[3] In 533-34, Pharas intercepted the Vandal King Gelimer, who was attempting to flee Africa for Spain after suffering defeat at the Battle of Tricamarum.
According to Gibbon's translation of Procopius, Varas wrote “Like yourself, I am an illiterate Barbarian, but I speak the language of plain sense and an honest heart.
Would it not be preferable to sustain at Constantinople a life of poverty and servitude, rather than to reign the undoubted monarch of the mountain of Papua?
That generous prince will grant you a rich inheritance of lands, a place in the senate, and the dignity of Patrician: such are his gracious intentions, and you may depend with full assurance on the word of Belisarius.
So long as heaven has condemned us to suffer, patience is a virtue; but, if we reject the proffered deliverance, it degenerates into blind and stupid despair.”[2] Gelimer initially refused but later surrendered to General Belisarius, who had pursued him from the Battle of Tricamaron, and joined Pharas.