Ildigisal, Goar, and the Cutrigurs in Thrace

This Good Works Translation continues the Book 8 Procopius dossier passages from the Greek.

The chapter belongs to the Scythian shelf because Procopius names Cutrigur Huns settled in Thrace by imperial permission and shows them engaging Ildigisal and Goar during their flight. The full chapter preserves the Lombard, Gothic, Gepaed, Illyrian, and asylum-politics frame around that movement.

The translation is newly made from the Greek source text printed below. Dewing's public-domain English translation was used only as a control.

Translation

Wars 8.27.1-29

While these things were going on as described, the following occurred.

Ildigisal the Lombard has been mentioned in the preceding narrative as a personal enemy of Auduin, who was ruler of these barbarians. The kingship belonged to Ildigisal by birth, but Auduin had taken it from him by violent means.

He now escaped from his native land and set out for Byzantium.

When he arrived there, the Emperor Justinian treated him with very particular consideration and appointed him commander of one of the companies of guards assigned to the palace, which they call scholae.

He was followed by no fewer than three hundred able warriors of the Lombard nation, who at first lived together in Thrace.

Auduin accordingly demanded Ildigisal from the Emperor Justinian on the ground that he was a friend and ally of the Romans, claiming as payment for his friendship the betrayal of the suppliant to him. But Justinian absolutely refused to give him up.

Later, however, Ildigisal began to complain that both his rank and his maintenance were not commensurate with his worth and the good name of the Romans, and he appeared to be exceedingly dissatisfied.

This was observed by Goar, a Goth, who long before had come there from Dalmatia as a captive taken in this war, at the time when Vittigis, king of the Goths, was carrying on the war against the Romans; he was an impetuous and exceedingly active fellow, constantly in rebellion against the fate that lay upon him.

When the Goths, after the overthrow of Vittigis, planned a revolution and took up arms against the emperor, he was plainly caught working against the state.

Condemned to exile, he went to the city of Antinous in Egypt, where he spent a long time under this punishment.

But later the emperor, moved by pity, brought him back to Byzantium. This Goar, then, seeing Ildigisal in a state of discontent, as I have said, kept after him without interruption and tried to persuade him to flee, promising that he would leave Byzantium with him.

Since this plan pleased them, they fled suddenly with only a few followers; when they reached the Thracian city of Apri, they joined forces with the Lombards who were there.

Next they happened upon the imperial horse pastures and took from them a great number of horses, which they took along as they proceeded.

When the emperor learned of this, he sent into all Thrace and Illyricum and instructed all commanders and soldiers to use every means in their power to check these runaways.

First of all, a small number of the Huns called Cutrigurs, men who had migrated from their ancestral homes, as I have stated not long since, and settled in Thrace with the emperor's permission, came to an engagement with these fugitives.

But they were defeated in battle and some of them fell, while the rest were routed and did not continue the pursuit, but remained where they were.

Thus Ildigisal and Goar with their followers passed through the whole of Thrace without being molested by anyone.

But when they reached Illyricum they found a Roman army carefully gathered to oppose them.

This army was commanded by Aratius, Rhecithancus, Leonianus, Arimuth, and others, all of whom happened to have been riding the whole day.

When they reached a wooded place about nightfall, they stopped, intending to bivouac and pass the night there.

So these commanders gave their soldiers the usual orders, instructing them to care for their horses and refresh themselves beside the river that flowed by, thus repairing the fatigue of the journey.

Meanwhile they themselves took three or four bodyguards each and began to drink from the river in a hidden place, for they were naturally suffering from severe thirst.

But the men of Goar and Ildigisal who were nearby had sent out scouts and found this out. Falling upon them unexpectedly as they drank, they killed every one of them.

Thereafter they conducted their march as they pleased, without further fear.

For the soldiers, finding themselves without commanders, fell into perplexity; being completely at a loss, they began to withdraw. So Goar and Ildigisal escaped in this way and came to the Gepaeds.

It so happened that a certain man named Ustrigothus had fled from the Gepaeds to the Lombards in the following circumstances.

Elemundus, who had been king of the Gepaeds, had been taken from the world by disease not long before, and this Ustrigothus was his only surviving child; but Thorisin had forced him aside, for he was still a stripling, and had thus secured the power.

Consequently the boy, having no means of defending himself against the aggressor, departed from his native land and made off to the Lombards, who were then at war with the Gepaeds.

A little later, however, a reconciliation was effected by the Gepaeds with both the Emperor Justinian and the Lombard nation, and they bound themselves by the most solemn oaths that from that time forward they would preserve an eternal friendship with one another.

As soon as the details of the agreement had been most firmly fixed, both the Emperor Justinian and Auduin, ruler of the Lombards, sent to Thorisin, ruler of the Gepaeds, demanding the surrender of Ildigisal as a common enemy, and asking that he make the betrayal of his suppliant the first proof of his friendship to them.

He then conferred about the situation with the notable men of the Gepaeds and eagerly asked whether he was bound to fulfill the demand of the two sovereigns.

They absolutely forbade him to do so, firmly declaring that it was better for the nation of the Gepaeds to perish at once with their women and their whole stock than to become polluted by such impiety.

Hearing this, Thorisin was plunged into uncertainty.

For he could neither perform the deed against the will of his subjects, nor did he wish to revive once more a war against the Romans and Lombards which had been brought to an end with great labor and expenditure of time.

Later, however, he thought of the following plan. He sent to Auduin and demanded the surrender of Ustrigothus, son of Elemundus, urging him to commit a sin equal to the one urged upon himself, and inviting him to betray one suppliant in exchange for the other.

In this way he hoped that he would frustrate their demand through dread of a similar transgression, and would immediately catch Auduin himself by the proposed unlawful bargain.

So when they had reached these decisions and understood clearly that neither Lombards nor Gepaeds were willing to have any share in the pollution, they did nothing at all openly, but each of them put the other's enemy to death by stealth. As to how they did this, I shall not undertake to tell, for the accounts of this matter do not agree with one another, but differ widely, as is natural in matters of a very secret nature. Such was the end of the story of Ildigisal and Ustrigothus.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Greek source text printed below. The Greek text was downloaded from the PerseusDL canonical Greek repository as tlg4029.tlg001.perseus-grc2.xml and inspected locally. Dewing's public-domain English, preserved in the local ToposText capture and Ready archival dossier, was used only as a control.

This is the forty-first unit in the Procopius Wars steppe and Black Sea translation dossier, and the sixteenth Book 8 unit.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Procopius, Wars 8.27.1-29

Greek source text from Procopius, Wars 8.27. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Wars 8.27

§ 8.27.1 Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπράσσετο τῇδε, ἐν τούτῳ τάδε ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθαι. Ἰλδιγισὰλ Λαγγοβάρδας ἀνήρ, οὗπερ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λόγοις ἐμνήσθην ἅτε τοῦ Αὐδουὶν ὄντος ἐχθροῦ, ὃς τούτων δὴ τῶν βαρβάρων ἡγεῖτο ʽαὐτῷ γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν κατὰ γένος προσήκουσαν Αὐδουὶν βιασάμενος ἔσχεν’ ἐξ ἠθῶν ἀποδρὰς τῶν πατρίων ἐπὶ Βυζαντίου κομίζεται.

§ 8.27.2 οὗ δὴ αὐτὸν ἀφικόμενον Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα φιλοφροσύνης ἠξίωσεν, ἄρχοντά τε κατεστήσατο ἑνὸς τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ Παλατίου φυλακῆς τεταγμένων λόχων, οὕσπερ σχολὰς ὀνομάζουσιν.

§ 8.27.3 εἵποντο δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ Λαγγοβαρδῶν ἔθνους ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ τὰ πολέμια οὐχ ἥσσους ἢ τριακόσιοι, οἳ δὴ μίαν πρῶτον ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης δίαιταν εἶχον.

§ 8.27.4 τὸν Ἰλδιγισὰλ οὖν Αὐδουὶν μὲν πρὸς βασιλέως Ἰουστινιανοῦ ἐξῃτεῖτο ἅτε φίλος τε Ῥωμαίοις καὶ ξύμμαχος ὤν, μισθὸν τῆς φιλίας τὴν προδοσίαν αὐτῷ τοῦ ἱκέτου εἰσπραττόμενος, ὁ δὲ τρόπῳ οὐδενὶ ἐδίδου.

§ 8.27.5 Χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Ἰλδιγισάλ, ἐνδεέστερον ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων δόξαν ἐπικαλῶν οἱ αὐτῷ τήν τε τιμὴν καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια εἶναι, δυσφορουμένῳ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐῴκει. ὃ δὴ Γόαρ κατενόησε, Γότθος ἀνήρ, πάλαι τε δορυάλωτος ἐν τῷδε τῷ πολέμῳ ἐκ Δαλματίας ἐνταῦθα ἥκων, ἡνίκα τὸν πόλεμον Οὐίττιγις ὁ Γότθων βασιλεὺς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους διέφερε·

§ 8.27.6 θυμοειδὴς δὲ ὢν καὶ δραστήριος ἄγαν πρὸς τύχην τὴν παροῦσαν ζυγομαχῶν διαγέγονεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ Γότθοι μετὰ τὴν Οὐιττίγιδος ἐπικράτησιν ἐς ἀπόστασιν εἶδον, βασιλεῖ ὅπλα ἀντάραντες, κακουργῶν ἐπὶ τῇ πολιτείᾳ διαφανῶς ἥλω. φυγῇ δὲ ζημιωθεὶς τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐς τὴν Ἀντινόου κομίζεται, καὶ χρόνος αὐτῷ πολὺς ἐν τῇ ποινῇ ταύτῃ ἐτρίβη.

§ 8.27.7 ἀλλ’ ὕστερον οἰκτισάμενος βασιλεὺς κατήγαγεν ἐς Βυζάντιον. οὗτος ὁ Γόαρ τὸν Ἰλδιγισὰλ ἰδὼν ἀσχάλλοντα, ᾗπέρ μοι εἴρηται, ἐνδελεχέστατα νουθετῶν ἀναπείθει δρασμῷ χρήσασθαι, ξὺν αὐτῷ ὁμολογήσας ἐκ Βυζαντίου ἀπαλλαγήσεσθαι.

§ 8.27.8 ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς ἡ βουλὴ ἤρεσκε, φεύγουσι μὲν ἐξαπιναίως ξὺν ὀλίγοις τισίν, ἐς δὲ Ἄπρων ἀφικόμενοι τὴν Θρᾳκῶν πόλιν ἀναμίγνυνται Λαγγοβάρδαις τοῖς τῇδε οὖσι. τοῖς τε βασιλικοῖς ἱπποφορβίοις κατατυχόντες μέγα τι χρῆμα ἵππων ἐνθένδε ἐπαγόμενοι πρόσω ἐχώρουν.

§ 8.27.9 Ὧνπερ ἐπειδὴ βασιλεὺς ᾔσθετο, ἔς τε Θρᾴκην ὅλην καὶ Ἰλλυριοὺς στείλας ἄρχουσί τε πᾶσι καὶ στρατιώταις ἐπέστελλε τοῖς δραπέταις τούτοις σθένει παντὶ ὑπαντιάσαι.

§ 8.27.10 καὶ πρῶτα μὲν Οὔννων τῶν Κουτριγούρων καλουμένων ὀλίγοι τινὲς ʽοἳ δὴ ἐξ ἠθῶν τῶν πατρίων ἐξαναστάντες, ᾗπέρ μοι οὐ πολλῷ ἔμπροσθεν δεδιήγηται, δόντος βασιλέως ἐπὶ τῆς Θρᾴκης ἱδρύσαντὀ τοῖς φεύγουσι τούτοις ἐς χεῖρας ἦλθον.

§ 8.27.11 ἡσσηθέντες δὲ μάχῃ τινὲς μὲν πίπτουσιν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τραπόμενοι οὐκέτι ἐδίωκον, ἀλλ’ αὐτοῦ ἔμενον. οὕτω τε Θρᾴκην ὅλην διεληλύθασιν Ἰλδιγισάλ τε καὶ Γόαρ ξὺν τοῖς ἑπομένοις, οὐδενὸς ἐνοχλοῦντος.

§ 8.27.12 ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς δὲ γενόμενοι Ῥωμαίων στρατὸν εὗρον ἐπὶ τῷ σφῶν πονηρῷ ξὺν ἐπιμελείᾳ ξυνειλεγμένον.

§ 8.27.13 τοῦ δὲ στρατοῦ τούτου ἄλλοι τέ τινες καὶ Ἀράτιός τε καὶ Ῥεκίθαγγος καὶ Λεωνιανὸς καὶ Ἀριμοὺθ ἦρχον, οἳ δὴ ἐτύγχανον τὴν ἡμέραν ἱππεύσαντες ὅλην.

§ 8.27.14 ἔς τε χῶρον ὑλώδη ἀφικόμενοι περὶ λύχνων ἁφὰς ἔστησαν, ὡς αὐλισόμενοί τε καὶ διανυκτερεύσοντες ἐνταῦθα τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην.

§ 8.27.15 τοῖς μὲν οὖν στρατιώταις ἐπέστελλον οἱ ἄρχοντες οὗτοι τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἵππων τῶν σφετέρων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι καὶ παρὰ τὸν ταύτῃ ῥέοντα ποταμὸν αὑτοὺς ἀναψύχειν, παρηγοροῦντας τὸν τῆς ὁδοῦ κόπον.

§ 8.27.16 αὐτοί τε κατὰ τρεῖς ἢ τέτταρας ἕκαστος δορυφόρους ἐπαγόμενοι ἀποκεκρυμμένως τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἔπινον· δίψει γάρ, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, χαλεπῇ εἴχοντο.

§ 8.27.17 οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ Γόαρ καὶ Ἰλδιγισὰλ ἀγχοῦ που ὄντες καὶ σκοποὺς πέμψαντες ταῦτα ἔγνωσαν. ἀπροσδόκητοί τε πίνουσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιστάντες ἅπαντας ἔκτειναν, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀδεέστερον σφίσιν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐς τὴν πορείαν ᾗπερ ἐβούλοντο διῳκήσαντο.

§ 8.27.18 ἄναρχοι γὰρ οἱ στρατιῶται γενόμενοι διηποροῦντό τε καὶ παντάπασιν ἀμηχανοῦντες ὀπίσω ἀπήλαυνον. Γόαρ μὲν οὖν καὶ Ἰλδιγισὰλ οὕτω διαφυγόντες ἐς Γήπαιδας ἦλθον.

§ 8.27.19 Ἐτύγχανε δὲ καί τις ἐκ Γηπαίδων, Οὐστρίγοτθος ὄνομα, ἐς Λαγγοβάρδας φυγὼν τρόπῳ τοιῷδε. Ἐλεμοῦνδος μὲν ὁ Γηπαίδων γεγονὼς βασιλεὺς οὐ πολλῷ ἔμπροσθεν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἠφάνιστο νόσῳ, τούτου δή οἱ μόνου τοῦ Οὐστριγότθου ἀπολελειμμένου παιδός, ὅνπερ ὁ Θορισὶν βιασάμενος ʽμειράκιον γὰρ ἦν ἔτἰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχε.

§ 8.27.20 διὸ δὴ ὁ παῖς οὐκ ἔχων τὸν ἠδικηκότα καθ’ ὅ τι ἀμύνηται, ἐξ ἠθῶν ἀναστὰς τῶν πατρίων ἐς Λαγγοβάρδας Γήπαισι πολεμίους ὄντας ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο.

§ 8.27.21 ἐγένοντο δὲ Γήπαισιν ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον πρός τε βασιλέα Ἰουστινιανὸν καὶ τὸ Λαγγοβαρδῶν ἔθνος διαλλαγαί, ὁρκίοις τε ἀλλήλους δεινοτάτοις κατέλαβον ἦ μὴν τὸ λοιπὸν φιλίαν τὴν ἐς ἀλλήλους ἀπέραντον διασώσασθαι.

§ 8.27.22 ἐπειδή τε αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐς τὰς διαλλαγὰς βεβαιότατα ξυνετελέσθη, βασιλεύς τε Ἰουστινιανὸς καὶ Αὐδουὶν ὁ τῶν Λαγγοβαρδῶν ἡγούμενος παρὰ Θορισὶν τὸν Γηπαίδων ἄρχοντα πέμψαντες τὸν Ἰλδιγισὰλ ἅτε κοινὸν ἐχθρὸν ἐξῃτοῦντο, τὴν ἐς τὸν ἱκέτην τὸν αὐτοῦ προδοσίαν δεόμενοι δήλωσιν τῆς ἐς αὐτοὺς φιλίας ποιήσασθαι πρώτην.

§ 8.27.23 Καὶ ὃς τοῖς Γηπαίδων λογίοις κοινολογησάμενος τὰ παρόντα σπουδῇ ἀνεπυνθάνετο εἰ ποιητέα οἱ τὰ πρὸς τοῖν βασιλέοιν αἰτούμενα εἴη.

§ 8.27.24 οἱ δὲ ἄντικρυς μὴ ποιήσειν ἀπεῖπον, κρεῖσσον ἀπισχυρισάμενοι εἶναι Γηπαίδων τῷ ἔθνει αὐταῖς τε γυναιξὶ καὶ γόνῳ παντὶ διολωλέναι αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα ἢ ἀνοσίοις ἐπ’ ἀσεβήματι γενέσθαι τοιούτῳ.

§ 8.27.25 ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Θορισὶν ἐς ἀμηχανίαν ἐξέπιπτεν. οὔτε γὰρ ἀκουσίων τῶν ἀρχομένων ἐπιτελέσαι τὸ ἔργον εἶχεν οὔτε ἀνακυκλεῖν πόλεμον, πόνῳ τε καὶ χρόνῳ πεπαυμένον πολλῷ, πρός τε Ῥωμαίους καὶ Λαγγοβάρδας ἔτι ἤθελεν. ὕστερον μέντοι ἐπενόει τάδε.

§ 8.27.26 πέμψας παρὰ τὸν Αὐδουὶν ἐξῃτεῖτο τὸν Ἐλεμούνδου υἱὸν Οὐστρίγοτθον, ἐπὶ τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτῷ ἁμαρτάδα ὁρμῶν, τῶν τε ἱκετῶν ἀνταλλάσσεσθαι τὴν προδοσίαν παρακαλῶν.

§ 8.27.27 τῇ γὰρ τῆς ἐμφεροῦς ἀτοπίας ὀκνήσει τὴν ἐπίταξιν αὐτῶν ἀναχαιτίσειν ἐλπίδα εἶχεν, ἀλλ Ἄὐδουὶν αὐτὸν μηδεμιᾷ μελλήσει τῇ παρανομίᾳ καὶ ὁμολογίᾳ λήψεσθαι.

§ 8.27.28 τούτων τε αὐτοῖς δεδογμένων ἐξεπιστάμενοι ὡς οὔτε Λαγγοβάρδαι οὔτε Γήπαιδες ἐθέλουσι τοῦ μιάσματος μεταλαχεῖν σφίσιν, ἐς μὲν τὸ ἐμφανὲς οὐδὲν ἔδρασαν, ἑκάτερος δὲ δόλῳ τὸν θατέρου ἐχθρὸν ἔκτεινεν.

§ 8.27.29 ὅντινα μέντοι τρόπον, ἀφίημι λέγειν· οὐ γὰρ ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις οἱ ἀμφ’ αὐτοῖν λόγοι, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πολὺ διαλλάσσουσιν οἷά γε τῶν πραγμάτων τὰ λαθραιότατα. τὰ μὲν οὖν κατὰ Ἰλδιγισὰλ καὶ Οὐστρίγοτθον ἐς τοῦτο ἐτελεύτα.

Source Colophon

Greek source text from the PerseusDL canonical Greek repository file tlg4029.tlg001.perseus-grc2.xml, inspected locally for this translation unit.

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