Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/301

 captured in the Adriatic, previous to the battle of Ancona, by Totila's fleet. Early in 552, however, he was able to concentrate all his forces at Salona, where the vital problem of transit into Italy began to be discussed. Besides a numerous Byzantine army of the conventional type, he had been joined by fully ten thousand barbarian auxiliaries from tribes not regularly drawn upon, as Foederati for the Imperial Service. Lombards, Herules, Huns, and Gepaeds crowded to his standard, and he even disposed of a considerable Persian contingent led by Cavades, the real or reputed grandson of the late Shahinshah. All those who made a profession of arms among the Byzantines or their allies, both officers of rank and private soldiers, were eager to take part in this expedition; the one class attracted by the Illustrious dignity held by Narses at Court, the other by the munificence displayed by him towards the armies he had commanded, and because of the benignancy of his personal bearing among the troops.

Totila, on his side, had not been idle, but had made himself well acquainted with the extent of the hostile preparations which were impending against him, and he, therefore, employed every means that foresight could devise to render the invasion of his kingdom difficult and dangerous. He knew that the prime objective of the Byzantine general would be Ravenna, but he had ascertained that he did not possess such a fleet of transports as could convey the whole army at once across the Ionic Gulf. Should the