History of the Wars, Books V and VI | Page 5

possessions in the emperor's land. Such
was the purpose with which Amalasuntha was sending the ship to
Epidamnus; and when it arrived at the harbour of that city, those who
had the money carried out her orders. But a little later, when the
murders had been accomplished as she wished, Amalasuntha
summoned the ship back and remaining at Ravenna strengthened her
rule and made it as secure as might be.
FOOTNOTE:
[10] See Book I. xxii. 4; III. vi. 2 and note.

III

There was among the Goths one Theodatus by name, son of Amalafrida,
the sister of Theoderic, a man already of mature years, versed in the
Latin literature and the teachings of Plato, but without any experience
whatever in war and taking no part in active life, and yet extraordinarily
devoted to the pursuit of money. This Theodatus had gained possession
of most of the lands in Tuscany, and he was eager by violent methods
to wrest the remainder from their owners. For to have a neighbour
seemed to Theodatus a kind of misfortune. Now Amalasuntha was
exerting herself to curb this desire of his, and consequently he was
always vexed with her and resentful. He formed the plan, therefore, of
handing over Tuscany to the Emperor Justinian, in order that, upon
receiving from him a great sum of money and the senatorial dignity, he
might pass the rest of his life in Byzantium. After Theodatus had
formed this plan, there came from Byzantium to the chief priest of
Rome two envoys, Hypatius, the priest of Ephesus, and Demetrius,
from Philippi in Macedonia, to confer about a tenet of faith, which is a
subject of disagreement and controversy among the Christians. As for
the points in dispute, although I know them well, I shall by no means
make mention of them; for I consider it a sort of insane folly to
investigate the nature of God, enquiring of what sort it is. For man
cannot, I think, apprehend even human affairs with accuracy, much less
those things which pertain to the nature of God. As for me, therefore, I
shall maintain a discreet silence concerning these matters, with the sole
object that old and venerable beliefs may not be discredited. For I, for
my part, will say nothing whatever about God save that He is altogether
good and has all things in His power. But let each one say whatever he
thinks he knows about these matters, both priest and layman. As for
Theodatus, he met these envoys secretly and directed them to report to
the Emperor Justinian what he had planned, explaining what has just
been set forth by me.
But at this juncture Atalaric, having plunged into a drunken revel which
passed all bounds, was seized with a wasting disease. Wherefore
Amalasuntha was in great perplexity; for, on the one hand, she had no
confidence in the loyalty of her son, now that he had gone so far in his
depravity, and, on the other, she thought that if Atalaric also should be
removed from among men, her life would not be safe thereafter, since

she had given offence to the most notable of the Goths. For this reason
she was desirous of handing over the power of the Goths and Italians to
the Emperor Justinian, in order that she herself might be saved. And it
happened that Alexander, a man of the senate, together with Demetrius
and Hypatius, had come to Ravenna. For when the emperor had heard
that Amalasuntha's boat was anchored in the harbour of Epidamnus, but
that she herself was still tarrying, although much time had passed, he
had sent Alexander to investigate and report to him the whole situation
with regard to Amalasuntha; but it was given out that the emperor had
sent Alexander as an envoy to her because he was greatly disturbed by
the events at Lilybaeum which have been set forth by me in the
preceding narrative,[11] and because ten Huns from the army in Libya
had taken flight and reached Campania, and Uliaris, who was guarding
Naples, had received them not at all against the will of Amalasuntha,
and also because the Goths, in making war on the Gepaedes about
Sirmium,[12] had treated the city of Gratiana, situated at the extremity
of Illyricum, as a hostile town. So by way of protesting to Amalasuntha
with regard to these things, he wrote a letter and sent Alexander.
And when Alexander arrived in Rome, he left there the priests busied
with the matters for which they had come, and he himself, journeying
on to Ravenna and coming before Amalasuntha, reported the emperor's
message secretly, and openly delivered the letter to her. And the
purport of the writing was as follows: "The fortress of Lilybaeum,
which is ours, you have taken