les bijoux sur la poitrine, l'écharpe claire flottant sur les épaules et parfois encadrant le visage; enfants en culottes collantes alternées de jaune et de rouge, ou courtes tuniques blanches à bandes de couleur"; Diehl, L'Afrique Byzant., Paris, 1896, p. 392. A mosaic found in Numidia shows a Roman mansion with horses, etc., and might pass for a view of an English manor-house; Tissot, Géog. Comp. d'Afrique Rom., Paris, 1884, p. 360.

[408]   An exhaustive treatise has been devoted to the manners and customs of this people by Hanotaux and Letourneux, La Kabylée, 3 vols., Paris, 1892.

[409]   One of the most important revolts was suppressed by Theodosius, father of the first emperor of that name; another by Stilicho, the famous general and father-in-law of Honorius; Claudian, De Bel. Gildonico.

[410]   They are dealt with at length in all church histories; the sources are chiefly Optatus Mil. and Cyprian's Epistles.

[411]   The story is told most fully by Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 3; cf. Jordanes, De Reb. Get., 33. Boniface was a friend of Augustine, who reproaches him for his conduct (Epist. 220). The name of the Vandal king is found variously as Genseric, Gizeric, and Gaiseric.

[412]   The sequel to the story seems to be historical. After his return the Count of Africa met Aetius in battle, but, though victorious with his troops, received a mortal wound from his rival's lance.

[413]   Procopius, loc. cit.; Marcellinus Com., Chron., an. 439, etc.

[414]   Procopius, loc. cit., 7.

[415]   Ibid., 6. He gives the cost of the expedition as 130,000 pounds of gold (£5,200,000).

[416]   Ibid., 4, 5; cf. Jordanes, op. cit., 45. She was the daughter of Theodosius II and widow of Valentinian III, her cousin. She was incensed with Maximus, who assassinated her husband, usurped the purple, and paid her unwelcome attentions. Genseric married Eudocia, one of her daughters, to his son Huneric.

[417]   A special ecclesiastical account of this by Victor, Bishop of Vita; De Persec. Vand.

[418]   Procopius, loc. cit., 9.

[419]   Salvian, op. cit., vii, 22.

[420]   Procopius, op. cit., ii, 6.

[421]   Ibid., i, 9.

[422]   Procopius, loc. cit., 11.

[423]   The rate of movement through the water may be calculated from the statement that sixteen days were occupied by the voyage from Zacynthus to Sicily, a distance of three hundred miles; Procopius, loc. cit., 13.

[424]   Procopius again refers to this miracle, as he seems to think it, many years after; De Aedif., vi, 6.

[425]   Procopius, loc. cit., 5, 15; cf. De Aedif., vi, 5.

[426]   The sailors refused to hold off as Belisarius had directed, asserting that a "Cyprian" was imminent (an easterly gale). Hence Archelaus reluctantly steered for the Stagnum, but a lieutenant, on his own responsibility, made a bold dash for the Mandracium; Procopius, loc. cit., 20.

[427]   The gaol, as usual, formed part of the palace, and both were on a lofty site, which can scarcely have been other than the Byrsa. The position is clearly indicated by some of the details. Thus the gaoler came to the prisoners and said, "What will you give me if I release you?" All promised, according to their utmost ability. "I ask nothing," said he, "but that you promise to befriend me should you hereafter see me in danger." Thereupon he unbarred an outlet and showed them the Roman fleet crossing the bay. Forthwith he opened the prison, and all went off together; ibid.

[428]   With this incident Procopius ends the first book of his Vandalic War.

[429]   The good fortune which attended Belisarius, and the fortuitous character of most of his success in this campaign will be evident to the most superficial reader. The Byzantines themselves seem to have been fully alive to the fact, and Procopius (op. cit., i, 18; ii, 7) indulges in some reflections which may be exactly represented by the words of Hamlet (v, 2):

To the credit of the Roman General it must be remembered that his heterogeneous and ill-disciplined army fell far short of being an efficient fighting machine; but he seems to have incurred needless risk both at Decimum and Tricamerum by drawing his cavalry away from his infantry, whilst his being unaware for many days that he was surrounded by the enemy's troops on the march from Caputvada seems wholly inexcusable. But the incapacity of Gelimer to lead an army with skill and determination, his want of foresight and unpreparedness, neutralized the gravest errors. The water was left open for the enemy's fleet at a time when the semblance even of an attack by sea would have dispersed them for good. He failed to push his splendid success at Decimum, and on the night after Tricamerum, when a muster of the Vandal troops might have annihilated the Roman forces in detail, he had deserted the scene of action. Again, the task of Belisarius was much lightened by the timely revolt of Sardinia and by a simultaneous rising in Tripoli, whereby the resources of his adversary were considerably diminished. Though of little moment after the land successes, the preservation of the Byzantine fleet was due, perhaps, to its making for port, in opposition to the injunctions of Belisarius, instead of remaining exposed on the incommodious coast. For an exhaustive critique of the campaign, see Pflugk-Hartung, Belisars Vandalkrieg, Hist. Zeitschrift, Munich, 1889.

[430]   70 A.D.; Tacitus, Hist., v; Josephus, Bel. Jud., v, vi, etc. The objects were figured on the Arch of Titus, the most conspicuous being the seven-branched candlestick.

[431]   See p. 500. Their mother was Eudocia, daughter of Valentinian III and Eudoxia, the former the grandson, the latter the great grand-daughter, of Theodosius I.

[432]   Procopius, De Bel. Goth., ii, 29.

[433]   Cod., I, xxvii, 1.

[434]   The two Mauritanias were conjoined.

[435]   Cod. I, xxvii, 2. This is an elaborate act descriptive of the new administration, and dealing with the duties and pay of its several members. The Praetorian Praefect and the Master of Soldiers are often mentioned by Procopius in the second book of his Vandalic War. For long the government of Africa was practically a military despotism, and the civil chief was merely the first secretary of the general in power.

[436]   Procopius, op. cit., ii, 8.

[437]   "The Aurasian mountains," says Procopius "resemble no other place on earth. They have a girth of three days' journey, and on all sides the ascent is precipitous. On the top is a level plain easily traversed, diversified by flowery meadows, gardens planted with trees, thickets of aromatic shrubs, fountains gushing from rocks, and rivers rolling noisily into still lakes. The fertility is admirable, luxuriant crops and trees laden with fruit are produced here in an abundance unknown in any other part of Africa"; De Aedif., vi, 7; De Bel. Vand., ii, 13.

[438]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., ii, 14-17, 24.

[439]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., ii, 25-28.

[440]   Ibid., 11.

[441]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., i, 8; ii, 11.

[442]   Ibid., ii, 11.

[443]   Ibid., 12.

[444]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., ii, 12.

[445]   Ibid., 28; De Bel. Goth., iv, 17. Among the innumerable Johns of this age he is distinguished by Procopius as "the brother of Pappus," and by Jordanes (De Reg. Suc.) as "Troglita."

[446]   The Johannis, in eight books, but the latter part is lost. It contains much information respecting the Moors and their mode of fighting, but exactitude is generally sacrificed to the necessary vaguity of poetical description. Important works by Cagnat (Paris, 1892) and Pallu de Lessert (Paris, 1896) on Roman Africa terminate at the Vandal conquest.

[447]   Procopius, De Bel. Vand., ii, 5.

[448]   Isidore of Seville, Hist. Goth. (Mommsen, Chron. Minora, 1877, p. 284; Mon. Hist. German, xi, 1894).

[449]   Venantius Fortunatus, VI, i, 124.

[450]   Isidore Sev., loc. cit., pp. 286, 475. "Through A. the Roman soldier set his foot in Spain."

[451]   Jordanes, De Reb. Get., 58.

[452]   Procopius, De Bel. Goth., iii, 40, etc.

[453]   Isidore Sev., loc. cit.

[454]   Ibid. A gloss says that "A. was secretly a Catholic," but the storm and stress of fanaticism was past and, after a few flickers breathed by the irreconcilables, the Visigothic Kingdom became wholly Catholic in 587, just twenty years after the death of A. A. was the father of that Brunechilda who, by her marriage with Sighebert, King of Austrasia (N.E. France and Belgium etc.), afterwards played a prominent part in Frankish affairs. She became the rival of the infamous and successful Fredegonda (harlot first and always, ultimately queen) and, after many vicissitudes, ultimately perished, lashed, like an early Mazeppa, to a wild horse (614). She, however, outlived her female antagonist by nearly a score of years.

[455]   Isidore Sev., loc. cit.

[456]   Ibid.; Gregory of Tours, iv, 8.

[457]   See H. Gelzer ad George (properly Gregory) of Cyprus (Teubner), p. xxxii, et seq. Surmise rather than fact.

[458]   It will be seen from the references given that none of the Byzantine historians, not Procopius, nor Jn. Lydus, nor Agathias, seems to have harboured a suspicion that Justinian ever "conquered" Spain. The last, however, names Spain incidentally among the places where troops were stationed (v, 13). Such as it was, the conquest lasted no more than eighteen years for, at the end of that period, Leovigild (c. 572, Johannes Biclar) expelled the Byzantines from Cordova, their only important stronghold. For another century or so they probably languished on the coast till the coming of the Mohammedans (c. 709) who in the course of a decade made an actual conquest of Spain to the Frankish border, which endured for nearly eight centuries. Through Egypt, after wresting Syria from the Byzantines, they wound their path of victory westwards along the African seaboard until the inviting proximity of Ceuta to the northern mainland determined their entry into Europe. Simultaneously the Arabs achieved the extinction of Christianity in all these regions, where, after the lapse of more than a thousand years, a renewal of Western civilization now seems to be steadily progressive. Generally on the subject of this section see F. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, v, p. 123 et seq. (Würz., 1870); Dict. Christ. Biog. (Smith), sb. Leovigild; and Gibbon (Bury), v, p. 471 et seq.; also the Spanish and French historians.