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152

Agathlnrr The l{htodel

Bo6k,

way he kept a close watch on events, 5 hen nlght ceme hc llt a lnrge
number of beacons whidr he had had plantecl at wide interuals over 0 colossal
arca of ground, in order that the enemy might be misled by the numbet of
fires they saw into believing that he had a huge army. At first this strtgem

\,er lt not pomlble to plce aome rcliance on the


of dlscretion? Now, lf a cound and steadfast mind sustains the
falterlng footsteps of the aged and rouoco them to eflective acrion, making
good the deficiences of age by the application of foresight, ho,ur can it fail to

succeeded and they were cowed into temporary inactivity, but it was not
long before they heard that the Roman forces were totalTy inadequate ancl
hopelessly outnumbered. 6 The soldiers, however, were full of confidence
and enthusiasm and were convinced of their own superiority, regardless of
the numbers of the enemy. After all they were Romans and had already
fought many battles and faced great dangers. 7 But Belisarius, sensing
their mood of elation and realizing that excessive pride in their past adrievements \ras causing them to underesdmate the gravity of the present situation,
was afraid that they might get carried auray on a \il-ave of optimism and end
up by painting an absurdly rosy picture of their prospects. To prevent this
from happening he gathered them all together and, as though the impending
struggle was now about to take place, he appeared in their midst and
addressed them as follows:
17. "soldiers, I have not come here to address you in the customary
terms designed to calm your fears and raise your morale. Indeed I could
hardly, without appearing to have forgotten all rhat past experience has
taught me, urge Roman soldiers who had been brought up in the profession
of arms and had demolished some of the mightiest empires on eiarth, I could
hardly, f rqreat, urge such men not to be afraid of facing a gangof barbaian
vagabonds, especially when these happen to be Huns and Cotrigurs. z But
seeing you fillecl with rash and over-confident daring I thought it not unreasonable to remind you of rzour traditional moderation. 3 Sane'men
must always be on their guard against any form of excess, even if it happens
to be directBd tonrards a praiseworthy end. There is nothing more inimical
to intelligent planning or more conducive to wild and impractical vanity
than the assumption that because one has done well in the past one must of
necessity continue to do so in the future. Those, moreover, whose pre'
sumption leads them to abandon all sense of moderation are apt to find
themselves fighting against the Almighty. 4 And there is another point
whidr you must bear in mind: your superior courage is counterb'alanced by
their superior numbers, with the result that the advantage on one side is

other. 5 It would indeed be shameful if, when our strength is more or less evenly matched by that of our
enemy, welilefe to rush wildly into battle without due regard fot timing
and position and without making some allowance for the purely random
and fortuitous role o{ chance. Brute force without the aic{ of sound iudgement is powedess to defeat n enem. 6 How, for instance, could I, with
cancelled out by the advantage on the

my grey hair and aged frame, long past the time for bearing arms, take part

tfi

in the hczards of warfnre


benelits

confer still greater benefits on you who are still in your prime? 7 Those
revefses brought about by some fortuitous event ot by a failure of nerve
may perhaps be rectified and turned to one's advantage by presence of mind
and unerring judgement. But when things have been allowed ro ger out of
hand through defective judgement and inadequate planning, where re we

to turn for inspiration in or.rr efiorts to save the situation if the source of
our ideas has already been polluted?
8 Yet people may perhaps marvel at me {or employing sudr a novel style
of e"xhortation. \X/hen I ought to be building up your confi.dence and raising
your spirits I am in {act undermining your self-assurance and damping youl
ardour by introducing objections and casting doubt on your ihances o{
success.

18. And indeed the prospect o{ going into battle in the company of men
whose courage and daring are such that it would take the powers of an
accomplished orator to persuade them to put even a momentary curb on
their enthusiasm does filI me with pleasure and with hope. z But, even so,
let eadr one of you bear in mind tJlat unreflecting endeavour is not to be
atuibuted to the generous impulses of courage but to foolhardly and wrongheaded audacity. May your bravery and enthusiasm find permanent and
ever-increasing expression, but may all excessive daring and any tendency
towards arrogance and obstinacy be tempered by the observance of reason
and moderation. 3 The practice of considering cardully how one ought
to tad<le a problem does not engender cowardice and hesitation but creates
a responsible and serious-minded attitude. A justitable confidence is the
logical outcome of the clearsighted c}oice of advantageous policies. Sudr a
confidence is based on the knowledge thar one is not advancing blindly into
the unknown, bdt attaining to certainty through the enercise of judgement.
4 But some of you may contend that. it. not possible to pur a sudden stop
to the reasonable impulses an generous aspirations of a noble nature or to
seek to curtail its activities by the imposition of an unnecessary period of reflection and delay, andthat this is particularly the case in view of the indignation and resentment generated by the pfesent outfageous conduct of the
barbarians who have dared to extend their wholesale depredations to the
very outskirts of the Imperial City. 5 This is indeed the situation and we
have before our eyes a constant reminder of the righteousness of your anger
against the enemy and of the extent to which they have abused our former
leniency towards them. 6 Yet it should nor, f rhink, prove roo difiicult a
task for men of sound and balanced judgement to pge their angry feelings

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