The victor was respectfully served by the captive officers
of the household, and in the moments of festivity, when the
impartial spectators applauded the fortune and merit of
Belisarius, his envious flatterers secretly shed their venom
on every word and gesture which might alarm the suspicions
of a jealous monarch. One day was given to these pompous
scenes, which may not be despised as useless if they
attracted the popular veneration; but the active mind of
Belisarius, which in the pride of victory could suppose
defeat, had already resolved that the Roman empire in Africa
should not depend on the chance of arms or the favour of the
people. The fortifications of Carthage had alone been
excepted from the general proscription; but in the reign of
ninety-five years they were suffered to decay by the
thoughtless and indolent Vandals. A wiser conqueror restored
with incredible despatch the walls and ditches of the city.
His liberality encouraged the workmen; the soldiers, the
mariners, and the citizens vied with each other in the
salutary labour; and Gelimer, who had feared to trust his
person in an open town, beheld with astonishment and
despair the rising strength of an impregnable fortress.
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