Opening the text

The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 07 : $b the history of the later Roman Empire

History

The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 07 : $b the history of the later Roman Empire

World history

The corruption of his heart was equal to the vigour of his understanding.
Although he was suspected of magic and pagan superstition, he appeared
insensible to the fear of God or the reproaches of man; and his aspiring
fortune was raised on the death of thousands, the poverty of millions,
the ruin of cities, and the desolation of provinces. From the dawn of
light to the moment of dinner he assiduously laboured to enrich his
master and himself at the expense of the Roman world; the remainder of
the day was spent in sensual and obscene pleasures, and the silent hours
of the night were interrupted by the perpetual dread of the justice of
an assassin. His abilities, perhaps his vices, recommended him to the
lasting friendship of Justinian; the emperor yielded with reluctance
to the fury of the people; his victory was displayed by the immediate
restoration of their enemy; and they felt above ten years, under his
oppressive administration, that he was stimulated by revenge, rather
than instructed by misfortune. Their murmurs served only to fortify the
resolution of Justinian; but the prefect, in the insolence of favour,
provoked the resentment of Theodora, disdained a power before which every
knee was bent, and attempted to sow the seeds of discord between the
emperor and his beloved consort.

[Illustration: A BYZANTINE GOBLET]

Even Theodora herself was constrained to dissemble, to wait a favourable
moment, and by an artful conspiracy, to render Joannes of Cappadocia the
accomplice of his own destruction. At a time when Belisarius, unless he
had been a hero, must have shown himself a rebel, his wife Antonina, who
enjoyed the secret confidence of the empress, communicated his feigned
discontent to Euphemia, the daughter of the prefect; the credulous virgin
imparted to her father the dangerous project, and Joannes, who might
have known the value of oaths and promises, was tempted to accept a
nocturnal, and almost treasonable, interview with the wife of Belisarius.
An ambuscade of guards and eunuchs had been posted by the command of
Theodora; they rushed with drawn swords to seize or to punish the guilty
minister; he was saved by the fidelity of his attendants; but, instead of
appealing to a gracious sovereign, who had privately warned him of his
danger, he pusillanimously fled to the sanctuary of the church.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 07 : $b the history of the later Roman Empire

World history

The corruption of his heart was equal to the vigour of his understanding.
Although he was suspected of magic and pagan superstition, he appeared
insensible to the fear of God or the reproaches of man; and his aspiring
fortune was raised on the death of thousands, the poverty of millions,
the ruin of cities, and the desolation of provinces. From the dawn of
light to the moment of dinner he assiduously laboured to enrich his
master and himself at the expense of the Roman world; the remainder of
the day was spent in sensual and obscene pleasures, and the silent hours
of the night were interrupted by the perpetual dread of the justice of
an assassin. His abilities, perhaps his vices, recommended him to the
lasting friendship of Justinian; the emperor yielded with reluctance
to the fury of the people; his victory was displayed by the immediate
restoration of their enemy; and they felt above ten years, under his
oppressive administration, that he was stimulated by revenge, rather
than instructed by misfortune. Their murmurs served only to fortify the
resolution of Justinian; but the prefect, in the insolence of favour,
provoked the resentment of Theodora, disdained a power before which every
knee was bent, and attempted to sow the seeds of discord between the
emperor and his beloved consort.

[Illustration: A BYZANTINE GOBLET]

Even Theodora herself was constrained to dissemble, to wait a favourable
moment, and by an artful conspiracy, to render Joannes of Cappadocia the
accomplice of his own destruction. At a time when Belisarius, unless he
had been a hero, must have shown himself a rebel, his wife Antonina, who
enjoyed the secret confidence of the empress, communicated his feigned
discontent to Euphemia, the daughter of the prefect; the credulous virgin
imparted to her father the dangerous project, and Joannes, who might
have known the value of oaths and promises, was tempted to accept a
nocturnal, and almost treasonable, interview with the wife of Belisarius.
An ambuscade of guards and eunuchs had been posted by the command of
Theodora; they rushed with drawn swords to seize or to punish the guilty
minister; he was saved by the fidelity of his attendants; but, instead of
appealing to a gracious sovereign, who had privately warned him of his
danger, he pusillanimously fled to the sanctuary of the church.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 07 : $b the history of the later Roman Empire

The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 07 : $b the history of the later Roman Empire

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