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Emperor in the West, Part 3
As Belisarius’ army moved eastwards, there was an joyful atmosphere in the towns they crossed through. Many people cheered the great general for his successes, some even calling him Caesar! While he still considered Justinian a friend, and his commander, this was now a question of self-preservation. What he was planning was treason, but if he could convince the Emperor that it was the right thing for Rome… then even he would have to agree.
Belisarius’s army was small, but he had a couple of advantages. Due to the Ostrogoth accepting him as Emperor, he decided to let them control their own territory for the time being, He left an extremely small garrison to protect a tiny district in Ravenna which he wanted to use as his base of operations. Other than that, he had all of his men, including officers.
He also knew that the Ostrogoth would be hesitant to try anything, even if they wanted to, because he had as prisoners both the King and Queen of the Ostrogoth, along with most of the Ostrogoth treasury. Vitiges and Matasuntha would probably never see their homes again, and perhaps it was for the best. Keeping them around was a recipe for disaster, and yet for now, they were useful. If Justinian saw they were captured, he might even give Belisarius another triumph!
The general had probably preferred to sail back, but now that he had declared himself Emperor in the West, he couldn’t trust the fleet at all. The march back was exhausting, was taking too long, and raised the possibility that the army would have to plunder their own territory. It was now the year 541, one of the most important in the history of the Byzantine Empire. This was the year of the Plague of Justinian.
Later in the year, Belisarius’s army finally reached the outskirts of Constantinople. For some reason, there wasn’t much activity going on near the town. Belisarius assumed that the news had spread, and that Justinian himself was going to meet with him immediately, but instead, the guards said that the city was closed to new entrants due to some type of sickness that had spread through the town. The Emperor was stationed in his palace, and couldn’t leave at the moment. However, the guard would let Belisarius in, as the Emperor had actually already sent a messenger recalling him.
Belisarius knew something was wrong… he hadn’t received any message recalled him to Constantinople, and in fact thought he was going to be arrested as soon as he entered. Now he was going to be welcomed by the Emperor, in spite of a plague? Belisarius decided that, no matter what, he needed to meet the Emperor immediately. He asked if he could bring his generals, and they made their way into the great city.
They walked by dozens of people in the streets, piled up, dead or dying. They saw that nearly the entire city was shut down, with guards blocking off various portions due to the plague. Commerce was completely absent. Belisarius didn’t know what to think…