Computus Paschalis

COMPUTUS PASCHALIS. If you wish to know what year it is from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, compute thirty-six by fifteen: it makes five hundred forty. To these always add twelve, it makes five hundred fifty-two. Add also the indictions of the year you wish, for example the tenth, twenty-first after the consulate of Basilius Junior: it makes five hundred sixty-two. These years are from the incarnation of Christ. Only be more carefully mindful of this, that whenever you have completed the fifteenth indiction, so that the argument may be kept intact, you do not assume fifteen; but to the first sum, that is, to thirty-six, you always add one, for example, for thirty-six, once the fifteenth indiction is finished, which you add in the above computation, you will compute thirty-seven by fifteen, and you will be able to find the years of the Lord without any error. If you wish to know what the indiction is, for example the twenty-first after the consulate of Basilius Junior, take the years from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, five hundred sixty-two; to these always add three, it makes five hundred sixty-five. Divide these by fifteen, ten remain; it is the tenth indiction. If, however, nothing remains, it is the fifteenth indiction.

If you wish to know what the epacts are, that is, the lunar additions, take the years from the incarnation of the Lord, how many there are, for example five hundred sixty-two; divide these by nineteen, eleven remain; multiply these by eleven, it makes one hundred twenty-one; divide these again by thirty, one remains; one is the lunar addition. If you wish to know the solar additions, that is, the concurrent weekdays, take the years from the incarnation of the Lord, how many there are, for example five hundred sixty-two; by the tenth indiction of the years which there are, always add a fourth, that is now one hundred forty, which together make seven hundred two; add four twice, divide these by seven, six remain. Six are the solar epacts, that is, the concurrent weekdays, by the aforementioned indiction twenty-one times after the consulship of the younger Basilius. If you wish to know what year it is of the cycle of nineteen years, take the years of the Lord, for example five hundred sixty-two, and always add one: it makes five hundred sixty-three; divide these by nineteen, twelve remain. The twelfth year is the year of the nineteen-year cycle. But if nothing remains, it is the nineteenth year.

If you wish to know what the lunar cycle is, which is contained in the nineteen-year cycle, take the years of the Lord, for example five hundred sixty-two, and always subtract two, making five hundred sixty; divide these by nineteen, nine remain. It is the ninth lunar cycle of the nineteen-year cycle; but whenever nothing remains, it is the nineteenth year. If you wish to know when a leap year occurs, take the years of the Lord, for example five hundred sixty-two; divide these by four: if nothing remains, it is a leap year. If one or two or three remain, it is not a leap year. And lest perhaps some cloud of error befall you, in every computation you make, if nothing is left over, recognize that computation to be the same as that by which you divide: for example, if dividing by nineteen nothing remains, know it is the nineteenth; if by fifteen, the fifteenth; if by seven, the seventh. If you wish to know on what day of the moon the Easter feast falls: if Easter is celebrated in the month of March, count from September to February, making six. Always add two to these, making eight; and the epacts, that is, the lunar additions of whatever year you wish, for example of the tenth indiction one: making nine, and the day of the month on which Easter is celebrated, that is, the thirtieth of March, making together forty: subtract thirty, ten remain: the moon is on the day indicated above.

If, however, we celebrate Easter in the month of April, count the months from September to March: there are seven; to these always add two, making nine; add also the epacts, that is, the additions of the moon of whichever year you wish, for example of the tenth indiction one, which makes ten; and the day of the month on which we celebrate Easter, that is the ninth of April, which makes nineteen: certainly if you have more than thirty, always subtract thirty; then the moon will be the nineteenth. If you wish to know what day of the week it is, take the days from January up to whichever month you wish, for example up to the ninth day of the month of April, making 99 days. To these always add one, making one hundred. And always add the solar epacts of whichever year you wish, for example of the tenth indiction the sixth: together they make one hundred and six; divide these by seven, one remains: that is Easter Sunday. He commended the widowhood of the East to the prince; but soon, most unfortunate, overtaken by an untimely death, he departed from human affairs. Then the mother, lest she be scorned by the Goths due to the frailty of her sex, deliberating with herself, summoned Theodatus, a cousin, for the sake of kinship, from Tuscany, where he lived a private life, in his own [perhaps "in his own home," as in book I of the Variae, ep. I], and placed him on the throne. He, unmindful of blood relationship, after some time, having taken her from the palace at Ravenna, relegated her to exile on an island of Lake Bolsena.

She spent very few days [in other manuscripts: Amalasuntha spent several days] in sorrow, and was strangled by his attendants in the bath. CHAPTER LX. Belisarius is sent by Justinian the emperor against the Goths with an army. He occupies Sicily. The Goths choose Witigis as their king; they kill Theodatus. Witigis surrenders Ravenna together with Mathasuenta and the royal treasures to the Romans. When the Eastern emperor Justinian heard this, he was so moved as if the death of his own protégés redounded to his own injury. For at that same time, as he was celebrating a triumph from Africa over the Vandals through his most faithful patrician Belisarius [in other manuscripts: Bertramus], without delay, while the arms were still wet with Vandal blood, he set the same commander in motion against the Goths. This most prudent commander thought that the Gothic people could be subdued in no other way than by first seizing their nurse, Sicily; and this was done. And when he entered Trinacria, the Goths who were holding the Syracusan town, seeing that they could accomplish nothing, surrendered themselves and their commander Sinderich to Belisarius of their own accord. Therefore, when the Roman commander had overrun Sicily, Theodatus, learning of this, sent his son-in-law Evermor [in other manuscripts: Evermundus] with an army to guard the strait which lies between Campania and Sicily, where the vast Adriatic tide of the Tyrrhenian Sea rolls forth. When Evermor arrived there, he set up camp near the town of Rhegium.

Without delay, seeing his cause deteriorating, [Theodatus] moved with a few of his most faithful servants to the side of the victor, throwing himself at the feet of Belisarius, and desiring to serve the princes of the Roman Empire. Perceiving this, the Gothic army clamors that Theodatus is suspect and must be driven from the kingdom, and that their own leader Witigis, who had been his armor-bearer, should be raised to the kingship; which was done. And soon, on the Barbarian Plains, Witigis, having been raised to the kingship, enters Rome, and having sent his most faithful men ahead to Ravenna, orders the death of Theodatus. They, arriving, carry out their orders, and announce to the peoples that King Theodatus has been killed, who had been sent by the king [i.e., Witigis] and was arriving while Witigis was still on the Barbarian Plains. Meanwhile, the Roman army, having crossed the strait, approaching Campania, and after the overthrow of Naples, enters Rome; whence, a few days earlier, King Witigis had departed, setting out for Ravenna. He had joined to himself in marriage Matasuentha, the daughter of Amalasuntha, once the granddaughter of King Theoderic. And while, delighting in these new nuptials, he was fostering the royal court at Ravenna, the imperial army, having left Rome, invades the fortified places of both Tuscias. Perceiving this through messengers, Witigis sends the Gothic duke Cummunila with a hand-picked armed force to Perusia. There, while they seek to dislodge the great count [i.e., the Roman commander] residing with a small army, after a long siege, the Roman army arriving, they themselves are dislodged and utterly destroyed.

When Wittigis heard this, like a raging lion, he gathered the entire Gothic army, left Ravenna, and wearied the Roman citadels with a long siege. But his boldness was frustrated; after months, he fled from the siege of the city of Rome and prepared himself for the oppression of Ariminum. Thwarted in the same manner, he retreated to Ravenna, defeated and besieged; and without delay, he voluntarily surrendered to the victor, along with Matasuentha his wife and the royal treasures. And thus the famous kingdom and the very strong people, long reigning, were finally, in the one thousand three hundredth year, conquered by the emperor Justinian, victor over diverse nations, through his most faithful consul Belisarius; and Wittigis, brought to Constantinople, was honored with the rank of patrician. There, after lingering more than two years, and being convicted in the emperor’s presence, he departed from human affairs. The emperor joined his wife Matasuentha to his own brother Germanus, the patrician. From them, after the death of his father Germanus, a son was born, also named Germanus, in the 425th year. In him, the Gothic race joined with the Amal line still promises hope for both families, with the Lord’s favor. Thus far the origin of the Getae, the nobility of the Amals, the deeds of brave men, and the praiseworthy progeny yielded to a more praiseworthy prince and gave their hand to a stronger leader, whose fame will be silenced in no age by such things. Thus the victor and triumphator, the emperor Justinian, and the consul Belisarius are called Vandalicus, Africanus, and Geticus.

You who read this, know that I have followed the writings of the ancients, gathering a few flowers from their spacious meadows, from which, for the inquirer, I might weave a garland according to the capacity of my own talent. And let no one believe that I, as if drawing origin from that people, have added anything in favor of the aforementioned nation beyond what I have read or learned. Yet I have not embraced everything that is written or reported about them; nor have I set it forth so much for their praise as for the praise of him who conquered.