base for the invasion of Italy. As for Rome itself, the Greeks had shut themselves up there and harassed the Goths by artifices and stratagems without ever daring to march out and meet them fairly in battle. The citizens, he added, would profit by the destruction of those walls which were the cause of their being reduced to destitution while the hostile armies were intent on their schemes of attack and defence. In reply to this harangue Pelagius merely protested that he had not been permitted to deliver his message, and, on his return to the city, declared that he had found the King in too impracticable a mood to be influenced by any entreaties.
The Romans now felt desperate and approached Bessas and his staff with supplications that he would either provide them with food, turn them out of the city, or at least end their sufferings by killing them at once. His only answer was a recommendation to contain themselves for the present, as Belisarius would soon be at hand with an army of relief. Thus the reign of famine was prolonged until the last stages of starvation were reached. Money and every kind of property were sacrificed to buy any residue of corn that could be discovered or the meanest description of animal food. When horses, dogs, and mice were consumed, the people took to feeding on nettles, which grew in profusion among ruins and around the inner circuit of the walls. Deaths and suicides from the unbearable distress were of frequent occurrence. Nevertheless the garrison was fairly nourished, for Bessas had stored a large quantity of grain in well-guarded granaries, from which he not only maintained his men, but sold portions regularly to the richer citizens. Thus he kept on amassing wealth at a rapid rate, and was unwilling that the siege should be raised as long as his
