Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/312

 their supplies were cut off. They now took refuge on the Lactarian Mount, which rises from the ridge of land separating the Bay of Naples from that of Salerno. Here they soon found themselves in danger of being starved out, and resolved, therefore, to make a desperate effort to regain their freedom. Unexpectedly they came down on foot in a solid mass, and threw themselves on the Byzantine troops. Teïas, in the forefront of the battle, performed prodigies of valour, and soon became the central aim for his adversaries. A dozen spears became fixed in his shield, so that he could no longer wield it freely to shelter himself. He called loudly for his armour-bearer, and an attempt to exchange it was made, but for a moment his body remained unprotected and he received a fatal wound. Nevertheless, his men fought on till night terminated the conflict. At the dawn of day the fight was resumed, and again persevered in till night. At last they sent a deputation to Narses, proposing that they should be allowed to possess themselves of whatever funds they had deposited at their homes in various parts of the country, upon which they would leave Italy to go and live according to their own laws among other barbarians. Following the counsel of John, Narses made a convention to that effect; whereupon the Goths agreed to surrender all their remaining strongholds and to evacuate the peninsula.

Such was the end of the dominion of the Ostrogoths in Italy, but Narses still had a considerable war to wage, partly owing to the convention not being strictly carried out, but chiefly because the Franks were firmly convinced that they