increasing the quantity every day until the people had recovered their strength. The terms of the capitulation were more than faithfully observed. Conon and his followers were embarked in ships with which the Goths provided them, and when, deciding to sail for Rome, they were hindered by contrary winds, Totila furnished horses, provisions, and guides so that they could make the journey by land. The fortifications at Naples were partly razed. Totila spent the following season establishing himself in the south and reducing pockets of resistance, besieging the Roman garrisons that remained at Hydruntum, all the while building pressure on Rome itself. Unpaid Imperial troops in central Italy made such poor reputations pillaging the countryside that when Totila turned his attention to taking Rome, he was able proudly to contrast Goth and Greek behavior in his initial negotiations with the senate. Hearkening back to the rule of Theodoric and Amalasuintha as a reminder of more peaceful times between the two peoples, Totila tried to convince them to throw in their lot with the Goths. His olive branch was rejected, however, and all the Arian priests were expelled from Constantinople, on suspicion of possible collaboration as a Gothic fifth column. Siege of Rome Realizing the gravity of the situation in 544, Justinian issued an edict known as the Pragmatic Sanction, designed to rebuild a working government at Ravenna, and that year he also sent Belisarius back to Italy to counter the growing Gothic threat. Unlike in the past, Belisarius was not graciously financed and so the general used some of his own funds to pay for his journey to Italy. By May 544, both Belisarius and General Vitalius—and a contingent of a mere 4,000 troops—had passed through Thrace and were encamped at Salonia along the Adriatic coast. Meanwhile, Totila was preparing to capture Rome. Throughout the occupation of Italy, Totila never really wavered from the aim to recover the kingdom and sovereignty for the Goths (Procopius, Wars, 7.1.26), but not solely under those auspices, as historian Walter Goffart suggests; he avows it was also to become "subcontractors in upholding the nomen Romanum in Italy." Towards the end of 545 the Gothic king took up his station at Tivoli and prepared to starve Rome into surrender, making at the same time elaborate preparations for checking the progress of Belisarius who was advancing to its relief, and whose fleet almost managed to relieve