A Struggle For Rome Volume I Part 50

"You know----"

"Unfortunately not I alone, but my friends, the conspirators of the Catacombs. Petros showed them, the letter, and they call down curses upon you."

"Then my Goths, at least, remain to me!"

"No longer. Not alone do the adherents of the Balthes seek your life; but the conspirators of Rome have sworn, as soon as war breaks out, to announce to all the world that your name stands at the head of their conspiracy against the Goths--against your own nation! The doc.u.ment, with your signature, is in my hands no longer; it lies in the archives of the conspirators."

"Faithless man!"

"How could I know that you treated with Byzantium behind my back, and thus made enemies of my friends? You see that Byzantium, the Goths, and Italy are all against you. If the war break out under your direction, division will run rife in Italy. No one will obey you, and the kingdom will fall helpless into the hands of Belisarius. Amalaswintha, there must be a sacrifice! I demand it of you in the name of Italy, in the name of your people and of mine."

"What sacrifice? I consent to any."

"The greatest sacrifice--your crown. Give it to a man who is capable of uniting the Goths and Italians against Byzantium, and save both nations."

Amalaswintha looked at him searchingly. A terrible struggle took place in her soul.

"My crown? It is very dear to me," she said.

"I always held Amalaswintha capable of any sacrifice."

"Dare I place confidence in your advice?"

"If it were sweet, you might doubt it; if I flattered your pride you might mistrust me. But I offer you the bitter cup of renunciation. I appeal to your generosity and courage. Make me not ashamed."

"Your last advice was a crime," cried Amalaswintha, shuddering.

"I preserved your throne by every possible means as long as it could be upheld, as long as it was necessary for Italy; and I now demand that you should love your people more than your sceptre."

"By G.o.d! there you do not err. For my people I have not hesitated to sacrifice the lives of others"--she gladly dwelt on this thought, which appeased her conscience--"and I shall not refuse now to sacrifice my personal ambition. But who will be my successor?"

"Your heir, to whom the crown belongs--Theodahad, the last of the Amelungs."

"What! that feeble creature?"

"He is no hero, it is true; but heroes will obey the nephew of Theodoric if you place him on the throne. And, consider, his Roman education has won the Italians for him; they will stand by him. They would both fear and hate a king after Hildebrand's heart."

"And rightly," answered the Queen reflectively. "But Gothelindis, Queen!"

Cethegus came nearer, and looked keenly into her eyes.

"Amalaswintha is not so mean as to nourish a pitiful feminine enmity when there is need of a n.o.ble resolve. You have ever appeared to me n.o.bler than your s.e.x. Now prove it, and decide."

"Not now," said Amalaswintha. "My head burns and my brain is confused.

Let me alone to-night. You believe me capable of self-sacrifice. I thank you for that at least. To-morrow I will decide."

BOOK III.

THEODAHAD.

"It seemed to Theodahad that to have neighbours was a kind of misfortune."--_Procopius: Wars of the Goths_, i. 3.

CHAPTER I.

The morning after the events before described, a manifesto announced to the astonished inhabitants of Ravenna that the daughter of Theodoric had resigned the crown in favour of her cousin Theodahad, the last male scion o the House of Amelung.

Italians and Goths were summoned to swear the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign.

Cethegus had judged rightly. Amalaswintha had felt her conscience oppressed by many a folly, and even by deadly sin. n.o.ble natures seek consolation and atonement in sacrifice and self-denial; and the unhappy woman had been much affected by the reproaches of her daughter and Ca.s.siodorus; therefore the Prefect had found her in a mood favourable for the reception of his advice. The very bitterness of this advice induced her to follow it; indeed, to save her people and expiate her guilt, she would even have endured much greater humiliation.

The change of dynasty was accomplished without difficulty. The Italians at Ravenna were in nowise prepared for rebellion, and Cethegus fed them with hopes of a more favourable opportunity. Besides this, the new King was known and liked by them as a friend of Roman civilisation.

The Goths, however, did not seem inclined to submit to the change without more ado. Prince Theodahad was certainly a man--that was in his favour and an Amelung, which last circ.u.mstance weighed heavily; but he was by no means esteemed. Cowardly and unmartial, effeminate in body and mind, he had none of the qualities which the Germans require in their kings. One sole pa.s.sion filled his soul--avarice, insatiable love of gold. Though very rich, he was constantly engaged in mean quarrels with his neighbours in Tuscany. He well understood the art of increasing his estates by force and cunning, and the weight of his royal rank, and how to wrest their property from his neighbours; "for,"

says an author of that period, "it seemed to Theodahad that to have neighbours was a kind of misfortune." At the same time, his weak nature was entirely subject to that of his wicked but strong-minded wife.

For all these reasons, the worthiest members of the Gothic nation saw the accession of such a man to the throne of Theodoric with great dislike; and the manifesto had scarcely been published, when Earl Teja, who had shortly before returned to Ravenna with Hildebad, summoned the old master-at-arms and Witichis, and invited them to arouse and direct the discontent of the people, and to set a more worthy man in Theodahad's place.

"You know," he concluded his exhortation, "how favourable is the temper of the people. Since the night of our meeting in the Temple of Mercury, we have incessantly stirred up the nation, and have succeeded in many of our efforts. The n.o.ble self-a.s.sertion of Athalaric, the victory of the Feast of Epiphany, the prevention of Amalaswintha's escape was all our work. Now a favourable opportunity offers. Shall a man who is weaker than a woman step into a woman's place? Have we no more worthy man than Theodahad amongst us?"

"He is right, by Thor and Woden!" cried Hildebad. "Away with these weak Amelungs! Raise a hero upon our s.h.i.+eld, and hit about on all sides!

Away with the Amelungs!"

"No," said Witichis calmly; "not yet. Perhaps it will come to that at last; but it must not happen sooner than is necessary. The Amelungs have a great party. Theodahad would never part with the riches, nor Gothelindis with the power of the crown without a struggle; they are strong enough, if not for victory, at least for battle. But strife between brothers is terrible. Necessity alone can justify it; and, at present, that does not exist. Theodahad may try; he is weak, and may easily be led. There is time enough to act if he prove incapable."

"Who knows if then there will be time?" said Teja warningly.

"What dost thou advise, old man?" asked Hildebad, upon whose mind the remarks of Witichis had not been without effect.

"Brothers," answered Hildebrand, stroking his long beard, "you have the choice, and therefore are plagued with doubt. I am spared both, for I am bound. The King's old followers have sworn an oath that, as long as a member of his House lives, they will allow no stranger to occupy the throne."

"What a foolish oath!" cried Hildebad.

"I am old, and yet I do not call it foolish. I know what a blessing rests upon the great and sacred law of inheritance; and the Amelungs are descended from the G.o.ds!" he added mysteriously.

"Theodahad is a fine child of the G.o.ds!" laughed Hildebad.

"Be silent!" cried the old man angrily. "You modern men understand this no longer. You think you can fathom everything with your miserable reason. The mystery, the secrecy, the magic that lies in blood--for this you have lost all sense. Therefore I have held my peace about such things. But you cannot change me, with my near a hundred years. Do what you like; I shall do what I must."

"Well," said Earl Teja, yielding, "upon thy head be the responsibility.

But when this last Amelung is no more----"

"Then the followers of Theodoric are free from their oath."

"Perhaps," said Witichis, "it is fortunate that your oath spares us the choice, for we certainly wish for no ruler whom thou canst not acknowledge. Let us then go and pacify the people; and let us bear with this King as long as it is possible."