Triumph by Jack Ludlow

the Goths lined up before their own camps, further off than anticipated and silent as, with horns blaring and much shouting, their enemies formed up in three detachments of cavalry, each several thousand strong, before movingto within range of where their archery would be effective.
    Opposite them in the front centre, the Goths had placed their best protected and heavily armoured infantry, providing security for their less numerous archers deployed to the rear, while Goth cavalry formed the two wings. The difference in reaction to the opening salvoes, compared to previous engagements, was telling; the Goths in the centre suffered less than they had previously by the clever use of their shields. Yet still there were casualties, only this time there was no breaking of their forward line. If a man fell, that merely closed up and the remainder held their ground.
    Slowly but inexorably the distance between the two armies shortened as the Byzantines crept forward and with frustration being added to the mix – such a stoic resistance was infuriating – the cavalry began to attack the enemy line, the bucellarii , included, given they were running short on arrows. Great loss was inflicted with spears, but they too were diminished and that caused the gap to narrow sufficiently to allow close combat, Flavius’s men on horseback against Goths on foot in the centre, cavalry fighting cavalry on the wings.
    Witigis had wisely held his centrally placed archers in reserve. But now with their enemies fighting right on their front line and, elevated by being mounted, they presented prime targets, more so the horses than the armoured riders, for without his mount a cavalryman was of little use.
    Those who suffered from such tactics and ended up dismounted did not stay to fight on foot; with an abundance of horses held before the moat they streamed back to the city to secure a remount, unwittingly creating an opportunity for their enemies. Such conduct depleted the numbers attacking at a time when there was very little for the Goths to fear from archery and that was the point at which Witigis seized his opportunity.
    The charge by the Goth right wing buckled the Byzantine left sufficiently to allow them to turn face-to-face combat into a melee. Now it was Byzantine cohesion that began to crack and as the left-wing cavalry sought to disengage enough to re-form, a near to impossible manoeuvre to carry out while under assault, it began to crumble.
    Flavius, seeing what was happening, had the horns blown to order a general retirement, his intention being to re-form the whole behind the Isaurians, who would hold the Goths until he could renew his assault. With commendable discipline his centre and right divisions broke off in good order and successfully disengaged.
    The trouble on the left was more acute; there the losses had been greater and the mixture of friend and foe more serious, which had rendered an increasing number horseless. They were straggling to the rear so there was no cohesion in the retirement on that flank, due to lack of numbers and enemy pressure. It broke into a near collapse and the disordered body of men retreated in some confusion, which would not have mattered if the Isaurians had held.
    Seeing one-third of the cavalry before them in flight the mass reacted as infantry usually did: safety lay behind the moat and it was to that to which they now ran. This meant that without a shelter behind which they could re-form, the rest of the cavalry, albeit in proper formations, had no choice but to aim for the same sanctuary.
    The greater mass of the Isaurians were now in a state of utter panic. They did not stop at the moat, instead making for the nearest gates, two placed at a point where they formed a tight angle into which the infantry now crowded, there to clamour at the mass of Roman citizens lining the walls. The gates, despite their pleading, remained closed.
    Flavius, Constantinus, Bessas and all the other senior