For this reason Belisarius was appointed Constable,[10] and was sent
for a second time into Italy, with the understanding, they say, with
the Emperor, that he should not ask for any money to defray the cost
of this war, but should pay all its expenses out of his own private
purse. Everyone imagined that Belisarius made these arrangements with
his wife and with the Emperor in order that he might get away from
Byzantium, and, as soon as he was outside the city walls, straightway
take up arms and do some brave and manly deed against his wife and
his oppressors. But he made light of all that had passed, forgot the
oaths which he had sworn to Photius and his other intimates, and
followed his wife in a strange ecstasy of passion for her, though she
was already sixty years of age.

When he arrived in Italy, things went wrong with him daily, for he had
clearly incurred the enmity of heaven. In his former campaign against
Theodatus and Vitiges, the tactics which he had adopted as general,
though they were not thought to be suitable to the circumstances, yet,
as a rule, turned out prosperously: in this second campaign, he gained
the credit of having laid his plans better, as was to be expected from
his greater experience in the art of war; but, as matters for the most
part turned out ill, people began to have a poor opinion of him and
his judgment. So true it is that human affairs are guided, not by
men's counsel, but by the influence of heaven, which we commonly call
fortune, because we see how events happen, but know not the cause
which determines them. Therefore, to that which seems to come to pass
without reason is given the name of "chance." But this is a subject
upon which everyone must form his own opinion.