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 Naples, and would pay a yearly tribute to the Emperor. He thanked them ironically for their generosity; they would give away what was no longer theirs; Britain in return should be presented to the Goths; a much finer island than Sicily; it had once belonged to the Romans. "At least," they urged, "let us communicate with the Emperor, and let there be a truce for three months until we receive his answer." To this proposal he gave a careless acquiescence, and the deputation then withdrew.

Belisarius, however, had no intention of not pushing his advantage in arms. Reinforcements had been arriving in batches, whilst the enemy had relaxed their vigilance in the belief that hostilities had practically ceased. Finding himself, therefore, with a surplus of troops at Rome, he began to throw detachments into every town of the neighbourhood, which was not in a state of active defence. At the same time he ordered John, a nephew of Vitalian, to proceed northwards with two thousand horse, cautioning him in a tone of levity not to begin raiding the country at once, but to await instructions. Seeing that the attitude of the Roman general amounted to no more than a farcical observance of the truce, Vitigis, on his side, began to ponder over some insidious stratagem by which he might capture Rome. First, he attempted a nocturnal entry through a subterranean aqueduct; but after exploring its channel for some distance into the city, his men were brought up by the recent obstructions and had to retreat. Then he bribed some of the purveyors of wine to the garrison to ply the sentinels on the river wall, where they were fewest in number, with drugged liquor, but one of his intended agents betrayed the plot. He even tried to rush the walls at the Pincian gate by a sudden onset with ladders and fire during the dinner